DIVI INDIANI IN ITALIA

Ranveer Singh

Il facoltoso clan degli Ambani continua a regalarci grandi soddisfazioni. Dopo l'indimenticabile spettacolo congiunto del trio regale dei Khan (clicca qui), gentilmente offerto lo scorso marzo dai futuri sposi Anant Ambani e Radhika Merchant, in questi giorni la coppia è in Italia per la sontuosa (interminabile) festa prematrimoniale organizzata su una nave da crociera salpata il 29 maggio da Palermo, con tappe il 30 a Civitavecchia - per una veloce visita della capitale - e domattina primo giugno a Santa Margherita Ligure (con proseguimento nella notte per Genova). Quasi tutti i locali di Portofino sono stati affittati ad uso esclusivo, e la famosa Piazzetta verrà chiusa ai non invitati dalle 17.30 alle 22.30. Alle 21.00 è previsto un concerto privato di Andrea Bocelli. Le nozze si celebreranno in luglio a Mumbai.

Superfluo precisare che, in siffatte circostanze, i miliardari adorano garantirsi la presenza di personaggi famosi di altissimo calibro. La lista è da scorrere in posizione seduta: Salman Khan (credo per la prima volta nel nostro Paese), Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor con la sorella Karisma, Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt con il marito Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Sanjay Dutt, Kiara Advani con il marito Sidharth Malhotra, Janhvi Kapoor con il padre Boney Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Ananya Panday, Disha Patani, Ayan Mukerji, Atlee. Alcuni media indiani citano anche Aamir Khan e addirittura la famiglia Bachchan. Poco o niente sta trapelando (sigh), le fotografie che circolano in rete si contano sulle dita di una mano - tocca accontentarsi e attendere con pazienza. 

Gli Ambani sembrano apprezzare parecchio l'Italia, dal momento che anche Isha Ambani, sorella di Anant, nel 2018 aveva festeggiato il suo fidanzamento sul lago di Como, con abituale corollario di un folto gruppo di celebrità (clicca qui).

Aggiornamenti del 2 giugno 2024: 

- Video: Shah Rukh Khan e Ranbir Kapoor a Portofino

- Video: Shah Rukh Khan al concerto di Andrea Bocelli

- Video: Salman Khan e Sanjay Dutt a Portofino

- Video: Kiara Advani e Sidharth Malhotra a Portofino

Ananya Panday a Roma

Sara e Ibrahim Ali Khan a Roma

Ananya Panday a Portofino

Janhvi Kapoor a Portofino

ALIA BHATT: DIECI ANNI DI CARRIERA

Per la talentuosa Alia Bhatt il 2022 segna il decimo anno di carriera, un invidiabile percorso professionale contrassegnato da successi - solo un paio di passi falsi - sia di pubblico che di critica. Diverse testate indiane hanno dedicato ampio spazio alla giovane attrice. Vi segnalo alcuni articoli:

- Is there anything Alia Bhatt can’t do?, Kaveree Bamzai, Open, 15 agosto 2022:

'Alia [Bhatt] always wanted to be a Hindi film heroine. Her father [Mahesh Bhatt] insists her upbringing was not “filmi”. Alia agrees, “I didn’t grow up on a film set. I knew my parents would go away for a while but it was only much later that I realised my father was related to movies and my mother [Soni Razdan] did theatre and TV shows. Growing up, I remember they would play a lot of music, there would be music sittings for movies. But my relationship with acting started with television. I was in my own la la land, watching Karisma Kapoor, Govinda, David Dhawan movies. I would watch Ekta Kapoor’s TV series such as Kasautii Zindagii Kay. I discovered Mahesh Bhatt’s cinema much later. But by the age of four, I had decided to become an actor.” She was seven when she saw Zakhm (1998) and sent her stepsister Pooja Bhatt a note on it. “I remember Pooja telling me she was stunned by her sensitivity at that age,” says Mahesh Bhatt.

As a child, she got many offers to be an actor. “But my mum wanted me to live the life of a child, and not start so young,” she says. When she was nine, her mother took her to [Sanjay Leela] Bhansali to audition for the role of the young girl in Black (2005) that finally went to Ayesha Kapur. “My mum was very keen on me being part of his movies. I had no clue I was going to that meeting. It was only when we were entering Sanjay Sir’s building that she told me. It was where I met Ranbir for the first time. He was taking pictures of me, very eager, being the assistant. I remember Bhansali telling my mother, ‘This girl will be a heroine one day.’ (...) Life does not go according to plan. And sometimes, as women, we forget to define who we are in our own roles. (...) The way I’ve chosen my roles, the timing for my film releases, nothing has been planned. I got married at 29 - I thought I would not get married until much later. Very early on, in my career and personal life, I realised you had to go with what happens naturally, to go with your gut feeling, to go with what feels right as opposed to what you think is right.”

Her greatest gift is her intuitive ability to understand a script, says her mother, actor Soni Razdan. (...) “Student of the Year hadn’t come out but there was something about this child-woman that struck me. I offered her the role of Veera in Highway and asked her to read the script,” he [Imtiaz Ali] says. She did, and loved it, though she was apprehensive about being in every scene of the movie. “My team was not convinced though,” says Ali, and he asked her to the office one day to tell them the story of Highway as she understood it. They were blown away,” he says. 

Gauri Shinde, who directed her in Dear Zindagi (2016), says she has everything one needs to be a great actor, “She is damn real, unafraid to show vulnerability both onscreen and offscreen; highly sensitive and intuitive at such a young age; is sharply focused on her craft; and has a natural charm, energy and honesty that is so appealing that one can’t help but fall in love with her.” She also has the gift of listening, says her Darlings director Jasmeet K. Reen. “When you tell her about the character, you can see her mentally taking notes. Even in readings, she just reads without expression. When the camera starts, she just explodes,” says Reen. (...) Her mother says Alia has a photographic memory that helps her in her performances. (...)

When she finally did get a role in a Bollywood movie, she was 17. It was after a series of auditions and Alia still remembers going to meet [Karan] Johar in his office after she was selected. “I was still in my school uniform,” she says. Johar remembers it slightly differently. (...) “I had met her when she was very tiny because she would come to the film set as Bhatt Sahib has directed two films for my dad. I had not kept in touch. Then I called up her mom and asked whether I could have a meeting. By then, we had auditioned 300 girls for the lead in Student of the Year. Alia walked in and she was really chubby and cute. She had come in her school uniform (...) and we chatted. There was something extraordinary about her. After that, she did the audition and it was amazing,” he says. He then told her he would want her to get into workshops for fitness and acting. Three months later, when they did photo shoots, he knew she was a “bona fide movie star”. He feels she is the finest actor in the country currently, and he means both men and women. Razdan acknowledges his role - he is really like her second father, she says. (...)

Until Student of the Year happened, Razdan says the family was all set to send Alia to the UK or the US for a year’s acting course. She remembers holding Alia’s hand for the first two years of her career, because she was so young. But after the initial phase, Alia took her own calls, says the mother. How different is her stardom from that of her immediate predecessors, the troika of Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif? Unlike them, she is not a particularly gifted dancer. (...) Unlike the three of them who relied on the Khans for their initial stardom, she didn’t have that choice because of her physiognomy. So, either by choice or coincidence, she challenged the Khan patriarchy. Gauri Shinde’s Dear Zindagi featured Shah Rukh Khan, but in an avuncular cameo. Luck and timing are also on her side. She is in the industry at a time when stories are the priority. (...)

Alia’s stardom is also carefully constructed as a conversation with the audience on social media. When her first appearance on Koffee with Karan revealed her lack of general knowledge, she converted it into an opportunity and made “dumb” her calling card. In 2014, the popular YouTube channel, AIB, collaborated with her to create a video called “Genius of the Year”, a spoof of the event. (...) Around the same time, Alia received both critical acclaim and commercial success for her performance in Highway followed by Udta Punjab (directed by Abhishek Chaubey, 2016), and later, Raazi (Meghna Gulzar, 2018). Suddenly, from an entitled star kid she came to be seen as a real actor. (...)

She lets the world (with 68.3 million followers) into her life with Instagram. It is very different in the case of both Deepika and Anushka, whose stardom was more controlled, the lines between personal and private clearly drawn. (...) Add to that a careful balance of commercial cinema and middle-of-the-road movies. (...) And there is a burgeoning career that keeps her priority front and centre, the desire to entertain. For Alia, the last 10 years have gone by very fast. “When I’ve made a mistake, I’ve moved on. I don’t reflect too much, nothing happens for a second time. It’s a different day, a different step. There’s still a lot of work to do, especially now. Maybe, I have the ability to make things happen. I can make a film like Darlings, act in it, co-produce it. I like the idea of showcasing a new director and a new script. That has always been the endeavour. I loved the experience of putting together Darlings, from okaying the script, to working on the story, to the way the film is presented. It makes me so proud to see the human spirit in collaboration. I love that dynamic,” she says. (...) Alia’s heritage is multicultural. On her father’s side, a Muslim grandmother and a Gujarati Hindu grandfather; and on her mother’s side, a Kashmiri Pandit grandfather and a German grandmother. (...) Alia has the thirst to do much more, says her father. She’s looking beyond the horizon. In a battered Bollywood, perhaps her cooperative way of working will usher in a new era'.

- Aila, Alia!, Mayank Shekhar, Mid-Day, 20 agosto 2022. Il testo include il video dell'intervista integrale:

'[Udta Punjab] Bhatt recalls her trainer [Pankaj Tripathi], whom she’d meet every day, mastering body language, Jharkhandi dialect, down to how her character sits on haunches for hours. It’s the only time in her career that Bhatt confesses she went “method” on herself. Meaning, abandoned cell-phone, never stepped out of hotel room, consumed no entertainment, spent time interacting/empathising with local youth, never switched on the TV, and simply marinated in the character, until the shoot ended. Why? Because she wanted to prove she was “a chameleon as an actor.” To whom? To herself, she says. (...) She had in fact read the said script, through Shahid Kapoor, her co-actor in the romantic fantasy, 'Shaandaar' (2015), that they were shooting at the time. She actively went up to [Abhishek] Chaubey, asking him to consider her for the battered female lead. The initial look-test didn’t wholly convince him either. She even learnt to play hockey for a month, which is only part of the character’s back-story, not even in the film. The effort totally matches the outcome. Although she says, “There is a part [of me] that says I won’t do it again; of course, never say never. I only played that part for 20 days, which was great. I don’t know how I would have survived it for, say, 60 days.” (...)

With Gangubai, Bhatt reveals about Bhansali being the performative inspiration: “I took so much of Sir’s personality and put that into Gangubai’s character - the way he speaks, thinks, has a certain attitude. (...) Because it is in his head. Film is the director’s medium. And then it’s the written word. The actor has to collect all those things and place it in front of the camera.” (...)

“I am very open to people’s opinions. That is the only way a person learns. But there is [this] humbling part [in my personality] that also comes with my upbringing, and the people around me. I am not the first member of my own fan club. I do not believe the sun shines out of my backside. I genuinely believe I am here to do a job, and must continue to do it well, which is a by-product of a lot of people doing their job well. It is not just me. I value that. (...) I recently realised that I have literally not been a ‘present’ friend for 10 years. And they let me be ‘unpresent’, because they knew I was chasing something. And you have to make sacrifices to try and get what you want. I have the same [set of] nine friends I went to (...) school with. At the end of the day, I feel most comfortable with them. There is a certain version of myself that I have to be in a public space, which I don’t, in their company. What matters to them is me, being me. That’s very grounding. The reason I have not lost them, is because of them. Because they have been so understanding, supportive.” (...)

Here’s Bhatt, the actor, with a house, car, checked, before 21; Bollywood debut before 20; started a film company, and then married, and is even expecting a child, before she turns 30! Is she following some timeline - yes/no/maybe?

Bhatt says, “Contrary to the character in Darlings, I don’t have a list. I have never had a plan. In fact, I used to think I will get married very late. I was one of those girls, who didn’t really talk about marriage much. But it is totally different, when you fall deeply in love, and you also feel like, okay, no, you want to get into that next point of your life. That happened very naturally with Ranbir [Kapoor]. I don’t know why. It just happened. And I am not feeling like my work will stop, pause, or change. I will continue to work till the very end. But that [raising a family] section of your life is something that you have to give your time and energy to. It is not going to happen by itself.” As for manifesting life events, here’s something that can’t be denied about her relationship with her now-husband, Ranbir Kapoor. Over the past decade, pick up any interview, especially the rapid-fire round type stuff that’s common on YouTube chats. Every time she’s been asked about a crush, someone she’d like to date on-screen, etc - inevitably, her answer has been Ranbir Kapoor. Which is mildly strange, since both of them had been dating other people, all through. It’s almost like she set her eyes on this guy, and simply announced to the world that that’s the one she’s gonna end up with. Bhatt laughs, “You know, it is really weird. I was saying it as a regular ‘cute girl’. I was not actually chasing Ranbir on the side, or plotting to get Ranbir; none of that was happening. The fact that I was saying it obviously means I was not thinking about it. Sometimes when you think about it, you never say it. It is beautiful how it naturally worked out, when we started working together on Brahmāstra. For the longest time, we were socially meeting each other. But we had our own lives. There was no interaction, nothing. There was not even a friendship. I could not even call Ranbir a friend. But it naturally happened on that one flight to Tel Aviv, when we both were not seeing anybody. Both of us were single. Both of us were like, ‘Oh my God, what were we doing all these years?’ ‘Why aren’t we together?’ It was a question he kinda asked me. I was like, ‘I don’t know!’ So that’s what I was talking about. You cannot plan something like this”.'

THE ERA OF RANBIR

[Archivio]

Il suo ultimo film, Shamshera, distribuito un mese fa, non ha incontrato i favori del pubblico, quindi ora tutti gli occhi sono puntati sulla prossima pellicola, Brahmāstra - Part One: Shiva, nelle sale fra qualche settimana. Comunque vada, il 2022 rimarrà memorabile per il sempre talentuoso Ranbir Kapoor: in aprile l'attore si è sposato con Alia Bhatt (sua partner in Brahmāstra), e la coppia sta aspettando un bambino. Proprio la settimana scorsa i due erano in vacanza in Italia, una sorta di brevissima luna di miele incastonata fra i rispettivi impegni professionali (clicca qui). In attesa di applaudire nuovi trionfi, vi propongo un lungo, entusiastico articolo dedicato a Ranbir pubblicato da India Today il primo luglio 2013, anticipato da un editoriale e, naturalmente, dalla copertina. L'attore era allora in corsa per il titolo della più giovane superstar del cinema hindi popolare contemporaneo (buon sangue non mente). Cos'è successo in seguito? La carriera di Ranbir ha sperimentato alti (Tamasha, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Sanju) e bassi (Besharam, l'intrigante Roy, Bombay Velvet, Jagga Jasoos), oltre alla concorrenza di un certo Ranveer Singh.

EDITORIALE, Aroon Purie:

'Every superstar in the Hindi film industry has banked on a formula to become a national icon. If Rajesh Khanna was the eternal romantic of the 1960s, Amitabh Bachchan embodied the repressed anger of a young nation in the 1970s. The 1990s belonged to Shah Rukh Khan, who represented a post-liberalisation globalised generation. He gave a new twist to the romantic lover boy, naughty and passionate, yet totally devoted to Indian values. Ranbir Kapoor, the new superstar of Indian cinema, doesn't have a formula to his stardom.

He is just 30 and has done 10 films since his towel-dropping debut in Sanjay Leela Bansali's Saawariya in 2007, but it's impossible to slot him in any particular image. From the goofy salesman in Rocket Singh Salesman of the Year (2009) to the scheming political heir in Raajneeti (2010), from the good Samaritan in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009) to the superstar rocker in Rockstar (2011), from the aimless and confused youngster in Wake Up Sid (2009) to the ambitious traveller in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (YJHD), his roles are as varied as that of a seasoned character actor.

Some may argue that the credit should go to the new environment in Bollywood as several talented directors are experimenting with subjects and forms that don't conform to type. But such experiments have rarely created superstars. "I challenge any star from my time till now to take the kind of risks this boy has taken," his proud father, actor Rishi Kapoor, says. With the risks have come great rewards. His latest film, YJHD, grossed over Rs 170 crore in three weeks. His previous release, Barfi!, was also a Rs 100-crore blockbuster.

This is a rather curious phenomenon in the Hindi film industry which is likely to be worth nearly Rs 30,000 crore next year. Ranbir defies almost all the market tricks supposed to ensure an entry into the coveted Rs 100-crore club-six-pack abs, gravity-defying action sequences, mindless comedy, provocative item numbers and songs with beautiful women in foreign locations. Movie-goers paid to watch him not utter a single word in Barfi! and lose his girl in Rockstar. This is where Ranbir has evolved beyond his star power. His biggest USP is perhaps this element of unpredictability. Viewers still don't know what to expect of him.

Deputy Editor Kunal Pradhan spent 50 hours over four days with Ranbir to decode the man behind the star. He followed the actor to his film shoots, discussed film promos in his vanity van, worked out with the actor in the gym and even spent time with him in his first-floor room. In his real world, the reel superstar is quite predictable. He still lives with his parents, is obsessed with video games, watches football with friends and is terrified of his dominating father. "Interviewing Ranbir feels like hanging out with any regular person just entering his 30s. He is unafraid to reveal himself, which is a rare trait in any public figure, particularly an actor," says Pradhan.

Being on the cover of India Today was one of Ranbir's four wishes when he joined films. With this issue, his wish gets fulfilled twice over. We put him on the cover first in our June 21, 2010, issue for being the boy wonder who dared to shun formulaic films. Three years later, that risk-taking ability has allowed him to be emblematic of new-age Bollywood. The real big test for the actor is what he will do from here. As his friend Ayan Mukerji, director of YJHD, says: "To see how he changes as a superstar will be interesting. When he's 40, will he still be open to meeting a young, unknown director with a new script? That will decide whether he becomes the next Shah Rukh Khan or someone even bigger." That's for later. Let's revel now, in the new superstar hero who's defying every stereotype of superstardom'.

STAR NEXT DOOR: RANBIR KAPOOR, INDIA'S NEW ACTING SUPERSTAR, Kunal Pradhan:

'Ranbir Kapoor, 30, is India's new acting superstar. His latest film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, released on May 31, has notched up collections of Rs 170 crore at last count, on the back of another Rs 100-crore blockbuster, Barfi!. His new custom-made Mercedes Benz G63 AMG now gets chased down the Bandra-Worli Sea Link by teenagers who recognise him through his lightly tinted windows. There is a gaggle of girls waiting at the gate of his Pali Hill bungalow for an audience; some so persistent and regular they're on first-name terms with his watchman, particularly because Ranbir gets pictures clicked with each one of them. (...)

But in the middle of all this adulation, Ranbir seems strangely unaffected. "I don't know what's wrong with my son," his mother Neetu Singh, 54, tells India Today. "This boy is as relaxed when his film doesn't do well as he is when it's a smash hit. I sometimes wonder if I gave birth to a yogi." His father Rishi Kapoor, 60, a bullish patriarch who admits he had gone on a wild streak after his own debut film Bobby had smashed box-office records in 1973, describes Ranbir as his polar opposite. "I marvel at what keeps him so grounded," he says, swelling in equal measure with pride and bewilderment.

Ranbir (...) jokes about how his state of Zen is being seen as a character flaw. (...) But stoic or not, Ranbir is more calculating, and unabashedly chasing success, than he lets on. Afternoons in his vanity van are spent cruising through one film promo after another. He watches them again and again, seeking opinions on how they are. "Did you see the Chennai Express spot?" he asks about the new Shah Rukh Khan movie. "Good or run-of-the-mill? What about Lootera?" That's the new Vikramaditya Motwane film starring Ranveer Singh. His Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani director and closest friend Ayan Mukerji, 29, says it is Ranbir's way of constantly testing waters, analysing, and trying to break down how his own promo will stand out from all the others. "He has his ear to the ground," says Mukerji. "How can my film be different, that's the only question on his mind."

It's this constant craving to be different that allows Ranbir to do the kind of roles he's done: from Rocket Singh Salesman of the Year in 2009 to Barfi! in 2012, at a time when everybody around him was telling him not to. "I challenge any star," says Rishi Kapoor, "from my time till now, to take the kind of risks this boy has taken." Rishi, sitting in a vanity van next to Ranbir's on the sets of Besharam, which also stars both him and his wife Neetu, is now speaking with a passion that automatically amplifies his volume. "A lot of people did different cinema but that was when they were working with four other regular films on the side. They didn't put their careers on the line like Ranbir has, working on one project at a time," he says, getting louder with every pause. "I can't tell him what films to do now, because what the hell do I know? A lot of people prove their detractors wrong, but he has proven his well-wishers wrong."

Not prone to such passion when off camera, Ranbir looks at his odd choice of roles a little differently. "The first time I thought I should be an actor was in school. I thought at least this is something for which I won't have to study," he laughs. "But I've realised that an actor needs to be constantly unsure about what he's doing, and about what's going on around him. The moment you think you've nailed it, you're dead."

As a Punjabi boy from Bandra, Ranbir, who went to study film in New York, admits he doesn't fully understand the world outside his tiny bubble. "What do I know about my character from Rockstar, (...) or Rocket Singh, or Samar Pratap (Raajneeti, 2010), or the deaf and mute Barfi? The idea is to use the experience of the people who do know. I can relate to Sid (Wake Up Sid, 2009) or Kabir from Yeh Jawaani but that's about it. I'm fortunate to be working with directors who're willing to invest in my education," he says. Anurag Basu, who Ranbir calls Dada, talks to him regularly about new ideas and new characters. Imtiaz Ali, concerned that he doesn't have the command over Hindi or Urdu needed for good diction, and by extension good dialogue delivery, sends him books by Premchand or poetry by Faiz. "You don't need to go through every life experience yourself when you have people to share them with. I have my own point of view and my own understanding through my relationships with women, and my exposure to world cinema. The characters I portray engage me, and I assume they would engage an audience," he says.

Today Ranbir's star meter is at a point few actors have reached before. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani is a rare, epochal moment that comes along perhaps once in a decade, when the audience starts believing that the person they're seeing on the screen is not the character, but the actor himself. It happened with Shah Rukh Khan in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) when viewers thought Raj was a physical embodiment of Shah Rukh. They thought he was a passionate lover who would go to any lengths to win the girl of his dreams, charming his way past any opposition. Shah Rukh emerged from that film as a funny, confident, upright, master-of-all-trades who women wanted to fall in love with and men wanted to be friends with.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani has struck a similar chord. The movie-watching public somehow believes that the man they see on screen is not Kabir, but Ranbir. That he is naughty and fun-loving. That he takes life lightly. That he is loyal to his friends but wouldn't give up on his dreams for the woman he wants to share his world with. That he is the life of every party and the soul of every song. "It's too soon for me to analyse the film," says director Mukerji. "We had thought it would do well but fall short of being a blockbuster-like, say, a Cocktail (2012). But something multiplied its business. Perhaps it was Ranbir and how the public saw him as Kabir." Unlike any other Bollywood superstar before him, Ranbir's USP is how he reins in his emotion, rather than how he lets it out. He's not a master of tragedies like Dilip Kumar, or an angry young man like Amitabh Bachchan, or a fervent lover like Shah Rukh. Ranbir is a new hero for a new age. 

Sociologist Shiv Visvanathan, professor at the O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonepat, and senior fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi, says: "Ranbir is, first, part of a legacy, a nostalgia-Raj Kapoor incarnate, a clown but an adolescent clown. Second, he is a subject of gossip, which sees him as playful and light, and with a roving eye. If Aamir Khan is a social project and Salman Khan is a muscular project, Ranbir is an individual project. He is narcissistic without being self-obsessed, which makes him connect with the India we are becoming, and the India we want to be."

This change in perception now follows him everywhere he goes. There is a smile on the faces of the Besharam unit when Ranbir walks on the set. (...) The assistant directors and grips watch him through tints of rose as he bends down to touch the feet of veteran action director (...) or refers to the cinematographer (...) as "Madhu sir". They gather around as he raps with co-star (...) between shots. They want to know what Ranbir's room is like, who his friends are, which restaurants he goes to, what turns him on, and what has made him this friendly, humble superstar who throws no tantrums and remembers everybody's names.

Ranbir's bedroom on the first floor of the Krishna Raj bungalow, where he chooses to live with his parents despite a bank balance now estimated to be in the range of Rs 200 crore, is a strange mix of young and old. His king-size bed, covered by high threadcount sheets, sits on a wooden floor. The lamp on the side table is perched next to The King Of Oil: The Secret Lives Of Mark Rich by Daniel Amman. "I read autobiographies because there is too much fiction in my life," says Ranbir. There is a beige three-seater sofa for friends, and small tables all around which hold his numerous awards. The decor is inspired by film and family: A poster of Barfi!, a photograph of the first shot of Mughal-e-Azam featuring his great grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor, a mosaic of his grandfather Raj Kapoor's face created from movie stills, and a 3,300-image mosaic of his own face presented to him by the Ranbir Kapoor fan club.

The centrepiece of the room is a 103-inch TV on which he's watching the Netflix series House of Cards. He has an Xbox 360, on which he plays FIFA 2010 and Halo 4, and a Playstation 3, on which his latest favourite is Uncharted 3. His mini-refrigerator is stacked with beer, caviar, sardines, and his favourite chocolate wafers, Quadratini. "When I'm in this room, I vegetate," says Ranbir.

Despite living with a strict father and an indulgent mother, Ranbir has a clearly defined personal space, borne partly out of rebellion and partly out of success. When he was in college, he would derive great pleasure in violating his 1.30 a.m. curfew. "I came home by midnight, waited for everyone to go to bed, then snuck out." His girlfriends often stay over despite his folks living on the floor below. "I don't take them for breakfast with my parents. But I'm sure they know who stayed over," he says.

Ranbir's relationship with women is a little more complicated than he likes to admit. He's been in five "meaningful" romances. His last girlfriend, Deepika Padukone, was his co-star from Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. "We're okay now. We sorted things out a while ago," he says about her. The closure has come at a price, hinting that an inveterate romantic is hiding beneath textbook intimacy issues: Ranbir avoids riding the Segway he would use to go to her Bandra home when they were dating. "I associate it with her. That was my Deepika vehicle."

But his inability to invest too much is obvious from how Ranbir has never been dumped. "I haven't really gone in deep enough to allow myself to get hurt. I'm weak; I pull away when things start to stagnate. I'm aware that I've broken five hearts, and it's not a good feeling." Ranbir says he doesn't really have a 'type'. "I like conflict - someone who challenges me, someone who I can look up to, someone who can keep me in check. Love has to be extraordinary, otherwise there's no point in it. I just haven't met anyone who's made me feel that way." At least not for long enough.

All this talk could also be a ploy to kill the rumour that has been raging in Bollywood - of his relationship with Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009) co-star Katrina Kaif. "Everybody seems to think we're together, but it's not true," Ranbir insists. "She gets along with Ayan as well so we hang out together. It gets tiresome sometimes to talk about what Katrina and I have, and what we don't." His fans, and somehow even his film unit, don't seem to buy that.

But the defining relationship of his life is the one with his father Rishi Kapoor. It's an awkward, uneasy connection though the distance between them is slowly reducing. When Ranbir was a child, his father would either be out shooting, or would get into loud drunken brawls with Neetu that stretched deep into the night. "There were times when my sister (...) and I would be sitting on the steps till 6 a.m., waiting for them to stop," says Ranbir. It made for a difficult adolescence, stemming from an early realisation of how complicated a relationship between a man and a woman can be. "I always knew Dad loved my mother. He is still deeply possessive about her. They would have long arguments and passionate reconciliations. But he always held the upper hand in the house. He was the dominant force, and the rest of us had to cower." It was only when Ranbir returned from college did he noticed the dynamic had changed. His mother had become assertive. "She now had a point of view and got her way," he says.

His misgivings about alcohol spring from seeing what its overindulgence had done to his father. Ranbir is a reluctant social drinker but has smoked his share of weed, especially while at film school. "I used it again during Rockstar," he says, "this time as an acting tool. It was hard to get in the moment on stage with 300 bored junior artistes posing as a real audience. Pot made those moments feel real." But he says he's quit now, partly because he's too busy to get high, partly because he can't afford the lack of concentration and short-term memory loss that comes with smoking up. Rishi Kapoor acknowledges that his relationship with Ranbir remains somewhat strained. "I don't believe a father and son should be friends. I don't want him smoking in front of me, and I'm not comfortable talking to him about his girlfriends. But maybe," he adds, "I've missed something. Maybe I could've been a little different."

Ranbir still wants his father to handle his acting contracts for two reasons. One, Rishi Kapoor is a hard nut to crack in the boardroom and always gets him a great deal. Two, he doesn't want to let commercial negotiations come in the way of a partnership with producers and directors, many of whom are his friends. His only condition is that any creative decision must be his own.

"Today Ranbir is a young actor making fresh films with new directors telling different stories," says Mukerji. "To see how he changes as a superstar will be interesting. When he's 40, will he still be open to meeting a young, unknown director with a new script, or will the Rs 100-crore blood that he's tasted force him to play safe? That, for me, is the question which will decide whether he becomes the next Shah Rukh or someone even bigger." It's past midnight now. Ranbir is back in his room. (...) But he won't be going to bed anytime soon. "I am too insecure to crash early," says Ranbir. "I feel life will pass me by while I'm sleeping".'

IIFA AWARD PER L'ANNO 2012: I VINCITORI

Shah Rukh Khan e Shahid Kapoor

Il 6 luglio 2013 a Macau, nel corso di una cerimonia presentata da Shah Rukh Khan e da Shahid Kapoor, sono stati assegnati gli IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) Award per la produzione cinematografica del 2012. Segnalo di seguito i vincitori nelle categorie più importanti:

* Miglior film: Barfi!

* Miglior regista: Anurag Basu per Barfi!

* Miglior attore protagonista: Ranbir Kapoor per Barfi!

* Miglior attrice protagonista: Vidya Balan per Kahaani

* Miglior attore non protagonista: Annu Kapoor per Vicky Donor

* Miglior attrice non protagonista: Anushka Sharma per Jab Tak Hai Jaan

* Miglior attore in un ruolo negativo: Rishi Kapoor per Agneepath

* Miglior attore in un ruolo comico: Abhishek Bachchan per Bol Bachchan

* Miglior compositore: Pritam per Barfi!

Barfi! si è aggiudicato ben 14 statuette. Fra le performance offerte dal vivo, segnalo quelle di Madhuri Dixit, di Sridevi e del regista e coreografo Prabhu Deva.

Vidya Balan riceve il premio da Abhishek Bachchan

Anushka Sharma riceve il premio da Sridevi e Boney Kapoor

Abhishek Bachchan riceve il premio da Jacqueline Fernandez e Sonu Sood

Madhuri Dixit

Sridevi e Prabhu Deva

Shahid Kapoor

Madhuri Dixit e Shah Rukh Khan

FILMFARE AWARDS PER L'ANNO 2012 : I VINCITORI

Segnaliamo, anche se con estremo ritardo la nomi dei vincitori della Sessantesima edizione dei Filmfare Awards. La cerimonia, presentata dalla sexy coppia di attori Shahrukh Khan / Saif Ali Khan, si è svolta il 20 febpresso gli Yash Raj Studios di Andheri (Mumbai) ed ha reso omaggio al centesimo anniversario del cinema indiano. Tra le performance live piu' attese quelle di Shahrukh Khan e  Anuskha Sharma, sul podio per le categorie Miglior Attore e Attrice si confermano i nomi di Ranbir Kapoor e Vidya Balan che stringono insieme la statuetta ancora una volta dopo la vittoria dello scorso anno.

*Miglior Film : Barfi!

*Miglior Regia : Sujoy Ghosh (Kahaani)

*Miglior Attore Protagonista: Ranbir Kapoor (Barfi!)

*Miglior Attrice Protagonista : Vidya Balan (Kahaani)

*Miglior Attore Non Protagonista: Annu Kapoor (Vicky Donor)

*Miglior Attrice Non Protagonista: Anuskha Sharma (Jab Tak Hai Jaan)

*Miglior Colonna Sonora : Barfi! di Pritam

*Miglior Attore & Attrice al suo debutto : Ayushmann Khurrana (Vicky Donor) e Ileana D'Cruz (Barfi!)

* Miglior Debutto alla Regia : Gauri Shinde (English Vinglish)

Critic's Awards:

* Miglior Film: Gangs of Wasseypur

* Miglior Attore : Irrfan Khan (Paan Singh Tomar)

* Miglior Attrice : Richa Chadda (Gangs of Wasseypur)

Photogallery del Red Carpet dal sito di Times of India.

Vedi anche : Stars Screen Awards per l'anno 2012 : I Vincitori 

Zee Cine Awards per l'anno 2012 : I Vincitori

STAR SCREEN AWARDS PER L'ANNO 2012 : I VINCITORI

La diciannovesima edizione degli Stars Screen Awards ha avuto luogo a Mumbai lo scorso 12 gennaio ma e' stata trasmessa dalla rete televisiva Colors una settimana dopo in prima serata. La live performance più attesa sicuramente quella di Ranbir Kapoor impegnato in uno scoppiettante duetto con la madre Neetu Singh. Tra gli altri numeri divertenti le esibizioni di Sonakshi Sinha e del trio di giovani attori di Student of The Year: Alia Bhatt, Siddharth Malhotra e Varun Dhawan. A guidare la serata Shahrukh Khan e Priyanka Chopra.

La lista dei vincitori delle categorie più importanti:

* Miglior Film: Paan Singh Tomar

* Miglior Regista : Anurag Basu (Barfi! )

* Miglior Attore Protagonista : Irrfan Khan (Paan Singh Tomar) in ex equo con Ranbir Kapoor (Barfi! )

* Miglior Attrice Protagonista : Vidya Balan (Kahaani)

* Miglior Attore Non Protagonista : Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Talaash)

* Miglior Attrice Non Protagonista : Dolly Ahluwalia (Vicky Donor)

* Miglior Attore Debuttante : Ashumman Khurrana (Vicky Donor)

* Miglior Attrice Debuttante : Ileana D'Cruz (Barfi!)

* Miglior debutto alla Regia : Gauri Shinde (English Vinglish)

* Miglior Colonna Sonora : Pritam (Barfi!)

* Migliori Coreografie : Prabhu Deva ("Go Govinda" da Oh My God)

Public Popular Awards : Salman Khan e Katrina Kaif (Ek Tha Tiger)

La pagina web dedicata all'evento. Clicca qui.

Vedi anche Zee Cine Awards per l'anno 2012: I Vincitori

ZEE CINE AWARDS PER L'ANNO 2012: I VINCITORI

Sabato 20 gennaio Zee Tv ha trasmesso la 20a edizione degli Zee Cine Awards, la cerimonia di assegnazione dei premi, intervallata da succose esibizioni on stage, dopo Dubai, Singapore, Londra, Mauritius e Macao quest'anno lo spettacolo e' tornato in India per celebrare il centesimo anniversario della nascita del Cinema Indiano. A condurre l'evento Abhishek Bachchan e Riteish Deshmukh accompagnati da un sempre elegantissimo Shahrukh Khan che si e' esibito in un medley musicale dei successi di Yash Chopra, sul palco anche Anushka Sharma, Karishma Kapoor, Deepika Padukone e Katrina Kaif.

I vincitori delle categorie piu' importanti:

* Miglior Film: Kahaani

* Miglior Regista : Sujoy Ghosh (Kahaani)

* Miglior Attore Protagonista: Ranbir Kapoor (Barfi!)

* Miglior Attrice Protagonista : Vidya Balan (Kahaani)

* Miglior Attore Non Protagonista : Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Talaash)

* Miglior Attrice Non Protagonista : Anushka Sharma (Jab Tak Hai Jaan)

* Miglior Colonna Sonora : Cocktail, di Pritam

* Miglior Attore / Attrice in un ruolo negativo : Rishi Kapoor (Agneepath)

* Miglior Attore in un ruolo comico : Abhishekh Bachchan (Bol Bachchan)

* Miglior Coreografie: Ganesh Acharya (Agneepath) 

* Miglior Attore debuttante : Arjun Kapoor (Ishaqzaade) e Anshuman Khurrana (Vicky Donor)

* Miglior Attrice debuttante : Ileana D'Cruz (Barfi!)

* Miglior Debutto alla Regia : Gauri Shinde (English Vinglish)

Popular Choice Awards: 

* Miglior Film : Barfi!

* Miglior Attore Protagonista : Salman Khan (Dabangg 2)

* Miglior Attrice Protagonista : Priyanka Chopra (Barfi!)

* Canzone dell'anno : "Radha" da Student of the Year 

Vedi anche: 

- Zee Cine Awards per l'anno 2011: I vincitori

- Sito ufficiale della manifestazione. Clicca qui.

IIFA AWARD PER L'ANNO 2011: I VINCITORI

Vidya Balan

Ieri sera a Singapore, nel corso di una cerimonia presentata da Shahid Kapoor e da Farhan Akhtar, sono stati assegnati gli IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) Award per la produzione cinematografica del 2011. Di seguito segnalo i vincitori nelle categorie più importanti:

* Miglior film: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

* Miglior regista: Zoya Akhtar per Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

* Miglior attore protagonista: Ranbir Kapoor per Rockstar

* Miglior attrice protagonista: Vidya Balan per The dirty picture

* Miglior attore non protagonista: Farhan Akhtar per Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

* Miglior attrice non protagonista: Parineeti Chopra per Ladies vs Ricky Bahl

* Miglior compositore: A.R. Rahman per Rockstar

Segnalo inoltre il premio consegnato da Shabana Azmi a Liv Ullman per la sua carriera nel cinema internazionale (intervista video con trascrizione - aggiornamento dell'11 giugno 2012).

Ranbir Kapoor

Liv Ullmann

Priyanka Chopra

Kalki Koechlin

Chitrangada Singh

FICCI FRAMES 2012

Il prestigioso convegno internazionale FICCI Frames 2012 si svolgerà dal 14 al 16 marzo presso il Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel. Il tema di quest'anno è Embracing the digital world, il Paese ospite è il Giappone. Alla cerimonia di inaugurazione interverranno Karan Johar e Sonam Kapoor. Fra gli ospiti celebri, sono attesi Ekta Kapoor, Shekhar Kapur, Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Imtiaz Ali, Farah Khan, Kunal Kohli, Zoya Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Kabir Bedi, Vidya Balan, Ranbir Kapoor, Chetan Bhagat. Fra i numerosi eventi in cartellone, segnalo:

* 15 marzo: conferenza The art of movie, con Imtiaz Ali, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar e Dibakar Banerjee;

* 16 marzo: conferenza Navigating the international waters: Indian cinema and actors overseas, con Anil Kapoor e Kabir Bedi;

* 16 marzo: conferenza Women in media & entertainment circa 2012: leading from the front?, con Vidya Balan, Farah Khan e Ekta Kapoor;

* 16 marzo: conferenza Censorship in India: challenges and the way forward, con Karan Johar, Kunal Kohli, Mahesh Bhatt e Kamal Haasan;

* 16 marzo: Imitiaz Ali in conversation with Ranbir Kapoor, incontro presentato da Karan Johar.

Aggiornamenti del 19 marzo 2012:

- Anurag, Zoya, Imtiaz and Amole discuss movie-making, Nikhil Ramsubramaniam, Bollywood Hungama, 16 marzo 2012. Di seguito un estratto:

'Anurag Kashyap said, "Instead of being filmmakers, we have become caterers, merely catering to the demands of the studio. In such a scenario, I had no choice but to become a producer if I wanted to make the films which I believed in. (...) I am the most ill-equipped producer and still don't understand numbers, accounting etc. but sadly if I didn't take this step, I wouldn't have been able to make films of my choice. A film like Udaan was languishing for almost 8 years and no one was interested in the film until I decided to produce it along with UTV. Some studios gave me all sorts of weird suggestions like casting Anil Kapoor and his son for the role of the father and son but I didn't pay heed to it and stuck by the director's vision."

Zoya Akhtar added, "Personally if you ask me I prefer my first film Luck By Chance. It was not easy making that film. I remember we couldn't get a single mainstream male actor for the budget we had and then zeroed in on Farhan. The film got various nominations and received a lot of critical acclaim but sadly it didn't quite work at the Box Office. However my second film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara had big stars like Hrithik and Katrina which translated into huge Box Office numbers. This does prove that the star-system does work on a level. We are surviving because of our stars and their popularity. Besides Hollywood, China and us, no other film-industry is surviving today. We need creative producers. I want someone who is ready to support me and my vision whole-heartedly. There is a huge dearth of producers like this."

Imtiaz Ali (...) said, "The star system needs to change. Each time I was making a film, I was aware of certain imperfections in the plan. But slowly I realized it's up to me how I can try and better the situation. It took me 3 years to make my first film, Socha Na Tha, a film which should have been ideally made in 3 months. But post that, I have been lucky to work with people who share my vision. Of course, films do need to be profitable and make money for all concerned but that cannot be the sole aim. Having said that, I am happy when the financers of Rockstar told me we have easily broken even."

The panel also agreed that this is the best phase for Bollywood considering the diverse kind of films which are doing well. Amole Gupte (...) said, "Today, the audience is ready to accept different kinds of cinema provided it is good. Already this year we have seen films like Paan Singh Tomar and Kahaani (both cold-storage films) which have done exceedingly well. A lot of people were not sure if Stanley Ka Dabba would work but I went by my gut feel. I still remember theater owners calling to increase the shows in the second week owing to public demand. The film recently released in South Korea as well and by reports which have been coming in, the response has been fantastic".'

- Video Bollywood Hungama: partecipazione di Vidya Balan

- Video Bollywood Hungama: incontro Ranbir Kapoor/Imtiaz Ali moderato da Karan Johar

Sonam Kapoor - Cerimonia di inaugurazione