Sandhya Puchalapalli bags CNBC-TV18 award
Her journey began in 1991 when she took in an abandoned child, which later led to the founding of Aarti for Girls a grassroots movement that has impacted thousands of lives.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Time of India
Sandhya Mridul recalls how she was just 'done' with Bollywood after some bitter experiences but Yash Chopra persuaded her to do 'Saathiya': 'I told him role is boring'
Sandhya Mridul 's journey began on the small screen, where she rose to prominence with Mahesh Bhatt 's acclaimed television series Abhiman. In a candid conversation, she revealed that Bhatt's habit of praising her acting in front of influential industry figures led to a wave of film offers. But the reality of the Hindi film industry didn't sit well with her, especially the tendency to reduce female actors to mere 'pretty faces.' After repeatedly being approached for superficial roles and even being asked to appear in bikinis, she unexpectedly got a call from Yash Raj Films for a pivotal role in Saathiya. 'I got a call saying that Yash Raj Films is trying to call me. I thought somebody is pranking me because I was a TV actor and I had not worked for three months during that time,' she recalled. When she finally met Yash Chopra , her first thought was, 'I met Yash ji himself and I was like why is he meeting me?' Chopra's warmth took her by surprise. 'Chopra told me, 'Bache I love you. I love your work. I don't leave a scene of your TV show, Koshish. My wife wants to meet you. Also, she loves you, we love you.' He was lovely. He told me, 'Beta, ye picture kar le. This film will do well.'' To his astonishment, Sandhya turned him down. 'Mereko pictures nahin karni hai,' she told him, explaining that she simply didn't understand Bollywood. Laughing at the memory, she added, 'I said this to the king of Bollywood.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dermatologist: Just Add 1 Drop Of This Household Item To Any Dark Spot And Wait 3 Minutes Undo But instead of being offended, Yash Chopra only admired her honesty. 'You are a truthful person. We are not like that. Hum achhe se rahenge, hum bade pyaar se tereko rakhenge,' he assured her, persuading her to at least meet the film's director. That meeting with Shaad Ali took an unexpected turn when Sandhya realised they shared a past connection, which made her more open to the idea. Still, after watching the Tamil original, she wasn't impressed with the character. 'I came to Shaad and told him role 'it is boring',' she admitted. It was Yash Chopra's final words that sealed the deal for her. Sandhya recalled, "He told me, 'You do this role according to you. You will breathe life into this role, and that's why I am bringing you in.' His encouragement made all the difference."
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Time of India
LinkedIn launches new casual game for its users; company executive says: ‘We don't want to have…'
LinkedIn has launched a new, casual game, Mini Sudoku, for its 1.2 billion users. The Microsoft-owned professional networking site's latest addition is a scaled-down version of the classic puzzle, designed to be completed in just two or three minutes. This is the sixth game to be introduced on the platform. The new Mini Sudoku aims to spark friendly competition among colleagues and friends, with puzzles getting progressively more difficult throughout the week. What the company said about the new Mini Sudoku game In an interview with CNBC, Lakshman Somasundaram , a senior director of product at the company said: 'We don't want to have a puzzle on LinkedIn that takes 20 minutes to solve, right? We're not games for games' sake.' LinkedIn's creation of the game stemmed from a meeting with Japanese publisher Nikoli , known for popularising Sudoku. Last year, Somasundaram and a group of LinkedIn associate product managers visited Nikoli's Tokyo headquarters, where they discussed puzzles with the publisher's employees through a translator. This meeting led to weeks of collaboration between LinkedIn, Nikoli, and Thomas Snyder , a three-time World Sudoku Championship winner who has been advising LinkedIn on its gaming strategy. The team aimed to make Sudoku more approachable, experimenting with several prototypes before deciding on a board featuring six rows and six columns. 'It's very easy to just make a Sudoku grid. It's very hard to make art in the form of Sudoku. And that's what both Nikoli and we do. I think it's got the potential to be the largest of the games, just because it's going to have a lot of brand awareness from moment one,' Snyder noted. Snyder, who is the founder and CEO of Grandmaster Puzzles, a publisher of Sudoku books, holds a PhD in chemistry and is known as Dr Sudoku. He has worked on the hint feature for LinkedIn's Mini Sudoku and created some of the puzzles. Each day's puzzle will be accompanied by a video of Snyder demonstrating his solving process. However, this is not the first game LinkedIn has introduced. The platform added games last year to bring a sense of fun and offer users fresh ways to engage with each other. According to a company spokesperson, millions of people play LinkedIn's games daily, with peak activity at 7 AM ET (4.30 PM IST) and Gen Z make up the largest share of players. Among the ones who play on a given day, 86% return the next day, and 82% are still playing a week later. UBON SP-85: Portable Party Speaker On A Budget AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
Sandhya Mridul swore off Bollywood after bitter experiences, recalls how Yash Chopra persuaded her to do Saathiya: ‘Hum achhe se rahenge'
Sandhya Mridul began her career in television, making a name for herself with Mahesh Bhatt's critically acclaimed TV show Abhiman. In a recent interaction, Sandhya admitted that Mahesh Bhatt often praised her acting in front of industry folks, which led to many offers from the Hindi film industry. However, she revealed that she didn't like the way the film industry functioned, where female actors were often reduced to just a pretty face. After getting multiple offers to play shallow roles and asked to wear bikini in films, Sandhya received a surprising call from Yash Raj Films, offering her a key role in their film Saathiya. Speaking about that moment, she said, 'I got a call saying that Yash Raj Films is trying to call me. I thought somebody is pranking me because I was a TV actor and I had not worked for three months during that time.' Recalling her first meeting with Yash Chopra, Sandhya shared, 'I met Yash ji himself and I was like why is he meeting me?' Talking about Yash Chopra's reaction, she said, 'Chopra told me, 'Bache I love you. I love your work. I don't leave a scene of your TV show, Koshish. My wife wants to meet you. Also, she loves you, we love you.' He was lovely. He told me, 'Beta, ye picture kar le (Do this film). This film will do well.' Initially, Sandhya refused the offer and told him, 'Mereko pictures nahin karni hai' (I don't want to do films) 'because I don't understand Bollywood.' She added, 'I said this to the king of Bollywood.' Despite the refusal, Yash Chopra's reaction was the most heartwarming. According to Sandhya, he said, 'You are a truthful person. We are not like that. Hum achhe se rahenge, hum bade pyaar se tereko rakhenge (Don't worry we are not like those people, we will keep you nicely).' She recalled how Chopra insisted she meet the director of the film and once again requested her to join the project. After meeting Saathiya's director, Shaad Ali, Sandhya realised she shared an old connection with him, which made her feel more inclined to accept the role. However, upon watching the Tamil version of Saathiya, she found her role underwhelming. 'I came to Shaad and told him role 'it is boring'. Yash Chopra then told me, 'You do this role according to you. You will breathe life into this role, and that's why I am bringing you in.' He was too encouraging.'
