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’.

‘Bigg Boss 15’: Kajal Pisal supports Devoleena, slams Abhijit for demanding kiss

Actress Kajal Pisal has come out in support of her friend and ‘Bigg Boss 15’ contestant Devoleena Bhattacharjee after Abhijeet Bichukale asked her for a kiss on the reality show.

Kajal worked with Devoleena in the popular show ‘Saath Nibhana Saathiya’. Kajal, who is currently seen as Asha in ‘Sirf Tum’, feels like asking for a kiss on ‘Bigg Boss 15’ is not a joke and absolutely wrong,

She says: “It’s high time to take a stand against men like Abhijeet Bichukale, it’s not only in the show but mostly girls always face such embarrassing situations be it at their work or anywhere. And the way Abhijeet blackmailed my friend was horrible. Devoleena is a strong woman to deal with such people. Still there must be strict action taken against such behaviour.”

Kajal also appreciated Tejasswi for taking stand for Devoleena. “I’m glad that Tejasswi came out and took a stand for Devoleena. It’s us who need to stand against such behaviour which shouldn’t be promoted at all, be it even as a joke.”

Naseer, Lara, Soha’s web show ‘Kaun Banegi Shikharwati’ out in Jan

Multi-starrer comedy-drama web series ‘Kaun Banegi Shikharwati’, featuring Naseeruddin Shah, Lara Dutta Bhupathi and Soha Ali Khan among others, is slated to release in January.

It is a dramedy series with a unique take on a dysfunctional royal family.

‘Kaun Banegi Shikharwati’ is produced by Applause Entertainment in association with Emmay Entertainment and directed by Gauravv Chawla and Ananya Banerjee. It releases on ZEE5.

Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India, said,”We are glad to bring a like-minded partner on board to create compelling content together and launch quality originals, exclusively available on ZEE5. Applause Entertainment has had a strong record of creating some of the most popular shows of recent times and with this association, we are confident of enriching our content slate even further.”

Sameer Nair, CEO, Applause Entertainment said, “Over the past 4 years, Applause has created a diverse slate of content and explored stories across genres, languages and geographies. We are thrilled that our first outing with ZEE5 is with ‘Kaun Banegi Shikarwati’, a light-hearted, heart-warming dramedy that is both quirky and delightful, and boasts a stellar cast of actors.”

Nikkhil Advani, Emmay Entertainment added, “In a fine blend of humour and drama, this show offers a quintessential story of Indian families that’s replete with oddities and conflicts. But at the core of it, lie unfiltered emotions that’s sure to resonate strongly with the masses. We are excited to release it to global audiences on ZEE5.”

The web series also features Kritika Kamra, Anya Singh, Raghubir Yadav, Cyrus Sahukar, Varun Thakur and Anurag Sinha in key roles.

NTR Jr dubs in Hindi in his own voice for first time

Telugu star NTR Jr has for the first time dubbed in Hindi in his own voice for filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘RRR’.

NTR Jr has also dubbed in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada.

The film is his first multilingual pan-India film and it marks the first time he dubbed in Hindi, Kannada and Tamil.

The ‘Aravinda Sametha’ actor made every possible effort to nail the diction, intonation and the voice modulation so that his colloquial slang doesn’t sound unfamiliar in the three languages — Hindi, Tamil and Kannada.

It was Rajamouli, who wanted NTR Jr to dub in all languages.

In ‘RRR’, the actor will be seen essaying the role of ‘Komaram Bheem’, a freedom fighter and the protector of the Gond tribe. His fans wait with bated breath to watch him play a fearless hero, who locks horns with a tiger.

‘RRR’ marks the fourth collaboration of the filmmaker and NTR Jr. The superstar has gone to extreme lengths right from performing dangerous stunts to putting on weight in a short span of time. The forthcoming film stars the biggest names of the Indian movie industry including Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn, and Alia Bhatt.

Faria Abdulla jives with the Akkinenis for ‘Bangarraju’

The makers of ‘Bangarraju’ starring Akkineni Nagarjuna along with his son Akkineni Naga Chaitanya released a musical poster, teasing the fans.

Titled as ‘The party song of the year’, the makers of ‘Bangarraju’ released a glimpse of the upcoming lyrical song, which stars Faria Abdulla of ‘Jathi Rathnalu’ fame.

In the musical poster, Faria is seen jiving with Nagarjuna on one side and Naga Chaitanya on the other.

The makers will release the lyrical song on December 17.

Nagarjuna took to his social media handles to announce the same. “The musical poster of the ‘Party Song of the Year’ from #Bangarraju. Song Teaser on 17th Dec at 17.12 hrs!”, the ‘Criminal’ actor’s tweet reads.

The music is composed by Anup Rubens, who had scored a classic musical album ‘Manam’ for Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya earlier.

Helmed by Kalyan Krishna Kurasala, the movie is a sequel to the hit ‘Soggade Chinni Nayana’.

Billed to be a commercial mass entertainer, ‘Bangarraju’ stars Ramya Krishna and Krithi Shetty as the female leads.

People abusing my mother out of hatred for me are the ones pretending to respect Goddesses: Siddharth

Actor Siddharth, who has a huge fan base in the Tamil and Telugu speaking regions of the country, on Tuesday said that he had realised that the people who were repeatedly abusing his mother out of hatred for him were the ones who were pretending to respect Goddesses.

Taking to Twitter, Siddharth said, “Disturbing realisation. The people who have repeatedly abused my mother out of hatred for me…pretend to respect Sita Maiyya, Durga mata and Maa Santoshi. My country, my religion, my culture… All hijacked by a bunch of pitiful, woman hating cowards. Poor #Mother India.”

The actor, who is known to voice his thoughts boldly and stand by them, has often been the target of verbal attacks on social media. But that hasn’t stopped him from expressing his thoughts without fear.

Earlier in the day, the actor offered comforting words to one of south India’s top music directors Devi Sri Prasad, who was remembering his dad who had passed away six years ago.

Responding to a tweet put out by the music director, Siddharth said, “Love you Devi. Can’t believe it’s already 6 years. Wish uncle was with us today…I know how proud he must be, smiling at his amazing boy from the heavens above. Hugs, love and prayers brother.”

Shraddha Arya talks about two-year leap in ‘Kundali Bhagya’

TV actress Shraddha Arya talks about the two-year leap that the popular show ‘Kundali Bhagya’ is going to take in the upcoming episodes.

Talking about the leap, Shraddha Arya mentioned: “The two-year leap is filled with new twists and turns. The fresh narrative will see Preeta returning to the Luthra house with the sole intention of saving the family from the clutches of Prithvi Malhotra.”

The constant chaos in Karan (Dheeraj Dhoopar) and Preeta’s (Shraddha Arya) lives has surely grabbed the attention of the audience. The episode before the leap will show Preeta being forced to leave the Luthra house by Karan and her family.

The show will take a two-year leap unfolding a new narrative. The audience will see Preeta living with her family and working as a physiotherapist in a clinic. Mahesh Luthra (Naveen Saini) pleads Preeta to save the Luthra family from Prithvi Malhotra (Sanjay Gagnani). Preeta decides to return to the Luthra mansion and realises it’s now owned and run by Prithvi Malhotra.

Shraddha adds: “While Preeta is upset at being thrown out of the house, she will get emotional seeing her family suffering. It will be a tough time for the Luthras and I feel the leap will bring in some high-voltage drama into the show. It will be a fresh challenge and I am quite kicked about it. I hope our fans enjoy the upcoming track.”

Now the upcoming episode will unfold the fact that Preeta and Karan will unite or not and will Preeta be able to save the Luthras?

‘Kundali Bhagya’ airs on Zee TV.