Rashmika beats Samantha, Vijay Deverakonda, Yash to top Forbes list

Bengaluru-based actress Rashmika Mandanna, who has been busy with back-to-back movies in multiple languages is one of the most happening heroines in the South.

With her upcoming Bollywood entry, Rashmika becomes quite famous in the North too. Topping the most influential actors list by Forbes India, Rashmika has beaten Samantha, Vijay Deverakonda and Yash.

Recording a high growth rate in the number of followers on her social media pages, Rashmika Mandanna, who stars in Telugu and Kannada movies occupies the top spot on the list of the ‘most influential actors’.

Vijay Deverakonda, who shot to fame with his movies ‘Pelli Choopulu’ and ‘Arjun Reddy’, is second on the list, followed by Kannada’s most happening handsome hunk Yash. Samantha Ruth Prabhu occupies a fourth place on this list, followed by Allu Arjun.

The metrics considered are the average likes, average comments, engagement rate, average video views, and the follower count on the social media profiles of the celebrities. This influence is calculated and represented through ‘Qoruz Score’, which is out of 10. Rashmika scores 9.88, while Vijay Deverakonda earned 9.67. Yash’s score is 9.54, while Samantha’s score is 9.49, followed by 9.46 scored by Allu Arjun.

Forbes has considered the Instagram activity of the popular celebrities from the Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada film industries over their most recent social media posts as of September 30.

Rashmika Mandanna is playing a rural girl in Allu Arjun’s upcoming action-drama ‘Pushpa’, while she is to appear in Sharwanand’s ‘Aadavally Meeku Joharulu’ soon.

Actor Vijay’s fan club wins over 100 seats in TN rural polls

Even as superstar Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam drew a blank in the rural local body polls in Tamil Nadu, the fan club of young superstar, Thalapathy Vijay won more than 100 seats.

Vijay, who had not given permission to float a political outfit and filed a criminal case against 11 persons including his parents, S. Chandrashekhar and Sobha Sekhar, in this connection, had, however, allowed his fans to contest the polls.

This was the first time that Vijay, who, going by popularity ratings is second to Rajinikanth in Tamil cinema, allowed his fan club – All India Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyyakam – to contest from the rural bodies of nine districts which went to polls.

The actor’s fan club won 115 of the 169 seats it contested and according to its General Secretary and former Congress Puducherry MLA Bussy Anand, won unopposed in 13 seats.

Anand also told the media that 45 of the 115 winners are women, and other winners include farmers, lab technicians, students, school teachers, and traders.

The All India Thalapathy Makkal Iyyakam has more than 10 lakh registered members and the fans association generally does not have any political affiliations, except in the 2011 elections, when Vijay extended support to the AIADMK and Jayalalithaa.

Several political pundits believe that these results would lead to Vijay scouting for a larger role for himself in the future politics of Tamil Nadu.

“Vijay has done proper research before jumping into the fray and he has allowed his fans to use his name and flag. He knew that he could win a few seats given his popularity in Tamil Nadu. He is likely to take a plunge in the politics of Tamil Nadu as there is a clear vacuum of popular leaders in the state,” Madurai-based think tank Socio-Economic Development Foundation’s Director R. Padmanabhan told in interview.

Taapsee Pannu: Sports stars are actually the real heroes for me

Actress Taapsee Pannu, who plays a sprinter in her latest film ‘Rashmi Rocket’, says that she is always in awe of sports personalities and that she feels they are the real heroes.

She candidly revealed that squash is her favourite sport to play and when it comes to her favourite sportsperson she said, “I don’t think I can choose because I am in so much awe of these sportspeople, they are actually the real heroes for me. I follow them more than I follow any other profession, or I don’t think I consider any other profession as heroic as representing the country!”

Taapsee also confessed that running comes naturally to her, since she was an athlete in school and would run in 100, 200 and 400-metre races. For her role, she had to learn some professional sprinting techniques. Next, she had to unlearn and readopt the right technique to keep her free of injuries.

She shared these anecdotes in an exclusive chat with IMDb.

When asked about her most favourite memory on sets, she reminisces, “Once when I was sprinting during shots and there were real athletes, we had called who were there running with me, who were probably watching the training…the compliments from them that I did really look like a real athlete were the most cherished ones coming from the people who do it as a profession.”

Directed by Akarsh Khurana and also featuring Priyanshu Painyuli, Abhishek Banerjee, Shweta Tripathi, and Supriya Pathak, ‘Rashmi Rocket’ releases on ZEE5.

Sharwanand, Siddharth-starrer ‘Maha Samudram’ hits screens

Telugu romantic action drama ‘Maha Samudram’ starring Sharwanand, Siddharth, Aditi Rao Hydari and Anu Emmanuel released on Thursday. Helmed by ‘RX 100’ director Ajay Bhupathi, the movie caught the attention of the audience even before its release.

The movie has now released after the team established a good hype with their well-planned promotions. The early reports from theatres revealed that the movie has a well-written story with good performances.

‘Maha Samudram’ is set in Vishakhapatnam, with the story of two close friends. Vijay (Siddharth) and Arjun (Sharwanand) are two people with different goals. Vijay leaves his pregnant lover Maha (Aditi Rao Hydari) in trouble.

On the other hand, Arjun is forced into the underworld, landing him in drug dealing.

The cinematography is good with rich production values on the screen. The action sequences are well-crafted too though a routine second half spoils the game for ‘Maha Samudram’.

It is up against other big-ticket movies like ‘Pelli SandaD’ and ‘Most Eligible Bachelor’.

Guru Randhawa, Mrunal Thakur’s ‘snow fight’ in Kashmir!

Singer Guru Randhawa and actress Mrunal Thakur had a playful time in Kashmir while shooting for the new music video ‘Aise Na Chhoro Mujhe’ which also captured their ‘snow fight’.

While the entire team was under layers of clothes freezing in minus 10 degrees, both the artistes were having snow fights and were riding on the snowmobile all around the location.

Both the stars had so much fun on the set of the music video that director Aashish Panda had to break in and remind them to get back to work!

Presented by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series, the love song penned by Rashmi Virag and composed by Manan Bhardwaj, is a romantic track that tells a modern-day Romeo-Juliet love story.

Fardeen, Riteish-starrer ‘Visfot’ to go on floors next week

The shooting for Fardeen Khan’s comeback film ‘Visfot’, which also stars Riteish Deshmukh, will begin from next week.

‘Visfot’ marks Fardeen’s return to the big screen after 11 years. The son of late veteran star Feroz Khan, Fardeen was last seen on the silver screen in the 2010 movie ‘Dulha Mil Gaya’.

The mahurat pooja of ‘Visfot’, directed by Kookie Gulati, took place on Friday and was attended by the cast of the film.

Director Gulati said: “The opportunity to work with this combination and actors like Riteish and Fardeen is indeed rare. I can’t wait to share this incredible story with the audience.”

‘Visfot’ is the official remake of 2012 Venezuelan film ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ which was selected as that country’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards.

The thriller thrives on the collision between the city’s stark contrasts – the ‘chawls’ of Dongri and the high-rises.

Sanjay Gupta, whose company White Feather Films is producing the film, said: “Every film has its own destiny and timing. This film happened to me when the world had shutdown in the pandemic.”

T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar, who is backing the film, added: “As a producer, I’m always on the lookout for something new. On ‘Visfot’, we have Sanjay Gupta, who has a signature style of making movies. And we have Kookie Gulati to helm it. From Fardeen, Riteish to the team, we have a fiery combination at hand much like the title of ‘Visfot’.”

‘Visfot’, presented by T-Series and Sanjay Gupta, is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Anuradha Gupta and Sanjay Gupta and directed by Kookie Gulati.

Allu Arjun’s fans worried about director jinx!

Telugu actor Allu Arjun has a huge following in other southern states as well even as his upcoming movie ‘Pushpa – The Rise’ is set to launch him as a pan-India star.

With a well-established career path, Allu Arjun is one of the most successful heroes from Tollywood.

Starring Rashmika Mandanna as his heroine, Arjun is to play ‘Pushpa Raj’ – a nefarious sandalwood smuggler. But with all the hype around ‘Pushpa – The Rise’, Allu Arjun’s fans are a little worried about his upcoming venture.

It is reported that Allu Arjun is to act under the direction of Telugu filmmaker Boyapati Srinu for his next. The duo had earlier collaborated for the movie ‘Sarrainodu’, which was a mass hit.

But after ‘Sarrainodu’, Boyapati Srinu’s big-budget movie titled ‘Vinaya Vidheya Rama’ with Ram Charan was a big flop and was a setback for the actor as well as the makers.

This was a huge letdown for the makers, as Ram Charan had seen a blockbuster (‘Rangasthalam’) prior to ‘Vinaya Vidheya Rama’. So, Allu Arjun’s fans are worried if it is a good choice for Allu Arjun to act under Boyapati Srinu’s direction after ‘Pushpa’.

Boyapati Srinu’s upcoming movie ‘Akhanda’ features Nandamuri Balakrishna as the hero.

Playing God: Sumedh Mudgalkar on portraying Lord Vishnu

Television actor Sumedh Mudgalkar will be shown playing the role of ‘Lord Vishnu’ in the upcoming show ‘Haathi Ghoda Paalki Jai Kanhaiya Laal Ki’.

The show will revolve around the age-old tales of ‘Natkhat Bal Krishna’ and take the audience through a scintillating mythological experience.

Sharing his thoughts on the subject of the show, Sumedh says: “It feels great working with a child on the sets of the show; especially when you’re shooting with such a cute kid like baby Hazel Kaur. Children are extremely innocent and there is so much you can learn from them. Everything they are and everything they do stands as an example for us to better ourselves with each passing day. I am so grateful for an opportunity like this. It all feels like a blessing”.

“When it comes to me, I have to put in so much effort to be able to play my part efficiently but our little Lord Krishna is just so natural with everything. The innocence that the kid carries substantiates that they truly are literal personifications of God himself. The fact that I get to work with a child truly brings me immense pleasure,” adds Sumedh, known for shows like ‘Dil Dosti Dance’, ‘RadhaKrishn’ and others.

‘Haathi Ghoda Paalki Jai Kanhaiya Laal Ki’ will start from October 19 on Star Bharat.

Ariah Agarwal to play the lead in web series ‘Adi Suri Ki Dulhania’

Ariah Agarwal has bagged a lead role in a web show. The actress will soon be seen in a rom-com series titled ‘Adi Suri Ki Dulhania’.

Ariah Agarwal made her debut with the show ‘Kya Haal, Mr Panchaal?’. She also worked in popular shows like ‘Kasautii Zindagii Kay’ and ‘Prem Bandhan’. Ariah now wants to do web series and films and she is already working on a few projects, and ‘Adi Suri Ki Dulhania’ will soon be out.

Speaking about her role in the series, Ariah says: “I play the character of a no-nonsense girl who is independent and straight forward. She is a professional photographer. The show is set in Delhi and Punjab. It’s a modern day rom-com, minus the cliches of a typical rom-com.”

‘Shubho Bijoya’: Gurmeet Choudhary’s wedding fantasy plays out on screen

Actor Gurmeet Choudhary says his forthcoming short film ‘Shubho Bijoya’ is a dream come true as he always wanted to marry his wife Debina Bonnerjee in a Bengali-style ceremony.

Gurmeet and Debina had worked together in the TV show ‘Ramayan’ as Ram and Sita. The real-life couple are reuniting for the short film ‘Shubho Bijoya’.

Gurmeet talked about the short film being as real and authentic as possible, on a personal and professional level. He said, “As you all know, we didn’t get married in a lavish manner, it was a low-key wedding, but I’d always had this dream that I should get married in a Bengali-style ceremony and in this film, we have actually gotten married. Whatever you will see in this short film, it is quite authentic”

He said, “Our director had set up the camera and told us the rituals, and we went about doing our thing, so whatever moments you might see on screen they are quite natural and real. When I was going through the scene, especially when I was putting ‘Sindoor’ on Debina’s forehead, it didn’t have any sort of retake feel, it was real. As everyone knows, I am not a Bengali, and to play such a character was an experience in itself.”

The romantic short film is helmed by director Ram Kamal Mukherjee. It is a love story that revolves around a fashion photographer and a supermodel. The film is produced by Aritra Das, Gaurav Daga and Sarbani Mukherjee.

Debina also shared that the film is a modern urban story, and high on emotional quotient. She said, “The characters are Bengali, but the film is in Hindi and it is a very urban film. The film is set in Mumbai and it is really urban and its ultra-modern story, it is something we all are; the film is about working out of troubled times and rebuilding our world and try to make the best of it.”

“After making the film, I’d watched it like 4-5 times, and I cried every time. I thought Gurmeet will think I am obsessing over it because I was crying watching myself act. See the level of the film is such that one might actually start crying. It is a very simple story, which is very well woven and well told,” added Debina.

‘Shubho Bijoya’ will premiere on the auspicious day of Bijoya Dasami on October 15 on the OTT platform BiiggBang.