Ankur Rathee on kissing Akshay Oberoi in ‘Inside Edge’: Had never kissed another man before
Actor Ankur Rathee, who plays the role of Allen Menezes, a gay rights lawyer and activist in love with a cricketer who is afraid of coming out in the ‘Inside Edge’, has spoken about locking lips with actor Akshay Oberoi in the series.
“It’s first important to note that being gay doesn’t necessitate a particular characterisation. There is as much diversity of mannerism and personality in gay men as there is in straight men. One’s sexual or gender orientation doesn’t define them and isn’t something they always wear on their sleeve.”
Ankur added: “That being said, as opposed to my role in ‘Made in Heaven’, Allen from ‘Inside Edge’ read as more flamboyant to me on the page. I decided to lean into the writing and experiment with a more effeminate demeanour. I paid attention to the way he carries his wrists when he’s trying to make a point, how he sits into his right hip when he stands, or fluctuates his tone and pitch when he’s trying to convince his boyfriend of something.
“However, I can’t stress enough that these are all secondary to the truth of the scene and the humanity of this character, a man torn between loving his partner unconditionally and maintaining his self-respect.”
The actor also shares a kissing scene with co-star Akshay, who happens to be a great friend off screen as well.
Ankur said: “To be honest, the artist in me was excited to have this new experience. I had never kissed another man before and I had so many questions! What would his beard feel like? Will my hands gravitate to his waist or around his neck? What’s it like to be held intimately by someone muscular? I’ve never made out with anyone that tall before! When we finally kissed, I knew none of these questions would matter of course.
“As Allen, I wasn’t kissing a ‘man’, I was kissing the love of my life. That’s all you’re thinking about in the scene, and the physicality is simply a natural product of your emotional connection. So no, it wasn’t ‘difficult’, because love is love is love, no matter your sexual orientation.”
Ankur is currently busy shooting for “Shehzada” with Kartik Aryan and Kriti Sanon, directed by Rohit Dhawan.
Ankur Rathee on Kissing Akshay Oberoi in Inside Edge.
Siri, Sunny’s never-ending fights upset ‘Bigg Boss Telugu 5’ viewers
As the makers set the stage for the grand finale of ‘Bigg Boss Telugu 5’, top-5 contenders seem to be bored of staying still in the house.
They were all seen passing time playing hide and seek, rock-paper-scissors, and other silly games in ‘Bigg Boss’ house.
The makers who wanted to keep the contenders involved had asked the contestants to play the games so as to recall their previous tasks on the show.
In order to recall their memories, the contestants had participated in the tasks, which were supposed to be played in a fun way.
Shanmukh Jaswanth, who cheated in one of the games, had won the most number of games. During one of the games, VJ Sunny and Siri started fighting over petty issues.
Though Sunny apologised, Siri was not in a mood to mingle with him, as she is seen skipping the meal too.
Sunny and Siri, who gave a tough fight to the other contestants on the show, are seen fighting for small-big reasons. Even by the end of the show, the duo has irked the audience with their meaningless quarrels.
“The season is over. Siri and Sunny will remain enemies all their life”, one comment reads, while the other says, “Keeping right or wrong aside, Sunny and Siri must realize this is the best time in their journey.”
VJ Sunny, Manas, Sreerama Chandra, Sunny, and Siri are the finalists, who are in the race to win the ‘Bigg Boss Telugu 5’ title.
Denzel Washington looking for new challenges
Oscar-winning actors Denzel Washington would need an “extreme challenge” to be interested in a new acting project.
Speaking at the premiere of his new movie ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’, Washington said: “I’m about the challenges. At this point, like the character, I’m in the yellow leaf of my career. To be quite honest, looking to do other things. So as far as acting, it’s gonna have to be an extreme challenge for me to be interested.
“I’ve been talking to one or two of the top directors in the business, and we’re talking about maybe doing something. There’s not that much left for me to do as actor. Maybe Lear.”
In the adaptation of the Shakespearan story, Washington plays the titular power-hungry character and hailed working on the movie “a great ride”, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
He added to ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “It was just a great ride with a group of talented, talented young and older actors led by a brilliant, brilliant director.”
The movie comes out on Christmas Day, the same day as Washington’s new directorial effort ‘A Journal for Jordan’ – which stars Michael B. Jordan – and he admitted the “tear-jerker” is very different to ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’.
He said: “It’s just a beautiful love story and a touching…what’s the word. I don’t want to say sappy, but it’s a real tear-jerker. A little bit different than Macbeth, so I got ’em on both sides.”
Allu Arjun to watch ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ with fans at Hyderabad theatre
Tollywood’s most awaited movie ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ is out in theatres and according to initial reports, the Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna-starrer helmed by Sukumar has had a good initial response at the box-office.
It is reported that Allu Arjun, also known as the ‘Icon Star’, has decided to watch ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ along with his fans at a special screening in Hyderabad’s famous theatre, Sandhya 70MM.
Allu Arjun will be joined by his co-star Rashmika Mandanna and director Sukumar. Initial responses to the performances in ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ have been positive, though the slow pace of the second half of the movie has not gone down well with critics.
The narrative of the movie, which is being released in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi, centres around red sandalwood smuggling.
Malayalam star Fahadh Fassil, Sunil, Ajay Gosh and Anasuya Bharadwaj are the other principal actors in the film. Multi-award-winner songwriter-composer Devi Sri Prasad has scored the music.
Allu Arjun apologises to irate journo after delay at press meet
‘Pushpa’ star Allu Arjun apologised to an irate Kannada film journalist after the actor’s team arrived late for a press meet to promote his movie in Bengaluru.
With Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna as the lead pair, ‘Pushpa’ is all set to hit the screens on Friday.
During a promotional visit on Wednesday, Allu Arjun and his team had arrived late at the venue in Bengaluru.
Irked by the ‘Pushpa’ team’s delay, a Kannada journalist had slammed Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna and others.
“You and your team informed that press meet is scheduled at 11:15, and you have come at 1:15, is it fair?” the journalist questioned. “We are here since then, with all the cameras around, waiting for you people,” he said.
Allu Arjun has apologised to the journalist. “We have flown here all the way from Hyderabad to Bengaluru in a private jet. There was fog, and we had to follow the travel criteria.”
“Anyways, sorry for being late. But it was not intentional,” the actor said.
Though the journalist sounded rude, Allu Arjun’s timely response let them settle the issue.
Responding to this incident, some netizens think the journalist was a bit rude, while others think it is the right thing to do when the celebrities do not respect others’ time.
“When cross-state promotions happen, the media people are most inviting, while this time, the journalist was a bit rude. He could have said the same thing in a simpler way,” one user wrote.
“Someone had to remind these celebrities about them not being punctual,” another commented.
Rashmika overwhelmed on being named ‘most influential south star’ by Forbes
Actress Rashmika Mandanna says she has been overwhelmed by the love she has received ever since she topped the Forbes list of ‘Most Influential Stars’ of south cinema.
Rashmika has been juggling between shootings and the promotions for her movie ‘Pushpa’.
The ‘Dear Comrade’ actress who plays a native Chittoor woman in ‘Pushpa’, said that the makers had picked her for her familiarity with the language.
“My role in the movie is closer to reality. I worked hard for this movie. Especially the picturisation of songs was a bit difficult,” Rashmika expressed.
Recently, Rashmika topped the Forbes list of the ‘Most Influential Stars’ of south cinema.
On being quizzed about the same, the actress expressed that she has been overwhelmed by the kind of love she has received ever since.
“I feel humbled and thankful. This is what I work for. The love is unlimited. I am only thankful and trying to stay grounded as well”, Rashmika conveyed.
Rashmika is to appear in a couple of Bollywood movies, of which one is a movie alongside megastar Amitabh Bachchan.
As ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ is all set to release in theatres Friday, Rashmika has been participating in back-to-back promotions in different cities across India.
Helmed by Sukumar, ‘Pushpa’ is a two-part movie, which also stars Fahad Fassil as a bad cop.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ marriage ‘doesn’t feel like work’
Indian actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas and her American pop-star husband Nick Jonas celebrated their third wedding anniversary and she believes the key to their strong relationship is that they always have a “good time” together.
She told ‘Entertainment Tonight’: “I think just being honest and needing each other’s company, obviously. Communication, having fun with each other. I think that’s the most important key, is to be able to enjoy each other’s company and just have a good time.
“And it doesn’t feel like work.”
The actress will next be seen in ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ and she said her spouse is a big fan of the franchise reboot, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
She said: “My husband has seen the movie, so he loves it. And I think just for everyone, whether it’s my mom, my extended family, my husband, I think it’s just the excitement around being a part of something that we all sort of grew up on, it’s an exciting time leading up to the premiere.”
The actress herself was thrilled to play exile Sati in the movie because she was such a big fan of the original trilogy growing up.
She gushed: “I mean, this is the late ’90s, this is me as a teenager watching this movie and watching it change pop culture. Then cut to as an actor, it’s kind of really, really cool to be a part of this legacy and being invited to play on this playground with these characters that we grew up on.”
The 39-year-old star praised her co-star Keanu Reeves for being such an “encouraging” presence on set.
She said: “I mean, I see why he’s a movie star, but at the same time, he’s the humblest, nicest, gentlest person and also very astute, extremely encouraging.
“I was nervous when I first came in. I remember at the end of the day, (Keanu) came to me when I had all my lines and he said to me, ‘That was hard, and you got through it, and really well done’. It’s just so nice when you have been through that through the day, and someone else acknowledges it, and is like, ‘Great job. You did a good job.’ It was just something that I needed to hear.
“I got really emotional about it and it was very kind. That is what he’s like, that’s just who he is as a person.”
Rajamouli, Keeravani to appear on Balakrishna’s ‘Unstoppable with NBK’
Telugu star Nandamuri Balakrishna’s talk show ‘Unstoppable With NBK’ will feature ‘RRR’ director S.S. Rajamouli and the movie’s music director M.M. Keeravani.
With the most popular celebrities appearing to chat with ‘Akhanda’ hero Balakrishna has been showing his perkiest side on the show.
Rajamouli and Keeravani have joined the sets of ‘Unstoppable With NBK’.
As the duo shared a great time interacting with Balakrishna on his show, the audience is quite excited to watch the interesting episode.
“The men behind the biggest Indian movie are on the biggest talk show. #UnstoppableWithNBK Episode 5 is going to be a treat with @ssrajamouli garu and @mmkeeravani garu having a great time with our #NandamuriBalakrishna garu. Promo out soon,” the makers wrote.
Balakrishna, who had hosted Telugu’s superstar Mahesh Babu in the previous episode of ‘Unstoppable With NBK’, has had other bigwigs like Brahmanandam, Mohan Babu, and Nani in the previous episodes.
Balakrishna seems to be buoyed with the success of his latest movie ‘Akhanda’.
Sunny Leone completes shooting for Tamil horror-comedy ‘Oh My Ghost’
Actress Sunny Leone has finished shooting for director Yuvan’s Tamil historical horror-comedy ‘Oh My Ghost’.
Talking in interview, director Yuvan said,”Sunny Leone plays a queen-like character in the film. This is a fantasy film. So, the role that she plays is not representative of any region or time period.”
The director explains that he was looking for a person who could look supercilious and at the same time cool and that was when he realised Sunny Leone would be perfect for the character.
The director says Sunny loved the script. “She laughed so much during the narration of the script and it was evident that she liked it,” says the director.
Sunny, for her part, says, “There are some films that are able to make you chuckle at a script level. I enjoyed doing the film for just that reason.
“It’s scary in parts and so funny in others. I think that’s such a clever combination. It’s hard to make people laugh and I did put in the extra effort in nailing the timing. Besides that, I also learnt my dialogues with my diction coach. It’s a special film and I can’t wait for the world to see it.”
The film, which will feature actors Satish, Dharsha Gupta, Mottai Rajendran, Ramesh Thilak, Arjunan and Thanga Durai, has been produced by D. Veera Sakthi and K. Sasikumar of VAU Media Entertainment and White Horse Studios.