
Simi Garewal, 76, Is Making Her Cannes Debut This Year In A Custom Karleo Ensemble
Cannes just got a whole lot glamorous - and desi! The 2025 Cannes Film Festival is going to see a several Indian names, and leading the charge is none other than the ever-graceful veteran actress Simi Garewal.
Known for her timeless elegance and iconic roles in Indian cinema, Simi Garewal is all set to make her debut at the Cannes Film Festival 2025, which begins on April 13. The 76-year-old will be walking the red carpet on May 19 for the screening of the restored version of Satyajit Ray's 1970 classic Aranyer Din Ratri, in which she played a key role. The film will be showcased in the Cannes Classics section, marking a significant moment in Indian cinematic history.
The restoration was carried out by The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project, in collaboration with renowned filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Wes Anderson, alongside India's Film Heritage Foundation.
The Karz actress revealed in the post that she has decided to go with the Indian couture label Karleo for her Cannes debut. The clothing label is known for creating evening wear and accessories. She will be wearing a custom-made gown by the label, which they also specialise in.
"So I've finally decided as to who will design my ensemble for the red carpet in Cannes!! It's on 19th May, when we present my film with Ray, 'Arranyer Din Ratri' restored by Wes Anderson, Martin Scorcese & Heritage Foundation. Because I love their aesthetics...I've chosen @karleofashion!" she captioned the clip.
Thrilled to see her debut at Cannes 2025, fans and fashion enthusiasts called Simi Garewal's debut an iconic moment. Garewal's debut not only celebrates her illustrious career but also shines a global spotlight on India's cinematic and cultural legacy at one of the world's most prestigious film festivals.
But wait, she's not alone! Cannes red carpet will sparkle with a stellar lineup of Indian celebrities, artists and influencers. With India making a wave at Cannes like never before, this marks a true celebration of Indian cinema, fashion and creativity at a global stage.
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Indian Express
12 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Raajneeti turns 15: Prakash Jha says Katrina Kaif learnt her speech for 40 days, Anjum Rajabali had his doubts about Ranbir Kapoor
Aamir Khan may be planning to make a film series on the Mahabharata and then hang up his boots. But filmmaker Prakash Jha and screenwriter Anjum Rajabali did that 15 years ago. Their 2010 political drama Raajneeti was a modern adaptation of the epic, yet they maintain it never started off as that. 'Unlike Gangaajal (2003) or Apaharan (2004), Raajneeti didn't happen after witnessing a specific incident. It was a broader socio-political drama based on reality, but resonating with the Mahabharata. The characters are all the same everywhere, as they were back in the epic,' Prakash Jha tells SCREEN. 'There's something for everybody — drama, crisis, highs, lows — everything you can think of about human existence, it's all there capsuled in the Mahabharata. So every Indian creator keeps drawing from it,' he adds. 'We didn't start out by wanting to adapt the Mahabharata. We just allowed it to enter our script. It's a sprawling epic. But you're not writing an epic, you're writing a screenplay,' Rajabali points out. After serving as a script consultant on Jha's last two films, he was approached by the director to co-write a film on electoral politics. 'I wasn't interested in that,' recalls Rajabali. But he proposed to Jha that the filmmaker visits him every evening from 7:30 pm to 10 pm. They'd brainstorm over 'two shots of vodka' for seven days, in the middle of which Rajabali recalled they began veering towards the Mahabharata. The idea of power conflict and cousins competing with other brought them closer to the broad strokes of the epic. But Rajabali was dead sure he didn't want Karna to be the hero, much to the surprise of Jha. 'Karna has the usual characteristics of a hero: he's the underdog who comes up fighting against injustice. But I told Prakash you must not look at only as destiny, but also in terms of the choices he made. He wholeheartedly went with Duryodhana, knowing fully well he's an evil guy. That lends the story a dystopian end — who do we side with, because they're all evil,' reasons Rajabali. Enter: Arjuna. 'Prakash said Arjuna is a boring character, who's a good family member and a good warrior. But I brought his attention to Arjuna's arc — he doesn't want to enter the war, but Krishna gives him the perspective on why he should fight for a cause. Then their dark deeds begin to surface. So I asked Prakash, 'What if Arjuna begins to revel in that?' Because he's suddenly a demon who has been unleashed,' says Rajabali. The Arjuna of Raajneeti — Samar Pratap Singh — is the proverbial outsider. The youngest son who comes back from his school abroad for a few days, only to get caged in the politics of his family and that of the state. 'His father is killed, brother is jailed, so he has to enter politics out of anger. Then the guy who's researching Victorian poetry begins to do one dark deed after another. If you notice, even the topic of his research has to do with violence in the 18th century. So there's a fascination with violence, which was already coming out via academics,' underlines Rajabali. He recalls the time when he got a call from Jha who said they've found their Arjuna: Ranbir Kapoor. 'Who, Rishi Kapoor's son? That's how I knew of him,' says Rajabali, reminding us that Ranbir's debut film, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya (2007), hadn't released then. 'Have you seen it? Can he perform?' 'I haven't, but my instinct says he can.' 'I trusted his instincts, but I had my doubts,' reveals Rajabali. A few days after Jha began filming in Bhopal, Rajabali visited the set. Jha showed him the scene in which Ranbir is just sitting on a chair and looking at the television news of his father's death and brother's arrest. The camera goes from right to left on his face. 'That boy was speaking volumes with his silence. There was no prep. He's an intuitive actor, a complete natural. I was completely convinced. Ranbir had very few lines, but boy, did he leave an impact! He's the best actor we've had in more than a decade now,' says Rajabali. If Ranbir was a revelation, Katrina Kaif wasn't far behind. 'We couldn't pick Draupadi's angle as it is because the fight between husbands for her and all that jazz doesn't quite work today. But it stayed with me after reading the epic that Draupadi loved Arjuna, but he was too focused on ambition. So there was an unrequited love,' recalls Rajabali, who again was concerned if Kaif would be able to pull off the Hindi heartland dialogues with the right accent. 'Once again, Prakash was convinced she'd deliver,' he adds. 'Katrina is a very hardworking actor. She worked with so much dedication. She learnt her lines for 30-40 days so she could deliver them confidently,' Jha recalls. Rajabali did find issues with her accent during the filming, but changed his mind during the dubbing sessions. 'The amount of effort that the girl put in… she managed to deliver word to word in near-perfect diction,' says Rajabali. It's been 15 years, the party in power has changed, so it makes sense for us to pose the question to Rajabali: Was Katrina Kaif's character inspired by Sonia Gandhi? He refuses, but sees the parallels. 'There are various archetypal characters in life and in good literature and cinema. Rajiv Gandhi was the proverbial outsider. He didn't want to join politics. But then he did, and he won. Then he gets killed. There's a widow. Katrina looks half white. I wasn't concerned, but I anticipated such allegations,' says Rajabali. He then reveals that as the Congress party got concerned closer to the film's release, they inserted their representative in the Central Board of Film Certification. 'This was an open secret. There was no contention with the film though, except one word. When two people at a chai shop are discussing election results, a laconic man, buried in the newspaper, says, 'Le jaegi vidhwa sab samet kar.' They objected to 'vidhwa' because that might be confused with Sonia Gandhi. I didn't agree with it, but Prakash said we'd have to remove it. So the word was changed to 'bitiya,'' says Rajabali. Other changes in translating the Mahabharata to the world of Raajneeti included eliminating Nakul and Sahadeva because they're quite similar, and choosing Arjun Rampal's character Prithvi as Bhima over Yudhishthira. 'Prakash recommended we take Bhima because there's an innocence to him. He loves his family. He's loud and uncouth, but there's an endearing quality to him too. He's gullible so can get tricked very soon, so you need to protect him,' says Rajabali. Another change was to make their Krishna far more quieter than he's in the epic. In fact, Nana Patekar is the only actor in the ensemble who doesn't get a monologue. Even Naseeruddin Shah does, within a cameo. 'He doesn't pick up any weapons, but only operates on plotting. So that's how I asked Nana Patekar to be in his body language,' says Jha. 'He's a thinking person, a strategist. He'd just process everything and come up with just one line that Samar catches up on. He's the man to watch out for. He forces you to pay attention to him precisely because he doesn't speak much. So you always wonder what he's up to,' argues Rajabali. He quotes the example of the scene in which Patekar's character comes up with the perfect candidate to compete with Surya (Ajay Devgn's character based on Karna). 'It's obvious he's the natural choice to win in a Dalit constituency. Nana Patekar doesn't say anything, but he just goes there and announces their candidate as Surya's father. That's a masterstroke,' points out Rajabali. Jha recently admitted that he has the story for the sequel ready. 'I have an idea with me. But we just haven't gotten to it yet because other commitments keep coming up,' says the filmmaker, who's been busy with his MXPlayer show Aashram, his next film Janadhish, and other projects as a producer. 'It can be quite rich because it can reflect today's challenges for politicians. The Mahabharata is infinite so there is a lot of potential,' argues Rajabali. Jha points out that most characters from the first part, including those of Devgn, Manoj Bajpayee, and Arjun Rampal, are dead. So would the sequel continue where we left the other characters? Also Read — Dune director Denis Villenueve was impressed by Ranbir Kapoor after watching Raajneeti on a plane: 'He stood out among such an ensemble' 'It may start from there or once we work on it, it may be something completely new,' says Jha, with a shrug. But where would Samar, Indu, and Mama be today? Or what would their Arjuna, Draupadi, and Krishna up to to now? 'I can't possibly answer that because I may give you the idea Prakash and I just end up doing. So I have to be a little discrete about it,' says Rajabali, in true Krishna fashion.


Hindustan Times
14 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Malaika Arora reveals fitness secrets for toned body at 51: 'I start my day with ghee and don't eat after sunset'
Malaika Arora practices intermittent fasting to maintain her physical and mental health. In the June 2 episode of 32 Degrees, the reality TV judge and former VJ shared that her approach to fitness is all about finding balance and eating in moderation, rather than following strict diets. She also shared details of how she incorporates fasting into her routine to stay healthy. Also read | Man who lost 95 kg reveals veg and non veg intermittent fasting diet plan to easily 'shed 1-2 kilos per week' A post shared by Malaika Arora (@malaikaaroraofficial) Asked to share 'any specific wellness rituals that she lives by', Malaika Arora, who turned 51 in October 2024, said: 'So there are a few you know small things. I think one of the things is sleep, it is so underrated. That's something that I swear by. I think it's very, very important. Water therapy is another thing which is something so important. I do have that in Scarlett House (her Mumbai restaurant). We have an entire hydration bar, which is something I do personally every single day. That is something which is very important. Meditation, yoga, eating right... yoga is nothing, it is just breathing.' A post shared by Malaika Arora (@malaikaaroraofficial) Sharing details of her diet, she added, 'I do intermittent fasting. I actually begin my day with something which is so basic, which is so Indian... it is ghee, which is part of Ayurveda. I start my day with ghee... it (intermittent fasting) is not about dieting. There's a big difference between dieting and fasting. I eat, but I eat in that limited time of the day. Another thing which I swear by is I don't eat after sunset. So my last meal is 7 pm. Then I stop. I don't eat. I try not to eat anything after that until next day. So I wake up I wake up early, but I don't eat anything. I probably just break it (her fast) with with ghee. So,12 (noon) is when I actually have my first meal. My proper heavy meal, when I actually I eat; and then I eat everything. Whether it's rice, roti, sabzi, I eat everything.' When following this eating pattern, instead of counting calories or measuring portions, people just have to pay attention to the clock. Eat what you want, but only during certain windows of time — often just eight hours a day. Click here for more details about intermittent fasting. Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.


Mint
16 minutes ago
- Mint
D Gukesh suffers crushing loss against Hikaru Nakamura at Norway Chess, Koneru Humpy regains sole lead
American GrandMaster Hikaru Nakamura broke world champion D Gukesh's run of classical wins by comprehensively beating the Indian to earn three full points even as Arjun Erigaisi roared back to contention with victory over Fabiano Caruana in Norway Chess 2025. India's Erigaisi trapped his opponent Caruana in a time scramble in the eighth round of the prestigious tournament on Tuesday. World No. 2 and former Norway Chess champion Nakamura pressed home the early advantage he got with the white pieces to dominate his 19-year-old opponent and score a "very smooth" victory and take revenge for his Round 3 loss to the Indian. Gukesh, who had regained his mojo after a disappointing start to the tournament when he beat world No.1 Magnus Carlsen and Erigaisi in Round 6 and 7 respectively, was cornered by Nakamura, who didn't give his opponent an inch during the course of the nearly four-hour-long contest. With two more rounds to go, Gukesh was tied for third place with Nakamura on 11.5 points, while American GM Caruana, despite the loss to Erigaisi, was in the lead with 12.5 points. Carlsen, who lost to China's Wei Yi in the Armageddon tie-break, was second with 12 points, while Erigaisi was fifth with 10.5 points. "It was a very smooth game, I'm very happy with it. It looks very good," said Nakamura after the win. The 37-year-old Nakamura, winner of the 2023 edition of Norway Chess in which Gukesh finished third, said that the reigning world champion was uncomfortable with the pawn structure, which probably resulted in him coming under time pressure and giving an easy win to the American. "I'm not sure what happened, whether Gukesh just didn't know this bishop g6 move, or what exactly it was, but it was very clear to me that, based on the long think, he didn't like the pawn structure at all," said Nakamura, who at 15 years of age had become the youngest American GM. Nakamura expressed surprise over Gukesh's play in the tournament so far, saying he was lucky to have survived Carlsen and Erigaisi in Round 6 and 7 respectively. "It's a very strange term, because his result is very good, but if we're being objective about chess, I think he's played horribly. He should have lost to Magnus… he was completely lost against Arjun (Erigaisi). "Other than the first game against me, and maybe the game against Wei Yi, at some point, he was losing; even Fabiano (Caruana), he (Gukesh) was also losing in that game," said Nakamura. 'So, it's very, very hard to judge what his play is, but when I look at his game, one of the big things that he has, that I would say Arjun and R. Praggnanandhaa don't have, is he's mentally very strong. He's a lot less emotional than the other two players, and that has served him very well, so it's a mixed bag.' Nakamura added, "I think his defensive skills are very good, like in this game, I thought there were probably three or four moments when I was winning, and then I had to still find more moves to convert, so he's definitely showing very strong defensive skills." Two-time world rapid champion, India's Koneru Humpy wrested back the lead with two rounds to go, beating Spanish International Master Sara Khadem in the day's only classical win. Humpy, on 13.5 points, was one point ahead of reigning world champion China's Ju Wenjun. Ju's six-match winning streak was broken by R. Vaishali -- who is fifth on 9.5 points -- in the Armageddon tie-break.