FACING YOUR FEARS

Bollywoodmarketing isbeing taken overbysometrulycreative trends. Example, the latestfad created by Sonam Kapoor's teamforher upcoming biopic on PanAmhostieNeerja Bhanot. So Sonam's askingher besties and herfans to share info abouttheirbiggestfears,usingthe hashtag #FearVsNeerja. Everyone'sjumping on the bandwagon. Salman Khan talksabouthisfatherSalim Khan's advice to himwhichbecame a famous linein a famousmovie:Jodarr gaya,samjhomargaya.Hmmmmm

Priyanka Chopra,Shahid Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra, Anushka Sharma allshare theirfears and phobias, butcomedianTanmay Bhatt truly nails it: •My biggest fear is that one dayColdplay will ask meto bein theirvideo and I'll beinit for exactly 3 seconds .'' LOL!

Wonder if the ploywill help. Sonam's PROPdubsmashes in the lead up to that film'srelease certainly did, so who knows?

Neerjareleases on19 Feb.

Meanwhile Alia Bhatt's team is trying desperately to do somethingsimilarfor herupcomingreleaseKapoorandSons. Inher task,you've got torecordyourself attempting a tongue-twisterfrom the film. Go on, give it a try.

MAKING THE MOST, SAYS 'BLESSED' PRIYANKA CHOPRA

Meanwhile PriyankaChoprahaseven more reason to feel #blessed, because not only has she gained a chance to present at the next Oscars,she has also added anotherachievement to herprofileby giving voice-overfor an animated characterin Marvel Comics, as the voice of Miss Marvel in the online game Marvel AvengersAcademy.

#Makingthemost,she added. Ofthe hay while thesunshines, onewould expect... You're certainlyhaving a good year, PC- People'sChoice, then Padma Shri, thenpresenting at theSAG Awards,now Oscars andMarvel.

What a marvel.

Sunny Times For Sunny

TOO

OK, it's Deol we're talking about this time,notLeone

Actor-filmmakerSunny Deol's action directorial Ghaya/OnceAgain,which markshisreturn to the silver screen as angry man AjayMehra, collected over Rs.23 crore inits opening weekend alone.

Ghaya/OnceAgainwhichreleased on February5, hasfound.appreciationby critics and audiences alike.

Sunny,who wowedthe audience withhisrole of Ajay Mehra in1990 film Ghayal, is seenin asimilaravatarin GhayatOnceAgain,whichhe has also written and directed.

Praisecomes this timeroundalso from estrangedstepmum HemaMalini who has describedit as "a wonderful film".

"Sunny is a beautiful director,"she said, and added, "He is very nice humanbeingwith a clear heartjust like Dharamji. Hehasmade a verynice film. I wantpeopleto watch the film and I wish and pray the filmworksat the box office."

Herdaughterandactress Esha Deol chipped inaswell, •1 amhappy that the filmhas gotgreatreviews."

Meanwhile Sunny himself ispleased. "I'd lost connectwith the audience, and would like toreconnectnow. I'd liketo makemaybe threefilms ayear."

Well, the introvertedstarhas certainly proven he's gotwhat it takes, and it will benice tosee him back in actionmore frequently.

SWARA GIVES VOICETO WOMEN'S STORIES

Swara Bhaskariscoming upwith two releasesshortly basedonwomencentric stories. InNilBateSannata the youngactor stars as amuch older woman, themotherof a15-year-old girl. Whilemost ofherpeerswould shunsucha role, thepluckySwaratook it onbecauseitwas"a challengingrole in a beautiful film",whichhasalready wonherthe BestActressawardat the SilkRoad Film Festival inChina.

"You've got to watch the film to find out what the title means-it's very interesting,"Swarasaidrecently.

The film, to bereleased in late April, is presented by AnandL. Rai,who broughtSwarainto thespotlightwith hisfilmTanu Weds Manu.Hewent to castherin all his next filmslike Raanjhanaa andTanu Weds Manu Returns.

Swara will also beseenverysoon in a film called AnarkaliAarawali. "This is thestory of singer whose work is based doublemeaningsongs, presentedin small townBihar.It is about anincident which turnsher lifeupside down. This is anotherbeautifulstory. Itkeeps women'sissues at thecentre and it showcasestheworldwhichwehaven't seenin Bollywood-nautanki and the world of orchestra parties."

Swara waslastseenin the Salman Khan-starrerPremRatanOhanPayo.

Also Worth Waiting For

A teaseroftheshortfilm

Tandav featuring Manoj Bajpayee was released recently. The film is based on the life of apolice constable who is torn betweenfollowing therighteous trail and beingseduced by thedark path of dishonesty. Itshows the struggles and frustrationpolicepersonnel go through every day on thejob.Sounds intense.

Meanwhile, Bhandarkar's next project issaid to be based around Bollywood wives. Afterframing the darkside of fashionworld and glossy pages ofcelebrity calendarsfor the silverscreen, itseemsMadhur Bhandarkarwill take hiscamera into thehouseholds ofHindi film stars -or so suggests the title ofhisnext film Bol/ywood Wives. TheNational Awardwinningfilmmaker,whowill beconferred the PadmaShri honour in April,made the announcement on Twitter. Going byhiscinemaslate, one canexpecthimto infuse the turbulence in the personal lifeof big Bollywoodstars to his film.The movie announcement comes at a timewhen muchnews is comingout of tinsel town about relationship breakdowns. And ofcourse,there'salwaysbeenmuch intrigueabout'therealhousewives of Bollywood'.

The makers of Fitoormeanwhileare trying hardto dotheirownpromotions currently, withthe filmreleasing end of thisweek.

No major social media campaigns here,but othergimmicks haveensured the filmstays inthenews. These include havingtheleadmale star Aditya Roy Kapurserenadethe female star Katrina Kaifwith a truckload ofredroses (yes,a truckload), on International Rose Dayrecently (didyou knowthatwas evena thing?)Madefor some prettyphotos inthe newspapers andonline Oh, andthey also gotthe starsto gostreetshopping atJanpath in Delhi. The cameras followed closely of course, andwe gotto knowthathe boughtherearrings and bangles and she boughthim a scarf.

Anythingto getthe peopletalking aboutthefilm.

Fitooris Abhishek Kapoor's Indian adaptation ofthepopularCharles Dickens' classic GreatExpectations and also starsTabu.

BOLLYWOOD Kl PATHSHALA

Fancy yourselfas a Bollywood actor? Something youwantto tick off on your bucketlist?Thentrythistwo-dayevent called Bollywood Ki Pathshala. Itisaneventaimedto give young talentedaspirants a chance to enter showbiz.

Itwillbringtogethercastingdirectors, producers,directors and celebrities.

Actors Radhika Apte, Satish Kaushik, Omkar Kapoorand Rakesh Bedi along withfilmmaker Anees Bazmee willbe mentors at Bollywood Ki Pathshala.

Started byClapsnSlaps.com, an onlineportaldedicatedtothe entertainment industry, theeventwill take place inMumbaistarting from April 9.

To take part intheevent, aspirants willhave toregisteronthe Bollywood Ki Pathshala website. Dependingon theirtaskperformance and position on thesite'sleaderboard,thebestwill be shortlistedforthefinalevent.

These aspirants will befurtherasked toperform a finalvideo assignment. The candidateswiththebestvideo assignmentswillbe invitedto Mumbai, wheretheywillgettoperform a 60-second actduringthe eventandwill bejudgedbythecastingdirectors.

Those shortlistedthereafterwill be askedto performa livetask infrontof thementors.

Here's yourchance, youdreamers.

RIP NIDA FAZLI

Renowned Urdupoetand Bollywood lyricist Muqtida HasanNida Fazli, died inMumbai on 8Febfollowing a massive heartattack.

WHO WORE IT BETTER?

SONAM KAPOOR or ELIZABETH OLSEN in VICTORIA BECKHAM?

+Shareyourviews with us on our Facebookpage /lndianLinkAustralia

He was 78 and is survived by his wife and a daughter.

Fazli was awardedthe prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in1998and conferredwiththe PadmaShri in2013.

Bornina Kashmirifamily in Delhi in October1938, his parents migratedto Pakistan after Partition, buthe choseto stay back in India.

He wentto Mumbai in1964 hoping tomakea career in Bollywood and also wrotefor certaintopHindi magazines ofthatera andlaterstarted penning lyricsforHindifilmsongs.

Hissoulfulghazals includethe evergreen Kabhikisikomukammal jahannahinmi/ta(Ahista,Ahista),Tu is tarhase merizindagimeshamilhai (AapToAiseNaThe),Hoshwalonko khabarkya(Sarfarosh),Aabhijaa, (Sur). He also pennedforfilmslike RaziaSultan,Nakhuda, Harjaee,Yatra, /s RaatKiSubahNahin,Tamanna and many others.

Fazli published collections of poetry which includeLafzonKePhool,Mor Naach,AankhAurKhwabKeDarmiyan, SafarMeinDhoopToHogi,KhoyaHua SaKuchh and Dun/yaEkKhilonaHai.

Australianaud.ienceswillremember Nida Fazli fromhisstageappearances withthelate ghazalmaestroJagjit Singh,who collaborated extensively.

What Tweety Bird Told Us This Week

Matchthetweets belowtothe following stars: RanveerSingh, Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Akshay Kumar,Salman Khan

The WestinChennai preparedthis special Wazircake as a welcome

Manythanks

Hello Kolkata.Thefirst Being Human clothingstore inurcity isnow open. At Acropolis Mall.

Still galloping!!!#BajiraoMastani

Proudmomentina father'slife,when the Prime Ministerpulls yourson's ear injest& calls him a good boy ;)

Say hello to Ms. Marvel- I'm her voice &she's my alterego in MARVEL Avengers Academy!

What's PRIYANKA CHOPRA saying here?

Send inyourresponsesto win@indianlink.com.au and win asurprize prize

What'sthe chitchat here between SHABANA AZMI and AISHWARYA RAI BACHCHAN?

AISHWARYA: I'll do anythingto get some more work with you.

SHABANA: How about some acting lessons, then?

Aseem Bharadwaj lnnaloo, WA

Aseem wins a ticketto Hindi film Fitoor

Readyornot,gettingteasedbeforeabigbirthdaysetsone up forfacingamid-lifecrisis

BYSANAM SHARMA

LaterthisyearIwill bemnung40. Ihadbeensolookingforwardto it.Ihadevenbeenworkingon afewdistinguishedstrandsof silverygreyinmysideburnsto matchthismilestone.EachrimeIbLtmped intoabillboardfeaturingGeorgeClooney, turiung40seemedextremelypromising. Notthatitbearsanyresemblance inmy case,butthere ishope.

Inthepastfewmonths,though,people aroundmehavebmstmybubbleabout mriung40,byrobbingmeof anentireyear of mylife.Mycurrentage,my39thyear. lntheirheadslhavealreadynunedthebig 4-0.NowIammoreintentonavengingmy 39thyearandlivingitup.1refusetobe40 whenIamtechnicallystill39.Andit'snot just anumber,it'safact!

Mydearwifeisthebiggestculpritbere. Intl1epastfewmonths,eachtimeIhave behavedlikeatypicalmanorhusband,she hasnotrnerelytoldmeoff,buthasmadeit abundantlyclearthatImust'startactingmy age'.Theagethatshe keepsreferringto is 40.Well,tlrnt'snottrue.Ian1notyet40,I oftenprotest,Iam39!Shejustretorts,"See, thatisexactlywhat1an1saying.Youarenot botheredaboutthemoreseriousthingsI say."So1havetoapologisefor'notacting myage',evenif it'sthewrongage

HowcanIforgetmyfriends,whomI adore?Inalltheiraffection,theysopolitely makeittheirprioritytolabelme40yearsold inomconversations.Isharedwithonethe otl1erdaythatIhavesomesoreof nigglein myleftknee."Thesethingshappenwhen youare40,dude!"washiscompassionate response Anotherclosefriendlabelledme 40forarandomeyesightlapsewhileIwas rry:ing toreadadistantstreetsign Andany memoryfadesonmypartareaUof asudden attributedtomebeing'40'asweU.

Thentherewasagentlemanreviewingmy passportafewweeksago.Inlusattemptto affordmeacompliment,hetoomessedit up.His kindobservation wasthatIdidn't look40.DearSir,tlrntisbecauseIamnot 40justyet,l am391Ifeltlikeclarifying,but Ileftitatavaguesnuleback.

Mygyminstructorhadtopitchinto thissagatoo."Wehaveaprogramstarring formemberswhoare40andaboveina fewweeks.ItistailoredtotheIifestyles