I feel blessed and humbled receiving the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan Awards: Ustad Amjad Ali Khan

Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan felicitated legends from the fields of music, drama, art and social work with the prestigious Deenanath Awards at the Shri Shanmukhanand Hall, Sion. Hon. Minister  Shri Nitin Gadkari presided over the function. Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Usha  Mangeshkar, Adinath Mangeshkar, Avinash Prabhavalkar and Ravi Joshi among others played perfect hosts at the event that had a familial feel to it. 

This year, the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Award was conferred upon the Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan; Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Lifetime Award to Asha Bhosle, Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Special Award to Anupam Kher for his contribution to Indian Theatre and Cinema, Shekhar Sen for his contribution to Theatre, Dhananjay Datar for his Social Entrepreneurship; the Vagvilasini Award to poet Yogesh Gaur for Literature and Shriram Gogate Award to Rajiv Khandekar for Journalism; the Mohan Wagh Award to Theatre Production - Ananya for Best Drama of the Year; the Asha Bhosle Award to Mery Behlihomji, Hon. Chairperson of The Central Society of Education for the Deaf for her social cause and contribution to the progress of the hearing impaired for general public.

Ustad Amjad Ali Khan was elated. “For the musicians of India, and especially for me, the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan Award is the greatest and the most prestigious award of my life. The legendary Deenanath jee gave the revered Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar, Meena Mangeshkar and Srimant Hridayanath Mangeshkar to the music world. I feel very blessed and humbled with this honour.” 

Asha Bhosle felt equally honoured. “This award is really special for me as it is in the name of my father, Shri Deenanath Mangeshkar. But more than that, I feel honoured to receive this award as it has been conferred upon many stalwarts from the music industry, over the years. This year is Deenanath ji’s 76th anniversary and legends like Pandit Birju Maharaj, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Ajay Chakraborty among others will be part of celebrations. I feel blessed. “ 

Social entrepreneur Dhananjay Datar felt inspired. “I am extremely happy to be chosen to be a proud recipient of the prestigious Deenanath Mangeshkar Awards. The Mangeshkar family, in every way, has been giving Maharashtra, the best of their best. Apart from entertaining the society with divine music, they have been active in social service and enrichment of our culture. Their noble philanthropic service has set a unique example for others to follow. It is a blessing for me to receive this award. Secondly, I am inspired and encouraged by Pandit Hridaynathji Mangeshkar, when I humbly started promoting Indian and specially Marathi culture in Gulf countries. His words of appreciation boosted my spirit and enthusiasm to march forward in this direction.” 

Avered Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty, “Deenanath ji was a great performing musician and a trendsetter in Maharashtra. Raga music in Maharashtra was popular through Natya Sangeet and he was a King in that periphery, his memory maintained by the legendary Lata ji, Asha ji, Usha ji and Hridaynath ji. I think it’s really a privilege for everyone to come and remember Deenanath ji today and the kind of hard work that the family has put in to keep the tradition alive. I received the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratisthan Award four years ago and this time, I will be performing alongside Birju Maharaj ji. It is going to be an enthralling experience for me and I am looking forward to the same.” 

The Mangeshkar family has been celebrating Deenanath Mangeshkar’s anniversary since the last 75 years and this is the 76th anniversary celebrations. Earlier the celebrations used to be a private function till they made it public since 1988. 

“In memory of Master Deenanathji, whose monumental contributions as a singer, musician and stage artiste have been an inspiration to the people of Maharashtra and India, the Mangeshkar family organizes the Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan Awards to honour legends. We are glad that we have the love and support of the masses.” echoed Hridaynath Mangeshkar.

The Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Smruti Pratishthan Awards was followed by a classical programme, Swar Nritya Bhav Darshan wherein  Pt. Birju Maharaj and  Saswati Sen delivered a Kathak performance, Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty’s rendition of Thumris, with Anindo Chatterjee as the Tabla accompanist. The programme concluded with Pt.Ajoy Chakraborty's Thumri rendition with Bhavmudra presentation by Pt.Birju Maharaj.

The 76th Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Punyatithi was organized by Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Shruti Prathishthan along with Hridayesh Arts, who have also organized the music programme.

Ajay Mehra's bollywood debut with Jara Mara

Ajay Mehra, who is known for his prominent role in popular ongoing tv serials ‘Kasam Tere Pyar Ki’ on Colors and ‘Zindagi Ki Mehek’ on Zee TV, is taking a leap from small screen to bollywood. He is all set to make his bollywood debut with the movie ‘Jara Mara’, directed by Ajay Gupta. In this movie, he’ll be seen playing the negative role of ‘Yadav’ alongside Sumit Nijhawan.

When spoken to Ajay about his bollywood debut, Ajay said, “Bollywood was my first dream to work in. I’ve been waiting and preparing myself for bollywood since 8 years. Acting workshops and working on my craft was my battle to get into bollywood. I’ve been reading many biographies and their struggles that inspired me a lot. Now, my wait is over in bollywood but many more to go.

Ajay was last seen in BCL 3 in ‘The Ahmedabad Express’ team on MTV. His earlier work includes ‘Halla Bol Series 1’ on Bindass, BCL Punjab ‘Royal Patialvi’ and BCL India 2 ‘Chennai Swaggers’.

‘Jara Mara’ is a movie based on secularism starring Ravi Kishan, Sumit Nijhawan, Ajay Mehra, etc...

Vikram Bhatt’s Twisted 2 trailer out

The trailer for Vikram Bhatt’s original web series Twisted 2 was launched at a suburban theatre today. Present at the launch were the lead stars of the show, Nia Sharma, Rrahul Singh, Dilnaz Irani and Vikram Bhatt himself, along with the director of the show, Anupam Santosh Saroj. The trailer was followed by 2 songs from the show; Ghav Hai Ghav Par, sung by Arnab Datta, the lyrics of which have been written by Shakeel Azmi and music directed by Raja  Pandit and Pyar Na Ho Jaaye Kahin sung by Ravi Mishra, written by Shakeel Azmi, and music directed by Harish Sagane 

Twisted 2 is the second installment of Vikram Bhatt’s recently launched OTT platform VB on the Web’s original show, Twisted, which garnered a tremendous response from viewers when it first aired on the digital platform. Nia Sharma will be seen reprising her role of Aliya Mukherjee for the reboot, while Rrahul Singh, who plays an ex cop in the series, will play the role of Aryan Mathur, opposite Nia. The new face in the series, Dilnaz Irani, is making a comeback to television and will be playing Arunima, a police officer,in the show. 

Twisted 2 is slated to release on the OTT platform on 25th April 2018 and is produced by Vikram Bhatt with Jio Cinema.

Yami hopes to help kids, one book at a time!

Yami Gautam, actress of the upcoming Batti Gul and Uri posted on her social media that she has just supported and donated towards setting up a library for under privileged kids in Kohlapur, Maharashtra. Her donation will help over 400 children in the area to read, learn and imagine. The books were science, math, history, keeping in mind the age group of 7-15 year olds. The actress mentioned the reason she felt so strong for children's education was, " I have a personal connect as I have grown up watching my grandpa start a school which was for underprivileged kids who could not afford to spend on education. I remember going to that school and interacting with them, when I had an off from my school so that was a small initiative I saw my family start in Chandigarh. Which is why this (education) has a personal connect with me. I have always wanted to do something for the education and empowerment of children. Especially the rural kids as accessibility to basics like books, good public schools, teachers is still work in progress in such pockets of the country. While researching I came across various NGOs who are working on this front and the least we can do is a contribution in whatever small ways we can. "

Rasika Dugal esctatic to celebrate 10 years of acting in films with Manto at Cannes 2018

Rasika Dugal who’s been surprising everyone with her varied roles proving herself as a versatile actress with numerous projects is soon leaping into the big pool. The actress who made headlines last year when she was roped as the lead in Nandita Das’ much talked about biopic of Sadat Hassan Manto, is now making news again as her film in which she’s paired opposite Nawazuddin Siddiquie is headed to the very prestigious, Cannes Film Festival. 

The actress has been dabbling her acting skills not just in films but in various entertainment platforms including theatre, television and web. The actress made her debut exactly 10 years back and now is reaping the benefits of her persistent trial to grow as an actor. What better way than to mark her 10 years as a working actress than with the premiere of her biggest film at the most prestigious film festival in the world. 

The actress’ film Manto has been one of the two only Hindi films this year as the official selection for Cannes where the film will be screened in the prestigious category - Uncertain Regard. 

Speaking about the occasion, Rasika said, “It has been ten years since I started acting professionally. It has been a crazy journey , with so many ups and downs and myraid experiences. And  I couldn't have thought of a better way to celebrate ten years of being in this profession than with having my film as an official entry at the Cannes Film festivals and that too in a prestigious section - Un Certain Regard'. For actors like me, appreciation for our work is most valuable. It is what we thrive  on. This selection is such an honour and an incentive to push myself further to learn more and raise the standards of performance”.