Bollywood gets an art attack

Some of our actors are not just artistes but artists too. We look at some Bollywood stars who secretly nurse a passion for painting. Sridevi is making a comeback in Hindi films with Gauri Shinde’s directorial debut, English Vinglish. Between shots, the actor would often be spotted with crayons, sketch pens and paper. “Sridevi loves to draw and paint. I’ve seen some really huge paintings made by her lining the walls of her home. They’re really good, but that’s not surprising because Sridevi is a perfectionist who excels in everything she takes up,” says Gauri. “The artworks range from abstracts to portraits. There’s a really huge one of Michael Jackson, who’s her idol since she’s a dancer too.”Salman Khan Salman inherited his artistic abilities from his mother Salma and paints abstracts, religious imagery, couples and his dogs. In 2008, he gifted Ranbir Kapoor a painting of his grandfather Raj Kapoor on his game show, Dus Ka Dum, and presented Aamir one of him in his Ghajini (2008) avatar. He got an approving nod from the late MF Husain, also inspired Dabangg (2010) co-star Sonakshi Sinha to move beyond sketches and paint a woman.
Bhagyashree

For Salman’s Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) co-star, painting was a fun pastime that let her imagination take flight. She says, “I began when I was 13, with sketches of my favourite stars, Amitabh Bachchan, Marilyn Monroe, Bridget Bardot and Michael Jackson.”
Ali Zafar

The actor-singer has been painting since he was a child and has a degree in fine arts. At 18, he sold 20-minute charcoal portraits in a hotel lobby for R500 each to fund his music albums.“Some women wanted a painting like the one Leonardo DiCaprio makes for Kate Winslet in Titanic, including my wife, whom I later painted,” he says. “Once I got busy with music, I stopped painting. I picked up the brush after seven years in 2010 when my father asked me to be a part of a national exhibition in Lahore,” says Zafar. The exhibition featuring over 100 Pakistani artistes was hosted by the alumni association of the College of Art and Design for the rehabilitation of craftsmen affected by the devastating floods. More recently, Zafar painted London, Paris, New York (2012) co-star Aditi Rao Hydari during the film’s promotions.
Aamir Khan

Perfectionist Aamir took art lessons before playing Arun, the painter, in wife Kiran Rao’s directorial debut Dhobi Ghat (2010). Salman was his inspiration“Salman’s a fantastic painter and has presented me with four beautiful paintings that are up on our walls. I tried to copy one of them.. a face… and realised I’d a really bad artist but a good imitator,” he laughs. “I gifted the canvas to Salman and it has pride of place in his living room. I guess, he didn’t want to break my heart.” Interestingly, Salman’s paintings lined the walls of Prateik’s shack in the film.
Ashok Kumar

He was a prolific painter who dabbled in charcoal, water-colour and oil. “I like to paint nudes, in the nude, in the privacy of my bathroom,” the veteran actor once admitted. He’s made 300-odd paintings, many of which he gifted away but on his birth centenary last year the Ashok Kumar Foundation organised an exhibition of his art that had a self-potrait of him playing the violin.
Deepika Padukone

Deepika Padukone always got an
A grade in art when in school.
And during Love Aaj Kal (2009), in which she played a fresco
restoration artist, when she suddenly spotted canvasses and paint on the set, she made a couple of paintings. Source:http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk

Cricketer Chris Gayle eyes Bollywood

Big hitting West Indies batsman Chris Gayle, who is currently playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore at the on-going Indian Premiere League tournament, says he wants to hit a sixer in Bollywood.

That's not all, the Jamaican player is also confident that he will do well in the Indian film industry. Chris Gayle has yet to watch a Bollywood film but he's convinced he will be able to 'take Bollywood away from Salman Khan'.

The cricketer had previously discussed a film career with Shah Rukh Khan, and now it seems he is seriously looking for a break in Bollywood.

Bollywood expands into Myanmar, Japan and Romania

A Bollywood production company has announced that it will start distributing Hindi films in Myanmar, Japan and Romania.

Eros International plc is the first company to launch Indian cinema in the three previously untapped territories.

Kumar Ahuja, senior vice president of business development at Eros, said: "We are continuing to expand our presence across the globe and access these new and exciting markets.

"Our ability to dub and subtitle Eros content into foreign languages allows us to directly appeal to both local audiences as well as the local Indian community."

The company has signed a 100-film deal in Myanmar with Family TV to showcase a range of movies, including Dabangg, Kambakkht Ishq, Mother India and Sholay.

Eros has also announced the Japanese theatrical release of the Rajnikanth and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan sci-fi production Endhiran.

The company additionally outlined plans to release a 30-movie Hindi film package into the Romanian DVD market. Titles in the series include Love Aaj Kal, Om Shanti Om and Devdas.