Soha set for Harvard

Soha Ali Khan is on cloud nine. The actress has been specially invited by the acclaimed Harvard University to deliver a lecture on Hindi cinema in an interactive session titled Cinema – Then and Now.

What's making the Oxford grad's visit to Harvard even more special is the fact that her mother, Sharmila Tagore, would be joining her during the session. The event will also screen Soha's works like Khoya Khoya Chand, Rang De Basanti and Antarmahal.

She will pay tribute to icons of Hindi cinema like Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Waheeda Rehman and her mother Sharmila Tagore in her lecture. "I'm quite excited and tense about my Harvard visit," says an excited Soha. "I have never really delivered a lecture on cinema before and I will be in front of the most academic followers of Indian films there. It's a really humbling experience that I have been chosen by them to speak about Indian cinema and that my films are also being screened."

About her lecture, Soha discloses, "I have done a thorough research of the cinema we have created over the ages. I have a pretty huge period to cover in my lecture, but I will touch upon landmark films, directors and actors who have made huge contributions in shaping up cinema as it is today. I will specially talk about how Meena Kumari, Madhubala and Waheeda Rehman and also my mom helped Indian cinema to shape up as it stands today."

She adds, "I will also talk about the actors and the directors (both commercial and art-house genre). Though commercial films might be called brainless films, they are films that the masses like and thus cannot be ignored at all. "

Working with ammi was bit scary: Soha Ali Khan

New Delhi, March 25 – Facing the camera with her mom was not an easy task for Soha Ali Khan who was ‘nervous’ while shooting with Sharmila Tagore for the film ‘Life Goes On’. This is the first time the duo will be seen together on screen. 

‘I didn’t forget my lines or anything, but I was nervous because she has a very good aesthetic sense,’ Soha told IANS in an interview here.

‘When in a good mood, she is amazing. But when in a bad mood, it’s like the worst thing ever. But she was very good and restrained during shooting and also suggested to me to follow director Sangeeta Datta’s instruction carefully,’ added the 32-year-old actor who was here for an event.

‘Life Goes On’ opens Friday and it is an emotional drama about generational conflict set in contemporary London.

Asked about her expectations, she said: ‘I have no expectation and I have learnt not to expect anything from films. Yes, it was great working for the movie. I got a chance to work with ammi (Sharmila). It’s quite an emotional movie where the journey of the loss of a mother and family is portrayed in a sensitive way,’ she said.

Banker-turned-actress Soha made her debut with Anant Mahadevan’s 2004 film ‘Dil Maange More’ and featured next year in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Rang De Basanti’.

For Soha, getting into showbiz was not an initial career choice, but thanks to her actor brother Saif and her mother, it soon became her profession too. Despite coming from an illustrious film family, she is still struggling for her share of limelight in tinseltown.

After the debacle of ‘Tum Mile’, Soha is hoping for a better future in Bollywood.

‘I was offered a variety of roles, which range from practical to interesting to downright outrageous, but things didn’t work out well. This year you will see me in a variety of roles,’ said Soha.

Her first release will be ‘Chemistry’ with Shreyas Talpade. Co-produced by Shreyas, the love story revolves around two people dumped by their respective partners and their lives afterwards.

‘It’s a mad role and you will see me in pink hair in it. My character is between Charlie Chaplin and Devanand Sagar. The character was a bit out of my normal acting range as I do more intense films. There is a lot of improvisation and laughs,’ she said.

‘I am also doing a film called ‘Sound track’ which is opposite Rajiv Khandelwal. It is an official remake of Hollywood comedy ‘It’s All Gone Pete Tong ‘. Rajiv plays DJ and I play a girl who is born deaf. I find the role very interesting. It was difficult to get into that mode because I can’t imagine life without sound and you can’t work it out either. So I kept on forgetting the fact that I am playing a deaf girl,’ said Soha.

Talking about her personal life, Soha, who is dating Kunal Khemu, said she is ready to settle down in a couple of years.

‘I am in comfortable space and we (Kunal and Soha) are happy with our career graphs; so whenever the right time comes, we will announce our marriage,’ she said.

What about Saif who said he’ll get married before her as he’s the elder brother?

‘That’s not necessary. I don’t have to wait for anyone because I don’t want to. If he takes 10 years then I will never wait. I don’t know how long he will take, he might tie the knot tomorrow!’ she said.

Every project is a first: Soha Ali Khan

She hasn't been seen on the big screen since the 2009 release Tum Mile, but that doesn't mean Soha Ali Khan has taken a cinematic hiatus. 

Her last release was supposed to be Tera Kya Hoga Johnny, which has been delayed for more than a year. However, she's been keeping herself busy shooting for films in "a whole gamut of genres" that she hopes will all release this year. Her next film, Life Goes On..., is very much a family affair and not just because it's a family drama. "This is the first time I've worked with my mother ( Sharmila Tagore) and perhaps the only time I'll work with her because she keeps threatening to retire. But I don't take her seriously in that regard," Soha tells TOI.

The film, which is set in London and is about how an Indian family comes to terms with the loss of the mother (played by Sharmila), will see Soha play a character very much like herself. "It's just me with a British accent. Of course, the fact that my mother plays my mother makes it all the more real. My character, who's the youngest of three siblings, is also someone who has been very protected and molly-coddled by her father and who's always keen to make her parents proud. She's very much like me — I have a big desire to make my father proud and it's crippling to me to disappoint him," explains Soha.

Right now, Soha's working on Soundtrack, which is the remake of the 2004 film It's All Gone Pete Tong about a DJ who goes deaf. "I play the girl in his life who's born deaf. It was quite challenging for me to learn how to play a role like that. I had to learn sign language and work on the speech a little bit because there will be a speech impediment," she says. There's also Chemistry, her first comedy, and Accident, her first horror film. When told that it seems to be a year of firsts for her, Soha says, "That's what excites me about cinema — getting a chance to try out new things. Every project is a first."

Unlike her contemporaries, Soha doesn't seem to have joined the rat race to be Bollywood's numero uno heroine. She also hasn't shied away from talking about her relationship with Kunal Khemu on the pretext that it would detract from her career. "I haven't experienced that yet. Obviously, there is an interest in your life. People like to know about it and read about it. They can also get ahead of themselves and ask when you're getting married; if you're married they want to know when you're getting divorced. But once it's out there, there's no scoop. So there's nothing interesting to talk about other than whether you're in a fight or secretly married. But people have the right to ask and you have the right to say 'no comment'," she says as a matter of fact.

While she is candid about her personal life, the one thing Soha won't discuss is her role in Winds of Change, the film adaptation of Salman Rushdie's Booker Prize-winning Midnight's Children. "I'll get into huge trouble if I do," she laughs, adding, "All I can say is that I'm in it and very excited. I think I'll be allowed to talk about it soon."

Soha Ali Khan sizzles in The Man October 2010

Soha Ali Khan is on the cover of The Man for the issue of October 2010.



Soha Ali Khan, who is dating actor Kunal Khemu, recently said in an interview that she has no plans to get married until her brother Saif Ali gets married to Kareena.

Soha Ali Khan Being Magazine Cover for Maxim

Soha Ali Khan seems to have learnt the nuances of Bollywood. Soha Ali khan had a disastrous “Khoya Khoya Chand”, and now she has decided to shed her inhibitions for bollywood and clothes for “Maxim“. Bollywood might get hotter this season with Soha Ali Khan.

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