Sonali Kulkarni: I feel more powerful about my beauty now

Agencies
May 12, 2018

Mumbai, May 12: In the beginning of her career she was told not to audition for a role due to her "dark skin" and the incident left her disheartened, but Sonali Kulkarni said she has now grown confident about herself as an actor as well as an individual.

The actor said, while some in the film industry are obsessed with fair skin and conventionally pretty faces, there were people who motivated her to focus on her craft.

"There have been people who have told me, 'Why have I come for audition? You know dark skin doesn't look good on camera'. I was in class 11 at that time and I did not know anything about dark skin. I was busy doing theatre. But that comment created lot of stir and complex within me.

"My friend, philosopher and guide Pandit Satyadev Dubey, under whom I was studying theatre for 20 years, had told me 'There is no fear as long as you accept that yourself.' The films have given me enough amount of glamour, accolades, great work and wealth. There is nothing to repent about anything," Sonali said.

The 43-year-old critically-acclaimed actor says the dejection she initially faced in her career pushed her to become a better version of herself.

"I am thankful to that nasty comment as it made me think about myself, like 'How do I look? Who am I? What is being Indian?'

"I had thought about these things pretty early in my life, so now I feel powerful about myself, about my beauty and about being Indian. I am proudly a middle class self-valued person," she added.

Sonali believes she has come a long way from being an aspiring young actor, willing to show her versatility, to a mature performer, who does not try too hard to prove herself.

"Earlier I wanted to exhibit my capabilities as an actor and show an array of emotions. But today I am not in a hurry to showcase my versatility. I am more confident and easy with myself. "I was in a hurry to prove myself but today I don't look at proving myself with a film. The more you accept life, the wiser you are as a person and as an actor," she said.

The actor, who is known for her performance in films like 'Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya', 'Dil Chahta Hai', 'Singham', 'Deool', 'The Good Road' and 'Kaccha Limbu', believes observation is the key to make characters "look relatable".

"There is an observer in me who works hard and tirelessly. Many a times, your study is in your observation. My study also depends on being with the storyline."

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News Network
May 12,2020

Mumbai, May 12: Superstar Salman Khan on Tuesday released his latest romantic single "Tere Bina" featuring Jacqueline Fernandez while in quarantine at his Panvel farm house.

The actor, along with close family and friends from the industry, including Iulia Vantur, Waluscha De Sousa, is living in the farm house. This is the second song Salman has released amid the coronavirus pandemic, after "Pyaar Karona."

"About seven weeks ago, when we came to the farm, we didn't know we will be here under a lockdown. So we wanted to do things to keep ourselves busy. That's when we decided to do these songs. We launched 'Pyaar Karona' and now, we are launching 'Tere Bina'," Salman said in a statement.

The song, sung and directed by Salman, is composed by his friend Ajay Bhatia and written by Shab bir Ahmed.

The actor said he had the song "Tere Bina" with him for quite a while but because it wasn't fitting into any of his film, he decided to release it now.

Jacqueline said she didn't think they would be able to shoot the song, which they finished in four days of evening shoots, with such limitations.

"We are used to shooting songs on a large stage with grand production costs. There are costumes, hair, make up. All of a sudden, we find ourselves with a team of three people. For the first time, I was checking lighting and moving props around. It was a great experience and it taught us how to make the most of what we have," she said.

Salman recently sent out food packets and ration from his farm house to those affected by the lockdown.

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News Network
January 24,2020

Paris, Jan 24: Rahul Mishra and Imane Ayissi made history on Thursday by becoming the first Indian and black African designers to show their clothes on the elite Paris haute couture catwalk.

Only a little more than a dozen of the world's most prestigious luxury labels -- including Dior, Chanel and Givenchy -- have a right to call their clothes haute couture.

All the clothes must be handmade -- and go on to sell for tens of thousands of euros (dollars) to some of the richest and most famous women in the world.

Mishra, an advocate of ethical "slow fashion" who blames mechanisation for much of the world's ills, said "it felt amazing and very surreal to be the first Indian to be chosen." "They see a great future for us -- which will make us push ourselves even harder," the 40-year-old told AFP after his debut show was cheered by fashionistas.

Both Mishra and Cameroon-born Ayissi, 51, are champions of traditional fabrics and techniques from their homelands and are famous for their classy lines.

Ayissi said his selection was "immense" both for Africa and himself.

"I am so proud that I can show my work and showcase real African fabrics and African heritage," he told AFP backstage as celebrities, including the chic head of Unesco, Audrey Azoulay, congratulated him.

Mishra broke through on the Paris ready-to-wear scene after winning the International Woolmark Prize in 2014, the top award that also launched the careers of such greats as Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent.

The purity of his often white creations with their detailed but understated embroidery has won him many fans, including Vogue's legendary critic Suzy Menkes.

The doyenne of fashion's front row called him an Indian "national treasure".

But this time, Mishra turned up the colour palette somewhat with dresses that subtly evoked the jungle paradises and pristine underwater world off the Maldives he worries that one day we might lose.

Appalled by the smoke and pollution that meant he had to keep his four-year-old daughter indoors in Delhi for nearly 20 days in November, Mishra said he imagined a "pure virginal and untamed planet... with ecosystems crafted out of embroidered flora and fauna".

"I am very emotional about it. Sometimes it makes me cry. All our children should be growing up in a better world," he added.

"When I take Aarna (his daughter) to the foothills of the Himalayas and the sky turns blue, she is so happy.

"Once, when she saw the River Ganges, she said: 'Can you please clean it for us so can go for a swim?'"

Mishra said he was reducing the quantity of clothes he was producing while at the same time increasing their quality, with humming birds, koalas and other animals hidden in the hundreds of hand worked embroidered leaves and flowers of his "jungle dresses".

The designer has won ethical and sustainability awards for his work supporting local crafts people in rural India.

"My objective is to create jobs which help people in their own villages," Mishra said.

"If villages are stronger, you will have a stronger country, a stronger nation, and a stronger world," he added.

Ayissi takes a similar stand, refusing to use wax prints popular in West Africa which he dismisses as "colonial".

Dutch mills flooded Africa with cotton printed with colourful patterns borrowed from Indonesian batik in the 19th century, and still dominate the market.

"When we talk about African fashion, it's always wax, which is a real pity," he told AFP, "because it's killing our own African heritage."

Ayissi, a former dancer who worked with singers such as Sting and Seal, told AFP he wanted to open up "a new path for Africa" and find an "alternative way of doing luxury fashion".

He has gone back to using prestigious local materials, like the strip fabric kente woven by the Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast, which was originally worn only by nobles.

The son of an undefeated African boxing champ and a former Miss Cameroon, he also uses appliqued techniques from Benin and Ghana.

Haute couture shows only take place in Paris and the criteria to enter and remain in fashion's elite club are strictly enforced by French law.

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News Network
May 30,2020

California, May 30: Priyanka Chopra Jonas on Saturday shared a gorgeous sunkissed selfie sporting cherry lips and beaded dangler earrings.

The multi-talented star who owns a production house put out a morning selfie on Instagram wherein she is seen sporting a white collared top, flaunting her cherry red lips and dangler earrings as she embraces her peach glow in the sheer sunlight, while her shiny curls bounce the sunshine.

Along with the picture, the 'The Sky Is Pink' actor wrote, "A cherry lip and sunshine...maybe even a earring...I'm feeling adventurous."

On sharing the gorgeous selfie, the Chopra received heaps of praises from fans and celebrity followers, and the post reached more than 1.9 lakh likes including one for Sussanne Khan.

Model Masaba Gupta also chimed in the comment section and adored the beauty of the 'Baywatch' star writing, "Stunning" with a heart emoticon.

Currently, the actor is quarantined in her California house along with singer and husband Nick Jonas and has been quite active on social media.

Earlier, Priyanka recalled her parents' service in the Indian Army as America observed Memorial Day, and the 37-year-old actor dug out an old picture of her parents in uniform and posted it on Instagram.

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