Mumbai, June 23: Veteran filmmaker Shekhar Kapur shared his thoughts on the relationship between creativity, mental health, and the nature of artistic genius.

Taking to Instagram, Kapur reflected on Vincent van Gogh’s iconic painting Starry Night, calling it “the world’s most valued painting,” and marveling at how it was created during one of the most turbulent phases in the artist’s life. In his post, he revealed that Gogh painted Starry Night while admitted to a mental asylum, a time marked by severe emotional struggles. He further reflected on the fact that while he can return to his “normal” self after storytelling, many legendary artists like Van Gogh struggled with mental illness, sometimes unable to make that switch.

Calling for a broader understanding of mental health, Shekhar Kapur challenged conventional definitions of normalcy and illness. Sharing photos of Vincent’s paintings, the Mr. India director wrote, “This is the world’s most valued painting. Starry Nights was painted by Van Gogh while he was in the mental asylum and at the height of his ‘mental illness.’ Van Gough’s bold, expressive brush created swirling patterns in the night sky. Physicians have long tried to solve the equations of fluid dynamics. Fluid dynamics represents the true nature of the universe. And according to them, apparently Van Gogh painted a true representation of fluid dynamics!” (sic)

“How does an artist reputed to be suffering from schizophrenia manage to capture the true nature of our universe?? Quite apart from examining the relationship between art and science, what I wonder about a lot is the relationship between schizophrenia and creativity. When I write a story, I am transformed into the world of my characters. To help me transport my readers/listeners to that world, I need to believe in that world myself. I need to transport myself to that world. I need to become my characters…. Am I then experiencing a schizoid state? When I am transported into different worlds, believing I am somewhere else and somebody else?”

His post further read, “Fortunately I am able to switch those characters off. And return to my normal state (whatever normal might be) … and yet artists like Van Gogh, who painted some of the greatest poets/artists in the world, have suffered from mental illness. not being able to switch back to normal (whatever normal might be)”

Shekhar Kapur ended his post adding, “In that case we need to redefine mental illnesses… we need to redefine what normal is… if all creativity happens beyond the normal… in a state that so many artists, dancers, musicians, and actors define as the ‘zone’ they tap into… Where is this zone? What do we tap into when we tell stories we believe in? When do we paint the nature of the universe as we see it? Is it a schizophrenic act? #Art #Schizophrenic #Schizophrenia.”

Mumbai, June 20: Actors Chunky Panday and Sanjay Kapoor accompanied with their wives Bhavna Panday and Maheep Kapoor are currently vacationing in Thailand, where the quartet enjoyed a tuktuk ride.

Chunky took to his Instagram stories, where he shared a video of him along with Sanjay, Bhavna and Maheep sitting in a dimly lit tuktuk.

Chunky could be heard saying: “In Thailand. We are in a tuktuk. This is too much fun and where are we?”

Sanjay then starts singing the song “Aaja Meri Gaadi Main Baith Jaa” originally sung by Baba Sehgal from the 1998 film “Miss 420” Directed by Akashdeep Sabir.

The video was captioned: “A singing Tuktuk from @chivasomhuahin.”

Talking about Miss 420, the action thriller stars Sheeba Akashdeep, Baba Sehga, Shakti Kapoor, Aashif Sheikh, Mohan Joshi and Tinnu Anand. The release of the film was delayed for several years and it was eventually released in cinema halls four years later on January 23, 1998.

Sanjay too shared a video of the two men running to their respective wives and captioned: “Runaway Grooms”.

Talking about Chunky, he was recently seen in the fifth installment of “Housefull 5”, which boasts a massive star cast including names such as Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Abhishek Bachchan, Dino Morea, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sonam Bajwa, Nagis Fakri, Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Nana Patekar, Chitrangada Singh, Fardeen Khan, Chunky Pandey, Johnny Lever, Shreyas Talpade, Ranjeet, Soundarya Sharma, Nikitin Dheer, and Akashdeep Sabir.

Directed by Tarun Mansukhani, the film released in theatres on June 6 with two climaxes. The film is bankrolled by Sajid Nadiadwala under his home banner Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment.

The first installment of “Housefull” was released in 2010. The second installment came out in 2012. The first two films were directed by Sajid Khan. Housefull 3, which was directed by Sajid-Farhad, hit the screens in 2016. The fourth film came out in 2019 and was directed by Farhad Samji.

Meanwhile, Sanjay was last seen in the 2024 digital film “Murder Mubarak” directed by Homi Adajania. The film features an ensemble cast, including Pankaj Tripathi, Karisma Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Vijay Varma, Dimple Kapadia, Sanjay Kapoor, Tisca Chopra, Suhail Nayyar and Tara Alisha Berry.

Mumbai, June 20: Veteran actress and BJP MP Hema Malini recently took to social media to share an update on a long-pending development project in her constituency, Mathura.

Sharing photos from her site visit, the BJP MP announced the completion of a major road project, which she said was initiated following her repeated appeals to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to address severe traffic congestion in Raya. In her post, Hema revealed that the completed stretch includes a 66-km section from Mathura to Hathras, constructed at a cost of Rs 1,700 crore, and a broader 256-km road from Mathura to Bareilly built at a whopping Rs 4,500 crore.

Taking to Instagram, the ‘Sholay’ actress shared pictures featuring her inspecting the completed road alongside officials. For the caption, Malini wrote, “The beautiful road depicted in the photos below have been completed by the Hon minister Nitin Gadkari ji, after my almost daily appeals to ease the traffic jams in Raya. I hope this solves the problem now and the people are happy. It has been completed under heavy cost – 1700 cr only for 66 km that is, Mathura to Hathras section and Mathura to Bareilly 256 km at a cost of 4500 cr.”

“I have kept my promise to the people of Mathura to do whatever I can during my tenure as MP, to improve the city and its traffic woes. Here I am inspecting the completed road with the officials concerned #mathura.”

On June 19, the veteran actress had shared a glimpse of a heartfelt day she spent with the widows residing at Krishna Kutir, a shelter home in Vrindavan. Describing the visit as emotionally stirring, Hema Malini had engaged with both the elderly and younger residents, listened to their stories, and extended her support. The actress and politician interacted warmly with the women and even gifted them a golf cart to ease their visits to nearby temples in Mathura and Vrindavan. She had also assured them that their concerns would be addressed.

Sharing her photos, Hema wrote, “Yesterday was a heart-wrenching time spent with young and old Vrindavan widows in the shelter built for them – Krishna Kutir. I have gifted them with a golf cart to take them to the temples in Mathura-Vrindavan. They were so happy to interact with me and I promised to help them with their complaints. #mathuravrindavan.”