Curious Case: By Radhika Bhirani

Radhika Bhirani rbhirani@gmail.com ~~~ Nature. Natural. Au naturel. Three terms that come naturally to the mind about Yami Gautam. Not just courtesy a close look at her Instagram profile, but also by virtue of multiple chats and conversations with the actor, who is as 'hatke' as some of her film choices. In her Instagram birthday post, the girl glows. In the light of the love of her family, of her fans and of her religious and spiritual pursuits. "My family and roots are the two things most dear to me! Taking blessings from Mata Bajreshwari Devi, Kangra, on my birthday made a very special morning before making way to work," wrote the actor, who has turned 32, and is in her native Himachal Pradesh to shoot Bhoot Police. Tagged along is a beautiful picture in which Yami poses against azure blue skies with the temple's white facade painting a pretty background. She looks simple and sweet, with a tika on the forehead, and a red Mata ki Chunni draped around her neck. J...

Radhika Bhirani rbhirani@gmail.com There I was flashing the dimples, decked up in a satisfactorily pleated seedhe palle ki sari on Karwa Chauth, trying to drive away the seemingly endless, and all-pervasive blues brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic in my own way. Three days later, the smile was gone. And I'm still waiting for its return. The morning was usual. Waking up. Throwing the blanket away. Getting out of bed. Slipping the feet into the slippers. Heading to the restroom. And there, right when I looked into the mirror and yawned, something seemed amiss. I'd usually look no less than a roaring Lion King. But here I was, trying to make sense of a face that had turned droopy, lopsided, crooked, and whatever else you can find to go with those in the English thesaurus. A sense of panic gripped my mind and heart. What could have gone so wrong, so suddenly? The fear of this unknown, unexplained and unexpected visitor was palpable as I tried whatever I had recently learnt of stro...

Radhika Bhirani rbhirani@gmail.com It's been a silver lining in the dark clouds of toxic Twitterverse. But have you wondered what is it about Dulari Kher that brings a smile on your face, gets your giggle on, makes you laugh out a little loud sometimes and perhaps makes you love or miss your parents and grandparents a wee bit more? For the uninitiated, Dulari is the mother of actors Anupam Kher and Raju Kher. Her own unintended journey to becoming a social media sensation, if we may say so, started with her elder son sharing some of her videos first in 2017, with the hashtag #DulariRocks. And that, by now we know, she sure does! There's something so candid, innocent, goofy, endearing and most importantly, slice-of-life about her videos, that it touches a universal chord. The son agrees. "Her connection is amazing. She is a bigger star than I am. People love her so much. Wherever I go, even in America, people ask me about her," Anupam Kher told me a few months ago as w...

Radhika Bhirani for BusinessWorld rbhirani@gmail.com The lockdown exn .tensions have had a cascading effect on the filmmaking ecosystem in India, one of the largest film producing nations in the world, leaving the exhibition sector in a limbo, and accelerating the number of direct-to digital movie releases on streaming platforms  # SUPPORTMOVIETHEATRES. #SAVECINEMA. In the era of hashtags, social media and Covid-19, the Indian film fraternity is making earnest strides to get the badly-hit movie exhibition sector, which employs over 200,000 people directly and accounts for nearly 60 per cent of film business revenues, and the production business, back to its feet. What is happening in the interim is speeding up a tectonic power shift of screens in the country’s Rs 1.82 trillion media and entertainment landscape, on the back of disruptive and engaging content. A nationwide lockdown, implemented by the Indian government in March 2020 to guard people against the novel coronavirus, mean...

Radhika Bhirani rbhirani@gmail.com Strangely enough, in times where there is heightened chitter-chatter around #CreditDeDoYaar -- a call from lyricists, writers and crew members who are dismayed about the absence of credit in creative works across various streaming platforms -- it is indeed the unique credit roll that strikes you first about the new show on the OTT block, Churails. Actors: Sarwat Gilani. Yasra Rizvi, Nimra Bucha. Meher Bano.... Director of Photography: Mo Azmi; Associate Producer: Zarmeen Ali; Executive Producer: Shreyashi Mukherjee; Producers: Asim Abbasi, Mo Azmi; Producer: Shailja Kejriwal; Written and Directed By: Asim Abbasi. It's uncommon. A common credit roll for talent from India and Pakistan. But a first of quite a few collaborations between two nations where territorial disputes have been eclipsing any 'aman ki asha' through cultural exchange. Churails is as unabashed in its Karachi-set, but universally appealing story about burqa-clad women aveng...

Radhika Bhirani rbhirani@gmail.com Sometimes, a crisis gives birth to new opportunities. It's a done-to-death cliche, but see it from the creative eye and mind, and you'll find that the number of new stories (read opportunities) will be plenty, and diverse. Take a dekko: Covid 19, Around Corona, Corona 2020, Corona Ka Ronaa, Dharavi v/s Corona 2020, Corona Lockdown, Go Corona Go, Haye Corona, Pyar Korona, Coronachya Aaicha Gho. These are just some of the film titles already registered in Maharashtra amid the ongoing pandemic, according to Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPPA) President T.P. Aggarwal. A batch of television shows, which have come up with new episodes, have already interspersed the Covid-19 narrative using masks, shields, sanitisers and more, in efforts to underline how precaution is the best cure in these times. Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, whose films Article 15 -- about discrimination in the country's social fabric -- and Thappad -- about a w...

Radhika Bhirani rbhirani@gmail.com When Jimmy Sheirgill landed a small, but significant part as a terrorist in Gulzar's Maachis (1996) which marked his big screen debut, he used to visit a Gurudwara in Mumbai's Four Bungalows vicinity. He would bow down, touch his head on the floor, and say, "Itni meher kar lena ki koi ye naa bole ki yeh bura actor hai". Today, he's just a year short of 25 years since setting out on that journey. A journey he looks back at with pride, but doesn't dwell upon it. A journey where he allowed himself to be guided by his head and heart, rather than go by the rules. A journey where he chose to be a "good actor" than chase stardom. "He has given me so much that now people say I am underrated, I am a good actor, and so I feel He has given me more than what I asked for. I never asked Him for stardom," the 49-year-old actor tells me with a nonchalance that you'd rarely expect from an actor who has every ingredient...