Schauna Chauhan, Alisha Chauhan, Nadia Chauhan - Parle Agro

Parle Agro is one of the most trusted names in the Indian beverage, packaged drinking water, and confectionery industry. It has leading brands like Frooti, Appy, Appy Fizz and Bailley. As a pioneer, Parle Agro is the first to introduce fruit drink in a Tetra Pak, apple nectar and PET bottles in India. The second generation entrepreneurs, the daughters of the man behind this company, Prakash Chauhan, spoke to DARE about their transition, challenges, and more. From the daughters of Prakash Chauhan to the ones handling Parle Agro, how was the transition planned out? Schuana - Fresh out of school, I had a lot of ideas that I immediately wanted to implement. My father advised me to take one step at a time. That’s how the whole phase started. When I joined the company in 1999, it was a learning phase for me. I started interacting with a lot of departments, understanding the fundamentals of the organization—how we work, what is the culture, etc. It took few years to do this. When I joined, the company itself was going through a transition. We had just sold our soft-drink brand to Coca-Cola. My father and his brother were separating in their business. Because of all this, I could bring in a lot of changes and it was easier since there was an entirely new team coming in. I spent a lot of time recruiting a good team. Alisha - Things were different with me. I finished my education and then did a course in fitness and right after that I came back to Mumbai and immediately started setting up V3 fitness commune. Since I was very passionate about starting a fitness center, a business of my own, my father was extremely supportive, and helped me on all fronts. Nadia - For me, it was a very unique situation as my father had me involved in the business from a very young age. From the age of 11, I attended lot of meetings along with him. The questions that I had in my mind, I used to discuss with him later. This involvement made the transition a lot smoother when I formally joined the business because of the familiarity with the operations, the vision that my father had for the business, and most importantly the culture of the business. From the beginning itself, my father focused me into marketing, sales and product development meetings—from dreaming of the product to making sure that it is established. That is really what I have taken up as my role in the business today. So there wasn’t a phase of transition, it was just that we were involved a lot from such a young age that we just came in and took over. When I joined the company, it was very important for me to earn myself respect, and create an identity of my own. Therefore, I worked at different levels—ground level to the top. More than just the fact that it brings in more humility, it also allows you to understand the ground realities before you start dreaming of things that are completely impossible that might not be good or lucrative for the business. For more than one year, I did spend time in studying the absolute micro level things, and not just looking into it from the point of view of providing direction or leadership.

Kamal Chauhan, former RSS worker, planted bombs on Samjhauta Express

Kamal Chauhan, a disgruntled RSS worker arrested by the NIA, had planted bombs on board Samjhauta Express in 2007 after undergoing training in arms and explosives in Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, the agency claimed today. Chauhan was taken to Panchkula court which today granted NIA his custody till February 24 for questioning him on his alleged role in the blast in the Delhi-Lahore train that left 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, dead. Investigations reveal that Chauhan along with Ramchandra Kalasangra alias Ramji and Lokesh Sharma, also charged in the case, planted the explosives in the train at Old Delhi, from where the train originates, NIA's Special Prosecutor R K Handa said outside the court after the in-camera proceedings in the case. Chauhan, believed to be a close aide of Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, key accused in the Samjhauta case, was arrested in Noida on Delhi's outskirts on Sunday and was brought to Panchkula in Haryana today. The NIA had sought his remand for a fortnight. "We have to unearth his complete involvement and association. During investigations, it has come to light that Chauhan underwent extensive training in handling of weapons and explosives. He took training at Karni Singh shooting range in Faridabad (Haryana) and a register seized by CBI on August 10, 2011 has the entries of his name in that shooting range. He also took explosives and arms training at Bagli in Dewas (Madhya Pradesh)," Handa said. "To unearth more information about execution of the plan, preparations that were made, a thorough investigation is required, for which we have sought the remand," he said. Chauhan, born in Mhow, was an activist of Rashtirya Swayamsevak Sangh. Sources claimed that during interrogation, Chauhan had spoken about his association with the RSS and his fall out as he did not subscribe to the "new ideologies". Lokesh Sharma, who was arrested in June 2010 on charges of participating in the criminal conspiracy of the bombing as he was present in the meeting where the alleged plot was hatched, is likely to be slapped with fresh charges for his direct involvement in the bombing, the sources said. Meanwhile, Chauhan's counsel Anil Soni and Shailender Babbar alleged that his arrest was "politically motivated" and aimed at influencing polls in Uttar Pradesh while his family claimed that he is a farmer by profession and in "no way involved in the crime". Handa said that Chauhan's father, who was also present in the court today, was allowed by the court to meet his son and his defence lawyers on his plea. Chauhan's father Radhey Shyam said that his son was summoned by police on February nine and after that he did not return home. "My son is a farmer by profession and he is no way involved in the crime," he told reporters outside the court. The agency has come to conclusion that the bombs used in the blast were prepared by Dange, a right wing militant who is absconding and is alleged to be the core of attacks planned and executed since 2002. NIA is also looking for Dange's right hand Kalsangra in connection with the case. The sources said intense questioning of the accused was being done to ascertain the whereabouts of Dange and Kalsangra, on whom the agency has announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh. After a four-year probe, the NIA had on June 20, 2011, charged Aseemanand, Sunil Joshi (now dead), Lokesh Sharma, Dange alias Parmanand and Kalasangra for hatching a criminal conspiracy which resulted in blasts in Samjhauta Express near Deewana railway station in Haryana's Panipat district, about 80 km from Delhi. NIA is also investigating the role of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and Indresh Kumar in the blasts. Swami Aseemanand and Sharma are already in judicial custody. Apart from Ajmer Dargah blast, which claimed three lives and left 15 others injured, Aseemanand and Sharma are accused in several other blast cases across the country, including those at Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid and Malegaon.

Neil Nitin Mukesh is dating Sonal Chauhan?

It seems Neil Nitin Mukesh has found love again. The actor who turned 30 last month had claimed that he is ready to fall in love after two failed relationships and it looks like his wish has come true. The lady in question is Sonal Chauhan. They recently put up pictures of them partying happily at his home. We hear that he had invited all of his long-time friends and Sonal was the only one who didn’t fit into that category. Then there is Neil’s tweet in which he admits that he escorted Sonal to the sangeet ceremony of Dheeraj Deshmukh and Honey Bhagnani. That’s enough to break your hearts, isn’t it? Yet, we do wish that Neil has really found true love. He had broken up with his long-time girlfriend Priyanka Bhatia in 2010, a few months after he revealed they were going to get married. He was rumoured to be seeing his Shortcut Romeo co-star Puja Gupta for a while but apparently that has was not true. Neil admitted to a daily that he had been seeing someone till last year, but that ended in heartbreak when his girlfriend walked out on him. Puja had only good things to tweet about Neil even last week so we guess he was not referring to her. Having gone through such pain, we hope Neil has found happiness at last. A close friend of Neil chose to underplay it saying, "It would be premature to say Neil is dating Sonal Chauhan. After what he has gone through, it would require Herculean willpower to commit to another relationship. But yes, their bonding is definitely growing. And they're definitely in a space where love is present. But Neil won't rush into a commitment so fast. The last relationship has broken his faith."

Agneepath 1990-2012: Evolution of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan

Deewar gave cinema the inarguable "Mere pass maa hai", playing on core Indian family values that place the venerable matriarch above all. Amitabh Bachchan's Agneepath contributed in taking the story of the underdog forward with an almost Bond-style legendary self-introduction - "Vijay. Vijay Dinanath Chauhan." Not new to playing the role of the down-on-luck desperado, Bachchan with his bloodshot and kohl-rimmed eyes contributed to Agneepath the gritty legend "hain?" It remained the clearly-defined and easy point of reference for stand-up artists mimicking Bachchan for many years.
Vijay Dinanath Chauhan, son of a school master from the small village of Mandwa in Maharashtra, grows up in disrepute. His father's good intention of developing the hamlet is steamrolled by antagonist Kancha Cheena (played by Danny Denzongpa in the original) who wants to use the village as a landing dock for contraband. From an innocent boy torn from his roots after his father's death to the gruff young man who joins the same vicious cycle that he grew up abhorring, Bachchan's interpretation of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan won him a National Best Actor Award.

Agneepath (1990) may have bombed at the box office, but Bachchan immortalized a man who falls victim to a corrupt system and struggles to find sanity during an era when the Indian economy was itself in shambles amidst rising debt, high fiscal deficit and skyrocketing inflation.
The unstable 90s and the crisis of unemployment were mirrored in contemporary films. Chauhan and the concept of the 'angry young man' were direct products of the turmoil. Fighting the establishment, decaying morals and a license raj, the protagonist represented the common man and his misgivings. He fought crime but without the conviction that comes from economic well being or trust in the system. It was also the period of reorganisation of mafia gangs and territorial clashes.
"Waqt pe pahuchne ka apna purana aadat hai. Aaj thoda late ho gaya. Maafi chahta hai."
The protagonist was not always invincible. The moral duality of filmmakers and social thinkers was portrayed on screen in the characters they created. Of the two brothers in a household, one would turn out an upright, duty-abiding citizen and join the police force while the other would be a wastrel adopted by a crime boss and trained in nefarious activities. Good would always prevail. Existentialism was a recurring theme. The Chouhan of 1990 inherited a decaying legacy and interpreted his responsibilities according to the norms of those times.
Cut to 2012.
When Hrithik Roshan decided to play the character of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan and interpret it according to modern times, he must have realised the implications of reviving a cult figure. He must have known that his version would always be compared to Bachchan's by film historians.
None of the social stimulus that led to the birth of Chauhan in the troubled 90s is presently valid. Stranger still is the contrast between the characters Hrithik played in his last film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and in the upcoming Agneepath.
ZNMD epitomised a free economy and the free choices of the urban, affluent and metro-sexual youths. Even in their high pressure jobs and hesitant sex lives their choices are defined by their economic stability and a sense of belonging politically and socially.
Hrithik, with his clipped private school accent and chiselled looks is barely convincing as a drug lord. Bachchan has years of experience, an enviable cinematic savoir faire and a towering presence for creating some of Indian cinema's cult roles. But Hrithik has age on his side and no matter how the adaptation of Chouhan goes he will look stunning on screen. Produced by Karan Johar and directed by his former assistant Karan Malhotra, Agneepath 2012 is bound to be very different from its original.
It is up to Hrithik now on how he wants to make his presence felt. The old Vijay Dinanath Chouhan, played by a middle-aged Bachchan at that time, will be relegated to memory and the new, youthful and stylish Chouhan will perhaps earn his place in cinematic history.