Latest news with #Chakram
News18
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Not Even Mumbai Rains Can Hold Back Vidya Balan's Work Spirit
The Parineeta actress looked gorgeous in a white shirt paired with a long black skirt, which he accessorised with a stylish brown belt. Vidya Balan's dedication to her craft was on full display as she braved heavy rains to attend an event in Mumbai on Tuesday. Unfazed by the downpour, the actress arrived on time, showcasing her professionalism and positive attitude towards work. Videos and photos from the event are now making the rounds online. In one viral clip, Vidya is seen walking with her team, holding her bag, as the paparazzi guide her towards the designated spot for photos and interviews. Despite the weather, she reached the mark with a smile and warmly interacted with the photographers. The actress looked effortlessly elegant in a crisp white shirt paired with a long black skirt, cinched at the waist with a stylish brown belt. She completed the ensemble with silver earrings and a neat bun. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Voompla (@voompla) Recently, during an interview with Rodrigo Canelas on his YouTube channel Something Bigger, Vidya recalled the time when she was once labelled 'jinxed" after her debut film Chakram, with Mohanlal, was shelved. 'After a successful film shoot, I was sent back to Bombay after 15 days. They claimed Mohanlal sir had some date issues, so we'd take a break and return next month. The director and the actor were having issues, so we weren't filming for most of the days, so I assumed this was how things were supposed to be. So I returned to Bombay," said Vidya. During this time, the actress had signed 8-9 other projects, but things took an ugly turn when Chakram got shelved. 'After it was shelved, I lost all of the 8, 9 films I was given. They believed the actor and director had produced eight successful films together and were working on their ninth. So they said maybe it's this girl's energy, and she is jinxed," she shared. On the work front, Vidya was last seen in the horror comedy film Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, which was released on Diwali last year. Helmed by Anees Bazmee, the film also featured Kartik Aaryan, Triptii Dimri and Madhuri Dixit Nene in the lead roles. Backed by Bhushan Kumar, the film was a big hit and even surpassed the lifetime collection of its predecessor, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. Vidya is yet to announce her next project. First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Vidya Balan says she lost 9 films, was labelled ‘jinxed' after film with Mohanlal got shelved: My parents prayed that…
Bollywood actor Vidya Balan had several unsuccessful attempts at starting her film career. However, she eventually made her mark in the film industry with hits like Parineeta, Lage Raho Munna Bhai, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, among others. In a recent conversation with Rodrigo Canelas on his YouTube channel Something Bigger, Vidya recalled crying herself to sleep every night after being called "jinxed" during her early years in the industry. Vidya Balan recalls losing 8-9 films after being called jinxed. Vidya said that Chakram was a dream film for her. She recalled how she went for an advertisement shoot in the South, where they were auditioning for the film, and she was asked to audition. She revealed that her mother said yes because she was a Mohanlal fan. Vidya added that soon after the audition, the director wanted to meet her, and she went there with her sister and mother. Vidya Balan on shooting for Chakram She continued, "I started the film, the shoot went off well and after 15 days, they sent me back to Bombay. We did a scene, and they said schedule wrap and we were supposed to shoot the whole film at once. They said, Mohanlal sir had some date problems so we'll take a pause and come back next month. The director and Mohanlal were having problems and so we were not shooting for most of the days, so I thought this is how it's supposed to be. So I came back to Bombay happy." Vidya recalled that by the time she reached Mumbai, the word had spread that there was a South Indian girl doing a Malayalam film at a time when most South actresses were Punjabis. She said that because of this, she got a lot of offers. "People would call me and narrate the story, discuss remuneration and dates," and in this way, she said yes to 8–9 films. Vidya recalls being called jinxed She added, "I was thinking to myself, I was a star. Little did I know that this Mohanlal movie Chakram got shelved. After it was shelved, I lost each of those 8, 9 films I was offered. They thought the actor and director had delivered 8 hits together, and they were doing their 9th film. So they said maybe it is the energy of this girl, and she is jinxed. It was a crazy time. It was a frustrating period. My parents began to pray that just one film would work out for her. They could see the kind of rejection and frustration I was facing. I would go to bed crying, but I didn't lose hope." Vidya finally made her Bollywood debut with the movie Parineeta in 2005 and earned critical acclaim for her performance. She followed it up with films like Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Guru, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Paa, The Dirty Picture, and Kahaani, among others. She was last seen in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, which was a major success at the box office, earning ₹389.28 crore worldwide. She is yet to announce her next project.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Vidya Balan reveals she lost more than 8 films in the South after people labelled her a 'jinx' following the shelving of Mohanlal's Chakram
Before she became one of Indian cinema's most celebrated performers, Vidya Balan faced a string of rejections that would have broken many. In a recent interview, she opened up about a particularly painful chapter—being labelled a 'jinx' after her debut Malayalam film Chakram, opposite Mohanlal , was abruptly shelved just days into production. The film's collapse wasn't due to her performance but rather creative differences between the director and Mohanlal. Still, the fallout was swift and brutal. Vidya, who had already signed 8–9 South Indian films, saw every single offer vanish overnight. 'I was thinking to myself, I was a star,' she recalled in a conversation with Rodrigo Canelas. 'Then Chakram got shelved, and I lost each of those films. People said I brought bad luck. ' Superstition and Stigma in the Industry In a culture where astrology and energy are often intertwined with casting decisions, Vidya became a scapegoat. Producers whispered about her 'aura', and some even claimed her presence had doomed the project. She was replaced in films without notice—sometimes after already shooting scenes. According to reports by Pinkvilla, one Tamil producer reportedly told her parents, 'Does she even look like a heroine?' The comment devastated her. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Brain tumor has left my son feeling miserable; please help! Donate For Health Donate Now Undo For six months, she couldn't look at herself in the mirror. 'There was a witch hunt,' she later said. 'It came from a personal issue someone had with me, but it spread like wildfire.' Faith, Family, and the Fight to Rebuild Despite the heartbreak, Vidya didn't give up. She leaned on her family—especially her sister Priya, who reminded her of actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu, who also faced early rejection. Vidya even completed a master's degree in sociology as a backup plan. Her emotional anchor during this time? A convent-school hymn: 'One day at a time, sweet Jesus.' She repeated it like a mantra, telling herself, 'Just get through today.' The Turning Point: Pradeep Sarkar and Parineeta Three years after her lowest point, Vidya met ad filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar, who cast her in a music video and later promised to make a film with her. That promise became Parineeta (2005), her Bollywood debut—and a career-defining moment. 'For the first time, I felt seen,' she said. 'Dada had so much faith in me. I rebuilt myself through that film.' From 'Jinxed' to National Icon Vidya went on to deliver powerhouse performances in The Dirty Picture, Kahaani, Tumhari Sulu, and Sherni, earning a National Film Award and the Padma Shri.
Pink Villa
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Vidya Balan recalls losing out on ‘8-9 films in South' after being considered a jinx in Mohanlal's shelved movie
Vidya Balan was recently seen conversing with Rodrigo Canelas on the Something Bigger Show. In her interaction, the Parineeta actress detailed how she missed out on 8-9 South films after her Malayalam movie with Mohanlal got shelved. Vidya Balan on considered a 'jinx' in Malayalam cinema In her conversation, Vidya Balan recalled her early days in cinema and how she was offered a role opposite Mohanlal. According to her words, 'In my Malayalam movie, I must have shot for 6-7 days. The director and actor Mohanlal were having problems, and due to this, for a lot of days we weren't shooting.' 'I didn't know how it was in a film back then, and thought this is how it all works. Suddenly, they told me the shoot was paused, and I came back to Mumbai. By now, the word spread that there is a South Indian girl who was doing a Malayalam film at a time when most South actresses were Punjabis.' In this period, Vidya Balan reveals that she received various offers from South Indian films, with filmmakers calling her up, narrating the story, and discussing remuneration. Vidya added, 'In this way, I perhaps said yes to 8-9 films in South. I was thinking to myself, I was a star. Later on, I learned that the Mohanlal movie Chakram got shelved. After it was shelved, I lost each of those 8, 9 films I was offered.' Concluding her words, the actress underlined that the filmmakers from South deemed that it was her 'energy' that led to Chakram being shelved, considering her to be a jinx. Mohanlal and Vidya Balan's shelved movie For those unversed, Mohanlal and Vidya Balan were set to collaborate on a movie back in the day titled Chakram. The film was being helmed by veteran director Kamal with Dileep playing a supporting role. However, following the movie being shelved, the late director AK Lohithadas revived the project with a cast change. Instead of Mohanlal, the protagonist's role was played by Prithviraj Sukumaran with Meera Jasmine as the female lead, replacing Vidya.
Hindustan Times
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Stranger than fiction: Inside the vibrant world of Gujarati pulp tales
Noormohammed Jusab Golibar, a street vendor who sold sweets, loved comedy, cinema and music. Over the years, he saved up and, driven by this love, on August 15, 1949 — India's second Independence Day — launched a Gujarati magazine named Chakram (slang for Crazy). The Ahmedabad-based weekly offered folk tales and humorous fiction. After his death in 1966, his sons took over. One of them, HN Golibar, was only a teenager then. Over time, he took charge as editor and expanded the magazine's range of content. He included puzzles and the latest news from the world of science, as well as tales of romance and fantasy, horror, the supernatural, crime and science-fiction. In 1987, he renamed the magazine Chakram Chandan (chandan being sandalwood), because he 'wanted the magazine to spread around the world like the fragrance of chandan,' says Mohsin Golibar, his son. Many of the tales were written by members of the family in these years. HN Golibar wrote under the nickname Atom, and began to receive fan mail addressed to Atom Uncle. The magazine's chief illustrator, Ghulam Rasul Sandhwani, even started a weekly cartoon strip featuring the entertaining squabbles of Atom Uncle and Fatakadi Aunty (Golibar's wife, Nazma Yunus Golibar, who wrote under the name Fatakadi, or Firecracker). At its peak, in 1990, the magazine had 150,000 subscribers. Even after the numbers began to dip around the turn of the century, Chakram Chandan survived. The pandemic, however, acted as a death blow. Publication was halted in 2021. HN Golibar didn't know it at the time, but that same year, Vishwambhari S Parmar, a teenager who grew up reading Gujarati fiction, began work on a pulp-fiction anthology for the independent publishing house Blaft. Blaft, based in Chennai, had brought out three previous anthologies of translated pulp-fiction, all featuring stories originally written in Tamil. Parmar's fluency in Gujarati opened another door to them. The result: The Blaft Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction, featuring 12 stories by nine of the best-known Gujarati writers in the genre, including Ekta Nirav Doshi, Kalidas Jadav, Bansidhar Shukla, Kanu Bhagdev, Narad, and HN Golibar. Zine there... The oldest tale in the anthology dates to 1924 and is a work of science-fiction by Narad titled Akashvani (A Message from the Stars), about a strange love that blooms between a human and an alien. Also featured is Kalidas Jadav's 1948 tale Adrishya Shatru (Invisible Enemy), about a chance encounter between a scientist and an extra-terrestrial hermaphrodite. In Viru Purohit's Hello (2013), people live in a world in which robots have enslaved humans and destroyed language. Accessing the right stories was more difficult than the team had anticipated. 'The closure of good lending libraries was a key challenge,' says Rakesh Khanna, editor of the anthology and co-founder of Blaft, since few of the magazines and publishing houses had any archives. Parmar and Khanna often had to decide whether to read a story or skip it based on the title and cover image posted online. 'Gujarati books often have no blurb at the back. The blurb is included in the author's introduction to their work…and those pages are usually not uploaded online. Just the front and back covers are,' Parmar says. The anthology eventually included eight colour plates showcasing some of the captivating covers they encountered. There is Golibar's Raatrani (Queen of the Night; 1992), illustrated by N Manwar, with a train zooming out of a tunnel shaped like a skull. Bhagdev's CID (1998), illustrated by Sandhwani, depicts a snake coiled around a syringe, its forked tongue holding the needle. Men with guns, haunted houses, and unearthly beings are common refrains. The cover of the anthology stays true to the spirit of these. Illustrated by Nabi H Ali, it depicts a woman, underwater, dressed in a scuba suit with a garba odhana (or dupatta) draped over it, holding two lit flairs crossed like dandiya sticks, and facing off against a jalrakshas or aquatic monster. The monster is a character from Varunlokma (Varunlok: In the Undersea Realm, 2014) by Bansidhar Shukla, a tale about a team of deep-sea researchers who encounter fantastical creatures such as merfolk and the monster. While pulp fiction is often considered the literary equivalent of popcorn films, this collection reflects how effectively the genre can hide the familiar behind an alien front, offering the thoughtful reader a new view of their world. 'The stories paint a picture of a more integrated society, of people getting along and working together in the modern world, dealing with ghosts and demons, or going on scientific expeditions under the sea,' says Khanna. 'It's different. It seems healthier.' (Nalini Ramachandran is a children's book author and graphic novelist. She can be reached @authornalini on Instagram)
