(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Bollywood stars made their presence felt at the Khaleej Times office when they came in to promote their movies.
FEBRUARYKangana Ranaut: QueenWe started the year with a bang with none other than Kangana Ranaut who was in town to attend the Gr8 Women Awards and promote the Vikas Bahl directed film Queen. While the actress can appear a bit icy due to her general demeanour she also wowed us with her forthright answers and went on to prove that looks can be deceiving when she ditched her usual designer togs to impress in a role which had her playing a simple naive shalwar clad Delhi girl who is jilted at the altar. Forget the diction and the calculated yet refreshing way Ranaut has of making her point - the movie proved she is the ultimate Queen of Bollywood.
FEBRUARYVidya Balan and Farhan Akhtar: Shaadi Ke Side EffectsIs it a tent Is it a Kaftan When Vidya Balan walked into our office along with her Shaadi Ke Side Effects co-star Farhan Akhtar what had us all flummoxed was her choice of attire. But if you leave that aside we have to admit she is our absolute favourite star whom we could never get tired of talking to. And when the talented Ms. (now Mrs.) Balan states that ‘Khaleej Times is always lucky for me’ since she heard about her National Award win while in KT to promote Kahaani back in 2012 we can’t help but hold her in special esteem. The exuberant actress wowed us as usual when she came in to talk up Shaadi Ke Side Effects along with her slightly more reticent co-star.
FEBRUARYAlia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda: HighwayShe was the chirpy young thing who couldn’t stop talking once she got started. Whereas he was the dark brooding antithesis of all she stood for. Yet the rapport between the unlikely pairing of Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda went on to make Imtiaz Ali’s road movie Highway a hit with the audience. As for the CT team - all we had to do was prod a bit and let the magic take over.
MARCHVarun Dhawan and Ileana D’Cruz: Main Tera HeroThe camaraderie between the young duo is to be seen to be believed. It was quite evident that the two got along well and had fun during the shoot of the David Dhawan comedy. They even managed to spend half the interview talking about their special rapport with Nargis Fakhri who couldn’t make it to Dubai at the last minute. Unfortunately the film didn’t manage to create much of an impact on the big screen though hopefully all the actors had so much fun on the sets (from the sound of it) that they wouldn’t have been too disappointed.
JUNEVidya Balan: Bobby JassoosDespite the debacle of Shaadi ke Side Effects when Vidya Balan turned out in a charming cream churidar kurta (unlike her usual penchant for dressing up as her latest character) we were hopeful that Bobby Jassoos would be another feather in her cap but sadly the Dia Mriza-Sahil Sangha produced film didn’t go down too well with the audience. Goes on to prove that even a talented actress cannot save a movie when the script is at fault.
JUNESaif Ali Khan Riteish Deshmukh Esha Gupta Tamannaah Bhatia: HumshakalsWhen the Humshakals team walked in the question on everyone’s lips was: Where is Bipasha The sultry actress had by then made her displeasure about her role in the Sajid Khan directed comedy pretty obvious on social media and to their credit Saif took the bull by its horn by addressing it as soon as the team sat down before dealing with the questions thrown at them with usual aplomb. It’s another matter altogether that as soon as the movie was declared an unmitigated flop he was the first one to distance himself from the comedy. Esha Gupta and Tamannaah Bhatia played perfect arm candy while Ritesh fulfilled the ‘team player’ role to perfection.
APRILAlia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor: 2 StatesShe comes across as a pampered diva the youngest scion of a Bollywood family who does not have to try too hard to land the coveted role. But a little bit into our conversation she revealed herself to be a sorted youngster who was trying hard to shake off the Bollywood shackles and emerge in her own identity. While her older co-star Arjun Kapoor looked on fondly Alia popped in the sweets kept on the table and generally behaved like a teenager who was a bit bored but supremely confident in herself. And 2 States went on to prove her credentials.
SEPTEMBERBipasha Basu Imran Abbas Naqvi: CreaturesWe will be the first to admit that the Bengali beauty is one of our favourite visitors over the years. Her husky voice her matter-of-fact tone and the genuine warmth that she exudes proves why she is so popular in Bollywood. An actress who lives by her own terms and who is not scared to call a spade a spade (remember the Sajid Khan episode) she is someone who we believe has not got her due in Bollywood. For sheer perseverance and her ‘don’t-care-attitude’ we absolutely love her.