Subhash K Jha shares what Diwali means to Filmi stars, especially this year, 2025, in this special holiday feature.
Teja Sajja: Sir, my Diwali couldn’t get any happier. My film (Mirai) is a success, thanks to the force above (God) and the force below (the audience). Mirai is about light conquering darkness. My Diwali will be spent with my parents. Sadly, there is no one special my life at the moment apart from my parents. My next Diwali, my relationship will change.”
Abhishek Bachchan: “I couldn’t hope for a better Diwali. I’ve just won a major award for my performance in I Want To Talk. Diwali is always with family and close friends. This year, I am feeling more Diwali-ish than ever.”
Shabana Azmi: Diwali, Eid, Holi,Xmas have always been top priority in our home. The tradition was started by Abba(father Kaifi Azmi) ages ago in celebration of India’s syncretic culture Baba and I follow the tradition with great joy . Our girl gang ‘Dher Saara Pyar’ had a small but wonderful evening last night to celebrate Tannishtha Chatterjee’s spirit and her Busan win. Tonight we are having an intimate group of people at Tanve Baba’s. Tomorrow, Javed and I are having a medium sized Taash party – largely family and some very close friends at home . Taash (cards) is only a bahana because it’s very low stakes. Some play poker… this time my godchild Namrata Goel is going to teach Mahjong to the uninitiated. Maza hi maza .. as always the focus is on food!!!”
Raveeena Tandon: “Diwali celebration for me is having my family and close friends around, and the family puja is absolutely complete with having all around.”
Hema Malini: “Diwali, you get connected to older associations , along with new ones , many of them don’t even know what they mean to you. One you have to spend more time to understand who these are unlimited lots of love and bag full of sweets and candles. Finally, I don’t know where to keep the Diwali gifts.”
Manoj Bajpayee: “I prefer to celebrate Diwali with my wife and daughter rather than partying, playing cards, etc etc. For me, Diwali is a time to set my house in order. The cleaning spree is not only external but inwards also.”
Vedang Raina: “Diwali is my favourite festival. This year I’m in Punjab for shoot. So, not attending the typical parties and so on. Celebrating on location with the crew Imtiaz Sir, Naseer Sir… Which will also be very special.”
Adivi Sesh: “Diwali was the most important day of the year for us when we grew up in California. It brought us back to our roots and made us proud to share our culture with our American friends. Crackers were not a big part of my childhood but lighting Diyas/deepams is such an important thing for us. Praying together, buying sweets for each other and most importantly, it brought the whole family together. I love celebrating though this year, I’m a bit injured. Looking forward to recovering soon while I take care of all my animals at home. Happy Diwali.”
Vijay Sethupati: “Diwali is the time when we kill the Ravana within us. It is a time for family, for the purification of body and soul, for lighting up the darkest areas of our lives.”
Rekha: “When I was a child Diwali used to be a time for new clothes, for the mithai that my mother made, for relatives and my father’s friends. Full house, crackers, phool jhari. Now I pray only for a noise-free and pollution-free Diwali so that little children and animals don’t get frightened.”
