Now chat with Big B’s voice on Amazon Alexa for Rs 149 in India

Amazon on Thursday said it has made India’s first celebrity voice feature on Alexa available with the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, and the users in India can add his amazing voice to their Alexa experience on Echo devices for an introductory price of Rs 149 for one year.

The customers need to press the mic icon on the Amazon shopping app (Android only) and say “Alexa, introduce me to Amitabh Bachchan” to start the purchase and interact with Bachchan’s voice using the wake word ‘Amit ji’.

The company said that the celebrity experience features content handpicked by Bachchan includes stories from his life, a selection of poems by his father, tongue twisters, motivational quotes, and more.

“Working with Amazon to introduce my voice on Alexa was a new experience in bringing together the magic of voice technology and artistic creativity. I am excited that my well-wishers can now interact with me via this new medium and looking forward to hear how they feel about this,” said Bachchan.

In addition to this unique and entertaining content, customers can also ask for music, set alarms and get weather updates in Bachchan’s signature style.

“Creating the world’s first bi-lingual celebrity voice required us to invent & re-invent across almost every element of speech science – wake word, speech recognition, neural text-to-speech and more,” said Puneesh Kumar, Country Leader for Alexa, Amazon India.

Amazon Alexa in September last year announced a partnership with Bachchan to create a unique voice experience for its Indian fans.

Alexa in the US already has voices of several celebrities like Samuel L. Jackson, but this is the first time that the Indian Alexa has received the voice of a Bollywood celebrity.

Hindi dubbing on Allu Sirish’s mind

Actor Allu Sirish, who will soon be seen in upcoming Telugu love story ‘Prema Kadanta’, shared an interesting poll on his Instagram stories.

He asked his followers of should he start dubbing his films in Hindi on his own.

Sirish’s 2019 film ‘ABCD: American Born Confused Desi’ was eventually dubbed in Hindi and had become one of the highest rated dubbed Telugu films on Television.

The actor uploaded a clip from ‘ABCD’ and wrote in Hindi text: “I like my voice. Should I start dubbing in Hindi?”

Within an hour of positing this, 80 percent of his followers gave him a positive feedback.

Sirish was seen earlier this year, in the music video of Hindi track ‘Vilayati Sharaab’.

Jessica Alba’s kids are nervous about returning to school

Hollywood actress Jessica Alba is sending her children Honor, Haven, and Hayes to school in September.

However, she says her children, whom she shares with husband Cash Warren, are worried about going back to school after spending over a year being homeschooled amid the Covid pandemic, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

While Alba is concerned about the spread of the virus, her children are worried about “social-emotional issues” that come with school life, such as “fitting in” and “doing well” in class.

She told People magazine: “For me, the health aspect of COVID is much more at the forefront of my mind. But for the kids, a lot of their stuff is still really social. They really care about what their friends think. It’s the more social-emotional (issues) – bullying, and being made fun of and fitting in, doing well and grades.”

“I try to talk to them about what’s within their control and try not to expose them to too much that’s sort of out of their control.”

To help ease her children’s worries, Alba has been getting them involved in “meditation” as well as “calming” foods.

Talking about her eldest child, Honor, Alba said: “We just try to do a relaxing ritual or listen to a meditation or have some tea, to calm the nerves. And we had to find (breakfast) foods that are calming for her and don’t make her stomach upset.”

Meanwhile, the actress recently said therapy sessions helped her learn how to “communicate” with Honor.

Rekha to lend her voice for ‘Bigg Boss 15’ promos

Veteran actress Rekha will be lending her vocal prowess for a promo for the controversial reality show “Bigg Boss 15”.

Rekha said: “Bigg Boss is a very ‘naayab’ show, that has all drama, action, fun and thrill and what’s more, you get a crash course of life itself. And if one is patient and resilient, one will evolve to be one’s best self! What could be better poetic justice than that.”

The timeless diva will be doing a special voiceover for a tree in the promos of the show, hosted by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan on television.

She added: “It is going to be an exciting new experience, as I am doing a voice over for a ‘speaking tree’ whom Salman has fondly named ‘Vishwasuntree’, a vibrant tree full of wisdom, hope and faith! It is always gratifying to work with Salman and I feel blessed to share these unique moments with him… He is as always a pure pleasure!”

The new season of Bigg Boss is going to be filled with twists and a lot of “Sankat in jungle” as the contestants will have to endure many challenges before they make their way inside the house.

In one of the promos for the Colors show, Salman is seen wandering around in the woods when he hears a sound coming from a tree that he names ‘Vishwasuntree’ and starts having a conversation with it.

Scarlett Johansson, husband Colin Jost welcome first baby together

Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost have welcomed their first baby together.

Johansson’s representative Marcel Pariseau confirmed to people.com.

The “Black Widow” actress is also mom to daughter Rose Dorothy, who turns 7-years-old this year.

Jost briefly mentioned their pregnancy news during a stand-up performance at The Ridgefield Playhouse in Connecticut on Sunday, a source confirmed to people.

On Instagram later Wednesday, Jost shared a statement revealing that they welcomed a baby boy named Cosmo.

He wrote: “Ok Ok we had a baby. His name is Cosmo. We love him very much. Privacy would be greatly appreciated.”

Johansson and Jost got married in an intimate ceremony in October 2020.

The couple got engaged in May 2019 after two years of dating. The actress showcased her 11-carat glittering engagement ring that July while taking the stage at San Diego Comic-Con.

In October 2019, Johansson told TV personality Ellen DeGeneres that Jost “killed it” with his “surprising” proposal, which included “a whole James Bond situation.”

Johansson has previously been open about parenting her first child. In April she talked about how she encourages Rose to eat healthy meals.

Mahurat clap for Satyadev’s work-in-progress ‘Satyadev 25’

Actor Satyadev’s upcoming film with director V.V. Gopala Krishna was launched here on Wednesday. The film has been tentatively titled ‘SatyaDev25’

The ‘mahurat pooja’ took place with the ‘mahurat’ clap for the first scene.

Harish Shankar switched the camera on and directed the first shot. Dil Raju garu, Koratala Siva and financier M.R.V.S. Prasad handed the script to director Krishna.

Satyadev was recently seen on the screen with ‘Thimmarusu’, which was one of the first films to release on the big screen ever since the government allowed opening of theatres.

Besides this, the actor has ‘Godse’ and ‘Skylab’ scheduled for release soon. Satyadev will also make his Bollywood debut with Akshay Kumar’s ‘Ram Setu’.

Sonu Sood inspired me in many ways: Piya Valecha

Actress Piya Valecha, who has been seen in TV shows such as ‘Bahu Hamari Rajni Kant’ and ‘Dilli Wali Thakur Gurls’, will be sharing the screen opposite Sonu Sood.

Talking about being cast opposite Sonu Sood, Piya told IANS, “I’m over excited to shoot with actor Sonu Sir. It was a big dream come true. He has inspired me in many ways. It was a fan moment to be in a frame along with him as his screen wife. I couldn’t ask anything more from God.”

Piya will be playing the role of Sonu Sood’s wife in an upcoming commercial. Sharing her experience of working with the actor, she said, “Sonu sir is very kind, grounded, and a humble human being. He appreciates others and has no attitude at all.”

Dino Morea excited on debut as producer with ‘Helmet’

Supermodel-turned-actor Dino Morea is making his debut as a producer with the upcoming ‘Helmet’ and he says the film has been made with a sweet social message.

Dino said, “This is a film which has been made with a sense of humour with a sweet message. I am also excited about the wonderfully talented ensemble cast, the refreshing storytelling by Satram my director and the way both entertainment and a certain intelligent sensibility blend together. Rohan Shankar’s dialogues will make you laugh out loud.”

The trailer of the film was released on Wednesday and it features – Pranutan Bahl, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee and Ashish Verma.

As the film releases on the OTT platform ZEE5, Manish Kalra, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 India said, “We are proud to present a film like ‘Helmet’ which is not only entertaining but also has a strong message attached to it. Through the journey of the protagonists, it highlights the problem our country is currently facing and tries to give a solution in a unique and interesting manner. We are sure the audience will have a great laugh, but also take notice of the overall objective that we aim to achieve with this film.”

Directed by Satramm Ramani, ‘Helmet’ releases on September 3.

Kaveri Priyam: I’m not platform-bound

Actress Kaveri Priyam, who will soon be seen as a military doctor in ‘Ziddi Dil Maane Na, simply enjoys acting and does not like to restrict herself when it comes to platforms.

She even hopes to have her own production house.

“I want to explore my talent. If it is provided to me by a show or a web series or a movie, I am all for it. I am not platform-bound. I see myself at some level right now, but how it will shape up, and where and when I don’t know that. I want to be the most successful actress,” said Kaveri, who featured in ‘Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke’.

So far, she has learnt that hard work and persistence never fail a person. For her, it’s also important to evolve her craft, looks and personality. “I think evolution is the key to success in this field,” she said.

She feels that being present at the right time at the right place, changes the game. “I believe in luck, but being prepared for that moment is all the more important. Otherwise sometimes the luck also doesn’t work. Luck works best when you are prepared for that moment,” said Kaveri.

According to her, a mentor is necessary for one’s career. “My parents are my mentors along with a few of my friends from this industry who have been a constant support and have guided me. When I entered the industry, I had no idea what works and what doesn’t work, so knowing that is very important and that can be only known when you have someone to guide you,” she shared.

Five years from now, she sees herself as a very successful and renowned actress. “I don’t want to put a name as of now because sky is the limit. I would not say star or a superstar because anything could happen, and I am a very positive person. I believe that if you put your heart to something it turns out well. Maybe I’ll even have my own production house,” she said.

Arjun, Jacqueline, Yami unveil ‘Bhoot Police’ trailer

The trailer of ‘Bhoot Police’ was unveiled on Wednesday.

Actors Arjun Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Yami Gautam shared the trailer on their Instagram accounts.

Pavan Kripalani’s horror comedy film trailer reveals Arjun Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan as ghost hunters. While Saif plays the role of a fake Baba Vibhooti who prefers to take alcohol and sex over catching ghosts.

Arjun’s character Chiraunji goes by the book ‘Baba ki Kitab’ to ward off the supernatural forces. Jacqueline plays Kanika, and Yami plays Maya in the film.

‘Bhoot Police’ will release on Disney+ Hotstar on September 17.