By: ASJAD NAZIR
BOLLYWOOD CELEBRITY REVELATIONS IN THE PAST YEAR, INCLUDING HOPES, LIKES AND EXPERIENCES
EVERY year, we learn something new about popular Bollywood stars and 2021 was no different. Through interviews, social media posts and fan interactions, celebrities revealed interesting details about themselves.
With that in mind, here are things we learned about 40 Hindi cinema actors and actresses in the past 12 months.
Diana Penty is obsessed with spy and espionage genres and would love to play an undercover agent or do an action orientated role in a spy film.
Jackie Shroff will write an autobiography one day about his rise from rags to riches and his biggest inspirations are his two children. He said: “I watch my kid Tiger and my daughter Krishna, and want to be in competition with them, and keep healthy. So that I can be around them and with them.”
Rajkummar Rao spent the lockdown reading, attending online acting workshops, watching films, and learning how to play the guitar.
1990s Bollywood star Somy Ali has devoted her life to running a Miami-based charity that has helped more than 30,000 victims of domestic, sexual, psychological, and violent abuse.
Janhvi Kapoor has a few favourite roles of her late mother Sridevi and revealed: “I love Sadma and think that’s one of her best performances, and English Vinglish. I thought the Charlie Chaplin segment in Mr India was genius.”
Aamir Khan would never revisit his Oscar nominated film Lagaan but would happily give any filmmaker the remake rights if they wanted to attempt it. He said: “I don’t believe in being possessive about my film. I’d like to see who can play Bhuvan better than me.”
Richa Chadha portrayed Dalit politician, who battles against the odds to rise up towards power in Madam Chief Minister but wouldn’t take it up as a career in real life. She said: “You have to really have nerves of steel. Not a politician in India for sure. So, the answer is a big no.”
Ranveer Singh is already thinking about fatherhood and wants a baby daughter just like his wife Deepika Padukone.
Before hitting the big time Vikrant Massey was ousted from two films he had signed, days before the shoot was due to begin. On one occasion he found out through a newspaper article.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui doesn’t watch much of his own work but has one role he really enjoyed playing. He said: “I enjoyed Photograph, directed by Ritesh Batra. I love characters like that, which are dry and devoid of much drama in their life, but they don’t click with audiences unfortunately. That’s a big conflict. The ones I love, audiences don’t like.”
Kiara Advani’s dream role is to play legendary Bollywood actress Madhubala in a biopic, describing her as a wonderful and beautiful actress.
Sonakshi Sinha learned a lot from her first serious relationship, which commenced when she was 21 years old and lasted five years.
Priyanka Chopra focused on herself during quarantine and finally started to enjoy training. When asked how she switches off, the actress said: “I definitely take two or three hours at the end of the night to watch a movie, do dinner, decompress, talk with my family and friends. That’s something very recent, I never used to do it in my 20s.”
Emraan Hashmi was once approached by a producer with a suggestion he star opposite Alia Bhatt in a romantic comedy and angrily refused because she is his cousin. He said: “I can only work with her as a brother, any other thing would make me sick.”
Manoj Bajpayee will write an autobiography one day and promised to be fully honest about his journey.
The performance of actor Nani in Telugu film Jersey brought Shahid Kapoor to tears and inspired him to star in the Bollywood remake.
Parineeti Chopra learned to cook during lockdown and revealed that she couldn’t even boil water before that. Now she uses cooking to de-stress after a hectic day.
Abhishek Bachchan hates giving auditions and says he is terrible at it.
Lara Dutta got help from her father to prepare for her role as Indira Gandhi in Bellbottom because he was in the Indian air force and used to be the late Indian prime minister’s pilot. She said: “He flew her innumerable amount of time and interacted with her on one-on-one basis.”
Vicky Kaushal is inspired by people that follow their passions, whether real people in everyday life, celebrities, or historical figures. He said: “I am deeply interested in finding out what motivations they had and how they followed them to achieve their goals and dreams. I am constantly striving to learn from them and imprint everything I do with a similar drive and passion.”
Minissha Lamba’s favourite drama serials include Black Mirror, Love Death + Robots, Line Of Duty, Watchmen and The Boys.
Neena Gupta finally found the time to write her autobiography during lockdown and revealed many secrets, including Satish Kaushik offering to marry her when she got pregnant out of wedlock.
Stars have different coping mechanisms to help their mental health. Dia Mirza uses being in nature and gardening, while Jacqueline Fernandez relies on her pets.
Ajay Devgn returns to directing with upcoming thriller Runway 34 and said he had never seen a more dedicated actor than Amitabh Bachchan, who stars alongside him in the film.
Huma Qureshi had to audition for her role in mega-budget Hollywood film Army Of The Dead on a Thursday, returned to India on the Saturday and got the call Monday asking if she wanted to do the film.
TV shows Deepika Padukone loves include The Crown and Scooby Doo.
Kareena Kapoor Khan shot for hotly anticipated film Laal Singh Chaddha when she was five and a half months pregnant. She confidently said: “I actually shot for a romantic song with Aamir (Khan) in the film carrying my baby.”
The film roles closest to Bhumika Chawla’s heart are her first film in Telugu, Yuvakudu, Badri (her first in Tamil) and Tere Naam, which was her first foray into Bollywood. Other films she really enjoyed acting in include Gandhi My Father, Anasuya, Kushi, Okkadu and Simhadri.
Kajol loves her husband Ajay Devgn’s cooking. Aside from being a fabulous cook, she also revealed that he has major OCD.
Ayushmann Khurrana’s biggest inspiration is late great singer and actor Kishore Kumar, describing him as the showman of the century. He said: “Honestly, he is, has been and will always be my guru.”
Despite making a winning directorial debut with A Death In The Gunj, Konkona Sem Sharma has no plans to helm another movie. She said: “Direction is a lot of hard work and not very well paying especially for the kind of projects I want to undertake. I don’t feel compelled that I must direct another film. I will do it if I feel strongly about the subject.”
Even though she played a surrogate mother in critically acclaimed film Mimi, the thought of actually having a baby scares Kriti Sanon (pictured). She said: “All I can say is I am petrified to deliver a child in real life.”
Director Nikhil Advani revealed that Shah Rukh Khan didn’t like his death scene in Kal Ho Naa Ho and much preferred the one in Devdas.
Kartik Aaryan said he has no information on his bank balance and that his mother takes care of it.
Taapsee Pannu revealed that some stars take steroids to get into shape for a film, but she absolutely refused and trained hard for nearly a year to get in shape for Rashami Rocket.
Shruti Haasan’s earliest cinema memories include going to the movie set and watching classic film Spartacus with her famous father Kamal Haasan many times.
Sara Ali Khan revealed that growing up with single mother Amrita Singh made her tougher.
Director Mahesh Manjrekar thinks his Antim: The Final Truth lead star Salman Khan is lonely and should get married, so that he has someone to come home to.
Akshay Kumar revealed that some of his odd jobs before becoming a movie star included selling jewellery and making jalebis.
Saif Ali Khan said he didn’t get paid to act in zombie comedy Go Goa Gone, as that was the only way to get it made.
