When less is more

Bhavneet Kaur

Whether you accept it or not, the lockdown has changed us all in some way or the other. While some learnt or re-learnt the art of cooking, others indulged in pampering themselves by taking optimum rest. However, celebrities are always under scrutiny. They can never just keep lying on the couch all day long! After all, in today’s era of social media, out of sight is out of mind! But with the curbs on movement and non-availability of resources, what can one possibly do? Here’s how some celebrities used minimum resources to keep the entertainment meter running.

Musical tributes

Well-aware of the fact that they have immense following among the younger generation, Ammy Virk and Mankirt Aulukh have been paying tributes to legends of the Punjabi music industry. They have been singing some old songs, refurbished by Avy Sraa and shot by Arvinder Khaira. These short videos (1-2 minutes) were shot at the singers’ homes and balconies, showing us how to make optimum use of our resources.

While earlier they were made only for songs which were either too old or did not have an official video, lyrical videos have become a trend during the lockdown. Singers cashed-in on the fact that people would listen to maximum songs sitting free at home, so they released songs with their still photographs as well as lyrics. Ammy Virk released his song Tod Da E Dil as a lyrical video, which garnered a good response. He recently released another video of the song, with Mandy Takhar, which was shot by Arvinder Khaira on a mobile phone. While the video garnered over three million views on the first day itself, it set another milestone of being a vertical video!

Prabh Gill’s new song Desire, sung along with Rashi Sood, was shot with both the artistes separately. So was Jassie Gill’s new song Keh Gai Sorry, a combination of still photography, lyrics and some shots of Bigg Boss 13-fame Shehnaz Gill. Gurnam Bhullar too released a song titled Supne Vich, inspired by Amrita Pritam’s poetry, which was shot inside a recording studio.

Kitchen curries

Chef Ranveer Brar, who is at his parents’ home in Lucknow, started a series titled Kam Mein Zyada, where he shared simple recipes with minimum ingredients, right from his mom’s kitchen. He even shared lessons of austerity, from the days when he was still learning the art.

Another chef, Ajay Chopa, besides giving us mouth-watering recipes, showed how we can save on material and money by making interesting dishes out of what we normally call vegetable waste, for example chips out of potato peels and cake from orange peel!

Beauty tricks

Actress Neena Gupta, who is stuck in Mukhteshwar, Uttarakhand, since the lockdown, too shares her thoughts with fans frequently. She recently posted a video on Instagram on how Mukhteshwar being a small town, branded stuff was not available. So she told how, much like every middle-class household, she was holding on to her stuff by using it lesser or by diluting her shampoo and hand-wash! In another video, the actress showed how she had used a small paint brush to colour her hair.

If celebrities can learn to live with the bare minimum, why can’t we?

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