Raima Sen is hitting the home gym every day for an hour! “I have never worked out so much in my life on my own. I have been home since March 15! Since my trainer cannot come now, I am doing it on my own. I have so much of energy after a session,” says the actress. That one hour is very important for Raima. “It makes me feel good. I am doing cardio on one day, weights on another day. If I do cardio, I’ll do it for an hour. Same for weight training. I am also reading books, spending time with my parents, spring cleaning, sorting out old clothes and shoes to give away,” says Raima.

Parambrata Chattopadhyay File picture by Pabitra Das

Parambrata Chattopadhyay’s guitar videos are getting a lot of love on social media. On March 30, Param captioned a guitar video — “Another day, another way to keep moving forward! Music is the way of life! #QuarantineDays” while on April 5 he wrote: “And the renewed love affair of mine continues... #fenderstratocaster”. “I started playing the guitar primarily to de-stress and to vent out. A lot of restlessness had started building up inside me. Now I realise my love for playing the electric guitar has increased and I would like to take it forward. Guitar is a self-sufficient instrument,” says Param, who was in a band with Jisshu Sengupta called Quinine in the early 2000s. The red Fender Stratocaster that Param plays in the videos actually belongs to his friend Abhijit Dutta. “He got the guitar from a relative... it was lying around at his place gathering dust... so one day I brought it home. I started playing it initially but then had to let go for a while since I got busy with my work. A few months ago I got the guitar serviced and little did I know that I would be playing it for an hour every day. It has become really effective,” says Param, who loves listening to the music of J.J. Cale, B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan among others.

Madhurima Basak Sourced by The Telegraph

Actress Madhurima Basak, who is a regular at a south Calcutta gym, is now improvising at home with her workouts. “Since I am staying indoors, I try to keep my workout routine simple and fun or else it gets monotonous unlike at a gym where my trainer pushes me to go that extra mile even when it hurts. I do a lot of stretching before I get on with my core training. I constantly switch things up. I like to mix a bit of everything when I work out at home. I start my day by drinking lukewarm water with lemon and follow it up with 20 minutes of deep-breathing meditation. It sets the tone for the rest of the day,” says Madhurima, who had played Satyabati in last year’s film Satyanweshi Byomkesh. What’s her fave exercise? “I love working on my legs, glutes and back... nothing feels better than when you have strong and toned legs and that pair of jeans fit you perfectly. I focus on correct posture as incorrect form might do more damage than benefits. I feel it is important to constantly change the way I work out. It keeps my body guessing and helps adapt to a variety of forms and routines even under extreme conditions,” says Madhurima, who stars in the serial Sreemoyee.

Arjun Chakrabarty Sourced by The Telegraph

Actor Arjun Chakrabarty is making the best use of the worst of times by indulging “relentlessly” in his second hobby, which is reading. The first being working out. “I love spending my free time by reading books and working out. Since I am not being able to hit the gym, I am doing basic stretching and some body weight exercises at home just to stay in touch so that it doesn’t shock the body when I eventually go back to lifting weights in the gym.” His reading list includes diverse genres from thrillers and fiction to history and politics — Lee Child’s Past Tense, Alex Michaelides’s The Silent Patient, Murakami’s Men Without Women, Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West, Shashi Tharoor’s An Era of Darkness. His favourite reads till now? A big fan of William Dalrymple, Arjun says, “Dalrymple’s Anarchy... has moved me pleasantly because he’s a historian who tells you the story like a novelist. Among the works of fiction, I loved The Silent Patient. Haven’t been reading too many thrillers of late, so this was a welcome break.” Being an extremely passionate bibliophile, Arjun adds, “Despite enjoying old-school paperbacks and hardcovers, I also use the Kindle to read. Makes it easy to carry multiple titles.”

Anindita Bose Sourced by The Telegraph

Actress Anindita Bose is presently sketching a series on how people are reacting during this lockdown. “I am mainly doodling in my small sketch pad, which I usually carry with me everywhere because you never know when inspiration hits. Our present situation has done exactly that for me, and I’m fully using it to my advantage. Every alternate day I’ve been spending an hour or two on it. I was and still am an extremely introverted person. So, whenever emotions are stirring up inside me, I just put it all out on paper, with my brushes and colours,” says Anindita, who is a Picasso fan. Her new sketches are inspired by Cubism. “I learned about Cubism while studying his work — he gave life to it — an art form that wasn’t rigid. That’s why Cubism laid the foundations of abstract art for me. What I love the most about it is that an artist is able to show and analyse an object not for what it is, but as fragments of the object when broken down, reassembled and analysed through multiple viewpoints.”

Ridhima Ghosh Sourced by The Telegraph

Ridhima Ghosh is sharpening her baking sills! The actress baked Triple Chocolate Brownies on Monday! “I like making different variations of the brownie and this one was yummy. I have always been very passionate about baking. My mom bought me my first OTG in high school. That’s how I started. Thanks to YouTube and cookbooks, I got to hone my skills and I am a good baker now,” says Ridhima. What is the secret to baking? “You have to follow the instructions to the T. You have to be very precise and attentive,” she adds. Ridhima recently baked a Rainbow Cake for husband Gaurav Chakrabarty on his birthday and everyone loved it. “This love keeps me motivated to try out different recipes. It is therapeutic for me,” she says.

Gaurav Chakrabarty Sourced by The Telegraph

Gaurav Chakrabarty’s cover of the song Hey There Delilah got a lot of praise on social media. “When it comes to playing the guitar, I am extremely inspired by Parambrata and Chandrasish Ray (musician and film director). I’m a huge fan of Dire Straits, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Kabir Suman and Anjan Dutt. I’ve been singing since my childhood though I can’t say I’m very good at it. The guitar was an instrument I wanted to learn to play ever since I discovered country music. I had just passed out of school then. The only person I knew who could help was Paramda. I knew he could play the guitar. Paramda was kind enough to give me an old guitar of his and teach me the basics of guitar theory. Post that, the Internet was extremely helpful. But I did not have the discipline to take myself past the beginner level. I can strum a few tunes on the guitar but am far from being good at it,” said Gaurav, whose fave guitar players are Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix.

Has he composed songs for wife Ridhima? “Once. In 10 years of knowing her! I am not very good at writing or composing. But it was a genuine attempt at expressing my feelings. I remember playing Anjan Dutt songs and trying to impress her. She actually admits that the way I played Tumi Na Thakle by Anjan Dutt, had a part to play in her falling for me! We sing together sometimes. I think it is a wonderful way to spend quality time with each other,” said Gaurav.

Tota Roy Choudhury Sourced by The Telegraph

Tota Roy Choudhury is doing Barre Yoga in the morning, thrice a week. “I always did a basic routine of yoga as a supplement and/or as a finisher to my rigorous weight training or cardio workouts. But while prepping for Feluda, I wanted to make it the main pillar of my workouts since Ray had specifically and repeatedly mentioned it in all his Feluda stories. While researching about it I came across Barre Yoga. It is an interesting combination of preparatory exercises for ballet and our very own Indian yoga, done by a niche group of ballet dancers in the European circuit. I didn’t have much time then to self-teach and there were no known instructor of that form anywhere in India. But now that I have lots of time due to the lockdown, I have taken it up. The most beneficial aspect is that it gives you flexibility in motion, which is my primary requirement as an actor. It also tones the entire body and makes it stronger yet more pliable, at the same time. It also decompresses the spine,” says Tota. All one needs is a barre or bar and a mat. “Now that’s the kind of mini-bar I prefer at home (smiles). Barre Yoga is a very technical form, not even for the intermediates, let alone beginners. Only yoga practitioners who have been practising vigorously for at least 36 months should take it up. But if one has a teacher to guide him through the basics then I suppose the fairly fit can do it, as well. I am learning as much as I can about it and applying it keeping in mind my requirements and ability,” adds Tota.

Ena Saha Sourced by The Telegraph

Actress Ena Saha has been watering the plants on her terrace, nurturing them and keeping the plants healthy and green since the last few weeks. “It’s such a peaceful experience. I start tending to the plants from 4pm. The foremost thing to ensure is that the plants are well hydrated and I water them on a regular basis. I sprinkle water on the leaves,” says Ena, who got a lot of praise for her performance in the Hoichoi series Bonyo Premer Golpo. Ena has also been taking care of dogs, washing clothes and keeping her room clean during this time.