Eating delicacies, dancing around the bonfire; TV actors set to celebrate Lohri

Lohri is round the corner and our telly actors are gearing up to celebrate the festival. They tell us their plans and what they love about their Punjabi culture.

Ssharad Malhotraa - Lohri represents full masti, because the weather is good and one really enjoys wearing good clothes and sitting around a bonfire. It gives positive vibes. I have many great memories from the time I lived in Kolkata. Our neighbours used to gather around our building and then we all would eat delicacies and later dance around the bonfire! This year, I will be celebrating Lohri with my close friends in Mumbai. Later, I’ll probably go for dinner to a friendly place.

Smiriti Kalra - During Lohri, as children we used to run around the bonfire. Early morning we used to collect wood for the bonfire. I used to make popcorn in the cooker. So the effort of preparing for Lohri are the best memories. What I love most being a Punjabi are people's assumptions that we love food a lot. I remember we would eat so much on Lohri. I am shooting on Lohri but it's my brother's first Lohri after getting married and we will be celebrating it in a very grand way.

Himmanshoo Malhotraa - I am actually planning to go to Ludhiana in Punjab to meet my cousins and celebrate there along with my hardcore Punjabi cousins! I feel the way Lohri is celebrated in Punjab, it’s not celebrated anywhere else. Yes, I have beautiful childhood memories of the festival, going door to door to my neighbours and asking them the delicacies they have prepared for the Lohri and relishing it with my friends at my terrace! Amazing memories! I feel Punjabis are more generous and kind-hearted, that’s one core quality I admire in them besides the fact that we all love delicious food. We are foodies by birth.

Jasmin Bhasin - During Lohri, all our family members and relatives gather around the bonfire. Peanuts and jaggery are offered as basically, it's a farmer's festival. Lohri is a popular wintertime Punjabi folk festival. We all sing traditional songs and have our food together. This is how I have grown up celebrating Lohri with my family. My special memories are because I grew up in a joint family, we were 20 to 25 people, who used to come together and celebrate Lohri. We used to have a night full of fun, dance, and laughter. So those are my special memories of that festival. The most that I love about being a Punjabi is that personally, I feel Punjabis are very broad-minded and they are very happy-go-lucky people. They want to live their life to the fullest and they don't want to bother about the future. They believe in living in the moment and living to the fullest. I think that is the best thing I love about being a Punjabi.

Gunjan Utreja - I am visiting Chandigarh on Lohri, all my cousins and friends are getting together to be a part of the celebrations. Lohri is all about dancing around the bonfire all night long. And what better way to celebrate the same than with your close friends and family. My mom will be cooking a wonderful Punjabi meal and my sister will bake some mouth-watering desserts.

Gavie Chahal: I will celebrate the festival by attending a Lohri event “Lohri Di Raat” by Punjabi cultural Heritage of Charan Singh sapra ( member Legislative council). This will be followed by some other events and will end the day with a celebration with my family.

Ulka Gupta is the most pampered girl on the set of Shaktipeeth Ke Bhairav

The magnum opus mythological show Shaktipeeth Ke Bhairav airing on BIG Magic has been grabbing eyeball with its beguiling content since its launch in November’17. In a short span of time, lead actors Rohit Bakshi and Ulka Gupta have become highly popular for their power packed performances.

With special costumes, heavy adornments, hours of makeup and impeccable acting actress Ulka Gupta looks nothing less than a goddess on the screen. But there is something else that makes this journey extremely memorable for the 20 year old Ulka, it is the special pampering treatment she gets from the cast and crew on set.

On the same when we got in touch with Ulka she quipped, “I have been loved and taken care of by all on the set, mainly because I am the youngest (laughs). Honestly I am blessed to have such a hardworking and genuine team to work with.”

“Just to share an incident, due to winters my eyes water a lot which sometimes affects the shooting, but well as soon as the director calls for a cut – the make-up man to light man is ready with the tissue box to help me out. Their kind and helping nature boosts you me up and motivates me to work better” exclaimed the actress.

Well truly, Ulka is blessed to have such an amazing team. To watch the phenomenal performance of Ulka Gupta in Skatipeeth Ke Bhairav, stay tuned every Monday to Friday at 7pm only on BIG Magic.

“Selling sex in Bollywood is dead” says Vikram Bhatt, director of 1921

Earlier when horror films would be made in Bollywood, it was assumed that the movie would have sex scenes attached to it. However, over the years, the movie going audience has evolved and since there is a lot of pornographic and adult content available online, they are just looking for meaty content in films, a film that will leave them entertained till the end. If a filmmaker today makes a horror flick, he knows that he will not be able to fool the audience by making a erotic film.  Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt who is all set to give the audience his next horror flick 1921 says, “Selling sex in Bollywood is dead. The genre ‘horrex’ does not exist anymore. Sex  is out of horrex, its only horror now.” And hence, director Vikram made sure that he gives the audience what they actually want to see.He further adds,“In fact, data providers have killed the sex market because porn is more accessible now, hence 1921 is high on content and not sex. Hence, when the audience goes to watch this film, they will be in for pure entertainment and nothing else.” 1921, which is all set to hit the theaters on 12th January 2018, starring Zareen Khan and Karan Kundrra in lead roles, promises to curb our horror cravings with its horror content and gripping story line.The film Is an out and out, edge of the seat horror, like what we have seen and loved in any Vikram Bhatt film.

Why is cosmetic treatment a taboo in our country, explains celebrity Dr. Monica Kapoor

Ours is the country where aesthetic appearance is the parameter for acceptance. This is the reason why showbiz industry is going gaga over the new cool i.e Cosmetic treatment. What’s ironical is that despite the wide popularity, people (actors specifically) resort to denial and prefer to stay tight-lipped. 

But why is it treated as a taboo in India? 

Well, Dr. Monica Kapoor does not agree with the stated fact and feels that refraining from talking about cosmetic treatment and surgeries have become a fashion. Monica, a renowned name of the cosmetic and aesthetic industry said, “Cosmetic surgeries are not a taboo in our country rather it has become a fashion in Bollywood and glamour industry to refrain from talking about it. Celebrities are in the industry because of their beautiful looks and good physique to a certain extent, and if they get something corrected in their body- which they are not happy about- they hide it from media and other people. The reason is they don't want people to hype it and make fun of it.” 

Speaking further, she said, “Also, most of them probably want to show to the world that beauty they have is all God gifted, all natural. Very few people are so courageous that they come in open and discuss the surgeries and treatment they have undergone.” 

Saluting the people who gather courage to speak of their flaws and correction treatment they underwent, Monica adds a piece of advice saying, “ I would like to give sincere advice to them that if you get something corrected with the help of medical treatments, do not hesitate in talking about it. In fact, you should boast as much as possible.” 

Owing to the technological advancements, we have so many medical and surgical treatments handy which are boon to this glamour world. In reference to the same, she further asks the people to “promote it as much as possible. Talking about this cosmetic treatments and surgeries would help the people get aware of it so that they can also take advantages of this gift. After all, no one is born perfect,” she stated.

"I AM A B-GRADE FEAR SELLER AND PROUD OF IT!

I am a fear seller. In a world where money is made out of selling love, friendship, laughter, hope and even tears, I sell fear. I do this unapologetically and at the cost of being called not aesthetic, crass and B-grade. Hang on, correction; I am a B-grade fear seller. Phew! What a relief it is not to court the hall of fame and jostle for a name in the list of the great artistes of the time. What a relief it is to not be great, or even attempt to be great for that matter! 

For those who want to be remembered after they are gone, for those that want to be immortal through their work and for those that think forever is a tangible concept, good luck to them. I have learned that at the end of it all, you’re just a picture on the wall. The seduction of posterity has scant effect on me now. I cannot live in misery to be remembered after I am gone. I rather live well and not bother who shall remember me after I am gone. Many a great have walked this ground for whom we say, “Who that?” 

My fight with the sands of time is done. I have always believed that a birth is but a day in the life of a soul and if I have just one day to live there is not much time for a pointless chase. 

I am busy looking for my next meal, like a scavenger. I am looking through the dustbin of time for stories and I shall iron them out and put them out to dry on my roadside stall and cry myself hoarse, “Come be afraid!” 

I am also tired of the duplicity and I find it pointless trying to fight it. There are some who will cheer the priest reading out of the Bible and using the power of Jesus to exorcise the spirit in an English picture but an Indian Priest using the Vishnu Sahasranaam is regressive cinema. Then regressive it should be! 

I can only be what I believe in and I believe in the Hanuman Chalisa and the Vishnu Sahasranaam and the Gajendra Moksh Stotram. I believe in the Mantra and I believe that the power of God will vanquish evil. If that is regressive, if that is funny, if that is illogical, then I am all that but I would rather be something than nothing! I refuse to be ashamed of my beliefs or my God. 

I believe there is the Devil and I believe there are souls that are evil and I believe that the Demon will try to seduce you. I believe in all this because I believe in God and if there is God then there has to be the anti-God. How can there be light but not the dark? How can there be the day but not the night? How can there be a two without one? 

There are those that will believe the one who says that he has seen God and will bring God to you but you will not believe one that says I have seen evil and there is evil. 

There are those that will believe in that Messenger of God who will turn out to be a sex addict and a murderer because he has promised you God and Salvation. You will believe in the Baapu who has to still get bail on rape charges because he said he could introduce you to God. You will believe the one who says that there is an ‘Art of living” and take money from you to teach that art? Really? Dogs live, cats live, monkeys live, there is no Art to living! Life is life! But there are those that will pay to learn the art. They pay because they believe in a template that has been laid out! 

Yessir! We live by a template, size zero good other sizes not so good, fair good and dark not good, mountains good and plains not so good, beaches good and cities not so good, sunsets good and sunrise good but noon sun not good. And in that template horror not so good, God seller credible but fear seller, B grade? 

And yet I don’t want your praise. I am happy with your money! My spook shop is doing well, you are welcome any time!"