Q & A with Rajit Kapur
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
32 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Vidhu Vinod Chopra told Vidya Balan to get a nose job before Parineeta, she was terrified: ‘Tera naak bohot lamba hai, surgery karte hain'
Vidya Balan made a remarkable entry into Hindi cinema with Parineeta, an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's 1914 Bengali novella. Directed by the late Pradeep Sarkar and produced by veteran filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the film marked the beginning of her Bollywood journey. While she fondly remembers her association with Sarkar, who believed in her talent even as a newcomer, Vidya recently opened up about a moment that left her shaken just before filming began. In a candid conversation with Filmfare, the actor recalled how producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra suggested she undergo plastic surgery. 'He told me, 'Tera naak bohot lamba hai, surgery karwate hai.' Main dar gayi (He told me, 'Your nose is too long, let's get a surgery done.' I got scared). And I was like, 'I'm not going to do this'. And I'll tell you why, because to this day I have not touched my face. I get a facial done once in a while, and that's about it. I'm very particular, ki jaisa hai waisa hai, Bhagwan ne diya hai, bohot achha diya hai (The way it is, that's how it is. God gave it to me, and He gave it beautifully).' She also shared another difficult episode from her early years, before Parineeta, when she was working on a Malayalam film. The makers had asked her to change her surname, something she was deeply uncomfortable with. 'During my Malayalam film, they told me there is Manju Warrier, there is Samyukta Varma, who used their community names as their surnames. So you should also be called Vidya Iyer, not Vidya Balan. I changed my name and I cried, but my parents told me, 'You will always be Vidya Balan.' But again, they didn't know, right? The director and producer wrote to everyone saying, 'You're an Iyer anyway, so it's okay.' And then that film didn't happen. So I was very sure—if there is something I'm not comfortable doing, then it will definitely not work out. So when Mr Chopra told me, I was like, main dar gayi, and I came back and spoke to Dada (Pradeep Sarkar). I told him, 'Dada, aap sambhal lo…' and he was like, 'Nahi nahi, main manage kar lunga ('Dada, you handle it…' and he said, 'No, no, I'll manage it)'.' Also Read | Vidya Balan says Rekha is 'desire incarnate': 'I think she was made for the celluloid' Despite the pressures, Vidya reflected warmly on her experience working with Chopra's production house, calling it a 'protected environment' that helped her grow. 'I did my first three films with Vinod Chopra Films, so that's like my alma mater. I came from a protected environment, very disciplined, very professional. All the prep was done beforehand, you didn't waste time on set at all. These are things I learnt early on, and of course they added to my South Indian discipline anyway.' Last month, Parineeta completed 20 years, marking two decades of Vidya Balan in the Hindi film industry. She was last seen in the blockbuster horror-comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3.
Indian Express
6 hours ago
- Indian Express
‘Driven out like cattle': Migrant workers from Bengal caught in crackdown
I can't wait to get back to Mumbai,' says Mostafa Kamal Sheikh, 52, his grey T-shirt blending into the grey of the unpainted walls behind him. 'Mumbai never sleeps. I used to work from 3 pm to 1 am at night. There is money and there is life. Here in the village, everything shuts down by 6 pm and then it gets all dark,' he says, sitting at his sister's home in Baghra village in West Bengal's Purba Bardhman district. Kamal's longing for Mumbai — the city where he has made a living since 1999, first as a dockyard worker and then as a 'jhal muri' vendor in Nalasopara — is as strong as his memory of a recent nightmare: of being detained by the Mumbai Police, tagged as an illegal Bangladeshi resident, handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) and finally driven like cattle across the barbed-wire fencing at the border. The nights he spent on the no-man's land across the border with Bangladesh were long — and much darker than his village at night. When he finally got home on June 17 – after the 'babus' had verified and established that he was who he claimed to be — Kamal was tired and broken. Panic over detentions Kamal is among the thousands of migrant workers from West Bengal who have over the last few months been detained and, in some cases like Kamal's, pushed into the neighboring country as part of an ongoing drive against illegal Bangladeshis. In March, The Indian Express had reported how more than 2,000 alleged illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were estimated to have been 'pushed back' across the border by Indian authorities since Operation Sindoor began in the early hours of May 7. During this period, sources said, a similar number of immigrants showed up near the India-Bangladesh border voluntarily to cross over. While the drive against alleged illegal migrants intensified post Pahalgam, reports of detentions had been coming in even earlier from across the country — from Gurgaon, where the Haryana government demolished slums in March, to similar drives in Assam and Gujarat. With the drive focused on alleged 'illegal Bangladeshis', it's the Bengali-speaking migrant workers in these cities who have borne the brunt, with some of them packing their bags and returning to their home state. More detentions followed — in Gujarat and Rajasthan in May, followed by Maharashtra (Mumbai) and Odisha in June, and Delhi and Gurgaon in July. At Jharsuguda in Odisha, 444 Bengali-speaking migrant workers were kept in a detention centre before they were finally released. Back in West Bengal, which is heading into an election year in a few months, the detentions have turned into a hot-button issue. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has initiated a 'Bhasa Andolan', calling the drive against illegal Bangladeshi migrants a move by BJP-ruled states to 'terrorise Bengali-speaking people'. While the ruling Trinamool and non-NDA parties such as CPI(M) and Congress have taken to the streets in protest, the BJP has accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party of indulging in appeasement and vote bank politics. According to the state government, around 22 lakh migrant workers from West Bengal work outside the state. 'This is an invisible but huge workforce. We had earlier demanded identity cards for our migrant workers. On April 26, we started a helpline as complaints started to pour in of people being harassed and wrongly detained. We coordinated with the administration and police as they visited houses for verification,' says Asif Faruk, state secretary of the Paschim Banga Parijayi Ayikka Mancha (Unified Forum for Migrants). Samirul Islam, TMC Rajya Sabha member and chairman of the West Bengal Migrant Labour Welfare Board, says, 'We have no objection if the police detain and deport illegal Bangladeshi citizens. But thousands of residents of Bengal are being detained and harassed. Some have been pushed into Bangladesh. This is unacceptable.' 'Also, the police in these states have not been sharing any data or details with our state government of those they are detaining. We get to know of the detentions from family members and then, our police and administration visit their houses and verify their papers. If the papers are in order, we send a report along with the documents to our counterparts in different states seeking the release of the migrants,' he says. Kamal and others who were detained say that police often asked them to make a quick call to their families seeking land records, school certificates and birth certificates, before taking away their phones. Delay in submitting these documents often meant long detentions or worse — pushbacks across the border, like in Kamal's case. 'Where are the jobs?' It was an SOS video that Kamal and others sent out — recorded on the phones of Bangladeshi citizens in areas near the border — that highlighted their plight and got the state government to verify their documents and intimate the BSF about their legal status. This was followed by a flag meeting between the BSF and BDR, after which they were finally handed over to the Indian side. Recalling the nightmarish events of June 9, when he was picked up by the Mumbai Police from his Nalasopara room on suspicion of being a Bangladeshi citizen, he says, 'I had come back from the jhal muri stall and was eating my dinner at 3 am, when police raided my room. I gave them all the documents they asked for, but they did not listen and took me away. They did not allow me to finish my dinner.' Kamal says he and a few others were detained for some days, after which his photograph and fingerprint were taken and the group sent to Pune, where they were handed over to the BSF. 'From there, we were taken to Agartala (Tripura). By then, there were over a 100 of us. From there, we were put into buses and taken to a BSF border camp, where we were divided into groups of four and taken to the border. Around 3 am on June 14, we were herded like cattle and told to pass through a small gate at the barbed wire fencing. Each of us were given 300 Bangladeshi taka and told to run. We pleaded with them, saying we are Indians, but we were caned. So we started running,' says Kamal. By sunrise, he says, personnel of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) spotted them, after which they were told to sit in a spot on the no-man's land at the border. 'Bangladeshi villagers gave us food and water. After two nights there, we were handed over to the BSF first and then to the West Bengal police at Mekhligunj police station (Cooch Behar). Finally, from Berhampore, we returned home,' says Kamal. Despite a lingering fear, many of his relatives, including his wife and son and nephew Yasir Sheikh, continue to stay in Mumbai. Kamal's sister Tahamina Sheikh, 53, says, 'After Bakhri Eid, Yasir went back to Mumbai (where he works in a brokerage firm). We don't know if he will be harassed, but he had no choice but to go because where are the jobs here? Every day I call him just to find out if he is safe.' Dabbing her moist eyes, Kamal's mother Karima Khatun Sheikh, 68, says, 'Two of my sons and grandson are in Mumbai. When I heard about Kamal's situation, I thought I had lost him. It is Allah's blessings that have brought him back. Why did they have to beat him like that? He could have died. I wake up in the middle of every night wondering how my children are doing in Mumbai. And then, I can't go back to sleep. I keep worrying.' 'I'll leave for Mumbai' Mounds of sand and bricks lie on the road outside Kamal's sister's home in Baghra village. The house is under construction, like many others in the village. Villagers say every second home has youngsters working outside the state, some as construction workers, others as welders, painters, goldsmiths. 'You ask me why we go outside to work? All this construction and building activity that you see in the village will answer your question. There is money there. More than double of what we can earn anywhere in West Bengal. We work and stay in hovels in Mumbai, Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana so that our families back home can stay in concrete homes, so that our children can go to good schools and get private tuitions,' says Kamal. Kamal is now waiting for the 'kagoz' that will, once again, establish his identity, before he leaves for Mumbai. 'All my documents were seized when I was detained. I got my SIM card re-issued and thereafter, I got back my Aadhaar and E-Shram card. I am still waiting for my PAN card and my voter ID card. Once I get it, I will leave for Mumbai. How long can I stay home?,' says Kamal. Ravik Bhattacharya is the Chief of Bureau of The Indian Express, Kolkata. Over 20 years of experience in the media industry and covered politics, crime, major incidents and issues, apart from investigative stories in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Andaman Nicobar islands. Ravik won the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award in 2007 for political reporting. Ravik holds a bachelor degree with English Hons from Scottish Church College under Calcutta University and a PG diploma in mass communication from Jadavpur University. Ravik started his career with The Asian Age and then moved to The Statesman, The Telegraph and Hindustan Times. ... Read More Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
Hans India
6 hours ago
- Hans India
Gargi Kundu opens up about facing harsh comments on her skin and identity
Actress and content creator Gargi Kundu has opened up about the harsh criticism she has faced over the years. She revealed that she was often mocked for her skin tone, appearance, and identity. Speaking candidly, she shared how these experiences shaped her journey and strengthened her resolve. Gargi, who is known for her role in the show 'Society' on Jio Hotstar, shared, 'I was mocked for my looks every day. People called me 'behenji', said my specs were too big, and even made fun of my skin colour. It hurt—but I never let it define me.' 'It felt like I was being judged for just being myself. I wear my glasses with pride. I love my skin. And I'm not here to meet someone else's standards,' she asserted. The actress shared life inside the society house wasn't any easier for Gargi. For the unversed, Gargi Kundu began her artistic career with classical training in Bharatanatyam and folk dance, and was actively involved in theatre and Bollywood-style performances from a young age. Her early exposure to the performing arts laid the groundwork for her later work across various creative platforms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gargi worked as a medical professional, offering help on the ground while also turning to storytelling to express the grief and uncertainty of the time. This period marked a turning point as she began creating short, relatable videos online—many of which went viral. Her growing popularity on social media led to roles in Bengali television and films, and eventually to appearances in pan-Indian OTT content including web series, music videos, and advertisements. She made her debut in the world of reality television with the show, 'Society.' The show featured 25 contestants competing in a tier-based format—Royals, Regulars, and Rags—facing daily challenges to win the title of 'Asli Baazigar.' Hosted by comedian Munawar Faruqui and co-hosted by Shreya Kalra, the show focused on social dynamics, survival, and strategy.
