Taapsee takes a moment to acknowledge women changemakers

Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu, who is known to lend her voice for the cause of women’s empowerment, has shared her thoughts on the importance of acknowledging the efforts of female changemakers.

The actress shared her thoughts in the foreword of the book titled “Changemakers”, written by Almas Virani and Sweta Somata. The book highlights the stories of 11 women who have been agents of change in India.

Talking about the book, which was launched here on Tuesday, Taapsee said: “I got to associate with the book through sheer luck. I was asked to write a foreword and I was so amazed to read the stories of these women who are mentioned here in the book.”

She added: “I think it’s the right time to acknowledge, it is because of women like these that we can actually see a better society from what we were in and we will continue to strive to make it even better. I really hope these stories can instill a certain kind of faith in change and confidence in all those others who are probably just a little short of making a big difference.”

Sonu Nigam, Shaan to share hotseat on ‘KBC 13’

Bollywood singers Sonu Nigam and Shaan are set to appear as special guests on the ‘Shaandaar Shukravaar’ episode of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 13’ this Friday (October 22).

They’ll sing popular tracks such as ‘Dus Bahane’, ‘All is Well’, ‘My Dil Goes’, ‘Main Agar Kahoon’, and more. The singers will be seen on the hotseat and will be playing the game along with the popular reality show’s celebrity host, Amitabh Bachchan.

They will be seen not only playing the game, but also sharing personal anecdotes and cherished moments from their time in the industry. Big B will be seen laying down a rule for the guests requiring them to sing a song whenever they complete a ‘padav’.

Amping up the entertainment quotient of the show, Sonu Nigam and Shaan will also be seen playing ‘antakshari’ with Amitabh Bachchan and singing ghazals as well.

(The ‘Shaandaar Shukravaar’ episode of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 13’ will air on Sony Entertainment Television.)

Telugu OTT platform to rope in Samantha for next venture

Samantha Ruth Prabhu is in demand. After signing up for two films, she is said to be in talks with the Telugu OTT platform Aha for an upcoming venture.

Earlier, Aha had Samantha host a celebrity talk show titled ‘Sam Jam’, where the actress engaged with her celebrity guests in conversations that became instant hits. Reports now suggest that is planning a bigger association with Samantha.

The plan is to roll out a web series with the actress playing a central role in it. She was last seen playing Tamil Eelam militant in the popular web series, The Family Man 2, where she impressed audiences with both her acting skills and her action sequences.

Samantha’s upcoming movies include a love story under Shantharuban’s direction. She has also signed for another movie to be made by director duo Hari and Harish. And now, if the makers of Aha’s untitled web series get a nod from Samantha, they propose to start shooting as early as possible.

The actress, meanwhile, has wrapped up shooting for the talkie part of Gunasekhar’s mythological magnum opus, ‘Shaakunthalam’. The dubbing of the film has been wrapped up and the makers are now busy with the post-production formalities.

‘Ratnan Prapancha’: First big Kannada OTT release is set on Oct 22.

Kannada film ‘Ratnan Prapancha’ is ready to release on October 22 in Amazon Prime Video by makers.

As a first kannada movie on OTT platforms, it is going to release, it has ‘Daali’ Dhananjay playing the lead character. In the movie He has played the insurence agent. The story is rounding about mother’s efforts to get him marrage.

The movie was directed by Rohit Padaki, stars multi-lingual actress Reba Monica John, Shruthi, UmashreeAnu ,Panju,Prabhakar and Achyut Kumar.

Commenting about the movie on socialmedia platform, Ramya, who is Sandalwood actress, said she had hertfully lauging when she watched the trailer of the film.

Kangana shares her four looks from spy thriller ‘Dhaakad’

‘Thalaivi’ is still alive in public memory and expectations are high from ‘Tejas’, Kangana Ranaut’s upcoming film on a woman pilot in the Indian Air Force, but there’s no stopping the actress. She has announced on social media that her action-packed spy thriller, ‘Dhaakad’, is releasing on April 8, 2022.

Fans have been eagerly awaiting the film since last January, when the first posters from it surfaced online. To announce ‘Dhaakad’, Kangana took to Instagram to share a symmetrical collage of her four looks from the film as she gave a sneak peek into the world of ‘Dhaakad’ and what to expect from the action flick.

Kangana captioned the image with this description of her character: “She is fierce, feisty and fearless. #AgentAgni is all geared up to set the big screen on fire. Bringing to you the action spy thriller #Dhaakad that will hit theatres on 8th April 2022!”

New ‘Shyam Singha Roy’ poster reveals Nani’s second avatar

The producers of ‘Shyam Singha Roy’, a multi-lingual film starring Nani, have dropped a second poster showing the Telugu star in a completely new avatar as Vasu.

The first poster showed Nani as a Bengali bhadralok, completely different from Vasu, who’s seen romancing Sai Pallavi, the film’s female lead, in a period setting.

Billed as a supernatural thriller centred around the theme of reincarnation, the big-budget production with lots of VFX has been directed by Rohit Sankityan of ‘Taxiwaala’ fame. The cast also consists of Krithi Shetty, Madonna Sebastian and Bengali actor Jisshu Sengupta.

The film is slated for a simultaneous release in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam on December 24. It has been shot in Kolkata and Hyderabad, where a street from Kolkata with the Kalighat temple in the background was recreated at a reported cost of Rs 6 crore.

Melody songs specialist Mickey J. Meyer is on board to compose the soundtracks and Sanu John Varghese cranks the camera for what the producers promise to be a “visual extravaganza”.

First look of Punjabi film ‘Fuffad Ji’ out ahead of Nov 11 premiere

After the overwhelming response to recent back-to-back hits “Puaada” and “Qismat 2”, another Punjabi film, “Fuffad Ji” is all set to premiere on November 11.

Starring Binnu Dhillon and Gurnam Bhullar, “Fuffad Ji”, a comedy of errors, is a Zee Studios-K. Kumar Studios co-production directed by Pankaj Batra.

Taking to social media, Bhullar shared his excitement tweeting: “Team #Fuffadji is ready to entertain your family, we’ll be waiting at your nearby theatres.” Jasmin Bajwa plays the female lead and model Sidhika Sharma will make her debut in it.

Commenting on the impending release, Batra said: “I feel fortunate to be able to release our film which we started making even amidst the pandemic. I hope people shower it with love.” Shooting for the film had started in June.

Tamil star Suriya plays tribal rights advocate in ‘Jai Bhim’

Tamil actor Suriya plays a tribal rights advocate in the movie “Jai Bhim” produced by 2D Entertainment, co-owned by the star and his actress-wife Jyothika.

The movie, directed by T.J. Gnanavel, will start streaming on Amazon Prime from November 2. It will also be dubbed and released in Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. Apart from Suriya, its cast consists of Prakash Raj, Rao Ramesh, Rajisha Vijayan, Lijo Mol Jose and Manikandan.

The movie is about oppressed tribals who find happiness in the little joys of life, even though they do not own land, nor homes. The small joys of this tribe are portrayed in the movie, which is based on a real-life incident dating back to 1993.

The story is about Sengenni and Rajakannu, a couple belonging to the Irular tribe. Rajakannu is arrested and goes missing from the police station. Sengenni then seeks the help of Advocate Chandru to get justice for her husband. Suriya, who plays Advocate Chandru, appears on behalf of Sengenni and argues the case for Rajakannu.

The film has been co-produced by Rajasekar Karpoorasundarapandian. The cinematography is by S.R. Kadir and Sean Rolden has given the music.

The movie was officially announced in April 2021 and it went on the floors immediately, but the pandemic stalled the shooting, which was resumed in July and completed in September.

Suriya was last seen in “Soorarai Pottru”, where he played the father of budget airlines in India, Captain G.R. Gopinath of Air Deccan fame. The movie, directed by Sudha Kongara, saw Malayalam actress Aparna Balamurali playing the female lead opposite Suriya.

Rashmika, Yash channel social media power for Kannada cinema

With ‘Forbes’ magazine rating Rashmika Mandanna as South Indian cinema’s most influential social media star, and Yash of ‘KGF’ fame ranking No. 3, it’s a moment of celebration for Kannada film fans.

It’s also indicative of the growing pan-Indian visibility of Sandalwood film stars such as Rashmika, Yash and Kichcha Sudeep. Rashmika, in fact, has left behind her Tollywood compatriots Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who is ranked No. 4, and Allu Arjun, who follows at No. 5. The Kannada star’s social media handles, as a result, have been inundated with congratulatory messages from her fans.

The rankings were based on views, likes and comments garnered by posts and videos shared by celebrities of the Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada film industries.

Rashmika’s social media content centres around her forthcoming movies and her takes on fashion. Yash, who’ll be seen soon in the ‘KGF’ sequel, posts pictures of his children and family celebrations, and of his travels and film projects. Both stars have ensured that the footprint of Kannada cinema extends much beyond its immediate market.

Taapsee Pannu turns a start referee on tracks of ‘Rashmi Rocket’

Taapsee Pannu has made a splash on OTT with her recent release titled ‘Rashmi Rocket’, the ripples of which are being felt. The film hailed as an agent of change in the mainstream Hindi cinema, tells the story of a national level athlete who finds herself drowning in public ire and social stigma after she’s ousted from the national team following the unfair practice of gender test.

The actress has once again left the audience swooning over her performance in the film.

And now, the actress seems to have gone a mile further, she stepped into the shoes of a start referee on the race track. In a fresh BTS video shared by Taapsee on her Instagram, we can see the actress stoking up the fire in her ‘Rashmi Rocket’ crew to run a decisive lap to glory. She captioned the IGTV video, “Crew’s athletic meet! If the film is about a sprinter how can the crew not race !!!! #RashmiRocket crew in action!”

The video features different departments of the crew split into two teams as the participants run to the finish line. The video showcases the preparation for the race where the crew members practice their sprinting skills to compete with each other, it then proceeds to show the countdown to the race and finally, we see the members of two teams competing against each other.

The video has a healthy mix of competitive spirit, humour and race track goof ups that bring a smile to the faces of the audience. It concludes with Taapsee felicitating the winners of the event.