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06 cover feature 

Sunny days are here again - Sunny Leone 

11 Fashion 


36 gossip 

Hot Bollywood gossip 

34 legal advise 

Veerash Srikison - Courage of a Woman 

46 2016 vodacom Durban july 

Socials and Fashionista 

Asian Age in Mumbai 

Tea - Chai for 2 

Celebrity sightings 

60 travel 

Travel Maldives with Soha Ali Khan 

39 Music 62 Astrology 

Neatly done by Neeti 

52 Lifestyle launch 

58 recipe 

64 photo diary 

Manish Kumar Arora 

SHAH RUKH KHAN 


Page 5

COVER FEATURE 

Sunny days are here again! 

Sunny Leone on her life and times, Bollywood and beyond 

Sunny Leone’s last Bollywood release 

One Night Stand turned out to be a 

cropper at the box office, but the girl 

says that One Night Stands are fine at 

times... but there are certain clauses. 

“If you are single and can let your 

heart overrule your head, then a onenight 

stand is fine. But if you are committed 

in a relationship, one should 

think about the consequence of such 

an act. It is normal to have desires and 

be physically attracted, but one should 

avoid one night stands when they 

are in relationships,” says the former 

adult star. 

“I am a woman and have lived life on 

my terms. I have not danced to other’s 

tunes. I have had many good things 

because of that, but then I have had a 

few things that did not go my way because 

I wanted to do things the way I 

wanted. But that’s fine,” says the Jism 

2 actress, who however did dance to 

Shah Rukh’s tunes recently. 

Meanwhile Sunny Leone was shocked 

and surprised when she received a call 

from Shah Rukh Khan asking her if 

she was keen to do an item song with 

him in the film Raees directed by Rahul 

Dholakia. The film is a period drama 

set in the 80s and has the famous 

Qurbani track Laila O Laila recreated 

in it and Khan wanted her to gyrate on 

that number with him in the film. 

“I was not sure whether he wanted 

to speak to Sunny Leone or Sunny 

Deol,” she says. Sunny was more than 

surprised when she realised that it was 

Shah Rukh on the other line. “I was 

actually a bundle of nerves as well 

and was pretty excited to him with 

him. It was a moment to cherish,” 

says the actress. 

Sunny is now looking forward towards 

working with another Khan 

who has reached out to her, Aamir 

Khan. “at the moment there is nothing 

happening with Aamir Khan, but 

I do hope and pray that it does,” says 

the actress 

For Sunny Leone, it’s been quite a 

journey from Canada to the Adult 

movie industry and then into Bollywood 

and now she is entrenched as 

a Bollywood actress. She grew up in 

what she calls a “Punjabi home” in 

Canada. “We ate Indian food every 

day except on Fridays and Saturdays, 

which were branded as ‘American’ 

days. It meant that we had Italian or 

Chinese or Mediterranean but certainly 

not dal, roti or sabzi.” She moved to 

California when she was 14 and went 

on to finish her high school there. 

The move from a Punjabi house to the 

Penthouse wasn’t perhaps the easiest 

thing for her to do. But the adult 

magazine made Leone then 21 an 

offer she couldn’t refuse. “The offer 

came in 2003 via an agent who told 

me that I would only need to pose for 

pictures in exchange for a handsome 

amount of money. The money was superb. 

Honestly, getting pictures shot 

in one’s 

birthday suit is not the easiest thing to 

happen to any girl, but then the output 

in terms of the photographs stunned 

me. I wondered how I could look so 

stunning,” says the woman who swept 

across the centrefold of the magazine. 

Leone – the name was given to her 

by Penthouse owner Bob Guccione 

-- has no qualms admitting that she 

joined adult film industry on her own 

accord. “I knew what I was doing, no 

one forced me into the business. I run 

my own company and make my own 

films and that is reason enough for me 

to be proud of my work,” she says. 

The actress believes she was always 

made for the glamour industry. “The 

hair, the make-up, the clothes and my 

connect with the camera, it was there 

to see when I did my photo shoots. 

Entertainers have a connection with 

the camera and that is how they connect 

with the people watching them. It 

is a part of a true entertainer’s DNA.” 

And after coming to Bollywood, one 

of the things she loves here are the autorickshaws 

in Mumbai. “I just love 

these rickshaws. It is probably the 

easiest and fastest ways of transportation 

in Mumbai as these guys can 

get through anywhere in between cars 

too. I had a couple of rickshaw rides. 

It was fun. I also got in trouble when 

one of my directors said that I don’t 

want you to take any chances 

in rickshaws and 

trav- 

Page 6 

www.saindiamagazine.com

Sunny Leone is an adult entertainer turned Bollywood actress who has been busy ever since she entered 

Bollywood with the film Jism 2. Films like Ragini MMS, Leela and others followed. But then she has had 

her share of flops too. The actress speaks to SAIndia about films, life and more. 

el alone. I said what’s the big deal? It 

is so much fun. 

Having done horror films as well, we 

ask her if she believes in ghosts in real 

life? “I don’t really believe in ghosts in 

real life. If I did, I probably wouldn’t 

have done a film like Ragini MMS 2. 

But I love horror movies. When I was 

small, I used to beg my mom and dad 

to watch horror films.” 

But then she is now the first choice 

when it comes to casting someone 

bold in their films. Is she being typecast? 

“I don’t know about type cast. 

If I am being typecast what can I do? 

I can’t change that. I cannot change 

my past not can I change the way 

filmmakers look at me when they are 

looking to cast me,” she says. 

Meanwhile Sunny Leone is angry 

about stories about a possible split 

between her and her husband Daniel 

Weber. Sunny quashes the rumours 

and says that she is with her husband 

only. 

“I will not like anyone talking about 

my husband. Of course I am with him 

and I support him. He is the love of 

my life. No matter what anyone says, 

we are still together. And no one can 

ever break us up.” 

“I think all women out there are looking 

out for the right man. They are 

looking for a Prince Charming. 

I personally believe that there is 

something like a fairy tale romance 

and my life too has been that way,” 

says Leone. 

She gets nostalgic about her own love 

life with her Romania born husband 

Daniel Weber. “Mr Daniel Weber is 

the kind of person I would want to be 

with. He used to come to my doorstep 

daily with a lot of roses and chocolates. 

I would be sitting in a restaurant 

and he would send flowers and I relate 

to a lot of the girls in the house because 

they all want that fairy tale. And 

I am very lucky I am living a fairy tale 

romance. My husband is a good man. 

He is like an angel so he is my fairy 

tale…” she trails off. 

For Sunny, love is an integral part of 

life. “Love, according to me is one 

of the greatest gifts given to me by 

God. I believe in true love. It is 

very difficult for me to clearly 

define what love is, but I 

believe it is about unconditionally 

doing things 

for the person who 

you are with. You 

have to care for 

your partner. 

Additionally, 

it 

i s 

also about being there for one another 

in trying and testing times,” she says. 

Sunny understands that most of her 

fans are the youth today and she has 

some advice for them. “The youth of 

today is of a very emotional type. They 

are often very confused when they are 

in love. They seem to be rather fickle 

and do not take much time to change 

their opinion about their partners. 

They lack stability in their thoughts 

either due to hormonal changes or due 

to lack of experiences in life and often 

end up taking wrong decisions in life. 

Even though these irregularities do 

reduce with passing of time, but they 

end up taking a lot of wrong decisions 

in life,” she philosophises. 


Page 7

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The 2016 edition of FDCI India Couture 

Week embarked upon a riveting 

journey with an impressive list 

of most coveted couturiers at the Taj 

Palace, New Delhi. What made this 

season special is the addition of new 

names, as well as a host of multi-dimensional jewellers 

with curated looks, megawatt sets and star 

power, to set the runway ablaze. 

Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) through its 

flagship event - the India Couture Week celebrates 

the cultural diversity of a country which has been 

a beacon of light for its superlative craftsmanship, 

ingenious textiles and an array of rich embroideries 

and intricate techniques. 

The participants this year included Anamika Khanna, 

Manish Manhotra, Rohit Bal, Anita Dongre, Rahul 

Mishra, Tarun Tahliani, Gaurav Gupta, Reynu 

Tandon, Varun Bahl, Manav Gangwani and Rimple 

and Harpeet Narula. 

Nayanika Chatterjee, Alesia Raut, Hasleen Kaur, 

Phoebe Lawson, Lakshmi Rana, Candice Pinto, 

Deepti Gujral, Sucheta Sharma and others like 

Aishwarya Sushmita, Nikita Sahay, Mehr Sandhu, 

Ivsana and Sony Kaur were among the best models 

that sashayed the ramp at the India Couture Week 

this year. 

The opening day showcased some of the superlative 

creations of ace designer Manish Malhotra. 

His show, titled A Persian Story was inspired by the 

Persian architecture. The set was also wonderfully 

designed to accentuate the show. All his creations 

were exceptionally beautiful mostly playing with 

the hues of brown, maroon and red; few also had 

shades of blue. This time, Manish has brought about 

some exquisiteness in his tops with some wonderful 

designs to die for. The intricate designs in the gowns 

also saw the guests questing for more. 

When there is Deepika Padukone on the ramp, who 

else can be a show stopper? Deepika was the showstopper 

for Manish along with Pakistani import in 

Bollywood - Fawad Khan who looked like a Persian 

prince in his long jacket and a maroon enfolded tunic. 

Deepika resembled a resplendent bride as she 

sashayed in a glittering red lehenga with heavy gold 

embroidery. The off-shoulder blouse with a plunging 

neck line further enhanced her look. 

On the second day Epic Love by Anita Dongre at 

the ICW 2016 was inspired by Mughal Gardens. 

Her bride was free-spirited, yet embraces tradition 

with modern sensibility. Her love for the use of gota 

patti was evident in her collection which began with 

chintz-inspired prints and moved on to jewelledtoned 

solids. Fringe-finished sarees with tie-up tops 

that wrap around the drape added a present-day 

twist to the classic saree. 

Designer Tarun Tahiliani permeated grandeur and 

panache in his collection billed as the Last Dance 

of the Courtesan. The collection graduated from a 

courtesan’s wardrobe into modern age bridal couture. 

The usage of glittering Swaroski crystals in 

hues of pastels and sunset made up the drapes. The 

look perfected the messy hair buns with flowers 

tucked on one side. 

FASHION LIFESTYLE 


Saiyami Kher who will make her film debut soon 

with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s film Mirziya, 

was seen walking the ramp for Gaurav Gupta. The 

couturier’s collection was a mix of coatings, distresses 

and old-fashioned colours with blues and 

greys revving it up. 

Since Gupta was also presenting his collection as 

an offering from nature, he made sure that the models 

had elongated eye lashes resembling birds. And 

Saiyami almost flew like a bird despite her heels 

giving way on the Plaster of Paris ramp. 


Page 11

FASHION LIFESTYLE 

Show 

Stopper 


Page 13

Kangana Ranaut with Manav Gangwani 

at India Couture Week 

Actress Tareena, Suhel Seth and 

Robert Vadra at India Couture Week

Your choice in Eastern & Traditional Indian Fashion Wear & Dance Accessories.

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FASHION LIFESTYLE

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Kangana-Ranaut 

in Ralph Russo 

Couture

LEGAL LIFESTYLE 

The Courage of a Woman. 

Women who stand up for Themselves. 

Women who stand up for Each Other. 

Adv. Veerash Srikison 

Every year on 9th August South Africa reserves 

the day to celebrate the thousands 

of courageous women who defied societal 

norms of a “kept woman” and marched 

themselves ,on this day in 1956, to the 

Union Buildings in Pretoria to stand, and 

sing, for their right to freedom. 

They stood not just for their own rights but 

for those of their children and children’s 

children and every generation of South Africans 

to follow as described below: 

“…We are women from every part of 

South Africa. 

We are women of every race, we come 

from the cities and the towns, from the 

reserves and the villages. 

We come as women united in our purpose 

to save the African women from the 

degradation of passes… 

In the name of women of South Africa, 

we say to you, each one of us, African, 

European, Indian, Coloured, that we are 

opposed to the pass system. 

We shall not rest until ALL pass laws and 

all forms of permits restricting our freedom 

have been abolished. 

We shall not rest until we have won for 

our children their fundamental rights of 

freedom, justice, and security.” Taken 

from a Petition presented to the Prime 

Minister on 9 August 1956. 

The tenacity of these women, every single 

one of them, paved the way for women 

and girls today to allow themselves to 

go for opportunities, that 60 years ago 

seemed impossible. Yet in most instances 

today within our communities there is 

still the stigma that a women’s place is in 

the kitchen and that she should be seen 

not heard. What happened to embracing 

freedom and the right to be treated with 

dignity? 

In my work as an advocate for Children’s 

and Human Rights I am always asked how 

can women and girls empower themselves. 

My answer to this is that the energy must 

come from within to enable yourself to 

feel empowered. To do that I believe in 

the following: 

• Educate yourself - Michelle Obama in 

an interview said very eloquently that 

girls must place books before boys. 

Women and girls must take every 

opportunity to continue and persevere 

in gaining qualifications that will 

place them in advantageous positions 

to be considered for employment and 

promotions. If you wish to pursue go 

into business for yourself, then surround 

yourself with people who will 

give you advice and information on 

your chosen field. 

• Motivation - Surround yourself with 

people who support you and believe 

in you, and most importantly believe 

in yourself. There will be difficult 

days and everyone who wants you 

to succeed will tell you that failure 

is part of the process, that you get 

back up, shed your tears for a short 

while, change your strategy and just 

keep going. Be confident. You will 

succeed. 

• Be financially savvy- Learn about 

money. How to make it, how to protect 

it and how to save it. Know your 

legal options. Learn how to negotiate. 

If you make a mistake, learn from 

it. Always ask questions and get an 

opinion from people you trust and 

are trustworthy. 

The world is a scary place and even those 

closest to you might not support you but 

I want you to draw strength from your 

passion to succeed. When I look for motivation 

I repeat watch the movie “English-Vinglish”. 

In this movie the leading 

lady Shashi, played by the ever-beautiful 

Sridevi, teaches us about persistence, 

courage and overcoming fear. She uses 

her talent as an excellent sweetmeat maker 

to create her income and then uses her 

income to overcome her challenges that 

her own family mock her about. The pain 

and disappointment you see in her face 

is the same pain we women go through 

when we are at a loss and deflated when 

we are made to feel less than worthy. Her 

confidence grows but not without difficult 

moments and the eventual feeling of defeat. 

Surrounded by those who believe in 

her she is able to overcome her obstacles 

and achieve her self-respect. I encourage 

you to watch it and know that you can 

achieve greatness even while the odds are 

stacked against you. 

Let the 9th of August be a reminder that 

women stood to protect your rights to improve 

yourself. Do not be afraid to invoke 

their spirit of what is just and rightly deserved. 

If you work hard and believe that 

you deserve better, you will do better. In 

the words of the late President Nelson 

Mandela, “It always seems impossible until 

it is done” 

Wishing all you lovely ladies an amazing 

Women’s Day. Dance, sing and support 

yourselves and each other to become the 

women this country celebrates. 

Submitted by Adv. Veerash Srikison, an 

internationally accredited civil and commercial 

mediator, at Fair Practice in Johannesburg. 

For information on mediation and to book an 

appointment contact: 

Fair Practice - Mediation Services 

(011) 046 2644 

info@fairpractice.co.za 

www.fairpractice.co.za 

*The contents of this article are for information purposes 

only and must not be considered as legal advice. 

Please contact us for more information on the 

mediation process and how we can assist your family. 

Page 34 


Ranbir’s role 

cut, Fawad’s 

increased… 

They say that Fridays are either 

a Good Friday or a Black Friday 

when it comes to the Bollywood box 

office. That is what has happened 

advertently to Young Turk and 

Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor’s 

career. With his films failing at the box 

office, noted filmmaker and director 

Karan Johar has in fact reduced 

Kapoor’s role in his upcoming film 

and increased Pakistani sensation 

Fawad Khan’s role in his next 

offering at the marquee Ae Dil Hai 

Mushkil also starring the Sultan 

actress Anushka Sharma and 

Bollywood diva Aishwarya Rai. 

Sources insist that even though 

Ranbir’s role does not seem to have 

gone down significantly, Fawad’s 

footage in the film has increased 

substantially. 

Fawad Khan’s earlier release 

in Bollywood, Kapoor and Sons 

ironically with Ranbir’s father Rishi 

Kapoor was a staggering hit and 

was also well received by the critics. 

Fawad’s debut film in Bollywood 

opposite fashionista and Bollywood 

actress Sonam Kapoor Khoobsurat 

also won him a lot of accolades and 

a huge female fan following. 

Ranbir on the other hand has been 

seeing the bad side of Bollywood 

with films like Bombay Velvet, 

Tamasha and an extended guest 

appearance in Roy failing him and 

his fans at the turnstiles. 

Fawad plays a DJ in Ae Dil Hai 

Mushkil while Anushka plays a royal 

scion. Both of them are playing 

Pakistani characters in the film. 

HOT GOSSIP 

Gossip 

Feature 

Incidentally Fawad has been busy 

with other work and has been able 

to allot dates for the last leg of the 

shoot which began in July in the 

Bollywood capital of Mumbai. 

The film shoot will go on till August 

and Fawad is expected to join the 

cast very soon. The film has already 

been shot in exotic European locales 

including Vienna and Paris with a 

Christmas schedule having been 

shot in London. The palatial Indian 

city of Udaipur has also played host 

to the shoot. 

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil will make it 

a little more mushkil (tough) for 

Ranbir because the release date 

of the film clashes with another box 

office brouhaha in the form of Ajay 

Devgan’s second directorial film 

Shivaay. 


Page 35

HOT GOSSIP 

Salman unhappy 

with Santoshi, 

sacks him 

It can easily be said that one of Salman’s 

funniest films in his career has been Rajkumar 

Santoshi’s film Andaz Apna Apna where he 

was paired with dear friend Aamir Khan. 

And that is perhaps the reason why he played 

a guest appearance in his estranged lover 

Katrina Kaif’s film Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani 

with her then lover Ranbir Kapoor. 

of his commercial abilities like the recently 

released Sultan. Now we are told that Salman 

has decided to give the director a miss. Atul 

has been asked to hire another director to 

redevelop the script and make it good enough 

for Salman to be cast in it. 

We are informed that the first draft is exactly 

not ready now despite the filmmaker and his 

writing team having taken a lot of time. 

We are told that a lot of directors close to 

Salman are making a beeline to take up the 

job. Santoshi will now start filming Kabir 

Khan’s film Tubelight now a little earlier than 

what he was supposed to do. Salman wanted 

to film this movie right after Sultan. 

Salman has had a great belief in Santoshi’s 

abilities and hence he had wanted the 

filmmaker to direct his brother in law Atul 

Agnihotri’s film based on the Korean film, An 

Ode to My Father. An Ode to My Father is the 

second biggest hit in Korean history and deals 

with the life of a child bread winner who heeds 

to his father’s advice and leaves home to take 

care of the rest of his family while the father 

searches for his sister during the Korean 

evacuation. The brother and the sister unite in 

the end with the father still missing. 

The Bollywood version of the film is also a 

period drama set during the Partition of India 

and Pakistan. 

But then when the idea of the first draft of 

the script came to him, Salman was not too 

happy with it. Salman is now doing a lot of 

meaningful cinema within the parameters 

Kat on FB now! 

On the occasion of her birthday, Katrina Kaif 

had a special surprise lined up for her 

fans. She made her social media debut on 

Facebook. She uploaded a candid welcome 

video in the morning and later in the day, 

did a live Facebook chat with fans. Her fans 

reciprocated with so much love, Katrina 

gained a record 4 million followers on day one. 

She was one of the most talked about 

people on Facebook and was also 

trending at number 1 on Twitter where 

she does not have a personal account 

yet. The news of her social media debut 

made headlines in print, TV and digital 

media. Katrina has already created Google 

search records by featuring on the top-ten 

most-searched personalities in India more 

times than any other personality. With her 

Facebook debut, she has now extended 

her winning streak to social media. 

Katrina Kaif’s arrival on FB is being looked 

upon with a lot of interest. Let us inform 

you that the heads of Facebook in India 

were very keen on getting both Ranbir 

Kapoor and Katrina Kaif on Facebook 

for a long time. Ranbir was on Twitter 

for a while but ran away after he was 

trolled. Later he was convinced to start 

an Instagram account. It is rather strange 

that Katrina has chosen to enter Facebook 

after her former flame has entered 

Instagram – an app from the makers of FB. 

Incidentally Katrina is now working with 

Ranbir Kapoor in their forthcoming release 

together – Jagga Jasoos. 

Salman is still keen on doing the film now, 

provided the script suits his stardom and 

temperament. Any takers? 

Aamir changes 

marketing plan 

Looking at the response to Sulman Khan’s 

box office brouhaha Sultan, Aamir Khan has 

decided to revisit the marketing plan of his 

film Dangal. For the uninitiated, both Dangal 

as well as Sultan are films about wrestling 

with the protagonists being wrestlers. 

While Sultan was directed by Ali Abbas Zafar 

and co-starred Anushka Sharma, Dangal is 

being directed by Nitesh Tiwari and co-stars 

Sakshi Tanwar and two new girls. 

Aamir now has had closed door meetings 

with his marketing and PR outfits discussing 

with them on the way forward on his film so 

that it is not marketed like Sultan which 

eventually was also perceived like a love 

story by a lot of film folk and audiences who 

found the romance between Anushka and 

Salman more compelling than the wrestling 

plot in the film. 

So now Aamir has decided to concentrate 

on the fact that his film has two young girls 

who want to be wrestlers for whom the 

wrestler father sacrifices everything and 

decides to take on all odds and make them 

into champion wrestlers for India. The film 

is a biopic on the life of wrestler Mahavir 

Phogat and his daughters. 

Aamir now wants the film to be a film for the 

daughters as he feels that the fighting for 

the underdog story like he did in Ashutosh 

Gowariker’s film Lagaan will be a clincher in 

the film as well. 

Page 36 


Salman Khan’s 

box office 

history with Eid 

This Eid the Salman Khan’s film Sultan 

directed by Ali Abbas Zafar and co-starring 

Anushka Sharma has shown the power 

of Khan during Eid with a huge box office 

collection in India and abroad. 

HOT GOSSIP 

We look back at how Salman Khan Films 

have performed during Eid since 2009. 

Eid 2009 

Salman had a release – Wanted. The film 

came at a time when Salman’s career was 

not really doing well and the film co-starring 

Ayesha Jhulka and directed by south ace 

Prabhu Deva for producer Boney Kapoor 

became a superhit. The film collected Rs 61 

crores at the domestic box office. 

Eid 2010 

Salman’s release during this Eid was 

his brother Arbaaz Khan’s production 

Dabangg. Directed by Anurag Kashyap’s 

brother Abhinav and co-starring Arbaaz 

and Sonakshi Sinha, the film went on to 

be a box office juggernaut. Malaika Arora’s 

dance number ‘Munni Badnaam’ was a 

roaring success and applied zandu balm on 

all earlier flops of Salman as it collected Rs 

141 crores at the domestic box office. 

Eid 2011 

This Eid gave Salman the hat-trick of 

successes at the box office during the 

festival. The film Bodyguard was not 

considered to be one of Salman’s best work. 

But the film which was a remake of a south 

Indian film co-starred Kareena Kapoor and 

went on to do Rs 148 crores at the domestic 

box office, a few more than Dabangg as well, 

which was a tad too surprising. But then this 

meant that Eid belonged to Salman. 

Eid 2012 

This was the year of the Tiger. Salman’s 

film Ek Tha Tiger released to a roaring 

response. The combination of Yash Raj 

Films and Salman Khan with an added 

dose in the form of his ex-lover Katrina Kaif 

featuring in the film directed by Kabir Khan 

made it a potent combination. The film was 

indeed a huge success and the Tiger roared 

to a collection of 198 crores, falling short of 

the Rs 200 crore club by a small margin at 

the domestic box office. 

Eid 2014 

Salman Khan gave Eid 2013 a miss and it 

allowed Shah Rukh Khan to release his film 

Chennai Express which was a huge hit. But 

then Salman came back in 2014 with Sajid 

Nadiadwala’s debut feature as a director – 

Kick. The film went on to do Rs 230 crores 

at the box office riding only on Salman 

Khan’s star power and heroine Jacqueline 

Fernandez also got her first look into the Rs 

200 crore club with Salman Khan. 

Eid 2015 saw the Salman Khan film Bajrangi 

Bhaijaan which reunited Kareena Kapoor 

with Salman Khan. Child actress Harshali 

Malhotra played a pivotal role in the film 

which saw Salman Khan working with Kabir 

Khan yet again and the box office results 

were there for all to see. The film broke into 

the Rs 300 crore club and grossed Rs 320 

crores. 

Hrithik reaches 

out to Arjun 

Hrithik Roshan has reached out to his former 

friend turned foe Arjun Rampal. Rampal’s 

mother was down with cancer and has 

just fought it and returned to normalcy and 

Arjun recently was seen meeting his wife 

and family in an emotional moment at the 

airport. Understanding the trauma that his 

old friend has been going through, Hrithik 

sent him some flowers as a goodwill gesture 

trying to give as much support as he could 

during trying times. Indeed, the Mohenjo 

Daro actor does have a heart of gold. 

Incidentally Hrithik may now soon have a 

series of toys in his name as a company 

has shown interest in developing toys 

using the characters he has essayed in 

his films. While Hrithik’s producer father 

Rakesh Roshan has already shown interest 

in the same other producers are being 

approached regarding the rights. 


Page 37

HOT GOSSIP 

Indo Pak love 

story? 

Last year when Bollywood actor Ranbir 

Kapoor sent out a video message on 

Instagram to Pakistani actress Mawra 

Hocane, calling her very beautiful and 

talented, this die-hard fan of Kapoor 

shot into the limelight in India. 

Soon she was signed up for an Indian 

film by ‘Lucky’ directors Vinay Sapru 

and Radhika Rao in ‘Sanam Teri 

Kasam’. The film didn’t do well at the 

box office but Mawra won many hearts. 

In fact, Ranbir’s sister Riddhima even 

gifted her a talisman to ward off the evil eye. 

There are stories about how Imtiaz Ali 

introduced the two, and even wishful 

rumours of the director casting them in 

a movie. 

Strangely, as luck would play its part, 

both actors coincided their trip to Berlin. 

While Ranbir and his director buddy 

Ayan Mukerji were in London and then 

in Berlin to discuss a movie plan with 

fitness trainer Ido Portal, Marwa was 

there with her sister Uwra. 

Mawra celebrated her sister’s birthday 

at the Rotating restaurant ‘Sphere’. 

So now that Ranbir and Mawra 

both are in Berlin at the same 

time, is there more to this trip? 

Will we soon see the two actors 

romancing on screen? 

Let’s wait and watch. 

Rajni trashes 

Aamir, Salman 

Shah Rukh 

As how India’s megastar Rajnikanth’s most 

movies do, this one Kabali saw him trash all 

Bollywood superstars Salman Khan, Shah 

Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan to dust. After 

the first day in the domestic market, the 

makers announced that the film has already 

made Rs 250 crore in the Indian domestic 

market alone leaving aside international 

collections. That means that Kabali had 

made an opening collection of Rs 250 

crore in the domestic market alone. Huh? 

Nimrat’s bikini 

act 

Nimrat Kaur was being considered as a 

very serious actor having done films like 

the multi award winning Lunchbox and a 

serious role in a commercial film like Airlift 

opposite Akshay Kumar as his wife even 

though she did manage to get on romantic 

number in the movie. One did not expect 

Nimrat Kaur to throw in her hat into the 

hotness sector. But then the girl took the 

plunge. 

And it was a real plunge of sorts as she 

took off her clothes and was seen in a 

bikini and then she jumped into the waters 

and her assistant shoot her pictures as 

she took a swim. Nimrat was in Canada 

where she has gone to shoot her 

Canadian movie project Wayward Pines. 

Nimrat has earlier worn a proper bikini on 

a beach in Goa but no one really noticed. 

This time around Nimrat made sure that 

it was posted on her Instagram account 

so that movie producers could see her 

in a different light. Do not be surprised 

anymore if you realise that Nimrat is 

bagging all the roles that were earlier 

supposed to be going to Sunny Leone or 

other hot bodied Bollywood women. 

That makes Kabali’ the all-time biggest opener 

in India and all this despite the south India and 

Bollywood superstar not making any additional 

effort to promote his film unlike the Bollywood 

actors who give 4000 odd interviews wot 

print, web and TV and Movie channels. 

Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Happy New Year 

released in 2014 has Rs 44.97 crore as its 

opening collection and Salman Khan’s Prem 

Ratan Dhan Payo released in 2015 at a distant 

third with Rs 40.35 crore in its kitty on day one 

of the release. The Salman Khan-Anushka 

Sharma-starrer ‘Sultan’ made an opening 

collection of Rs 36.54 crore which made it 

the biggest opener of 2016 and the fourth 

biggest on the list of all-time top openers. 

Aamir Khan’s Dhoom 3 released three years 

ago in 2013 is at fourth position with Rs 36.22 

crore followed by the Rohit Shetty directed 

Chennai Express in 2013 with Rs 33.12 crore, 

occupying the fifth and sixth slots respectively. 

Yash Raj Films’ Salman’s Ek Tha Tiger (2012) 

earned Rs 32.93 crore making it the seventh 

in the pecking order while Salman’s Bajrangi 

Bhaijaan (2015) earned Rs 27.25 crore. Put 

the collections of the other six box office 

grossers in India following Rajni’s Kabali, all 

six films cannot even equal Rajni’s Kabali. 

Kabali’s success can be attributed to the 

fact that it was released in Tamil as well as 

in Telugu and Hindi in their dubbed versions. 

Also, Kabali released in approximately 8000- 

10000 screens all over the world, which 

includes 480 screens in the US, 490 in 

Malaysia and above 500 in Gulf countries. 

Clearly emphasises the verity that Rajni is 

bigger than two Salmans two Shah Rukhs 

and two Aamir Khan’s put together. And mind 

you Rajni is a Tamil superstar. 

Page 38 


Bipasha wants to 

design 

Bollywood sensuous horror queen Bipasha 

Basu’s film career is not doing great. Many 

of her films that she has agreed to do gave 

not taken off including films by producer 

Vashu Bhagnani and designer turned 

director Vikram Phadnis’s film on football 

have not taken of due to various reasons. 

HOT GOSSIP 

Bipasha is now in the public light for her 

marriage and public appearances after that. 

Her pictures of her extended honeymoon 

are all over the social media. 

So what is she doing in terms of work now? 

Well, Bipasha is using her phone contact 

book and her friends circle to do things 

that she wants to do now at this stage of 

her age and career that she wasn’t doing 

earlier. She has a great sense of colour and 

design that she has started speaking to her 

friends to design. Design what? Well, could 

be home décor, clothes, accessories, or 

anything where you lack at. So if you are 

looking for someone to design a home, or 

want to wear clothing to charm your friends 

and partner, you should know who to get in 

touch with. 

Mika is trouble 

again 

A molestation case has been filed against singer 

Mika Singh. 

All said and done, an investment in Bipasha 

Basu or her thinking surely could be 

worthwhile to you. 

Sources inform that the girl who has filed the case 

is a model and a fashion designer who has filed the 

said case. Her name is being kept under wraps at 

the moment for reasons of privacy. The versova 

police confirmed that the case had been filed. 

Mika’s PR agent Danny soon sent across a note 

to the press, denying any molestation, but made 

several counter allegations against her. 

Here is Mika Singh’s statement on the molestation case 

“Today morning at around 5 am, a girl barged into 

my premises, entering through the window and 

started abusing me and assaulting me and my 

staff. She started threatening that if I don’t pay her 

Rs 5 crore, she will ruin my career and register a 

false case against me. I have already informed the 

Versova police in writing regarding the threats and 

extortion. I don’t know who this girl is. I have all the 

evidence against this girl of her demanding money 

from me and I have informed the police about this 

incident. Police is investigating the matter and truth 

will be out soon.” 

Mika is not a stranger to controversies and bad 

behaviour. 

# His infamous smooch with Rakhi Sawant when he 

forcibly kissed the item girl and actress is still part of 

Bollywood folklore. 

# Mika had also allegedly hit an autorickshaw with 

his Hummer, though the singer denied the same. 

# Mika had once slapped a doctor during one of his 

shows in the Indian capital of Delhi after something 

that the medic did psyched him. 


Page 39

Rani Mukerji

HOT GOSSIP 

Baby didn’t like bass 

When Anushka Sharma heard the song Baby Ko Bass Pasand Hai from 

the Salman Khan starrrer Sultan, she was wondering what she will do in a 

song like that in a film where she was supposed to play a female wrestler 

and then a wannabe mother. The film was from the company Yash Raj 

Films that launched her career and whose executives were also handling 

her movies and career and she could not reject it outright. 

So she tried to reason with the director Ali Abbas Zafar. Ali said that the 

song was very situational and she need not bother much about what the 

song said, but just asked her to enjoy herself. “But then I could not convince 

him to do the song without me and hence we went ahead with shooting the 

song,” says Anushka about the song and the film. 

So Anushka then decided to do the song finally. Incidentally Shah Rukh 

Khan, Anushka’s hero in her debut film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Jab Tak 

Hai Jaan decided to pay Salman a surprise visit during the shooting of this 

song. 

No marry-go-round! 

Akshaye Khanna has been doing the disappearing act from Bollywood after his last release 

in 2012 Gali Gali Mein Chor Hai. This prompted people to ask if there was a problem. 

Akshaye was refusing to do films and there was a rumour that he had taken to alcohol and 

had gone for rehabilitation. Akshaye denies that he was an addict and clears all rumours. 

“I am a moody person. I didn’t feel like doing films. I liked the role offered to me in 

Dishoom and I did it,” he says. Akshaye who plays a villain in Dishoom like he played 

earlier in films like Humraaz and Race says that he does not want to get married at all. 

“There are certain things that someone does not believe in. But then it is not that I do not 

believe the institution of marriage, but I do not think that I want to get married. I am a different 

person and I like to live life in a different manner. I am not somebody who can commit that I 

can live my life and the rest of my life with someone. I believe in having the free will to be or 

leave a relationship as per choice. Also when you say marriage, it becomes very legal. To get 

a divorce one has to go to court etc. So let me not marry and not ruin anyone’s life,” he says 

matter-of-factly. 

Facebook goofs 

up, lets Harshali 

be trolled 

When Harshali Malhotra, the child heroine 

of Bajrangi Bhaijaan posted a picture of her 

with Katrina Kaif on her verified Facebook 

Page wishing her a happy birthday by 

posting “Happy Birthday – Katrina Kaif 

auntie.” stupid Facebook users trolled 

the eight-year-old kid for calling Katrina 

Kaif as auntie. While 33-year-old Katrina 

was very nice and replied with a “thank 

you love,” there were some idiots who 

commented saying, “do not call her aunty, 

she is just as cute as you are.” There were 

a few comments which asked the girl to 

perhaps call her didi (meaning elder sister). 

There were others who sneered and some 

who were rather rude as well. But then 

Katrina did not try to stop them. Even a lot 

of Salman Khan fans who are fans of both 

Harshali as well as Kaif on her Facebook 

page, did not bother to defend the little kid. 

Let us tell you that Facebook guidelines 

prescribe that no one under the age of 13 

can have a Facebook Page. But we wonder 

how little eight-year-old Harshali managed 

to have one without a problem. And even if 

she has one, let FB who has already goofed 

up, also try and protect the emotions of the 

little child when shameless FB users start 

trolling the little one. 

Page 42 


Sanjay Dutt’s 

script may now be 

a film 

Sanjay Dutt spent a lot of time in jail after 

he was found an accused under the Arms 

Act Case after having initially being booked 

under the Bomb Blasts Case in Mumbai. 

Unlike his friend and another bad boy of 

Bollywood Salman Khan, Sanjay was not 

lucky and was convicted. 

So what did he do in jail apart from doing 

what the rest of the prisoners do? Well, he 

took time to write some movie scripts. One 

such script that he has written is apparently 

so good that some film producers headed 

by Anurag Kashyap under the banner 

Phantom Films have found the script so 

interesting that they want to base a movie 

on the subject of the film that Sanjay Dutt 

has written. 

While the actor himself will be seen in a 

few films performing before the camera, his 

script will be directed by either of Anurag 

Kashyap, Vikas Bahl or Vikramaditya 

Motwane who love the idea of a movie 

written by Dutt and that too of a good 

quality. Reason enough for good publicity 

we guess. With so many bad scripts being 

made into films, we can obviously expect a 

better one from the battle hardened Dutt. 

Kangna patches up 

with Irrfan 

Kangna Ranaut has patched up with Irrfan 

Khan after their brief misunderstanding. It can 

be recalled that Irrfan was a bit bitter about the 

fact that Kangna Ranaut has refused to work 

opposite him in a film even after Irrfan was 

ready to work with her. That was after Kangna’s 

film Tanu Weds Manu Returns had turned into 

a major hit and that led to Irrfan commenting 

that Kangna will not work with him ever again 

unless he was a ‘heroine’. 

But now the actor asked Kangna to come and 

watch his July release Madaari and the actress 

obliged. The twain met and everything went 

well. Does that mean that we can possibly get 

to see both these actors working together in a 

film? Well, maybe as long as any director will 

have the guts and the ability to handle them 

both on the sets. 

HOT GOSSIP 

Aishwarya Rai’s 

mother hurt 

Photographers from the media have now 

turned paparazzi and have started covering 

all activities at every spot that star may 

frequent and one of them happens to 

be the airport. And it does happen when 

overzealous security guards and new media 

personnel are in the field and things can go 

really wrong. It so happened that Aishwarya 

Rai, her daughter Aaradhya and her mother 

Vrinda Rai were coming from the airport. 

One of Aishwarya Rai’s security personnel 

was perturbed by the over enthusiastic 

photographers and tried to move him away. 

The photographers could not handle the 

push and he plonked clumsily on someone 

behind him. That turned out to be Aishwarya 

Rai’s mother Vrinda. 

Vrinda was hurt badly and Ash only realised 

that when he had already reached her car 

and understood that her mother was not 

with her. Ash rushedout of her car back to 

the airport premise and rescued her mother 

and took her with her. 

Lessons to be learnt for a lot of people now 

including media and security men. 


Page 43

HOT GOSSIP 

Farhan-Aditi 

split? 

Aditi Rao Hydari, it is alleged was 

responsible for the split between Farhan 

Akhtar and his wife Adhuna. But then 

there are other wags who claim that it was 

Shraddha Kapoor his heroine in the film 

Rock On 2, whose proximity to Farhan led 

to Adhuna wanting to break free. But then 

there are others who say that Farhan’s eye 

caught his Wazir co-star Aditi and the two 

are more than just friends. 

But then as it stands now, a party thrown by 

the Rock On 2 makers which did not feature 

Aditi as she is not part of the film was the 

reason why Aditi and Farhan have moved 

away from each other. Aditi’s friends at the 

party apparently told her that Farhan Akhtar 

was not really into her and looked more into 

Shraddha Kapoor at the party of the film’s 

sequel. 

Farhan and Aditi or even Shraddha for that 

matter have spoken about the relationship 

in public, so we still believe that they are 

just friends. But then the truth will be out in 

public soon. 

Iulia Vantur’s 

dance lessons 

Iulia Vantur is Salman Khan’s girlfriend. The 

Romanian born anchor and TV star who has 

bene steady with Salman for a while, has 

now been busy trying to take dance lessons 

for two hours a day in Salman Khan’s 

brother’s nightspot. The nightspot is a rather 

popular one, and it wasn’t difficult for us to 

understand that Iulia was trying to learn 

all the tough steps of dancing. Knowing 

Salman he would not like a wife who was 

furthering her career in the entertainment 

industry. He even likes his heroines all 

covered and dolled up. 

So why is she learning dancing? Has 

Salman told her to get ready with her act so 

she can be cast in one of his films ahead? 

We all know that Salman is looking for a 

known heroine for his film Dabangg 3 which 

will go on the floors once he has finished 

shooting Kabir Khan’s Tubelight. So will he 

cast a popular name among his fans like 

Iulia or go for an established one. Watch 

this space. 

Watts love got to do with it? 

Bollywood star Ranveer Singh rejected a possible role opposite Naomi Watts so he could 

reunite with Deepika Padukone in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Padmavati. 

Raveer was offered a role in a film based on a book called Pushpa which was being adapted 

for the big screen by German filmmaker Franziska Buch who has directed films like Yoko and 

Adieu Paris, and she was to start filming the movie after her current project Connie and Co. 

But even before Naomi’s agents have given a go ahead to the film, Ranveer Singh rejected 

the role. We are told that Ranveer had already committed to doing films like Ramleela, Bajirao 

Mastani and Padmavati to Bhansali all opposite his ladylove Deepika Padukone. 

“Ranveer wanted to spend a lot more time with Deepika and it is an added bonus that the 

films he is working on are all directed by his favourite maker Sanjay Bhansali,” says a source. 

“Ranveer had already committed to Bhansali to do these films, and he did not want to lose out 

on time with Deepika. 

Ranveer was even given the book to read, but he did not pursue the project. 

For those who tuned in late, Pushpa was the name, writer Inger Solberg’s former boyfriend 

used to call her by. He had died in a motor crash and the film is based on her experiences in 

India. Ranveer’s role in the film was secondary as it is based on a woman’s story. Ranveer has 

just finished shooting for Aditya Chopra’s film Befikre opposite Vaani Kapoor. 

Page 44 


was malaika 

ignored? 

Did Bollywood star Salman Khan ignore his 

estranged sister-in law Malaika Arora Khan 

when the former went on the show India’s Got 

Talent which also has Karan Johar and Kirron 

Kher as judges apart from Malaika? 

Well, that is what it seems from 

the pictures from the show. 

Salman was present on the show to promote 

his film Sultan and he preferred not to 

sit with his sister in law who is now living 

separately from her husband Arbaaz Khan. 

It is said that Salman did try to effect a patch up 

between his brother and Malaika, but the latter 

was in no mood to listen. 

Eventually Salman and the rest of his family gave 

up. Earlier his father and the much revered writer 

Salim Khan had also given it a shot but failed. 

In the given scenario it was difficult for the family 

to shake hands with someone who had ignored 

their pleas. 

As a result Salman decided to just go on the 

show and interact with the others,but avoid 

exchanging pleasantries on national television 

as it would have upset his family as well. 

Sources from the show agree that Salman 

clearly avoided an exchange of good 

wishes and mirthmaking with Malaika. 

Salman surely has got some talent.

EVENT FEATURE 

2016 Vodacom 

Durban 

Socials 

July 

Thousands of punters and partyseekers 

braved the chilly July 

weather to enjoy the 120th 

instalment of Africa’s Greatest 

Horseracing Event with the fabled 

seventh race enthralling all as 

unfancied The Conglomerate gave trainer Joey 

Ramsden his first Vodacom Durban July winner 

at Greyville Racecourse on Saturday. 

The Conglomerate wins the 2016 Vodacom Durban July 

Race Seven lived up to the expectation with 

the final furlong producing all the action as 

the pre-race favourites all fell by the wayside 

which left The Conglomerate, starting from 

the extreme outside draw of eighteen and 

ridden by Vodacom Durban July veteran Piere 

Strydom, and Marinaresco to fight it out over 

the final lengths with the former winning and 

claiming the R4.25 Million prize with Mac de 

Lago finishing in third position. 

A thrilled Strydom heaped praise on the four 

year old, saying he had more than enough to 

hold off the challenge from Marinaresco, with the 

fancied Bela-Bela failing to mount a challenge 

in the finish straight after straightening on the 

inside. 

There was no denying that field fashion was 

on form this year, with plenty of ‘Leader of the 

Pack’ inspired ensembles gracing the track 

and many designers vying for a coveted place 

amongst the winners of the celebrated raceday 

competitions. 

After some tough judging from industry experts 

designers saw Pregasen Govender, Zandile 

Masondo, Martin Steenkamp and Madelain 

Clark secure first place in the Gold Circle Most 

Striking Couple, Exceptional Raceday Hat or 

Fascinator and Classic Racewear for Male and 

Female categories respectively. 

The Action Stage also played host to the 

dazzling finals of the Vodacom Durban July 

Young Designer Award and Fashion Challenge 

presented by Durban Fashion Fair, where 

Leona Magdelene Pillay from the School 

of Fashion Design (Pietermaritzburg) and 

Kimosha Ganas lived the real life fairytale of 

winning the prestigious pre-race day fashion 

competitions respectively. 

As part of the Vodacom Durban July Fashion 

Experience racing fans were also treated 

to a magical showcase of theme inspired 

collections from South Africa’s kings and 

queens of fashion, Durban Invited Designers 

Karen Monk Klijnstra, Kathrin Kidger, Zama 

Mathe, Francois Vedemme, Hanrie Lues with 

Paledi Segapo and Shaldon Kopman from 

Johannesburg and Tamara Chèrie Dyson from 

Cape Town. 

Page 46 



Page 47

Aiming to be versati 

Page 48 


le 

Fashionistas 

MUSIC FEATURE 


Page 49

Page 50 



Page 51

Asian 

Age in 

Mumbai 

It was the launch of Dashanzi, the 

new Chinese Japanese restaurant at 

the JW Marriott Juhu. Dashanzi is 

now being described by food writers 

as a progressive Asian restaurant. 

Film producer Krishka Lulla 

launched the restaurant with a lavish 

party which saw some eclectic 

mix of foodies, and film folk coming 

together. 

Drawing its name from the art district 

in Beijing, the guests which 

included a lot of Bollywood persona 

found the vibe electrifying and 

the décor uber cool. 

Dashanzi sushi table 

While many of the actors made it 

to the bar, the actresses tried out the 

live sushi and sashimi bar. The interactive 

dessert table was also an 

interesting innovation. 

Anupam Kher, Jackie Shroff, Riteish 

Deshmukh, Sooraj Pancholi, 

Vikas Bhalla, Karan Singh Grover 

and Sharman Joshi walked in solo 

while Vivek Oberoi came in with 

wife Priyanka, Zayed Khan came 

with his wife Malaika Parekh, David 

Dhawan came with wife Lali 

and Talat Aziz came in with wife 

Beena. 

Krishka Lulla played perfect host 

at the event where there were also 

entries made by Sharad Kelkar, 

veteran villain Ranjeet, designer 

Rocky S. Madhurima Tuli, Manyata 

Dutt, Suchitra Krishnamurthi 

and Surveen Chawla also preferred 

to come in alone. 

Farha Khan, Talat Aziz and Beena Aziz 

Anand L Rai, Krishka Lulla’s dear 

friend and favourite director was 

also present. Neetu Chandra also 

made in a quiet entry and left soon. 

Page 52 


Restaurant Launch 

Riteish Deshmukh 

Zayed Khan and wife Malaika 


Page 53

Filmmaker David Dhawan and wife Lali 

Madhurima Tuli 

Sooraj Pancholi 

Ranjeet 

Rocky S 

Sharman Joshi 

Page 54 


Restaurant Launch 

Suchitra Krishnamurthi 

Krishka Lulla 

Anupam Kher 

Vikas Bhalla 

Urvashi Rautela 

Karan Singh Grover 


Page 55

MUSIC FEATURE 

Neatly done by Neeti 

One of Bollywood’s most good 

looking playback singers Neeti 

Mohan has now started her new 

innings as a reality show coach on 

television with a show called The 

Voice India Kids. 

Neeti’s voice has been used very effectively by Indian 

music maestro A R Rahman who also was her 

inspiration to get into singing. And now Neeti is going 

from strength to strength. 

Neeti shot to fame over ten years ago when she won 

a Tv show called Popstars and then went on to do a 

cameo in the Imtiaz Ali directed film Socha Na Tha. 

Neeti is not really a typical singer for a particular 

song. She believes in versatility. I have been singing 

all kinds of songs. I have not restricted myself to a 

certain type of a song – Be it bhajans, folk songs or 

Bollywood numbers – I have done it all. And earlier 

when I was in college, I have done everything from 

acting, dancing and doing plays as well,” she admits 

stating that it was tough to decide what she wanted 

to take up as a career. 

Having done a role in Socha Na Tha, which like the 

name of the film was done for a lark, the pretty singer 

admits that she does not know when she would do 

her next film. 

“I will act, if I do get a very good offer. But then now 

I am very sure that I want to concentrate on my singing 

at the moment,” she says honestly. 

Neeti has done playback for all top stars in Bollywood 

today from Alia Bhatt to Deepika Padukone 

and even Anushka Sharma. But then she says she 

would have loved to do playback for the legendary 

Madhuri Dixit. “She is one person who I always 

wanted to do playback for. I remember that I had 

voiced one of Madhuriji’s Jhalak Dikhla Jaa promos. 

It left me wanting more,” says Neeti. 

The actress feels that she has her own style. “I am 

not like those people who says that she wants to 

try and imitate someone. I have my own distinctive 

style. People like Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle 

are legends, but one should not imitate them. You 

can learn from them, but not copy them,” she says. 

Neeti who will be judging singing kids on this show 

feels that life has come a full circle. “I started my 

career winning a reality show and now I see myself 

judging another,” she says. 

The singer says that music came to her when she was 

hearing the songs of the AR Rahman composed film 

Roja when she was in boarding school. “I only used 

to hear the songs of Roja at the school. My friends 

thought I had gone cuckoo. I took more interest in 

music only after hearing A R Rahman’s music,” 

smiles the songstress. 

Having said that, Neeti also loves to chill with her 

two other sisters Shakti and Mukti. Both of them are 

dancers and while Shakti is now going to be acting 

in a film directed by Remo D Souza after judging 

a dance reality show, Mukti Mohan is also a dance 

show winner. “We spend some time enjoying ourselves 

when we are together and there are times 

when we watch The Kapil Sharma Show on Tv as it 

is great entertainment,” says Neeti. 

TV for Neeti is only a pastime. And not a profession. 

“Judging a show is different, but I cannot act on TV 

at this time as it consumes a lot of time. But if it 

is a great offer, I do not rule it out,” she keeps her 

options open. 

The Delhi girl clearly works hard at all her songs. 

“In fact when I was voicing for Anushka’s character 

in Bombay Velvet, I went to jazz clubs and heard the 

music. I stopped doing anything connected to Bollywood 

and only concentrated on the kind of songs 

used in the film Bombay Velvet. I saw what people 

wore etc at these places. And when I recorded the 

songs for the film, I had actually dressed up in retro 

attire to get the mood right for the songs,” she says, 

clearly indicating that Bollywood has a great talent 

just waiting to take off big. 

Bollywood playback singer turns judge 

Page 56 


Audio Tips XTC 

Neeti Mohan with Shaan and Shekhar Ravjiani 


Page 57

RECIPE 

per person 

Sandton 

Winter has arrived in 

South Africa and what better way 

to keep warm with a steaming cup 

of freshly brewed chai. 

Tea / Chai for 2 

Ingredients 

2 tea bags of good quality 

2 small pieces of fresh ginger - crushed 

2 shavings of nutmeg 

1 cinnamon stick 

1 green cardamom pod - lightly crushed 

In a deep saucepan boil 2-3 cups of water. 

Add in the ginger and spices and lower the 

heat. Simmer for at least 5 minutes 

Now remove from the heat and add the tea 

bags. Let it steep for a further 5 min 

Place the saucepan back onto the stove for a 

quick heat up. You really don’t want your chai 

bitter so not too long…Just a minute 

Add milk and sugar to taste and you have a cup 

or two of aromatic tea. 

Happy chai making 

From my heart to yours 

Zira 

Page 58 


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Tel: (011) 784 4964 

Cell: 073 264 5993 

email: bookings@theroyalindia.co.za 

Year End Functions book today 

only at The Royal India Sandton 

Alberton: 

43 Kritzinger Street 

Tel: (011) 039 4844 

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• Birthday Parties 

• Year End functions 

• Corporate Events 

• VIP Dining 

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Sandton_Magazine_21 August 2015_print.pdf 1 2015/08/21 02:23:23 PM 

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For Franchise opportunities contact 

Luis +27 82 456 5763

I 

have travelled around the world. I was 

11 years old when I visited Dubai and I 

remember watching the Hollywood film 

Cliffhanger in one of the movie halls 

there. Places like Dubai are good for short 

vacations, shopping etc. 

But when it comes to having long vacations 

or when you need to go to places where one 

needs to chill out, I need to go to a water front. 

I love the water and hence Maldives is my 

favourite destination. I love the beach and I love 

the water it’s very peaceful. When you have 

exotic work schedule I just go there and read a 

book, get tanned, go swimming, diving, fishing 

etc. 

Of late, my work schedule has been very tight so 

I have not been getting enough time for myself 

but as soon as I get done with my commitments 

I just book my tickets and fly there to get some 

peace. It’s the most peaceful place I have ever 

been to. 

There are some breath-taking views in Maldives 

which is said to be an Archipelago. It looks like 

a necklace of islands perhaps the reason why 

people think that the name has originated from 

the Sanskrit word Mala Dweepa. 

The island is also the lowest country in the 

world as it is situated at less than five feet above 

sea level. 

Maldives has outstanding coral reefs, 

innumerable varieties of fish, turtles, whales 

and dolphins. The country brings amazing 

peace to the eyes and mind. 

It has multicultural influences from the British 

to the Portuguese and even some Dutch 

inspirations. It’s the best place to be on earth. 

I have been to various countries but there is 

nothing like Maldives. 

I have not been able to visit the undersea 

resorts or stay there, but I believe that those are 

some of the best ones in the world. 

I am a complete beach person and I enjoy 

spending time in beach. I don’t care about 

getting tanned so I prefer to be there for 

holidays. 

I also love the food there. There is a lot of 

coconut used in making the food there. The 

curries are very tasty in that country. Mas 

Riha made out of diced fresh Tuna is the most 

popular curry there in the Maldives. 

Normally a lot of people living in Pacific Islands 

love to eat their fish raw. But then because of 

influences from Sri Lanka and India as well 

which are close to the island, there is a tendency 

for people to cook the food well and garnish it 

well before eating it. 

I have been there for more than four to five 

times. It could very well be with your friends or 

family, I am sure one will enjoy their holiday in a 

country like Maldives. 

By Soha Ali Khan 

Page 60 


TRAVEL FEATURE 

Travel to Maldives 

Statue of Liberty 

Niagara Falls 


Page 61

Page 62 


S O U T H 

A F R I C A 

sparklify your style 

visit our online store today 

www.phantasya.co.za 

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Photo 

Diary 

MUMBAI 

Contribution; 

India 

Hollywood baddie Nathan Jones at the event launch of his Bollywood 

debut The Flying Jatt 

Shweta Prasad at a Royal Stag event 

Varun Dhawan sang the Indian national anthem when he went to 

promote his film Dishoom on the Indian Prokabaddi League 

Iulia Vantur spotted on her birthday 

Sonakshi Sinha with Shekhar Ravjiani after her dubbing 

Vidya Balan and her producer husband Siddharth Roy Kapoor watch 

Rajnikanth’s Kabali 

Sushant Singh Rajput at the Mirabella Bar and Kitchen launch 

Aamir Khan waves out to his fans on Eid 

Daisy Shah’s performance in the play Begum Jaan 

Page 64 


Shraddha Kapoor spotted after an ad commercial shoot 

Anil Kapoor takes a local train ride in Mumbai to promote his TV series 24 

Shah Rukh Khan waves out to his fans on Eid 

Salman Khan waves out to his fans on Eid 

Dino Morea && Abhishek Kapoor at the Mirabella Bar and Kitchen launch 

Naseeruddin Shah at a Royal Stag event 

Sneha Ullal and Salman Khan went to see Daisy 

Shah’s performance in the play Begum Jaan 

Jackie Shroff at Savvy Awards 

Mughda Godse at the Mirabella Bar 

and Kitchen launch 

Music DIrector AR Rahman visited the sets of the 

Kapil Sharma Show and had a pleasant time 


Page 65

SAINDIA AUGUST 2016

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