Starpower and a woman with the world at her feet?
JUST as superstar player Lionel Messi had a date with destiny in being able to lift the World Cup Trophy for his country Argentina – so too did Bollywood star Deepika Padukone.
She got to unveil the FIFA World Cup trophy, along with former Real Madrid and Spanish goalie, Iker Casillas, at the closing ceremony of the world’s biggest sporting event on Sunday (December 18).
Padukone became the toast of the nation at home in India.
“I truly couldn’t have asked for more”, she said in a video about her defining moment on Instagram and then watching the game.
Not everyone was suitably impressed. She came in for criticism online for her sponsors, Louis Vuitton’s designer look. She sported a white shirt and a brown mutli-zipped jacket paired with a black skirt and high-heeled boots.
Padukone’s husband actor Ranveer Singh attended the final to cheer her. His Instagram stories have been buzzing with pictures of his wife since. There were a good number of other movie stars too at the final at the Lusail stadium. These included Malayalam superstars Mohanlal and Mammootty, Salman Khan’s sister Arpita along with actor husband Aayush Sharma and their son, Farah Khan with son Czar, Ishaan Khatter, Suniel Shetty with wife Mana and Kartik Aaryan, who was supporting France. Argentina became World Champions after defeating France on penalties after the match finished 3-3 in extra time. Many said it was the best World Cup final ever.
Padukone has also been much in the news since the release of the ‘Besharam Rang’ song trailer ahead of the film, ‘Pathaan’ release next year. Dropping on Youtube a week ago, and on its way to a very likely 100 million views soon, the song and the video have been dubbed “vulgar” and some have also been offended by Padukone in a saffron (the colour most associated with Hinduism) bikini cavorting with megstar Shah Rukh Khan’s (SRK) character in the film which releases January 25. Besharam playback singer Shilpa Rao noting its popularity said in a statement issued to British media yesterday (December 19) that the song simply expressed a confident woman, comfortable in her own skin. Incidentally, SRK has talked for the first time about the failure of ‘Zero’ and returning to the big screen with ‘Pathaan’ after an unitended hiatus of four years.
Career choices: Vedieka Dutt
HER FIRST professional acting role put her next to screen legend Rishi Kapoor and growing global star Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
Appearing alongside these two icons in Nandita Das’ Cannes world premiere film ‘Manto’ (2018) was a big thrill for emerging star, Vedieka Dutt (pictured right above).
“I’d just moved to Mumbai,” she told www.asianculturevulture.com. “It was my first film.”
She’s about to hit the big screen again in London-based director Sudipto Sarkar’s thriller movie, ‘Operation Mayfair’, a crime thriller alongside popular actor, Jimmy Shergill.
Shot in London during the summer, it was Dutt’s first film in the UK and she was delighted with another leading role to go alongside ‘Gangster Ganaraju’, a hit Telugu film, which came out in cinemas in India this summer and is now available on Amazon Prime.
In both films she plays a police officer.
“Gangster is a romantic comedy, it’s a fun family entertainer,” she chuckles. “DCI Lisa Verma, my character, in ‘Operation Mayfair’, is very focused and career orientated.”
Note the contrast. While ‘Operation Mayfair’ is a gritty thriller produced by Indian entertainment giants, T-Series, and set on the mean streets of East London, the whole experience has given Dutt a taste for more international work. She’s also been seen in many Indian ads, including most famously alongside the legend himself, Amitabh Bachchan in an international jewellery campaign.
“I’d not been to the UK before, I’ve been to the US on holiday. I really liked the area around the London Eye,” she said, remembering her time away from work.
Born in Kolkata, she initially broke through into local TV, while studying – she has a Masters in Mass Communications.
“Mumbai’s quite cliquey – I would just like my work do the talking,” she said, with a focus you might imagine of DCI Verma.
We will have more on ‘Operation Mayfair’ soon.
The little boys loves…
STAR Kareena Kapoor Khan posted a cute picture of her son Taimur eating a croissant yesterday (December 20) while the family holidayed in an unspecified location.
Mum Kareena’s caption reads: “The family’s love for croissant continues…”
Though to be slightly pedantic, it looks like a pain au chocolat, as one Instagram follower noted.
Taimur has become quite the star with proud Mum posting pictures right from his early days.
Kapoor Khan seems to have been on the move a bit with Bollywood icon hubbie, Saif Ali Khan – they were at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and then in Jaisalmer, India marking Saif Ali Khan’s actor mother Sharmila Tagore’s birthday.
Last month Kareena Kapoor was in London filming with director Hansal Mehta on what is thought to be a crime thriller also set here in London – few details have been released formally. Also on Instagram, Kapoor Khan released a picture of her with Mehta in a non-descript British street (see lead image at the top), complimenting the director on his professionalism.
Mehta was earlier in London for the world premiere of his film, ‘Faraaz’, which screened at London Film Festival and which acv reviewed at the time.