Ekta's really sweet: Kainaz Motivala

Cute and bubbly, newbie actor Kainaz Motivala appears surprisingly calm and composed for someone so young. In Paathshala, she got eyeballs as the girl who had a crush on Shahid Kapoor. In her latest film Ragini MMS, she's graduated from a character role to playing the female lead.

A Mumbai mulgi, Kainaz even worked in a magazine before she faced the camera. "Paathshaala landed on my platter just like that and since then life's been one hectic whirl. I am glad that this profession isn't monotonous — and I get to live a different character."

Her cosy scenes with her co-star Raj Kumar Yadav has her unruffled. "Raj and I are great friends and he made me feel comfortable during the love scenes." Now Kainaz wouldn't mind doing steamy scenes in other films, if the "script demands it".

Meeting Ekta Kapoor was a life changing moment for her. "I was a little guarded when I met her the first time, but she is very sweet and chilled out," says Kainaz who goes on to add that she is not "interested in doing TV shows made by Ekta. At least not yet," she says.

A trained contemporary dancer, Kainaz's short story Hope Comes In Small Packages has just hit the shelves. "For now, I am enjoying facing the camera, so even though I love to write, it will have to take a backseat for now," she grins.

I hate thin people: Ekta Kapoor

Ekta Kapoor, adding that she's not bothered about what the world expects from her and there's much beyond the tantrum throwing, cellphone hurling person to her than is portrayed

Why the decision to move from television serials to mainstream movies?
I'm always ready to do things based on my gut. When you make things for TV, it has to be en masse because television prohibits you as far as niche programming goes. Even if there's niche programming, the numbers are so small that you can never get any creative expression. For TV your product needs to be en masse. With films, you can experiment more.

Shifting from soaps to movies, how much audience analysis do you do for new projects?
Research is not the only way to know the pulse of your audience. Research is available to everyone today but does it work for everyone? No. Asking a viewer on the road what they want would be more useful. When you make something for television or a movie, research can never overpower your own gut. When I made saas bahu serials, there was no research on the subject. Clearly, if my gut has supported it, why should I not follow it? It might let me down at times and I might make mistakes, but I will pay for it. I may hear a research; I am not saying I don't keep my ears open. My ears are open, but my nose can smell a good concept right away.

You're labelled as an overdramatic creative professional. Added to that, there are many images attached to you...
I used to be a human being earlier and now I am folklore because people think they know me even before they know me. You are going to throw a stone at us, or a mobile, your temper... and I am like, "Guys, there are no mandates! I'm a human being. Try to get to know me."

So, what don't people know about you?
I am as moody as the other person, just that I am seen more than the other person. What's different is that I am over-passionate about my work. I am just like anyone else. I am a fat girl with fat girl fantasies of eating the whole day and not putting on weight. That's my biggest dream. I hate people who are thin and are thin after eating what they want. I am just like anyone else. I did things without thinking so I shocked and I achieved.

Do you think of yourself as something of an enigma for the rest of the world?
I am an enigma for myself. I figure myself out for a while and then something happens, and then everything changes and I'm like – I changed the plot again, damn! And I thought I knew myself. I trick myself, forget others. You see, I don't want research done on me. I'd rather live my life than analyse it.

But people do analyse you – from your rings to your pujas...
I used to have a couch in my cabin. Everyone tells me it's a very suggestive couch, but I say this is for my creative work. Creative offices should let your creativity flow. They cannot be management offices. The fifth floor even had bunk beds in the office and it was very spoken about at one time. We had people working till 4 in the morning and they had to come back at 8 in the morning to edit. Let them sleep for four hours and then come back to work. If you don't rest, you will not give me any creativity. So, from my rings to my sleeping in the cabin and hearing scripts, my ideologies have been followed by a lot of people. Most of my associates who've left Balaji, suddenly ordered for a couch like that. It may not work for them – it's for my creativity.

What do you credit your success to?
I like to be on the ground. When I was doing serials, I used to watch every TV serial – mine and everyone else's too. I was obsessed with television. I was making serials for the audience and for myself. And I was in touch with what was happening. Most of us keep our social circle and our tastes very elite, and yet we want to make serials for the masses. How is that possible? When I decided to go into movies, I started going to the cinemas... I got a lot of lessons from watching people at the ground level. People just want to be entertained. Sometimes, I would want to be intellectually provoked or placated. I want to get scared in a scary movie.

Also, I never go for trials of movies – mine or someone else's. Half the time people come out, they have to say good things about your film and then you have to say good things about their films. So, I would rather not get into that rigmarole. I'd rather go to a film with my friends and I have friends from various walks of life and various strata – bankers, people from the television world, younger friends, etc. When they spend 200 bucks to go watch a movie, I see the anger if they don't enjoy the film. So, I'd do everything in my power to ensure that when you spend your 200 bucks, you enjoy your movie.

How obsessed are you with your work?
I am a psycho, I am a work junkie. I don't get sleep, so I need to get creatively motivated. On a serious note, any kind of creative expression excites me. One of my friends told me, 'People think you don't have a life, but unfortunately, it'll take them a long time to realise that this is your life. It's not that you are depriving yourself of a party sitting in office; you enjoy sitting in office'. Of course, parents only analyse these and preach!

Who do you draw your influence from?
My mother – I love her. I am flaky, flying, crying, over dramatic, overdoing it, but she's rock solid. This company survives because of her; she's great at people management. She's great in calming nerves, great in pushing people, great businesswoman. I am the one who is financially weak – always spending more than I should. Always overdependent on creativity and very little understanding of finances. We foil each other.

Apprehensions for your next " Ragini MMS"?
I have apprehensions but not fears. Like people slot you, they slot films. They think this is like "LSD" because of captured footage, but what they don't realise is that that was one camera footage for a shaky feel but this is 25 cameras for a totally new imaging. It's more like "Big Boss" and not "LSD". Also, since there's the word MMS in the title, they think it's sexual in nature. That's stupid because we can download sex today and no one is going to pay 400 bucks to watch a sex film. On the net you get free porn, so why will they go to a theatre to watch? The MMS was to get a grab footage film feel – this is voyeuristic horror.

The couple is comfortable with each other sexually, but they are not jumping at it each other; there's no dramatic heaving of chests. It's the story of a haunted house (so many people book houses to go away for a weekend). You never know if the house has a story and imagine if you bug the house. During static, spirits are captured. What if you are aware there's a spirit in the house and the fourth person – the viewer – knows that. It is actually a young horror. My third apprehension is when people doubt your intention. I do not want to intellectualise the film, and at the same time, I don't want to trivialise it. I want to make a great scary movie.

Delhi's Deepika is Ekta's Ragini

Still from Ragini MMS and (R)Deepika

She tried to hide it, but we managed to pull the cat out of the bag. Ekta Kapoor's forthcoming paranormal thriller Ragini MMS, which is already making news with the 'A' certificate and unrestrained sexual scenes, is based on 22-year-old Delhi girl Deepika.

Talking to Mumbai Mirror last evening, Deepika however decided to keep certain things about her a secret still. "I don't wish to reveal my surname. You can understand why. But yes, Ragini MMS is inspired by what happened to me one night when I went out with my boyfriend. I was 19 then," revealed the girl.

Like in Ekta Kapoor's forthcoming film, Deepika and her boyfriend (name withheld by request) had gone out for a weekend to a house in the outskirts of Delhi.

"The area was very dark. Somehow, I got a lot of negative vibes when I entered that place. But then when you are with a person you trust, you know how it is.

I did not pay any attention. But I was very uncomfortable throughout the night. All along, I felt somebody was watching us," said she.

After a night in each other's arms, Deepika was shocked to see the laptop they carried switched on. Her boyfriend had recorded the entire passionate interlude.

So why go with him in the first place? "I was with him for five months already. I guess we wanted to take the relationship to the next level. He suggested we go to this place his friend owned. It was our first night out."

The effect of this shocking experience remained with Deepika for almost a year after that. The girl who believes in ghosts, went on to add, "Agar kuch dikh nahi raha tha toh wahaan zaroor koi paranormal activity ho rahi thi. I felt that that the place where we went was very eerie."

No more with the guy she went on this shocking night out with, Deepika quipped, "In fact, I never met him after that incident."

While Deepika was recovering from this shocking episode in Delhi, Ekta Kapoor was toying with the idea of making a film on the MMS scandals in Mumbai. And that's exactly when Deepika's friend who works in the creative department in Balaji asked Ekta if she'd like to meet a girl who had gone through a real life MMS incident.

Grabbing the offer, Ekta met Deepika and incorporated her life story in Ragini MMS. "First I shared everything with my friend in Balaji, then I also spoke to Ekta," confirmed Deepika, who later even signed a contract with Balaji.

Deepika who is currently in Mumbai wants to see the final film. "I don't know why Ekta is not showing it to me. I am very stressed," added the girl.

"Deepika's concern is justified. We'll show her the film. But the release date is still a good eight days away. So, perhaps sometime next week," said a source from the production house.

The MMS, which led to a traumatic year in Deepika's life, however is not on the internet. A source from Balaji confirmed, "We guess she convinced her boyfriend never to do that, and he too understood her perspective."

Meanwhile...

A FEW hoardings of Ragini MMS were pulled down in the city yesterday on charges of vulgarity.

A big hoarding was pulled down near the domestic airport. Chaudhary, who was in charge of putting up the hoarding, said, "The airport authorities asked us to remove the hoarding because it was cheap."

Hours later a few residents from a colony ripped off another display near Andheri station. "They said it was too vulgar to be put up in a residential area," revealed a source. This has left Balaji very angry. An official from the production house demanded, "This is an absolute mockery of democracy. Do we not have freedom of expression here?"

SRK to act on small screen again

Bollywood badshah Shah Rukh Khan is back to his roots - the small screen. Nearly two decades after featuring in fiction shows like Circus and Fauji, the superstar recently shot a cameo for Colors' new show Sasural Simar Ka. 

The 45-year-old was quite excited about the shoot, and squeezed in time out of his choc-a-bloc schedule for it, said a source from the channel. The channel arranged to shoot the sequence at Mannat, his residence in Bandra, Mumbai. 

"The story appealed to him as Sasural Simar Ka deals with a girl Simar, who can go to any length to make her dreams of a being an expert dancer come true," said the source.

Though the actor kept his strings attached to TV through reality shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati, Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain and Zor Ka Jhatka, this is Shah Rukh's first appearance in a TV serial ever since he achieved star status.

In his cameo in Sasural Simar Ka, Shah Rukh plays judge of a dance reality show Chak Dhoom Dhoom, in which Simar, the protagonist wants to participate without the knowledge of her father.

Actress Deepika Samson, who plays Simar, was on cloud nine after shooting with King Khan.

"It was a lifetime experience to shoot or be around SRK. I froze when I saw Shah Rukh. He made me feel so comfortable. I keep pinching myself to believe that I shot with him," said Samson.

Rani Mukherjee wants to host a talk show | Video News

Now Veena Malik to do comedy!

After making us laugh with her antics (remember the preening in the mirror), the controversial Veena Malik will now use her comic talent on reality stage all over again.

The Pakistani girl has been roped in by Sony's Comedy Circus to be part of their upcoming season titled as Comedy Circus Key Tansen. As suggested by the title, the show will have singers as participants too. Every team will be a trio of a TV celebrity, singer and a comedian.

Some of the names confirmed on the show are Abhijeet Sawant, Hard Kaur, Raja Hassan and Abhaas Joshi. Shweta Tiwari has been retained in the upcoming season which will launch on the Fool's Day. Considering the two cats (Veena and Shweta) from Bigg Boss will come together again, we can look forward to some fireworks.

Osama's gang threatens Veena

Veena Malik, who became a household name after appearing on the Indian reality show, has received death threats from Taliban. 

 She is in possession of a letter (a copy of which is available with TOI) by Maulana Masood, Mujaheddin leader connected with Osama bin Laden, accusing her of humiliating Islam and Pakistan's name during her stay in the Bigg Boss' house. The helpless model-turned-TV star has decided to seek asylum in other countries.

The actress who cosied up with male contestants on the show and flaunted her curves unabashedly was criticised by the media in her country. Says the defiant girl, "I'm an artist and I would have felt guilty if I had done something wrong, but I haven't. I have worn the same clothes in Pakistan and behaved in the same fashion back home, so suddenly what's my fault? I cannot be issued death threats for participating in a TV show in India."

"We are neighbours for God's sake and artists should have no boundaries to worry about."

Veena, who is currently shooting a cricket show for an Indian TV news channel says, "I went back to Pakistan knowing the repercussions of my vibe on the show, but I never thought in my wildest of dreams that I would have to contemplate about leaving my country, my birthplace. Right now, I'm being forced to think about seeking asylum. Now that even my parents are being threatened, I don't see how we can continue to stay in Pakistan."