Turmeric: The Star Spice

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Amitabh Bachchan, anaemia, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiseptic, Ayurveda, balance metabolism, bruises, chest congestions, Chicken pox, Classic Indian movies, curing preventing colds, cuts, digestion, eczema, fumes, glow, haldi, haldi ceremony, haldi doodh, inflamed joints, inhaling, itching, Lateef Munawwar, milk, neem leaves, nuskha, parasitic skin conditions, paste, reduce blood sugar, remedy, ringworms, salve, shingles, skin fairer, sprains, sugar, turmeric, Turmeric juice, turmeric remedies, wounds, yellow-staining spice

In most classic Indian movies, when the hero was hurt or wounded after a brawl with the baddies, he was offered a haldi (turmeric) based home remedy by his weeping maa ji.

Although Bollywood movies are infamous for showing inaccurate medicine (think of Amitabh Bachchan managing to stay alive to kill the villain despite being shot several times), the turmeric remedies are bona fide and grounded in the ancient Indian practice of Ayurveda.

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Where the Founder of the Kapoor Dynasty Once Lived

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Amjad Afridi, Bala Hissar Fort, basement, bazaars, Bollywood, Bombay, Dhaki Munawar Shah, Dhaki Nalbandi, Dilip Kumar, dynasty, fabric, first family of Indian cinema, five-storeys, food, gemstone market, gold market, grandchildren, great grandchildren, jharokas, Kapoor family, Kareena Kapoor, Karisma Kapoor, Lady Reading Hospital, landmarks, Madhubala, Market of Storytellers, Mohabbat Khan Mosque, museum, Namak Mandi, Peshawar, peshawari tikka, Prithviraj Kapoor, Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Raj Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Sarafa Bazaar, Shahrukh Khan, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, The Greatest Showman of Indian Cinema, Venus of Hindi cinema

Intricate jharokas still adorn the house

The ancestral home of legendary Indian actor, Prithviraj Kapoor, is located deep inside Dhaki Nalbandi, in a narrow street called Dhaki Munawar Shah in Peshawar. The family did not have filmi roots and it was on a whim that Prithviraj left Peshawar for Bombay, against his father’s wishes, to pursue his dream of becoming a ‘film star’ at the age of 22, in 1929.

Prithviraj Kapoor as Alexander the Great in Sikandar (1941)

A dynasty is founded… As it turned out, he did more than that; he founded a dynasty, the Kapoor family, popularly called the “first family of Indian cinema”. Prithviraj’s children (Raj, Shammi and Shashi), grandchildren (including Rishi), and great grandchildren (including Karisma, Kareena and Ranbir) have continued Prithviraj’s legacy. Of Prithviraj’s three sons, Raj Kapoor, “The Greatest Showman of Indian Cinema”, was born in this house in 1924; the remaining were born in India.

Beautiful In Bollywood

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abdominal fat Sheila, Beenish Israr, bittergourd juice, blood sugar levels, bodybuilding, Bollywood, broccoli, Chameli, daal, dates, diet, energy, exercise, fat, fibre vitamin C, health, Iron, Karela, Katrina Kaif, nutrition, raisins, Ranbir Kapoor, Salman Khan, sculpted bodies, Shilpa Shetty

For a century, Bollywood films have been associated with fantasy, formula plots, glamour, song-and-dance sequences and more recently – during the last 20 years – with beautiful faces and super sculpted bodies. Along with exercise (and some help from medical and cosmetic science), diet plays an important role in turning the men and women of Bollywood into icons of beauty, glamour and physical fitness.

Travel – Bollywood Style

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1964, Alaska, Alps, Amitabh Bachchan, An Evening in Paris, Bombay, Chandni, Dekha Ek Khwab, Delhi, Des Pardes, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge, Egypt, foreign locations, glaciers, Great Wall of China, Greece, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, jeans, Keukenhof, Krrish, lake, London, Love in Tokyo, Mauritius, Miami, Nepal, New York, NRI, Pukar, pyramids, Raj Kapoor, Rekha, Rishi Kapoor, San Francisco, Sangam, Silsila, Singapore, Singh Is King, Sridevi, Switzerland, Sydney, Tashan, The Great Gambler, The Netherlands, Toronto, tulip fields, Venice, Yash Chopra

Raj Kapoor may well have given Bollywood cinegoers their first peek at the Alps in the 1964 Sangam, and after him several filmmakers tried to cash in on ‘foreign locations’ with unimaginatively titled offerings such as An Evening in Paris and Love in Tokyo. However, many of these stories ended up being contrived attempts to locate a few scenes in picturesque cities.

The 1970s saw locations becoming ‘characters’ in films: Nepal in Hare Rama Hare Krishna, London in Des Pardes, and Venice in The Great Gambler. But it took Yash Chopra to implant Switzerland into the collective psyche of several generations. (The Swiss even named a lake after Chopra.)

Unlike others filmmakers, Chopra didn’t link the plot with the location. So while Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha conducted their extramarital activities in Silsila in Bombay, the glorious Dekha Ek Khwab was shot in tulip fields in Keukenhof in The Netherlands. And while the path of true love in Chandni ran from Delhi to Bombay, it took several detours in Switzerland so that star-crossed lovers Sridevi and Rishi Kapoor could sing several ballads.

Be A Star Perfomer

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adapt, body of work, Bollywood, centenary, challenges, commitments, innovations, junior colleagues, learn from acting, Leon Menezes, motivation, opportunities, perfection, play different roles, practice, profession, punctuality, put in the hours, rehearsing, star performer, visualize goals, Why you do what it is that you do

How many times have you watched a film and thought: “It would be fun to be an actor”? As Bollywood celebrates its centenary, let’s see what we can learn from acting.

To start with, we all play different roles every day: a spouse, father, boss, subordinate or colleague; we constantly slip in and out of roles. Of course, when we confuse our parts in a relationship, things start to go awry. Imagine talking to your junior colleagues as if they were your children!