Welcome!

Hey everyone!
Welcome to Celeb Talk! I am a journalist and this is the blog where I keep an archive of the interviews I take and describe how exactly they happened, how they went and informal details about how the celebrity is to talk to, and other interesting oversights. I started this blog only in December 2007, by when I had around 7 years of interviews to archive! So I am going to keep adding interviews to the blog as and when I have time.

The first page of my blog(this very page) will always show the same 5 entries with a few updates..
1. Welcome! (That's the one you are reading now)
2. Background Details (More about me and how I ended up being a journalist..)
3. Recently taken/added interviews (A list of the 5 most recently taken, added and popular interviews with their links).
4. Interview Index By Category (List of interviews I have taken grouped into the profession of the celebrity, like Sports, Music, Movies, etc. The lists are in alphabetical order, so it is easier to find a particular celebrity.)
5. Interview Index (An exhaustive index of the interviews I have taken. The name of each celebrity whose interview I have added to the site is converted to a hyperlink, so you can reach their interview by clicking on the name)

Each interview is divided into two parts :
One where I write about how the interviews actually happened and informal insights into the celebrity I interviewed (how he was to talk to, etc.). The other is of course, the actual interview in itself. To browse through the interviews, you can check out the interview index by category or just go through the older posts.

Thank You, and enjoy reading the interviews! (Okay, I may have sounded awfully boring so far, but trust me, my informal interview descriptions are going to be fun filled! Umm.. that's when I START writing them!)


Note :

(1) If you have a fan site and want to use any of the interviews, please contact me at nikhiltaneja@gmail.com before using it. No interviews should be used without permission, since these are exclusively taken and are copyrighted (not by me, but by my magazine! I can't sue you, but they can for sure!).

(2) The site is under construction so some of the interviews/descriptions may be incomplete or incorrect. Please bear with me until I completely finish uploading all the interviews and descriptions..

Background Details

It was my brother who inspired me to write. My brother, Sagar, is a brilliant artist. When we were both kids, my father was posted in Dubai by Bank Of Baroda. In Dubai, we came across our very first youth, Young Times, which had a lot of sections which bode well with us children.

There was a column 'Canvas' which invited children to send in their drawings, paintings, etc. that would be printed in Young Times. Sagar, being the brilliant artist he was, sent in a few of his drawings to the mag, which in fact got published. Following suit, I tried my hand at drawing as well and sent in my contributions to the mag. But mine were never published. I would invest a lot of sweat in what I thought were BLOODY AWESOME drawings, but the mag would never publish them.

It was time for me to leave Dubai. As a last desperate attempt at seeing my name in print, I dashed across a letter to YT asking them why they never published my drawings and sent another drawing. They still didn't publish any drawing, but they instead published my letter! I felt vindicated!

Months later, my dad found a job in Bahrain and we were back in the Gulf. I came across Young Times again. This time though, I didn't try and get any of my drawings published(I still have a grudge against them for not publishing them because my drawings were good!!! I still think so at least!!!). Instead, I started sending them letters. Thoughtful letters, thought provoking letters. I started taking part in YT contests, tried sending my stuff to every column which invited reader contributions. And got to see my name in print quite a few times. I was a happy teenager.

The turning point of my life came in the summer of 2001. I was 13 that time. There was a celebrity cricket match organized in Bahrain and to my dismay, I didn't find any mention of it in my favourite magazine, Young Times. So I wrote an article on the event and sent it across to YT with an email in which I asked them why they never covered events in Bahrain. After all, it was an integral part of the Middle East. I ended the letter by taking my chances and asking them if I could cover it for them, if they didn't have any correspondents in Bahrain.

They said yes.

It was a long shot, but hey, it worked! And with that, started my tryst with journalism. On October 1, 2000, I got a letter signed by Mr. B. Surender, the then-editor of Young Times, who accredited me as a correspondent of Young Times. I was in the 9th standard at Indian School, Bahrain at that time. I am not sure what Mr. Surender meant when he said I, a 14 year old school going kid, would be the Bahrain correspondent of Young Times but I had my own interpretation of it. So when a celebrity event took place in Bahrain during October, 2001, in which Sajid Khan, Shankar Mahadeven and Hema Sardesai had come to perform, I got the phone no. of the organizers from the local newspaper and called them up and requested for their interviews.

What followed was my first press conference at age 14, and my first interview with Sajid Khan, which Young Times was ever so happy to publish.

It's been 7 and a half years since. I am 21 now, have just finished off my last year at National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, where I had been studying Computer engineering since the past 4 years. In the meanwhile, though, what started off as a hobby has turned into a passion and now I have 100 odd interviews of Indian and international celebrities to my credit, including the likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Aiswharya Rai, Michael Schumacher, Viswanathan Anand, etc. I am still free lancing for Young Times and am having a kick ass time.

I don't know where my life or career is headed. Journalism is in my blood now and I am feverishly looking for a job in the media field! I have two jobs in the IT sector and I am all set to forgo them to follow my dream.... Wish me luck!

So well, happy reading :) ! And do come again!

Recently Taken/Added Interviews

Most Popular Interviews :

1. Shahrukh Khan
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Viswanathan Anand
4. Ranbir Kapoor
5. Sonam Kapoor

Most recently Taken Interviews:

1. Kajol (March 2008)
2. Hrithik Roshan (January 2008)
3. Aishwarya Rai (January 2008)
4. Ashutosh Gowarikar (January 2008)
5. Imtiaz Ali (Director of Jab We Met - Dec 2007)

Most recently Added interviews:

1. Imtiaz Ali
2. Nandana Sen
3. Ranbir Kapoor
4. Sonam Kapoor
5. Nikita Anand

Most recently Added Interview Descriptions:

---To be Updated---

Most Popular Interview Descriptions:

---To be Updated---

Interview Index by Category

List of interviews I have taken by category (In alphabetical order):
MOVIE CELEBS

Actors
1. Akshay Kumar ('07)
2. Akshaye Khanna ('07)
3. Aman Varma ('03)
4. Hrithik Roshan ('08)
5. Hussain Kujarewala ('07)
6. Jaaved Jafferi ('07)
7. Jimmy Shergill ('07)
8. Mohanlal ('03)
9. Om Puri ('01)
10. Rahul Bose ('06)
11. Ranbir Kapoor ('07)
12. Ranvir Shorey ('07)
13. Riteish Deshmukh ('07)
14. Sanjay Suri ('05)
15. SHAH RUKH KHAN ('07)
16. Shahid Kapur ('07)
17. Vinay Pathak ('07)

Actresses
1. Aishwarya Rai ('08)
2. Dia Mirza ('07)
3. Diana Hayden ('01)
4. Juhi Babbar('01)
5. Kajol ('08)
6. Nandana Sen ('07)
7. Mona Singh ('05)
8. Meghna Naidu ('03)
9. Musumeh ('07)
10. Nadira Babbar ('01)
11. Nikita Anand ('01)
12. Sayali Bhagat ('04)
13.Soha Ali Khan ('07)
14. Sonam Kapoor ('07)
15. Tanushree Dutta ('04)
16. Tanushree Dutta ('07)
17. Urvashi Sharma ('07)
18. Vidya Balan ('07)

Art Director
1. Omung Kumar (Saawariya Art Director) ('07)

Director
1. Ashutosh Gowarikar ('08)
2. Imtiaz Ali ('07)
2. Sajid Khan ('07)

MUSIC CELEBS

Bands
1. A1 Band('01)
2. Junoon Band ('00)

Composers
1. Annu Malik ('07)
2. Harry Anand ('03)
3. Monty (Saawariya Music Director) ('07)
4. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy ('07)
5. Vishal Shekhar ('07)

Singers
1. Devang Patel ('01)
2. Hema Sardesai ('00)
3. Jagjit Singh ('01)

4. Jyolsna ('04)
5. Mehnaz ('01)
6. Shaan ('01)
7. Shankar Mahadevan ('00)
8. Shail Hada ('07)
9. Sunidhi Chauhan ('07)
10. Sunitha Sarathy ('04)
11. Udit Narayan ('07)
12. Vasundhara Das

MISCELLANEOUS CELEBS

Authors
1. Rana Dasgupta ('06)
2. Shashi Tharoor ('06)

Entrepreneurs
1. Ashish Kaul, Executive Vice President, ICL ('07)

Quizmasters
1. Siddhartha Basu ('07)

VJs
1. Cyrus Broacha ('01)
2. Cyrus Broacha ('05)
3. Gaurav Kapoor ('05)
4. Mini Mahur ('07)
5. Nikhil Chinappa ('03)
6. Purab Kohli ('05)
7. Sajid Khan ('00)

SPORTS CELEBS

Chess Player
1. Viswanathan Anand ('07)

Cricketers
1. Ajit Wadekar ('07)
2. Ambati Rayudu ('07)
3. Andrew Hall ('07)
4. Chris Cairns ('07)
5. Chris Read ('07)
6. Daryll Tuffey ('07)
7. Ian Harvey ('07)
8. Madan Lal ('07)
9. Michael Bevan ('07)
10. Navjot Singh Siddhu ('07)
11. Nicky Boje ('07)
12. Paul Nixon ('07)
13. Russel Arnold ('07)
14. Shabbir Ahmed ('07)
15. Stuart Law ('07)
16. Taufeeq Umar ('07)
17. Thiru Kumaran('07)

Formula One Drivers
1. Anthony Davidson ('04)
2. Christian Klien ('04)
3. Cristiano Da Matta ('04)
4. Felipe Massa ('04)
5. FERNANDO ALONSO ('04)
6. Giancarlo Fisichella ('04)
7. Gianmaria Bruni ('04)
8. Jarno Trulli ('04)
9. Jenson Button ('04)
10. Juan Pablo Montoya ('04)
11. Mark Webber ('04)
12. MICHAEL SCHUMACHER ('04)
13. Olivier Panis ('04)
14. Ralf Schumacher ('04)
15. Reuben Barichello
16. Takuma Sato ('04)
17. Zsolt Baumgartener ('04)

Note:

(1) The date of interview is given in brackets next to the name of the celebrity. The name of each celebrity whose interview I have added to the site is converted to a hyperlink, so you can reach their interview by clicking on the name.

(2) The site is under construction so some of the interviews/descriptions may be incomplete or incorrect. Please bear with me until I completely finish uploading all the interviews and descriptions.

Exhaustive Interview Index

List of interviews I have taken in the exact order they happened (From most recent to first):

1. Kajol
2. Hrithik Roshan
3. Aishwarya Rai
4. Ashutosh Gowarikar
5. Andrew Hall
   
6. Stuart Law
7. Chris Cairns
8. Thiru Kumaran
9. Daryll Tuffey
10. Imtiaz Ali
    
11. Ian Harvey
12. Chris Read
13. Taufeeq Umar
14. Paul Nixon
15. Ambati Rayudu
    
16. Madan Lal
17. Nicky Boje
18. Jimmy Shergill
19. Dia Mirza
20. Musumeh
21. Ashish Kaul, Executive Vice President, ICL
    
22. Ajit Wadekar
23. Shabbir Ahmed
24. Michael Bevan
25. Russel Arnold
26. Shahid Kapur
    
27. Nandana Sen
28. Shail Hada
    
29. Monty (Saawariya Music Director)
30. Omung Kumar (Saawariya Art Director)
    
31. Sonam Kapoor
32. Ranbir Kapoor
33. Viswanathan Anand
34. Nikita Anand
35. Jaaved Jafferi
36. Tanushree Dutta
37. Akshay Kumar
38. Vidya Balan
39. Riteish Deshmukh
40. Urvashi Sharma
41. Akshaye Khanna
42. Ranvir Shorey
43. Vishal Shekhar
44. Soha Ali Khan
45. Sunidhi Chauhan
46. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
47. Sajid Khan
48. Navjot Singh Siddhu
49. Udit Narayan
50. Annu Malik
51. Hussain Kujarewala
52. Mini Mahur
53. Vinay Pathak
    
54. SHAH RUKH KHAN
55. Siddhartha Basu
56. Rana Dasgupta
57. Rahul Bose
58. Shashi Tharoor
59. Cyrus Broacha
60. Gaurav Kapoor
61. Purab Kohli
62. Sanjay Suri
63. Mona Singh
64. Jyolsna
65. Sunitha Sarathy
66. Tanushree Dutta
67. Sayali Bhagat
68. MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
69. FERNANDO ALONSO
70. Felipe Massa
71. Juan Pablo Montoya
72. Reuben Barichello
73. Ralf Schumacher
74. Giancarlo Fisichella
75. Jarno Trulli
    
76. Christian Klien
77. Mark Webber
78. Jenson Button
79. Takuma Sato
80. Olivier Panis
81. Cristiano Da Matta
82. Gianmaria Bruni
    
83. Zsolt Baumgartener
84. Anthony Davidson
85. Aman Varma
    
86. Nikhil Chinappa
87. Vasundhara Das
88. Harry Anand
89. Meghna Naidu
90. Mohanlal
91. Juhi Babbar
92. Nadira Babbar
93. A1 Band
94. Cyrus Broacha
95. Om Puri
96. Shaan
97. Jagjit Singh
98. Devang Patel
99. Diana Hayden
100. Mehnaz
101. Junoon Band
102. Shankar Mahadevan
     
103. Hema Sardesai
104. Sajid Khan

Note:
(1)The name of each celebrity whose interview I have added to the site is converted to a hyperlink, so you can reach their interview by clicking on the name.
(2)The site is under construction so some of the interviews/descriptions may be incomplete or incorrect. Please bear with me until I completely finish uploading all the interviews and descriptions.