HARD WORK WORKS?
believes a film’s narrative is what will decide whether it is suitable for a digital or theatrical release. She adds, “There are some films that are meant for theatrical releases and others can (release digitally). It all depends on the film’s narrative and what’s the right platform it requires.”
The actor also feels the gap between theatres and web is reducing. “It was seen even before the pandemic,” she says, adding, “In the West, direct-to-ott release has been happening. You have the best of talents working on these projects, so it’ll start happening here as well.”
Would she, then, be okay with her films releasing straight on the web? “I don’t have an opinion about that,” she asserts, adding, “As an actor, I just want most number of people to watch my films. It’s the discretion of a producer more than anyone else. They decide what’s best for their movie.”
Sikandar Kher, son of actors Kirron Kher and Anupam Kher, doesn’t deny nepotism, but feels hard work triumphs. “When I go and ask for work, I’ll get a meeting with filmmakers. Millions come to the industry, they might never get one. But everyone I met
Singer-composer Yo Yo Honey Singh took his fans by surprise when he shared pictures of his chiseled body on Instagram, last week. However, he admits it hasn’t been an easy journey. “My fans were not exactly happy with my body, and were pushing me to get back in shape,” says Singh, who made his comeback in 2017 with the single Makhna.
For the last two years, Singh has been trying hard to get back in shape. A self-confessed street food lover, he had to ditch his favourites — chole bhature, butter chicken and mutton curry in “Punjabi style” — for a gluten-free, carbohydrate-free diet that includes sprouts and beetroot tikki. He tells us, “Until two years back, I had a lot of issues related to digestion and acidity. My dietician asked me to stay away from dairy products, wheat and carbs. My meals are divided into small portions, main tukdon mein khata hoon aur sabka swaad leta hoon.”
Elated with the results, Singh wants to continue this regime for some time now. “I’m really happy with the kind of shape I’m in, so there’ll be no cheat days for a while. I haven’t had butter chicken in over four months now, and I think my last plate of chole bhature was six months back. And I am not going to have them anytime soon,” he quips.
The result of this disciplined routine was evident from the pictures Singh shared. “But it hasn’t given me work. I don’t think anybody is going to put money on you just because you are somebody’s son or daughter, it’s a business. My first film Woodstock Villa (2008) was offered to me by Sanjay Gupta. That is probably because of where I come from. But as you go on, you just work at it,” he tells us.
Pranutan, daughter of actor Mohnish Bahl and granddaughter of yesteryear star Nutan, was also launched by Salman, in Notebook (2019), but it didn’t do well. Bahl says his daughter bagged the film on her own. “People say ‘Salman ki dosti hai’, they don’t want to believe that,” he says, adding that Pranutan has bagged another film, Helmet, and auditions even today. wasn’t easy,” he iterates, adding that the medication he has been taking to treat his bipolar disorder had affected his physical health greatly.
“The medicines contained a lot of sodium and lithium. That affects your thyroid and weight. It was a two-way fight. To fight the illness, I was taking medicines, and then to fight its side effects, I had to work out. Working out became twice as hard, because you have to work harder if you want to see a positive change in your body,” he adds.
Discipline is something that helped Singh lose 16kg in two years, and for this, he credits his family. He recounts, “My mom and dad do yoga everyday and also teach it to people for free. So, they are very disciplined when it comes to physical health. They kept me disciplined and encouraged me to keep working hard.”
He continues, “I did kickboxing and a lot of functional training. I used to stay away from cardio, but my wife, Shalini, made sure I do that as well. Hath mein chhadi pakad ke cardio karati hai mujhse (laughs). And because of that, I started doing sprints and other exercises.”