Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen returns to art with Tate show

Mar 21: The novel coronavirus outbreak in the country may have brought the ever-bustling film industry to a halt but it hasn't stopped Bollywood celebrities from utilising their massive online influence to entertain their followers as well as engage them in fitness, dance and yoga routines.

According to the Health Ministry, the coronavirus cases in India rose to 258 on Saturday after 35 fresh cases were reported in various parts of the country.

As the government encourages more social distancing, people from the film fraternity are finding ways to connect to people and ensure their self-isolation isn't wasted.

On Sunday, actor Shilpa Shetty will hold a special live fitness session across digital platforms for people to follow from home.

"In times like these, it's important to stay fit, active, and healthy. Join me on Sunday, 22nd March at 4:00 pm IST as I go LIVE on Instagram-Facebook-Helo (@theshilpashetty) and on the @ShilpaShettyApp to show you some beneficial and helpful yoga asanas.

"You can watch, learn, and practice it from the comfort of your homes. Remember, staying indoors shouldn't be an excuse for deviating from your fitness routine," the actor wrote in an Instagram post.

Online yoga and fitness programs are picking up steam, with many celebrities pitching in.

On Saturday, actor Tamannah Bhatia went live with Diva Yoga, a studio part of a larger yoga ecosystem called SARVA, where she participated in a one-hour virtual yoga class, to encourage people to pursue their fitness goals.

Malaika Arora, co-founder of the yoga studio, told news agency that as the world fights a public health crisis, "we must do our best to stay calm and safe."

"There is also a need to boost our immunity levels even if it means continuing our workout from home. The live sessions being conducted on the Diva Studios Instagram handle and immunity boosting modules being shared on the SARVA app and website are aimed at this.

"Our instructors will offer guided lessons every day... for everyone’s benefit. I encourage people to join in and be responsible for your own health. When you are fit and healthy, you can help others in a better manner. It is these small steps that will lead to a better outcome," she said.

With everything coming to a standstill, choreographer Terence Lewis has also figured out an alternate avenue to reach out to his students: through online classes.

As of now, those who are not his students do not have the access to it, but Lewis said that's going to change soon.

"In few days, we will be starting online dance tutorials for people who have no access and means to be a part of our institute directly. Since, we do not have any branches, neither do I believe in having one, we directly teach from our original space in Andheri.

"Here we have instructors who have learnt from me and is the only legit institute we have hence, we'll think of doing the online classes as way of engaging with people who are far away from us," Lewis told PTI.

As shootings of movies, TV shows and web series stand suspended till March 31, casting director and actor Abhishek Banerjee is encouraging artistes to send self tapes from their homes.

"We are encouraging that to minimise human to human contact and audition spaces. Some actors are known to us, some unknown. It's very difficult to track anybody's health of you don't know the person. So it's easier to see the self tapes and keep shortlisting them and maybe we will call them again for a proper audition when everything is alright," he said.

The process of recording a self audition, according to the "Stree" actor, isn't easy.

"Full marks and respect for actors who are sending the self tapes because audition process takes a lot of efforts and to do that alone, without any help in isolation, without cues, it's commendable."

Banerjee, who runs Casting Bay, a leading casting studios, along with his friend Anmol Ahuja, said on an average, any big casting office had around 100-150 footfalls everyday, which has now come to a griding halt.

"The minute the government decided, we stopped all auditions too. Everything is on a standstill now. The production houses have asked us to hold on the auditions and projects. The major worry is that many actors will have date issues now. Once everything opens in April, let's see how to tackle that. It'll be a very difficult situation," he added.

Mumbai, Jun 16: Filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee remembers Sushant Singh Rajput as a dance loving 'chhokra' from an engineering college who, having made it in Bollywood, was “enthused, sincere and totally focused” on his craft.

Banerjeee said the actor always had “a book or two” with him and took pride in the fact that he had an “inner intellectual life away from the shallower aspects of showbiz”.

Rajput was found dead in his Bandra apartment on Sunday at the age of 34, leaving his friends, colleagues and collaborators in a state of shock.

The Patna-born actor and the director worked together in 2015 film "Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!" when Rajput was a relative newcomer in the industry. Banerjee says it was Rajput's vulnerability and willingness to do different that made him stand out for the role.

In an interview with news agency, the filmmaker looks back at Rajput's sincerity, his love for science and astronomy and how an outsider has to work harder than a "mediocre, unmotivated and entitled establishment elite" to succeed in Bollywood.

Excerpts:

You worked with Sushant when he was less than two-year-old in the film industry. What struck you the most in him to cast as Detective Byomkesh Bakshy?

Banerjee: His vulnerability and intensity and the ambition to do different things than the usual Bollywood stuff.

What were your memories of Sushant- the actor and the person?

Banerjee: As an actor he would tense himself up for the scene and then completely plunge in take after take. He would put a lot of value on preparation. He would be up the previous night of the shoot, reading the scene and making notes and land up on the sets all raring to go.

He would be on, ready and give his hundred per cent throughout the shoot of Byomkesh - no matter how hard or long the day. The unit did not really have to worry about him - considering he was the star. That's what I remember - a total pro, enthused, sincere and totally focused.

As a person, he seemed to me a happy dance loving 'chhokra' from an engineering college who had made it in showbiz and now was serious about acting. He was deeply nostalgic about his carefree student days in Delhi. We used to laugh a lot - I remember that quite clearly.

Sushant's friends say that he spoke more about books and his love for astronomy than films and their fate, which is rare for an actor in the industry. Do you also remember him that way?

Banerjee: Totally true. He was a science and astronomy nut. Always had a book or two with him - and was proud of the fact that he had an inner intellectual life away from the shallower aspects of showbiz. I recognized it as a reflex, protective action to prevent the Bollywood swamp sucking him in totally. And also an identity he wanted to protect and project.

Sushant's death has brought to the fore the struggles of outsiders and the alienation they often face from the nepotistic culture of the industry. Did you feel that Sushant was also fighting this battle despite being a successful actor?

Banerjee: We all fight it, day in and out - whether successful or failing. But the trick is to define that success and failure ourselves and not let the narrative constantly forced by the establishment to get to you. Those who know this weather the storm and ultimately survive and thrive.

The biggest unfairness in all this is that it takes double the talent, energy and hard work for an outsider to convince the audience and the industry that he or she is as safe a box office bet as a mediocre, unmotivated and entitled establishment elite.

The media colludes in this by wallowing in family, coterie and celebrity worship. This leads to deep anger and frustration. Those who can let this slide survive. Those who can't - those who hurt a little more or are vulnerable and impressionable - they are at risk.

Jaipur, Jan 24: Actor Sonali Bendre has said that she came into the movies to make money but fell in love with the profession where she discovered herself and found her family and friends. The 45-year-old actor said she owed a lot to Bollywood which is the most wonderful place to be, both mentally as well as creatively.

"I came into movies to make money and I fell in love with the profession. It was the most wonderful place to be, mentally and creatively," she said.

"I found myself there, found my friends and family over there. I owe a lot to Bollywood. It was one of the most wonderful things that happened to me," Sonali said here on Thursday.

The actor said her entry into movies by purely because she happened to be at the right place and at the right time.

Sonali added when acting offers came her way she knew that in no other field could she have made as much money, and as quickly, as she did in movies.

"Basically, I got into this because it was great money," she said.

The actor was speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival and also talked about books and how her book club named ‘Sonali's Book Club' came into being.

Sonali, who has been convalescing after undergoing treatment for cancer in the US, said that books gave her strength and kept her afloat while she was going through one of the toughest phases of her life.

The actor was diagnosed with high grade cancer in July 2018 and underwent treatment for it in New York.

"Books were my friends other than my sisters while I was growing up. I'm nowhere remotely connected to movies. I have a very middle class Maharashtrian upbringing. When I got into movies, it was like being on another planet. Again in this world where it was easy to feel the peer pressure and do certain things or not do certain things, or look a certain way, books kept me grounded," she said.

"'A Gentleman in Moscow' (a 2016 novel by Amor Towles) was uplifting and I got so much strength from that book during my treatment in New York," Sonali said.

The actor, who often shares posts about books and authors on social media, said one should stop feeling guilty about not completing a book.

"Sometimes you start judging yourself by not completing a book, but I have reached a stage where I understand that I'm a book-lover, but that doesn't mean I will like all the books. It's okay if you don't like a book," she said.

Sonali also said that nobody wanted to know about the intellectual capacity of Bollywood stars as it was not "entertainment enough or gossipy enough".

Earlier before her session, Sonali launched author Ashwin Sanghi's latest book ‘The Vault of Vishnu', the sixth book in the Bharat series, at the 13th edition of the festival.