I do my homework on the sets and take naps between shots: Sparsh

She's Sparsh known as Ichcha in the soap Uttaran which is running on COLORS.. The little dreamer from the slums who tried hard to be happy with the hand-me-down dresses and dolls of the rick and priviled, but hates her second -hand existence. All of 8, this amazimg bundle of talent is a joy to behold. Ask her where she learnt acting and Sparsh confidently replies, "Kahin bhi nahin. I just know what to do and say. I think about the little girl Ichcha who has none of the things that I do. I put myself in her place and then I just do what I have to. Yes I do feel sorry for Ichcha. But she's got a loving Mama, just like me." Such gravity and wisdom at 8! Doesn't Sparsh miss the normal little-girl's existence. "Why should I?" she shoots back. "I do everything I want to. I go to school in the mornings. Then shooting is in the afternoon. I go to sleep in the car and wake up only when I reach my shooting, "says this ordinary middleclass girl from Ulhasnagar who has suddenly been catapulted to popularity. "Do you really like my performance?" she questions. "I've done another serial Mera Sasural (on Sahara) where I played the heroine's bachpan ka role, and also another film (a music video of nursery rhymes) and I play Suniel Shetty uncle's daughter in the film Red Alert." Now of course it's the daily Uttaran on Colors all the way for little Sparsh. And she seems to be enjoying every bit of the attention. "My friends in school call me Ichcha or Hichki (her two names in the serial). Between school and the sets, I don't get tired because there's enough time to do everything. I do my homework on the sets and take naps between shots. I eat and do masti. In –between shots I play with Tapasya (real name Ishita, the girl who plays her friend)." Mother Sarita adds, "I really don't know where she got the talent from. Because we don't have any actors in our family."

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At 5, I made my singing debut with none other than Mohammed Rafi: Sagarika Mukherjee

She sashayed onto the musical scene when the album culture was just beginning to strike root in the country. But Sagarika left an impression. So much so 'Q-Funk, ' 'Naujawan, ' 'Roop Inka Mastana' and 'Maa' are remembered by music buffs even years after their release. Sagarika, the older sister of Bollywood singing sensation Shaan, took a break from the industry for a few years post marriage. Now on a comeback trail, the singer was in the city recently to sing a solo for composer Sunny Viswanath. Excerpts from an interview: On staging a comeback After marriage, I wanted to take a break for a year but it went on to be five years! In the meanwhile, I raised my boys - Michel and Joshua - and transformed myself into a restaurateur. My husband and I set up the Olive Bar and Kitchen chain of restaurants. Now it's time to come out of the bawarchi image! We moved to London some time ago. A chance meeting with UK based percussionist Talvin Singh was an eye-opener. Together we did an 18 city tour of Europe and I sang mild classical numbers. The response and encouragement I got was tremendous. My singing debut That happened when I was five and with none other than Mohammed Rafi! Mummy picked me up from school and we went straight to the recording studio. Singing the track, putting on the headphones...it was all new to me. It was only years later that I realised that I had shared the microphone with a legend. The Bollywood encounter As a child artist, I sang in nearly 15 films and did a number of jingles. As a teenager, I lent my voice to a couple of Hindi films. But I've not had many good experiences with the composers in the industry. Being a girl, it was tough to survive there. If a composer gave me a song, it was as if he was doing me a great favour than regarding it as a professional exchange. My tastes didn't match Bollywood's; so I moved away. Turning point When Atul Chiramani of Magna Sounds invited me to do an album song, little did I know what was in store. I took Shaan along and introduced him to Atul and composer Biddu. Thus 'Naujawan' happened. It was a hit and our lives changed. Q-Funk came next and sold a million copies. 'Disco Deewane' 'Fifty Fifty' and 'Maa' were also lapped up by the public. I needed a break I was growing a little tired of stage shows, fan following and recognition and wanted time to discover my space as a singer. In the meanwhile, I got married to Martin Da Costa (he runs an event management company in Mumbai), had kids and got into the hospitality industry. The shift to London brought my hibernating music career back to life. Now I'm experimenting with different styles of music and listening to gifted singers from all over the globe. It was only after the European tour that I realised that I had been leading a frog-in-the-well existence! Am happy to discover a soul enriching world outside. In fact, when we shifted base to London, I was in search of this feeling. Now that my younger one has learnt to speak and can voice his needs, I am ready to take a plunge into music. My brother, Shaan Being the older one, I was always protective of him. I remember the days when he used to imitate Kishore Kumar's voice before he finally developed his own style. Today, when I see young singers aspiring to be Shaan, I feel so happy for that little boy who cried at a recording 'coz his voice didn't gel with the music. Music is in our blood (Shaan and Sagarika are the children of the late Bengali composer Manash Mukherjee). He has lived true to dad's advice "Never be satisfied with mediocrity." Am happy for his success. The jodi again? We'd love to work together again. The last time we came together was for 'Tomor Aakash' (2004), a Bengali album in which we brought out dad's unreleased songs. London dreams Music is big time out there. It's an exciting city. Thanks to the acceptance and respect they get in London, many Indian classical artists have made the city their home. It's an amalgam of every culture you can think of. I love being there. My hobbies I finally became net savvy! It's amazing to have the whole world on a tiny screen. I thoroughly enjoy surfing the net. We often frequent restaurants, especially Polish and Japanese. It's fun taking the kids to cultural shows and children's theatres. Now that I'm trying to build a career in music in London with a Brazilian band, am into learning Portuguese and Brazilian. Looking forward to Making quality music in collaboration with talented musicians from all over the world. I preferred melodies but now I am into experimenting with different moods and textures. Some time later, I'll delve into devotional music but not the typical style we are used to listening to. It'll be something different.

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The minute I set my eyes on Shakeel I knew he was THE man I'll marry: Amrita Arora

It’s arguably the most important day of her life. And Amrita Arora is naturally excited as she prepares for her Christian wedding to beau Shakeel Ladak. The nikaah is two days later. “We were supposed to have a church wedding today, ” Amrita chatters excitedly as the makeup lady does her most challenging job ever for the actress. “But there were some security hassles. So we quickly moved the venue to Olive. But no hassles because we always had a standby ready. ” Amrita gives full credit to her sister Malaika for all the arrangements. “I know nothing about the wedding arrangement. It was all done by my sister who put her own life on hold to look into my wedding details. I’m blessed to have such a supportive family. I’ve my wedding today (Wednesday 4 March) and I’m talking to you while my folks are taking care of everything, ” the bride got emotional as her mother reminded her she needed to hurry up with the dressing up. But Amrita decided to get introspective. “You know, the minute I set my eyes on Shakeel I knew he was the man I wanted to marry. It’s like a karmic connection. I just felt it. I had never felt this before. Shakeel is everything that I want my husband to be. And I’m determined to make our marriage work. I’ll do whatever it takes.” Ask her about the honeymoon which will follow the sangeet on Thursday and the nikaah on Friday and Amrita shrugs, “ The problem is, both Shakeel and I are so widely traveled we’ve nowhere to go that we can claim as being our private honeymoon spot. There doesn’t seem to be any place that neither of us has not visited. I guess we’ll just hold each other’s hand close our eyes and point to any part of the globe as our honeymoon spot. It doesn’t matter where we go as long as we’re together. ”

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Kareena Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan patch up... finally

It is learnt from reliable sources that Kareena Kapoor has finally patched up with the Bachchans now. Few days back it was wrongly reported in a Mumbai tabloid that the actress had ignored Amitabh Bachchan at an event completely. Infact a very close friend of the actress told us that Kareena is one person who will never do so in public. “She knows how to balance her professional life and personal life. She has never shown any animosity towards them. She has been born and brought up in this industry and the question of showing disrespect for the elders will never arise.” the close friend said. But now Mr. Bachchan has put all rumours to rest by writing in his blog that Kareena and family members as well as the Bachchan family have always given due respect to each other. Another source reveals, “Mr. Bachchan feels that Kareena is a very warm and affectionate person. She has never disrespected her elders. Mr. Bachchan has seen Kareena grown up in front of him as there has always been a huge connection between the Kapoors and the Bachchans from the great grand father times.” It is may be recalled that that the Bachchan family was not in touch with Kareena Kapoor after Abhishek Bachchan and Karishma Kapoor broke off their engagement. In fact Kareena and Abhishek had made their debut with J.P. Dutta’s film Refugee. The duo had also received good reveiews for their performance. But after their split Kareena and Abhishek Bachchan have never done a film. Sources had revealed that Abhishek Bachchan had refused to do films with Kareena though she was ready to work with him. In return Kareena had also refused to do Dostana with Abhishek when she was offered the film from Karan Johar.

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Indian Idol finally gets its first female winner

This time, the foruth series of popular TV show ‘Indian Idol’ was unique as the show finally got its first female winner in the form of Sourabhee Debbarma, who won title of ‘Indian Idol 4′ on Sunday ruling out her close contestants the Bengali girl Torsha Sarkar and army man Kapil Thapa. The 22 year old girl who surprisingly has had no professional training in music walked away with a Rs.10 million contract with Sony TV and a car. The result was based on public voting.

The celebrity guests of the finale included Bollywood stars John Abraham, Katrina Kaif and Neil Nitin Mukesh, who had come to promote their forthcoming film ‘New York’.

Others from the Indian film and music industry, including judges Javed Akhtar, Anu Malik, Kailash Kher and Sonali Bendre, too were present to cheer the finalists.

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Priyanka Chopra goes de-glam for ‘Kaminay’

Her recent releases ‘Fashion’ and ‘Dostana’ saw her in ultra glam roles with trendy mini skirts and even a bikini. Now, Priyanka Chopra is set for an image makeover with Vishal Bhardwaj’s ‘Kaminay’ in an all de-glam role. Priyanka plays a college going girl in the movie and to make her look at par with the character, she had to forego makeup in the film.

“In terms of look, it’s definitely not glamorous. In fact, you don’t really see me wearing too much make up in the film,” Priyanka told.

Speaking about her character in the film, Priyanka says: “Sweety is a very real character. She is a college-going girl in her early 20s and we have tried to keep her extremely believable. We tried to ensure that the look fits the characterization.”

Priyanka says that she had absolutely no apprehension about going de-glam for her role, “It was a conscious decision. I have always striven to do different things in each and every film of mine, be it with the character or the look. That’s visible in films like ‘Don’, ‘Love Story 2050′, ‘Fashion’ and ‘Dostana’. In continuation of that, ‘Kaminay’ and ‘What’s Your Rashee’ (by Ashutosh Gowariker) will see me essaying different characters, far removed from what I have ever played. I am very excited about both!”

’Kaminay’ is set to release on June 5 and the film will also see chocolate boy Shahid Kapoor in double roles.

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Preity Zinta in Napier to cheer Indian team

Bollywood star Preity Zinta made a surprise visit to the McClean park, moments before the toss in the first ODI between India and New Zealand there to cheer The Kings Eleven Punjab, an IPL franchisee co-owned by Zinta.

“I have been invited by the New Zealand Prime Minister and will be attending the official function hosted for the Indian team on March 5 at Wellington,” said Preity, who looked gorgeous as ever clad in faded blue jeans and a blood-red top.

Preity briefly met Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Irfan Pathan before the start of the match and wished them well. “I met Yuvraj, Dhoni and Irfan briefly. Nothing much,” she revealed.

Indian team moral was already down by white wash in T20 series. But it seems her present has worked magic and Indian team won that day’s match.

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Wedding Bells for Bollywood beauties

It is wedding time in Bollywood with two of our most gorgeous actresses tying knots with their hubby. Actress Amrita Arora got married to Shakeel Ladak by Catholic rituals at Olive restaurant in Mumbai. The wedding was graced by Bollywood biggies that include Gauri and Shah Rukh Khan, Anil Kapoor, Fardeen Khan and Zayed Khan with their wives along with Twinkle and Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia, Urmila Matondkar, Priyanka Chopra, Mehr and Arjun Rampal, Manish Malhotra, Tusshar Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan to name a few. However, there was an initial disappointment when the got a call from the Mt Mary Basilica stating that the wedding ceremony would not be possible because of security issues.

Also, this March, beautiful Ayesha Takia married her long time boyfriend Farhan. Her wedding took place on March 1, 2009 in Mumbai. They had a quiet nikaah as per Islamic tradition. Only family members attended the wedding ceremony which was a simple, private affair with only near and dear ones invited. On the night of 2 March, Ayesha and Farhan gave a party to their friends and other friends from the industry.

Check out the beautiful Bollywood ladies as coy brides at their wedding ceremony.

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