Latest news with #Besharam
Indian Express
06-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Why Chaleya isn't Shilpa Rao's best, even if it won a National Award
In the recently announced National Awards for 2023, when playback singer Shilpa Rao finally won her debut National Award for Best Playback Singer (Female) for Chaleya – the Anirudh Ravichander composition from Jawaan (2023) – it reminded one of all the times that she didn't. For some of the most underrated and brilliant songs in her discography, built over almost two decades. The win for Chaleya, a breezy track produced with mass appeal that got considerable runtime on radio and television, is less a win for the song and more a belated acknowledgement for a relatively undervalued voice. We are happy to note that the jury finally noticed. Even if the song is just about ordinary. A post shared by Shilpa Rao (@shilparao) While Rao's win was long overdue, since she sang her debut piece – the quietly aching Tose naina in director Manish Jha's Anwar (2007) – followed by the warm Khuda jaane in Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), the glistening Mudi mudi in Paa (2009), the hushed and introspective Manmarziyan in Lootera (2013), the impassioned Bulleya in Ae Dil Hai Mushqil – all of which could have easily won the coveted honour. Even in 2023, she sang the wonderful Rang rasiya (Safed), a brilliant thumri rendered with a lot of heart. A post shared by Shilpa Rao (@shilparao) The year for which the award has come – 2023 – was also the year when Rao's Besharam rang from Deepika Padukone and Shah Rukh Khan starrer Pathaan was caught in controversy generated by those who thought that colour saffron to be a part of their cultural legacy and how they thought that Padukone shouldn't have sported a tangerine swimsuit. Social media was rife with how even Besharam rang is better than Chhaleya. Well, just about. But there was more support for her song Tere hawaale from Lal Singh Chaddha (2022). I agree. Besides a film music career, Rao is also a popular name in the independent music scene, and travels globally for her ghazal concerts with renditions of Begum Akhtar, Ghulam Ali, Farida Khanum and Jagjit Singh ghazals. Last year, in a viral Instagram reel, Rao was also seen rehearsing her popular Telugu number Chuttamalle — also a Ravichander composition — from the Jhanvi Kapoor and NT Rama Rao Jr film Devara 1. Sheeran collaborated with her during his Bengaluru concert in February. She is also one of the two artistes to perform on Coke Studio Pakistan; the other being Sharmishtha Chatterjee who sang Kinaarey with Mekaal Hasan band. In season 9 of the show, Rao collaborated with Ali Noor and Ali Hamza of Pakistani band Noori and sang Paar channa de, disse kulli yaar di (Across Chenab, I can see my lover's hut) — an age-old Punjabi ditty where Sohni of Sohni Mahiwal is in conversation with her ghada (clay pot), one she wants to use to cross the river. Rao met Hamza and Noor in Delhi, where the Pakistani band had come for a gig. A post shared by Shilpa Rao (@shilparao) Rao, whose voice is unconventional and the result of a new idiom of filmmaking that began at the turn of the century, where the script dictated what song and how it was to be used and not because six songs had to be there in an album, was born as Apeksha Rao and grew up in Jamshedpur. Her name was changed to Shilpa later. Rao was trained in Hindustani classical music under her father. She was 13 when she visited Mumbai and met vocalist Hariharan there, who asked her to learn from Hindustani classical vocalist Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan. She won a Delhi reality show judged by composer and singer Shankar Mahadevan, who asked her to move to Mumbai and helped her with a few contacts that eventually led her to singing jingles – a route taken by many playback singers. Rao also completed her post-graduation in Applied Statistics from St Xavier's College while trying to establish a career. She was still in college when she met Mithoon, who was 22 then and trying to establish himself as a composer. He asked her to sing Tose naina in Anwar (2007). Other numbers like Wo ajnabee (The Train, 2007) and Sayiyaan re (Salaam-e-Ishq, 2007) followed, cementing her position as an unconventional voice in film playback. In an interview a few years ago with this reporter, when Rao had just returned from Pakistan after her Coke Studio stint, the characteristically low-key singer mentioned how she tried to remain away from the ways of Bollywood playback singing, where many singers are made to record one song and how there's uncertainty on whose version would be kept. 'Unlike a lot of singers, I get to sing one song a year. In that case, most composers understand what I bring to the table.' This was then. Rao is certainly a lot more in demand now, recording more with actors recommending her for their films. She, however, is still battling the trend of five singers singing a track and one voice finally brought to the finish line – the popular modus operandi in Bollywood music. The National Award for Rao for an easy-to-forget song should be seen as a representative, catch-up award for many previous significant others that continue to echo.
India.com
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- India.com
Fathers Day 2025: These Famous Actors Starred With Their Real Dads On-Screen And Went Unnoticed By Fans
photoDetails english 2915901 Take a look at Bollywood actors whose real-life fathers acted alongside them, but the audience either didn't realise or overlooked the connection. Updated:Jun 14, 2025, 12:48 PM IST Happy Father's Day 2025 1 / 7 As Father's Day 2025 approaches, take a look at these famous actors who shared the screen with their real-life dads and most fans didn't even notice. Shahid Kapoor & Pankaj Kapur 2 / 7 Movie: Shaandaar (2015) Shahid and his father Pankaj Kapur starred together, but the film's fantasy tone and focus made most people missed the brilliant father-son pairing. Ranbir Kapoor & Rishi Kapoor 3 / 7 Movie: Besharam (2013) All three Kapoors - Ranbir, Rishi, and Neetu - acted together, but their family connection was overshadowed by the film's plot. Abhishek Bachchan & Amitabh Bachchan 4 / 7 Movie: Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007) Big B had a cameo as a mysterious singer in the opening credits, yes, that was Amitabh, but most netizens didn't catch it. Varun Dhawan & David Dhawan 5 / 7 Movie: Main Tera Hero (2014) Though David directed it, he also appeared briefly in a cameo, making it an overlooked father-son onscreen moment. Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor & Anil Kapoor 6 / 7 Movie: Thar (2022) The Netflix film had Anil play a police officer investigating his real son's character but many missed the real-life connection. Sunny Deol & Dharmendra 7 / 7 Movie: Sultanat (1986) Everyone remembers Apne and Yamla Pagla Deewana, but few recall that Sunny's first film with his father was actually this 1986 action-drama.
Mint
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari gets heavily trolled with ‘Besharam' video after ‘blood' comment; here's why
Indian social media users are heavily trolling Pakistani leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Many users are sharing an old video of Bilawal apparently dancing to the Besharam song from Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone's Pathaan. Bilawal is the son of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and former President Asif Ali Zardari. He became the chairman of the Pakistan People's Party after his mother's assassination. Meanwhile, the man in the video is wrongly believed to be the Pakistani leader. Reports have confirmed that the man in the 2023 video is Bhutto's lookalike, Mehroz Baig. The dancer is a media sciences student from Karachi, not the political leader himself. Some users have asked AI fact-checkers like Perplexity and Grok if the video has Bilawal Bhutto dancing in it. The AI tools dismissed the assumption. 'The video you're asking about doesn't actually show Bilawal Bhutto dancing. The man in the clip is Mehroz Baig, a student from Karachi who looks quite a bit like Bhutto. It seems like a case of mistaken identity that went viral back in 2023 and popped up again recently,' it replied. Grok called the Twitter (now X) post satirical and said, 'The claim that Bilawal Bhutto is dancing in the video is false. The dancer is Mehroz Baig, a student from Karachi, as confirmed by multiple fact-checking sources. The video, originally from a 2023 wedding event, went viral due to Baig's resemblance to Bhutto.' India's suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty has angered Pakistan. The treaty controls water sharing between the two countries. As Pakistan heavily depends on this water for farming, PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has warned India. "The Indus is ours and will remain ours. Either our water will flow through it, or their blood will," Bhutto said at a public rally on April 26. The jingoistic challenge has infuriated Indians, causing the heavy trolling. First Published: 26 Apr 2025, 06:09 PM IST
