‘Anandi Gopal’ inspires Pune medical college for girls

Director Sameer Vidwans’ critically acclaimed film “Anandi Gopal” has inspired a medical college for girls in Pune.

In 2019, the Marathi film industry saw the release of “Anandi Gopal”, a biopic on the life of Anandi Gopal Joshi, who was one of India’s first female practitioners of western medicine.

Dr. Shantaram Balwant Mujumdar, founder and president of Symbiosis Society, has set up a new medical college only for girls. During its inauguration, he revealed how the film encouraged him.

“I am inspired by the biographical movie about India’s first lady doctor Mrs Anandibai Joshi, the idea of establishing a medical college exclusively for women was born. With an objective of women empowerment and contributing to the requirement of more women doctors in the nation, symbiosis established this exclusive college and the faculty of health science,” Dr. Mujumdar said.

Reacting to the development, the film’s director Sameer Vidwana said: “It’s a very big achievement for me and my team. This is a true success of ‘Anandi Gopal’. There are almost 150 students who have already taken admission. We are very happy that this film has made a positive impact on society.”

The film stars Bhagyashree Milind and Lalit Prabhakar, and it has emerged a raging success at the box office. It received mostly positive reviews, too, for bringing alive the story of Anandi Gopal Joshi and capturing the innocent love story between her and her husband, Gopalrao Joshi.

JP Dutta’s daughter Nidhi set to wed, celebrations begin

Filmmaker JP Dutta and veteran actress Bindiya Goswami’s daughter Nidhi is all set to tie the knot with director Binoy Gandhi on Sunday. Nidhi’s mehndi and sangeet ceremonies took place on Saturday.

Celebrations have already begun in Rambagh Palace, Jaipur, where guests from the film fraternity have been arriving all through Saturday. The guest list includes names like Sunil Shetty, Arjun Rampal, and girlfriend Grabiella, Anu Malik, Sonu Nigam, Lisa Mishra among others.

Mother of the bride Bindiya Goswami told IANS: “I’m very excited about Nidhi’s marriage. It’s happening at a palace, which was her dream since childhood. She was clear even at that age that she wanted to get married in a palace. She is my princess and granting her that wish and to the man of her dreams is like a double dhamaka.”

Since the wedding is taking place during the time of Covid, the Dutta family is ensuring everyone stays safe and maintaining proper sanitization.

“We have taken precautions from Mumbai. The hotels also wanted Covid tests done, so we did that at the airports. We’ve got to be careful and we’re taking precautions with the hotel, the staff, and everybody else. Everyone on the staff is Covid-tested. If anybody comes from outside, they are made to take the antigen test. So, yes we are being careful,” said Goswami, who is still recalled for her role opposite Amol Palekar in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s classic comedy hit, “Gol Maal”.

“All our friends and family have got themselves tested, including those traveling from abroad. We have set up a room in the hotel where the family and friends traveling back to Mumbai would be tested for Covid. So we are taking all the precautions,” she added.

The guests are being greeted in a traditional Rajasthani style, with teeka and garland of flowers. Folk musicians add the musical touch.

Bobby Deol: Abbas-Mustan are like family to me

Actor Bobby Deol will work Abbas-Mustan after eight years in the director duo’s upcoming film, Penthouse. Bobby has worked with Abbas-Mustan in films such as Soldier, Humraaz, Ajnabee, and Players.

“Abbas-Mustan are like family to me. It’s been a 22-year association since Soldier. I have always loved their vision of making movies. I am happy to be working with them again after many years,” says Bobby.

Bobby will be seen alongside Arjun Rampal, Mouni Roy, Sharman Joshi, Cyrus Broacha, and Waluscha De Sousa in the film. Most of the shooting has been completed and the release date is yet to be announced. The film will be released on an OTT platform.

Meanwhile, Bobby, who is back in the spotlight with his role on Prakash Jha’s web series Aashram, is gearing up for the next season of the show. His upcoming films are Love Hostel, Apne 2, and Animal.

Anurag Kashyap has a message for the haters

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap had a tongue-in-cheek message for haters on Saturday.

Kashyap shared a picture with Taapsee Pannu, the lead star in his upcoming film “DoBaaraa” on Instagram, and posted his comment along with the announcement that he was starting the shoot of the film.

“And we start #DoBaaraa… With all our love to the haters,” Kashyap wrote.

The filmmaker and the actress have witnessed support as well as faced flak over the past few days, ever since there were tax raids in their respective homes. The IT department later said that manipulation worth crores was found in their financial statements.

This is Taapsee’s second film with Anurag after “Manmarziyaan”. The film is produced by Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Sunir Kheterpal, and Gaurav Bose.

Kangana offers Ayurvedic tip for bile, fan says Taapsee needs it

Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut on Friday shared an Ayurvedic solution for people having a high level of ‘pitta’ (bile) in the body.

Kangana shared a photo of an earthen jug on Twitter which has pieces of peach soaked in water.

“Got this earthen jug from MP, I cut few peaches and soak in water, drink this antioxidant-rich water, it comes out slightly sweet and very chilled. Tastes so good, try this with cucumber and lemon as well in Ayurveda it’s hugely recommended especially for people with high pitta,” she wrote.

Reacting to the actress’ earthen jug tweet, a fan took a jibe at Taapsee Pannu.

“Tapsee needs this chilled water badly… recipe from the Bollywood queen,” wrote the fan, referring to the recent tax raid on Taapsee Pannu, along with Anurag Kashyap.

Kangana and Taapsee Pannu’s cold war has been going on for a while. Late on Thursday, Kangana took a jibe at Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap calling them “tax chor”.

Kangana reacted to a news piece that says that the I-T department has found discrepancy and manipulation in income worth Rs 650 crore after raiding their properties.

The actress tweeted: “Every minute the numbers are rising, this is only the money they found clues for, one can only imagine what could be the actual numbers of money laundering, have been exposing terrorism racket of tukde gang in the underbelly of Bollywood, these are terrorists not just #TaxChor.”

“They are not just #TaxChor huge transactions of black money has happened, did they get that money for provoking #Shaheenbagh riots or #republicdayviolence… From where the black money came and where did they send the black money which isn’t accounted for ?” Kangana asked in another tweet.

Jasmin Bhasin, Aly Goni to feature in music video

Bigg Boss 14 housemates Jasmin Bhasin and Aly Goni, who are a couple in real life too, will soon be seen in a music video titled Tera Suit.

The actress shared the news on Instagram with a picture of the video.

“And the surprise is #TeraSuit by @tonykakkar ft. @alygoni & @jasminbhasin2806 Out on 8th March. Producer: @anshul300 Label: @desimusicfactory Music & Lyrics: @tonykakkar Directors: @gurdas13 @parthgurdasmedia @gurdasmediaworks Video Supervisor: @raghav.sharma.14661,” she wrote.

The couple realized their love for each other during Bigg Boss 14. Jasmin was also Aly’s connection during the family week. After the show, Jasmin accompanied Aly to Kashmir where she celebrated his birthday along with his family members.

Pictures and a video of Aly cutting the cake and Jasmin standing beside him went viral. The couple became friends while shooting the stunt-based reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi.

Anushka Sen on ‘Crashh’: Can’t wait to be part of season 2

Actress Anushka Sen had a lot of fun shooting for her debut web series “Crashh” and cannot wait for season 2.

“Crashh is my digital debut, and the response and love I have received for my work are so overwhelming:” she says, adding: “The shooting was so much fun that I never felt tired during the whole process. I am so thankful for the love the show and I have received. I can’t wait to do more shows like this one and spread the message of love and family and work with the whole team again. I cannot wait to do a season 2 of the series possibly. The crash is one of the best projects I have worked on so far,” she says.

The actress plays the role of Alia in the show. The story revolves around four siblings who are separated after they lose their parents in a car crash.

Besides Anushka, the cast includes Zain Imam, Rohan Mehra, Aditi Sharma, Kunj Anand, and others. The series is directed by Kushal Zaveri and is being streamed on ALTBalaji

Sara Ali Khan pens quirky post on brother Ibrahim’s birthday

Actress Sara Ali Khan on the occasion of her brother Ibrahim Ali Khan’s birthday on Friday has penned a hilarious note. She calls him Iggy Potter.

Sara posted a slew of photos on Instagram featuring the brother-sister duo, and a few throwback pictures from their childhood and vacations.

“Happy Birthday Iggy Potter. I promise to always make you the best coffee, stalk you to come with me to the beach, feed you with Pyaar, irritate you always, force you to pose even as a newborn, ensure you to countless swimming laps, make you lose at badminton, be the worst google maps navigator and tell the best knock-knock jokes,” Sara wrote alongside the images.

Sara will next be seen in “Atrangi Re”, co-starring Akshay Kumar, Dhanush, and Nimrat Kaur, and directed by Aanand L. Rai.

“Atrangi Re” is written by Himanshu Sharma and is billed as a cross-cultural love story.

Prachi Desai: Playing police officer made me bit nervous

Bollywood actress Prachi Desai will be seen essaying a police officer for the first time in her film “Silence… Can You Hear It”. She says essaying the role made her a bit nervous.

The first character poster of Prachi Desai has been unveiled and talking about her look, Prachi said: “I play the role of a cop in ‘Silence… Can You Hear It’? My character Sanjana works in tandem with ACP Avinash, played by Manoj Bajpayee sir. She is determined, sleek, sharp-minded, with the wit of a fox that has a hunger for challenges. This is the first time that I am playing the role of a police officer, which made me a wee bit nervous but overall it was a memorable and tremendous learning experience,” she added.

The film traces the story of the mysterious disappearance of a woman. As she prepares to leave her house, a tragedy befalls following which the woman disappears only to have her corpse turn up a day later, discovered by trekkers.

Produced by ZEE Studios and directed by Aban Bharucha Deohans, the film also stars Manoj Bajpayee and Arjun Mathur in pivotal roles, along with Sahil Vaid, Vaquar, Barkha Singh, Shirish Sharma, Sohaila Kapoor, Amit Thakkar, and Garima Yagnik.

‘Silence… Can You Hear It’ premieres on March 26?

Mandy Moore’s dog is cancer free

Hollywood actress Mandy Moore on Thursday revealed that the day her son August Harrison was born, was also the day when her pet dog, Jackson was declared cancer-free, just hours before she went into labor.

“In the flutter of all things Gus, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this guy got a clean bill of health. His tumor was benign. Cancer-free,” Moore wrote on Instagram stories.

“We found out three hours before I went into labor and I know what my relief was what set the thing in motion. So much gratitude these days. We love you so much Jackson!!!” she added.

Last month, Moore had revealed that Jackson was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery a week before Moore welcomed her son with her husband, singer Taylor Goldsmith. She had shared the news of their son’s arrival on Instagram.