Madhuri reminds me of Waheeda Rehman: Birju Maharaj

May 31, 2013

Birju_MaharajNew Delhi, May 31: For legendary Kathak exponent Birju Maharaj, actress Madhuri Dixit is the best dancer in Bollywood after veteran star Waheeda Rehman.

"Madhuri is an excellent dancer. She is in the same league with actresses like Waheeda Rehman and Meena Kumari as far as dancing is concerned. She dances with a lot of grace. I think she is the best dancer in Indian cinema after Waheeda Rehman. She reminds me of her," the Padma Vibhushan Kathak maestro told PTI from Mumbai where he is shooting with Madhuri.

Birju Maharaj and the 46-year-old actress will soon perform a special jugalbandi act on the dance reality show 'Jhalak Dikhla Jaa', which will have Kathak piece on the song 'Piya Tose Naina Lage Re'.

The 75-year-old legendary dancer has choreographed Madhuri in films 'Dil To Pagal Hai' (DTPH), 'Devdas' and most recently did a song for her upcoming film 'Dedh Ishqiya'.

Asked about his experience of working with Madhuri, he said that she is a quick learner and always tries to excel.

"I worked with her for the first time in 1997 for a dance sequence where actor (Shah Rukh) is playing the drum in another room and she dances on those beats.

"It has been more than 15 years but her dedication towards dance is the same. She grabs quickly and is a genius dancer. Her expressions are just perfect," said Birju Maharaj.

On item songs replacing classical dance numbers in Bollywood, he said that this is the reason people still love old songs.

"Who can forget Waheeda Rehman in 'Guide' or Meena Kumari in 'Pakeeza'. We don't get to see Kathak or other classical dance based songs in cinema today and that is the reason people still love to watch old songs. Madhuri has kept the tradition of classical dance in cinema alive. Be it Devdas's 'Kahe Ched Mohe' or dance sequence of DTPH , she has performed brilliantly," said the National Award-winning choreographer.

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News Network
May 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: In an attempt to constructively use leisure time during the lockdown, actor Bhumi Pednekar has started learning Kathak from her mother, Sumitra Pednekar, who is a trained dancer of this discipline.

Elaborating on her keenness to enhance her knowledge on the dance form, the actor explained about her routine followed for the dance practice and how much she is enjoying it.

"I wanted to learn kathak for a long time as my mother is a trained Kathak dancer! So, for about an hour in the evening this what I and my mom do. She is quite enjoying it and I'm loving learning it from her!" the 30-year-old actor said.

The growing fear of coronavirus has halted many entertainment shootings and productions. The 'Pati Patni Aur Who' actor referring to the current situation opened about the uncertainties of going back to shootings.

"It has put a big question mark on when will we get back to work and how things are going to be. There's a lot of uncertainty. Of course, our dates and schedules have gone haywire and we can't plan anything," she added.

However, the 'Bala' actor is finding a silver lining among the gloom as she says that the time has given her an opportunity to get back to what she used to love as a child - the habit of reading.

"I was a voracious reader but since entering Bollywood I haven't got a chance to read something at a stretch," she said.

"But now, I have got all the time and I'm making full use of the time at hand. I have been watching TED talks and have been reading a lot about climate change because that is something, I am severely passionate about. This time has been very educational for me," she added.

On the professional front, Pednekar will be soon seen as a leading lady in the Akshay Kumar's 'Durgavati' and award-winning director Alankrita Srivastava's 'Dolly Kitty Aur Woh Chamakte Sitaare'.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Los Angeles, Jan 27: Lil Nas X, Lady Gaga, Beyonce and... Michelle Obama?

Yep.

The former first lady can now add Grammy winner to her resume, after snagging the award on music's biggest night for Best Spoken Word Album, for the audiobook of her memoir Becoming.

Her win on Sunday gives the Obama household its third Grammy: former president Barack Obama has already snagged two Grammys in the same category for his books.

She faced an eccentric group of rivals that included Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys for Beastie Boys Book and John Waters, the director-performer known for his transgressive cult films, for Mr. Know-It-All.

 Released in late 2018, Becoming saw the former first lady slam U.S. president Donald Trump for questioning her husband's citizenship and promoting the notion that he was born abroad.

"The whole [birther] thing was crazy and mean-spirited, of course, its underlying bigotry and xenophobia hardly concealed," Obama wrote.

America's first black first lady also dug into her personal life in her book, expounding on issues including a miscarriage, using in-vitro fertilization to conceive her daughters and marriage counseling.

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News Network
April 30,2020

Mumbai, Apr 29: Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor is not keeping well and has been admitted to a city hospital here, his elder brother Randhir Kapoor said.

The 67-year-old actor was taken to H N Reliance hospital by his family on Wednesday morning.

"He is in the hospital. He is suffering from cancer and he has some breathing problem, so he has been admitted to the hospital. He is stable now," Randhir told PTI.

The actor returned to India last September after undergoing treatment for cancer in the US for almost a year.

In February, Kapoor was hospitalised twice due to his health issues.

He was first admitted to a hospital in Delhi where he was attending a family function. At the time, Kapoor had said that he was suffering from an "infection".

After his return to Mumbai, he was again admitted to a hospital with viral fever. He was discharged soon after.

Kapoor, who has been quite active on social media, hasn't posted anything on his Twitter account since April 2.

The actor recently announced his next project, a remake of Hollywood film "The Intern", also featuring Deepika Padukone.

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