When Irrfan Khan meet the legendary, Patrick Stewart

From working in Hollywood films to making us proud by winning awards at international film festivals Irrfan has never let his audiences down. Adding to his list of achievements, Irrfan recently was honored with a special award for his “incredible body of work” at the Dubai International Film Festival last week. Sharing this honor with him were two other international bigwigs, Sir Patrick Stewart and Hollywood royalty, Cate Blanchett. Post the ceremony, Irrfan met the legendary actor Patrick Stewart and they earned an opportunity to discuss work and spend time in each other’s company. Talking about being honored alongside the like of Sir Patrick Stewart, Irrfan said, “His work isn’t anything short of inspirational for any actor. Thus winning this award alongside him makes this honor more special.” The 14th edition of the fest celebrated the works of Irrfan Khan, Stewart, Academy Award-winning Australian actor Cate Blanchett, and Egyptian writer Wahid Hamed. Adding about his meeting with Stewart, Irrfan said, “It was a pleasure to meet him, and to be co-honored alongside someone as talented as him.” The actor had previously spoken about being delighted to share the said award with Cate Blanchett this past week. The festival also witnessed a special screening Khan’s relationship drama, 'The Song Of Scorpions', which has been directed by Anup Singh, and it also stars Golshifteh Farahani and Waheeda Rehman in pivotal roles.

Ochki cyclone is the result to neglecting Mother Nature: Telly actors

Talk of Ochki cyclone seems to created panic in Mumbai. Telly actors share with us how this has affected their daily lives and dole out tips to protect the environment:

Gurpreet Singh - It has disturbed our daily routine and shooting schedule as well. We are not shooting today and are not going out for a while.

Sshrey Pareek - It is scary, not for me but for everyone. If by any chance it comes, it'll harm everybody, the entire country as it had a devastating impact on Kerala before. Now Mumbai has been put on alert and of course, everyone will be little aware today. Most of the Mumbaikars are not going to work including me. I am avoiding my meeting today. Why take a risk, when you can avoid it. All I can suggest is that it is important to protect our environment, plants, trees, as much as you can, not to  throw trash, don't pollute the environment, use handmade stuff.

Romit Raj - I am glad that the Government of Maharashtra has warned all citizens about OCHKI, we have prepared ourselves. Schools are shut which is very good for kids, we have stock of vegetables bread and milk. We have also given domestic staff holidays today and tomorrow so that they can stay safe in their houses. Honestly, we have to take care of Mother Earth, we have to keep the environment clean, plant more trees. We need to see there is no industrial waste polluting our rivers and natural habitat. We need to follow strict guidelines globally as we all our human beings first.

Ssharad Malhotraa - Global warming is happening really fast and it's time we respect mother nature and our planet Earth and stop abusing it as we've been doing for years now. I fear it's just the beginning and worse could be in store for us in the form of natural calamities. Such tropical cyclone such as Ochki should not be ignored and we should take safety measures to prevent any kind of human or material damage. For the first time in my life, I experienced heavy rains in the month of December.

Karan Wahi - Climate change is a phenomenon that we are witnessing everywhere in the world. Cyclones and other calamities have come into the limelight a lot of late. Thankfully it hasn't troubled me way too much.

I have been shooting nowadays so I am used to the traffic. The rain actually might just help drop the temperature. Hopefully!!

Jasmin Bhasin - I am really very scared because when the time was right, none of us did anything and now we are panicking. I am really scared but it’s never too late, we can stop ruining our environment or else everything will get over.

Hrishikesh Pandey - I am shooting outdoor and I am close to Surat. The weather is different, it's been raining since yesterday. At the same time, we are enjoying the moment because it's pleasant but somewhere this is going to affect us. A lot of people are falling sick because of the sudden changes and that's really harmful. Somewhere down the line, we should take care of our environment, we should not allow anyone to cut the trees and we should also make sure that we won't waste the water.

Ankit Bathla - I think it’s like house arrest because it’s raining cats and dogs. We should focus more and more on. maintaining the environment. Let’s start with a kitchen garden, make a compost of your kitchen waste and plant more trees and plants

Sachin Parikh - It is a very dangerous sign for the global environment. It shows how global warming is affecting the overall atmosphere and environmental conditions. The entire schedule is gone for a toss for me and I'm sure for many. I was supposed to shoot for 3 days here in Mumbai and then I had to leave for Ujjain for my film shoot. Now because of the rain, my producer had to postpone the entire outdoor shoot in Mumbai. This was so unexpected and sudden.

Samiksha Bhatnagar - I'm currently shooting in Lucknow but my family in Mumbai woke up to more rain this morning. Cyclone Ockhi passes by the coast of Maharashtra today before hitting land at around midnight as a deep depression near Surat in Gujarat. Apart from the rain in Mumbai and several other parts of the state, there are reports of a hailstorm in some parts of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The disaster management unit of Mumbai has also advised people against visiting beaches in view of high tide alert issued till tomorrow morning. Thankfully Maharashtra govt has declared holiday today. Tropical cyclones are like giant engines that use warm, moist air as fuel. That is why they form only over warm ocean waters. While Cyclone Ockhi was said to be weakening, another tropical storm was brewing in the Bay of Bengal on the east coastline. I advise people to stay at a safe place, Walk only where floodwaters aren’t moving. Use a stick to check the depth of the water and firmness of the ground in front of you. As per, India Meteorological Department NDMA.

Aniruddh Dave - I was shooting in Filmcity and felt this dramatic change in the climate. The entire schedule got disturbed. Eventually, our director Krishna Bhatt called off the shoot. My parents are in the town and we had to go to Gujarat for a day but we have had to postpone the trip.

Shraddha Musale - I am shooting in Umbergaon and because of the climate changes, the weather has become so beautiful. It's raining here and the weather is cold.  I heard that in Bombay there are huge traffic jams on highways, express highways and people are suffering. I don't want it to deteriorate.

Tinaa Dattaa - All these weather changes are because of global warning. We need to become aware of the things that we can do to protect our environment. This is not someone that can be taken lightly, not anymore. I urge people to stay indoors and not venture out at this time.

Ratan & Diya fall in love

Rishte Likhenge Hum Naya has been keeping the audiences glued to the television sets with its gripping narrative. Multiple attacks on Ratan Maan Singh (played by Rohit Suchanti) have been averted skilfully by the ever-watchful Diya (played by Tejasswi Prakash). Another twist in the tale lies ahead wherein Diya announces amongst the family members that she is planning a strategic move (Palatwar) to ensure Ratan’s safety. On the other hand, Ratan’s friends feel that Diya may be in love with him, the reason she is so earnestly ensuring his safety at all costs. Ratan is puzzled and things take a different turn when Diya tells Ratan that her Palatwar plan is to pretend that both are in love to trick the conspirators which is strongly denied by Ratan. What will happen when Ratan and Diya confess their love towards each other? Will the family accept it? Will they fall in love for real?.

Suhani Dhani who palys Laachi in Siddharth Kumar TEwary's Porus pseaks on mehendi and Sangeet

What was so special about your mehendi?

> I like the concept of applying mehendi during the wedding but this time I thought I don't want to go the conventional way like having a king and a queen on your hand. I thought I will go the modern way so I got this really cute cartoon of a girl kissing a boy on one hand and a couple dancing and that kind of signifies the hashtags our wedding had one is #PMgotsued and other was #dancingcouple. I also had the elements of the London skyline on my mehendi because that's significant of what I am going to call it my home very soon and also the other traditional elements were added. 

'Mehendi and sangeet is an important ritual in a wedding?

> I don't think Mehendi and Sangeet rituals are important in the wedding as they just add more fun and grandeur. The wedding actually ends on a somber note with the bidaai so the mehendi and sangeet are the more happy occasions that people have to celebrate the wedding. I think it's  important because the two families get more comfortable with each other and they get better versed with each other in a relaxed atmosphere. 

What you wore?

> In my Mehendi I decided to wear a jacket with a crop top and a lehenga and I used floral jewelry and braided my hair. For my Sangeet, I wore a traditional Banarsi lehenga and blouse and dupatta but my lehenga had a twist of the modern gold fril border. I liked the whole Maharani look and I completed it with a jadau necklace which adds more grandeur to the look. 

Which songs did you dance on?

> I danced the solo on Teri Deewani and Ghoomer which is one of my favorite songs to dance. I also did a small family dance with my parents, my brother and his wife on galla goodiyan from Dil Dhadakne do and did a couple dance with Prathamesh Mody on Do Lafzo ki hain and Har kisiko nahin milta.

The Female Cast of Star Wars: The Last Jedi remember Carrie Fisher

At a recent press conference for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the women of the film’s cast, Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Laura Dern (Vice Admiral Holdo), Daisy Ridley (Rey) and Kelly Marie Tran (Rose Tico) were asked to share their experience and impact that both Carrie Fisher and the pioneering role that she played in Star Wars saga had on them as both children and adult women. 

Carrie, who passed away a year ago (December 27, 2016) after completing her work on The Last Jedi for director Rian Johnson, was  an icon for generations of girls and women as the powerful and defiant Leia and also an inspiration in real life as someone who lived her life honestly, candidly, and without any restrictions and constraints.

"Leia was very significant because I was first shown A New Hope when I was 6, and I remember thinking: 'Wow, that character is really different,'" said Christie. "I watched TV and film obsessively from such a young age, but it stayed with me throughout my formative years. She's really interesting. She's really smart. She's really funny. She's courageous. She's bold. She doesn't care what people think, and she isn't prepared to be told what to do. And she doesn't look the same as a sort of homogenized presentation of a woman that we had been used to seeing." 

The Game of Thrones star, Christie continued, "That was really instrumental to me as someone that didn't feel like they fitted that homogenized view of what a woman was supposed to be. That there was inspiration there. That you could be an individual and celebrate yourself and be successful without giving yourself over, without necessarily making some sort of terrible, huge compromise. So it was a big inspiration for me." 

Dern, who makes her debut in the Star Wars franchise with The Last Jedi, said that she felt exactly the same way as Christie when she first watched Leia on the screen as a young girl, adding that her respect for the character carried over to Fisher herself: "What moved me the most about the icon she gave us, but also what she gave us individually and personally, was to be who she was so directly, and to be without shame ... it was a privilege to watch how Rian has so beautifully captured all of that and her grace in this amazing, beautiful, pure performance." 

Ridley, who had mentioned how emotional the shoot for The Last Jedi was, took a slightly different tack, focusing instead on Fisher's other legacy, her daughter Billie Lourd. "Carrie's daughter, Billie has, I think, all of those qualities. She's smart and funny and shameless and wonderful. ... I think Carrie bringing up a daughter who has all of those qualities and then some in this world, if that's what she did just being herself, I think it speaks volumes to what she did as her in the spotlight and also her as Leia."

"Something about Carrie that I really look up to is, and something I didn't realize until recently, was just how much courage it takes to truly be yourself when you're on a public platform or when possibly a lot of people will be looking at you," said Tran in a comment that served nicely to sum up the others. "She was so unapologetic and so openly herself, and that is something that I am really trying to do, and it's hard. Just like Daisy said, like Laura said, like Gwendoline said, I think that she will always be an icon as Leia, but also as Carrie. I am so fortunate to have met her, and I think that she will really live on forever." 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is out in theaters on December 15, and something tells us that Carrie Fisher will always be there in spirit in a big way