Latest news with #BrideandPrejudice
India.com
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- India.com
Why did 1993 Miss India Namrata Shirodkar leave Bollywood? Did she sacrifice her career for husband, or it was...
Before choosing a quieter life away from the arc lights, Namrata Shirodkar had carved a niche with memorable performances in films like Vaastav and Pukar . She even made an international appearance alongside Aishwarya Rai in Bride and Prejudice . But while Bollywood had its doors wide open for her, Namrata drew her boundaries — and stuck to them firmly. In a throwback interview with Rediff, Namrata admitted to turning down multiple offers that required her to perform intimate or bold scenes. 'So many!' she said when asked if she was offered such roles. 'But I'm not comfortable doing such things. I will not kiss or make love on screen. I'm not desperate. Thank God I come from a safe background.' Her decision wasn't limited to just selective scripts. After marrying Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu in 2005, Namrata consciously chose to step away from acting altogether. Speaking to journalist Prema, she revealed, 'Mahesh was very clear about wanting a non-working wife. Even if I had a corporate job, he would have asked me to quit. We had something very special between us.' Namrata and Mahesh met on the sets of Vamsi in 2000, and while sparks flew early on, the couple kept their relationship under wraps for a while. The former Miss India (1993), crowned at just 21, eventually shifted her focus entirely to family life. Today, Namrata and Mahesh are parents to two children — their daughter Sitara, a budding social media star, and a son who has already made brief appearances in films. Namrata's on-screen journey may have been short, spanning just 14 films, but her graceful exit and steadfast choices continue to be remembered and respected.
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Throwback: When Aishwarya Rai Bachchan silenced David Letterman over ‘living with parents' jibe
has long been admired not just for her beauty and talent, but for her grace under pressure, and one memorable moment from her international media appearances continues to prove just that. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Back in 2005, while promoting Bride and Prejudice on The Late Show with David Letterman , the Bollywood icon found herself on the receiving end of a culturally loaded question. The host asked, 'Do you still live with your parents, and is that common in India?' Without skipping a beat, Aishwarya delivered a poised and razor-sharp response that drew thunderous applause from the studio audience. 'It's fine to live with your parents,' she said coolly. 'Because in India, we don't have to make appointments with our parents for dinner.' The clip, which has since become a viral favourite, resurfaced on social media once again, reigniting praise for the Ponniyin Selvan actress's composed confidence and cultural pride. Nearly two decades later, the exchange still resonates as a reminder of how Bachchan's intelligence and dignity often speak louder than any scripted line. Netizens laud the smart reply Aishwarya Rai's answer was as much a cultural primer as it was a comeback. By turning the question on its head with her wit, she highlighted the warmth of multigenerational households while deflating the notion that such arrangements are somehow regressive. One Reddit user wrote, 'Aishwarya Rai has so much class. She has dealt with so much nonsense being hurled at her over the years in the most civil way possible. A great ambassador for my country along with currently, who is also someone that's constantly under scrutiny and a recipient of vitriol.' Another one wrote, 'Living with your parents is also normal in Eastern Europe too.' Work front On the professional front, Aishwarya's previous hit film was 's directorial epic drama movie 'Ponniyin Selvan 2'. The actress played the role of Oomai Rani and Nandini in this epic drama film directed by the veteran. This Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's doppelganger is Aishwarya Rai Ultra Pro Max
Hindustan Times
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
When Aishwarya Rai in 2005 left New York swooning in gold backless dress for Bride and Prejudice premiere: Pics
Aishwarya Rai has been the talk of the town after she walked the 78th Cannes Film Festival red carpet in two glamorous looks - an ivory and gold custom saree by Manish Malhotra and a hand-embroidered charcoal black gown by Gaurav Gupta. Also Read | Aishwarya Rai's Cannes necklace with ivory saree had insane 500 carats of Mozambique rubies and uncut diamonds But the Queen of Cannes's sartorial prowess on the international stage is not just limited to Cannes; there have been several moments in the past where the former Miss World wowed the international audience with her impeccable style. For instance, when Aishwarya attended the Bride and Prejudice premiere in New York in 2005. It's a pity that many are oblivious to the Indian adaptation of Pride & Prejudice titled Bride and Prejudice. And more disappointing, that we don't talk enough about Aishwarya's golden goddess look in a chic dress that served Hollywood glamour at the film's premiere. Ash, who starred as the main lead in the Bollywood musical, donned a champagne gold hue and took over New York. The premiere ensemble featured a crew neckline, a sleeveless design, cross-stitched ribbon threads on the side adding character to the dress, side zip closure, ribbon ties on the back showing off a backless design, a draped skirt, an asymmetric high-low hem, and a bodycon silhouette that hugged her enviable frame perfectly. Aishwarya accessorised her glamorous dress with embellished gold peep-toe heels, a statement ring, and dainty diamond ear studs. With her luscious tresses styled in old Hollywood style curls and a side parting, what's not to like? Today's stylists need to take notes. As for the glam, she chose a minimal look, including feathered brows, winged eyeliner, glittery pink eye shadow, mascara-adorned lashes, flushed cheeks, glowing highlighter, and glossy pink lips. Meanwhile, apart from Aishwarya Rai, Bride and Prejudice also starred Martin Henderson, Naveen Andrews, Namrata Shirodkar, Indira Varma, Anupam Kher, and others.
NDTV
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
When Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Had A Witty Comeback To A Question On Indian Culture: "We Don't Have To..."
New Delhi: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has returned to Cannes this year again, and she's taken over the internet with aplomb. A Cannes Film Festival regular, Aishwarya left the fashion critics impressed this time with her Desi look in a white and gold Manish Malhotra saree. Aishwarya flaunting her sindoor on the red carpet was a major topic of discussion on social media, as soon as the pictures surfaced. Her one move put all the ongoing rumours about her divorce with Abhishek Bachchan, to rest. Amid the buzz of her first Cannes look this year, an old interview of Aishwarya has resurfaced. In 2005, while speaking to David Letterman, the actress had a witty comeback when questioned about Indian culture and how children in India reside with their parents. When Letterman asked her if she lived with her parents back then, the actress said yes. Furthermore Aishwarya added, "It's fine to live with your parents, because it's also common in India that we don't have to take appointments from parents to meet for dinner." Aishwarya was busy promoting her film Bride and Prejudice back then. She was also questioned about the trend of music and dance in Indian films, which is not that prevalent in American content. Aishwarya had tactfully answered the question saying that Indians have grown up on that trend, and it beautifully reflects our culture. On the work front, Aishwarya was last seen in the 2023 Mani Ratnam film Ponniyin Selvan. The film also had Vikram, Karthi, Ravi Mohan, and Trisha Krishnan in key roles.
Hindustan Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Jane character energy: 250 years on, what still makes Austen's novels the stuff of blockbusters?
Early on in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813) is a one-sentence description of Mrs Bennet, the protagonist's mother: 'The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news.' It's an economical sentence, two clauses, with a semicolon balancing business and pleasure, and paints an instantly recognisable picture of a person most of us remain familiar with, more than two centuries after the line was written (not to mention half a world away). That's the lure of Austen: an eye for people. All we are told about the protagonist Elizabeth Bennet's appearance, meanwhile, is that she has dark eyes, her teeth are 'tolerable' and her face is 'thin', yet it is impossible to read Pride and Prejudice without forming an idea of who she is. At the same time, Austen's writing makes it possible to accept a range of actors in that role — a range that stretches from Aishwarya Rai (Bride and Prejudice; 2004) to Emma Corrin (in the upcoming Netflix series). Austen's writing makes Elizabeth a living, recognisable figure. It does the same for her family, her friend Charlotte Lucas, Mr Collins (masterfully drawn as a combination of obsequiousness and pomposity), Lady Catherine (haughty and snobbish) — each one delineated in precise, devastating prose, revealed through manners, conversation and an expertise in free indirect speech. Austen (1775-1817), born 250 years ago this year, did this over and over, in every one of her books. In 1815, Austen received an invitation from the writer James Stanier Clarke, the Regent's librarian, to visit Carlton House, the royal residence in London. There, he supposedly passed on a message from the future King George IV that Austen was 'at liberty to dedicate any future novel to him'. She dedicated her next book, Emma, to the Prince Regent that year. She has had admirers in every generation. British prime ministers Benjamin Disraeli and Winston Churchill were fans. So were the Blues legend BB King, the comedian Harpo Marx. And the writers Rudyard Kipling, EM Forster, Virginia Woolf, Georgette Heyer and, more recently, Toni Morrison, JK Rowling and Ta-Nehisi Coates. Natsume Soseki, the Japanese author and Austen evangelist, was working on a version of Pride and Prejudice set in contemporary Japan at the time of his death in 1916. Since then, Austen has been taught extensively in Japanese schools, and manga versions of Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibility have been published. The Jane Austen forum on Reddit has 50,000 members, and is in the top 3% of the site's most popular subreddits. and Archive of Our Own each hold more than 5,000 stories based on Pride and Prejudice alone. It's not just anonymous Internet writers doing mashups of Harry Potter and Marianne Dashwood or Mr Darcy and Marvel's Black Widow. No less a person than PD James indulged in Austen fan-fiction. Her 2011 novel Death Comes to Pemberley involves a murder at the Darcy estate, and was televised in 2013. There have been movie adaptations of Pride and Prejudice: in 1940 (starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier), 2003 (transplanted to 21st-century Utah!), 2004 (Gurinder Chadha's Bride and Prejudice), 2005 (with Keira Knightley and Rosamund Pike) and 2016 (with zombies). That's just the movies. The TV adaptations start in 1938 and go all the way to the present year, with the upcoming Netflix version. Pride and Prejudice may outshine her other work in the popular imagination, but numerous other books by Austen have been remade over and over. Sense and Sensibility has had multiple TV adaptations. Even Kumkum Bhagya, the Ekta Kapoor serial, was originally based on Austen's first published novel. Emma was remade memorably as Clueless (1995; starring Alicia Silverstone), effortlessly moving from Regency Era England to 1990s California without losing any of its appeal. Even Mansfield Park, Austen's darkest novel, has a long list of adaptations, dating to 1930. A whole genre — the Regency romance — owes its existence to Austen. So does Bridget Jones's Diary, which is Pride and Prejudice in the present day. (Watch the fourth and latest instalment, this year's …Mad About the Boy; it moves its characters beautifully into uncertain middle-age.) The Hindi series Trishna (1985) was Pride and Prejudice in India, broadcast on Doordarshan on Sunday mornings. Rajiv Menon's 2000 Tamil film Kandukondain Kandukondain (I've Found It, I've Found It) is one of the best adaptations of Sense and Sensibility ever made, taking Austen's characters seamlessly to a 21st-century middle-class South Indian milieu. It's not surprising that South Asia is said to have the largest Austen readership in the world. We are all familiar with mothers for whom the business of life is to get their daughters married; haughty aunts who think they're better than their relatives; pompous name-dropping uncles; and flighty, empty-headed or pretentious young men and women. But it isn't just the themes, of course. If it were, we'd remember Maria Edgeworth and Susan Ferrier. We barely even remember Walter Scott, except for Ivanhoe. Austen remains vital still — because of her powers of observation, her sense of humour, and her ability to create characters who, because of their humanity, remain timeless.
