Vidur’s Film Diary – May 2015

Filed under: Film Diaries Tagged: Aa Bail Mujhe Maar, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Amrita Pritam, Anushka Sharma, Armaan Jain, Baa, Bandhan, Basu Chatterjee, Bollywood, Bombay Velvet, Diction Trainer, Eijaz Khan, Film, Film Diary, Gabbar Is Back, Hamari Bahu Alka, Hindi Teacher, Insaaf Ka Tarazu, Jai Ho, Jimmy Sheirgill, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Kareena Kapoor, Kasamh Se, Katrina Kaif, Khatron Ke Khiladi - Season 5, Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Maharashtra, Main Tera Hero, Maya Memsaab, Missing, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, O Teri !, Obituary, One By Two, Piku, Pinjar, Rajni, Ranbir Kapoor, Rishtey, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, Sarhadein, Sawan Ko Aane Do, Sudha Shivpuri, Sun Meri Laila, Swami, Tanu Weds Manu, Tanu Weds Manu Returns, The Burning Train, Vidhaata, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog, Vidur's Film Diary, Vidur's Students, Welcome 2 Karachi

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA JUNE 18, 2015 00.30 A.M.

Dear Alumna / Alumnus of FTII, Pune !

I have already written 2 blogs about the FTII [ Film & Television Institute of India ] , Pune. 1st blog was written on March 28, 2010. It was about the declining and deteriorating standards of FTII. The 2nd one was written on October 28, 2012. It was about hubris and high-handed behaviour of students of FTII. Today I am forced to write 3rd blog about FTII.

I am reading in newspapers that alumnus of this so-called premier institute are agitated against Shri Gajendra Chauhan, the newly appointed FTII Chief. Nearly 150 students boycotted classes today and continued their protest for the 5th day.

According to Harishankar Nachimuthu, the President of Student’s Union of FTII, Gajendra Chauhan’s appointment is a conspiracy to saffronise this prestigious ( ? ) institute. He states that he is not going to accept Shri Gajendra Chauhan as Chief of FTII. May I demand to know, who is seeking his acceptance or concurrence?

I came to know that several past students [ who are jobless since time immemorial ] are holding meeting in Mumbai and threatening central government that they will fight against Shri Gajendra Chauhan, “a Narendra Modi stooge” till the end. According to them he lacks stature and administrative experience. May I demand to know, who the hell are they to decide, whether Shri Chauhan has the required stature or not?

In the past Mr. Shyam Benegal, Mr. Mrinal Sen, Mr. Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mr. Mahesh Bhatt, Mr. Girish Karnad, Mr. Vinod Khanna, Prof. U.R. Ananthamurthy and Mr. Saeed Mirza have served as Chairman of the Governing Council of FTII. They were appointed by the government of the day. Shri Gajendra Chauhan is also appointed by present central government.

I fail to understand, how can students demand to have a say in the appointment of Chief of FTII. Moreover, what stake do past students have in the affairs of their Alma Mater? Why are they agitated? Why are they threatening to “fight till the end”?

Students and alumnus of this so-called prestigious institute should realize that their job is to get trained and not to decide about the governing council chief or other administrative matters of the institute. They must realize that the golden days of Shri Roshan Taneja are over. Their activism fails to produce a single actor of the calibre of ASHOK KUMAR, MOTI LAL, DILIP KUMAR, BALRAJ SAHNI, SANJEEV KUMAR, AMITABH BACHCHAN, SHAHRUKH KHAN, AMIR KHAN, HRITIK ROSHAN or RANBIR KAPOOR. None of the above mentioned actors are the alumnus of FTII. I also fail to find among your alumna, any actress of the stature of NARGIS, MEENA KUMARI, MADHUBALA, GEETA BALI, VYJAYANTIMALA, WAHEEDA REHMAN, REKHA or KAJOL. And you people are talking about the calibre of Gajendra Chauhan.

I appeal to the alumnus of FTII to first become a world-class actor and then try to be an activist. The most important FTII alumnus and your biggest inspiration NASEERUDDIN SHAH is busy doing “world-class” ( ? ) films like “Sona Spa” and ” Jackpot” and you people are pontificating on the calibre of Shri Gajendra Chauhan and threatening Shri Narendra Modi.

And now a word for failed ex students of FTII. You have no business to meddle in the affairs of your alma mater if you are still struggling to make a mark. No one needs your activism. You roam around in the alleys of Mumbai with stinking body, wilting faces, faded attires and dead and gloomy eyes. I pity your rancid existence and failed journey of life. The government of the day doesn’t need or seek your approval. Leave your hubris. You are not doing any favour to us or humanity if you are an ex students of FTII.

Let me make it clear that your agitation is politically motivated. All the right thinking people know it. If it is not so, why people like Anand Patwardhan and other known left-liberals are joining your band wagon? Why students of JNU [ Jawahar Lal Nehru University ] , a breeding ground of leftist and pseudo seculars, are joining your protest? What stake have they in the FTII?

Instead of protesting against Gajendra Chauhan, try to check the deterioration in the quality of the institute. May I demand to know why “for a 3 year programme, there have been students floating around the campus since 2008? May be they will graduate only when their creative juices start flowing.” [ verbatim quote from Hindustan Times – Dated June 17, 2015 – Page 11 / also read the editorial ” The World’s not a stage at the FTII – Page 12]

You resist every change and want to run the institute as per your whims and fancies. When UPA appointed committee suggested running the institute on public-private partnership, you people protested. When UPA tried to make the syllabus more contemporary, you started indefinite strike. UPA government headed by Congress was not saffronising the institute. So it is clear that protests and strikes are in your DNA.

Dear alumnus, if you feel or suspect that the appointment of Shri Gajendra Chauhan is a conspiracy to saffronise FTII, I suggest that you should learn to live with it as soon as possible. It will be better for your future, your health and your well-being.

We have seen enough of your hubris. We have tolerated enough of your pseudo intellectual hypocrisy. It is time to say, ” ENOUGH IS ENOUGH “.

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I denounce you for your hypocrisy, needless hubris and uncalled for activism.

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Denunciation Tagged: Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, AMIR KHAN, Amitabh Bachchan, Anand Patwardhan, Ashok Kumar, Balraj Sahni, Bollywood, Congress, Diction Trainer, Dilip Kumar, Film, Film & Television Institute of India, Film & Television Institute of India Pune, FTII, FTII Alumni, Gajendra Chauhan, Geeta Bali, Girish Karnad, Harishankar Nachimuthu, Hindi Teacher, Hritik Roshan, Jackpot, Jawaharlal Nehru University, JNU, Kajol, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Left - Liberals, Madhubala, Maharashtra, Mahesh Bhatt, Meena Kumari, Moti Lal, Mrinal Sen, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Narendra Modi, Nargis, Naseeruddin Shah, Prof. U.R. Ananthamurthy, Pseudo-Seculars, Ranbir Kapoor, Rekha, Roshan Taneja, Saeed Mirza, Saffronisation, Saffronise, Sanjeev Kumar, Shahrukh Khan, Shyam Benegal, Sona Spa, the President of Student's Union of FTII, UPA, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog, Vinod Khanna, Vyjayantimala, Waheeda Rehman

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA JUNE 21, 2015 11.55 P.M.

For me Sunday is the day of reading and writing. As I am sitting in my study in Mumbai and watching rain water caressing window panes of my study, I started pondering about the subject of my blog. As it is the 1st International Yoga Day today, the obvious choice seems to be the 1st International Yoga Day.

But I suddenly realise that it is FATHER’S DAY also and today youngsters are celebrating it with gusto. So I think it is better to write about it.

In India is there any need for a day like this? A country which since time immemorial pronounced :

पिता स्वर्ग , पिता धर्म , पिता ही परमंतपो ,
पितोरि प्रीतिमापन्ने , प्रीयन्ते सर्व देवता ॥

[ Father is like heaven, father is like religion, father is like supreme penance / meditation. If your father is pleased with you, all the Gods are pleased with you automatically. ]

यः प्रीणयेत् सुचरितैः पितरं स पुत्रो ॥

[ They are the worthy sons, who please their fathers with their good conducts. ]

So where is the need for this obnoxious FATHER’S DAY?

But these days youngsters celebrate just one day as FATHER’S DAY, because their father and mother don’t exist for them for the rest of 364 days.

Today as I write this blog about FATHER’S DAY, I remember my two brothers-in-law, Shri Krishna Mohan Shukla and Shri Gyan Prakash Chaturvedi. I have never seen such devout father worshippers in my life. They never criticise their respective fathers. They never crib about some imaginary short-comings of their fathers. Their fathers must have made few mistakes in their lives. But I have never heard them complaining about that. They belong to rich and respectable families. Still their fathers were unable to provide them fancy cars, private jet planes and a personal / private islands for vacation. But they don’t complain. They were not sent to foreign countries for so-called better education but they don’t accuse their fathers for that.

They are always full of gratitude because they know that their fathers had made supreme sacrifices for their education and upbringing. Their fathers did everything which they could. And which they couldn’t do, they are not blamed, insulted or cursed for that.

For such people every day is FATHER’S DAY. Because gratitude and respect is in their DNA. I always respect Shri Krishna Mohan Shukla and Shri Gyan Prakash Chaturvedi from the bottom of my heart. I know that my sisters are married to good human beings and that they will live a secure and satisfied life till their end. Whenever death will knock at my door, I will die a satisfied death fully knowing that after I am gone my sisters won’t face any difficulties in their marital lives because they have such good-hearted men as their spouses.

With Shri Krishna Mohan Shukla

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With Shri Gyan Prakash Chaturvedi [ Extreme Left ] & My Brother Devesh [ Middle ]

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I don’t know I am a good son or not. But whenever I think about my father, I feel that I never betrayed him. I may not be a good son but he was a good father. He took extremely good care of me. He did everything what he could do for my well-being. He supported me with the kind of money which was genuinely required. He bought me a Herculis Cycle. I still cherish the gift. And I don’t blame him that he was unable to provide me fancy cars, sport bikes and that he never send me abroad for holidaying. I wore normal clothes and Bata shoes. We had no fridge, cooler or radiograme at home, which were common in those days. But I have no grudge against him for these things. He sent me to Allahabad for higher studies. I still feel indebted for that. I don’t blame him that he couldn’t dole out money for me to get admitted in Oxford or Cambridge.

My Father Late Shri Lakshmi Kant Chaturvedi

He did everything which he could do. I am happy that I never pestered him with unnecessary requests. I never forced him to take loan to give me a life of so-called luxury. In fact my two other brothers and two sister have the same feelings for him. We don’t blame our father for anything.

He died on February 27, 1974 due to heart failure. I was 22 and studying at Allahabad. I was not there at the time of his death. I have a regret. I was not able to help him in his old age. I couldn’t do anything for him, though he did everything for me. My younger brother Atul was more fortunate. He was always at his side. He was there when he died. He served him well and I couldn’t. I still regret it but …………………

इस जीवन की चादर में , साँसों के ताने – बाने हैं ,
दुःख की थोड़ी सी सलवट है , सुख के कुछ फूल सुहाने हैं ,
क्यों सोचें आगे क्या होगा , अब कल के कौन ठिकाने हैं ,
ऊपर बैठा वो बाज़ीगर , जाने क्या मन में ठाने है ,

चाहे जितना भी जतन करें , भरने का दामन तारों से ,

झोली में वो ही आएंगे , जो तेरे नाम के दाने हैं ……

As I ponder on my life this night, I don’t find any reason to blame my father for anything. I am myself responsible for my failures, short-comings and misfortunes, if there are any. I don’t need my father as a scapegoat for my wretched life.

A new day of my life starts tomorrow. When all my friends, even my younger brother Devesh, have retired, I am preparing for a 18-hour-working-schedule at the age of 63. Death will knock at my door any day. Though I regret that I wasn’t able to serve my father but I will leave this world with extreme satisfaction that I have no complaint against my father. I don’t blame him for anything.

For this simple reason I don’t need a FATHER’S DAY. My father is always with me. He will remain there till my last day on earth, till my last breath.

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Memoirs Tagged: Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Allahabad, Allahabad University, Deoria, Diction Trainer, Father's Day, Hindi Teacher, India, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Lakshmi Kant Chaturvedi, Maharashtra, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Uttar Pradesh, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA JUNE 29, 2015 01.15 A.M.

For my Sunday blog, I was searching for the topic. Suddenly I thought about Piyush Jindal, a.k.a. Bobby Jindal, the 55th and current governor of Louisiana and the former vice chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

He is an Indian – American but does not like to be known as Indian – American. He, last week, made that infamous speech that he came to USA to become American and not Indian – American. He was lampooned for his comment by Indian diaspora ( NRI & PIO included ) . Twitter was abuzz with #YoBobbySoWhite hashtag. I am reproducing some of the interesting tweets with hashtag #YoBobbySoWhite :

ajopaul ‏@ajopaul Jun 25

#yobobbysowhite no he’s chock-ice, brown on outside white inside. @brownbrumby

Yogi Baba Brumbhdev ‏@brownbrumby Jun 25

Normal people have red and white blood cells #YoBobbySoWhite he has only White blood cells. Which also makes him immune to any intelligence.

9 retweets 4 favorites

Yogi Baba Brumbhdev ‏@brownbrumby Jun 25

#YoBobbySoWhite that even his shadow is white. #BobbyJindal

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Bobby Jindal – Governor of Louisiana

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Bobby Jindal & His Wife Supriya Jolly

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Piyush “Bobby” Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is an American politician who is the 55th and current governor of Louisiana and the former vice chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Jindal was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to immigrants from India.

Prior to entering politics, Jindal studied for a Bachelor of Science in biology and public policy at Brown University from 1988 to 1991 and then a Master of Letters in political science from New College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar. He worked for McKinsey & Company and interned for Rep. Jim McCrery of Louisiana.

In 1996, Gov. Murphy Foster appointed Jindal secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, and in 1999 he was appointed president of the University of Louisiana System. In 2001, Jindal was appointed as the principal adviser to Tommy Thompson, the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services by the 43rd President, George W. Bush.

He first ran for governor in 2003 and won a plurality in the nonpartisan blanket primary but lost in the general election to the Democratic candidate, Kathleen Blanco. He then won a seat in the United States House of Representatives in the 2004 elections. The second Indian American in Congress, he was re-elected in 2006. He ran for governor again in 2007 and secured an outright majority in the first round of balloting; in doing so, he became the first Indian American governor in the United States. He was re-elected in a landslide in 2011.

On June 24, 2015, Jindal announced his candidacy for president in 2016.

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I have reproduced above facts of his life from Wikipedia.

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Let us have a look on the life of Piyush Jindal, a.k.a. Bobby Jindal. He was born to Amar Jindal and Raj Jindal, immigrants from Punjab. They came to the USA six months before he was born. So he is 1st generation American. He became the second Indian American in Congress, and the first Indian American governor in the United States. So many Indians were elated.

He is not a Hindu as everyone would like to believe. He was converted to Christianity quite early in his life and is a practising Roman Catholic. Have a look at the name of his children : SELIA ELIZABETH , SHAAN ROBERTS & SLADE RYAN.

Therefore if he does not feel any affinity towards India or Hinduism, he should be left to himself. I think if a person is ashamed of his mother, mother tongue and motherland, he ceases to be a human. Mr. Piyush Jindal a.k.a. Bobby Jindal is ashamed of his origin, his name, his parent’s country and their religion. Such a person can’t be Indian or Hindu in any sense of the term.

Rest assured Mr. Jindal, if you want to be American and not Indian American, we Indian have no burning desire to claim you as our own. We have our glorious history, out illustrious forefathers, our unending national icons. We belong to a vibrant Hindu culture and civilization, which is oldest in the world. You be happy to embrace a religion which is 2015 years old.

In our long history, we had many traitors and Trojan horses among us. At least you didn’t betray. You said openly what you wanted to say. If you are ashamed of us, we are equally ashamed of your existence. If you refuse to acknowledge your parent’s motherland because it is not as affluent as your adopted land, we also refuse to acknowledge you and your family.

Farewell Mr. Jindal !! You are not Indian in any sense. In the era of Shri Narendra Modi, we don’t need ABCD [ American Born Confused Desi ] like you.

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I denounce this Piyush Jindal a.k.a. Bobby Jindal.

In the era of Narendra Modi, when we are standing on the threshold of glory and glorious future, we hardly need a person like Mr. Jindal, who is so untrue to his salt.

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Curious Case Tagged: 43rd President of USA, 55th Governor of Louisiana, ABCD, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, American Born Confused Desi, Bobby Jindal, Brown University, Diction Trainer, George W. Bush, Governor Murphy Foster, Governor of Louisiana, Hindi Teacher, India, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals, Maharashtra, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Narendra Modi, NRI, PIO, Piyush Jindal, Politics, Punjab, Republican Governor Association, United States House of Representatives, University of Louisiana System, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog, Yo Bobby So White

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA JULY 05, 2015 11.55 P.M.

It is first Sunday of July 2015. Sunday brings few welcome changes in my daily 18-hour-long-work-schedule. It is the day of late wake up call. It is the day of reading many newspapers and getting soaked in the vortex called Indian politics. And yes, it is the day of the posting of my blog.

Tina Ahuja, better known as Narmmadaa, made her debut this Friday with a film called ” Second Hand Husband “. She is film actor Govinda’s daughter and a student of mine.

I am not an accomplished chartered accountant but as soon as films of my students get released, I start calculating like a diligent, hard-working local bania. And when I calculated this time, I found to my astonishment that she is the 11th student of mine, who made debut in the last 20 months. [ NOVEMBER 2013 – JULY 2015 ]

I know that it will cause severe heartburn to few startups, who think themselves as thespians and claim to be accomplished acting trainers. Mumbai has many acting institutes and acting trainers. Few like ROSHAN TANEJA, ASHHA CHANDRA, BARRY JOHN and ANUPAM KHER are very reputed. They don’t have any problem with me and my success. They have their own successes to celebrate.

There is another one, who was reputed once upon a time. But has resorted to gimmicks and cheap tactics to keep himself relevant. Slashing your fee and advertising it publicly shows the desperation. Once upon a time he used to demand and command huge sum as fee but recently slashed it by half. It is now almost equivalent of my fee. Is it not desperation? Would you like to know the reason? He has failed to produce a single star after 2010.

And yes, there are few others. [ I don’t want to make them immortal by mentioning their names. ] Tucked in the lanes and by-lanes of Mhada, they proclaim to be acting trainers of repute but are nowhere in the scene. They will be troubled a lot by my list of ” 11 debuts in 20 months “. They claim to impart hard-core training. May I demand to know, what is the quality of this hard-core training, which can’t produce even a single star worth the name in these years? I think I should leave it up to the general public to decide.

3 years back I wrote in one of my blog post that hazy picture will not remain forever. Deceit will die its own death. Things will be clear one day when dust will settle down. An egoist startup, who thinks very high of himself, made fun of me and my statement. Within 3 years I am making public my latest list of accomplishments. I notice deafening silence from the other side of the fence. The thespian ( ? ) , who was roaring 3 years back, is conspicuous by his stoic ( ? ) silence. I guess he is maimed and mutilated considerably. I pity his toothless existence.

For public perusal, here is the complete list of my 9 students with pictures. I don’t have photos of Preeti Desai and Ayesha Khanna at this juncture. I will post them later.

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2013 = URVASHI RAUTELA – ” Singh Saab The Great ” – 21 November 2013

Urvashi Rautela – Vidur Acting Institute Batch No. 68 [ With Me in My Office ]

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2014 = DAISY SHAH – ” Jai Ho ” – 24 January 2014

2014 = PREETI DESAI – ” One by Two ” – 31 January 2014

2014 = TANVI RAO – ” Gulab Gang ” – 7 March 2014

2014 = BILAL AMROHI – ” O Teri ! ” – 28 March 2014

2014 = AYESHA KHANNA – ” Dishkiyaoon ” – 28 March 2014

2014 = ARMAAN JAIN – ” Lekar Hum Deewana Dil ” – 4 July 2014

2014 = PRANALI GHOGARE – ” Mere Rang Mein Rangnewali ” [Serial]

2014 = SAMRIDDHA BAWA – ” Mere Rang Mein Rangnewali ” [Serial] – 17 November 2014

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With Daisy Shah In My Office

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With Tanvi Rao in My Office

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With Bilal Amrohi in Mr. Atul Agnihotri’s Office

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With Armaan Jain in His Apartment

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Pranali Ghogare & Samriddha Bawa – Vidur Acting Institute Batch No. 83 [ With Me In My Office ]

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2015 = TINA AHUJA – ” Second Hand Husband ” – 3 July 2015

With Narmmadaa [ Tina Ahuja ] In My Office

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Pawni Pandey , who sung the song ” ………………… Sharm Laaj Moh Maar Kar , Hata De Ye Pallu Jhaad Kar ……………. “ in ” Gulaab Gang ” [ 2014 ] is a student of Batch No. 82 of VIDUR Acting Institute .

She started as a participant in ” Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs ” in 2006 and was a finalist and stood at 5th position .

With Pawni Pandey in My Office

Out of above mentioned 11 students, 10 are actors and the remaining 1, Pawni Pandey is playback singer.

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I congratulate my above mentioned 11 students .

Their success validates that even after 26 years of my life as an acting trainer, I have not reached saturation point. I thank God for that.

My life is entering into a new important phase. In 2015-2016, it is going to be downpour of new stars trained by me. Many of them have potential to change the face of Indian cinema. So farewell till then.

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Acting Training Tagged: Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Anupam Kher, Armaan Jain, Ashha Chandra, Ayesha Khanna, Barry John, Bilal Amrohi, Daisy Shah, Diction Trainer, Dishkiyaoon, Film, Govinda, Gulaab Gang, Hindi Teacher, Jai Ho, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Lekar Hum Deewana Dil, Maharashtra, Mere Rang Mein Rangnewali, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Narmmadaa, O Teri !, One By Two, Pawni Pandey, Politics, Pranali Ghogare, Preeti Desai, Roshan Taneja, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs 2006, Samriddha Bawa, Second Hand Husband, Singh Saab The Great, Tanvi Rao, Tina Ahuja, Urvashi Rautela, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog, Vidur's Students

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA July 12, 2015 07.00 P.M.

[ MILESTONE : Vidur’s Film Diary completed 6th year of its existence in May 2015. It began its journey in the 7th year in June 2015. ]

[ DECLARATION : In my film diary, since May 2014, I have started mentioning names of only those students, who respect me as their teacher and accept and regard my contribution in their journey of life . All the other students, who had releases this month but are not mentioned here, are the ones, who refuse to acknowledge me in any way . I can sense their abhorrence to my personality . I am not a sweet-talker. So I know that somewhere they were rubbed the wrong way . I also feel their attachment to some acting trainers , who claim to be the re-incarnation of Constantine Stanislavsky and are sweeter than any sweet delicacy on this earth . Such students are free from any obligation from my side. GOD BLESS THEM ! ]

1 : ” Jai Ho ” : http://youtu.be/cZzBa4sHXMQ

2 : ” One By Two ” : http://youtu.be/0WCMfQiPdGI

3 – ” O Teri ” & ” Main Tera Hero ” : http://youtu.be/Se9Mp1iFexQ

4 – ” Khatron Ke Khiladi – 5 ” : http://youtu.be/UYPcFYWC0xg

5 – ARMAAN JAIN : http://youtu.be/cnuWJ3Vwqbo

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Obituary :

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Sanjeet Bedi :

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Sanjeet Bedi , who played the role of Dr. Omi Joshi in TV serial Sanjivani , died on June 23, 2015 , due to brain ailment.

Apart from Sanjivani [ 2001 – 2005 ] , he also starred in shows like Kasautii Zindagii Kay [ 2005 – 2006 ] , Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Kaa [ 2006 – 2007 ] and Jaane Kya Baat Hui [ 2008 – 2009 ]

He was in his late 30s when he died.

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New Hindi Film Releases & Me :

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First Week – June 05

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1 – Lateef …………………………………………………………………………….. X

2 – Dil Dhadakne Do …………………………………………….. Priyanka Chopra

……………………………………………………………………………. Anushka Sharma

Second Week – June 12

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1 – Hamari Adhuri Kahani …………………………………… Emraan Hashmi

Third Week – June 19
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1 -ABCD 2 ………………………………………………………………. Varun Dhawan

Fourth Week – June 26
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1 – Miss Tanakpur Haazir Ho …………………………………… Hrishita Bhatt

2 – Uvaa …………………………………………………………………. Jimmy Sheirgill

In total …………… 06 …………….. films got released in June . Out of these ………….. 06 ………… released films ……….. 05 ………… films have …………… 06 ……………. artistes , who are trained by me .

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TV Trivia & Me :

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1 – Sonu Sood is judging a show ” Comedy Superstars “ on Sab TV .

My ……….………. 01 …………….….. student in ………………… 01 ……………. show on TV .

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Commercials & Me :

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1 – Rajniesh Duggal is the Brand Ambassador of ” Kamala Paan Pasand ” .

2 – Vivek Oberoi is the Brand Ambassador of ” Zeel Rainwear ” .

3 – Mehrene Kaur Pirzada is the Brand Ambassador of ” Roop Mantra Ayurvedic Face Cream ” .

4 – Alia Bhatt is the Brand Ambassador of ” Garnier Oil & Cream ” .

5 – Pulkit Samrat is the Brand Ambassador of ” U – B Fair ” .

6 – Bhisham Mansukhani is the Brand Ambassador of ” MDH Masale ” .

7 – Sonu Sood is the Brand Ambassador of ” Signature Banyan ” .

My ………….. 07 …………… students in …………… 07 …………… commercial campaigns .

In the month of June, 2015 my 06 students appeared in 05 films , 01 student in 01 TV show and 07 students appeared in 07 Ads also . Thus total number of students working in the month of June 2015 comes to 14.

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I congratulate my above mentioned 14 students .

May God bless them and they shine in their chosen field .

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Film Diaries Tagged: 25 Years of Vidur, ABCD 2, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Alia Bhatt, Anushka Sharma, Armaan Jain, Bhisham Mansukhani, Bollywood, Comedy Superstars, Diction Trainer, Dil Dhadakne Do, Dr. Omi, Emraan Hashmi, Film, Film Diary, Garnier Oil & Cream, Hamari Adhuri Kahani, Hindi Teacher, Hrishita Bhatt, Jai Ho, Jimmy Sheirgill, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Kamala Paan Pasand, Kasautii Zindagii Kay, Khatron Ke Khiladi - Season 5, Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Kaa, Lateef, Lekar Hum Deewana Dil, Maharashtra, Main Tera Hero, MDH Masale, Mehrene Kaur Pirzada, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, O Teri !, Obituary, One By Two, Priyanka Chopra, Pulkit Samrat, Rajniesh Duggal, Roop Mantra Ayurvedic Face Cream, SAB TV, Sanjeet Bedi, Sanjivani, Signature Banyan, Sonu Sood, U - B Fair, Uvaa, Varun Dhawan, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog, Vidur's Film Diary, Vidur's Students, Vivek Oberoi, Zeel Rainwear

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA JULY 12, 2015 11.50P.M.

Till date I have written 3 blogs about FTII [ Film & Television Institute of India ] Pune. I think this prestigious (?) and premier (?) institute will not be my topic again, at least not in recent future. But if it is prestigious (?) and premier (?) , how can it not seek my attention?

Gajendra Singh row refuses to subside. Each day a new celebrity crows his neck out and dishes out his pious views on this prestigious (?) and premier (?) institute, which has dubious distinction of spearheading more than 50 strikes till date.

Today, while watching news, I came across valuable (?) view of Raj Kumar Rao, who used to be Raj Kumar Yadav. May be according to him being Yadav is not upmarket or glamorous enough, so he got a brand new nomenclature. He opined that students of FTII deserve a Chairman, whom they should look up to.

Wow !! My memory went few years back and intruded into the holy precincts of FTII, when Mr. Rao, as a worthy alumnus of this prestigious (?) and premier (?) institute, used to roam around in the campus. In those pious and holy days Shri Paintal was Head of Department of Acting. He used to call many past alumnus / alumna as guest lecturers. Shri Paintal even called two of my students, who were novice, upstart and inexperienced. Mr. Rao or his other worthy friends never raised their voices against them. All the vocal commies and their friends from AISA were also silent. Mr. Rao also have no objection when these two upstarts mention his name in their website and claim that he has been trained by them in their Mumbai based institute. Mr. Rao and his friends can look up to novices roaming around as Acting Trainers but they can’t tolerate a Chairman , who according to them is a symbol of saffronisation. I denounce these bunch of hypocrites. If they agitate for better trainers, I can understand. But don’t want to even listen to them if they poke their nose in administrative matters.

These filmi Che Guevaras should be weeded out of this breeding ground of communism, known as FTII.

After I finished writing, I read this old news item published in India Express. It substantiates my point. So I am putting it here. Links of my 3 previous blogs are also given here.

===============================================

Kamal N. Chaturvedi ‏@VidurChaturvedi 9m9 minutes ago

[ My 1st Blog about FTII, Pune ] 50 Years Of FTII, Pune : No Paean , No Requiem http://wp.me/ptyXI-7G via @VidurChaturvedi

==============================================

Kamal N. Chaturvedi ‏@VidurChaturvedi 10m10 minutes ago

[ My 2nd Blog about FTII, Pune ] A Tale of Two Acting Institutes : FTII & NSD http://wp.me/ptyXI-1LU via @VidurChaturvedi

==============================================

1. Kamal N. Chaturvedi ‏@VidurChaturvedi 14m14 minutes ago
  
  [ My 3rd Blog About FTII, Pune ] An Open Letter To FTII Alumna / Alumnus http://wp.me/ptyXI-3wW via @VidurChaturvedi

==============================================

For 13 years, no convocation held at FTII

Rohan Swamy : Pune, Fri Mar 04 2011, 02:03 hrs

For over 13 years now, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) has not held any convocation to give away degrees. The premier film institute of the nation held its last one December 14, 1997. An RTI query by The Indian Express reveals.Since the last convocation, 177 students have passed FTII courses and though all of them got their certificates, none received them at a podium, at a convocation. In fact, in the last 50 years, only 21 convocations have been held.

Confirming this, FTII director Iftikar Ahmed says, “The set-up at FTII is different. A mere convocation doesn’t decide the merit of students who complete courses here. The main objective is to provide the best training and we have been doing that. Convocation is a minor aspect. In fact, we issue degrees even to students who leave courses midway.”

Ahmed reminds that even before the last convocation in 1997, there was an eight-year hiatus. “The 21st convocation, which was the last, was marred by an unpleasant incident where students wore black armbands and carried placards on stage. It prompted director Mahesh Bhatt to resign as FTII president and veteran actor Dilip Kumar to lash out against ‘this blatant washing of dirty linen in public,'” said Ahmed.

He agrees though that there have been a lot of issues over the last 12 years that have pushed the convocation to the background. “The most important is expansion at FTII. Eight new courses have been introduced in the last 13 years and faculty members have come down. Back then, we had four courses and 55 teachers. Now, for all the courses, we have 20 teachers. During the transition after introduction of new courses and a change in the management, issues like convocation were pushed aside.”

Retired professor of the Film Appreciation Course, Suresh Chabbria, feels that a convocation gives an institute an academic feel and the fact that it has not been held for so long is something that needs to be looked into. “In fact, back in the 60s and 70s, they were regular. Things did change later with courses being overshot and students leaving midway,” he said.

National award winner Dilip Ghosh, former president of the GraFTII, the alumni association, says it is wrong for the institute to punish an entire batch for a few students who did not complete their courses on time. “In 1981, when I was studying direction at the institute, we had a proper convocation. It would be unfair for anyone to say convocations do not happen as courses are delayed or even for that matter students do not ask for them.”

Students of the current batches at the institute say that with issues like completion of the courses on time and shortage of equipment and infrastructure they face, convocation is an issue they have not raised. “That doesn’t mean we do not want one,” says former president of the student body and winner of the national award for direction course, Tathagatha Singha. “It’s just that with these other issues we deal with, the convocation takes a backseat.” he adds.

Actor Mohan Aghashe, who was the director of the institute when the last convocation was conducted, says the attitude of students also needs to be questioned. “When they come here after beating scores of other applicants, they should ask for convocations at the end of the course.”

================================================

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I denounce FTII students, who are behaving like anarchists.

May God bless them with some intellect so they can read the writing on the wall. If according to them, it is saffronisation, they should learn to live with it.

[ I have quoted an old article of Indian Express. I express gratitude. ]

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Acting Training Tagged: 25 Years of Vidur, 50 Years of FTII, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Che Guevara, Diction Trainer, Dilip Kumar, Film, FTII, FTII Alumni, FTII Pune, Gajendra Singh, GraFTII, Hindi Teacher, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Maharashtra, Mahesh Bhatt, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Paintal, Raj Kumar Rao, Raj Kumar Yadav, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA JULY 19, 2015 09.00 P.M.

Few days back I read this post by Mr. Tapas Ranjan Baral. He posted it on the timeline of his facebook. Since Gujarat Riots of 2002 refuse to fade away from the minds of some secular, Left-Liberal intellectuals of our nation, I found Mr. Baral’s observation very interesting. Therefore I am reproducing his post verbatim on my blog.

I thank Mr. Tapas Ranjan Baral for his endeavour and express my profound gratitude for reproducing his writing without his prior permission.

==============================================

Tapas Ranjan Baral

Mr. Salim Khan ( father of the actor Salman Khan ) had said to a senior journalist in an interview:

“Does anyone remember who the chief minister of Maharashtra was during the Mumbai riots which were no less deadly than the Gujarat riots of 2002?

Does anyone recall the name of the chief minister of UP during
Malliana and Meerut riots or name of the Bihar CM when the Bhagalpur or Jamshedpur riots under Congress regimes took place?

Do we hear names of earlier chief ministers of Gujarat under whose
charge, hundreds of riots took place in post-Independence India?

Does anyone remember who was in-charge of Delhi’s security when the 1984 massacre of Sikhs took place in the capital of India?

How come Narendra Modi has been singled out as the Devil Incarnate as if he personally carried out all the killings during the riots of 2002?”

No speck of doubt about what Salim Khan has said.

When one says Gujarat’s agriculture growth is 10-11% since last decade, the other says 2002 Riots!

When one says he made the Asia’s biggest solar plant, the other says 2002 Riots!

When one says Gujarat is the only state in the whole of India to
provide 24×7 and 365 days electricity to almost all of its 18,000
villages, the other says 2002 Riots!

When one says the world bank’s statement of 2011 said Gujarat roads are equivalent to international standards, the other says 2002 Riots!

When one says Gujarat is the first State in country to have “high
speed wireless Broadband service in it’s all 18,000 villages,” the
other says 2002 Riots!

When one says Forbes Magazine rated Ahmadabad as the fastest growing city in India and 3rd in the world, the other says 2002 Riots!

When one says Gujarat Tourism is growing faster than ever before, the other says 2002 Riots!

When one says according to central govt’s Labour Bureau’s report,
Gujarat has the lowest unemployment rate in country, the other says 2002 Riots!

When Narendra Modi is being chosen as the best current Indian leader in almost all surveys polls again and again, the other says 2002 Riots!

When one says 2003-2013 are the only 10 straight years in Gujarat
history which are totally riot-free, The other STILL says 2002 Riots!

But when we remind them about riots which occurred during Congress and in Communist Party rule :

1947 Bengal …5,000 to 10,000 dead …CONGRESS RULE.

1967 Ranchi …200 DEAD…CONGRESS RULE.

1969 Ahmedabad…512 DEAD…CONGRESS RULE.

1970 Bhiwandi…80 DEAD …CONGRESS RULE.

1979 Jamshedpur…125 DEAD…CPIM RULE (COMMUNIST PARTY)

1980 Moradabad…2,000 DEAD…CONGRESS RULE.

1983 Nellie Assam …5,000 DEAD…CONGRESS RULE.

1984 anti-Sikh Delhi…2,733 DEAD …CONGRESS RULE

1984 Bhiwandi…146 DEAD …CONGRESS RULE

1985 Gujarat …300 DEAD…CONGRESS RULE

1986 Ahmedabad…59 DEAD…CONGRESS RULE

1987 Meerut …81 DEAD …CONGRESS RULE

1989 Bhagalpur…1,070 DEAD …CONGRESS RULE

1990 Hyderabad …300 PLUS DEAD…CONGRESS RULE

1992 Mumbai …900 TO 2000 DEAD …CONGRESS RULE

1992 b…176 DEAD…CONGRESS RULE

1992 Surat …175 DEAD…CONGRESS RULE

they become totally deaf…because they have no answers.

Congress is a government of hypocrites. The youth of India says:

“We are NOT interested in 2002, we are interested in 2022″

============================== ===============

I had written one more blog on April 28, 2011, where I had collected data of all the communal riots of India after independence. I am posting the link of that blog :

Kamal N. Chaturvedi ‏@VidurChaturvedi 4m4 minutes ago

[ My 1st Blog About Gujarat Riots 2002 ] Chronicle of Communal Riots in India http://wp.me/ptyXI-175 via @VidurChaturvedi

This is the second one.

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I denounce all the secular and Left-Liberal intellectuals of India. They have become restless and more strident because they know that under Narendra Modi dispensation they will be decimation in the very near future. They are fighting for their survival. So let it be.

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Politics Tagged: 1984, 1984 Delhi Riots, 2002 Gujarat violence, 2012 Gujarat Assembly Elections, 25 Years of Vidur, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Agriculture Growth Rate Gujarat, Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad Riots, Bengal Riots, Bhagalpur Riots Bihar, Bhiwandi Riots, Butcher of Gujarat, Chief Ministers of Gujarat, Communal Riots Delhi, Communal Riots In India, Communal Riots of India, Communist Party of India, communist party of india marxist, Congress, Congress Regime, CPI-M, CPIM, CPM, Diction Trainer, Forbes Magazine, Gujarat Roads, Gujarat Tourism, Hindi Teacher, Hyderabad Riots, India, Indian National Congress, Jamshedpur Riots Bihar, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Maharashtra, Malliana Riots UP, Meerut Riots UP, Moradabad Riots, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Mumbai Riots, Nellie Assam Riots, Politics, Ranchi Riots, Salim Khan, Salman Khan, Secularism in India, Seculars of India, Solar Plant Gujarat, Surat Riots, Uttar Pradesh, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA 19 JULY 2015 11.55 P.M.

I read about Omar Sharif’s demise on 10th July 2015. It brought some distant memories to my mind. I was not his ardent fan but have very early memory of his film Mackenna’s Gold [ 1969 ], where he played an outlaw opposite Gregory Peck .

I visited Mumbai [ then known as Bombay ] in June 71. I stayed here for one year. My visit failed miserably because of my inexperience and poor planning. But I remember one film, Mackenna’s Gold , which I saw during my stay. It was running in Strand Talkies, [ now closed ] Colaba in 50th week. A Hollywood film celebrating golden Jubilee in India was incredulous. So I got curious and went to watch it. I was amazed and mesmerized. It got imprinted in my mind and remained in my memory.

After one year I returned to Allahabad to complete my post graduation in English literature. There I watched his debut film Lawrence of Arabia [ 1962 ]. The film was and will always be a memorable film for me. The part he played in Lawrence of Arabia , was originally offered to Dilip Kumar, which he refused and thus became instrumental in Omar Sharif’s Hollywood career.

So when I read about his sad demise, I thought that I must write an obituary.

Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Omar Sharif

10 April 1932 – 10 July 2015

Omar Sharif was born as Michel Demitri Chalhoub on 10 April 1932 in Alexandria, Egypt, to a Melkite Greek Catholic family of Lebanese descent.

In his youth, Sharif studied at Victoria College, Alexandria, where he showed a talent for languages. He later graduated from Cairo University . He then enrolled himself for acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In 1955, Sharif changed his name and converted to Islam in order to marry fellow Egyptian actress Faten Hamama.

In 1954, Sharif began his acting career in his native Egypt with a role in Shaytan Al-Sahra (“Devil of the Desert”). In the same year he appeared in Sira` Fi al-Wadi (“Struggle in the Valley”). He quickly rose to stardom, appearing in Egyptian productions, including La Anam (“Sleepless”) in 1958, Sayyidat al-Qasr (“Lady of the Palace”) in 1959 and the Anna Karenina adaptation Nahr el hub (“The River of Love”) in 1961. He also starred with his wife, Egyptian actress Faten Hamama, in several movies as romantic leads.

Sharif’s first English-language role was that of Sharif Ali in David Lean‘s historical epic Lawrence of Arabia in 1962. This performance earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture, as well as a shared Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor. Sharif was fluent in French, Greek, Italian, Spanish and Arabic , so he managed the accent beautifully.

Over the next few years, Sharif co-starred in other films, including Behold a Pale Horse (1964). Sharif also played a Yugoslav wartime patriot in The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964), the Mongolian conqueror in Genghis Khan (1965), a German military officer in The Night of the Generals (1967), Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria in Mayerling (1968) and Che Guevara in Che! (1969).

With Geraldine Chaplin in Doctor Zhivago (1965)

In 1965, Sharif reunited with Lean in order to play the title role in the epic love story Doctor Zhivago (1965), an adaptation of Boris Pasternak‘s 1957 novel^set during World War I and the Russian Revolution . For his performance, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, while the film received ten Academy Award nominations^.

Sharif was also acclaimed for his portrayal of Nicky Arnstein in Funny Girl (1968). He portrayed the husband of Fanny Brice, played by Barbra Streisand in her first film role. His decision to work alongside Streisand angered Egypt’s government because she was Jewish, and the country condemned the film. It was also “immediately banned” in numerous Arab nations. Sharif reprised the role in the film’s sequel, Funny Lady in 1975.

Among Sharif’s other films were the thriller Juggernaut (1974), which co-starred Richard Harris, and the romantic drama The Tamarind Seed (1974), co-starring Julie Andrews, and directed by Blake Edwards. Sharif also contributed comic cameo performances in Edwards’ The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976) and in the 1984 spy-film spoof Top Secret!

In 2003, he received acclaim for his leading role in Monsieur Ibrahim, a French-language film adaptation of the novel Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran, as a Muslim Turkish merchant who becomes a father figure for a Jewish boy. For this performance, Sharif received the César Award for Best Actor. Sharif’s later film roles included performances in Hidalgo (2004) and Rock the Casbah (2013).

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I offer my condolences to the departed soul.

[ I have taken few facts of his life from Wikipedia. I express gratitude. ]

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Obituary Tagged: Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Alexandria, Anna Karenina, Barbra Streisand, Behold A Pale Horse, Boris Pasternak, Cairo, Cesar Award for Best Actor, Che, David Lean, Diction Trainer, Dilip Kumar, Doctor Zhivago, Egypt, Faten Hamama, Film, Funny Girl, Funny Lady, Genghis Khan, Golden Globe Award, Gregory Peck, Hindi Teacher, Juggernaut, Julie Andrews, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Lawrence of Arabia, Mackenna's Gold, Maharashtra, Mayerling, Michel Dimitri Chalhoub, Monsieur Ibrahim, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Obituary, Omar Sharif, RADA, Richard Harris, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Russian Revolution, Strand Talkies Colaba, The Night Of The Generals, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, The Tamarind Seed, The Yellow Rolls Royes, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog

CHENNAI – TAMIL NADU – INDIA JULY 24, 2015 10.45 P.M.

It was raining heavily today in Mumbai. Rains are romantic but only when you are at home and enjoying the downpour. Torrential rain, for me, is dreadful if you are travelling. You feel dwarfed in front of the fury of mighty nature. When I started from my apartment for airport, it was drizzling. But when I reached airport, it was dark and I could see rain water lashing out on the large window panes of the domestic terminal. I dreaded but had no option. I took the flight, because I have to be in Port Blair on July 26th.

I took the flight and reached Chennai in the night. It is my 5th Chennai visit. But this time I am visiting the city only as a transit passenger. I will be taking early morning flight to Port Blair, the capital town of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Apart from 29 states, India has 7 Union Territories. Out of 7 Union Territories, I have visited Delhi multiple times, Puducherry 4 times and Chandigarh once. 2 other Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli are very close to Mumbai and I can visit them any day. But I never imagined that I could visit Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Never in my wildest dreams have I thought that I would be visiting Andaman in my life. So when my student Lakshmi Rao invited me to come to Port Blair as the Chief Guest of the 1st ever Andaman beauty pageant, I agreed immediately.

I searched Wikipedia and found some fascinating information about Andaman & Nicobar Islands. These island first came to light during Chola Empire. Then finally took shape during British rule. Britishers tried to colonise these islands but failed.

In 1858 the British again established a colony at Port Blair, which proved to be more permanent. The primary purpose was to set up a penal colony criminal convicts from the Indian subcontinent. The colony came to include the infamous Cellular Jail.

In 1872 the Andaman and Nicobar islands were united under a single chief commissioner at Port Blair. The capital of the union territory, Port Blair, is located 1,255 km from Kolkata, 1,200 km from Visakhapatnam and 1,190 km from Chennai

There are 572 islands in the territory having an area of 8,073 km. Of these, about 34 are permanently inhabited.

The Andamans are separated from the Nicobar group by a channel (the Ten Degree Channel) some 150 km wide. The highest point is located in North Andaman Island (Saddle Peak at 732 m .

The Andaman group has 325 islands which cover an area of 6,170 km while the Nicobar group has only 24 islands with an area of 1,765 km.

It is night halt at Chennai airport. I will take 5.00 AM flight and will be reaching Port Blair at 7.30 AM. A dream of my lifetime will be fulfilled.

Whenever I visit a new place , I always remember these famous lines of the great modern Hindi poet Agyeya :

पार्श्व गिरि का नम्र चीड़ों में , डगर चढ़ती उमंगों सी ;

बिछी पैरों में नदी ज्यों दर्द की रेखा , विहग शिशु मौन नीड़ों में ;

मैंने आँख भर देखा , दिया मन को दिलासा ;

पुनः आऊँगा , भले ही बरस दिन , अनगिन युगों के बाद ;

क्षितिज ने पलक सी खोली , दमक कर दामिनी बोली ;

” अरे यायावर ! रहेगा याद ? “

………………………………………………..अज्ञेय

[ Tenderness of mighty mountains reflected in pine trees ,

Upward moving pathways symbolizing my enthusiasm ,

River , flowing deep down like a line of pain ,

Tiny tots of birds sitting silently in their nest ,

I saw everything with contentment ,

Consoled myself , I would come again ,

After a year or may be after ages ……….

Horizon opened its eyes , lightning dazzled in the sky ,

As if saying ………………

O Wanderer ! Would you ever even remember ? ]

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Travel Diaries Tagged: 29 States of India, Acting Institute, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andamans, Cellular Jail, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Delhi, Diction Trainer, Hindi Poet Agyeya, India, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Port Blair, Puducherry, States & Union Territories of India, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog, Vidur's Travel Diary

CHENNAI AIRPORT – TAMIL NADU – INDIA JULY 28, 2015 6.30 P.M.

Last night when I was sitting in my hotel room in Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, I switched on TV for news. It was everywhere. People’s President Kalam is no more. He is dead. He breathed his last in Shillong, Meghalaya.

I was pained and shocked and immediately wanted to write this obituary but internet in Port Blair is still in primitive ages. I was unable to get connected. After trying for some time, I gave up. I took early morning flight from Port Blair and reached Chennai few hours back. Waiting for my connecting flight for Mumbai, I thought to write and post this obituary.

All the daily news papers are full of the news of the sad demise of Dr. Kalam. I have nothing more to say. But one thing is crystal clear. No other President of India enjoyed this popularity. He was truly people’s President. Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, the 11th President of India was second to none. I don’t remember much about Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the 1st President. But I have seen and vividly remember all the other 9 Presidents of India, who preceded him and the other 2, who became Presidents after him. None enjoyed such popularity, such regard and genuine affection from the classes and masses alike.

His books sold like hot cakes. Students rush to listen to his lectures. He always got thunderous ovation from the young audiences. Here are some of his most memorable quotes which will continue to inspire us in the time to come.

1. Don’t take rest after your first victory because if you fail in second, more lips are waiting to say that your first victory was just luck.

2. If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.

3. I’m not a handsome guy, but I can my hand-to-some one who needs help. Beauty is in the Heart, not in the face.

4. It is very easy to defeat someone, but it is very hard to win someone.

5. For great men, religion is a way of making friends; small people make religion a fighting tool.

6. We should not give up and we should not allow the problem to defeat us.

7. Those who cannot work with their hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness all around.

8. My message, especially to young people is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed. These are great qualities that they must work towards. This is my message to the young people.

9. Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow.

10. Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is something that does not let you sleep.

Awarded Padma Bhushan in 1981, Padma Vibhushan in 1990 and country’s highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna in 1997, Dr Kalam was born in October 15, 1931 at Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu in a very poor family. He studied Aeronautical Engineering and graduated from Madras Institute of Technology in 1960. While working for ISRO, he was instrumental in developing India’s SLV III ( satellite launch vehicle ). Later on he developed guided missiles at DRDO. He was the man behind AGNI, PRITHVI, NAG & TRISHUL missiles. He was behind Pokhran II nuclear tests during Atal Behari Vajpayee’s regime.

And finally he became 11 th President of India in 2002 and served his full term till 2007. This glorious journey ended yesterday i.e. July 27, 2015. While delivering lecture in IIM, Shillong, he collapsed and died before reaching the hospital.

The above mentioned facts are known to everyone. I have not stated anything new. I just want to pay my respect to a poor boy of Rameswaram, who sold newspapers to eke out a living and became our President. I just want to salute the muslim gentleman, who was a vegetarian and played Rudra Veena. I just wish to be like him, who can quote Quran and Gita alike. I want to bow before a giant, who was popular among titans and kids alike.

Farewell Kalam sir! I salute you for igniting my mind! I bow to you for teaching me to dream and dream big. Thanks for giving us “Wings of Fire” so that we can fly and fly high!

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I offer my condolences to the departed soul.

I will be eternally grateful to Kalam sir for giving me wings of fire to fly. Farewell missile man! There will not be anyone like you ever. People like him are never born, never dead, they just visit the planet earth and leave after accomplishing their destined job.

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Obituary Tagged: 11th President of India, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, AGNI, APJ Abdul Kalam, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, Bharat Ratna Kalam, Diction Trainer, Dr. Kalam, DRDO, Hindi Teacher, IIM Shillong, India, ISRO, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Madras Institute of Technology, Maharashtra, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, NAG, Obituary, Pokharan II, Politics, PRITHVI, Rameswaram, Satellite Launch Vehicle, SLV III, Tamil Nadu, Trishul, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur's Blog, Wings of Fire

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA AUGUST 10, 2015 00.15 A.M.

[ This is not original blog written by me. I have taken it from the internet [ MyIndMakers ]. Naga accord is in the news these days. Everyone is praising the accord but Indian National Congress, few of their supporters and Left-Liberal intellectuals are not impressed. I read the article. It is well written and it covers every aspect of the insurgency in the North East and deals in detail specially with Naga problem. ]

Aug 06, 2015

By Ramaharitha Pusarla

Historic Naga Accord

In a remarkable move the officials of government of India signed a peace agreement with a major Naga tribal group, waging a guerrilla war with the central government for over past six decades. The agreement besides restoring peace in the region also attempts to build institutions bestowing greater autonomy to Naga tribes. The peace pact reached between the government of India and the largest militant faction of the North East, National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah), NSCN (IM) can significantly bring down the insurgent insurrection. While the finer details of the accord and the mechanisms of its execution are still under wraps the move is welcomed by all political parties. Modi recalling it as a major triumph under the flag of Act East Policy reiterated that restoring peace, economic and social progression of North East has been his utmost priority.

To appreciate the crux of the issue, it is worth recapitulating the genesis and epic-proportions of the Naga insurgency tale. The undivided Goalpara district or the Assam province which was under the control of the Ahom rulers of Burma became part of the Bengal Subah of the Mughal Empire after conflicts. Subsequently in 1765 it fell into the hands of East India Company along with Bengal and became part of the special administrative region of North-Eastern parts of Rangpur. After a series of Anglo- Burmese wars and enforcement of Doctrine of Lapse the entire region of Assam was annexed to British India by 1833 (1). British later on captured several Naga territories and consolidated them under the Naga Hills district in Assam. Actually each Naga village was sovereign and ruled by tribal heads and Naga tribes had no common identity. British guilefully permitted the penetration of Christian Missionaries into the region and inadvertently religion fostered unity between Naga tribes.

Nagas were recruited by British during World War I as labour corps and sent to France. But they were alienated from rest of the British Indian troops and this alienation promoted unity between them. Upon returning to their homeland Nagas with few British officials formed the Naga Club in 1918. Under the government act of 1919 British declared Naga Hill district as backward tract and treated it as separate entity. In 1928 Naga club submitted a memorandum to Simon Commission requesting that Nagas be allowed to have right to self-determination after their departure from India. In 1930’s the Naga tribes under the leader of Haipou Jadonang and Rani Gaidinliu rebelled against British. As per Government Act of India 1935, the Naga Hill district was declared as an Excluded area administered by Governor of Assam.

In 1945 C. R. Pawsney formed a Naga Hills District Tribal Race which evolved into Nagaland National Council (NNC) under the leadership of Angami Zapi Phizo. Phizo considered as Father of Nagas led an armed secessionist revolution and campaigned for a sovereign Naga nation. On August 14^th 1947, a day before India’s independence Phizo declared the independence of Nagaland. Anticipating a stiff opposition from the insurgent group of Nagas prior to declaration of independence in June, 1947 the governor of Assam Sir Akbar Hyderi initiated peace talks. He signed a 9-point agreement with moderate members of NNC. The Hyderi accord agreed to grant judicial, executive and legislative powers and autonomy in land related matters. But the constituent assembly failed to ratify the accord that envisioned Naga demand for a sovereign state with India as a Guardian power for 10 years. Instead they were granted district autonomy within Indian constitution.

In 1948 an agreement was reached between NCN and Government of India recognising Naga people right to self-determination (3). But NNC under the leadership of Phizo intensified their demand to establish a sovereign Naga state. He conducted a referendum in 1951 wherein nearly 99% voted for an independent Nagaland. Phizo has called for boycott of general elections in 1952 and launched violent secessionist movement. He also met Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1951 and 1952 with a petition for sovereign status and separate electorate for Nagas but was refused. He was later in Burma arrested for illegal entry. Phizo then created an underground government, Naga Federal Government (NFG) and Naga Federal Army (NFA) on March 22^nd 1956 (4). To quell the raising insurgency, government inducted Armed Forces and enforced Armed Forced (Special Powers) Act in 1958. Phizo escaped to East Pakistan in 1956 and lived in exile till death in London.

In the meanwhile government of India placed Naga Hills District under the tribal districts “Part A” category as per the sixth schedule of constitution, as an autonomous district governed by Governor of Assam with a limited representation in Assam state legislative assembly and Indian Parliament. This arrangement was refused by the Naga leaders. Hence along Tuensang division it was placed in “Part B” category as an area in the North East Frontier Agency under the administrative authority of Ministry of External Affairs in 1957. Following negotiations with secessionists the region was later converted into a full-fledged state of Nagaland in 1963, December 1st.

Government constituted a peace mission consisting of Jaya Prakash Narain, Assam chief minister Bimala Prasad Chaliha and Rev Michael Scott that signed an Agreement for Suspension of Operation (AGSOP) with insurgent groups in April, 1964. But relentless violations by NNC and NFG continued to rock the state in spite of the six rounds of peace negotiations. The peace mission was abandoned in 1967. In 1972 government launched a massive counter-insurgency operation and banned the NNC and NFG under the unlawful associations act. Situation was brought under control by 1975 and a section of the NNC and NFG on November 11^th 1975 signed the famous Shillong Accord. Consequently the Naga rebels accepted the supremacy of Indian constitution, renounced arms and demand for secession of Nagaland from India (5).

But peace still eluded this region as nearly 150 rebels who were away in China and Burma for training during the signing of agreement refused to accept the final settlement with Indian government. Among them the trio of Isak Chisi Swu, Thuingaleng Muviah and S, Khaplang blatantly rejected the agreement and in the next five years parted from ways with NNC and created National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) in 1980. This group quickly emerged as a strong rebel contingent and NNC-NFG became less active. But by 1988 the rebellion within the group resulted in splintering of the unit into NSCN (IM) and NSCN (K) and the names of factions denote the rebel leaders heading them. In 1990 after death of Phizo, NNC split into NNC (A) led by Phizo’s daughter Adino and NNC (K) headed by Vice-president Khodao Yanthan. NNC (K) later merged with NSCN (IM) (6). Each of the splinter groups represents different tribes. Konyaks group is led by S. Khaplang of NSCN (K), a Hemie Naga from Myanmar. Tangkhuls led by Isak, a Sema from Nagaland and Muivah a Tangkhul from Ukhrul district of Manipur.

Irrespective of the tribes they represent, the ultimate aspiration of the Naga leaders has been to merge the contiguous areas of the Naga territories and create a greater Nagaland or Nagalim, four times the size of Nagaland. The putative Naga territory encompasses districts in Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Myanmar. Hence each of these states is wily of such a demand. This desire for Nagalim is so entrenched that even the elected representatives of the Nagaland assembly still continue to pass the resolution on the need for carving out Nagalim. India signed cease-fire agreements with NSCN (IM) in 1997 and with NSCN (K) in 2001. While NSCN (IM) has climbed down on their demand for a sovereign state for Nagas, they are particular about the creation of Nagalim. During the ceasefire period violent conflicts erupted between these two rival factions of NSCN. Government of India held as many as 80 negotiations through interlocutors and monitored by the ceasefire commission with these factions. It emerged that NSCN (IM) has been sincere in its commitment.

NSCN (K) violated ceasefire agreement in March 2015, drawing support from ULFA, Bodos and Manipur militants it surfaced as United National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia. It executed an attack on Indian Army which resulted in the death of 18 jawans in Manipur on June 4^th 2015. The present accord is termed historic as government clinched an agreement with the largest Naga groups which in turn can pave way for bringing other minor Naga factions on board. Prime Minister Modi is believed to have effectively utilised the good will created by Atal Bihari Vajpayee who wooed Nagas with his immaculate gestures and open confessions. He was the only Prime Minister fondly remembered by people of Nagaland for appreciating and recognising their unique history and frankly admitting the failures of Indian government that left trails of blood in the state (7).

According the interlocutor RN Ravi, the ground work for the accord has been done under the UPA government but the indecisive leadership frittered away the opportunity for a major breakthrough in 2012. Perhaps, the recent ceasefire violations by NSCN (K) propelled central leadership into swift action and spurred them to clinch an agreement with its rival faction NSCN (IM). But for the collaborative action of Ajit Doval, interlocutor RN Ravi, Nagaland governor PB Acharya and the Naga People’s front leader TR Zeliang this mission couldn’t have been achieved.

While the details of the initial framework agreement are sketchy, it is believed that since government of India will not compromise on the sovereignty and integrity of the country, redrawing of state boundaries may be ruled out. But the accord might have entailed upon greater autonomy to the Naga dominated regions in the various states. While article 371 (A) already accords special status to Nagaland, government might consider strengthening it further (8).

The accord signed by Modi is truly iconic as it comes after a long duration of unrelenting parley of peace negotiations with promise of restoring the peace in the region marred with violence. The pact epitomizes the exemplary statesmanship of Modi and his steadfast commitment to make North East region more inclusive. The true test for the government lies in carefully dealing with different state governments of the region, in decommissioning arms of rebels and their absorption into mainstream and chalking out a robust long-term development projects for the North East.

[ For this article I am indebted to Mr. Ramaharitha Pusarla . He published the article on August 06, 2015 under the title of “Historic Naga Accord” in the website MyIndMakers. I am posting verbatim that very article and I express my deep gratitude and indebtedness to Mr. Pusarla. ]

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: States Of India Tagged: Act East Policy, Act East Policy of Modi, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, AFSPA, Ahom Rulers, Ahom Rulers of Burma, Ajit Doval, Angami Zapu Phizo, Anglo-Burmese Wars, Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bengal, Bimala Prasad Chaliha, BJP, BJP Government, Bodo Tribal, Bodoland, Burma, China, Congress, Diction Trainer, Doctrine of Lapse, East India Company, East Pakistan, Goalpara, Government Act of 1919, Greater Nagaland, Haipou Jadonang, Hindi Teacher, India, Indian National Congress, Isak, Isak Chisi Swu, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Jay Prakash Narayan, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mughal Empire, Muivah, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Myanmar, Naga Accord, Naga Club, Naga Federal Army, Naga Federal Government, Naga Hills District, Naga Hills District Tribal Race, Naga People's Front, Naga Problem, Naga Tribe, Nagaland, Nagaland Insurgency, Nagaland National Council, Nagaland Peace Accord, Nagalim, Narendra Modi, National Socialist Council of Nagaland, National Socialist Council of Nagaland - IM, National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Khaplang, NFA, NFG, NNC, North East India, NSCM - IM, NSCN, NSCN - Khaplang, Phizo, Politics, R. N. Ravi, Rangapur, Rani Gaidinliu, Rev Michael Scot, S. Khaplang, Sema, Shillong Accord, Simon Commission, T. R. Zeliang, Thuingaleng Muviah, Ukhrul, ULFA, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA AUGUST 23, 2015 11.25 P.M.

[ MILESTONE : Vidur’s Film Diary completed 6th year of its existence in May 2015. June 2015 marks the beginning of its journey in the 7th year. ]

[ DECLARATION : In my film diary, since May 2014, I have started mentioning names of only those students, who respect me as their teacher and accept and regard my contribution in their journey of life. All the other students, who had releases this month but are not mentioned here, are the ones, who refuse to acknowledge me in any way . I can sense their abhorrence to my personality . I am not a sweet-talker. So I know that somewhere they were rubbed the wrong way . I also feel their attachment to some acting trainers , who claim to be the re-incarnation of Constantine Stanislavsky and are sweeter than any sweet delicacy on this earth . Such students are free from any obligation from my side. GOD BLESS THEM ! My journey continues without such students . It marches ahead without their support . It flourishes despite their criticism and false propaganda .]

[ PROCLAIMATION : In my diary I have been posting above mentioned DECLARATION since May 2014. It is now 1 year and 2 months. I suddenly noticed that the ungrateful and disrespectful students are now without work and had no releases recently. They don’t seem to be having any future. So from this month onwards I will stop posting the said DECLARATION . ]

In 2013 – 14 my success rate was 40% . In 2014 – 15 it is 55% . For the full understanding of my body of work in 2013 – 2014 & 2014 – 2015, please watch the 05 videos posted below :

1 : ” Jai Ho ” : http://youtu.be/cZzBa4sHXMQ

2 : ” One By Two ” : http://youtu.be/0WCMfQiPdGI

3 – ” O Teri ” & ” Main Tera Hero ” : http://youtu.be/Se9Mp1iFexQ

4 – ” Khatron Ke Khiladi – 5 ” : http://youtu.be/UYPcFYWC0xg

5 – ARMAAN JAIN : http://youtu.be/cnuWJ3Vwqbo

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Obituary :

===============

Sheila Ramani :

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Sheila Ramani (March 2, 1932 – July 15, 2015), also known as Sheila Kewalramani, was introduced into Bollywood by the film-maker Chetan Anand. She is known for her role in the movie Taxi Driver. She was born in Sindh and was one of the few actresses from Sindh to join the Indian film industry.

Sheila Ramani played the lead role in Funtoosh (1956) , another Navketan film opposite Dev Anand. But she remained embossed in memory for Taxi Driver (1954). According to Times of India, ” With her languid sway in a dark sari and shiny blouse in the song ” Dil jale to jale ” and her easy abandon in an off-shoulder dress to the dance track ” Dil se milake dil ” – she oozed spunk and sexuality, cool and control. Ramani was a precursor to the urban modern heroine we see today. She set the stage for them.”

Filmography

Surang (1953)
Taxi Driver (1954)
Teen Batti Char Raasta (1953)
Naukri (1954)
Mangu (1954)
Meenar (1954)
Railway Platform (1955)
Funtoosh (1956)
Anokhi (1956)
Abana – Sindhi (1958)
Jungle King (1959)
The Return of Mr. Superman (1960)

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New Hindi Film Releases & Me :

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First Week – July 03

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1 – Second Hand Husband …………………………………. Tina Ahuja

…………………………………………………………………………….. Geeta Basra

2 – Guddu Rangeela …………………………………………….. Amit Sadh

3 – Madmast Barkha …………………………………………… X

4 – Bezubaan Ishq ……………………………………………….. X

Second Week – July 10

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1 – I Love NY ………………………………………………………. Krishan Kumar

2 – Bahubali …………………………………………………………. Anushka Shetty

3 – 2 Chehare …………………………………………………….. Krushna Abhishek

…………………………………………………………………………… Monalisa

4 – Thoda Lutf Thoda Ishq ………………………………………………………. X

5 – S.P. Khan Ek Nayi Kranti ……………………………………………………. X

Third Week – July 17
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1 -Bajrangi Bhaijaan …………………………………….. Kareena Kapoor Khan

2 – Bin Roye …………………………………………………. X

Fourth Week – July 24
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1 – Aisa Yeh Jahaan ……………………………………………………………….. X

2 – Masaan …………………………………………………………………………….. X

Fifth Week – July 31
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1 – Drishyam …………………………………………………………… Ashok Beniwal

………………………………………………………………………………… Amita Pathak

In total …………… 14 …………….. films got released in July . Out of these ………….. 14 ………… released films …….. 07 ……… films have …………… 10 ……………. artistes , who are trained by me .

Out of these ………. 10 ……… persons , ………. 08 ……… are actors . And the remaining …………. 02 ………… Krishan Kumar and Amita Pathak are the co-producers of ” I Love NY ” and ” Drishyam ” respectively.

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New Regional Films & Me :

==========================

1 – Telugu : Anushka Shetty is playing lead in ” Bahubali “.

My ……….. 01 ………. student in ……….. 01 ……….. regional film .

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TV Trivia & Me :

======================

1 – Sonu Sood is judging a show ” Comedy Superstars “ on Sab TV .

2 – Ganesh Hegde is judginging a show ” Jhalak Dikhla Ja “ on Colors TV .

3 – Shamita Shetty is participating in ” Jhalak Dikhla Ja “ on Colors TV .

4 – Amar Upadhyay is doing a role in ” Saath Nibhaana Saathiya “ on Sab TV .

My ……….………. 04 …………….….. students in ………………… 03 ……………. shows on TV .

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Theatre & Me :

======================

1 – Smita Bansal is playing a role in ” Hum Do Hamare Wo “.

My …………. 01 ………….. student in ………… 01 …………. play .

=======================

Commercials & Me :

=======================

1 – Kareena Kapoor Khan is the Brand Ambassador of ” Tetley Tea ” .

2 – Anushka Sharma is the Brand Ambassador of ” Code by Lifestyle ” .

3 – Priyanka Chopra is the Brand Ambassador of ” Blenders Pride ” .

4 – Varun Dhawan is the Brand Ambassador of ” Skybags ” .

5 – Jacqueline Fernandez is the Brand Ambassador of ” Glares by Titan ” .

6 – Prithvi Pai is the Brand Ambassador of ” Joyalukkas Jewellers ” .

My ………….. 06 …………… students in …………… 06 …………… commercial campaigns .

My 10 students appeared in 07 films , 04 students in 03 TV show , 01 student in 01 regional film , 01 student in 01 play and 06 students appeared in 06 Ads also . Thus total number of students working in the month of July 2015 comes to 22. 22 is a good number considering the fact that I have eliminated names of so many students .

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I congratulate my above mentioned 22 students .

May God bless them and they shine in their chosen field .

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Film Diaries Tagged: 25 Years of Vidur, Abana, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Amar Upadhyay, Amit Sadh, Amita Pathak, Anushka Sharma, Anushka Shetty, Armaan Jain, Bahubali, Bahubali - Telugu, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Bollywood, Chetan Anand, Code by Lifestyle, Colors TV, Comedy Superstars, Dev Anand, Diction Trainer, Dil Jale To Jale - Taxi Driver, Drishyam, Film, Film Diary, Funtoosh, Ganesh Hegde, Geeta Basra, Glares by Titan, Guddu Rangeela, Hindi Teacher, Hum Do Hamare Woh, Jacqueline Fernandez, Jai Ho, Jhalak Dikhla Ja, Joyalukkas Jewellers, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Kareena Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Khatron Ke Khiladi, Khatron Ke Khiladi - Season 5, Krishan Kumar, Krushna Abhishek, Maharashtra, Main Tera Hero, Masaan, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Narmmadaa, Narmmadaa Ahuja, Navketan, O Teri !, Obituary, One By Two, Prithvi Pai, Priyanka Chopra, Railway Platform, Rohit Shetty, SAB TV, Sath Nibhaan Saathiyaa, Second Hand Husband, Shamita Shetty, Sheila Ramani, Skybags, Smita Bansal, Sonu Sood, Surang, Taxi Driver, Teen Batti Char Raasta, Tetley Tea, Tina Ahuja, Varun Dhawan, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog, Vidur's Film Diary, Vidur's Students

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA SEPTEMBER 02, 2015 07.00 P.M.

Mumbai is flooded with acting institutes. Everyday a new acting institute mushrooms and starts claiming that it is the best one. There are few old ones also. Though, they have passed their prime but still claim to be in the race. Then there are few upstart trainers, who have delusion of grandeur and success. It is but natural that aspiring actors get confused and are hoodwinked by these con trainers. These “Bunty & Bablis” try every trick from the book and sometimes succeed also in trapping these aspirants.

Therefore it becomes imperative to chronicle true success stories to save gullible students from the clutches of unscrupulous and con acting trainers. I am writing this blog so that such ARVIND KEJARIWALS of acting training should get exposed and shouldn’t go unchallenged.

When ” Bajrangi Bhaijaan “ got released and took the box office by storm, there were several articles in the news papers. It collected 100 crores by the first weekend and thus became the 1st ever Hindi film to enter THE BIG CLUB so quickly.

Bombay Times, dated July 21, 2015, published an article about THE BIG CLUB. It chronicled all the 35 Hindi movies till date, which are the biggest earners.

Out of 35 films, there is 1 film in 300 Crore Club / 1 film in 250 Crore Club / 3 films in 200 Crore Club / 7 films in 150 Crore Club and 23 films in 100 Crore Club .

I am so happy to announce and stating this fact with great pride that out of these 35 block-buster films, there are only 3 films which have no students of mine [ JUST 3 FILMS ]. These films are ” Ghajini ” , ” Holiday ” and ” Ek Villain “ . Apart from these 3 films my students are there in all the remaining 32 films. This is unparalleled feat. This is unprecedented success story. This is so humbling as an acting trainer. I don’t think any other acting trainer can claim such humongous success story. Even FTII, Pune [ Film & television Institute of India ] can claim such success in recent times. FTII gave many luminaries to the film industry but that was eons ago. It was during Shri Roshan Taneja’s time. This so-called premier (?) acting institute’s recent accomplishments are negligible compared to mine.

I am giving the whole list of films published in the July 21, 2015 issue of Bombay Times. Name of my students working in these films are also mentioned. It is now for the discerning public to judge the facts.

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300 CRORE

============

PK = Anushka Sharma / Ranbir Kapoor [ S.A.]

250 CRORE

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Dhoom 3 = Katrina Kaif / Uday Chopra

200 CRORE

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Kick = Jacqueline Fernandez

Chennai Express = Nikitin Dheer / Rohit Shetty / Shekhar Ravjiani

3 Idiots = Kareena Kapoor Khan

150 CRORE

===========

Ek Tha Tiger = Katrina Kaif

Happy New Year = Sonu Sood / Shekhar Ravjiani

Krrish 3 = Hritik Roshan / Vivek Oberoi / Priyanka Chopra

Yej Jawaani Hai Deewani = Ranbir Kapoor / Kalki Koechlin

Dabangg 2 = Arbaaz Khan / Kareena Kapoor / Flora Saini / Nikitin Dheer

Tanu Weds Manu Returns = Jimmy Sheirgill / Eijaz Khan

Bajrangi Bhaijaan = Kareena Kapoor Khan

100 CRORE

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Bang Bang = Hritik Roshan / Katrina Kaif / Jimmy Sheirgill / Shekhar ravjiani

Boduguard = Kareena Kapoor / Hazel Keech / Katrina Kaif [ S.A. ]

Dabangg = Arbaaz Khan / Sonu Sood

Singham Returns = Kareena Kapoor Khan / Rohit Shetty

Rowdy Rathore = Kareena Kapoor Khan [ S.A. ]

Agneepath = Hritik Roshan / Priyanka Chopra / Katrina Kaif [ S.A. ]

Ready = Arbaaz Khan / Arya Babbar / Nikitin Dheer / Kishan Kumar

RA.ONE = Kareena Kapoor / Arjun Rampal / Shekhar Ravjiani / Priyanka Chopra [ S.A. ]

Ghajini = XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Housefull 2 = John Abraham / Jacqueline Fernandez / Shazahn Padamsee / Sajid Khan

Holiday = XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ram Leela = Priyanka Chopra [ S.A. ]

Don 2 = Priyanka Chopra / Kunal Kapoor / Hritik Roshan [ S.A. ]

Jai Ho = Daisy Shah / Genelia Deshmukh / Pulkit Samrat / Tulip Joshi / Vikas Bhalla / Ashmit Patel / Vatsal Sheth

Barfi = Ranbir Kapoor / Priyanka Chopra

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag = Sonam Kapoor / Divya Dutta

Golmaal 3 = Kareena Kapoor Khan / Rohit Shetty

Jab Tak Hai Jaan = Katrina Kaif / Anushka Sharma

ABCD 2 = Varun Dhawan / Pooja Batra [ S.A. ]

2 States = Alia Bhatt / Arjun Kapoor

Bol Bachchan = Krushna Abhishek / Jeetu Verma / Rohit Shetty

Singham = Sudhanshu Pandey / Rohit Shetty

Ek Villain = XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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In total my 81 students appeared in above mentioned 32 films. Out of these 81 students, ROHIT SHETTY, SAJID KHAN & ARBAAZ KHAN are film directors. KISHAN KUMAR & ARBAAZ KHAN are producers and SHEKHAR RAVJIANI [ Vishal-Shekhar fame ] is the music director. Rest are actors.

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I congratulate my above mentioned 81 students .

May God bless them !!

[ I have taken the list of films from Bombay Times. I express my gratitude. S.A. in red stands for SPECIAL APPEARANCE. ]

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Acting Training Tagged: 2 States, 3 Idiots, ABCD 2, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Agneepath, Alia Bhatt, Anushka Sharma, Arbaaz Khan, Arjun Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Arya Babbar, Ashmit Patel, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Bang Bang, Barfi, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Bodyguard, Bol Bachchan, Bollywood, Bombay Times, Chennai Express, Dabangg, Dabangg 2, Daisy Shah, Dhoom 3, Diction Trainer, Dino Morea, Divya Dutta, Don 2, Eijaz Khan, Ek Tha Tiger, Ek Villain, Film, Film & Television Institute of India Pune, Flora Saini, FTII, Genelia D'Souza, Genelia Deshmukh, Ghajini, Golmaal 3, Happy New Year, Hazel Keech, Hindi Teacher, Holiday, Housefull 2, Hritik Roshan, Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Jai Ho, Jeetu Verma, Jimmy Sheirgill, John Abraham, Kalki Koechlin, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Kareena Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Katrina Kaif, Kick, Kishan Kumar, Krrish 3, Krushna Abhishek, Kunal Kapoor, Maharashtra, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Nikitin Dheer, PK, Pooja Batra, Priyanka Chopra, Pulkit Samrat, Ra.One, Ram Leela, Ranbir, Ranbir Kapoor, Ready, Rohit Shetty, Roshan Taneja, Rowdy Rathore, Sajid Khan, Shazahn Padamsee, Shekhar Ravjiani, Singham, Singham Returns, Sonam Kapoor, Sonu Sood, Sudhanshu Pandey, Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Tulip Joshi, Uday Chopra, Varun Dhawan, Vatsal Sheth, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog, Vidur's Students, Vikas Bhalla, Vishal-Shekhar, Vivek Oberoi, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani

JODHPUR AIRPORT – RAJASTHAN – INDIA SEPTEMBER 08, 2015 01.50 P.M.

I reached for my 1st visit of Jodhpur on September 6th, 2015. It was just a 3 day visit. Personally I don’t like such short trips. What is the use if you can’t experience the city in a proper way? You visit Jodhpur and you are unable to see Umed Bhawan Palace or Mehrangarh Fort or memorial of Veer Durga Das Rathore. It is sin. But due to the nature of my purpose it was destined to be short trip. I went there for a brief workshop for a Gurinder Chadha film.

So I landed in the Jodhpur on September 6th, 2015 and leaving today on September 8th, 2015.

I was put up in Hotel Lords, Jodhpur. Lords is just one year old hotel. It was surprising to find that they have total 23 properties across India. They have nicely divided their properties into 4 categories. They are ; LORDS PLAZA , LORDS RESORT , LORDS INN & LORDS ECO INN.

They have 5 properties in LORDS PLAZA category. These are : Ankleshwar / Bengaluru / Jaipur / Kandla / Surat. 4 properties in LORDS RESORT category are : Bhavnagar / Nepal / Gir / Silvasa. LORDS INN has maximum 8 properties. These are : Jaipur / Jodhpur / Kathmandu / Rajula / Saputara / Shirdi / Somnath / Vadodara. LORDS ECO INN comes second with 6 properties. These are : Ahmedabad , Dahej , Dwarka , Gandhidham , Porbandar , Saputara.

They are coming with 8 more properties at Agra / Delhi / Lucknow / Jammu / Mumbai / Purulia – West Bengal / Shimoga / Jayanagar – Bengaluru . It makes LORDS with whopping 31 properties across the nation and Nepal.

Exterior of Hotel Lords – Jodhpur

I found the hotel very comfortable. Smiling girl at reception, very cooperative staff in restaurant and decor of the rooms, everything is pleasant and comfortable. Room has maximum light with enough plug sockets to recharge your mobiles and laptops. Some hotels don’t have enough plug sockets. I wonder what on earth they save by putting just 1 plug socket per room?

My Room Hotel Lords – Jodhpur

Bed is very comfortable. I have experienced in some hotels they have mattresses, which are expensive but uncomfortable. You feel as if you will fall while sleeping. But at Lords they are not like that.

Bed in Hotel Lords – Jodhpur

I always look for a decent study table in any hotel room. In the name of study table some hotels have some kind of wooden structure in a corner. At Lords, they have a proper study table and put the study table near window. So you get enough light even if you switch off all the bulbs. It is quite big by the current standard.

Study Table in Hotel Lords – Jodhpur

Bathroom is nicely done. But there is one drawback. They don’t have anti-skid tiles on the floor. It is scary for a senior citizen like me. After a nice warm bath, it will be disastrous and certainly not funny to get a slip in the bathroom and have a slip disc.

Bathroom in Hotel Lords – Jodhpur

Their restaurant, named “Blue Coriander”. As the name suggests it is fresh and superb. Nice cuisine and courteous staff is icing on the cake. Apart from the restaurant they also have mini fridge in every room. Needless to say that they have TV , safe , high-speed wi-fi and mini bar in the rooms. With all these amenities, tariff is quite reasonable.

Amenities in Hotel Lords – Jodhpur

Out of 10, I will give 8 to this hotel. It is worth staying. It’s only drawback is the floor tiles of the bathrooms. If Hotel “J” in Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands can have anti-skid tiles, then why not a Hotel Lords in Jodhpur, Rajasthan?

Address of the hotel :

Plot No 1C / Pokharan Bungalow

PWD Circle / High Court Colony Road

Jodhpur – 342001 / Rajasthan

You can visit their website : http://www.lordshotels.com

Mail them on : lij@lordshotels.com

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Hotels & Resorts Tagged: Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Diction Trainer, Film, Gurinder Chadha, Hindi Teacher, Hotel Lords, Hotels & Resorts, Jodhpur, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Lords Eco Inn Ahmedabad, Lords Eco Inn Dahej, Lords Eco Inn Dwarka, Lords Eco Inn Gandhidham, Lords Eco Inn Porbandar, Lords Eco Inn Saputara, Lords Hotels & Resorts, Lords Inn Jaipur, Lords Inn Jodhpur, Lords Inn Kathmandu, Lords Inn Raiula, Lords Inn Saputara, Lords Inn Shirdi, Lords Inn Somnath, Lords Inn Vadodara, Lords Plaza Ankleshwar, Lords Plaza Bengaluru, Lords Plaza Jaipur, Lords Plaza Kandla, Lords Plaza Surat, Lords Resort Bhavnagar, Lords Resort Gir, Lords Resort Nepal, Lords Resort Silvasa, Maharashtra, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Rajasthan, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 02.45 P.M.

[ MILESTONE : Vidur’s Film Diary completed 6th year of its existence in May 2015. June 2015 marks the beginning of its journey in the 7th year. ]

In 2013 – 14 my success rate was 40%. In 2014 – 15 it is 55%. For the full understanding of my body of work in 2013 – 2014 & 2014 – 2015, please watch the 05 videos posted below :

1 : ” Jai Ho ” : http://youtu.be/cZzBa4sHXMQ

2 : ” One By Two ” : http://youtu.be/0WCMfQiPdGI

3 – ” O Teri ” & ” Main Tera Hero ” : http://youtu.be/Se9Mp1iFexQ

4 – ” Khatron Ke Khiladi – 5 ” : http://youtu.be/UYPcFYWC0xg

5 – ARMAAN JAIN : http://youtu.be/cnuWJ3Vwqbo

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Obituary :

===============

Feroze Rangoonwala :

—————————

Eminent film historian Feroze Rangoonwala, credited with having written the highest number of books on Indian cinema, is no more.

He has left behind a wealth of information on Indian cinema, particularly at a time when efforts are on to save cinematic material for archival purposes.

Rangoonwala was best known for creating the first book of Indian filmography in 1969, Indian Film Index, and his magnum opus, Pictorial History of Indian Cinema.

He started as a film publicist in Mumbai in the early 1950s. Then Rangoonwala wrote 15 major books spanning a career of five decades. These included Indian cinema, Past and Present in 1983, and several monographs on different film personalities including those on filmmakers Guru Dutt and Bimal Roy – some written for the National Film Archives of India. Other books include Satyajit Ray’s Art, Seventy-five years of Indian cinema, and Bharatiya Chalchitra Itihas.

Rangoonwala finally called it a day in 2006, as illness dogged him. He died on August 04, 2015 at the age of 82.

Unfortunately Rangoonwala remained least acknowledged by the Indian government circles and did not receive any accolades.

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New Hindi Film Releases & Me :

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First Week – August 07

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1 – Bangistan …………………………………………………………. Pulkit Samrat

………………………………………………………………………………. Aarya Babbar

……………………………………………………………………… Jacqueline Fernandez

2 – Jaanisaar ……………………………………………………………………………… X

3 – Kala Sach – The Black Truth ………………………………………………… X

Second Week – August 14

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1 – Gour Hari Dastaan – The Freedom File …………………. Divya Dutta

……………………………………………………………………………….. Deepak saksule

2 – Brothers …………………………………………………. Jacqueline Frenandez

…………………………………………………………………….. Kareena Kapoor Khan

Third Week – August 21
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1 -Manjhi The Mountain Man ………………………………. Pawni A. Pandey

2 – All Is Well ……………………………………………………….. Pawni A. Pandey

3 – The Love Is Forever …………………………………………………………. X

Fourth Week – August 28
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1 – X ……………………………………………………………………………………….. X

In total …………… 08 …………….. films got released in August . Out of these ………….. 08 ………… released films …….. 05 ……… films have …………… 09 ……………. artistes , who are trained by me .

Out of these ………. 09 ……… persons , ………. 07 ……… are actors . And the remaining …………. 02 ………… Pawni A. Pandey is the play back singer in ” Manjhi The Mountain Man ” and ” All Is Well ” respectively. She appears in the list twice.

=======================

TV Trivia & Me

=======================

1 – Mishal Raheja is palying important character in ” Ishq Ka Rang Safed “.

My ……….. 01 ………… student in ………… 01 ………….. TV show.

======================

Theatre & Me

========================

1 – Palak Jaiswal …………………………………. ” Naagarji Ki Nagri “.

2 – Pratik Kothari ………………………………… ” Naagarji Ki Nagri “.

3 – Tanishaa ………………………………………………………… ” The Jury “.

4 – Aditya Hitkari ………………………………………………. ” The Jury “.

My …………. 04 …………. students in ………… 02 …………. plays .

My 09 students appeared in 05 films , 01 student in 01 TV show and 04 students in 02 plays . Thus total number of students working in the month of August 2015 comes to 14.

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I congratulate my above mentioned 14 students .

May God bless them and they shine in their chosen field .

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Film Diaries Tagged: 6th Year of Vidur's Film Diary, Aarya Babbar, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Aditya Hitkari, All Is Well, Armaan Jain, Bangistan, Bollywood, Brothers, Diction Trainer, Divya Dutta, Feroze Rangoonwala, Film, Film Diary, Gour Hari Dastaan, Hindi Teacher, Ishq Ka Rang Safed, Jaanisaar, Jacqueline Fernandez, Jai Ho, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Khatron Ke Khiladi - Season 5, Maharashtra, Main Tera Hero, Manjhi The Mountain Man, Mishal Raheja, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Naagarji Ki Nagri, O Teri !, Obituary, One By One, Pawni A. Pandey, Pratik Kothari, Pulkit Samrat, Tanishaa, The Jury, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog, Vidur's Film Diary, Vidur's Students

Feroze Rangoonwala with his Collection

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA SEPTEMBER 13, 2015 09.35 P.M.

Eminent film historian Feroze Rangoonwala, credited with having written the highest number of books on Indian cinema, is no more.

Rangoonwala passed away at his residence in Mumbai on August 04, 2015 at the age of 82 after prolonged sickness.

He has left behind a wealth of information on Indian cinema, particularly at a time when efforts are on to save cinematic material for archival purposes.

Rangoonwala was best known for creating the first book of Indian filmography in 1969, Indian Film Index, and his magnum opus, Pictorial History of Indian Cinema, which for its period of issue had a record run in printing. Its Russian translation led to Indian cinema being introduced to the big Soviet readership, which loved Indian films. The book also saw multiple printings.

It came about five years after Indian Film written by an American film historian Erik Barnouw and Indian filmmaker S Krishnaswamy, which was the other major book on Indian cinema at that time.

Rangoonwala wrote 15 major books spanning a career of five decades. These included Indian cinema, Past and Present in 1983, and several monographs on different film personalities including those on filmmakers Guru Dutt and Bimal Roy – some written for the National Film Archives of India. Other books include Satyajit Ray’s Art, Seventy-five years of Indian cinema, and Bharatiya Chalchitra Itihas.

He started as a film publicist in Mumbai in the early 1950s, and soon created a major hobby into a scholastic career. He also collected a large number of film posters and rare photographs. His knowledge of the film industry made him a much sought after person to sit in both international and Indian film juries.

Unfortunately Rangoonwala remained least acknowledged by the Indian government circles and did not receive any accolades.

Rangoonwala finally called it a day in 2006, as illness dogged him.

He sold off his entire collection of Indian cinema memorabilia to a collector of film history and retreated into private life. He also donated some rare photographs from cinema to the National Film Archives of India.

Feroze Rangoonwala

I came to know of him in early 70s. I came across an article written by him in 2 parts in “Star & Style”. It was about Dilip Kumar. It was so well-written that I became a fan of Feroze Rangoonwala. I still have this magazine in the library of my Deoria house. Alas ! I could not meet him ever. I will always regret this.

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I offer my condolences.

May God bless his soul !!

[ I have taken this article from a website : http://www.indiantelevision.com I express my gratitude. ]

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Obituary Tagged: Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Bharatiya Chalchitra Itihas, Bimal Roy, Bollywood, Deoria, Diction Trainer, Dilip Kumar, Feroze Rangoonwala, Film, Film Historian, Guru Dutt, Hindi Teacher, India, Indian Cinema Past & Present, Indian Film Index, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Maharashtra, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, National Film Archive of India, Obituary, Pictorial History of Indian Cinema, Satyajit Ray's Art, Seventy Five Years of Indian Cinema, Star & Style, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 06.05 P.M.

Hi Pawni ,

It gives me immense pleasure to write you this letter and contact you on this auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.

An acting trainer is not supposed to train a play back singer but I am fortunate enough to train not 1 or 2 but 3 play back singers. Shweta Pandit , you and Akasa Singh.

I write briefly about you when I wrote a blog about the film ” Gulaab Gang ” [ 2014 ] and celebrated the success story of my another student Tanvi Rao. At that particular time you were getting trained in Batch No. 82 , so I promised that I will write about you when your training will get over.

Today as I was sitting in my office all alone and since institute is closed for the day and I have no class, I thought it proper to listen all the songs sung by you. You are kind enough to send me the links of the songs from time to time.

From ” JHOOMO RE JHOOMO ” of ” KISAAN ” [ 2009 ] to your latest ” NAINA TOSE LAGE ” of ” MEERUTHIYA GANGSTER ” [ 2015 ] , I listened all the songs one by one.

It amazing to notice that you sung 1 song in ” KISAAN ” in 2009. After a gap of 5 years you sung 3 songs in 2014. ” SHARM LAAJ MOH MAR KAR ” in ” GULAAB GANG ” / ” LOVELY JIND WALI ” in ” FUGLY ” and ” KHELEN ” in ” SATYAMEVA JAYATE – Season 3 “.

According to me 2015 is going to be the most worthwhile and fruitful year in you career . Till September you have sung 3 songs. They are : ” GEHLORE KI GORIYA ” in ” MANJHI THE MOUNTAIN MAN ” / ” MEET ME DAILY BABY ” in ” WELCOME BACK ” and ” NAINA TOSE LAGE ” in ” MEERUTHIYA GANGSTER ” . All the 3 above mentioned films are important films.

I would particularly like to mention ” NAINA TOSE LAGE ” from ” MEERUTHIYA GANGSTER ” as the most important song of your career till date. It is a solo song of yours and the male version is sung by none other than Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Nushrat Bharucha. You have sung it so well that I can already see a bright future for you as a play back singer. Matching Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in the beginning of your career is an unimaginable feat. And you accomplished it so brilliantly. Though you showed the spark very early in your life when you became a finalist on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs and were advanced to fifth place with public votes.

With Pawni Pandey in My Office

I am providing YouTube links of all the 7 songs sung by you. Readers of my blog can click on the link and can listen the 7 songs.

————————————————————-

1 – JHOOMO RE JHOOMO = KISAAN [ 2009 ]

————————————————————-

2 – SHARM LAAJ MOH MAAR KAR = GULAAB GANG [ 2014 ]

————————————————————-

3 – LOVELY JIND WALI = FUGLY [ 2014 ]

————————————————————-

4 – KHELEN = SATYAMEVA JAYATE – Season 3 [ 2014 ]

————————————————————-

5 – GEHLORE KI GORIYA = MANJHI THE MOUNTAIN MAN [ 2015 ]

————————————————————-

6 – MEET ME DAILY BABY = WELCOME BACK [ 2015 ]

————————————————————-

7 – NAINA TOSE LAGE = MEERUTHIYA GANGSTER [ 2015 ]

————————————————————-

This list gives testimony of your range and provides a yardstick to the viewers and listeners to gauge your potential. Though, I already see a very bright future for you but I could be accused of bias and partiality. Public is always a fair judge. So let them decide.

Komal Nahta Interviewing Pawni Pandey for His Show on Etc Channel

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I congratulate Pawni A. Pandey and wish her a very bright and successful career as a play back singer.

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Open Letters Tagged: 25 Years of Vidur, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Akasa Singh, Diction Trainer, etc Channel, Fugly, Gehlore Ki Goriya, Gulaab Gang, Hindi Teacher, Indian Play Back Singers, Jhoomo Re Jhoomo, Jimmy Sheirgill, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Khelen, Kisaan, Komal Nahta, Komal Nahta Show, Lok Laaj Moh Mar Kar, Lovely Jind Wali, Maharashtra, Manjhi The Mountain Man, Meeruthiya Gangster, Meet Me Daily Baby, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Naina Tose Lage, Nushrat Bharucha, Pawni Pandey, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Lil Champs 2006, Satyamev Jayate - Season 3, Satyameva Jayate, Shweta Pandit, Tanvi Rao, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, VIDUR Acting Institute Batch, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur on Twitter, Vidur's Blog, Vidur's Students, Welcome Back

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 07.00 P.M.

I want to make it clear that this is not an original blog written by me. It is verbatim reproduction of a letter written by Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra to senior TV journalist Shri Rajdeep Sardesai.

If you want to read the article written by Shri Rajdeep Sardesai in Hindustan Times, you can please click the following link :

Read | Food governance or good governance: Open letter to Mr Fadnavis

I hope after reading the above mentioned letter of Shri Rajdeep Sardesai and the below posted answer of Shri Devendra Fadnavis, you would be able to form your opinion about the hidden and well-thought of agenda of Left-Liberal and Pseudo-Secular intelligentsia and journalists. You would know how they are hell-bent on maligning the BJP led nationalist government.

===============================================

Dear Rajdeep,

Normally I don’t reply to every open letter by ‘senior’ journalists but this time I thought if I didn’t, the Goebbels law — speak what is untrue several times over and it becomes the truth — may prevail. Your letter is an excellent example of how a section of the media, without having sound knowledge, bashes a government with an agenda.

Let me bring some clarity to the first issue you have raised. My state government did not take the decision to ban meat. Not a single new order went from the government to any local body. The Congress government in 2004 took the decision to close a slaughter-house for two days in Paryushan Parva. It was conveyed to all municipal corporations then. Since then all municipal corporations including Mira-Bhaindar started implementing it. Additionally municipal corporations like Mumbai and Mira-Bhaindar adopted resolutions to ban it for additional days within their own powers, which in the case of Mumbai dates back to 1994. Surprisingly, none of you ever objected to it until we came to power. Obviously you were comfortable with the pseudo-secular image of the previous government, howsoever corrupt and non-performing it was.

It’s quite possible that you know this but it doesn’t suit your agenda.

In the case of Rakesh Maria, you seem to be confused. Your post-script says the Sheena Bora murder case should not have assumed the kind of importance it was accorded by the media. Then why did you choose to write on it, linking it with the transfer of the city police chief? A police chief is not an investigating officer but just a supervisory authority. I would like to tell you that the practice of promoting senior people, a few days in advance, is not new. Such decisions are taken keeping in mind the objective to let the new one who is going to take over understand the prevailing situation. The months of September and October are full of festivals, including the Ganesh Festival, Eid celebrations and Navratri.

If the government thought that instead of changing a police commissioner in the midst of festivities it was better to put a new person in place before the festive season started, what’s so wrong about it? Although I believe that officers have no caste and religion the point could also have been raised as to why Maria was made commissioner of police, Mumbai, sidelining two senior and equally decorated officers like Ahmad Javed, a person from a minority community, and Vijay Kamble, a person from a backward community. However, I would say that the government at that point of time thought that Maria was better suited for the situation.

Your take on sedition can be termed a classic product of a biased mind. I want to ask you whether the state is expected to convey a decision given by the hon’ble high court to the police or not? Again, not a single decision has been taken by our government in this regard. In one of the cases in the high court, an affidavit was filed by the then Congress-led government and the court delivered a detailed judgment interpreting the scope and ambit of the applicability of sedition, and also directed to convey it to the police. The department made a faithful translation of the judgment in Marathi and conveyed it to all the police stations via an office circular. Every single item in the circular is just a translation of the judgment. Mr Sardesai, you may not want to go through such details to understand the issue just because you wish to pursue your leftist agenda vigorously and passionately.

It’s apparent how much pain it causes you to mention a word about the water conservation initiative of our government — the flagship programme of Jalyukta Shivar Yojna — to make Maharashtra drought-free. It is a programme that has become most successful. The generous contributions by people — more than Rs 300 crore — have helped us to execute nearly 100,000 works in 6,000 villages within six months. The results are evident. Despite the scanty rainfall, the villages are boasting distributed water storages and increased water tables. It was lauded as a game changer by the ‘Jalpurush’ of India, Rajendra Singh, at the Stockholm Water Conference. This programme will provide moisture security to the farmers and assure crop sustainability by mitigating the effects of climate change.

It’s really sad to see that people like you get disturbed by an imaginary situation that there won’t be a piece of meat in your platter for two days when my annadata is taking extreme steps because he has no food to eat. That is why the state has decided to implement a food security scheme for six million farmers by giving them wheat at Rs 2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per kg. The infamous legacy of farmer suicides, which we inherited from 15 years of bad governance, is a challenge that doesn’t let me sleep. But the initiatives started by our government, I’m sure, will deliver results in due course.

Whether there is a ban on meat or not, a common man expects roti or rice in his plate. And I am more concerned about it than anything else. Mr Sardesai, the content of your letter can be part of your profession but the resolve in my reply is my mission and I will accomplish it. My mantra of life is ‘perform or perish’ and time alone would decide my destiny.

Yours sincerely and without malice.

Devendra Fadnavis

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VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

Filed under: Politics Tagged: 25 Years of Vidur, Acting Institute, Acting Trainer, Ahmed Javed, BJP, BJP Chief Ministers, BJP Government, Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Congress, Devendra Fadnavis, Diction Trainer, Farmer Suicide, Goebbels, Goebbels Law, Hindi Teacher, Hindustan Times, India, Jalyukta Shivir Yojna, Kamal Nayan Chaturvedi, Left Liberal, Maharashtra, Meat Ban, Mumbai, MUMBAI - MAHARASHTRA - INDIA, Open Letter, Paryushan Parva, Politics, Pseudo Secular, Rajdeep Sardesai, Rakesh Maria, Sedition Law of Maharashtra, Sheena Bora, Sheena Bora Murder Case, Vidur, VIDUR Acting Institute, Vidur Chaturvedi, VIDUR Club, VIDUR Editing Studio, VIDUR Merchandise, Vidur's Blog, Vijay Kamble

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA OCTOBER 05 , 2015 07.30 P.M.

[ MILESTONE : Vidur’s Film Diary completed 6th year of its existence in May 2015. June 2015 marks the beginning of its journey in the 7th year. ]

In 2013 – 14 my success rate was 40%. In 2014 – 15 it jumps to 55%. This is unprecedented for any acting class. I am continuously writing my Film Diary since 6 years. And to my utter surprise I noticing that there were no lean months in these 6 years. There were more than a dozen working students every month.

For the full understanding of my body of work in 2013 – 2014 & 2014 – 2015, please watch the 05 videos posted below :

1 : ” Jai Ho ” : http://youtu.be/cZzBa4sHXMQ

2 : ” One By Two ” : http://youtu.be/0WCMfQiPdGI

3 – ” O Teri ” & ” Main Tera Hero ” : http://youtu.be/Se9Mp1iFexQ

4 – ” Khatron Ke Khiladi – 5 ” : http://youtu.be/UYPcFYWC0xg

5 – ARMAAN JAIN : http://youtu.be/cnuWJ3Vwqbo

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Obituary :

===============

Aadesh Shrivastava :

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Aadesh Shrivastava was a music composer and singer . Over the course of his career, he had composed music for over 100 Hindi films. On September 5, 2015 , just a day after he turned 51, he died of cancer in Kokilaben Hospital, Mumbai .

Aadesh ji got his first big break with film ” Kanyadaan “ [ 1993 ] . Among the singers who sang in this movie, there was Lata Mangeshkar who sang his first song – Oh Sajna Dilbar, a duet with Udit Narayan which became popular in radio. But the film and the rest of songs went unnoticed. The same thing happened with ” Jaan e Tamanna “ , but he bounced back with ” Aao Pyaar Karen ” . One track “Haathon Mein Aa Gaya Jo Kal” was a hit. His other films are ” Salma Pe Dil Aa Gaya ” and ” Shastra “ . The chart buster “Kya Ada Kya Jalwe Tere Paro” from the film ” Shastra “ got him in the limelight once again.

Aadesh ji sang a number of hit songs such as “Sona sona”, “Shava Shava”, “Gustakhiyaan” and “Gur Nalon Ishq Mitha”. He won accolades for his work in ” Kunwara ” ” Tarkieb ” and ” Shikari “ in the year 2000. In 2001, his success continued with the movie ” Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai “

In 2005, he was a judge on the talent hunt show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005. He returned to television as a judge on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2009. His semi-classical song Mora Piya from ” Raajneeti “ became a hit in 2010 .

Mohan Bhandari :

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Veteran TV actor Mohan Bhandari died after a long battle with brain tumour on September 24, 2015. He was in his early 60s. He was struggling with the illness for the last few years after suffering brain hemorrhage.

He appeared in several serials including ” Khaandaan ” on DD ” Karz ” , ” Parampara ” , ” Jeevan Mrityu ” , ” Pathjhad ” , ” Gumraah ” and ” Mile Sur Mera Tumhara “.

He was also seen in the Bollywood films like ; ” Bawandar “, ” Pratighaat ” , ” Mangal Pandey -The Rising ” & ” Paheli “.

Currently he was working in a serial called “ Tere Shehar Mein “.

Hemant Bhosle :

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Hemant Bhosle, the music director who succumbed to cancer last month on September 28, 2015 in Scotland, was not only son of legendary Asha Bhosle but also was a talented composer who perhaps did not get enough opportunities to create his own distinctive style. He died at the age of 66.

He had a feel for romantic duets; especially those he composed for Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle. The composer worked in several films with Majrooh Sultanpuri , who penned some of his popular tracks.

Two of Hemant’s early films were Eshmayeel Shroff’s ” Agar ” and ” Taxi Taxi ” [ 1977 ] in which Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle had come together to sing ‘Laayee Kahaan Ae Zindagi’. ” Taxi Taxi ” [ 1977 ] and ” Anpadh ” [ 1978 ], did not fare well at the cash counter. ” Damaad ” [ 1978 ] was a minor box-office success. Hemant also gave the score for Anil Sharma’s ” Shraddhanjali ” [ 1981 ] , again a minor success, and ” Bandhan Kuchchey Dhaagon Ka ” [ 1983 ].

Hemant Bhosle had also composed music for Marathi Bhavgeet “Sharad Sundar ” and ” Yeu Kashi Priya “ , all of which his mother had sung.

It is very sad that his sister Varsha Bhosle also died young at the age of 56 in 2012.

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New Hindi Film Releases & Me :

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First Week – September 04

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1 – Welcome Back …………………………………………………… John Abraham

…………………………………………………………………………………….. Harry Josh

……………………………………………………………………………. Pawni A. Pandey

2 – Lakhon Hain Yahan Dilwale …………………………………………………… X

Second Week – September 11

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1 – The Perfect Girl – Ek Simple Si Love Story ……….. Sonali Sachdev

2 – Naath – Ek Pratha ……………………………………………………………….. X

3 – Hum Sab Ullu Hain ……………………………………………………………… X

4 – Tera Mera Tedha Medha ……………………………………………………. X

5 – Mere Genie Uncle ……………………………………………………………….. X

6 – Hero ……………………………………………………………………………………. X

Third Week – September 18
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1 -Meeruthiya Gangster ……………………………………… Pawni A. Pandey

2 – Katti Batti ……………………………………………………………. Imran Khan

3 – Dunno Y 2 – Life Is A Moment ……………………………………………… X

4 – MSG 2 The Messenger …………………………………………………………. X

Fourth Week – September 25
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1 – Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon …………………………………………… Elli Avram

……………………………………………………………………………………. Arbaaz Khan

2 – Bhaag Johnny ……………………………………………………….. Zoa Morani

……………………………………………………………………………………. Elli Avram

………………………………………………………………………………. Urvashi Rautela

3 – Calendar Girl …………………………………………………… Ganesh Hegde

4 – Time Out ……………………………………………………………………………… X

In total …………… 16 …………….. films got released in September. Out of these ………….. 16 ………… released films …….. 08 ……… films have …………… 13 ……………. artistes , who are trained by me .

Out of these ………. 13 ……… persons , ………. 10 ……… are actors . And the remaining …………. 03 ………… Pawni A. Pandey is the play back singer of ” Meruthiya Gangster ” and ” Welcome Back ” respectively. She appears in the list twice. Remaining ……….. 01 ……….. Ganesh Hegde is the choreographer of ” Calendar Girl “.

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TV Trivia & Me :

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1 – Tarun Khanna is doing a show ” Police Factory “ on Sab TV .

2 – Shaleen Bhanot is doing a show ” Suryaputra Karn “ on Sony TV .

3 – Sid Makkar is doing a show ” Lajwanti “ on Zee TV .

My ……….………. 03 …………….….. students in ………………… 03 ……………. shows on TV .

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Commercials & Me :

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1 – Saif Ali Khan is the Brand Ambassador of ” Macho Underwear ” .

2 – Krushna Abhishek is the Brand Ambassador of ” Lux Cott’s Wool ” .

3 – Ranbir Kapoor is the Brand Ambassador of ” Philips LED Bulb ” .

4 – Sonam Kapoor is the Brand Ambassador of ” Colgate Visible White ” .

5 – Jacqueline Fernandez is the Brand Ambassador of ” Vega Hair Styling Appliances” .

My ………….. 05 …………… students in …………… 05 …………… commercial campaigns .

My 13 students appeared in 08 films , 03 students in 03 TV shows and 05 students appeared in 05 Ads .

Thus total number of students working in the month of September 2015 comes to 21. I challenge ” Facebook Acting Institute ” , who love to shout from the housetop, to come out with their data. I know that 2 upstarts and 1 embryo masquerading as acting trainers are not going to take the challenge. There is deafening silence.

On behalf of all the students & staff of VIDUR Acting Institute , VIDUR Editing Studio , VIDUR Club and VIDUR Merchandise, I congratulate my above mentioned 21 students .

May God bless them for making me proud and they shine in their chosen field .

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA