Asian Lite News Archive

Category: Interview

  • INTERVIEW: Jeffrey Archer

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    By Sahana Ghosh  No alien to controversies, British author Jeffrey Archer says he’s not a provocative writer and “feels very safe” in India when it comes to censorship issues. “I don’t try to provoke. I am a simple storyteller. I feel safe in India, very safe,” he said. In contrast, he said, he had to…

  • INTERVIEW: Vishal Bhardwaj

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    By Sandeep Sharma   His unabashed use of abuses and rustic lingo in his films has always added to the power of his cinema. National Award winning filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has reacted strongly to diktats on film content, saying that the Central Board of Film Certification is behaving like the Taliban and that the body should…

  • INTERVIEW: Sabyasachi Mukherjee

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    By Nivedita   Sabyasachi Mukherjee, whose sartorial creations, marked by traditional fabrics and techniques, have made him a globally recognised name in the world of design, believes that national clothing has the power to foster nationalism. He says the youths’ appreciation of Indian handloom calls for revival of the craft. “It’s a fragmented society and nothing…

  • Interview: John Madden

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    By Sugandha Rawal India’s vibrancy, rich culture and chaos of urban life turned out to be magnets for John Madden, who has shot two of his films –“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and its sequel — in the country. The English director says every frame in the nation is worth capturing. His film’s sequel, “The…

  • INTERVIEW: Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan

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    By Natalia Ningthoujam   Pakistani singer Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan, known for delivering hit Bollywood songs like “Mitwa” and “Yeh honsla”, believes that compact discs are getting phased out by the digital platform even as there is a spate of demand for music now. The singer with roots in classical music is ready with his third…

  • INTERVIEW: Nawazuddin

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    By Siddharth Jha  His powerful avant-garde roles in offbeat Indian films have set Nawazuddin Siddiqui apart from the true-blue heroes of Bollywood. And that is why the actor, a ‘hero’ in his own right, suggests that newcomers never let go of their “uniqueness”. Nawazuddin, who was last seen as a Machiavellian villain in Sriram Raghavan’s…

  • INTERVIEW: Amit Trivedi

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    By Sandeep Sharma   National Award winning musician Amit Trivedi, who has composed for films like “Dev D”, “Wake Up Sid”, “Udaan” and “Queen”, says technology has enabled composers to explore a wider range of sounds via computers, and the effort required has reduced to a considerable extent too. “Technology is widening scope for musicians every…

  • INTERVIEW: Sachin Tendulkar

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    Cricket World Cup 2015 brand ambassador Sachin Tendulkar Monday predicted that the 14-nation tournament will be even more competitive as it progresses after the first 10 days produced exciting and entertaining cricket. Talking on the sidelines of India-South Africa match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG Sunday, the former Indian batting superstar advised the sides…

  • INTERVIEW: Nimrat Kaur

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    By Sandeep Sharma   Talented Indian actor Nimrat Kaur, who has been rubbing shoulders with Hollywood’s creme de la creme at foreign awards’ galas since her internationally acclaimed and BAFTA-nominated film “The Lunchbox” and American TV series “Homeland”, says the scope of roles for Indian actors has widened across the globe. “The scope for Indian actors…

  • INTERVIEW: Russell Peters

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    By Siddharth Jha   Comedy is about telling the truth in a funny way, says world-famous stand-up comedian Russell Peters, ahead of his multi-city tour in India, where a group of humorists are currently facing criticism for showcasing an insult comedy show. Peters, whose Almost Famous World Tour, will be staged in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad…

  • INTERVIEW: Dhanush

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    By Nivedita  He’s that rare humble, grounded and modest talented actor who considers stardom “nothing more than a little extra attention than the normal crowd”. That’s Dhanush for you. “I think stardom is all about little extra attention than normal people. Among all the normal people, a few get some extra attention, and so, there…

  • INTERVIEW: Amitabh Bachchan

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    By Nivedita  In his over four decade tryst with the Hindi film industry, Amitabh Bachchan has witnessed a continuous shift in the movie-making business, and he credits most changes to the “different and unusual” demands of the youth. “It has changed a lot and is changing,” the 72-year-old veteran said when asked to define of the…

  • INTERVIEW: Amish Tripathi

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    By Shilpa Raina  Controversies in India are given greater prominence than pressing issues like the oppression of women that need to be brought out in public, says best-selling author Amish Tripathi, who “approaches the subject with a heart” to avoid unnecessary trouble while writing on religion. “Please don’t misunderstand me… but I fear that we…

  • INTERVIEW: Shilpa Shetty

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    By Nivedita   Why should only women cook and do the laundry, asks actress-entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty, who feels men should contribute equally to household chores to ease out a woman’s responsibilities. She also feels this give and take goes a long way into a happily ever after. Shilpa, who is married to businessman Raj Kundra, credits…

  • INTERVIEW: Sheila Dikshit

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    By Trina Joshi  BJP leaders admit the AAP is their main foe in Delhi, but three-time chief minister Sheila Dikshit doesn’t feel that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party is an alternative to the BJP or the Congress. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi goes all out campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi, Congress leader Dikshit…

  • INTERVIEW: Abir Chatterjee

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    By Sahana Ghosh Abir Chatterjee, who recently became the first actor to portray Bengali literature’s iconic sleuths, Satyajit Ray’s Feluda and Sharadindu Bandopadhyay’s Byomkesh Bakshi, in two major movie adaptations, had his work cut out. Much like the ace detectives’ eye for details, Chatterjee too had to capture the finer points of the classic characters…

  • INTERVIEW: Kailash Satyarthi

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    By Trina Joshi Terming child labour in India as a “serious” problem, the country’s newest Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi has said the delay in enacting and enforcing a ban on all its forms is akin to “destroying childhood” as our “children cannot remain trapped in workplaces”. But in the same breath he sounded optimistic that…

  • INTERVIEW: Ritu Beri

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    By Prantick Majumder  Ritu Beri, often called India’s ‘Fashion Queen’, has completed 25 years in the fashion industry. The designer says her life has been a “fairytale” and beyond her dreams and now she is keen to write “inspirational books”. The designer, who was among the first Indians to storm the catwalks of Paris more…

  • INTERVIEW: Freida Pinto

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    By Sugandha Rawal    There is a recurring pattern in actress Freida Pinto’s films and that is the presence of strong female characters. The Hollywood-based Indian actress says it’s the first thing that she considers while choosing films. Be it “Slumdog Millionaire”, “Miral” or her upcoming film “Trishna” – all the films have seen her playing…

  • INTERVIEW: Lucy Hawking

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    By Shilpa Raina  Compared to their counterparts in other countries, Indian children are more curious about science and aerospace, observed novelist Lucy Hawking, daughter of British physicist Stephen Hawking, and felt it is the opportune moment to introduce Indian characters in her books. The 44-year-old science writer was in the capital for a children’s literary…

  • India pins hopes on tourism

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    India’s new Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma is targetting to double the foreign tourist arrivals by 2015. An interview with Mr Sharma by Prashant Sood and Shilpa Raina  The Narendra Modi government intends to double the number of foreign tourists by next year from the present 7.2 million, union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said and assured that total…

  • INTERVIEW: Richard Hadlee

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    By Radhika Bhirani    As corruption in cricket continues to come under scrutiny in India, legendary New Zealand cricketer Richard Hadlee says spot-fixing is the “greatest crisis” the game faces and it needs to be dealt with severe penalties. The iconic sportsman, 63, met this visiting IANS correspondent at the newly-built Hadlee Pavilion of the Hagley…

  • INTERVIEW: Govind Nihalani

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    By Sahana Ghosh   Unhappy with the way the current crop of film students are being shaped up through short-term courses, National Award-winning director and cinematographer Govind Nihalani has lashed out at “shortcut” courses for their failure to connect aspirants with Indian cinema’s rich history and legacy. The 74-year-old veteran of Indian cinema, known for mainstreaming…

  • INTERVIEW: Harsh Mayar

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    By Jatindra Dash   National award-winning ‘I am Kalam’ child actor Harsh Mayar says he wants to perform the role of an abnormal boy to prove his acting prowess in the film industry. “I am in search of a role…something different which people have not seen earlier…the role should be challenging…may be something like a child…

  • INTERVIEW: Kidambi Srikanth

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    By Sandip Sikdar   Newly-crowned China Open champion Kidambi Srikanth said he never took the victory for granted and never believed that he could pull it off until he won as he knew that his opponent in the final — two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan of China — could make a comeback at any point. A…

  • INTERVIEW: Aparna Sen

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    By Sahana Ghosh  Her very first outing as an actress was under the guidance of master storyteller Satyajit Ray and now as one of India’s finest and critically-acclaimed filmmakers, Aparna Sen believes in absorbing and retaining Ray’s principles, but eventually doing “your own thing”. Be it “36, Chowringhee Lane”, her outstanding directorial debut, or “Mr.…

  • INTERVIEW: Kajol

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    By Sugandha Rawal  Bollywood actress Kajol says that hand wash campaign got a boost ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised on urgent need to inculcate the habit as a preventive measure in the health care system. “Modi himself talked about how hand washing is important and I was like, ‘Yay hand-washing is important and…

  • INTERVIEW: Priyanka Chopra

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    She enjoys star status in filmdom, but Priyanka Chopra says she missed having a guiding light in her journey. Now as a producer the former beauty queen plans to promote fresh talent. She calls herself a “baby producer”, but the 32-year-old wants to launch new talent in the film world with small, but good projects.…

  • INTERVIEW: Rekha @ 60

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      She describes herself as a “student of life” and believes in acting upon things. Bollywood’s ageless beauty Rekha, who turns 60 Friday, says she is still put through the practice of warding away the evil eye — a ritual that her mother exercised for her well being. “On my birthday, I remember my amma…

  • INTERVIEW: Preetika Rao

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    By Subhash K.Jha  Actress Preetika Rao is flummoxed by reports suggesting she is in a relationship with the director of her successful serial “Beintehaa”. She has clarified that she is single and that she has no time to ‘mingle’. “I don’t know where these tall tales come from. There are two directors for ‘Beintehaa’ –…

  • INTERVIEW: Nawazuddin Siddiqui

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    By Ashok Easwaran   For an actor who has made his mark playing an arrogant Intelligence Bureau officer in “Kahani” and the villain with the heinous laugh in the recent blockbuster “Kick”, one would expect Nawazuddin Siddiqui to project a larger than life image, or at least an air of entitlement that stars of lesser talent…

  • INTERVIEW: Farah Khan

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    I don’t make tacky films By Radhika Bhirani   Her films have dances, songs, melodrama, romance, dollops of emotions, colour, star power and all of what make a typical Bollywood potboiler. If they manage to entertain the mass audiences in her homeland and the classy abroad, it gives the effervescent Farah Khan the joy of making…

  • Interview:Sukhbir Badal

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    Sukhbir Badal’s war on drugs Nearly 20,000 people associated with the drugs trade have been arrested in Punjab in the last one year alone and drugs seizures in the past 20 months have been over Rs.6,000 crore. The alarming figures are the reason why Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal says that Punjab is…

  • INTERVIEW: Om Puri

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    Om Puri says older couples too can have a love story The star of parallel cinema, Om Puri, romanced Oscar-winning British actress Helen Mirren in the gastronomic love story “The Hundred Foot Journey”. The movie has evoked good response and the actor says romantic films with older couples can be a good watch too. “I…

  • INTERVIEW: Chetan Bhagat

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    When I need a new kick, I’ll consider direction, Chetan Bhagat told  Subhash K. Jha  Author Chetan Bhagat, who tried his hand at screenplay writing with the Salman Khan-starrer “Kick”, says he may try donning the director’s hat when he needs a new ‘kick’ in life. In an interview, Bhagat has spoken about his tryst with screenplay writing,…

  • INTERVIEW: Chanda Kochhar

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    More women’s participation will help increase GDP Greater participation of women in the economy will help raise India’s gross domestic product (GDP), Chanda Kochhar, chief executive officer and managing director of ICICI Bank said. “More women participation in economic growth will help increase the GDP of the country,” Kochhar said during an interactive session on…

  • INTERVIEW: Wrestler Sushil Kumar

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    Abhishek Roy is talking to Wrestler Sushil Kumar who says Glasgow gold boost for Rio Olympics India champion wrestler Sushil Kumar said Saturday that the Glasgow Commonwealth Games gold should inspire him to bigger success at the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro. India’s only individual two-time Olympic medallist is now eyeing the…

  • INTERVIEW: Chetan Bhagat

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    Writer Chetan Bhagat told Nivedita that ‘Indian educational system broken somewhere’  Celebrated writer Chetan Bhagat feels that the college cutoffs should not bog one down because hard work can also take people places, adding that the country’s education system is “broken somewhere”. “A student securing 98 per cent is no less capable or intelligent than the…

  • INTERVIEW: Dr Shashi Tharoor

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    Ranjana Narayan talks to Dr Shashi Tharoor MP, former Deputy secretary general of UN and a former minister of India.  Dr Tharoor feels Modi’s style of governance would soon bring out the “strengths and limitations of one-man rule”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image as a decisive leader, of a “man on a white stallion”, may have…

  • Britain’s Asian Youth Movements

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    Dr Anandi Ramamurthy has experienced racism in Britain in many forms. In the late 1980s’, she was involved with the anti-racist movement. In an interview with Anjana Parikh from Asian Lite, Dr Ramamurthy, the author of  Black Star: Britain’s Asian Youth Movements’, and a senior lecturer at School of Journalism and Digital Communication, University of…

  • INTERVIEW – Narayana Murthy

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    Infosys’ co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy tol Asian Lite that he fulfilled his obligations Infosys’ co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, who returned to steer India’s second largest IT bellwether a year ago as executive chairman, is stepping down June 14 and cutting short his second innings by four years because he says he has fulfilled his “obligations”. “I returned from…

  • Age is not a barrier

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    Friends call her the ‘global citizen’. She hikes, plays badminton and learns new things with the same zeal and enthusiasm as a 16-year-old girl. Meet 68-year-old Dr Shantha Joseph, whose passion for learning and trying out new things–be it sports or language–is in abundance. “I’ve seen from a very close quarter how life changes within no time,…

  • ‘People of Bhopal are survivors’

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    Anjana Parikh interviews Jaya Greaves who worked for Southern Voices, the UK-based organisation that sought to ensure voices of the southern people are heard in mainstream life.  She is currently working for the victims of Bhopal Gas Tragedy, who she thinks have been forgotten in recent times, and who still need support.   Jaya Greaves…

  • Falafel comes to town

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    A deep-fried ball or a patty made from ground chickpeas, fava beans, or both, Falafel which is a traditional Middle Eastern food has become popular among vegetarians as an alternative to meat. The Harrow-based couple founders of Falafel City, Kajal and Mitan Sachdev who earlier worked with Price Waterhouse, tell Rahul Laud that this street-laden…

  • Imran Akram reveals biz plan

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    Imran Akram head at Asons Solicitors in conversation with Rahul Laud reveals Asons’ business and future plans AL: Your turnover rose up to £15 m up £6m. What do you attribute this success to? Akram: The key driving factor has been reasoned, incremental change; We’re always bringing in new staff, with new skills and different…

  • INTERVIEW – Soundarya

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    Asian Lite, top Asian newspaper in the UK, profile Soundarya, the eldest daughter of Rajni Kant Soundarya R. Ashwin, whose debut directorial “Kochadaiiyaan” happens to be the country’s first photo-realistic performance capture entertainer, says gender is no longer an issue – neither within nor outside the entertainment space. She is proud that she brought in…