Newcomer Meenakshi Dixit Steps Into Madhuri"s Shoes, Two Decades Later

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Meenakshi Dixit, who is making her Bollywood debut in forthcoming political satire P Se PM Tak, said that the experience of shooting for the movie with veteran filmmaker Kundan Shah helped her grow from a heroine to an actor.

 

“Thanks to this experience, I think I’ve grown from a heroine to an actress. By the end of the shoot, I feel I’ve grown as a human being and that my perception towards life, myself and cinema has completely changed,” Meenakshi told IANS.

 

In the movie, which releases in cinemas on May 29, Meenakshi plays the role of a prostitute. She said she didn’t have any qualms of taking up such a role in her debut Bollywood film.

 

She said: “I’d like to believe that I’m a typical commercial cinema heroine and that I always felt I was more suitable for commercial roles. All my work so far in the south has been very commercial. But this was a challenging role. It was something I had not done before and I was only apprehensive thinking ‘Will I be able to carry such a role without making a fool of myself?’”

 

Although it’s a role of a prostitute, Meenakshi said her director presented her “respectfully on the screen”.

 

“For this role, I was made to look five shades darker and had to wear clothes that looked least fashionable; some were even torn. I also had to ruin my Hindi and speak with an accent. Shah-ji never tried to make me look beautiful on screen, but the character I play is by itself beautiful,” she said.

 

Mr Shah had originally written the script for Madhuri Dixit, nearly two decades ago.

 

When asked how she landed the project, Meenakshi said: “His first choice for this script was Madhuri, and he even went to her but the project didn’t materialise. He told me that Madhuri inspires him.”

 

“Whenever he gets stuck with a story or with a particular scene, he’d ask himself how Madhuri would do it if she was part of the project. When Madhuri turned down the offer, he decided to cast a newcomer. He auditioned a lot girls and fate worked in my favour,” she said.

 

What surprised Meenakshi was why Kunadan Shah would risk his project with a newcomer.

 

“I was taken aback by their decision and told myself if I could bag this role, it would be one of the biggest achievements of my career. I prepared well for the audition, which took a toll on me because the process was very intense. I had to audition four times to finally bag the role,” she added.

 

Known mostly for her work in Tamil and Telugu films such as Dookudu, Billa 2, Baadhshah and Thenaliraman, Meenakshi believes P Se PM Tak will show the southern filmdom what more she is capable of doing.

 

“Until this film, I thought I could only do commercial cinema. This opportunity has helped me discover a side of me that I didn’t even know existed before. Southern audiences will get to see my true potential as an artist in this role,” said the actress, who currently has two Tamil films and a Kannada film in her kitty.

 

Categories: commercial cinema, madhuri, meenakshi, meenakshi dixit, nbsp, pm tak, role, shah, ve grown

Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield Back Together?

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Actors Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield have sparked rumours that they have rekindled their relationship after having split last month.

 

Emma, who split from the British actor last month after three years of dating, was reportedly spotted holding hands with him in Malibu, California, earlier this week.

 

The couple seemed to be having a great time as they enjoyed a romantic date at the Malibu Farm restaurant, an eyewitness told eonline.com.

 

The two were said to have ended their romance due to the 31-year-old actor’s dedication to his role as a 17th century Jesuit in the upcoming film Silence, which he began shooting in Taiwan in January.

 

An insider previously said, “(Emma) ended things and moved back to Los Angeles. It’s finished. It’s not just a break. He’d been in a dark place for months, getting into his role. He wasn’t being the best partner.”

 

Categories: andrew, andrew garfield, emma, emma stone, nbsp, role, stone

Lara Pulver Talks Fleming, Food and Why She’s More than Sex

In the opening scene of Sky’s new TV drama, Fleming, Lara Pulver wears a blood-red bikini while snorkelling amid shoals of exotic fish. She then emerges breathless atop a speedboat, a gun-toting Dominic Cooper close behind. This purely Bond moment perfectly encapsulates Fleming – the dramatised version of author Ian Fleming’s life that cheekily blurs the line between fact and fiction. However, perhaps more noticeably it’s another distinctly sexy role for Pulver, who shot to fame as dominatrix Irene Adler in Sherlock. But will Pulver dare to bare all once again?

 

According to Pulver, Fleming is ‘glamorous and sexy, but I think you get the impression that you see more than you do. It’s the power of suggestion. That’s what intrigued me, because after Sherlock, I got endless scripts where the only character trait was getting your kit off.’ And Pulver’s acting talents certainly extend to more than a celebration of a female sexual health and wellness. Ann O’Neill, Pulver’s character in Fleming, was the 007 author’s wife and the pair were mutually destructive thrill-seekers drawn together by a love of danger. Even Pulver admits that, initially, it’s tough to warm to the manipulative siren-cum-socialite, but the actress was attracted to her survival instincts. ‘Ann lost her mum when she was young, she never had any formal education – there was a nanny who mistreated her – so she’s never been familiar with love,’ she says. ‘She actually vomited the first time someone kissed her. She’s a complex picture.’

 

So does Fleming – played by Mamma Mia star Dominic Cooper – likewise make O’Neill sick? For Pulver, O’Neill found the ideal sparring partner in the author: ‘They were forever frustrated by people failing to meet their expectations. They needed people to challenge them – and they challenged each other.’ However, a scene set in the formative stages of their relationship shows a sexually dark side to both characters, hovering on the uneasy borderline between rough sex and rape. Just as it was to film, Pulver agrees it’s a tough scene to watch. ‘It starts with her cornering him and turns into a struggle for control, the thrill of the chase taking a sudden twist,’ she details. ‘He asks her: “Is this what you want?” And you’re not certain of the answer. ‘It was the kind of situation that powered their relationship. It’s a fine line in that scene but I think it works – we needed to show that element of danger.’

 

Pulver also experienced the element of danger when filming the opening scene in the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean. She recalls, ‘I’m really not a strong swimmer, and I hadn’t really taken on board how long and how deep I’d be in the water. But I was determined to do it – what you see is all me, trying to not look petrified. You never know what you can do until you challenge yourself to do it.’ Pulver certainly doesn’t mind putting it all on the line for a role, which is why it’s no surprise then how refreshingly candid she is on the pressures on actors to conform to body image stereotypes in order to make it big in Hollywood.

 

‘You know that in LA you’re being judged the minute you walk in the room,’ she comments. ‘And you see people killing themselves to look this way and that, having surgery so they look a certain way. But the crazy thing is you could transform yourself and then be wrong for the next role that comes along. And there’s no going back.’ That said, the petite actress does keep in great shape, but Pulver points out that she does it in a healthy way. ‘I’m a real foodie,’ she admits. ‘I love to cook. But you need to know what you can and can’t eat, there really needs to be better education about that. I think I could have been an athlete. I’ve always done sport and that’s the best way of staying in shape.’

Categories: Body image, Celebrity Wellness, dominic cooper, fleming, Lara Pulver, nbsp, opening scene, pulver, role, scene

Warning: Role Overload Could be Major Stress Factor at Work

Due to the current and ongoing economic crisis, many people are suffering in all kinds of different ways in the corporate world. There may be a general view that you are ‘lucky to have a job’ in the current climate, and should count your blessings, but those who are in employment are not exempt from the stresses and strains. Their wellbeing could actually be put significantly at risk due to something called ‘role overload’. This often occurs when a company has reduced the number of personnel that they can afford to maintain, but still have the same workload that has to get done. This means extra work and extra responsibilities for many members of staff, without any of the associated pay rises that one might normally expect, and this extra burden could have a negative impact ton their wellness, leaving them vulnerable to stress, anxiety and other associated problems.

Employers are also struggling to keep a well-staffed organisation for other reasons too, besides the economic crisis. Firstly, there is actually a shortage of skilled labour in the UK just now, due to factors such as younger people having value shifts and older people having challenges with eldercare. In fact, it is thought that by the year 2016, there will be a shortage of around 800,000 skilled members of staff, but still a surplus of 500,000 low-skilled employees.

Put in simple terms, role overload occurs when the demands for time and energy on an employee exceed that which they have the time and energy to accomplish. This can lead to employees constantly feeling that they are not doing a good enough job, as they are not able to complete everything that is being asked of them, no matter how good a job they are actually doing. This can be a very demoralising experience for them, and can lead to stress, anxiety, overwork and also a lack of engagement with their corporate life.

Categories: overload, role, Stress