Farhan Akhtar: New Star Actor of Bollywood Tinsel Town
Farhan Akhtar is not someone new to Bollywood fans. In fact, he is considered as a promising young director in Bollywood arena. Being the son of famous Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar, Farhan Akhtar had media focus on him from the very beginning of his career. However, he has created a distinct position in the industry by his own, delivering popular movies like Dil Chahta Hai. Now, it is time to show his acting excellence.
Farhan Akhtar’s debut movie Rock on hit the screen on August 29 and he is receiving good comments for his superb acting performance. Moreover, he also lends his voice in the movie, showing his singing skill for the first time to the Bollywood fans. It is apparent that moviegoers have received the movie positively and his acting and singing skill have received lots of accolades. On its second week, Rock on is now really rocking on in the top chart. Directing, Acting and Singing; what’s next for Farhan Akhtar.
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Prachi Desai’s secret lover ‘Varun’
Prachi Desai has a secret lover and he has landed with a role in Ekta Kapoor’s serial. The name of the secret lover is ‘Varun,’ whom Prachi Desai met while she was studying in Pune. Rumor has it that Balaji Films’ head honcho, Ekta Kapoor, went great lengths and found the guy and brought her to Mumbai since Prachi Desai was finding it difficult to concentrate on her work. Ekta Kapoor went through all these as she shared a great relationship with Prachi Desai.
However, when Prachi Desai asked about this secret lover, she denied the whole thing. She said that it was just a cock and bull story. There is no such guy. It is true that Prachi Desai stayed in Pune for one year. She was in Class XI. While studying in Class XII, she came to Mumbai and started working in Kasamh Se. When asked about love and relationship, this was Prachi Desai’s reply:
“I want love to happen and I am waiting for somebody really good. People don’t believe it, but I never got the time to find a boyfriend. I was busy shooting day-and-night for Ekta’s serial. Then, I also had my college as I was doing my BA, but now I have decided to take things easy. I would like to hang around with friends, so that I get to meet more people of my age group.”
Prachi Desai is now a full time movie actress and she hardly gets time to mingle. She is now working in Abbas-Mustan produced Life Partner.
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Prachi Desai’s promotional rampage for Rock On!!
After the release of her debut movie, Rock On!!, actress Prachi Desai has gone great lengths to promote the music of her movie all by herself. She listens to the songs of Rock On!! all the time; in her car and iPod. Prachi Desai always carries the music CD of Rock On!! and whenever she walks into any café, or restaurant, she makes sure that they play the CD. Recently, Prachi Desai went to a Five Star hotel. As usual, she went to the reception as usual and requested the receptionist, who is this Chinese looking lady, to play the CD. The receptionist asked her if the songs were in English and the next moment, without any hesitation, Prachi Desai shrieked out “Of Course it is in English. Can’t you read the title?”
So what you know, the receptionist had to give into Prachi Desai’s request and played the CD. Prachi Desai even gifts the CD to her friends. And last but not least, she snatches away her friends’ cell phones and put the Rock On!! tune. Now, that is what we call serious promotion. Way to go Prachi Desai!
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Prachi Desai signs out from Balaji Telefilms FINALLY!
Yes, it is confirmed. Prachi Desai, the famous Kasamh Se actress, finally signed out from Balaji Telefilms. Her debut movie, Rock On!!, has been a success. Due to the nature of the story, the movie might not have enjoyed a nation wide commercial success but it got the attention of urban youth and garnered critical acclaim. Prachi Desai is also getting her share of appraisals.
Looking at her performance, the big banners are now approaching her, but she can not sign the movies as she is bound by Balaji Telefilms’ contract to appear in two movies of Balaji Telefilms. As it is the most important phase of her career, Ekta Kapoor has finally agreed to free Prachi Desai of the contract. She said:
“We have let Prachi go as it’s a very important phase in her career right now. The films she signs are critical. I have released her from her dates and told her we will approach her only when we get something really big.”
Prachi is now working in Life Partner, produced by Abbas-Mustan. Prachi Desai also signed two movies with Sunil Shetty’s Popkorn Entertainment but they also freed her from the contract. After Life Partner, Prachi Desai is going to work in another small project Jashan. Before Rock On!!, Prachi Desai signed up for both these movies. Moreover, Jashan is a Bhatt production. For this reason, Prachi Desai is going to do the movie.
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Bollywood actress Prachi Desai interviews
In this post, I bring you some of the interviews of Prachi Desai I have collected from various websites.
First interview:
Here is an interview of Prachi Desai. It was taken while she was about to begin the shooting of Rock On!! She was still the Bani of
Kasamh Se. While talking about her experience of Kasamh Se, Prachi Desai said that Balaji Telefilms is one of the best production houses in the country and she is very fortunate to work with them. Prachi started acting when she was 16 years old; at that time, she was in Pune in Class XII. She gave an audition for a teenager show of Balaji Telefilms. Fortunately, she was picked up to play the central character of Kasamh Se.
When asked about if she is going to leave Kasamh Se Prachi Desai replied that she is taking a short break. For Rock On!! she would be very busy. When asked about her return to the serial, she replied that television has always been her first love but she was not sure whether she would return to television for the time being.
While talking about her character, Bani, Prachi Desai said that she has become very possessive about the character. She reacts more to Bani than Prachi. She would not like to be replaced by someone but if the audience wants a change then it would be fine.
Second interview:
Here is another interview of Prachi Desai. In this interview she talks about her audition and acting experience with Farhan Akhtar.
How did you manage to get the lead role in Rock On?
One day, while I was shooting for my TV serial Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, I got a call from Abhishek Kapoor [director of Rock On] to screen test for the role of Saakshi. They dressed me up in the way the character looks and I had to speak a few lines.
Everything happened so fast that I didn’t even realise that I was part of an exciting project which also happens to be my Bollywood debut.
Prachi Desai saw Dil Chahta Hai, when she was in class VIII and since then she has become a big fan of Farhan Akhtar. Acting with him was a great experience for her. Getting to work with such a talented actor in her debut movie was a dream-come-true for Prachi Desai. Very often she was nervous and forgot her lines but Farhan was patient and he has a great sense of humor.
Acting in television madde Prachi Desai very confident but acting in movies was a totally different thing compared to television dramas. In movies, the actors/actresses have to be alert all the time. They do not have any scope of doing better. In few hours, they have to give their best. It’s now or never. In television, there is less scope of improvement.
Third interview:
This interview was taken after Prachi Desai won Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa in 2007 in Hindustan Times.
Okay it would be stupid to ask - are you excited? Right?
No, no, I was hoping you’d ask me that question. I’m unbearably excited. I’ve been flooded with calls and I’ve been going thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks like a voice machine. But believe me I feel genuinely grateful.
Prachi Desai was very much excited after the win. Winning the contest was equivalent to winning Oscar to her.
The first runner up of the contest, Sandhya Mridul, scored 30 points for seven weeks. Still, Prachi Desai took away the crown whcih lead to speculation that Ekta Kapoor played a role behind Prachi Desai’s win. Similar situation aroused in the previous season, when Mona Singh won despite Shweta Salve’s good performance. Many speculated that Sony television played a role behind Mona Singh’s win as she was promoting Sony Television. However, Prachi Desai refuted this claim. She said that her elimination itself was the proof that Jitendra’s (Ekta Kapoor’s father) presence did not help her. After the wild card entry, she worked very hard. At that time, Prachi Desai was working for three shows at the same time. She was working for Kasamh Se, then shooting for Rock On!!, and rehearsing for her dance show at the same time. Her blood pressure went down and her feet used to hurt. Still, she continued working. Before coming to this dance show, Prachi Desai used to dance for enjoyment. She loved dancing and it was fun but Jhalak Dikhhla Ja was entirely different.
Useful links:
http://in.movies.yahoo.com/interview-detail/153/An-interview-Prachi-Desai.html
http://www.gulfnews.com/tabloid/Cinema/10240505.html
Prachi Desai hits big in Bollywood
Well, you have seen many Bollywood heroines, who started out as a model and ended up becoming an actress but how many Bollywood heroines you can name who started out as an actress in TV serials. Till now, there has been only one and she is none other than Prachi Desai. Prachi is only twenty years old but in such a short time she has established herself not only as a talented actress but a great dancer. Prachi Desai starred in Farhan Akhtar’s movie, Rock On!!, which will be released on next Friday.
Farhan Akhtar’s step mother, Shabana Azmi was also very much impressed with her performance in Rock On!!. Shabana Azmi watched Rock On!! for two times. She even called up Abhishek Kapoor, director of Rock On!! and said that she was very much impressed by Prachi Desai’s performance. For a nineteen year old girl, she showed great sense of maturity.
Aside from Rock On!! Prachi Desai is working in Abbas-Mustan’s next movie, Life Partner with Govinda. Even Shunil Shetty liked her performance very much. So much so that he signed her up in the next two movies of his production house, Popcorn Entertainment. Prachi has really a great start in Bollywood. All she needs now is a good hit to establish herself in the movie industry.
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Prachi Desai missed Star Plus’ Voice of India: Thanks to Govinda
Recently, twenty year old Prachi Desai had her first bitter experience of Bollywood. The actress was supposed to be present in the Star Plus’s Voice of India show where Farhan and rest of the crew of Rock On!! came to promote the movie. Unfortunately, she could not attend the show for Govinda. The actress is starring opposite Govinda in Abbas-Mustan’s upcoming movie, Life Partner. Since Govinda did not arrive on time, the director did not let her go and when she tried to talk with them about it, she was fired. The worst thing was Riteish Sidhwani also fired her for canceling the show at the last minute.
Being a new comer, Prachi Desai had to swallow all the insults but the actress burst into tears when Farhan Akhtar taunted her mother. Since Prachi was a popular television actress, Farhan Akhtar was expecting her to appear in the show. On the other hand, Govinda has a great reputation of arriving late on sets . Regarding the event Govinda said:
“I have been down with flu for the last week but still I still came for shooting. One day did get cancelled as I was very ill but mein bimaar hoon toh hoon kya karein? If someone is complaining about a sick person, I can’t help it. There are people who are trying to control and harm me through the media.”
This was not the only time Prachi cancelled her show, earlier she had to cancel her appearance in another TV show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Prachi was very upset over the whole thing. Both the shows were watched by entire nation but she could not attend them because of Govinda.
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Prachi Desai, Farhan Akhtar and other join the launch of Rock On!! community in BigAdda.com
Rock On!! producer Farhan Akhtar and social networking site BigAdda.com joined together to promote Farhan Akhtar’s upcoming movie, Rock On!!. The social networking website launched a new community group to promote the movie. If you are a BigAdda.com account holder, you can log into the community and share your thoughts about the movie. You can also listen to music and download movie wallpapers.
BigAdda.com also launched a contest titled, Star Banega, in association with Rock On!! The winner will work in the next movie of Farhan Akhtar. techshout.com reports:
To participate in the contest users have to:
Log on to rockon.bigadda.com
Participate in “Star Banega”
Say why you think you are a Star
Get your friends to vote for you
A panel and friends’ voting (50:50) would decide
A big launching ceremony was held in Mumbai which was attended by Farhan Akhtar, Prachi Desai, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny, and Koel Puri.
Farhan Akhtar is working very hard to promote the movie. He worked for two months only to promote the movie. His production company spent a large amount of money to put up posters of his movie around 3000 theatres.
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Prachi Desai and Farhan Akhtar in Rock On!!
This year, another movie of Farhan Akhtar will be released on August 29th, but this time, it is different. This time the man is in front of the camera. Yes, Rock On!! brings out the dormant actor and singer inside Farhan Akhtar, who started as a director in 2001. He sang five songs for the movie. Interestingly, these are not any typical Hindi romantic or tragedy songs but hard hitting, high pitched rock songs.
It has been a cherished dream of Farhan Akhtar to act in a movie but he did not get the right role. He had always been open to acting. After Dil Chahta Hai, many people requested him to make a movie like Dil Chahta Hai. Director Abhishek Kapoor who is also making his directorial debut with Rock On!! is a big fan of Farhan Akhtar. He decided to rekindle the magic of buddy flick. At that time Farhan Akhtar was planning for his next movie, Voice From The Sky. Abhishek Kapoor told him the story of a Delhi boy who comes to Mumbai and forms a rock band which fails to continue and then the members of the band reunite ten years later. It was a very simple yet realistic story which attracted Farhan Akhtar.
Those of you who are big Dil Chahta Hai fans will also love Rock On!! Like Dil Chahta Hai, the story of Rock On!! revolves around the urban youth. Everything about the movie is modern and classy. This is also the weakest point of the movie because people living in small towns or rural areas would not be able to appreciate the movie. Dil Chahta Hai also ran into same problem.
Many people do not know that Farhan Akhtar is an avid guitarist. He has been practicing guitar for twelve years and he has done it all on his own. This self-learned music was a big leverage for him in playing the character of Aditya, who is the vocal of a rock band in Rock On!!. Even the music composer of the movie Shankar, who trained Farhan Akhtar for the movie, was very much impressed.
“Farhan with his guitar is quite a sight - he just rocks it. It is unbelievable that he has actually learned playing the guitar on his own, downloading chord charts, fingering techniques from the Internet, strumming and singing along, all on his own.”
Farhan Akhtar also performed live in the music launch ceremony of Rock On!! which took place at the The Infininty Mall on Andheri Road.
Rock On!! is also the debut movie of Prachi Desai. The actress who became popular playing Bani in Zee TV’s popular serial, Kasamh Se. Prachi Desai is now very much interested to make a career in movies. When asked whether she would return to television Prachi Desai said:
“I don’t know when I will go back to TV. If my films don’t do well, I will have to go back. But right now I’m doing films and I hope it takes me somewhere,” said Prachi.
“It is not that I don’t want to go back to my TV image of wearing saris, but it is too early to do all that again. I have other films in hand also. So TV will wait for now,” she added.
While talking about her TV career, Prachi said that she was not happy with what she was doing in television because there was no variation.
For her role, Prachi had to change her appearance. Bani in Kasamh Se was a small town girl who was very simple minded and honest. In Rock On!! Prachi’s character, Sakshi, is a woman of today. Sakshi is a woman who was born and brought up in Mumbai. She is a well educated and sophisticated women and very compromising.Those of you who are used to see Prachi Desai wrapped in colorful sarees in Kasamh Se will see a new Prachi Desai in the movie who wears western style clothes. For her new look, Prachi Desai gave all the credits to her director, Abhishek Kapoor. She said that it was Abhishek who visualized the character and it was all that he had wanted. All Prachi had to do was carry the role. Prachi Desai is also doing another movie, Life Partner, directed by famous director duo, Abbas-Mustan. In this movie, she is going to appear with Fardeen Khan, Govinda, Tusshar Kapoor and Genelia D’Souza.
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Rock On!!: Interview of Farhan Akhtar
Rock On!! is Farhan Akhtar’s debut movie as an actor and singer. In this movie, he played the character of Aditya, who is the vocal of a band. The movie is jointly produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. Here is an interview of Farhan Akhtar on “Hindustan Times,” where he talks about the movie.
When asked about how he felt singing five songs in the movie, Farhan said that it had to be done because the script demanded it. There were five songs in the movie, written and sung by the band. The actors remained faithful to the script. Director Abhishek Kapoor also clarified that the actor playing the vocal of the movie had to sing five songs.
The background melody of Farhan Akhtar’s previous movie, Lakshya, is used in the title song, “Rock On!!” Farhan Akhtar said that after the release of Lakshya, many people asked him why he did not include the tune in the movie album. While doing the music of Rock On!!, composer trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, who also composed Lakshya’s music, decided to include the tune.
How come there aren’t too many Hindi singing rock bands here?
Maybe because lyric writers for rock bands are more comfortable in English. But there are bands in Delhi, which write their songs in Hindi. Rock buffs prefer international acts to Indian bands, which is a bit shameful actually because there are fabulous bands here. I think promoters lack perspective about how to tap a psychedelic crowd. But it’s just a matter of time now. Slowly but surely, rock is gaining popularity. Indian rock has come of age.
To prepare for the character, Farhan Akhtar did not listen to any special music. His own listening of Guns N’Roses was enough to prepare him for the character. Currently, he enjoys listening to pop.
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A book by CosmoFair founder
A book by CosmoFair founder, Bill Belew, that might change your world
