Sony Music has decided to digitally release the soundtrack of forthcoming film "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" a week before its original launch on demand from fans.

The album will have an online release June 14, and it'll be followed by the usual launch June 21. Post spectacular musical success of 2006 movie "Rang De Basanti", this is Sony Music’s second project with director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.

“Zinda”, the first song from “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” sung by Siddharth Mahadevan, was released on YouTube May 30 followed by “Mere yaar” and “Maston ka jhund”.

Sanujeet Bhujabal, marketing director, Sony Music India, said: “We released 'Zinda' two weeks ago and since then have been getting calls to release the album in its entirety.”

"The video of the song has received humungous likes and comments demanding the immediate release of the entire album. We along with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra Productions have decided to make the entire album available to fans earlier. We are supremely confident of the music and want fans to have access to it as soon as possible,” added Bhujabal.

A biopic on former Indian athlete Milkha Singh, “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag” will see filmmaker-actor Farhan Akhtar in the title role and Sonam Kapoor will be seen as his love interest.

It is slated to release July 12.

A mother of a two-year-old boy and a pampering housewife, Doyel Saragi from Kolkata is a finalist on TV cookery competion "Masterchef - Kitchen Ke Superstars". Whether she wins or not, she hopes she is able to set an example for women who have talent but it remains within the four was of their house.

Her father introduced Doyel to the world of cooking at a young age, and her passion for it just continues to grow. She says cooking gives her a 'nasha' (high).

"As a homemaker, my day used to start and end with cooking. I used to keep trying different dishes and making my friends and relatives eat it. But I was always cooking within a 'daayra' (boundary)," Doyel said here in an interaction.

"My husband and family pushed me to go out and cook on a bigger platform and showcase my talent. I think everyone should break boundaries and I hope people, especially women, look up to me as an example and step out to show their talent," she added.

Doyel is currently among the three finalists of "Masterchef - Kitchen Ke Superstars".

She is competing with Delhi-based Ripudaman Handa and Navneet Rastogi from Varanasi for the title.

The finale episode will be aired on Star Plus Friday.

Doyel visited the dargah of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti here Monday with her contenders to pray for her "dreams" to come true.

"It's a do or die situation," she said, adding: "I'm the only girl in the finalists, so please vote and make me win!"

Doyel, who is lively in nature and a go-getter, says if she manages to win "Masterchef", she will first buy a house for her nuclear family.

"We live in rented accomodation as of now. Also, I would like to make a fixed deposit for my son. I want to host cookery workshops and want to learn all sorts of cuisines," she said.

But an ultimate dream that she harbours is to open a restaurant where kids have no restriction on the way they eat or conduct themselves.

"There will be books and toys, and kids can do what they want, mess around... that's the kind of restaurant I'd like to open," said Doyel, who is a professional at cooking any fish dish.

Dedh Ishqiya, sequel to the successful and acclaimed Ishqiya, is slated for December 13, 2013, release.

Directed by Abhishek Chaubey, produced by Vishal Bhardwaj Productions and Shemaroo Entertainement, the Ishqiya Series is about the romantic adventures of Khalujan (Nasiruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi) with beautiful, irresistible and dangerous women of redoubtable character.

In Ishqiya, Vidya Balan was the femme fatale who lead the two men a merry dance while in Dedh Ishqiya, fun is doubled with Madhuri Dixit and Huma Qureshi playing the seductresses with 'nawabi ada'.

Dedh Ishqiya music is by Vishal Bhardwaj and the lyrics are by Gulzar.

Actress Preeti Gupta who has been seen in shows like "Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii", says she will shoot with a French director soon.

"There is this film, which is with this French director...right now I don't want to talk about it too much...We will be shooting in India," she said.

The actress made her big screen transition with films - "Blemished Light" and "Mere Haule Dost" and says "everything is challenging in life".

"I went to New York to study method acting. That opened up my world. Then I did two independent films," said Preeti who has even trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute - New York.

Sixteen years after the tragic Uphaar cinema fire here, the kin of the 59 killed on that faithful day said they "feel cheated" with several offshoots of their legal battle still pending in various courts.

Neelam Krishnamoorthy, who lost both her children in the fire that engulfed the theatre, has been fighting the litigations for the past 16 years with the sole motive of taking it to a logical conclusion.

She said: "I never thought it would take whole my life. Even after 16 years the case has not reached any logical conclusion. We are disappointed. I feel let down by the system."

Krishnamoorthy, who is also the president of the Association of the Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT), told IANS that their cause has always been subject to the government's apathy. She says that it was "frustrating" that the judiciary was taking more than 16 years to conclude the cases.

"We are the victims. We lost our children and relatives in the fire. We feel disillusioned and dejected. After 16 years, we haven't got any justice," she said.

"They (Sushil Ansal and Gopal Ansal, who owned the theatre) took away the lives of innocent people who went to watch a movie. A trial court sentenced them to just two years in jail for killing so many people. The high court reduced the sentence to one year. It is very frustrating," Krishnamoorthy said.

After a lengthy trial, the Ansal brothers were found guilty of "causing death by negligent" act. A Delhi trial court awarded them two years' rigorous imprisonment in November 2007. In December 2008, the Delhi High Court reduced the duo's sentences from two years to one year.

The Supreme Court granted them bail Jan 30, 2009.

An appeal challenging the one-year sentence is pending in the Supreme Court in which the court had reserved its verdict April 17, 2013.

Fifty-nine people were killed and over 100 injured in the subsequent stampede when a fire ravaged Uphaar cinema in south Delhi June 13, 1997. The people had gone to watch 'Border', a Hindi film starring Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty, Akshaye Khanna and Pooja Bhatt.

After receiving critical acclaim for his Telugu directorial debut "Midhunam", actor-filmmaker Tanikella Bharani's next feature will be a period drama inspired by real incidents.

The film is expected to go on the floors next year.

"It's a period drama based on real incidents and it's a highly engrossing story. The characters are extremely strong and the script needs a lot of research and will take time. It will go on floors early next year," the film's producer Neelima Tirumalasetti, told IANS.

The film's title has been finalised, but the casting is yet to be done.

"The title is confirmed, but we would like to reveal it later. We will start casting once the script is completely done," she added.

Neelima says it's the story that prompted her to fund the project.

"I have always believed that for a movie - the story is the essence. This is true for this movie too. All I want to do is to give my hundred percent to make the best movie possible," she said.

Bharani impressed critics and fans alike with his low-budget drama "Midhunam", which featured only two characters played by S.P Balasubramanyam and Lakshmi.

A popular actor in the Telugu industry, Bharani has starred in over 500 films. He has penned the dialogues for films such as Ram Gopal Varma's "Siva", "Money Money" and "Yamaleela".

The 56-year old has written 10 plays and has also directed short films like "Siraa", "Key" and "Blue Cross".

Actor Emraan Hashmi says he felt he had reached saturation point with dark and intense roles in his decade-long film career, and that his forthcoming movie "Ghanchakkar", a comedy entertainer, came as a much-awaited break for him.

"I wanted to do a comedy film for a long time. I had done a lot of intense films and dark roles, but I think that was reaching a saturation point," the 34-year-old said here Wednesday at a promotional even for "Ghanchakkar".

The actor has portrayaed intense roles in almost all his films, including "Murder", "Zeher", "Kalyug", "Gangster", "Jannat", "Raaz - The Mystery Continues", "Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai", "Jannat 2" and "Shanghai".

So, "Ghanchakkar" seemed like a whiff of fresh air.

"When ('Ghanchakkar' director) Rajkumar Gupta narrated the script to me, I felt that the comedy and the sense of humour is something through which I want to project myself," he added.

Emraan believes "Ghanchakkar" is going to change the way people see comedies.

"It is one of the best scripts I have heard and it is going to change the way we see comedies. Slapstick comedies, I think, have had it's course, people have seen a lot of them and (I guess) let's do something else now," Emraan said.

"This is a new page in comedies, something people have not seen and have been missing out on. I am sure the audience will like it," he added.

Produced by UTV, "Ghanchakkar" is about a Maharashtrian man, essayed by Emraan, and his loud Punjabi housewife, played by Vidya Balan. The film releases June 28.

Actress Sonam Kapoor likes to keep it as natural as possible when she is on front of the camera, and says she can't use glycerine to cry for a movie scene.

"I go so deep into the character that I make myself unwell. It becomes disturbing at times. I have taken training for acting for a year. I can never cry with the help of glycerine. Whenever I cry on screen I cry naturally, if I am happy, I am genuinely happy on screen," Sonam told IANS.

Sonam, who is awaiting the release of her forthcoming film "Raanjhanaa", says she doesn't mind giving umpteen retakes until her director is satisfied.

"I am a director's actor. If my acting is appreciated, it's because of the director, and if it's not appreciated, it's all again because of the director. I will keep giving them takes till they are convinced," she added.

Directed by Anand L.Rai, "Raanjhaana" features southern star Dhanush opposite Sonam. It releases June 21.

For unforgettable cinema entertainment, there should a perfect synthesis of sound and visuals, says sound designer and mixer Vishnu, who is currently busy with the much anticipated Tamil horror-thriller "Pizza 2: The Villa", a sequel to highly successful "Pizza" in the same language.

"To give audiences an unforgettable experience of watching cinema, sound should be given due importance in a film. In other words, sound should elevate the overall visual experience of viewing cinema," Vishnu told IANS.

"There should a perfect synthesis of sound and visuals for audiences to get immersed in the film. 'Pizza' was specially lauded for the sound experience and we all know the importance of sound particularly in a horror film," he added.

While "Pizza" was mixed 7.1 sound format, its sequel is being mixed in Dolby Atmos - an object based sound platform - popularised by films such as "Life of Pi" and "Brave".

"Pizza 2: The Villa" is the second film after "Sivaji 3D" to use Atmos. Vijay-starrer Tamil action-drama "Thalaivaa" will also be coming out in the same sound format soon.

Did the success of "Pizza" have an effect on you work?

"Absolutely and that's why we wanted to take the sound experience up by a notch. If 7.1 could scare bejesus out of the audiences, then you can imagine what Atmos could do," he said.

Vishnu, however, clarifies that this sound format is not necessarily for horror genre.

"I disagree with the fact that you need advanced sound platform only for horror films or any particular genre. It can effectively be used even for a musical. It basically gives the freedom to a sound engineer to improvise with sound within a closed environment," he added.

"Pizza 2: The Villa" is directed by debutant Deepan Chakravarthy. It features Ashok Selvan and Sanchita Shetty in the lead.

The film, which is nearing completion, is produced by C.V Kumar, who had previously produced "Pizza". Santhosh Narayan has been roped in to compose music for the movie.

Vidya Balan confesses that after reading the script of "Ghanchakkar", she felt it would be the best film for her to enter the comic genre.

"Ghanchakkar" is also director Raj Kumar Gupta's first light-hearted film after grim and gritty celulloid offerings "Aamir" and "No One Killed Jessica".

"He (Gupta) was offering me such a different film and I felt this would be the best film as my first comedy," the 33-year-old said here Wednesday at a promotional event for the film.

"While reading the script I felt that it is very interesting and I had never read anything like that. It's about real situations and real people. So, I had to say yes and I am so happy I did," added the actress who has teamed up with Gupta for the second time after "No One Killed Jessica".

At all "Ghanchakkar" promotions Vidya dresses like her character Neetu and this one was no different as both, the actress and her co-star Emraan Hashmi, acted like their characters from the movie.

Produced by UTV, "Ghanchakkar" is a comic-thriller and is coming out June 28.

At last that film on the life and loves of master storyteller Guru Dutt, which every prominent filmmaker wants to make, will be made by "Dharm" fame Bhavna Talwar.

What's more, she has secured exclusive rights to use all the celebrated songs from Dutt's cinema.

Shedding light on her ambitious Guru Dutt biopic, Bhavna said: "It would look at the man and the filmmaker from one range of vision, mine. There will be lots of music. But only what is required. We won't over-use Guru Dutt's vast repertoire of music just because we have access to it."

Sachin Dev Burman, Sahir Ludhianvi, Geeta Dutt, and Mohammad Rafi... the super-iconic music makers were an integral part of Guru Dutt's cinema. And now immortal songs such as "Jaane kya tune kahi", "Waqt ne kiya kya haseen situm", "Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaye toh kya hai" and "Dekhi zamanein ki yaari" would now feature as part of the biopic.

Saregama/HMV, the oldest and most well-stocked music company of the country, which owns the copyrights for all the songs and music of Guru Dutt's cinema, has given Bhavna the exclusive right to use the entire body of Guru Dutt's music.

Adarsh Gupta, Business Head of Saregama, confirmed the deal.

As for Guru Dutt's family raising objections to the biopic, a source close to Bhavna's film said: "We're very clear on the legal aspect of filming a real-life personality. We'll only be using information on Guru Dutt that is in the public domain."

Popular Telugu actors such as Jhansi, Rallapali, Subbaraya Sharma, Uttej and many more have united to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of renowned Telugu playwright Gurazada Apparao June 16. "Kanyasulkam", a 120-year old play, will be performed as a tribute.

About the trials and tribulations of women since the evolution of mankind, Apparao's "Kanyasulkam" is touted to be the greatest play ever written in Telugu.

"This is our way of paying respect to one of the best playwrights in Telugu. 'Kanyasulkam' was staged for the first time many years ago, and since then it has been staged so many times. It will be an honour for us to perform again," D.S Deekshith, director of the play, told IANS.

"The reason we have roped in actors is because they can draw the audiences. Theatres actors alone can't attract audiences in this era of films. These are actors who have years of theatre experience and don't mind taking out time," he added.

Gurazada was also famous for other plays such as "Minugurlu", "Kondubhatteeyam". He has also penned several poems such as "Poornamma", "Kanyaka" and "Subhadra".

"We have been rehearsing over the last few weeks. I'm so happy with the support I have received from actors such as Jhansi and Rallapali sir. It's actually a very long play that runs for 10 hours, but we have shortened it to about two-and-a-half hour," he said.

The play will be performed at the Ravindra Bharati as part Sangamam theatre festival.

Deekshith feels more actors should actively participate in theatre.

"I think only film actors can save theatre from extinction. Today, there is a film released every week, but theatre can't happen on a weekly basis because people involved in it have their regular jobs," he said and added once in a while actors can participate in plays, it will benefit theatre.

"Actors, who entered films via theatre have stopped participating and that's disheartening. I wish they don't discard theatre and take out time occasionally to take part," he added.

Film: "Ankur Arora Murder Case"; Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Arjun Mathur, Vishakha Singh, Paoli Dam, Tisca Chopra and Manish Chaudhary; Writer: Vikram Bhatt; Director: Suhail Tatari; Rating: ****

Picture this. A mother watches her young son being wheeled into the operation theatre for a minor operation. The child never returns.

Medical negligence is passe. Medical arrogance is the new menace. Enter a high-end seven-star hospital and you're bound to run into the incredibly arrogant Dr. Asthana (Kay Kay Menon, back in fabulous form), who addresses the media as though he was obliging them by giving out information and who tells his junior, "Medicine is not just about healing. It's also about making money. Who pays the bills of those who can't afford them? The rich of course."

But of course.

The pragmatism underscoring the Hippocratic Oath bypasses the young idealistic Rohan(Arjun Mathur), the intern who dares to speak out of turn to question Dr. Asthana's supreme authority in the hospital.

Taking the conflict between the blase megalomaniacal medicine-man and the idealistic intern as the central point in the plot, Vikram Bhatt has written a script that is partly a conscience-pricking morality tale, and partly a racy thriller set in the spick-and-span corridors of a high-end hospital where, for the record, an eminent surgeon has just goofed up.

But shhhh! No one in his intimidated medical team is allowed to speak of his horrid faux pas.

The "Ankur Arora Murder Case" is one of the most gripping moral dramas in recent times. The deftly crafted script raises the question of right and wrong in the medical profession without getting peachy or hysterical. Somewhere, Dr. Asthana's medical arrogance connects with each one of us who has in one way or another encountered deadends in healthcare.

Looking at Kay Kay Menon's brilliantly underscored emphatically italicised performance, I finally understood what was meant by the Biblical proverb, "Physician, heal thyself".

Many portions of the pacy plot would seem excessively racy. The post-interval helping seems specially eager to seek out unexpected twists and turns. And that's fine. The idea of making a film on medical ethics is to ensure that audiences' participation in the proceedings never flags. To that extent, director Suhail Tatari (who earlier directed the gripping thriller 'My Wife's Murder'), keeps the large array of conflicted characters in a constant state of self-questioning anxiety. It's cinematically a terrific space to be in. Tatari explores that space with intelligence, sensitivity and some charm.

While not allowing us to forget that we are watching a medical thriller, Tatari also gives deepened shape to various inter-relationships in the plot. The characters are convincing and yet distant from what we generally perceive to be authentic cinema. The narration moves on two different levels: the headline-inspired pseudo-documentary and the sprawling soap opera that life often throwns open in situations that we see as too unreal to be happening.

The performances in both the first-half (the medical drama) and the second-half (the courtroom conflict) are all supremely poised. The actors assume brilliancy without getting compromised by the need to shine. Tisca Arora's bereaved mother's act is so real and restrained! She gives us goosebumps when after her son's death, she gets busy on her smartphone to fob off the terrible reality of the tragedy. Really, Tisca is one of our most underrated actresses.

Kay Kay Menon rediscovers the awe-inspiring actor within himself with a performance that leaves us repelled and fascinated. Arjun Mathur as the daring intern who takes on the mighty medicine man exudes integrity without brimming over with righteous indignation. In an era when all our filmy heroes are growing stubbles and trying to look mean, Arjun plays a true-blue old-fashioned hero (the kind who used to fight for the truth) in a very contemporary context and style.

Paoli Dam, who had played a sexually intense role in "Hate Story", undergoes a personality volte face. As a lawyer battling on behalf of the powerful medical mafia, she pitches a poignant but strong performance. Some of the film's most powerful moments feature Paoli with her courtroom opponent (Manish Chaudhury, brilliant) in bed and on the brink. The way Paoli and Tisca connect as two grieving mothers, is a masterstroke of scripting.

Indeed, this is is a far cleverer, wiser and relevant film than most of what we get to see these days. At a time when Bollywood is raining bubbles and effervescence about
'jawaani deewanis' and 'yamla paglas', this sobering clenched disturbing medical thriller comes as an invigorating cloudburst. The film makes out a scathing and rousing case against medical malpractices.

Bursting at the seams with acting talent, director Suhail Tatari's restorative drama hits us where it hurts the most. The conscience.

Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" has had the biggest release ever for an English film in Tamil Nadu - it released Friday in 145 screens all over the state.

"This will be the biggest release of an English film ever in the state. We are releasing the Tamil version of the film in about 120 screens and the English version in 25 screens. I think the Superman craze will take the box-office by storm," a spokesperson of Sri Thenandal Films, the film's distributor in Tamil Nadu, told IANS.

The film is also titled "Man of Steel" in Tamil.

"While the film will be screened in English in major multiplexes in Chennai and Coimbatore, other places will play the Tamil version," added the spokesperson.

"Man of Steel", a reboot of the story of Superman, features Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishurne and Michael Shannon.

The film is jointly produced by Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas and Deborah Snyder. Nolan and David Goyer have penned the story.

A Mumbai community NGO Friday strongly objected to what it termed a "blasphemous" item number featuring starlet Kavitta Verma, likely to be shown in the forthcoming Bollywood movie "Policegiri".

The NGO, Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), has written to the movie producers and the Censor Board protesting the scantily-clad Kavitta allegedly performing the item number wearing a rosary with its cross positioned on her belly.

"The community is concerned. The rosary which she is shown wearing around her neck has its cross positioned on her belly ," CSF general secretary Joseph Dias told IANS.

Terming this as "totally unacceptable," Dias pointed out that Christians respect the rosary which they use to intercede with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and reflect in prayer on the various stages in the life of Jesus Christ.

He said that the producer of the movie, T.P. Aggarwal, had assured them that the objectionable scenes would not be shown in the movie, due for release July 5.

However, Dias said that in case the producer still goes ahead and depicts the scene, the CSF would initiate criminal proceedings against the makers of the movie.

Dias further urged the Censor Board to ensure that the offensive scenes were deleted from the movie before giving it clearance for release.

Incidentally, "Policegiri" was among the handful of movies completed by incarcerated Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt before he went to jail to complete his sentence in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case last month.

Dias urged the producers and the government to take necessary steps to remove the promo pictures of the item number from the Internet as it hurts the religious sentiments of the entire Christian community globally.

Randeep Hooda’s love for horses is well known and the busy actor currently owns five of them. But now the actor is adding a whole team of studs to his stable. “I have bought a polo team and we will be playing when the Indian Polo season begins later this year. We’ll be playing post October in Jaipur, Delhi and other places in India,” says Randeep.

“I am planning to name the team Royal Roosters, as it has a royal and naughty touch and the sport can do with some fun,” he says. Asked about this unusual purchase, the actor says, “Some people buy properties, others precious jewellery, but I have put my money in things I love.”

Randeep will need 20-24 horses for the team and will bring in professional players from India and abroad. “They will be stationed in Jaipur. When I get time off from my movie commitments, I can practise and might then be able to play in the team too. I am clear that I won’t go on the field without practice or else I will make a fool of myself,” he says.

The actor is not new to the sport though. “I had given polo a back seat and taken up show jumping. This probably is the first time that Bollywood and polo have come together in real life. I hope that helps to take the sport to the next level,” he says.

While other sports are almost like religion in India, Randeep hopes to popularise polo. “Contrary to the royal and uptight image of polo, I want to bring it to a younger generation. This is a great sport that can have a larger audience and appeal to more people. Sportsmanship is lacking in many other sports that I don’t want to name. I am teaming up with the Royal India Polo Company and they are helping me in taking calls for the team. I will be looking at major corporate and private individuals for sponsorship too,” he says.

After being in the business and having been part of some of the most unique experiences as an international actor, Freida Pinto has finally decided to take to the world of social networking. After refraining for so long, Freida has finally created a Facebook page and gotten onto Instagram.

“Known to be quite a reticent especially with the media, seeing her actively engage with her fans is nice. She’s been lucky to have such diverse experiences which people would love to know about. In addition, she’s one of those people who is more expressive and likes having pictures to support her point of view. That’s why she’s chosen a more photo led interactive medium like Instagram and an intensive interaction based forum like Facebook. Her experiences range from attending awards shows to being on film sets to attending high end fashion events, charity based events and concerts. ” says a source close to Freida.

Her spokesperson confirmed this development and says that she plans on starting her online engagement in the coming week balancing her life as an actor and her charity work.

"Dasavathaaram" fame director K.S. Ravikumar's first Hindi movie, Sanjay Dutt starrer "Policegiri", is a remake of Tamil film "Saamy" and he says his next would again be a remake, but of his own film.

"After 'Policegiri', my next film would be a remake of my own film. I am not allowed to reveal much about my next film, but all I can say is it will be a remake of my own film," Ravikumar told IANS.

He is right now in "talks with few A list actors" for the next Bollywood movie.

"I an planning to cast some established actor for this film," said Ravikumar, a well-known Tamil director who has been planning to enter Bollywood for a long time.

"I was planning to make my Bollywood debut long back but nothing worked out. Now things are falling into place," he said.

"Policegiri" also features Prachi Desai in the female lead and it is schedule for a July 5 release.

Padma Khanna, a popular name in Hindi and Bhojpuri films in the 1970s, who currently resides in New Jersey and runs the Indianica Dance Academy, says she never really gave up acting. And she says she still gets offers from Mumbai and is ready to return to celluloid if given a "very special role".

Still remembered for her dance in the song "Husn ke lakhon rang", the actress took life the way it came. "I never really gave it up; however, life brought me to a precipice. I was at a point in life where I had a choice and chose to start anew - to share the art and culture that drives me till this day."

At the young age of 7, she started learning Kathak from Guru Kishen Maharaj of Varanasi. At the age of 12, she started performing on stage to the accompaniment of tabla wizard Pundit Shamta Prasad. She learnt advanced Kathak from Gopi Krishna.

Currently, she is busy with the upcoming 17th annual cultural show of her academy - Chamakte Sitare 2013 - which will be held June 22 at Plainfield High School, New Jersey.

She debuted as an actress in the 1961 Bhojpuri film "Bhaiyya" at the age of 12. Her big break came in 1970 when she played a cabaret dancer in "Johnny Mera Naam". She acted in more than 400 movies of all Indian languages, among them "Saaz Aur Awaaz", "Biwi Aur Makaan", "Baharon Ke Sapne", "Sangharsh", "Dastaan", "Hindustan Ki Kasam", "Rampur Ka Lakshman" and "Saudagar".

Married to film director Jagdish L. Sidana, the actress came to the US in the 1990s and founded the Indianica Dance Academy.

What drove her to leave the stardom of Bollywood?

"I came here because I noticed a dearth of classical Indian art, especially in the dance form," she said.

"It also happened that my children wanted to further their studies in the United States. My husband and I couldn't stay away from them. We migrated together as a family to the United States and our togetherness has made all things possible for us," the actress told Hi India newspaper here in an interview.

And she really gets nostalgic while talking about "Saudagar" where she shared screen with legends like Nutan and Amitabh Bachchan and got critical acclaim for her role as Phool Bano. Based on a Bengali story by Narendranath Mitra and directed by Sudhendu Roy, Padma, who speaks fluent Bengali, feels it was a dream role.

Though she says it's difficult for her to pick most memorable experience as an actress, "Saudagar", of course, has its place.

Recalling the film's shooting, she said: "We had no sets; it was mostly shot at the India-Bangladesh border. There was a scene where my character gets beaten by the protagonist (Amitabh Bachchan). That part of the script was not written and I had to respond to his anger. In actuality, he was thrashing a jute bag and I was responding to his dialogue from behind the camera. After that scene we had a good laugh."

She also acted opposite a Bengal tiger!

"In a film called 'Chhaila Baabu' in the late 1970s, the cast and crew were phenomenal plus I got to work with a Bengal Tiger, they didn't believe in CG (computer graphics) or animation. It was all real!"

Padma acted in TV serials, the most popular among them being "Ramayan", in which she played Kaikeyi, one of the two pivotal female characters. And she has special memories of that too.

"Ramanand Sagar was directing a scene of the Kop Bhavan when Kaikayi is upset with King Dashrath. It was such an emotionally-charged scene that both of us kept weeping long after the camera had stopped rolling," she said.

A big fan of 'dancer' Sridevi, the yesteryear's dancing queen of Bollywood is more than happy with what she got in life - immense respect from the entire film fraternity as well as from her students at Indianica.

Zarina Wahab says she agrees with Jiah Khan's mother that her son Sooraj was not the right person for the "Nishbad" actress, who committed suicide last week.

Jiah committed suicide at her residence in Mumbai's Juhu area June 3. She was 25.

On June 13, a Mumbai court sent Sooraj, son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina, to judicial custody till June 27 on charges of abetting the suicide of Jiah, who used the word "rape" in a six-page letter.

On an impulse, Zarina decided to pay an unannounced visit to Jiah's mother Rabiya on June 11. The meeting between the two grieving mothers apparently didn't go too well.

When contacted, Zarina she said she had indeed paid Jiah's mother a visit. "But it was not to pacify her or to work out any compromise in my son's favour. If he has done any wrong let him suffer the consequences," said the "Chitchor" fame actress.

"No, I went just as one mother reaching out to another. I suggested we go inside the house because there were a lot of media persons outside. Rabiyajiji was in no mood for any conversation with me. I wouldn't want to discuss what we spoke about."

On June 7, police recovered a note purportedly written by the actress speaking about her disturbed relationship with her alleged boyfriend Sooraj.

Jiah's mother claims that her daughter took the drastic step not due to the lack of assignments, but due to her troubled relationship with Sooraj.

"When Rabiyajiji says my son Sooraj was not the right person for her daughter, I completely agree with her. Jiah needed someone much more mature and experienced to take care of her," Zarina said.

"My son is just starting out. Jiah is supposed to have said in the letter that my son never loved her the way she did. I completely agree with that. Jiah was too much in love with my son. He just couldn't reciprocate in the same measure. But he cared deeply for her in his own way"

Zarina revealed that on May 18 Jiah landed up at the Pancholis' doorstep in an emotionally disturbed condition.

"She told us she had quarreled with her mother. She was very upset. Sooraj sat her down. He had a doctor's appointment. So he told others in the house not to leave her alone for a single moment. Sooraj knew she could harm herself," she added.

Zarina also refutes Rabiyaji's claims that Sooraj sent a "breakup bouquet" to Jiah on the ill-fated Monday when she passed away.

"That is nonsense. What is a breakup bouquet? Jiah told Sooraj that she had signed three new films. Sooraj told his assistant to order a bouquet and the card read, 'All The Best'. I know because I found out.

"Sooraj did not meet Jiah that Monday at all. So how could he have hit her? In fact, my son never raised his hand on Jiah or any women. I would disown him if he did. Her mother claims she has CCTV footage of my son visiting Jiah on Monday. Either she is hallucinating or lying. My son did not meet Jiah on the day she died," said Zarina.