Soaking in all the festivities

Among the stars

This ‘Holi’, some actors have decided to cheat on their diet and soak in all the excitement and fun associated with the festival of colours.
  
While most of them cherish their childhood memories of celebrating ‘Holi’, they say that the spirit of the festival still continues to be with them. However, they are also cautious about using excess water and toxic colours.
   
Getting together with family and friends and gorging on homemade goodies remain high on their list.  

Raveena Tandon
Actor
“‘Holi’ is my favourite festival. I’ve always found a certain romance associated with it. My childhood memories of celebrating ‘Holi’ are still fresh in my mind. We lived in front of Juhu beach and every ‘Holi’, all those living in the neighbourhood would gather at the beach, make a human chain and drench ourselves in colours and play on the beach.
   
As years pass by, the festivities aren’t as big as they used to be but the spirit remains. Now, with global warming and shortage of water, we have become conscious of the need to save every drop. Our children too believe in doing the same. We take the kids to one place and use a small floatable pool. We dunk everybody there so that too much water is not used. We’ve also stopped using water balloons to ensure that water is not wasted.”   

Sanjjanaa Galrani
Actor
“I am spending 'Holi’ in Hyderabad this year with my friends and family. I will be celebrating the festival with plenty of colours. The plan is also to get drenched in rain dance and have loads of junk food. I can afford to get my hair and skin streaked in colours because I am shooting for ‘Dandupalya 2’ which requires me to have a unkempt look.”  

Rithvik Dhanjani Actor and television anchor
“During my childhood days, a bunch of boys in our small town back home, used to drag everybody out of their homes to play ‘Holi’. They would also throw lots of water balloons on people’s windows. Those days were carefree and fun. This year, I don’t think ‘Holi’ will be as exciting as it usually is for me because I am working. My friends too are travelling, so it is going to be work for me this ‘Holi’. I will certainly be missing all the fun.”  

Shantanu Maheshwari
Actor and dancer
“My most memorable celebrations of ‘Holi’ was on the sets of ‘Dil Dosti Dance’ when we played ‘Holi’ till sunset, drank ‘thandai’ and ‘bhang’ and danced till our legs ached. This year, I plan to celebrate with my family. We will drive out of the city and head to some place that’s quiet. We will also be using organic colours and minimum water because I really want to make a difference to the environment however small my contribution may be.”     

Kriti Kharbanda
Actor
“‘Holi’ is one festival that I thoroughly enjoy. White is my favourite colour. I wear white and then play  with colours. I don’t play with water colours but like the dry ones. I also make ‘rangoli’ for ‘Holi’. I enjoy painting, so making a ‘rangoli’ comes naturally to me. We get delicious homemade sweets made out of jaggery from our neighbours and I look forward to eating them.”

(As told to Nina C George)