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Tovino Thomas On His Mediahound Performance In Naaradan
As an unscrupulous television journalist in Aashiq Abu’s Naaradan Tovino Thomas gives yet another sterling performance that is high on credibility and low on self-congratulation. In an exclusive interview with Subhash K Jha Tovino talks of playing grey and its dynamics.
Naaradan sees you move diametrically away from Murali Minnale.How tough was the transition?
The transition was most definitely tough. But that is the whole point of being an actor. I don’t want to repeat myself.I don’t want to restrict my acting to good-guy roles. I want to play bad guys also. I am very clear on my priorities: I want to be known as a good actor, and not just a star. If after recognition as an actor the stardom comes, then I am okay with it.
How did you prepare for the part of the television journalist ?
As an actor I try to push my limits with each role. For Naaradan I took training from an acting coach for the diction and for defining the character. The transition took time. I had to gradually make my way into the heart and mind of the journalist Chandraprakash . I got a lot of inputs from the screenplay writer Unni R , like how Chandraprakash is lefthanded, how he hides his grey side but it pops up unannounced. I think the character wouldn’t have shaped up well if I we didn’t create a background for him.
How closely did you study news anchors and journalistic ethics before playing Chandraprakash?
I didn’t want to imitate anybody blindly. Instead we designed a completely fictional character.Naaradan is not a bio-pic and we didn’t want to imitate anyone. But yes, I will admit we took inspiration from many news anchors. We kept watching national and international videos of well-known news anchors. I took inspiration from many of them, but no one in particular.
In Naaradan you play an absolutely unscrupulous mediahound. How difficult is it for you to play morally ambiguous characters like Shahji in Kala , Alan in Kaaanekkane and Chandraprakash in Naaradan?
That’s what makes it a challenge.Playing the the good guy can get boring for me as an actor and for the audience too. I want to push my limits by exploring all kinds of characters. I am game to play hero, villain, supporting actor, guest actor: you name it. I am an actor who tries his best. And I am learning from every character. I am actually not interested in establishing a fan base. I would rather try new things than play to the gallery. Good guy, bad guy …I am happy with both.
In Naaradan your character screams down panelists ,uses underhand tactics, fudges TRPs and thinks he is above the law.Reminds me one particular newsperson?
I really don’t want to answer this question. We haven’t targeted anyone in particular.I am also a writer. Unni R who wrote Naaradam is a media person . He is also a known writer in Kerala. My character Chandraprakash is Unn R’s fictional creation. I was just happy to interpret the character as I saw it best.
Have you been a victim of fakenews? Do you think the media needs to exercize some restrain?
Yes, there have been incidents. But whether it is fake or real news it doesn’t last for more than two days nowadays.That’s it. But yes, we all know the media is pillar of our democracy. Definitely , they have a responsibility towards the people to bring forward the real news. They cannot pass off fiction as fact. In movies we have that liberty. But the news must be fully authentic . A majority of people from any part of the world, including me, believe the news to be true. That’s how our minds have been trained in a democracy. Things have changed. Now there is tendency to run behind exclusivity and TRPs at the cost of credibility.Again I am not pointing a finger at any channel in particular. They should fact-check every news. Half-truths and fake news are just not acceptable. Nowadays if I watch five channels I get five different versions of the same news. I am then supposed to sift through the five reports to separate fact from fiction.
Were you happy with the the way Naaradan was received in movie theatres? It came with a mammoth project like Bheeshma Parvam.Was that a problem?
As an actor I am not bothered with the boxoffice figures. I am concerned about the number of people who watch my films. If not in theatres, it will be watched on OTT.How much money a film makes is a producer’s lookout.
Tell about your next?
My next release is Vaashi where I am paired with the National award winning actress Keerthi Suresh.It’a courtroom drama.The one after that Thallumala with Kalyani Priyadarshi which is an out and out colourful entertainer
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Shabana Azmi Breaks Her Wrist, Flies To Budapest For Spielberg

Shabana Azmi’s commitment to getting it right, no matter what it takes, is by now beyond legendary. She is known to go to extreme lengths for her characters, the quick-reference what-Shabana-can-do-for-a-role film being Shyam Benegal’s Mandi where she had put on 30 kgs to look like a ‘Madame’ and convey her message in a brothel.
Now , Shabana flies to Budapest on the night of 8 February in spite of having broken her wrist.
“What to do, I have to.I’ve to shoot another schedule of my second season of Halo(the series produced by Steven Spielberg) . There is no way I can postpone it. I am very upset with myself. It was such an unnecessary accident. I was in Jindal . I took a jump and landed with a fractured wrist, ” says Shabana angrily.
This is not the first fracture that Shabana has suffered in recent times. Before the wrist that’s broken now, she had broken the other wrist. And prior to that she had broken her shoulder.
“I’m supposed to be shooting till the 28th of February. And it’s all very tough physically rigorous scenes. I don’t know how I’m going to do it. I am really annoyed with myself for being careless.” Shabana sighed before signing off.
Knowing her the way I do,I can only say, nothing is impossible for Shabana Azmi.
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Shobita Dhulipala On Her Close Aquatic Connection To Her Character In The Night Manager

Sobhita Dhulipala has constantly tried to make an impression with her intriguing performances and roles. In The Night Manager she slips into the mysterious role of Kaveri.
Talking about her character, Sobhita Dhulipala says , “There’s a certain intrigue to Kaveri. On better days, you feel like you get a sense of who she is, but you could never be too sure of what she is.”
Being a water person Sobhita enjoyed her character’s aqueous antecedents, “There is a very visible parallel that’s drawn between Kaveri and water throughout the show.They both can be so gentle, so nourishing, but also very tumultuous and deep. Kaveri seems like that. She has this tenderness as well as a current within her.”
Sobhita comes from an aquatic family and feels a deep affinity to water. “I have in the past been compared with water’s energy and I thought it was a tremendous compliment. So, to be able to give form to that feeling, that connection I feel with it..it’s great. My father is a sailor. And I spent many of my younger years at sea, also the home I grow up in was by the shore. I also love the name Kaveri and I always thought when I have my own child, I’d name him/her by a river! So, I think there’s, resonance, all of it really comes together for me.”
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The Romantics Adi Chopra’s Show All The Way

Netflix’s The Romantics profiling the legend Yash Chopra in four episodes , happened only because Netflix gave complete creative control to Yash Chopra’s son Aditya Chopra, the scion of the Yash Raj family.
A source very close to the project reveals, “If it wasn’t for Adi’s nod, the project wouldn’t have happened. He not only greenlighted the project, he also personally supervised every aspect of the project. Smriti Mundhra is on board as the director of The Romantics. But it is Adi who decided what goes, and what not.”
Apparently the thirty-five interviewees speaking on Yash Chopra in The Romantics were all personally approved by Adi Chopra who also agreed to do his first video interview ever for the docu-pic on his distinguished dad.
Adi Chopra’s one and only print interview was with film critic/editor Khalid Mohamed.
The Romantics starts streaming on Netflix on Valentine’s Day February 14.
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I’m very excited to be doing my OTT debut: Shahid Kapoor

As Shahid Kapoor Gets Ready To Make His Digital Debut, He Takes Time Off For A Q & A With Subhash K Jha
Farzi is your first foray into the OTT space. How would you describe the experience? Is it any different from doing the films for the big screen?
I’m very excited to be doing my OTT debut, as everybody calls it. I think I did it because I love the directors Raj and DK and their work, and I actually really really liked the idea and the concept behind Farzi, the world of counterfeiting . I felt Sunny was a character that was as challenging as some of my most challenging characters as I’ve done yet. So I immediately wanted to do it.
And was it any different shooting for an OTT series?
Of course, it’s different because you’re watching the character over five to six hours as opposed to maybe two to two and a half hours. So it’s a deeper, wider opportunity to bring a character to life, that’s it.
Farzi gave you the opportunity to work with the great Vijay Sethupathi and also the creators Raj and DK. So what was that experience like?
With Raj and DK, I’ve loved Family Man very much and we’ve met over time and always wanted to collaborate. So I was really looking forward to it. In fact, I asked them if they have a show because they were calling me for a movie because they didn’t really expect… they didn’t think after Kabir Singh, I’d like to do something like that , or whatever. But I actually asked them for it and probed for it, and then they actually told me about this concept which we had discussed as a movie earlier.
So why was the feature film converted into a digital series?
It was just too elaborate to turn into a movie, to fit into a movie. It was only extremely sensible of them to turn it into a show because it deserves that much screen time.
What was it like working with Vijay Sethupathi?
With Vijay sir, it’s been a pleasure. And I want to see how people receive the show. He’s a fantastic actor who has always rediscovered himself and given people completely different experiences when he has come on the big screen. So it’s a privilege to have him on the show. And I had a blast working with him.
Shahid, it’s been twenty years since you started as a leading man. How do you look back on your career so far?
I feel very fortunate to still be here. And I feel grateful that people find my work relevant. I feel there’s a lot more that I would like to do. And I think I am as charged as I was at the age of 21, giving my first shot, as I am today. And I think that’s the best part of the entire journey, that I still am as excited and as curious to get on that film floor and give my next shot. I think that’s what drives any artist.
Tell me about your forthcoming projects?
I’ve got Farzi coming out on 10 Feb. And then there’s a movie with Ali Abbas Zafar, which is an action thriller, a slick action fun film, which will come out in the middle of this year. And then there’s a high-concept quirky love story that I’m doing with Maddock Films, which is directed by a new director. His name is Amit Joshi. It has me and Kriti Sanon in it, and Dharam ji and Dimple ma’am and various other very talented people.
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