Itni Starry Baatein with Abira: Recent Episodes
Itni Starry Baatein
We see the glitz and glamour of Bollywood but what is the story behind-the-scenes? Inti Starry Baatein is a weekly podcast where series host Abira Dhar catches up with India's favourite stars in their raw, uncut, uncensored avatars.
As this season of Itni Starry Baatein comes to an end, I take you on a journey with me and tell you my stories in this special episode – the stories that brewed behind the scenes of these starry interviews.
Over the course of this series, I've done so many interviews that it was hard for me to pick which ones to talk about. Kuch mazedar, kuch chatpati, aur kuch just plain emotional. I hope you enjoy listening to this episode.
In 2002, a 20-year-old woman, Neha Dhupia, was crowned Miss India and 20 years later The Quint sat down with her after she was re-crowned. Neha recalls the moment she was on stage with her kids, husband and parents, reliving the dream.
Neha who is also a mentor to women who compete in beauty pageants says that over the years it has become more and more difficult for young women because of the competition and social media.
She opens up about how she got into the film industry and her first film with Ajay Devgn. And she also has some advice for her 20-year-old self who was crowned Miss India.
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Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan's granddaughter Navya Nanda is the co-founder of Aara Health, a health platform aiming to create awareness and build services around women's health and hygiene in India. She is also the founder of Project Naveli, in collaboration with L'Oréal Paris, and will be a key spokesperson in ‘I Know My Worth’ Campaign.
During her conversation, Navya spoke about her entrepreneurship journey which she started very young, the sexism and ageism that she faces in the business world, her experiences with menstrual education and more.
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Finally, India has some statistics which point to the current state of female representation in the Indian film industry and digital space. Spearheaded by Ormax Media and Film Companion, and supported by Amazon Prime Video, we now have a detailed study that reveals the state of female participation, from boardrooms to film sets.
The Quint spoke to Aparna Purohit, the Head of India Originals, Prime Video, Anupama Chopra, Founder and Editor of Film Companion and actor Vidya Balan, who is known to play powerful characters on screen. The experts spoke in detail about their survey, and their experiences as women who were once vulnerable and are now in power.
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In this episode of Itni Starry Baatein, the mother-daughter actors' duo, Neena Gupta and Masaba Gupta, get candid about the behind-the-scenes stories of Masaba Masaba, now streaming on Netflix.
During the course of the conversation, Masaba revealed that although Neena comes across as an unconventional mother, she is as conventional as a mother can be.
They spoke about how the show incorporates parts of their life stories, the fashion extravaganza of season 2, how both of them tend to their emotions, the mature portrayal of mothers in filmmaking in recent times and much more.
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On this episode of Itni Starry Baatein, Anil Kapoor talkedabout his recent release JugJugg Jeeyo, working with Neetu Kapoor and Maniesh Paul, Sonam Kapoor's pregnancy, his upcoming release No Entry 2 and much more.
Recalling the time that Sonam Kapoor told him that he was going to be a grandfather, Anil Kapoor said, "I thought I won't feel emotional but I did."
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In the new episode of Itni Starry Baatein, we are in conversation with the cast of Shamshera – Ranbir Kapoor, Vaani kapoor and Karan Malhotra. The film is releasing on 22nd July in theaters and this will be Ranbir Kapoor's first release in 4 years.
Karan Malhotra, Shamshera's director, shares how Ranbir reacted when he broke the news of him having a baby and RK reveals why he did not invite Vaani to his wedding.
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This new episode of Itni Starry Baatein is all about Ratna Pathak Shah and Paresh Rawal's personal and professional journeys. With host Abira Dhar, they discuss their love stories, the lens that writers look at older characters through, the pay disparity within the film industry, what a comeback of Maya Sarabhai and Baburao should look like, and more.
In this episode of 'Itni Starry Baatein', Sanjay Kapoor recalls the ups and downs of his career, the preparation that went behind daughter Shanaya's debut and all about his experience of working in OTT.
Sanjay Kapoor is all set to bring back Rajiv Gural in the second season of The Gone Game, now streaming on Voot. The first season, which came out in 2020, lapped up praise for its stellar performances, and the final episode ending on a gripping cliffhanger has made it all worth the wait for the audience.
Talking about the changes that he had to make as an actor to fit into the OTT space, he says, "Today, more realistic films are being made so the performances too have to be much more realistic."
Sanjay Kapoor’s daughter Shanaya Kapoor will also make her big Bollywood debut soon. In this podcast, we also asked him about the excitement in the family, as another Kapoor enters the entertainment industry, and whether they have it easy.
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In this episode of 'Itni Starry Baatein', we are in conversation with Krishna Shroff.
Being Jackie Shroff's daughter, expectations were high from Krishna since her childhood. After discovering her love for fitness, Krishna turned this passion into her profession and is now a successful entrepreneur.
During the course of our chat, she talks about all the diets she has tried, her magazine shoots, the journey to a fitter self, what keeps her motivated and more.
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Pakistan challenged stereotypes when it crowned its very first Miss Trans Pakistan, Shyraa Roy, in 2020. A singer, producer and beauty queen — Roy will also be representing her country at international beauty pageants.
But how did she get here? From her childhood to facing transphobia in her journey to success— Shyraa tells us all in this episode of Itni Starry Baatein.
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Sonali Bendre, after her cancer recovery, is returning to our screens with the newsroom drama The Broken News, which also marks her OTT debut. The show is currently streaming on Zee5.
In the show, she plays the role of Amina Qureshi — a headstrong news editor who believes in ethical journalism that places her at loggerheads with a leading news channel.
In this episode of Itni Starry Baatein, show host Abira Dhar sits down with Bendre at her favourite restaurant, Mizu. In between munching on delicious food, they talk about her evolving relationship with food, her priorities as an actor, her mental and physical health journey and much more!
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Archana Puran Singh and Shekhar Suman are making a comeback to the small screen to judge 'India’s Laughter Champion' – a new comedy show that aims to discover fresh standup comedians.
This new show will be replacing 'The Kapil Sharma Show,' which is now headed for its US tour.
Although the two have been a part of 'The Great Indian Laughter Challenge' and 'Comedy Circus' previously, this officially marks the comeback of Shekhar Suman on TV.
In this episode of Itni Starry Baatein, we catch up with the duo to talk about the secret of what goes on behind the laughter of comedy shows. Tune in!
Host: Abira Dhar
Actor Ashok Pandit is better known as 'Vinod' these days. This supporting character that Pandit played in an episode of TVF's comedy-drama series Panchayat has taken the audience by a storm despite his limited screen-time.
In this episode of Itni Starry Baatein, the budding actor speaks to us about his childhood days that were spent in Haryana, how he made it to Bollywood, and how he envisions his career going ahead.
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Divya Dutta has been garnering a lot of praise for playing a negative character to perfection in her new release Dhakkad where she stars alongside Kangana Ranaut and Arjun Rampal.
In this episode of Itni Starry Baatein, she talks about how the last 25 years in Bollywood have been for her, the first time on a film set, sharing the screen with Amitabh Bachchan, and more.
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Host: Abira Dhar
Music: Big Bang Fuzz
We know Madhuri Dixit — the actor and the dancer but now we are getting to see the musical side of her as well. Recently, the talented star dropped a new single 'Tu Hai Mera' which is dedicated to her fans.
In this episode of Itni Starry Baatein, she tell The Quint how music is in her system and how it keeps her family together. She also opens up about how back in 90's the relationship between fans and their favourite stars was so different from what it is now.
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For those who prefer having pets over children, Sony LIV's new show 'Pet Puran' is surely going to be a fun watch.
This Marathi web series is centred around Chef Atul, played by Lalit Prabhakar, and his wife Aditi, played by Sai Tamhankar, who set out to create a modern family with their pets Baku, a kitten, and Vyanku, a rescued dog.
In this episode, we speak to Sai about how it was to shoot with animal co-stars, her pet preferences, and her new cat, who she adopted while shooting 'Pet Puran'.
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Host: Abira Dhar
Nawazuddin Siddiqui has received a lot of acclaim for his versatile acting be it in a commercial or an indie film. In the course of his career, we've seen him play diverse roles — from Faizal Khan in Gangs to Wasseypur to Sadaf Hasan Manto in Manto.
In latest film Heropanti 2 which got released on 29 April, we see the actor in a completely different role that of Laila who is a cyber-criminal.
But how does he manage to balance between his indie roles and high-entertainment commercial films?
"My training in theatre has been such that if I'm doing a Shakespearean play, at the same time I'm also doing a folk play or a Mohan Rakesh play which is on the lines of realism. If I'm doing a Sanskrit play, I'm also also acting in Persian plays. So, while I'm working on some films where my acting has to be no-nonsense and to-the-point, I'm simultaneously also acting in a fun film like Heropanti 2," he said in this episode of Itni Starry Baatein.
Tune in for the full conversation!
Ajay Devgn's latest directorial venture Runway 34 is an aviation thriller, inspired by true events from 2015, when a Kochi to Doha flight had to make a landing choice which could have gone either way.
In the movie which hit the theatres on 29 April, Ajay and Rakul Preet are seen playing co-pilots.
In this episode of Itni Starry Baatein, the co-stars talk about how they trained before the shoot. They also share their experience of working with Amitabh Bachchan. Tune in!
Host: Abira Dhar
From producing some of India's most popular saas-bahu TV serials to launching an OTT platform – Ekta Kapoor is all about taking big leaps.
Her new production Lock Upp, which is a new reality TV series hosted by Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, has certainly created some buzz.
But how did the concept of Lock Upp come about? What made Ekta Kapoor choose Kangana as the host? And, how is she multi-tasking, managing work with motherhood? We talk about all this and more in the latest episode of Itni Starry Baatein.
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Host: Abira Dhar
Atul Mongia's new Netflix thriller series 'Mai', which tells the story of a mother seeking to avenge her daughter Wamiqa's death, will begin streaming on the OTT platform on 15 April.
Sakshi Tanwar as Sheel is on a relentless pursuit to uncover the truth behind her daughter's freak accident as she deals with her personal tragedy. Alongside Tanwar, Vivek Mushran, who plays Wamiqa's father, brings in a lot of shades to a complex parent-child relationship.
Ahead of the show's release, we chat with both the actors in this episode of Itni Starry Baatein.
Sakshi and Vivek talk about how their lives as actors have changed with the advent of the OTT platform, parenthood, and much more. Tune in!
Host: Abira Dhar
KGF Chapter 2 will be releasing nationwide on 14 April in Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam. Directed by Prashanth Neel, this action-drama which is a sequel to KGF Chapter 1 will be starring Yash in the lead role.
Ahead of its release, we speak to the director and his lead on Itni Starry Baatein. In this episode we ask Prashanth Neel what made him release the movie in five languages. We also talk to Yash about his look in the film and his journey in the industry.
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Host: Abira Dhar
Music: Big Bang Fuzz
Actor and TV host Sunny Leone, who is enjoying the successes of her new web series Anamika directed by Vikram Bhatt, says that having gone through the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of the Indian film industry, her time in Bollywood has largely been a great experience for her.
In this new episode of Itni Starry Baatein, as Leone talks about the action training that was required for her to get into the role of a spy, she chuckles and says, "I like this kind of training. My favourite thing when I was growing up was to wrestle and beat up my brothers and other boys. I know the playing part of it, but this obviously wasn't playing, so it was a little different."
When asked what are her favourite shows are, she says, "I like all action-type shows and period shows. I don't sit and watch a comedy show, I like anything that has actions."
Tune in to the latest episode of Itni Starry Baatein, where Sunny Leone explains the 'no gun and no violence' rule in her house and how her children reacted to her holding guns after they watched the trailer for Anamika.
Host: Abira Dhar
Music: Big Bang Fuzz
Two of India's most talented actors — Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah have come together on-screen for Suresh Triveni's Jalsa which is a story around inner-conflict, motherhood and class.
In a candid chat they tell us about which female actors in the OTT space inspire them, how it is to be working women. They also opened up on how shows like Jalsa can be emotionally draining.
Tune in to this episode of Itni Starry Baatein!
Host: Abira Dhar
Rahul Nair’s new Netflix comedy-drama stars Vihaan Samat as Ray – a young awkward, introverted man who is Eternally Confused and Eager for Love – and Jim Sarbh as the cheeky voice in his head.
As Ray tries to navigate around the world of love, romance, and sex, 'Wiz' – a personification of his inner voice – says what Ray cannot say in front of people.
Ahead of the show's release on 18 March, we speak with Nair and the protagonists to know what led them to the series' unusual name. We also have a fun chat about how they deal with their inner voices.
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Host: Abira Dhar
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine blazes on, we speak to Dar Gai — Ukrainian director, screenwriter and producer who's been based in India for the last 12 years.
She's been known for directorial work on Teen Aur Aadha and Namdev Bhau: In Search of Silence. Gai was recently also a part of Gehraiyaan as the film's intimacy coordinator.
In this new episode of Itni Starry Baatein, she tells us about her family back in Kyiv and how they are living through the ongoing conflict. She talks about her mother and uncle who are helping volunteers with medicines and other necessities.
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Host: Abira Dhar
Sonu Nigam whose melodious music popularised Indian classical in the Bollywood mainstream was recently awarded a Padma Shri earlier in January this year.
On 10 February, he also dropped his new single 'Maula re' — a song dedicated to highlights the lives of children who have found themselves left orphaned in the Covid-19 pandemic.
In this new episode of Itni Starry Baatein, Sonu Nigam talks about what made him compose this song, how he felt after receiving his Padma Shri. He also addresses questions around his Twitter controversy and why he is seldom seen lending his voice to Hindi film songs in the recent years.
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Host: Abira Dhar
After an illustrious career in Bollywood, Madhuri Dixit Nene is making her OTT debut, with Netflix Original The Fame Game alongside Manav Kaul.
In the web series Madhuri Dixit Nene plays the role of a Bollywood star named Anamika Anand.
In this latest episode of Itni Starry Baatein, we catch up with the lead actors of the show. While Madhuri talks about how she dealt with fame in real life, Manav shares his experience of acting with the dancing queen.
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Host: Abira Dhar
90's heartthrob Bobby Deol is coming back on screens but not as a chocolate boy. He will be seen in ZEE5's Love Hostel alongside Sanya Malhotra and Vikrant Massey in what is perhaps one of his darkest roles — an assassin called Dagar.
Ahead of the film's release, speaking to The Quint, in this latest episode of Itni Starry Baatein, the actor said he couldn't be more excited to try out different characters. He also shares the kind of response he got from his family, friends and fans as he comes back on after a hiatus.
Tune in for the full episode!
Dhairya Karwa who debuted in Bollywood with Uri: The Surgical Strike, will now be seen in Shakun Batra’s Gehraiyaan alongside Deepika Padukone.
In this episode of Itni Starry Baatein, the actor talks about how he made the leap into modelling and then acting after working a 9-5 job in a cubicle as a data analyst. He also talks about his early days in Mumbai, what kind of roles he prefers and what is up ahead for him.
Tune in to the podcast to know more!
Shakun Batra’s upcoming film Gehraiyaan is set to bring four talented actors together on screen. Starring Deepika Padukone, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Ananya Panday and Dhairya Karwa — this will be a story of complicated relations.
In this episode of Itni Starry Baatein, the stars and the director talk about the making of film. They also discuss how having an intimacy coordinator on set affected things, how the title was finalised, the experience of working with each other and much more.
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Pratik Gandhi has made the big leap from Gujarati theatre and cinema to OTT platforms now.
After his critically acclaimed performance in a 2020 web series — Scam 1992, where he was seen playing stock broker Harshad Mehta and his Bollywood debut in 2021 with Bhavai, now the actor will be seen in Tigmanshu Dhulia's upcoming web show, The Great Indian Murder.
In this new episode of Itni Starry Baatein, we catchup with Gandhi about the opportunities that are coming to him following the huge success of Scam 1992. He also talks about how life has changed for him in the last few years.
Tune in to the full conversation!
Host: Abira Dhar
Guest: Pratik Gandhi
Producer: Shorbori Purkayastha
Music Credits: Big Bang Fuzz
Parineeti Chopra has certainly made a name in the world of Indian cinema with a lot of accolades and a National Film Award but now the Bollywood actor has also made her debut in reality TV.
Alongside Karan Johar and Mithun Chakraborty, Parineeti will be seen co-judging for the reality show Hunarbaaz: Desh Ki Shaan that is set topremiere on Colors TVfrom 22 January.
In this new episode of Inti Starry Baatein, the actor talks about why she chose to do a show on tv, her favourite reality TV shows and what goes on behind the camera.
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Host: Abira Dhar
Guest: Parineeti Chopra
Producer: Shorbori Purkayastha
Music Credits: Big Bang Fuzz
Siddharth Sengupta'scrime-thriller series — Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein, starringTahir Raj Bhasin, Anchal Singh and Shweta Tripathi is all set to premiere on Netflix on Friday.
Ahead of the release, we caught up with the cast of the series in this new episode of Itni Starry Baatein, to get to know more about the show and the story behind its interesting name.
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Host: Abira Dhar
Music: Big Bang Fuzz
Ranveer Singh, who started his acting career with Yash Raj's Band Baaja Baaraat in 2010, hastransformed as a seasoned actor over these year. His energy is infectious, and talents, incredible. After playing a wide range of characters, he will now be seen as the legendary, Kapil Dev in Kabir Khan's '83'.
The actor said that people were sending him videos from inside theatres of the audience laughing and crying while watching the cricket drama. He also said that the experience that the audience is having while watching 83 is similar to the one he had when he watched Aamir Khan's Lagaan with his friends.
In this candid chat with The Quint's Abira Dhar, Ranveer Singh talks about his latest, '83'; the response he is getting; and his wife, Deepika who he describes to Abira, is 'looking like a dream' as they spoke.
Ranveer, who is currently on a holiday with Deepika Padukone, also spoke to us about the major turning points in his career and his forthcoming films as well.
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From a sperm donor to a bodybuilder — Ayushmann Khurrana sets himself apart from other Bollywood actors with his versatility and the diverse range of roles he has played on-screen.
In the second episode of Itni Starry Baatein the Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui actor candidly talks about the story behind his physical transformation, who came up with the name for the film, his future projects and his family.
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Pankaj Tripathi will be seen playing the role of PR Man Singh, the Manager of the 1983 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team in Kabir Khan's sports drama 83 — which brings to life India's historic victory.
What was the most challenging aspect of playing this role? How was it to meet the real Man Singh? And, what is the story behind-the-scenes?
Tune in to the first episode of Itni Starry Baatein where I catch up with the very talented Pankaj Tripathi!
Host: Abira Dhar
Guest: Pankaj Tripathi, Actor
Producer: Shorbori Purkayastha
Music: Big Bang Fuzz
We see the glitz and glamour of Bollywood but what is the story behind-the-scenes?
Inti Starry Baatein is a weekly podcast where series host Abira Dhar catches up with India's favourite stars in their raw, uncut, uncensored avatars.
VO: Abira Dhar
Music: Big Bang Fuzz