Each time I got a film, I got pregnant: Tejaswini Kohlapure DC | Lipika Varma | December 21, 2014, 22.12 pm IST

Each time I got a film, I got pregnant: Tejaswini Kohlapure

Tejaswini Kohlapure

When she agreed to do Anurag Kashyap’s Paanch years ago, her friends and family were surprised. “They wondered why I was doing such a dark film.”

Anurag made an instant decision when he saw her at a party. “At the time I was dating my boyfriend Pankaj Saraswat, who is my husband now. We were at a friend’s party when Anurag came up to me and said, ‘I have to cast you in my film.’ ”.

The young actress didn’t take it too seriously till “he called me to sign me for Paanch and said, ‘I watched you dancing with such fire and passion that I decided you were perfect for the character in my film Paanch.”

Similarly, when the director cast her again, years later, for Ugly, he made his decision after he saw her sipping wine. She admits, “I was a little tipsy and he was seeing me as his character in Ugly.”

Later, while shooting, the reputation of a tippler preceded her. “On the character’s demand I was offered beer… When I went to the sets, production guys would ask me, ‘Kya lengi madam?’ I was astounded and used to say, ‘Subhah se thode na peene lagungi! Aur waise bhi mein peeakad thodi na hoon!’ (I am not a drunkard, I can’t start boozing early in the morning!).

But the uninhibited Tejaswini had no qualms about guzzling beer whenever required “and I must confess the scenes have really come out fabulous.

That one glass of beer brought out amazing performances which matched the character.” She adds, “I only hope Ugly does well in India. It has been released at festivals to much acclaim, all over the globe.”

Tejaswini discloses that on both occasions when Anurag offered her a film, she got pregnant soon after. “Yes , this is the second time I have conceived.

I was offered a role by Anurag in his earlier film, which I could not do owing to my pregnancy. Now I’m pregnant again and I am happy about it. Hope everything goes well this time.

Ugly seems to be lucky for me. I was going through a depressing time when Anurag offered me Ugly as I had just had a miscarriage. But no sooner did I join him after a couple of months than I got pregnant again!,” she says. We left the happy mother-to-be on that cheerful note…

Surveen Chawla to shake a leg with John Abraham DC | Lipika Varma | December 21, 2014, 22.12 pm IS

Surveen Chawla to shake a leg with John Abraham

Surveen Chawla

Actress Surveen Chawla can’t stop talking about her dance number in Welcome Back with John Abraham.

“I am so excited as I get to dance with John in the film. It’s one of the most lavish songs in the film and has been choreographed by Ganesh Acharya,” says Surveen.

The actress, who took seven days to shoot the song, is excited about her future projects after a successful transition from TV to films. “Hate Story 2 was a different kind of film where I played a woman who is vulnerable. I am doing Ugly (Anurag Kashyap’s), which was supposed to be my debut venture where I play a DJ, who has a very dark character. Then I have this huge song in Anees Bazmee’s Welcome Back, which is all the more exciting. The entire star cast, including Naseeruddin Shah, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, Shiney Ahuja and Shruti Hassan are there in the song.

“This is the first time I am doing a dance number in a commercial set up,” she adds.

“The year 2014 has been great for me and I am already feeling that I have been welcomed into the industry. I have a few more projects lined up but will talk about them when the time is right,” she says.

A trio of Akbars, An overkill? DC | Lipika Varma | December 21, 2014, 07.12 am IST

A trio of Akbars, An overkill?

Rajat Tokas as Mughal Emperor Akbar

Mughal emperor Akbar would have been quite impressed if he was alive because this historical character currently features in three TV soaps. Rajat Tokas plays Akbar in Zee’s Jodha Akbar, which portrays the emperor as a benevolent ruler and revolves around his love story with his Hindu queen Jodhabai. Meanwhile in Sony’s Maharana Pratap, Krip Suri, arguably the hottest Akbar on-screen, is the show’s main villain. In this serial we get to see an ambitious and power hungry king who is obsessed with defeating another historical hero, Maharana Pratap.

And then there is the comedy titled Har Mushkil ka Hal-Akbar Birbal aired on Big Magic that focuses on the legendary friendship between Akbar and Birbal. Actor Kiku Sharda plays the emperor. The interesting part is that all three shows are very different. But what is with the Akbar obsession? Aren’t producers, directors and actors worried about an overkill?

One of the on-screen Akbars, Krip Suri isn’t bothered. He says it feels great to play such an in-demand character. “Stars like Prithvi Raj Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan too have played this role.” And director Santram Verma, who directed Jodha Akbar initially, adds, “The three shows are showcasing Akbar’s life in three different directions. Various shades of the emperor are being showcased. Television shows are all about the number game and the fact that these shows are getting the eyeballs means they are being appreciated by the audience.”

Paritosh Painter, Akbar-Birbal’s scriptwriter is also not worried. He say his show is very different from the other two. “The brief given to me was that we need to portray our characters very close to reality. The producers wanted to showcase the friendship between the protagonists as well as Birbal’s famous wit. Each episode is different and most of the episodes have some moral lessons.”

Moving on to the looks department, Krip Suri is considered to be the small-screen’s hottest emperor, while Rajat Tokas the most popular. “I am glad that I am getting a good response. It’s a great feeling to live up to audiences’ expectations,” says Suri. Both Rajat and Krip are super-toned and flaunt great bodies on the show. But the same can’t be said about Kiku Sharda, and the serial’s producer Meenakshi Sagar is not worried. “The real Akbar looked like how my Akbar looks, he never had a six pack.” Meenakshi also stresses that they are portraying Akbar in a respectful manner in the show.

While in Jodha Akbar, Akbar is shown as a great king, it is not the case in Maharana Pratap. But Krip Suri argues that this is not true. “Akbar is a positive man, he did great things for India, it’s just that he and Maharana Pratap were enemies and this facet is shown in the show.” To be fair, even in Jodha Akbar, though he hardly has screen-time, Maharana Pratap is portrayed as a troublemaker. Just like how both the shows acknowledge the enmity, will the famous Jodha-Akbar love story be seen on the Sony show? “Well, I have no idea about this, but I feel if Akbar is there, Jodha’s existence is a must,” says Suri.