Canadian beauty, Kainaaz Parvees who first dabbled in TV(Babul Ki Duaye Leti Jaa, Dial 100 and CID) and cinema(Khamosh, Ghutan and Escape >From Taliban) but failed in both, is now trying to reinvent her career by featuring in a T-Series music video, besides which she is also producing and acting in a movie and a TV show. We caught up with this good looking actress for frank tete – a - tete on her new attempt at success.

Q-You are featuring in Bonnie 7 as an Arabian dancer? How was the experience?
A- (Laughs) It’s not just Arabic dance, I have done some Indian dancing as well. It was a great experience. Further, since it was shot in the desert of Dubai, it was an inspiration all together.

Q-Why is it that your bollywood acting career never took off?
A-I wouldn’t put it that way. I have done some good films (Dil Ne Jisse Apna Kaha with Salman Khan and Ram Gopal Verma’s Mr. Ya Miss with Aftab Shivdasani, ), they did not do well is a different story. Have not many of today’s well known stars also struggled in their earlier days? So I guess my time is yet to come.

Mere Khwabo Mein Jo Aaye: Give it a slip

A character is always more important than the actor

The Indian film industry is maturing fast. And one can easily judge it from the number of crossover films being made today. And a number of them are doing well too. Interestingly enough the Indian audience has also matured in more ways than one. They are not content with the hero ad heroine lone, the viewer expects good performance from the characters as well. As a result these actors are getting their due share of fame as well. Cases in point are Rajat Kapoor and Vinay Pathak. Dibyendu Bhattacharya is a name in this list.

With films like Monsoon Wedding, The Rising, Ab Tak Chappan, Black Friday, Goal and Dev D under his belt, actor Dibyendu Bhattacharya has finally made his presence felt in Bollywood. “I have been in this industry for a long time – have been doing plays since 1988. It feels nice to see that character actors are finally being given their due,” says the actor whose film career started in 2000 with the role of Lottery Monsoon Wedding. “Mira Nair personally auditioned me for the movie. After that I acted in Siddharth Srinivasan’sDivyadrishti a film on same sex relationships. I played a gay cop in the movie. Unfortunately, due to Censor Board issues, it could not be released in India. However, director Anurag Kashyap watched the movie and offered me the role of Yeda Yakub in Black Friday,” says the actor whose portrayal of Chunilal in Dev D won him many fans.

Bhattacharya studied in the National School of Drama and had people like Jaya Sil and Rajpal Yadav as his classmates and Pankaj Kapoor and Naseeruddin Shah as teachers. “One big lesson we learned there was that the character is more important than the actor. This is something that has helped me always while acting in films. In fact, this is the reason why people do not recognize me on the streets. Because they are so used to and convinced about my on-screen appearance, they tend to forget that there can be an offscreen Dibyendu Bhattacharya as well! ” says the actor who won a scholarship for his studies at NSD. In fact, after he completed his studies, he started acting in NSD’s theatre group The Repartee Company till 2000, when he came to Mumbai.

“I had to start from scratch in Mumbai and had no Godfathers to help me. I used to go for various auditions and finally I had my chance when I got selected for Monsoon Wedding.Mira Nair personally selected me after seeing my performance in the audition,” says Bhattacharya who went on to do Divya Drishti with director Siddharth Srinivasan after that. “The film was based on a gay cop and had a very bold theme considering the fact that it was made in 2001. I was playing the gap cop and the film had a few bold scenes and as a result never saw light of the day. Divya Drishti got canned,” says a sad Bhattacharya.

Director Anurag Kashyap watched this movie in a private screening and liked Bhattacharya’s performance. “We met each other and slowly became good friends since our passion for films was similar,” the actor fondly remembers his initial days with the director who gave him the famous role of Yeda Yakub in Black Friday. He went on to do a number of films after that, but Yeda Yakub gave him the fame and recognition he wanted. “I think anyone who has watched Black Friday will not be able to forget my role. Immediately after this I got the offer to play Chunilal in DevD. Being a Bngali, I had read Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel Devdas many times. But when I did the role of Chunilal, I thought of it as Anurag’s Dev D and not the famous Bengali novel. I think that was the key to my success in the role,” says the actor who sported a ponytail for the film. “The entire characterisation of Chunilal, including looks, was conceived by Anurag and me jointly,” says Bhattacharya who is eagerly waiting for his next releases – Saloon (a comedy) and Soul of the Sand (already released in various film festivals). - SAMPURN

Poonam Yadav hits back

By Dhanashri Kulkarni

The voice that brings Jashne Bahar

In recent times, two of the biggest hits have been belted out by this person. The lad from Delhi has a unique voice that oozes innocence and romanticism. And, of course, melody. Meet Javed Ali, the singer behind the magical success of Nagara Nagara from Jab We Met and Jashne Bahar from Jodha Akbar.

Movie Review : Dev.D (2009)

Dev.D: Is Emotional Atyaachaar

People will love Nana in the film: Bobby Deol

After a long gap, Bobby Deol will be seen in a full fledged role in an action packed film with Ek- The Power Of One directed by Sangeet Sivan. The soft spoken Deol scion couldn’t hide his excitement while speaking to us about his upcoming film amongst many other things.

First look - THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (12 Dec 08)

Mankind has long been fascinated by the possibility of life beyond Earth. Science fiction literature and films have served to not only entertain, but to address our questions, hopes and fears about extraterrestrial life. Such speculation has captivated our collective imagination and inspired the development of new technology to explore the farthest reaches of our universe and the very real possibility that we are not alone.

Family relationship is the highlight in Bangarubabu

The Jagapatibabu-Meera Jasmine starrer ‘Bangarubabu’ directed by Jonnalagadda Srinivasa Rao and produced by K Ramakrishna Prasad on the banner of Sowbhagya Media Pvt Ltd is all set for release on May 1. The speciality of the film is that senior-most director Dasari Narayana Rao penned the story and screenplay. Addressing the media, the producer says, ‘It is a film that could be watched by the entire family by sitting together. We are planning to release the film with 35 prints across the State through Siri Media.’ Director says, ‘We brought out the film with a fantastic family drama penned by Dasari Narayana Rao. Especially, he highlighted the relationship between brothers in an attractive manner. Our hero Jagapatibabu would appear in a handsome family role and in fact, that was the way his fans in general and the women in particular want to watch him. It is not just the money, but the family and human relations are important is the message we are going to give through this movie. We are sure that the film would also earn a good name to Sashank and Sonu Sood. MM Srilekha scored melodious tunes for the movie.’
‘Neramu-Siksha’ audio launched

Govinda is the King of Comedy: Ritesh Deshmukh

Ritesh Deshmukh is working alongside Govinda in David Dhawan’s Do Knot Disturb. And so enamored has he been working with his once comedy idol that he just can’t stop heaping praises about the Hero No.1.

“I support producers strike” - Kunal Khemu

By Joginder Tuteja

Zee TV Synopsis ( 8th Dec to 11th Dec)

Choti Bahu

The ghunghat was almost like my second skin: Sameera Reddy

Sameera Reddy appears to have gone in for a complete makeover having lost a lot of weight off late. Her transformation however is for a film she is doing with Nagesh Kukunoor titled, Yeh Hausla.

‘If people feel music videos are provocative, why are 90% of them made that way?’ Kainaaz Parvees

Movie Review : Mere Khwabo Mein Jo Aaye (2009)