Hrishitaa Bhatt was a Liril model before she ventured into Bollywood as an actress. Sunny Leone too entered the film through modelling, though she was a porn queen, before she became acceptable in Bollywood. While doe-eyed Bhatt’s talent wasn’t exploited well, Leone was a rage when she entered the tinsel town. Smriti profiles these two Bollywood beauties, whose birthdays are on May 10 and 13, respectively, in the regular column, exclusively in Different Truths.
Model-turned-Actress Doe-eyed Hrishitaa Bhatt’s Talent wasn’t used well
This athletic Bengali beauty entered the Bollywood fraternity like a breath of fresh air. She was not conventionally beautiful, but her large doe-like eyes drew one towards her. She had a dream debut in films, as she was cast against superstar Shahrukh Khan in Asoka. The film also starred Kareena Kapoor, but the newcomer was noticed too in spite of her small role. This newcomer was Hrishitaa Bhatt, a Mumbaikar and an alumnus of the Trinity College, London.
Hrishitaa learned dancing since her childhood and took Kathak lessons from Shiamak Davar, the renowned choreographer. She speaks fluently in Bengali, Hindi, and English. Before debuting in films, she did a few modelling assignments, the most famous of them was the Liril soap add, which made her famous as the “Liril Girl”. She also appeared in a music video with Shahid Kapoor, which got her a role opposite Abhishek Bachchan in the movie, Shararat, but the movie got a bit delayed, and, thus Asoka became her debut film, which was offered to her after her casting in Shararat.
She was noticed in her debut film, but, her talent was rightly utilised and explored in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Haasil. The film was set against the background of college politics in a small town. The simple love story of a young couple turns ugly as they get entangled in the shrewd, conniving plots of some student leaders. The film was a huge commercial success and highly praised by the critics. The film was an ensemble of many versatile and talented actors, such as Jimmy Shergil, Irfaan Khan, but Hrishitaa made her presence felt by her sensitive and natural acting.
Unfortunately, the talent of this brilliant actress, was not very well recognised, though the few films in which she appeared, established her acting prowess and range. She did too some good movies, such as Charas, Ab Tak Chappan, Jawani Diwani and some regional films in Bengali and Kannada.
At present, she is happily married to Anand Tiwari, who is a diplomat with the United Nations.
As she turns 36 on 10th May, we at Different Truths, wish her all the best and more happiness in life.
Spunky Sunny Leone Graduated From Porn Movies to Bollywood Seamlessly
She is one of the most searched celebrities on the Net. Men drool over her, but she was talked about in hushed tones, she made a career and name for her, from a profession which is looked down upon by the white collared society. Her work was to be enjoyed in privacy and lambasted publicly. But being the strong, independent, determined woman, she won against all odds and has carved a place for herself in the mainstream. She is Sunny Leone, dream woman of millions of fans across the globe.
Born as Karenjit Kaur Vohra, on 13th May, in Ontario, Canada, she had a normal happy childhood, enjoying the cold idyllic surroundings of her Canada home. She was a tomboy, very athletic and grew up playing street hockey with the boys. In 1996, her family moved to California, where in college, a friend of hers suggested her to try modelling, and found a contact who dealt in adult entertainment.
Her initial cautiousness of taking off her clothes and striking suggestive poses was soon overcome by her curiosity and she indulged completely in her new profession and quickly became one of the most sought after adult model. Penthouse magazine clicked her and named her “Penthouse Pet of the Month,” for the issue of March 2001. She was named “Penthouse Pet of the year 2003” and starred in the video, Penthouse Pets in Paradise. Several other magazines, such as Cheri, Leg World, High Society, also featured her layouts.
Sunny’s fame as an adult model, led her to sign a three-year contract with Vivid Entertainment, which was her transition into hard-core pornography. But, this bisexual, had a condition, that, she would only do lesbian scenes. Her first movie was released in December 2005 under the name Sunny, followed by many other successful releases, all with female co-stars, and Sunny soon became a top porn star. When she renewed her contract with Vivid Entertainment, her previous clause of working with only females was dropped, and, she agreed to perform with a male actor, only if, he was her then fiancé Matt Erikson. But this exclusivity did not last long and Sunny announced that she was open to working with other male co-stars too.
In August 2009, she announced the launch of her production house Sunlust Pictures, in partnership with Daniel Weber (whom she married later on) as she wanted to write, direct and create her own brand of adult movies. She had many successful films made under her studio, and, she managed to gain maximum profit from her online popularity by striking deals with firms like PPPcard, Brickhouse, etc. to sell her content on the internet and other media. Such was her fame as a porn star that she was voted number 13 on Genesis magazine’s “Top 100 Porn Star List” and Maxim named her as one of the top 12 female porn stars.
After acquiring desired fame, success, and monetary stability, Sunny announced her retirement from the porn industry stating, “I am lucky that the audience is accepting me. I have come my way from there (porn industry). I don’t have any plans as of now to go back there.” Maybe at the back of the mind somewhere, the desire to be accepted in the mainstream, would have been haunting her or maybe her participation in Big Boss in India 2011, instigated this retirement, for while in the Big Boss House, she was offered a movie by Mahesh Bhatt.
Her entry in the Big Boss House created quite a stir. She hid her true identity from the other inmates, and all records were broken on the search engine Google, with people going berserk to know about her. Many complaints were lodged against Colors TV for propagating pornography. Among the complainants, were the Indian Artistes and Actors Forum, and, Anurag Thakur, head of Bhartiya Janata Party Youth wing. Media, various organisations, commoners, accused Sunny of polluting the Indian youth and increasing the Indian indulgence into pornography.
But amidst this public lashing, a few from the film fraternity stood by her. Actors like Amir Khan said that
she should not be judged by her profession. Mahesh Bhatt fulfilled his commitment of casting her in his film, and thus, combating all protests, her first film Jism 2 was released in 2012 and was a commercial success. The success of her first movie paved way for more. Her movie, Ragini MMS2, got her critical acclaim too, which her first film had failed to. Sunny was flooded with offers in Bollywood, though her later films failed to perform at the box office, but her item numbers in quite a few films are immensely popular. At present, she is busy with a few cameos, item numbers and a romantic drama with Arbaaz Khan.
The success and acceptance of a porn star in the mainstream is a debatable issue, with each individual having his own opinions and prejudices. Her beginning may be unacceptable by the society norms, but, she cannot be deprived of the credit she deserves for her achievements. Just like any other girl she had dreams, went against the defined moral rules and achieved her goal on her terms.
We wish this PETA activist, a very happy birthday, as she turns 36, on 13th May, and more success and acknowledgment in life from Different Truths.
©Smriti Maheshwari
Photos from the internet.
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