Bollywood celebs chorus Devaa Ho Devaa, Ganpati Devaa"
Devaa Ho Devaa, Ganpati Devaa, Tumse Badhkar Kaun”, (Oh Lord Ganesha, nobody is greater than thou) goes the popular refrain of a yesteryear Indi-pop number from a Hindi movie. From Amitabh Bachchan to Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan to Ranbir Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty to Rakhee Sawant – all of them endorse this chant. Almost every second showbiz celeb and film-maker is an ardent devotee of Lord Ganesha. Since the showbiz industry is fickle, unpredictable and slippery they consider the ‘elephant-headed’ God as their “lucky mascot and saviour” for achieving starry success.
Despite being branded the off-screen bad-boy, the sinewy Salman religiously worships the Ganesha icon at his posh residence at Bandra Bandstand which points to his secular nature. Incidentally Salman’s mother (Salma after marriage) originally happens to be a Hindu Maharashtrian. Few are aware that Hrithik Roshan brings home a Ganesh idol for one-and-a-half-day worship-ceremony. “Praying fervently and seeking Lord Ganesh’s blessings gives me the inner strength to give my best, both in my career and my personal life,” enthuses Hrithik who it may be recalled had shot for the latter half of his super-hit debut movie ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’ on exotic locales in picturesque New Zealand Currently, the handsome hunk is busy with the post-production of his latest action-thriller home-production ‘Kites’.Not just Hrithik, a galaxy of showbiz luminaries including playback singer Richa Sharma, actors Deepshikha, Meghna Naidu, Sagarika Ghatge (‘Chak De’ glam-girl ), Priyanka Kothari, Hema Malini, Govinda, Jackie Shroff, Jeetendra and Nana Patekar, claim to have openly declared their devotion for Lord Ganesha. They were all seen earnestly offering their prayers in the on-going Ganesha festival in front of artistically carved massive idols.
The outspoken actress-danseuse and now TV icon (“Swayamvar” reality show) Rakhee Sawant is candid about her sentiments. “Without Bhagwan Ganesh’s blessings I don’t think I could have ever achieved what I have done in the past five years,” insists Madame Sawant whose rags-to-riches story has been a huge inspiration of sorts to many a ‘struggling wannabe’. Not many are aware that the debonair dude actor, Neil Nitin Mukesh (of Johnny Gaddar and New York fame) attributes his success story to Lord Ganesha. Neil recalls how he came out of the ‘strange struggle’ for his big break as a filmy hero. “My dad who is a noted singer was adamant, that I should achieve success on my independent merit.
Crazy as it may sound, the ‘Johnny Gaddar’ director (Sriram) finalised me only after being prompted by several ‘deals’ with his pack of playing cards where he had to choose between top star-heroes and me as a newcomer. It is all thanks to Lord Ganesha’s blessings which made this big break in ‘Johnny Gaddar’ possible,” enthuses Neil who religiously offers aratis and pujas to a huge ornate Ganpati icon which he and his father bring home every year on Ganesh Chaturthi at their Napean Sea Road residence.
Fortunately this year I am in Mumbai to perform the ceremony every day. Last year, I was away in the U.S. for shooting and I had to keep calling up my residence daily to listen to the arati on my cell-phone. My dad (Nitin) fondly refers to it as ‘distance devotion’. This time I am specially seeking the Supreme Deity’s blessings for my realistic hard-hitting movie ‘Jail’ directed by Madhur Bhandarkar who also happens to be a staunch Ganesha-bhakt,” smiles Neil as he replies to his fan-mail from ‘fidaa females’. The bottom-line is that Lord Ganesha reigns over the mega movie industry which needs ship-loads of ‘divine luck’ to tide over the stormy seas full of ‘flop sharks’.
Devaa Ho Devaa, Ganpati Devaa, Tumse Badhkar Kaun”, (Oh Lord Ganesha, nobody is greater than thou) goes the popular refrain of a yesteryear Indi-pop number from a Hindi movie. From Amitabh Bachchan to Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan to Ranbir Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty to Rakhee Sawant – all of them...
Devaa Ho Devaa, Ganpati Devaa, Tumse Badhkar Kaun”, (Oh Lord Ganesha, nobody is greater than thou) goes the popular refrain of a yesteryear Indi-pop number from a Hindi movie. From Amitabh Bachchan to Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan to Ranbir Kapoor and Shilpa Shetty to Rakhee Sawant – all of them endorse this chant. Almost every second showbiz celeb and film-maker is an ardent devotee of Lord Ganesha. Since the showbiz industry is fickle, unpredictable and slippery they consider the ‘elephant-headed’ God as their “lucky mascot and saviour” for achieving starry success.
Despite being branded the off-screen bad-boy, the sinewy Salman religiously worships the Ganesha icon at his posh residence at Bandra Bandstand which points to his secular nature. Incidentally Salman’s mother (Salma after marriage) originally happens to be a Hindu Maharashtrian. Few are aware that Hrithik Roshan brings home a Ganesh idol for one-and-a-half-day worship-ceremony. “Praying fervently and seeking Lord Ganesh’s blessings gives me the inner strength to give my best, both in my career and my personal life,” enthuses Hrithik who it may be recalled had shot for the latter half of his super-hit debut movie ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’ on exotic locales in picturesque New Zealand Currently, the handsome hunk is busy with the post-production of his latest action-thriller home-production ‘Kites’.Not just Hrithik, a galaxy of showbiz luminaries including playback singer Richa Sharma, actors Deepshikha, Meghna Naidu, Sagarika Ghatge (‘Chak De’ glam-girl ), Priyanka Kothari, Hema Malini, Govinda, Jackie Shroff, Jeetendra and Nana Patekar, claim to have openly declared their devotion for Lord Ganesha. They were all seen earnestly offering their prayers in the on-going Ganesha festival in front of artistically carved massive idols.
The outspoken actress-danseuse and now TV icon (“Swayamvar” reality show) Rakhee Sawant is candid about her sentiments. “Without Bhagwan Ganesh’s blessings I don’t think I could have ever achieved what I have done in the past five years,” insists Madame Sawant whose rags-to-riches story has been a huge inspiration of sorts to many a ‘struggling wannabe’. Not many are aware that the debonair dude actor, Neil Nitin Mukesh (of Johnny Gaddar and New York fame) attributes his success story to Lord Ganesha. Neil recalls how he came out of the ‘strange struggle’ for his big break as a filmy hero. “My dad who is a noted singer was adamant, that I should achieve success on my independent merit.
Crazy as it may sound, the ‘Johnny Gaddar’ director (Sriram) finalised me only after being prompted by several ‘deals’ with his pack of playing cards where he had to choose between top star-heroes and me as a newcomer. It is all thanks to Lord Ganesha’s blessings which made this big break in ‘Johnny Gaddar’ possible,” enthuses Neil who religiously offers aratis and pujas to a huge ornate Ganpati icon which he and his father bring home every year on Ganesh Chaturthi at their Napean Sea Road residence.
Fortunately this year I am in Mumbai to perform the ceremony every day. Last year, I was away in the U.S. for shooting and I had to keep calling up my residence daily to listen to the arati on my cell-phone. My dad (Nitin) fondly refers to it as ‘distance devotion’. This time I am specially seeking the Supreme Deity’s blessings for my realistic hard-hitting movie ‘Jail’ directed by Madhur Bhandarkar who also happens to be a staunch Ganesha-bhakt,” smiles Neil as he replies to his fan-mail from ‘fidaa females’. The bottom-line is that Lord Ganesha reigns over the mega movie industry which needs ship-loads of ‘divine luck’ to tide over the stormy seas full of ‘flop sharks’.
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