Did you know Katrina has never been to college? - Page 2

Originally posted by: psychobalehead

Umm....yea, its quite obvious. The girl answered a question on cycling or something by remembering the fact that Lance Armstrong used to date Sheryl Crow on some show. Don't remember what show. But the girl is a total bimbette. Ofcourse why does this matter anyway. Most of bollywood has not gotten past 10th grade.

According to bollywood, education is "speaking English with a Brit accent". What a bunch of bufoons!

People like Sushmita Sen, Madhuri Dixit were all made fun of for not being able to speak English "correctly". Ofcourse they conveniently forgot that Mads was pursuing a Microbiology degree and Sushmita is very well spoken.

Originally posted by: psychobalehead

Umm....yea, its quite obvious. The girl answered a question on cycling or something by remembering the fact that Lance Armstrong used to date Sheryl Crow on some show. Don't remember what show. But the girl is a total bimbette. Ofcourse why does this matter anyway. Most of bollywood has not gotten past 10th grade.

According to bollywood, education is "speaking English with a Brit accent". What a bunch of bufoons!

People like Sushmita Sen, Madhuri Dixit were all made fun of for not being able to speak English "correctly". Ofcourse they conveniently forgot that Mads was pursuing a Microbiology degree and Sushmita is very well spoken.

'Degrees' of Stardom

by

Nutan Sehgal

The misconception that Bollywood is as far removed from education as Mars is from earth is shattered by the new breed of stars with its own roll of honour. There are among them an agriculture scientist, pilot, economist, Harvard graduate, civil engineer, an MBA, and a graduate from The London School of Economics!!!!

Ever since it came to light that Tara Sharma, the new hot-shot debutant in films, is a graduate from the London School of Economics, Bollywood has been preparing its complete roll of honour.

If Tara Sharma has graduated from one of the best institutions in the world, then Fardeen Khan is not far behind. The star of films like Jungle, Pyar Tune Kya Kiya and Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum is both brawns and brains. Before following in the footsteps of father Feroz Khan he was a student in USA at the prestigious University of Massachusetts. However, despite his degree from a leading American university, Fardeen got lured to the arclights by none other than Ram Gopal Varma who cast him in Jungle, Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega and now Bhoot. It is little wonder that the highly educated star considers Varma his mentor.

But the mentor is no less educated. Ram Gopal Varma is a civil engineer by profession who is now counted among the most talented directors of Bollywood. "I came into films because all my friends were becoming doctors and engineers. I wanted to be different," says Varma.

Another newcomer who walked the alternate path is Diwakar Pundir who left the lucrative career of a commercial pilot for the world of glamour. The 1998 Mr. India and second runner-up at the Mr. International pageant, Diwakar is now a top model and has made his debut on television as anchor of Crime Patrol on Sony TV. He is also eagerly awaiting his big screen debut in Mahesh Manjeraker's Pyar Kiya Nahi Jaata.

Tushar Kapoor too changed track mid stream. The star had the necessary background to be an executive but chose to show his acumen as a star. Son of Jeetendra and brother of Ekta Kapoor, Tushar holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Michigan University, USA. " When I went abroad I didn't get into business management right away. I did liberal arts first and after two years, I got into the business school. Yes, at that time even I thought I would pursue a corporate career. But over the years I changed my mind and decided to go for films. Nonetheless I completed my degree," says Tushar.

Once back in Mumbai he became an assistant to David Dhawan but soon Vashu Bhagnani offered him the lead role in Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai. However, after this first moderate success Tushar has not recorded a hit and uncharitable critics say it would have been better if he had stuck to management.

Interestingly, Amisha Patel's story is similar. A gold-medallist in Economics from the State University of Boston, Amisha created a sensation with her first movie, Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. But after that with the sole exception of Gadar it has been a downhill drive.

Unlike Amisha, former Miss India Gul Panag has not been an instant star and has preferred to stay on the fringes of stardom picking up television assignments like the just-concluded Kashmeer. When she was offered the serial Gul was planning to leave for the U.S. for a management course from the Kellog Business School in the US. She decided to postpone her studies. Since the serial has now wound up, this graduate in maths and post graduate in political science is planning to re-start her management course.

Another former beauty queen is in the thick of things though not as heroine material. Aditi Govitrikar is no dumb star. She's a top-of-the-line model, an actress, a supermom and the first Indian woman to win the Mrs. World title. And… hold your breath…she's a qualified gynaecologist!

Rahul Dev - a Bangalore-educated mechanical engineer.

There may not be any more doctors in acting but look around and you will definitely find some engineers. The fast rising Rahul Dev is a Bangalore-educated mechanical engineer. So is Madhvan, the top Tamil star whose luck deserted him in Bollywood when both his films, Rehna Hai Terre Dil Mein and Dil Vil Pyar Vyar bit the dust.

Shanker Mahadevan, one of the most creative members of the music director trio Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy must be the only person in the world to combine the degree of an engineer with the talent of a professional playback singer and music director of hits like Mission Kashmir and Dil Chahata Hai.

In fact Dil Chahata Hai had another highly educated actress. Suhasini Mulay, who played Akshay Khanna's mother in the film, is an agriculture technology graduate from Montreal's McGill University and maker of over 60 documentaries.

It's been a long journey from Mrinal Sen's Bhuvan Shome to playing Bhuvan's [Aamir Khan's] mai in Lagaan, yet Suhasini Mulay says she's just begun. Besides scouting around for meaningful roles, she is heavily into film-making and, according to reports, she is planning a full budget newage film.

Mention newage films and the first name that strikes you is that of Mira Nair, the brilliant director of Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala and the recent blockbuster Monsoon Wedding. " Film-making is a technique and one has to have both education and experience to make good films," says Nair who has done her post-graduation from Harvard University and is married to a professor of African Politics at Columbia University where she teaches film-making.

Of course the list of National School of Drama graduates in Bollywood is long and ever growing. The trend that began with Neena Gupta and Naseeruddin Shah has now spilled to many others from the institute abandoning the stage and going to Bollywood.

That NSD is a popular place to hunt talent is well known. But what is not much known is the fact that Manoj Bajpai failed to clear the NSD entrance test thrice. And Shah Rukh Khan was doing a post-graduate diploma in communications from Delhi's Jamia Milia Islamia but was debarred from appearing for the exam due to shortage in attendance. Little could anyone realize that Jamia's loss would be such a huge gain for Bollywood.

*****