R&P: Vidya Balan & Nargis

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Raj and Pablo.

Hello Bollywood friends, welcome to another jam-packed Raj and Pablo podcast.

You want the hottest Bollywood gossip and interviews from the biggest Bollywood stars?

Well, keep listening, you're in the right place.

Spoof movie Spy premiered in London this week,

and one lady was the talk of the town in that red dress.

What prep did she do?

How does she feel Bollywood compares to Hollywood?

Nargis Fakhry tells all.

The big Bollywood release this week is Welcome to Karachi.

It hasn't been too well received in the box office,

but what's the film really like?

Our filmy expert Anubhima Chopra doesn't hold back.

Now everyone's talking about up-and-coming romantic drama,

Hamari Aduri Kahani, set for release later this month.

We speak to the film star Vidya Balan, live from Mumbai.

And what's going on in Mumbai?

Salil Acharya has the most exciting secret stories hot off the ground.

Now why did the incredibly glamorous Nargis Fakhry feel she needed a three-month break

and then have to abandon plans altogether?

She spills all her secrets now.

Nargis, welcome to the Raj and Pablo show.

We're from the ABC Asia network.

Always a pleasure to see you and you're looking gorgeous.

Thank you so much.

You're looking gorgeous as well, by the way.

Well, thank you.

Both of you.

Thank you very much.

We like the blue going on.

Yeah.

So tell us about Spy.

The buzz about this movie is rocking.

Yes.

So you guys haven't seen it yet.

We've seen it.

Okay.

Did you laugh?

Well, I was actually thinking, how did you get all hyped up to do all these action sequences?

Because we're so used to kind of seeing all...

Glamour.

Dancing.

Yes.

And you know what?

When I had...

When Paul gave me the opportunity to be a part of his film, I was so excited because

it was a dream to do action sequence because, you know, in Bollywood, I don't know, when

would I get a chance to be an action hero or action anything?

Usually we're all dolled up and very pretty, you know, which I love.

Which has some bad things.

I love it.

It's beautiful.

It's not bad.

But this was a chance to do something really different.

So I fully enjoyed it.

I had some training.

Mm-hmm.

Although I did get banged up a bit.

Yeah.

It's that kitchen scene.

I'm not...

We don't want to give anything away.

Yeah.

You shouldn't give anything away.

But like, I mean, how intense was that?

Yeah.

That was really intense.

There is a knife involved.

Yes.

Let's just say.

But it was very funny at the same time.

Yeah.

Let's just say Melissa had bad aim and I don't know, something went wrong.

My hand got banged up a bit.

Ooh.

Yeah.

And I did get hit in the head a little bit hard.

See, that's what I was going to say.

You know, when you're doing action scenes...

Yeah.

That kind of...

It's choreographed.

It's new for you.

Yeah.

Were you kind of wary thinking, you know what, I could hurt myself here?

Well, you know, I worked with a team for three days, so I really made sure that I knew what

I was doing.

So, I don't know if she practiced, but you know, we can ask her later.

It's amazing what she does with her baguette.

Yes.

Oh, she got me good with that.

She did.

So let's rewind a bit.

How did this part come your way?

Oh my goodness.

You know, it's quite a long story, but I was having dinner with Paul and Laurie Feig and

it just came up and he sort of just asked me, you know, I have this, you know, part

that I think you'd be great for, I don't know if you'd be interested, and he's so sweet

and so humble.

And I'm thinking, okay, this man, Paul Feig, is asking me if I'd like to be a part of his

movie.

And I'm like, oh, it's, you know, just this, you know, he wasn't making it a big thing,

but I'm like, this is a big thing.

And so he told me about it and I was like, you know what, it's fantastic.

I'd love to.

This is a great opportunity to get to do something different.

And not only that, to be in a Hollywood film with really big stars.

Come on.

Sabrina.

Was there a bit of a reaction from Bollywood, the Indian film industry, when they kind of

found out you were doing a Hollywood movie?

Because it always makes such big news there.

Bollywood actress goes to Hollywood movies.

Yeah.

Um, I don't know.

It came out a bit.

So everybody was wondering and curious, because I think there was a little controversy happening

back home about some other thing that was going on.

But yeah, they were, they were curious, you know, and then they were, of course, saying,

oh, is she leaving us or, you know.

Yeah, because you've established, after Madras Café especially, you've really established

yourself in Bollywood.

Yeah.

Is this sending a signal like, right, I'm going back to America?

Right.

So I think that they maybe, you know, thought that.

Or whatever, you know.

Yeah.

Wrote that.

But no, you know, I mean, the ideal life would be to have both.

I would never want to give up Bollywood.

And actually, I have quite a few things that are going to be happening at the end of this

year.

So next year, I'll be, you know.

Immersed in the Asaris.

Yeah.

In the Asaris again.

Yeah.

Once again.

Because you went on Twitter and you said that you're taking three months off, you need a

break.

Yes, I wanted to.

But then that was quickly cut off.

Oh.

So I got home and then I was in L.A. and I had gotten home and I had a meeting, two

meetings in the day.

And then all of a sudden I'm doing like, I'm going to be doing stuff.

Yeah.

And I was just getting sad.

And my manager's like, what are you sad about?

I'm like, I wanted to go to, like, South America or something.

But no, I'm really excited because three wonderful stories, I can't really say anything.

Okay.

And I shouldn't.

You know how it is.

You got to let them do all that.

We learn how it works.

Yeah.

And what was it like working with Salman Khan?

Oh.

That was.

That sizzled.

That was brilliant.

Did you love that?

Yeah.

That was very sexy, huh?

Even I was surprised.

Seriously.

I was like, whoa.

And I was like, oh, we look good together on the screen.

Yes.

But I mean, things like that are really important, especially within the industry.

When you get paired with somebody like Salman or Shah Rukh or something like that.

And people think, okay, actually, this really works.

It goes on, doesn't it?

To help secure future partners.

Well, I guess so.

I guess it depends.

You know, I don't want to say this, but I'm going to say it anyway.

You know, I'm a specific type, I guess.

And for Hindi cinema, like, I don't think I could play a village girl or, you know what

I mean?

I have to fit into the character.

Cosmopolitan.

Yeah.

So, you know, then you also, even if you get approached for certain films, you don't

want to do it because you might not be able to work it.

Right.

Yeah.

Or, you know, you won't be thought of because you're pigeonholed into.

Yeah.

So you won't be thought of because you're pigeonholed into maybe a certain, you know,

type.

So, have people told you within the industry that this is where you fit in, as your managers

or.

Well, we, you know, there's always strategy, there's a whole team that works with you.

You're never really doing it on your own, which is great.

Because someone like me who just came out of nowhere, rockstar, oh my God.

That was like so big.

Huge.

I didn't know what hit me.

I was so naive.

We remember interviewing you.

Oh, my god.

crazy uh i didn't understand what was happening i remember when run beer uh and i were doing

promotions and we were in india traveling and i was like what is there a youtube concert happening

why are these people screaming and crying that's how naive i was wow yeah so now in this position

you're in now how do you when you look back what do you think i just laugh at myself because how

did i get here i'm like oh my god yeah i'm going back to spy what how different is it working with

a western director and where you get asked this quite a lot i get i get that question a lot from

you know everyone um there is a huge difference i feel like that working when i worked on spy and

the hollywood film it's very um scheduled you know if i was like two minutes late to come down

to my driver i'd get a phone call hey are you okay everything okay the driver's downstairs

you

so i guess it's like a time is money thing yeah um i and i i do feel lucky because paul is such

an amazing director and he's so easy to work with and so lovely and he makes everyone feel like we're

in a family but i was you know i heard that it's not always the case but it did still feel like

okay time is money type of thing with india everyone spoils you yes princess yeah if you're

having a tantrum which i don't have to never of course but i know i've seen and you're not wearing

this dress and you don't come out everyone's waiting for you everyone just waits for you

that's it and i'm like confused because i'm always ready really quick and like ready to go

but yeah so and it's more family type uh you know where you don't have to put everything in a

contract because you build a really close relationship yeah so you can ask for extra

things if you want later so it's different so both good you know um in the sense of like

are you now indian or are you american where do you define you're not indian you're not indian

okay time out since the day i was born from a pakistani daddy and a czech mother

both immigrants that couldn't even speak english properly born and raised in the hood in queens

new york surrounded by you know certain other types of cultures i was always confused i never

knew where i fit in and i was i write like a diary maybe i'll write a book one day but this was one

that i never fit into a group that i always felt like i just belonged to the world that's a good

way of thinking very good to know and to this day i like if people i accept people of all races

culture religion and i love learning about everyone's you know culture and and just

everything about different people so if i accept them i hope they accept me and when they do it

feels really nice so i can't say weird yeah i'm just nargis so with with rockstar

um i mean we we remember talking to you at that time when you were quite nervous you didn't know

how you were going to be accepted within the industry and then you kind of gave us madras

cafe brilliant which was john's been raving about you wow yeah it's so nice he's so lovely he's such

a nice guy isn't he yeah um have you kind of has the industry gone okay you know what she she can

act she um it's not just about looking pretty um and she is doing big things let's accept her let's

put our arms out there yeah you know i've seemed to get more

uh i get criticized more by the industry people and then the media but i had to realize that

actually oh my goodness i'm where i am because of my fans exactly i have like 1.3 something million

people on twitter 8 million on facebook and these people they love you you know they subscribe they

want to know they want to see you so i look at that and i value my fans so much more than

other people are you are you not hanging out with other actors or actresses um i you know i my

friends are scattered around the world and when you're so busy working when you have time off

you want to be with the people yeah that you grew up with or that you know so where is home for you

now the world the world seriously i'd like a home in every country yeah but but mumbai is where i

stay yeah so yeah and has your mom adjusted my mom came to visit last year um and it was like

she traveled a bit on her own and it was overwhelming for her so i don't know if she's

going to come back to stay with me right because she does you know it can be a bit like that

overwhelming i remember when we first went i found it difficult to walk down the streets

initially because it was wow there's a lot of people here yes and a lot of honking my mom

came back she's like why is everyone honking what's the honking about it means you're turning

left but you're turning right yes um so i mean is this you know when you have a film release

whether it be a hollywood one or a bollywood one is there is there's a

that you follow do you kind of go okay i'm going to look at the box office takings

or i'm going to do this i'm going to look at all the papers i live in another world

i don't look at anything half the time i don't even know what's going on

i'm just like people like oh my god it was amazing i was like was it that's great i'm

glad you loved it so do you just move on i just move on yeah yeah um well

so actually the acting thing is quite interesting because it happened by

accident yeah uh so i have other passions so when i am well i was just in kenya at the

old pijeta conservancy so i was doing uh this charity thing to bring awareness to the last

male white rhino northern white rhino and uh last year i did the tigers campaign with

mtv and stuff so these things i find a lot of passion in so when i'm done working i look

for those kind of things i could be a part of or people i can help and stuff like that

nothing nothing on the

personal level then

where you kind of

want to be taken out

to dinner

maybe romanced a bit

wined and dined

I wish

no one has

romanticised me

in ages

romanticised me

right listeners

get in touch with

Nargis on Valkyrie

send your personal

bio data

and then that'll be it

you never know

this girl needs

wined and dined

so out of your

male co-stars

I mean

you know

there's John

Ranbir

and Varun

as well

how was that experience

Jude Law

now yeah

Jude Law

yeah

can't forget those guys

are you still in touch

with all of them

are you good friends

I think the only person

I speak to

is Varun

and it's

it's just so hard

to meet up

everyone's so busy

and he's so busy

he's a lovely guy

as well

much like John

yes

he's so lovely

yeah

and actually

you know

we get along so well

we're like two little kids

we've seen promotions

for Me Tere Hiro

we're just silly

that movie did look like

it was a lot of fun

but you know

you know what

the press are like

they try to hype up

all the tension

between the actresses

oh yeah

so and so's not talking

to me

what actually happened

I don't know

but me and Ileana

were like really good

with each other

she's nice to me

I'm really nice

if you're gonna be mean to me

I'm still gonna be nice to you

so you're never gonna get

like yeah

but she's nice

she's a nice girl

so she's actually nice

Nargis as always

it's been an absolute

joy and pleasure

all the best with the movie

yes

I hope you enjoyed it

we did

and I hope everyone

out there

goes to see it

it's by June 5th

yeah excellent

thank you very much

thank you

wow what a lovely

upbeat fun lady

we're sure

she is fighting the men off

and she has no need

to worry about dating

from one big star

to another

Vidya Balan

joined us live

to discuss

her latest project

Hamari Aduri Kahani

here's what she had to see

about the romantic drama

Vidya welcome

to the Raj and Pablo show

how are you

thank you Raj and Pablo

I'm very very good

how are you

we are

well we are absolutely

brilliant but even more

excited

we are loving the track

of Hamari Aduri Kahani

and the trailer

it puts a tear in your eye

how did you get involved

in the film

you know I actually

watched Ashqi too

and walked out of the theatre

and told Mohit Suri

I wanted to work with him

and I told Bhatt Sahib

the same thing

I said

you know I really

loved Mohit's work

and I feel

finally there's a director

who's

kind of in the zone

that you used to be in

to make films

I've always wanted to work

with Mahesh Bhatt

but he gave up direction

before I became an actor

so I told him that

and you know

as luck would have it

a month later

he called me

and said I've written a story

and if you like it

then I'm going to write a script

Mohit will direct it

and Imran and you

will act in it

and you know

things just fell into place

but

yes

I completely agree

with you

about the track

of Hamari Aduri Kahani

the title track is

you know

it happens to me

every time I listen to it

I've been listening to it

every day for the past year

if you ask Imran

that

he's going to tell you

exactly that

so

it is one of the most

moving songs

I think

in the longest time

and Vidya also

we hear that it's based

the film's based on

a true love story

of Mr Bhatt's parents

you know

I don't think it's

based on the story

but yes it's inspired

by incidents

from

their

I didn't quite get

why someone

would keep quiet

when they're going

through physical

or domestic abuse

but

I must give you

the context

Basuha

the character I play

she's a woman

who's a middle class woman

she is

a working woman

married

with a child

and

she's extremely rooted

she's got

she's very traditional

in her thinking

and she's been taught

that marriage

is a final destination

for her

and that

her

I think

her husband

she is her husband's

property

post marriage

you know

in that scenario

when her husband

realizes that

she's actually

fallen in love

with someone

it's unimaginable

for him

that a woman

who he thought

he owned

he thought

he could control

actually has feelings

outside of his control

and that's why

the entire

relationship

scene of

violence happens

but it's not

a recurring thing

like domestic violence

is normally known to be

and in terms of

working with

of course

Emraan

were you kind of

really excited

were you like

you know we've done

so many movies together

we've got such a good chemistry

this is now going to

take it to the next level

yeah absolutely

you know

after the dirty picture

I remember people telling us

that we want to see

all together

and a love story

and then we ended up

doing Ghan Chakkar

where there was no love

between us

so I'm glad

we got to do

our Mahariya Doori Kahani

and I think the script

really inspires

the chemistry

and you know

Rajkumar Rao

is playing

your husband as well

is it true

that he really

slapped you

in a scene

he did

tell me

so clear that

otherwise I'd slap him

no because

I told him

that you know

you're not going to

hold

please don't

hold back

because

he didn't

slap me

like it sounds

in the film

of course

that's also

the effect

you know

the sound

that has been imposed

but onto the picture

but I think

he needed to use

some amount of force

for me to

have the kind of

reaction I did

so I

I kidded with him

I said

if you don't get it right

then you know

I'm going to slap you

now

earlier on

we were talking

about

well there's a little

issue you have on set

we've heard

and we've heard

that once somebody

makes you laugh

it doesn't stop

and the giggles

carry on

is this true

and what are you doing

about it

if it is

you make it sound

like a disease

it's not really

it is bad

it can get very bad

because it's almost

like I'm on laughing gas

and once I start laughing

I can't stop

but

but I can't stop

but I think

especially with someone

like Imran

you know

with whom I said

a good rapper

I think

everything makes me laugh

he also

you know

he tickles

that funny bone in me

and then he keeps

a straight face

that's so unfair

but I'm not doing

anything about it

I just

try and

sometimes

dig my nails

into my palms

and

sometimes

I have to do

a retake

but what the hell

yeah

I don't know

I have to do

nothing like smiling

lovely one

I know

we're all

you're in a bit of a hurry

as well

we have to ask you

what is next for you

will you be directing

a movie soon

oh not at all

not at all

I like to be

the only place in life

I take direction

is when I'm on a film set

so I intend

to continue

to keep it that way

but

I've not

you know

post

Humari Adhoori Kahani

I'll decide

what exactly

I'm doing next

so let's see

I'm exploring

for the moment

well Vidya

it's been a pleasure

talking to you

thank you very very much

you're always welcome

on the show

and we hope to see you soon

thank you so much

yes thank you

thank you

the wonderful

magical

multi-talented

Miss Vidya Balan

well remember

we'll have all the latest

news on that

and how it does

at the box office

over the next few weeks

but what about

the current box office

tickings

welcome to

Cratchy isn't doing

too well

but don't make a decision

based on that

wait until you listen

to what Anupama Chopra

had to say

let's go on

and talk about

this week's

big release

I was going to say

exciting new release

but the reviews

have been savage

welcome to Cratchy

did you welcome it

with open arms

no

I was

fairly savage

as well

I have to tell you

Raj

I watched this movie

and I came home

and my

son who's 16

looked at me

and said

mom you look older

than you did

when you left

oh my god

and I said

you know for once

he's not just being

a smart ass teenager

it's true

I felt like

I had aged

I mean

it is

you know

it's one of those

movies Raj

where dumbness

is the USP

and the protagonists

are just supposed to be

you know

it's sort of

dumb and dumber

kind of formula

where they're

stupid

and the more stupid

they are

the more we're

supposed to be

but that just

gets exhausting

so quickly

but look

you know

on paper

if you think about it

you know

Arshad Darcy

Jackie Bagnani

you know

Arshad's got

perfect comic timing

you know

when he's good

and Ashish Mahan

he's been

Golmal

he's been a good director

he did Killari

this was meant

to work on paper

no

listen

on paper

this must have

sounded good

because the story

did have potential

it's about these

two dim-witted guys

who are

you know

Jackie plays

this guy from

Jamnagar

named Kedar Patel

Arshad is his

best friend

Shammi

who's a naval officer

who was thrown out

for sinking a submarine

would you believe

no

so Kedar's father

who's an event manager

says listen

take this wedding party

out on a boat

then there's this

very cackly rendered

digital storm

the boat sinks

and these two

end up in Karachi

and of course

get into all sorts

of trouble

people think

they're the Taliban

they're the Mujahideen

they're Pakistani

army commanders

so

there was

potential here

to create something

that was just fun

you know

this is never going

to be through

anything with gravitas

or kind of seriousness

which is fine

this could have

just been a big

romp

through

that you know

takes us to Pakistan

lets us laugh

a little bit

but I think

there's about

two and a half

good jokes

and they're all

in the trailer

and I have to tell you

our alarm bells

about this movie

started ringing

loudly

when we realised

they had recreated

Karachi

in Pakistan

in Bradford

Birmingham

and Wales

exactly

you know

listen

you know

realism

is not

the sort of

priority

in this movie

and honestly

I would even be

okay with that

if you just

made me laugh

because that's

the only promise

a filmmaker

is making to an audience

that I'm going to

give you a good time

so all I'm asking for

is just a couple of laughs

and they don't even

deliver that

and what is

your ratings

for this wonderful

welcome to Karachi movie

one and a half stars

that's not bad

one and a half stars

see if you can

spot Bradford

for the two and a half

good jokes

Anu as always

it's a pleasure

to speak to you

you have a wonderful

and we'll speak to you

next week

well there you go

she wasn't a fan

but we're always

interested in your thoughts

so feel free

to let us know

if you saw it

and like us

and liked it

at

rajanpablo

at bbc.co.uk

and finally

we'll let you know

what's happening

at the hottest parties

in the UK

but what's going on

in Mumbai

Salil Acharya

gives us the lowdown

Salil how you doing

I'm brilliant

but what about your beard

check it out

you're no longer

a clean shaven boy

you've got one as well

I haven't had one

for three years

you've had one

for the last one month

so what's the story

about that

well no

you'll have to keep

listening to the show

you'll find out

I will reveal all

a bit later on

but before we talk

about anything else

something that kind of

I can't believe this

because they're both

really really nice girls

Gangana and Deepika

lovely women

they're queens of Bollywood

at the moment

but are they really

going to be charging

queens ransoms

are they going to be

all hoity-toity now

you know I think

they deserve a queen's ransom

we've always heard about

how Akshay Kumar

and Shah Rukh Khan

and Salman

have charged the world

but Gangana

is being called

the fourth Khan

by the way right now

because her film

is going to hit

more than 100 crores

domestically

it's already made

that internationally

now the aim is just

to try and see

whether they get

10 crores plus

that's what I've heard

that the last time

somebody got paid

close to that amount

was Guri Tere Pyarme

when Kareena did that

but now the new story is

and rightly so

I think they're very

well deserved

that they should be

getting over 10 crores

of film

which is perfect

and Vidya Balan

also had a shot

at it two three years ago

she's been out of action

so she's also

not very far off

so all these

films that are going

to be made

on the female actresses

and centered around

female stories

and if they make

so much money

at the box office

they deserve it

so what's all this news

about Gangana and Deepika

Gangana invited Deepika

to this success party

but Deepika said

she didn't get an invite

well I think

like I said

you know

Gangana is surrounded

by managers

she has not

she has three

including her sister

so I have a feeling

that all these parties

are all sorted out

by their PR

and I think

I remember discussing

with you

with the

with you guys

last week

she's been surrounded

by this big entourage

which she needs

to be very careful of

so I don't think

that there's a rivalry

but let's just put it this way

like a lot of people

will say

who's the best

you know

it happens in all forms

of sport

all forms of entertainment

so the question now

is everyone seems to

with Amitabh Bachchan

writing letters

and the industry

going gaga

suddenly

this queen

that you know

Deepika had been

for the last two years

and untouchable at all

now has been usurped

by Gangana

so I think

there's a little bit

here and there

but that's

that's fine

I mean

they don't have to

love each other

they can just be

respectful of each other

and then there was

a whole press conference

or rather press

about how

they sort of

hugged each other

held hands

I mean

Salman and Karuka

are talking man

so it doesn't matter

you know

everything else

can be fine

okay so let's find out

if these next two

actresses are talking

Selena Jetli

and Sunny

is the fight

between them

getting uglier

oh it's got really ugly

because apparently

see the thing is

as long as

Sunny Leone

was talking about it

it was fine

there was no other

side

of the story

but now Selena Jetli

has spoken out

in the press

how she needed

legal help

to actually

have an injunction

on Sunny Leone

and her husband

to come back

into the house

so there were

a number of stories

and I found the real

stories out

yes the house

was very dirty

B Selena Jetli

spoke out in the press

to say

that Sunny

wasn't getting

a house anywhere

and we know why

because of a past

in India

doesn't make it easy

to get into

in societies

secondly

thirdly

when she asked

to move

she said no

Sunny said

I won't leave

right now

because I don't

have a house

so Selena

said you know

I'm not your

caretaker here

I've done my bit

you haven't kept

the house well

so I need you

to ask you to move

and she said

Daniel and Sunny

threatened her

and that's when

she took legal help

and asked her to leave

and she said this

all in a print interview

so it's no longer

just hearsay

so I think obviously

Sunny's not making

too many friends

and sometimes

I do think that

you know

with the success

that Sunny's got

in the last couple

of years

she hasn't been

the most popular

person in Bollywood

even though she's

a really nice person

but I guess

some people

you know

are not happy

with the kind of

success that she's got

and so they won't

support her

as they used to

So basically

for people who

don't know about this

Selena gently rented

her house out

to Sunny Leone

and that's what

the issue's about

Yep absolutely

and she rented it

out for two years

and the official

statement is that

Sunny Leone kept

the house in shambles

and that's why

Selena gently

asked her to vacate it

Now Vidya Balan

she's going to be

on the show

a bit later on

talking about

Hamari Aduri Kahani

but there's a little

secret that she had

on the sets

of this movie

where

she had to keep

a bit of a check

on herself

didn't she?

So there's a long

flight with Imran

with Imran Hashmi

that she did

and she was asking

Imran

what's Mohit like?

Now I've actually

worked with

Mohit Suri

extensively over the years

and so is Imran

and so we both

knew the secret

so Imran Hashmi

told her

whatever you do

don't laugh

Now those who know

Vidya Balan

love her

like me

and those who know her

understand

that if you just

make her laugh once

she'll be laughing

the whole day

it's almost like

she's on laughing gas

so she just

cannot control

her laughter

so she was petrified

when she first met Mohit

because she didn't

want to crack a joke

and she didn't want

anyone else to crack a joke

because she said

if I start laughing

it's all over

and apparently

they became really good friends

you can actually quiz her

about this

because she's famous

for this in her interviews

as well

sometimes she says

I just start laughing

and I just cannot

control myself

even if I don't

find it funny anymore

I just continue laughing

She is an eternal giggler

as far as we're concerned

now the Bombay Velvet

story goes on

and on and on

now Anurag

has just absconded

but we hear that

Anushka Sharma

has been paid

Yeah apparently

only 20% of the fees

and now everyone's

claiming losses

and you know

that's the bad part

you know

yes the film

has bombed very badly

made only 24 crores

at the box office

Anurag is shifting

of course to Paris

and France

he has time to give

his interviews

but nobody from the office

has replied to Anushka Sharma

and given her money

she's owed 80%

of her salary

which she hasn't been

paid for Bombay Velvet

which is not cool

because an actor's job

is to do the part

now if the film flops

it's the producer

and the director

that has to bear the brunt

and this is not right

and I don't know

whether she will

do a legal case

but knowing how strong

Anushka is

and you know

she might just actually

slap a legal case

and that'll make it

really murky

and really ugly

and as we've seen

in the last month

a number of people

have been filing cases

whether it's Farhan Akhtar

and you know

Gattu Kapoor

you know everyone

so no longer is

Bollywood a place

where people want to

sweep everything

under the carpet

it's out in the air

it's fully open

and I have a feeling

that Anushka will be

filing a case very soon

Salil thanks for giving us

your opinion about

all of that

about the Bombay Velvet thing

but on a bit of a

pleasant note

Richa Chanda

everyone's hailing

her performance

in Masan

after coming back

from Cannes

absolutely

you know

the first

it sort of was

two halves of Cannes

you know

first it was all about

the dresses

and what Sonam wore

and what Katrina wore

and everything

and then towards

the latter half

once Masan won

two awards

suddenly

people started to find

Richa Chanda's dresses

nice as well

which I'm really happy about

she's a good friend of mine

and I suddenly realised

that you know

strong actresses

she didn't make a fuss

about the first half of Cannes

and nobody knew

who she was also

in fact the story went

that you know

when they were standing around

before the screening

of the film

there were no reporters

to take any bites

from them

and it's only after

the screening

when there was a

five minute standing ovation

that suddenly people say

oh my god

this is a good film

and now that they won

awards 24th of July

is when it is releasing

in India

which is great news

because it would

never have got a release

and would never have

got any publicity

and so it just goes to show

that Indian filmmakers

are making news everywhere

and it's not just

the big names

so I'm glad that we

walked out of Cannes

by talking about

Indian cinema

and not just about the dresses

you know going back

going back to this

Anurag Basu thing

right

does it not all balance out

because he's produced

Masan

Anurag Basu has produced

Masan yes

but what I do feel is

that it's very difficult

to release a film

you know

it doesn't matter

how bad

how big your film is

how many big the stars are

as long as

the discussion

doesn't start off in India

you cannot release it

and now that the discussion

has started about India

immediately the distributors

which actually control

the release of films

have said

oh you know what

India maybe wants to see it

so let's release it

so again it's a big victory

for Indian cinema

which has to fight

within itself

to try and even reduce

a release of film

Salil

thank you very very much

we should talk to you

once we're back

from the IFRO Awards

Salil Acharya

they're giving us

his opinions

from Mumbai

that's it from us

for this week

remember to catch

Susie Mann

who's in for us

next week

from 10am

on Saturday

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