Samantar 2: Should keep season one fans happy

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Samantar 2: Should keep season one fans happy

Samantar 2 Cast: Swwapnil Joshi, Nitish Bharadwaj, Sai Tamhankar, Tejaswini Pandit; Direction: Sameer Vidwans; Rating: * * * (three stars)

BY VINAYAK CHAKRAVORTY

The Marathi thriller series “Samantar” gave an absorbing spin to the mystery genre in its first season last year, and the hype was naturally high when season two dropped this weekend.

The series tries maintaining the tempo in its new season, clearly going by the logic that whatever worked once definitely works better the next time around in the world of sequels and seasons. The second season is more frenetic, goes all out with drama, and, though the storytelling becomes repetitive after a point, manages to hold interest.

For those who came in late, “Samantar” is about Kumar Mahajan (Swwapnil Joshi) who, in the first season, discovers his life mirrors that of a man named Sudarshan Chakrapani (Nitish Bharadwaj). In other words, Sudarshan has already lived the incidents happening in Kumar’s life. In order to understand his life and know his fate, Kumar must seek out Sudarshan and, as season one ended, he got hold of Sudarshan’s diaries.

Kumar realizes his life is documented in Sudarshan’s diaries, but he understands he can read only one page a day. As season two begins, the pages of the past layout what’s in store for Kumar, even as the narrative shows us in flashback how a particular occurrence had panned out for Sudarshan and lead to exactly the same outcome.

The storyline is interesting in the way it balances the two lives. Every fortune and misfortune in Sudarshan’s life is cleverly re-written to fit Kumar’s life, maintaining a cohesion in narrative mood and spirit. Season two has 10 episodes, and underlines its theme sufficiently — you cannot fight your fate.

Returning in familiar roles, Swwapnil Joshi, Nitish Bharadwaj, and Tejaswini Pandit (as Kumar’s wife Nima) come up with assured performances. The act of season two comes from Sai Tamhankar (in a dual role) playing out the mystery woman who enters the lives of both men, fulfilling a vital prophecy in one of the diaries. Sai’s presence adds vim to the drama and remains a highlight.

“Samantar 2” should keep fans of season one happy and leave just that bit of scope for a third season, as it ends. This isn’t the best that OTT has to offer this year, but is good enough as a one-time watch.

On National Doctor’s Day, Amyra Dastur says her father is a ‘certified hero’

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On National Doctor’s Day, Amyra Dastur says her father is a ‘certified hero’

Actress Amyra Dastur has a lot of gratitude and respect for her father Rohinton Dastur, a doctor by profession. The actress says she never saw her father, a surgeon in a South Mumbai hospital, complain about sleepless nights over the past year.

The actress recalls how, in the last one and a half years ever since the pandemic of Covid-19 broke out, she has seen her father work relentlessly.

“My father has always been my hero but in the last year and a half, he is a certified superhero. I have never seen him complain even once, I have seen him wear his coat and do his duty, which is to serve and take care. I have had sleepless nights worrying about his health and battled with the demon that he is putting his own life at risk for saving the lives of others but my father is a champion, and I couldn’t be prouder than I am today. There were days I would just pray for him to come home safe and sound. I have seen him suffer as he lost patients to this deadly disease and it’s had a huge mental impact on doctors, as it’s shown them death like no other disease in the past year,” says Amyra.

The actress, who has been part of films such as “Issaq” and “Made In China”, has immense gratitude towards the medical fraternity.

“We think they are conditioned but nothing prepares you for something like covid 19. However, my father is always smiling, always positive and came home to show us that no matter what, duty comes first. On the occasion of World Doctors day, I fold my hands and bow down to all doctors. Thank you for your service, we are alive because you chose to risk your lives,” she says.

Nikita Rawal pledges to donate organs: It’s my duty as a citizen of this country

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Nikita Rawal pledges to donate organs: It’s my duty as a citizen of this country

Actress Nikita Rawal has pledged to donate her organs.

“I researched on the blind in the country and found out that India can be cured of the entire blind population in about two to three weeks if everyone donated their organs. I think it’s something that everyone should be involved in,” said the actress, who has acted in films like “Mr. Hot Mr. Kool”, “The Hero: Abhimanyu” and “Amma Ki Boli”.

Nikita also focussed on innumerable people in the country in need of an organ — be it eyes, kidneys, or other implantables.

“Organs have no use after death and they are either going to bury the individual or burn. Organ donation can light up someone’s life or give a new lease of life. I think it’s my duty as a citizen of this country,” she said.

Nikita, who is the founder of the Aastha Foundation that works towards the empowerment of underprivileged women in the Jayanagar area of Goregaon, Mumbai, also highlighted the need to get vaccinated.

“The pandemic is not yet over and lets us be accountable to one another,” said the actress, reminding of the necessity to get vaccinated,” she said.

Nikita will be soon seen alongside Arshad Warsi and Chunkey Pandey in the upcoming film “Roti Kapda And Romance”.

Avika Gor says she signed eight films on her birthday, calls it ‘true privilege’

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Avika Gor says she signed eight films on her birthday, calls it ‘true privilege’

Actress Avika Gor says making eight movie announcements on her birthday has been a privilege. The actress celebrated her birthday on June 30.

Although she did not divulge details, Avika claims these eight films are in different languages, too.

“Eight movie announcements in a day are absolutely maddening and unbelievable stuff and that too in different languages. I am blessed and can’t thank the universe enough for bringing all this to me. It’s a birthday I will never forget and one of the greatest days of my life. It also comes with huge responsibilities and challenges,” said Avika.

“But I am up for it. A huge thank you to all my fans for all the wishes and prayers. It’s just because of them, it’s all happening. Let’s get vaccinated and stay safe. The pandemic is not over yet and let’s be accountable for one another,” she added.

Avika also claims “most of the roles are extremely challenging”.

“The producers trusting me makes me want to work harder and do everything thing I can to make every project a success. Most of the roles are extremely challenging and I can’t wait for the release of these movies so that all the people who have always loved me can watch me perform,” she declared.

Shahid Kapoor unmasks 20 seconds of his life

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Shahid Kapoor unmasks 20 seconds of his life

Actor Shahid Kapoor took to social media on Thursday to share insights into his shooting schedule in a fast-paced 20-second video.

“Unmasking 20 seconds of my life!” wrote Shahid on his Instagram account with 30.6 million followers.

Shahid’s behind-the-scene video shows him on a film set, navigating in the pandemic with his face mask on.

“20 seconds of my life is over. Stop camera now. I want to go home,” says Shahid at the end of the video, wearing a black mask.

The video shows glimpses of Shahid reaching the film set, getting out of his vanity, shooting and interacting with the people on the set, and in the end getting back to his car to head home.

Shahid will make his digital debut with a web series directed by Raj and DK of “The Family Man” fame. He will next be seen in the film “Jersey”, also featuring his father Pankaj Kapur and Mrunal Thakur.

Rasika Dugal shares ‘smiles and scowls of shootlife’

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Rasika Dugal shares ‘smiles and scowls of shootlife’

Actress Rasika Dugal on Thursday shared the “smiles and scowls of shoot life” on Instagram.

Rasika to Instagram and posted a set of pictures where she is seen smiling in some and sporting a serious look in other images.

“The smiles and scowls of shoot life… Package deal!” Rasika captioned the images.

Speaking about her work, Rasika was recently seen in season two of “Out Of Love”, directed by Oni Sen and co-starring Purab Kohli.

The actress will be soon seen sharing screen space with Naseeruddin Shah in “The Miniaturist Of Junagadh”.

Neena Gupta shares a still from the 1984 classic “Utsav”

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Neena Gupta shares a still from the 1984 classic “Utsav”

Actress Neena Gupta on Thursday shared a throwback gem on social media, posting a picture from the 1984 classic “Utsav”.

In the mid-shot frame from the period film, a young Neena has a cloth wrapped around her bust like a bralette. She exchanges a coy glance with her co-actor, the late Shankar Nag.

“A still from a beautiful film Utsav with Shankar Nag miss you so much Shankar bohat jaldi chod gaye tum hamen,” Neena wrote remembering actor-director Shankar Nag, who died at the age of 35 in a car accident in 1990.

Shankar Nag was an actor, screenwriter, director, and producer known for his work in Kannada and Hindi films and television. He directed and acted in the Doordarshan series, “Malgudi Days”.

Shashi Kapoor’s production “Utsav” was a film ahead of its time. Based on the play “Mrichakatika”, the erotic drama was directed by Girish Karnad and starred Rekha, Anuradha Patel, Shekhar Suman, and Amjad Khan. Neena played Madanika, a courtesan slave.

On Neena’s picture post, actor Ramneek Pantal commented about Shankar Nag: “Looks like Shahrukh Khan from the profile.”

TV actor Sachin Shroff wrote: “He was such a fine actor.”

Neena Gupta recently launched her autobiography, “Sach Kahun Toh”, sharing many interesting insights from her life.

The actress, who was seen recently in the film “Sardar Ka Grandson”, will be seen next in a cricket drama “83” and the thriller “Dial 100”.

Ravi Teja starts shooting for 68th film

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Ravi Teja starts shooting for 68th film

Telugu star Ravi Teja started shooting for his 68th film on Thursday and shared a glimpse of the film’s poster on Instagram.

The poster showcases Ravi, whose back is towards the camera, sitting on a chair typing a letter on a typewriter.

“And it begins…,” Ravi Teja, who enjoys the moniker of “Mass Maharaja”, captioned the image.

The actor did not share details about the film.

Ravi Teja’s latest released film was “Krack”. The Telugu action film co-starring Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Shruti Haasan opened in January.

The actor currently awaits the release of his next titled “Khiladi”, an action-comedy written and directed by Ramesh Varma. The film also stars Arjun Sarja, Unni Mukundan, Meenakshi Chaudhary and Dimple Hayathi.

Sunny Leone is ‘one with the couch’

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Sunny Leone is ‘one with the couch’

Sunny Leone shared a picture posing with a couch on Thursday. In the images, Sunny is dressed in powder pink sweat pants and a jacket paired with a black tube top.

“O.N.E W.I.T.H T.H.E C.O.U.C.H,” she wrote as the caption.

Sunny will soon make her digital debut with “Anamika”, an action series directed by Vikram Bhatt.

They also have “Shero ” and “The Battle Of Bheema Koregaon” coming up. Her latest assignment has been hosting the reality show “Splitsvilla” along with Rannvijay Singha.

Karisma Kapoor expresses gratitude for 30 years in Bollywood with a flashback video

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Karisma Kapoor expresses gratitude for 30 years in Bollywood with a flashback video

Actress Karisma Kapoor on Thursday shared a retrospective of her 30 years in Bollywood, with a flashback video clip of her hit songs on Instagram.

“Replaying the memories with a dose of the 90’s #thirtyyearsofgratitude #90sjam,” she wrote as the caption with the clip.

The video clip features a mash-up of Karisma Kapoor’s popular song tracks from the films of the nineties and 2000s such as “Hero No 1”, “Coolie No 1”, “Dil Toh Pagal Hai”, “Zubeidaa”, “Dulhan Hum Le Jayenge”, “Hum Saath-Saath Hain”, “Raja Babu” and “Andaz Apna Apna” among others.

Karisma’s debut film “Prem Qaidi” released on June 21, 1991. The film was directed by K. Murali Mohan Rao and co-starred Harish. The actress was last seen on screen in her debut wen series “Mentalhood”, which released last year.

Minutes after her Instagram post, comments started pouring in from her industry friends and fans.

Sonam Kapoor’s sister Rhea Kapoor wrote “Fashion icon”.

Malaika Arora and Maheep Kapoor commented with heart emojis.

Her fans went crazy and flooded her Instagram page with comments like “You were just fabulous. Loved watching all your movies. U should come back again.”

“Such a phenomenal actress! Miss you on the silver screen,” wrote a fan.

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