The Brunette Diaries

Bollywood stars and their lucky charms

In films, sports and politics, we have often heard of superstitions that people follow to assure success. Bollywood stars, in fact, have this ingrained in their lifestyles. Let us look at some quirky superstitions that Bollywood stars have.

Amitabh Bachchan

Though the superstar ditched all his rings a few years ago, we cannot forget when Amitabh sported several rings on his long fingers. In fact, the longest finger on his left hand had two rings. Amitabh believed in these gem-stone rings quite religiously since his career flourished only after he started wearing them.

Salman Khan

This superstar stud may leave the house without his shirt but he will never leave the house without his turquoise blue bracelet. Salman’s father who sports a similar bracelet had gifted him this one. A number of ardent Salman fans have also sported similar bracelets. I’m sure you might have come across at least one such fan.

Imran Khan

Imran doesn’t have any lucky charms as such but he always asks for his movies to be released in the first week of July. ‘Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Naa’, ‘I Hate Luv Storys’ and ‘Delhi Belly’ released in that week and were successful. Besides this, Imran believes that if his wife Avantika features as a special appearance in his movie, then it is bound to be a hit. He cites examples of movies like ‘Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Naa’, ‘I Hate Luv Storys’ and ‘Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu’.

Mugdha Godse

Mugdha feels that her life has become more peaceful after getting herself a spiritual tattoo. The tattoo reads ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ in the Devanagri script.

Dia Mirza

Dia Mirza always carries with her a Buddhist blessing written on a paper that her mother had gifted her. Dia feels that this brings her blessings and prosperity.

The Richest Bollywood Stars Of Today

Bollywood is known for its legendary actors, musicians, dancers and composers. This film industry has been flourishing by leaps and bounds since the 1930’s. As the Indian currency is getting stronger day by day, so is the revenue earned by this mega industry. People do not read books as much they watch films, so there is no reason why the money won’t flow into the industry. Here we take a look at some of the richest Bollywood stars of today.

(Also read – Bollywood celebrities and expensive gifts)

Shah Rukh Khan

This Baadshah of Bollywood even made it into the highest earners in the world. Coming second only to Jerry Seinfeld, Shah Rukh topped superstars like Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp as well. Khan earns around 35 crore rupees per movie and around 15 crore per endorsement. Shah Rukh’s net worth is around US $600 million.

(Also read – Bollywood stars and their bikes)

Aamir Khan

One of the top 3 most well known Khans in India, Aamir is a super high earner as well. Having made up his way to the top due to his versatility, this actor is very selective about his movies and charges a whopping 30 crores per movie and earns around 4 crore for every endorsement (mostly ones with a social cause).

(Also read – Bollywood celebs before stardom)

Salman Khan

One more super Khan, Salman, charges around 35 crores per movie that he stars in, plus a percentage of the profit. Besides being known for his superb physique, his enormous fan following is one more reason why producers wouldn’t mind throwing that much money for the superstar.

(Also read – Top 5 highest grossing Bollywood films)

Akshay Kumar

This top notch action star has been making the mega bucks since the last few years. Since he has a background in Taekwondo, Akshay performs his own stunts for his movies and charges anything between 18-30 crores per movie, while around 5 crores for his commercials.

Hrithik Roshan

Hrithik has shown his tremendous potential by acting and dancing his way to superstardom. He charges around 25 crore per movie he appears and around 5 crore for endorsements!

Bollywood stars and their controversies

Bollywood stars have always been known to flirt with controversy. Bollywood is well-known all around the world for both good and not-so-good reasons. Let us look at the lives of some Bollywood stars and how controversies have embroidered their lives.

Salman Khan

When you have to describe Salman, a word like brash will be close on your mind. Salman first got into controversy in 1998 by hunting an endangered Chinkara, following which he was arrested, but later released on bail. But he continued to play with fire when he drove his car over a footpath where some homeless people were sleeping. This left one dead and three injured and he was charged with a hit and run case.

Saif Ali Khan

Saif Ali Khan is another star who swam in the danger sea once too often. Coming from a royal background, he was bound to get away with things but he faced quite a lot of trouble somehow. In the year 2012, the nawab was with his wife and friends and fell into an argument with an NRI at the Taj hotel and he allegedly brawled with the man and broke his nose. Besides this, Saif was also accused in the same Chinkara hunting case for allegedly being an accomplice of Salman in the act.

Sanjay Dutt

How can anyone forget Sanjay’s famous ‘Munnabhai’ character from the movie ‘Munnabhai M.B.B.S’! Sanjay is allegedly known to have contacts with many such ‘gundas’ like in the movie and has always been surrounded by controversies in his real life.

Shah Rukh Khan

How could we miss out on ‘King Khan’ who was found to be misbehaving with a security official while at the Wankhede stadium in 2012’s edition of IPL. He was also alleged of slapping Farah Khan’s husband Shirish Kunder at a party.

Shiney Ahuja

Shiney Ahuja may not be a very popular name in Bollywood, but found himself in the headlines with some really serious charges of raping his housemaid in the year 2009.

Preity Zinta

If you thought that the leading ladies of Bollywood would miss out, then I’m afraid you’re mistaken. Preity Zinta was the hot topic of B-town when she was alleged to be in an affair with an already married Shekhar Kapur.

Kareena Kapoor

Kareena was always known to be a bold chic. When her MMS was leaked out showing her passionately kissing her then boyfriend Shahid Kapoor, this boiled a lot of gossip.

Shilpa Shetty

Shilpa Shetty made it into this list due to her racism accusation on one of the contestants in the British reality TV show ‘Big Brother’ which became a topic of discussion across India and the UK. Later, Shilpa again got into another controversy when Hollywood star Richard Gere openly kissed the actress.

Highly Educated Bollywood Stars

With supreme acting skills that have gained them plaudits from people all over India, some of these Bollywood stars will actually surprise you with their educational degrees as well! Here we take a look at the most highly educated B-town celebrities.

(Also read – Bollywood celebrities and expensive gifts)

Preity Zinta

This bubbly Kings XI Punjab owner, with a chubby face and a pretty dimple, is a perfect blend of beauty and brains. She has graduated with an English honours degree and earned a post graduate degree in criminal psychology! Impressive, isn’t it?

Vidya Balan

This B-town bombshell holds a major in sociology from St. Xavier’s, Mumbai. Besides this, she also holds an M.A. from Mumbai University. Talk about being diversely talented!

(Also read – The richest Bollywood stars of today)

Soha Ali Khan

Following in the footsteps of her father, Soha attended the Balliol College in Oxford. She also holds a masters degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

(Also read – Bollywood celebrities and their obsession with luxury cars)

R Madhavan

R Madhavan has charmed quite a few with his cute smile but that’s not all that is impressive about him! He is a graduate in electronics from Rajaram College, Kolhapur and even won the Maharashtra Best Cadet title which allowed him to make a trip to England. He even received training the Royal Army, the Navy and the Air Force which made him consider joining defence.

(Also read – Bollywood stars and their controversies)

John Abraham

This Bollywood hunk finished his primary education at Bombay Scottish School in Mumbai, and then went on to get an MBA degree from the Mumbai Educational Trust.

Fardeen Khan

Fardeen holds a Business Management degree from the University of Massachusetts, USA! Impressive!

The real action heroes of Bollywood

When it comes to action, Bollywood does take it to the next level, from high octane fighting scenes to car chases. But when it comes to stars who have a background in the action scenes they are performing, the scenes become more realistic and entertainment. So here we take a look at the real action heroes of Bollywood who have chosen to do their own stunts without using body doubles.

(Also read – Bollywood celebrities who changed their names)

Tiger Shroff

Son of Bollywood actor Jackie Shroff, Tiger Shroff has been trained in gymnastics and martial arts since childhood. Tiger made his Bollywood debut with ‘Heropanti’. He gave a lot of efforts into developing his martial arts skill for this movie and was appreciated a lot for his performance. He trained in martial arts and parkour, and focussed on his body for around 2 years before the shoot began. Tiger did all the stunts by himself and did not need a body double.

(Also read – Bollywood celebs before stardom)

Akshay Kumar

Khiladi Kumar has always been a supremely fit actor and has trained in Muay Thai, a martial art form of Thailand when he was in Bangkok. He does most of his stunts by himself and has been known to be the most daring action stars in Bollywood. He was awarded the highest Japanese honour of “Katana” and a sixth degree Black Belt in Kuyukai Gojuryu Karate. Akshay jumped from one elevator to another at a height of around 110 feet in an action scene for the movie ‘Singh Is Kinng’. He even carried a 350 pound wrestler named ‘Undertaker’ for the film ‘Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi’. He has also jumped from a height of around 45 feet in the movie ‘Khiladi 786′. These are just a few of the innumerous stunts that Akshay has done in his illustrious career.

(Also read – Bollywood relationships you may not know about)

Vidyut Jamwal

(Also read – Bollywood stars and their bikes)

Actor Vidyut Jamwal practises Kalaripayattu – a martial art form from Kerala. This includes strikes, kicks, grappling, preset forms, weaponry and healing methods. He made his Bollywood debut with ‘Force’, where he starred opposite John Abraham and Genelia D’Souza. He received a lot of praise for his performance in this action packed film and won the Filmfare Best Male Debut Award for the film. His stunts in the film ‘Commando – One Man Army’ were extremely dangerous and were done all by himself without the support of any ropes or harnesses.

Fitness Tips From Fitness Guru Herself, Up Close With Sonam Bajwa

Interviewing celebs and great personalities is one of the perks enjoyed by the team of TBD. We get to ask various questions that many fans wish to ask their role models. This time, TBD got the chance to get up close with the beautiful and graceful, Sonam Bajwa.

Sonam, who is known for her role in “Carry On Jatta 2” starring alongside with Diljith Dosanjh, also participated in the Femina Miss India Contest in 2012. But, if you follow her on Instagram, you’d know she is a huge fitness freak too. She loves Gymming and the results are evident from her super hot body for which she seems to have worked hard.

Check out our video on our Youtube Channel:

Also, here are some pictures from Sonam’s Instagram proving her love for fitness!