Zoya Akhtar is a pioneer when it comes to thinking outside the box and delivering the best of content. The director has done it once again with the "I for India initative" to help reduce the impacts of Covid-19.

The initiative has been making headlines ever since it was announced with everyone waiting for the event to go live. Spanning over four hours, the Facebook live event saw 85+ celebrities from Bollywood take part in it including international celebrities like Will Smith and Mick Jagger joining in as well along others.

The event saw artists do various performances in the safety of their homes to raise money for GiveIndia.org to support frontline workers fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and also to help people like daily wage workers who have been affect due to the ongoing crisis.

The vision for the concert was three-pronged: to entertain those locked down in their homes. To pay tribute to those who are working on the frontlines. And to raise funds for those who have no work and no home and do not know where their next meal is coming from.

Needless to say, the concert was a huge success and managed to raise substantial amounts of funds that will indeed benefit those in need. The 'I for India' initiative was organised by Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar.

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Shashank Vyas is not a social media addict. He says he chose not to make his personal life public by posting pictures or tweeting private details. "All this time I have been accused of not being on social media by my fans. I don't take social media seriously. It is a fun thing and I only use it to reach out to my fans, that too once in a month," said the young actor.

"One has a choice of being on it or not being on it. I choose not to make my personal life public by posting pictures or tweeting private details. It is an individual choice at the end of the day. Posting everything online and then complaining of invasion of privacy is a hypocritical thing to do," he added.

He feels that just like having a million followers won't affect his craft, similarly having fewer followers won't affect his "dream, my health, and my craft". "Through social media, one only wants to seek social validation or adulation to feel good about themselves. In other words, it is all illusionary space. The key to happiness is in my pocket and not in someone else's hand," he said.

Meanwhile, Shashank said that he has always tried to concentrate on his work and agrees that there might not be too many great roles out there. "Any seasoned actor who in the real sense is passionate about acting, will not pick up a role casually. There is a huge scarcity of good writers. Right now, only supernatural shows are getting made, which does not offer much to an actor in terms of creative satisfaction," he said.

"Many fantastic actors say no owing to the lack of good scripts. A script has to be so compelling that you hear it once and you know you would like to be a part of it. If the role is well-written on paper then an actor has to be physically and mentally present and everything will turn out good. The part where an actor is not convinced is the logic bit. The audience today is spoilt for choice with the vast amount of shows to choose from and they will not accept just about anything. The content has to be compelling," added the "Balika Vadhu" actor.

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Karan Tacker was famously linked with Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai co-star and on-screen wife Krystle D'Souza, but neither actor made their relationship official. However, the audience always knew that they were together and also rooted for the couple.

In a recent interview with ETimes, Karan Tacker opened about why the couple parted ways. And it wasn't because of personal difference, as Tacker claims. He told the website, "Krystle and I never said that we separated because of personal differences. However, I wouldn't get into further details on this." Tacker also shared that he's not in touch with Krystle any more.

When asked if Karan, given the chance, would work with Krystle again, he said, "I don't really look at who's working with me for the project. As I said, I look into a script. If the script appeals to me, everybody else comes with the project. I don't really have a problem."

Recently, during an Instagram live chat, Karan Tacker was asked if he has kept in touch with his exes during the lockdown. Karan replied that since all his exes are his good friends, he's been checking up with all of them. Reacting to this, Karan Johar started pulling Karan Tacker's leg, asking him if he was sure that he messaged every single person? To this Tacker laughed and said, "Not every single person… but you know what I mean."

On the work front, Karan Tacker was recently seen in Neeraj Pandey's Special Ops on Hotstar. Karan was seen in the role of an undercover agent in the action thriller series. Special Ops also features Kay Kay Menon, Divya Dutta, Vinay Pathak, Muzammil Ibrahim, Vipul Gupta, Sajjad Delafrooz, Parmeet Sethi, Gautami Kapoor, Sana Khan, Sharad Kelkar, and KP Mukherjee.

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Astad Deboo explores the space at Studio Tamaasha in his show. Pics/Ritam Banerjee

"When you sit inches away from the performer, there could be an initial moment of awkwardness. But then it gets exciting, and a strong bond forms between the audience and the artiste. There is no getting away here," says acclaimed theatre director Sunil Shanbag about the dynamics of performing in an intimate space like Studio Tamaasha, which he founded in April last year.

This Saturday, the viewer-performer relationship will acquire a new dimension as ace dancer-choreographer Astad Deboo takes the stage at Studio Tamaasha to present a solo performance, Liminal: Below the Edge, specially designed for the Versova venue. "Sunil and I go back nearly 40 years. When I saw the space, I found it exciting and it called out to me. I do a lot of site-specific work, but this is the first time I am in such a compact space," says Deboo about the collaboration, adding that the performance deals with the turmoil, unrest and uncertainty we are experiencing today. The music has been composed by Michael Brook, Paul Giger and the late U Srinivas, The venue has a T-shaped stage with the audience seated on either side. Deboo's performance has been created to explore three different parts of the space. "A lot of work that I do is very controlled. If I am raising a leg, the viewer [in an intimate set-up] can see the movement vividly. It's an experience for the audience to see the performer up close," shares Deboo.

Shanbag believes that there is a certain openness to the way the studio can be used. But with Deboo, it was a different experience. "Astad is a master at using spaces. A lot of what one has learnt about space has been from watching him in the past. It felt perfectly natural to ask him if he would like to do something here. And he has the ability to make you see your own space differently."

Sunil Shanbag

How do they view the recent surge in the number of alternative performance spaces in Mumbai? "It is good to see that these spaces have sprung up. I find Sitara Studio in Parel interesting, too," says Deboo, who feels that intimate venues lend themselves well to previews of works in progress. Back from South America, where he and his company were invited to perform at the 25th anniversary celebrations of the festival of the Arts in Santiago, Chile, Deboo is creating a show suited for the Tao Art Gallery space in Worli.

Shanbag calls the development exciting. "It's adding to the richness of the cultural landscape of the city. But it's also a good time to point out that this is all created by the performing arts community, with no support of any kind," he says. "It's an amazing spirit. You go out there, find spaces, and make them performance-ready. Something good has to come out of this."

ON: February 10, 7.30 pm
AT: Studio Tamaasha, Bungalow No 76, Aram Nagar, Versova,
LOG ON TO: bookmyshow.com
ENTRY: Rs 354

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Washington D.C.: Many people are often torn about reaching their personal goals at any given cost. However, turns out, such goal conflict is associated with the symptoms of psychological distress, according to a new study conducted by the University of Exeter. A survey of more than 200 young adults investigated two forms of motivational conflict.

These were inter-goal conflict (when pursuing one goal makes it difficult to pursue another) and ambivalence (conflicting feelings about particular goals).

The results showed that each of these forms of goal conflict was independently associated with anxious and depressive symptoms, but did not predict worsening of symptoms over one month.

"People with poorer mental health are more likely to report that their personal goals hinder one another," said researcher Nick Moberly.

"Such conflict between goals may be more manageable if it is conscious. However, ambivalence may indicate a clash between a goal and a higher-order value that lies outside awareness. Attention to these deeper motivational conflicts may be an important step towards resolving them and relieving distress", continued Moberly.

Professor Joanne Dickson said, "We know that striving for goals that are important to us gives life meaning and purpose and promotes wellbeing. However, when these goals generate conflict they can contribute to psychological distress."

Inter-goal conflict occurs either because the objectives are incompatible or because pursuit of both goals draws upon a limited resource, such as time or money.

For example, a person's goal to spend more time with their family may conflict with their goal to get promoted at work.

Ambivalence is thought to reflect a deeper motivational conflict of which the person is unaware.

For example, a person may feel ambivalent about initiating an intimate relationship because this challenges a more abstract goal of independence.

The young adults in the study were aged 18-35, with an average age of 20. The findings from the study are published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

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