These are links of seven recent Exclusive Interviews we have got done for our PR client Preetisheel Singh. Some of them are in Q&A format, while others are in feature format.
As you can see, they have appeared on different websites with photographs and exclusive written content.
Veteran always-young-at-heart journalist Jyothi Venkatesh turned Editor for Cine Buster magazine last year. This week, the magazine completed one year and also launched its own awards. My long-time friend Ramakant Munde who is on the team, insisted I attend the one-year completion event. And gosh, it sure was a rocking party. Had good fun. Congrats Jyothi. Rock on. Thanks Munde. Keep smiling. And special good wishes for the dashing visionary behind the grand success… Cine Buster’s Editor-in-Chief Ronnie Rodrigues. Man of conviction.
Move over Rani Padmavati… Rani Vindhyavati is here.
Southern actress Poonam Kaur who will be seen romancing television heartthrob Karan Singh Grover in the upcoming Bollywood flick 3 Dev, has bagged the lead role of Rani Vindhyavati in the mega-hyped Telugu historical TV series Swarna Khadgam, being made by makers of the magnum opus Bahubali.
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While the mega-series is being produced by ARKA Media Works, the makers of Bahubali, Poonam’s role of the queen is said to be similar to that of the popular character of Devasena who rocked in the blockbuster.
“Here’s presenting Queen ‘Vindhyavati’; the symbol of #love, #justice & #sacrifice from #SwarnaKhadgam by #ARKA media #ComingSoon,” tweeted Poonam, along with a sneak-peak video of the upcoming TV series. Its reported that the series may be dubbed in Hindi as well as many other languages.
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Poonam has been in the news for some time in the Southern media for her bold and daring statements. Recently, she created a lot of buzz when she tweeted about being backstabbed by a filmmaker who cast her and then went on to make the film with another actress. It bombed miserably, apparently leaving the filmmaker devastated.
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With her new sensational avatar, the Southern media has been chasing Poonam for quotes and statements. But the lady is busy making a mark with the promos and songs of Ankoosh Bhatt’s madcap comedy 3 Dev. One of the songscalled Nikamma featuring her and Karan has received a mind-boggling amount of hits on YouTube. Way to go!
 When Indian-American singer Kabir released his debut single Got Me Hooked, he was anxious how well it will be accepted. The Brown Debonair as he has been nicknamed by the US media, Kabir has a very unique silvery voice compared to traditional Indian singers abroad.
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A fortnight after his release, he is a happy man. Got me Hooked has not only been well-received, but has earned rave reviews in the American, Canadian as well as British media. Winning hearts of the huge Asian community as well as on the mainstream music circuit, its fast emerging a hot favourite with many radio stations playing it several times a day.
Written and produced by Damen Heyward and Juan ‘Majik’ Peters, the number has a set of hypnotic rhythms with the video having a very chilled-out feel. This has also managed to win Kabir a strong female fan-following.
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“I should admit I was a bit nervous before the release, but the response from radio stations and social media has been heartening,” quips Kabir. Moreover, his video has steadily been growing in popularity on YouTube with consistent organic views and lots of positive comments, which has brought more cheer.
The singer narrates an incident when he recently visited an Indie club in Brooklyn and the DJ immediately recognized him. “The club managed to get hold of the number from YouTube and began playing it, announcing my presence. It was a touching and overwhelming moment for me. They made me feel like a rockstar,” recalls the debutant.
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Not many are aware that Kabir actually belongs to the family of Partap Brothers with a rich musical heritage. Music runs in his blood, with some of his family members being veterans of traditional spiritual music and ambassadors of the Sikh community in North America. This makes it all the more interesting to see how Kabir will steer his musical journey from here.
Bollywood and Punjabi films heartthrob Diljit Dosanjh shocked Hollywood actor Alex Reece when he gave him a shout-out from the stage of his music concert in London.
After working in quite a few British and Hollywood movies, this year Alex made his debut in Indian cinema. He played the negative lead opposite Diljit in the Punjabi film Sajjan Singh Rangroot directed by Pankaj Batra, and is now looking at playing more villainous roles in Bollywood next.
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Diljit’s production team had arranged VIP passes for Alex and some other cast and crew members of the movie to attend his live concert at Wembley arena in London. Alex was already feeling overwhelmed witnessing the humongous fan-craze for Diljit at the musical event, when all of a sudden Diljit mentioned him amidst a packed crowd of 12,000 fans.
Recognizing him has Diljit’s co-star, some of his ultra-lively Punjabi fans in the crowd instinctively lifted Alex on their shoulders and started dancing. “I was so surprised and overjoyed, I almost froze,” laughs the Hollywood actor.
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“It took me a while to get hold of my thoughts. I have never witnessed such fervor and frenzy in my life,” exclaims Alex, who is well-known for his appearance in a mega-budget James Bond commercial starring Daniel Craig.
“Even during the making of the film, Diljit always made it a point to praise me and appreciate my work. But with this live shout-out from stage, he took it to just another level. This was one of the most exhilarating moments of my life and I will never forget his gesture,” says Alex.
When chart-topping Punjabi singer-composer Guru Randhawa first met actress Elnaaz Norouzi on the sets of his new music video, he began praising her “stunning looks” to a unit member in Punjabi. Elnaaz being an Iranian by birth, Guru obviously thought she wouldn’t understand Hindi or Punjabi. But Elnaaz, who actually speaks seven languages including fluent Hindi, stunned Guru when she pitched in, thanking him in Punjabi.
The couple’s onscreen chemistry would be on display this week, as T-Series releases Guru’s latest Punjabi single Made In India. Crazily famous among his legion of diehard fans, Guru will be seen wooing Elnaaz in the video, which has been shot in Milan and Lake Como in Italy. The lyrics have him praising his girl for her out-of-this-world beauty and describing how she looks as if she is made in India.
Written, composed and sung by Guru himself, Made In India’s teaser is already out. Going by the sound of it, the number seems to be yet another potential blockbuster, just like his last smashing hit single Raat Kamaal Hai. Catchy, happy, racy and peppy.
Elnaaz who is going to be seen for the first time in a music video, is quite excited. “Guru is as chilled-out as his hairdo,” she quips with a wink. “I was wondering how my experience would be, but I must say, he made shooting a lot of fun.”
The actress has earlier worked with megastar Salman Khan in a popular cola commercial and even on the Being Human ad campaign, apart from doing two prominent commercials with megastar Shah Rukh Khan. She’s also played the lead in a Punjabi film Khido Khundi.
Next month, Elnaaz will be seen in the role of a film actress in the upcoming Netflix series Sacred Games; the streaming giant’s first Indian original show with Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte.
Two Bollywood PRs have their birthdays today — Keshav Rai, who has earlier ruled television PR for more than a decade. One of the most good-natured and friendly PRs the Indian PR industry has ever witnessed. I salute him.
Baabush Sharma
And secondly, the super-caring, amicable and efficient contemporary PR Baabush Sharma… who I caught up with a week ago after a really long long time. A very happy birthday to both of you. Its guys like you who make the PR industry proud. Rock on 🙂 🙂
Susheel Sharma
Psst: And a very special mention for my close friend Susheel Sharma who celebrated his birthday yesterday. Susheel has earlier handled the PR for some of the biggest Bollywood blockbusters, with an extremely successful innings in the profession for almost two decades.
BREAKING NEWS: India successfully test-fires Agni-V missile for the sixth time. The missile launch has been conducted from the APJ Kalam Island, off the coast of Odisha. The nuclear-capable Agni-V is an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of over 5,000 km.
Following the wrap-up of the Dus Ka Dum Sony TV press-conference on Monday night, addressed by actor-host Salman Khan, senior film journalist Chaitanya Padukone had a nasty accidental fall from the reality-show elevated stage-sets into a freak vacant space at Film City, Mumbai.
With a deep bleeding gash-wound on his right knee, Chaitanya was administered first-aid and later rushed by fellow film journalist Bharati Dubey, to a nearby hospital, where he was required to undergo multiple surgical stitches and medical treatment.
Currently he is discharged and gradually recovering. Incidentally, Chaitanya happens to personally know Salman even before the mega-star-actor made his acting debut with the movie Biwi Ho Toh Aisi (1988).
After launching Swadeshi Samriddhi SIM cards, yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali has launched a new messaging application called Kimbho. It seems to be aimed at giving competition to the most popular messaging app WhatsApp owned by Facebook.
At the launch, Patanjali mentioned that the Kimbho App is already available for downloads at Google Play Store.
After Reliance Jio giving competition to foreign companies in India, another techno revolution is on the cards from this week. WhatsApp has been downloaded by more than a billion people on Google Play Store. Whether Kimbho can come anywhere near to that humongous figure, remains to be seen.
Kimbho is a Sanskrit word, meaning “How are you?” or “What’s new?” The app’s logo shows a seashell with a green-coloured round chat design around it; similar to WhatsApp. Kimbho’s tagline is ‘Ab Bharat Bolega’.
Southern sensation Poonam Kaur is all set to make her Bollywood debut opposite television heartthrob Karan Singh Grover in Ankoosh Bhatt’s madcap comedy 3 Dev releasing soon.
Having proved her mettle in the South with over 20 films including Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam flicks, Poonam has been known to be one of the most expressive actresses there — and going by her Facebook followers touching five million, one can safely say, a very popular one too. Currently, she is also playing the lead in the mega-hyped Telugu historical TV series Swarna Khadgam, being made by the makers of the magnum opus Bahubali.
Poonam’s beauty with a dazzling smile has often been compared to that of yesteryears actresses Madhubala and Divya Bharti. Having studied fashion technology from Delhi, she is no novice to the world of glamour. Before entering movies, Poonam was crowned Miss Andhra as she won the Lux Miss Andhra Beauty Pageant.
Thereafter, she went on to win the Miss Talented title in Femina Miss India South and has been nominated multiple times for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress roles in the South.
In 3 Dev, Poonam will be seen playing the character of the dainty Radha, while her song Nikamma with Karan Singh Grover has already been scaling great popularity on YouTube.
The film’s director Ankoosh Bhatt says, “When we began casting for the role, my casting director suggested Poonam’s name. We needed someone sweet, bubbly and very emotive to play Radha and she fit the bill perfectly. Her experience in the South helped tremendously. She required no hand-holding and got into the character in no time.”
Poonam is equally charged about her Bollywood debut. “The character has interesting dimensions, which not only made it appealing to play, but challenging too. Plus, the team of the film was always very warm and supportive. They made me feel at home. Now I have my fingers crossed for the release and waiting for some divine dev-devta magic to happen,” she chirps.
National Award-winning makeup, hair and prosthetic designer Preetisheel Singh won tremendous acclaim when she designed Ranveer Singh’s look as Alauddin Khilji in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat.
This week, she has recreated that look for actor Ravi Dubey for Sabse Smart Kaun; a game show on Star Plus, which aims to test people’s common sense. Ravi is donning various looks for the show’s promotions, one of them being Alauddin Khilji and another one of yesteryears’ villain Ajit.
The Jamai Raja actor recently shared his Khilji look on Instagram with a caption, “the magician behind the look is the awesome Preetisheel.”
The transformations Preetisheel carried out with Ranveer Singh, Shahid Kapoor and Deepika Padukone’s looks in Padmaavat had the industry and media hailing her as the undisputed No.1 makeup, hair and prosthetic designer.
However, it can be noted that this was not the first time she worked on a historical. Her work in the pre-Mughal epic Nanak Shah Fakir bagged her the coveted National Film Award for Best Makeup. Re-released amidst controversy this year, the film has once again created ripples.
The lady’s work also received abundant praise for the recently released Amitabh Bachchan-Rishi Kapoor starrer 102 Not Out. Her talent will soon be showcased in films like the Harshvardhan Kapoor-starrer Bhavesh Joshi Superhero and also in Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Thackeray, where Siddiqui plays the role of Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray.
