Cairo (PTI): Actor Priyanka Chopra, on her maiden visit to a Syrian refugee camp in the Jordanian capital of Amman, is appalled by their plight and said the world should be inspired by their resilience.

More than 5 million people have fled war-torn Syria since the civil war began in 2011 and have taken shelter in neighbouring countries like Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey as well as Jordan.

Priyanka, who is the Unicef global goodwill ambassador, has been documenting her visit to Amman, which hosts 1,80,000 Syrian refugees, on Instagram. She shared her interactions with refugee kids, who are desperately seeking normalcy in their lives.

“Today was very emotional. As we go about our daily privileged lives, it’s hard to imagine that everything can be taken from you in an moment. Today we spent the day in a host community meeting Syrian refugee families (like this one) so desperately seeking a safe place of normalcy for their families,” the actor posted on the photo-sharing website, along side a short video of her playing with kids from a refugee Syrian family.

Priyanka, 35, shared that more than 80 per cent of the Syrian refugees in Jordan live outside refugee camps in cities, urban centers and farming villages (host communities.)

“Amman hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees, about 1,80,000 people. Refugee families in host communities have limited livelihood opportunities, and after 6 years, have depleted their savings and borrowed money from everywhere to feed and support their families. @unicef #ChildrenUprooted #TheyAreUs,” she further wrote.

In a previous post, Priyanka explained her decision to share the plight of Syrian refugees, especially kids, saying she wanted the world to be inspired by their resilience and their hope for a better tomorrow.

“I have never done this when I do field trips, but on this one I feel compelled to reflect on what I feel after every session because I felt a lot. The anger and agony I felt seeing these beautiful hopeful children ravaged by war was so raw.

“The world has seen the pain war has left in Syria but the resilience and joy and hope in spite of it is so inspiring to me. These kids are my inspiration. They should be yours too,” she said.

Mumbai (PTI): His directorial venture ‘Simran’ has been mired in controversies, be it the fight over writing credits or the focus on leading lady Kangana Ranaut’s personal life, but director Hansal Mehta says the actor is not doing anything for publicity.

Recently Kangana appeared on the show “Aap Ki Adalat” and talked about her alleged relationship with Hrithik, Aditya Pancholi and Adhyayan Suman.

Mehta, however, is not bothered by the focus on Kangana as he believes she is not someone to back out when asked about her life.

In an interview with PTI, the director says, “Why every time she is on a public platform one asks her about her personal life? She is not somebody who will back out from speaking about anything that is asked to her. She bares her soul… (I) don’t see it as publicity.

“She is an individual who needs to be respected for being fiercely independent in the choices that she makes. I am not sad (for the film). The film is special and it will remain that way.”

Kangana-Hrithik’s alleged love story has turned out to be one of the dirtiest squabbles, with both of them slapping legal notices to each other last year.

In May this year, writer Apurva Asrani had slammed Kangana for discrediting his work when she claimed that she developed the story from a one-line script.

In the film’s first poster, Kangana was credited as the ‘additional story and dialogue writer’ with her name appearing before Apurva’s. It was later rectified with the producer calling it a printing mistake.

When asked if he is upset that his film has been sidelined due to controversies, Mehta says, “I don’t think so.

When the film will be out, it will speak for itself.”

Mehta says every actor has a different style of working and he supports it as the aim is to eventually make a better film.

“Every actor has a process and as a director your job is to aid that process and create an environment that blossoms to its fullest. My job is to help them in their process.”

“Simran” revolves around a Gujarati housemaid in the US, who somehow ends up as a criminal.

“It is a character that Kangana is playing (a robber).

And this character is lovable. And even if she is doing any crime, you feel concerned for her.

“It is a human story and crime is never justified. There should be redemption towards the end. It is a journey and crime is just a part of the journey”.

The film is set to release on September 15.

Mumbai (PTI): After playing relatable “good boy” roles in several films, Ayushmann Khurrana is thrilled about his next project with filmmaker Sriram Raghavan, which he says, will “shock” the audience.

The yet-to-be-titled thriller will reportedly feature Ayushmann as a blind concert pianist.

The actor says he has never really done films of diverse genres before, and is therefore excited about this one.

“I am glad I’ve taken my time. I have dabbled two different characters but I haven’t dabbled two genres. My films have been medium budget ones, set in small towns about middle class family where I play relatable good boy characters.

“I don’t want to change myself with every film. Let me settle for this and then I’ll do a makeover so that it should be a shocker for people. So as a character, this will definitely shock people,” Ayushmann tells PTI.

Though the actor is tight-lipped about the film, he confirms it is not titled “Shoot The Piano Player” as was being reported.

This is the first time Ayushmann is collaborating with Raghavan, who has previously given memorable crime-thrillers, such as “Ek Hasina Thi”, “Johnny Gaddaar” and “Badlapur”.

Ayushmann, who has featured in films like “Vicky Donor”, “Dum Laga Ke Haisha”, “Barailey Ki Barfi” and “Shubh Mangal Saavdhan”, says he is drawn to realistic stories due to his upbringing.

The 32-year-old says more than Hollywood, he grew up watching Bollywood movies and his struggling days helped him connect with the masses more.

“I know songs from the ’50s and ’60s, I can tell you the names of the lyricists also. I am proud of knowing films of my country. That keeps me real.

“I love doing films which are real, relatable because I come from a theatre background, I travelled everywhere with my group and interacted with the masses. Then I joined radio which has a direct connect and I think that connect translated into films.”

Mumbai (PTI): Shraddha Kapoor will be seen playing Haseena Parkar in the upcoming biopic and the actor says she has tried her best to do justice to the role.

The 30-year-old actor says as a team they have stayed true to the story of Dawood Ibrahim’s sister.

In an interview with PTI, Shraddha says, “I loved the story. It’s a real life character, who has suffered so much loss in her life. The film was challenging for me. And I have played the role of Haseena to the best of my ability.

“My approach towards doing this film was the same as any other film, it is based on the vision of the director and we have tried to stay true to the story and the character.”

The actor says she knew nothing about Haseena before coming onboard the project and director Apoorva Lakhia’s research helped her a lot.

“I knew nothing about her. From family members you get personal anecdotes, how the person is in real life, the personality traits. The insight from her (Haseena’s) family was valuable to try and understand how she needs to be portrayed on the big screen.

“Apoorva Lakhia had met her, spent time with her. He had the opportunity to meet her and understand her. Unfortunately, I could not (meet her) as she had passed away. Apoorva knew her character so well and it helped us a lot while doing the scenes.”

Shraddha says they are not passing any judgements in the film and acquired “holistic” approach in presenting Haseena’s life story on the silver screen.

“We have portrayed a holistic view of this lady, we have shown the angle of law, her own perspective and of other people, who she has encountered. Apoorva did all the research.

The audience is free to make their own judgement.”

The film will chronicle the journey of Haseena from teenage to the time when she was 40-year-old.

The actor says her endeavour was to get as close to Haseena as possible in terms of look.

“I tried my best to gain weight and I managed to gain seven-eight kilos. We took help of prosthetics to make me look like Haseena Parkar. I have tried to imbibe her mannerisms and the way she speaks, walks etc. It is entirely my voice, we have not doctored it.”

The film will see Shraddha’s actor brother Siddhanth Kapoor portray the role of Dawood Ibrahim. “Haseena Parkar” is set to release on September 22.