Prank video to Bajrangi Bhaijaan: Chand Nawab is a star in Pakistan

July 21, 2015

New Delhi, Jul 21: Pakistani television journalist Chand Nawab is over the moon that he inspired a character in the hit film Bajrangi Bhaijaan, which features Salman Khan as an Indian who sneaks into Pakistan to reunite a speech-impaired girl with her family.

chand nawab“I saw the film on the first day it was released in Pakistan. And I was very happy with the way Nawazuddin Siddiqui portrayed me in Bajrangi Bhaijaan,” Nawab told Hindustan Times on phone from Karachi on Monday.

“Do you know that all shows of the film have been booked in advance till July 27? People can’t get tickets for any of the four daily shows at all halls in Karachi. And so many people have been calling me to tell me they enjoyed watching the character inspired by me,” he said.

Six years ago, Nawab became an unlikely hit on YouTube after his colleagues posted a video of his flubs as a prank. It was this same video that inspired the character of Chand Nawab, the Pakistani journalist who helps Salman Khan in Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

“I want to thank (director) Kabir Khan, Salman Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui for the way they portrayed me and Pakistan in the film. Nawazuddin has done a good role,” said Nawab, a reporter with Karachi-based Indus News.

“I was on a TV show with Kabir Khan and he suggested I should come to Mumbai and work in films,” he added with a laugh.

Nawab said he had been receiving calls from friends and colleagues even at 3am to discuss the character in the film. “Others have been coming to my home with cakes and sweets. My colleagues and bosses have expressed their appreciation,” he said.

And thanks to the film, there have also been offers to appear in Pakistani television commercials. “There have been some offers, let’s see what happens,” said Nawab, whose mother hailed from Agra and his father from Bharatpur.

But there is also a tinge of regret. Nawab said he would have been happier if his wife Riffat, who passed away last year, could have watched Bajrangi Bhaijaan with him.

“She was a doctor and she inspired me a lot. She would always stand by me,” he said, adding that his ‘sasural’ (in-laws’ home) is at Tonk in Rajasthan.

While 52-year-old Nawab is now basking in the fame generated by Bajrangi Bhaijaan, there was a time when he was upset by the video on YouTube that started it all.

“I had once gone to Iran some years ago and I met some Indian journalists there. At the time, I told them that the YouTube video had spoiled my reputation not just in Pakistan but also in India. People would point to that video and say, ‘Look, this is the quality of Pakistani television journalism,’” he said.

But as time passed, Nawab changed his opinion about the video that features a series of flubs he made while recording a P2C or piece-to-camera, the clip that anchors a television report, for a report about people leaving Karachi to spend the Eid holidays with their families in the interiors of Sindh.

Nawab wanted the P2C to feature a train pulling out the railway station behind him but the flubs made him repeat the same sentence almost 20 times. At other times, he was interrupted by people walking up and down the stairway on which he was standing.

Perhaps the ultimate tribute is that the YouTube video inspired a complete scene in Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 26,2020

New Delhi, Jun 26: At a time when the nation has still not come to terms with Sushant Singh Rajput's death, a shocking case of 16-year-old TikTok star SIya Kakkar has shocked everyone. The social media sensation committed suicide on June 25 at her residence in Delhi. The reason behind her death is still unknown and, as per the latest reports, the police investigation is underway.

The tragic news has made her fans extremely sad and, condolences are pouring in across social media. "16 Year Old Tik Tok Star Siya Kakkar Commits Suicide.She had all the fame, over 1M followers on Tik Tok, a lakh followers on Insta. I just can't understand what is happening with people? Why would a 16 year old commit suicide? It is getting worse day by day. Om Shanti", wrote a Twitter user.

Another tweeted, "#siyakakkarSuicides are increasing day by day we have to put efforts to stop it.Please try to understand other peoples help them if they are worry Give them space if they http://need.Love selflessly".

She had over 1.1 million followers on TikTok and 113k followers on Instagram.

Just 11 days back, actor Sushant Singh Rajput;s suicide case shocked the nation. On June 14, the actor was found hanging in the bedroom of his rented accommodation in the Mount Blanc building off Carter Road at Bandra.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

And Its TIME to get knocked out by this lethal combination of an Epic Punjabi Song and an enchanting beauty. Watch the King of Desi Hip-Hop Bohemia, soulful singer JS Atwal along with Lola Gomez in the official video of Our Latest Single, "Sharaabi Teri Tor". The Most Awaited Song of 2020 is OUT !! Watch the Video Now. . . . @iambohemia @atwalinsta @lolitaxo__ @mbmusicco @meetbrosofficial @meet_bros_manmeet @harmeet_meetbros @shaxeoriah @urshappyraikoti @jaggisim @desihiphopking @touchblevins @raajeev.r.sharma @itsumitsharma @psycho_marketer @fameexpertz #SharaabiWalk #SharaabiWalkChallenge #SharaabiTeriTor #Bohemia #HipHop #Rap #Punjabi #JsAtwal #HappyRaikoti #intoxicating #MBMusic #sharaab #musicvideo #fameexpertz

A post shared by Siya Kakkar (@siya_kakkar) on

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 23,2020

Jan 23: Calling himself an optimist who believes in the goodness of people, director Kabir Khan says everything these days is being looked at through the prism of religion but India is about more than that.

The director of blockbusters such as Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Ek Tha Tiger said he is happy he has a platform as a filmmaker to present a counterpoint to the prevailing narrative based on religious fault lines.

"I’m an optimist who believes in the goodness of the people. But yes, there is a certain level of bigotry that has crept in. Everything is being looked at through the prism of religion but India is not about that.

"It sounds like a cliché but when I was growing up, I was not aware of my religion. That was the greatness of this country,” Kabir told news agency.

He said he is a product of a mixed marriage and is pained to see the social fabric being tattered.

“I have celebrated the best that Indian secularism has to offer. But to see the greatness of this country being simplified and broken down into religious fault lines is a painful experience,” he added.

According to Kabir, it is dangerous to see history through the prism of religion, whether in cinema or society. But it is important to revisit history to know what happened and one can always find something that is relevant for the present, he said.

The director, who started as a documentary filmmaker, returns to his roots for a five-episode series on Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army, The Forgotten Army: Azaadi Ke Liye, on Amazon Prime, his most expensive project yet.

Asked whether this is a difficult time for filmmakers, Kabir said he believes art thrives in the time of strife and, as a storyteller, his politics will always reflect in his work.

“Every film has its politics and every filmmaker has to reflect his or her politics. Every film of mine will reflect my politics and it will never change according to the popular mood of the audience. But a film should not be just about that. Politics should be in the layers beneath," he said.

He terms his 2015 Salman Khan-starrer Bajrangi Bhaijaan an "extremely political" film. At face value, it can also be enjoyed as the story of a mute Pakistani girl who drifts into India and is taken back to her homeland by a Hanuman devotee. But there is so much more. The "chicken song", for instance, was a sly reference to the beef ban controversy at the time, he said.

"I won’t say it is a difficult time for me as a filmmaker. It is good that I have a platform where I can talk and present a counterpoint and I refuse to believe that the entire country believes the narrative that is being sent out. There are millions and millions of people, and perhaps the majority, that does not believe. And if I present the counterpoint, they will think about it.”

Discussing his new series, the director said it has always fascinated him that the sacrifice of the men and women who comprised the INA is just a forgotten footnote in history.

“I wanted to make something that stands the test of time. It goes down in posterity,” Khan, who first explored the subject in a Doordarshan documentary 20 years ago, said.

For the documentary, he traveled with former INA officers Captain Lakshmi Sahgal and Captain Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon from Singapore to India via erstwhile Burma, retracing the route that the INA followed.

“The documentary got me a lot of attention and acclaim but the story just never left me. It's actually the first script I ever wrote and I landed up with that script in Bombay from Delhi. I realised very soon that nobody's going to give me a budget of this size to make my first film.

"And then after every film, I would pick up the script and say, ‘Okay, this is the one I want to make’, because this is the story that made me want to become a filmmaker. On the way, I ended up making eight other films but this is really the story that I wanted to make,” he said.

Kabir is happy that the story has come out as a series, not a film, as it would have required to compromise with the budget and other elements.

"Without giving any numbers, this is the most expensive project I have ever worked on… It required that kind of budget."

Kabir believes the INA was responsible for bringing down the morale of the British establishment, which realised it would be impossible to keep the country colonised without the support of the local army.

"There are a lot of debates and discussions about what happened with the INA and the controversies around it. The whole point is that, if you want to judge what the Army did, sure that's your prerogative, but at least get to know what they did. Nobody knows what happened with the Army from 1942 to 1945."

He added that 55,000 men and women of the INA fought for independence and 47,000 of them died.

"Not a single person from that Army was ever taken back into the independent Army, which is such an amazing fact... the fact that the British called them traitors became the narrative and we also started assuming that they were traitors."

"They were the only women's regiment in the whole world 70 years ago. That's what they thought about women's importance in society. I don't know whether they will be happy with what the current situation is," he said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 9,2020

Mumbai, Jan 9: Actor Juhi Chawla on Wednesday said instead of constantly criticising the government, one should reflect on own conduct and talk about uniting rather than dividing.

The actor attended an event which aimed to counter "Free Kashmir (narrative), anti-India slogans, false propaganda and clear the misconception."

Juhi said as artistes, it's unfair to be questioned about incidents "just for a reaction" when they should be given time to truly understand the situation.

"We are going to work, thinking how to execute our task, then some incident happens somewhere and suddenly the media asks, 'what do you think about this?' We haven't understood the matter, people haven't understood the matter but you need a reaction.

"Let people understand, whether it's NRC or CAA, and what's is it about, why is this being talked about," Juhi told reporters.

The actor said it is sad that people talk about division more than unity.

"Everyone is quick to talk about dividing. Why don't we talk about uniting? Why does everyone say 'what is the government doing, why is it doing this?' but I say if you point one finger there then three fingers are at you.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.