Vikrant Massey says boredom drives him to juggle genres

In the last two years, actor Vikrant Massey has appeared in more than five films and shared frames with actresses like Deepika Padukone, Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Konkona Sensharma, Sweta Tripathi and most recently, Kriti Kharbanda.

Interestingly, all his on-screen characters are very different from each other, and the actor says his attempt at versatility stems from the mantra ‘not to bore’ the audience.

“I think after all these years, now I am in a place to strategise my career. When I began my career, obviously I was not in a position to choose. At that time, it was like ‘beggars can’t be choosers’. I wanted to prove myself as an actor with every opportunity. But now, somewhere, my beliefs, my personality and my thoughts reflect in the kind of films I choose,” Vikrant told IANS.

The actor started his journey with television in 2007 and continued to do TV series until his Bollywood debut in 2013 with ‘Lootera’, in which he played the friend of the protagonist.

Even though he started acting with comparatively small roles in films like ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’, ‘Half Girlfriend’, he gradually made his mark in ‘A Death in the Gunj’ and ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’, before ‘Chhapaak’ happened in 2020.

Recently, Vikrant had two releases — ‘Haseen Dillruba’ and ’14 Phere’.

Sharing his thought behind looking for different characters in every film, Vikrant said, “I have realised that I am one of those people who get bored quite easily. After living with one character for a whole film, I do not want to do the same thing for the next project.

“So when we are talking about versatility, it is also coming from that mind space that neither do I, nor the audience should feel bored of watching me on-screen. I can’t bore my audience. That is why for the last three years, I am very consciously choosing different genres of films to engage with my audience.”

Currently, the actor is gearing up for the shooting of Vishal Furia’s ‘Forensic’ which also features Radhika Apte.

Pranati Rai Prakash opens up about her ‘Cartel’ role

Actress Pranati Rai Prakash has talked about her role in the upcoming web series “Cartel”. She describes her character as “motivated” and “emotionally volatile”.

“My character’s name in the Cartel is ‘Sumi’. She is an aspiring actress who is very motivated, loves her family but is sensitive and emotionally volatile. In the series, you’ll watch her evolution. She is the youngest member of the Angre family and the most loved one,” Pranati said.

The web series also stars Tanuj Virwani, Rithvik Dhanjani and Sanaya Pithawala. Pranati could not stop gushing about her role.

The 23-year-old actress added: “She is the youngest member of the Angre family, full of life and the most loved one. It was a great experience working with such great actors like Supriya Pathak ma’am, Jitendra Joshi sir, Rithvik Dhanjani, Tanuj Virwani who is also my co-actor for the second time! Everyone was lovely to work with, all of my co-actors.”

“Cartel” is an action-drama on MX Player and ALTBalaji. It is based in Mumbai and has a story with action, drama and powerplay.

Singapore rapper Yung Raja’s ‘Spice Boy’ ode to Rajinikanth

Singaporean rapper Yung Raja revealed his brand-new single “Spice Boy”, paying an ode to superstar Rajinikanth.

The 26-year-old bilingual rapper said: “Rajinikanth has been my idol all through my growing-up years. He’s such a legend world over.

“I wanted to give an ode of sorts to him and celebrate his supremacy in my music video and for as long as I’m creating, I’ll look back to the moments he has given me as inspiration – his style mainly, and as inimitable as it is, I belong to the generation of fans that have his swagger permanently etched in our minds.”

The three-minute cinematic video is fused together by madcap action, curly wigs, inflated sumo costumes, and disorienting close-ups.

All of this is captured by Vadbibes director Jas Tan with a carefree sense of the surreal and produced by Flightsch and RIIDEM.

Comical antics are set in formidable locations looking straight out of Christopher Nolan films, but Yung Raja takes centre stage by invoking the brash spirit of Rajinikanth’s characters.

Yung started his career in 2018 with his single “Poori Gang” and went on to become Southeast Asia’s rising hip-hop artist with “Mustafa”, “Mad Blessings”, “The Dance Song”.

His recent track “Mami” recently got featured on the American late-night talk show “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”.

His latest single “Spice Boy” tries to break free from homogenous expectations of popular culture.

Continuing his crusade of making room for multi-dimensional cultural identities Yung Raja said: “Since I was a child, I’ve always been proud of my culture, my roots, my mother tongue, everything that makes me ‘me’. Learning to embrace that from a very young age is one of the reasons behind the bilingualism in my art.

“This is who I am, a bilingual boy born and raised in Singapore to traditional parents who migrated from South India. I remember first discovering hip-hop music when I was 10 years of age and how it made one of the first and strongest impressions on me creatively. That was the real beginning of my rooted identity and voice amalgamating with hip-hop culture. I believe my persona is all about staying authentic to the duality of my cultural make-up.”

The first-generation Singaporean-Indian was recently signed to US label Alamo Records, marking his entry into the US market.

The young rapper is also signed to Def Jam Southeast Asia, which is under Universal Music Group.

“Spice Boy” was released on Thursday night on all audio streaming platforms and the official music video will premiere on Yung Raja’s Vevo channel.

Akshay Kumar’s ‘Bell Bottom’ to release on Aug 19

The Akshay Kumar-starrer spy thriller “Bell Bottom” will now have a theatrical release on August 19.

The film’s release was pushed from April 2021 to July 27 due to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.

Akshay shared the news on Twitter, along with a motion poster of the film featuring the entire cast of the film.

“Mission: To Entertain you on the BIG SCREEN Date: August 19, 2021 Announcing the arrival of #BellBottom! #BellBottomInCinemasAug19 @vashubhagnani @humasqureshi @LaraDutta @ranjit_tiwari @jackkybhagnani @honeybhagnani @monishaadvani @madhubhojwani @nikkhiladvani @EmmayEntertain,” Akshay tweeted.

“Bell Bottom” is an espionage thriller set in the 1980s. The film was largely shot in Glasgow, Scotland, amid lockdown. Ranjit M. Tewari’s directorial also stars Vaani Kapoor, Lara Dutta Bhupathi and Huma Qureshi.

‘Radhe Shyam’ to release on January 14, 2022

Prabhas starrer period romantic drama “Radhe Shyam” will hit the big screen on January 14, next year.

Prabhas shared the film’s poster on Instagram on Friday morning. In the poster, the actor looks dapper in a classic black suit and is seen carrying a briefcase in one hand.

For the caption, he wrote: “Can’t wait for you all to watch my romantic saga, #RadheShyam, which has a brand new release date – 14th January, 2022 worldwide!”

“Radhe Shyam” also marks Prabhas’ return to the romantic genre after a gap of almost a decade. It also stars actress Pooja Hegde.

The multilingual film is helmed by Radha Krishna Kumar, presented by Gulshan Kumar and T-Series.

What makes the City of Joy a favourite shooting destination

The City of Joy is currently busy hosting back-to-back shooting schedules of films with actors from different parts of the nation.

Just a few days after Kajal Aggarwal was seen shooting near Kumartuli for Tathagata Singha’s “Uma”, Yami Gautam has started shooting for director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s “Lost” in Kolkata.

Earlier, several Bollywood biggies including “Yuva”, “Kahaani”, “Piku”, “Lootera”, “Gunday” and “Parineeta” were shot across vintage and picturesque locales of the city.

What makes Kolkata a favourite with filmmakers? Answering that, producer and trade business analyst Girish Johar said: “Kolkata is one of the most beautiful cities of our country. It is rich in culture, heritage. The feel and vibe which Kolkata gives, is very intellectual and upmarket. Makers get a lot of energy from the city and its people, so they are able to tell amazing stories. That’s why it is always a key city in terms of giving and creating content.

“Since all the facilities are available and the government is also very helpful, so it is a pocket friendly city as well.”

Kolkata-based film trade analyst, Sumit Kadel shared: “Kolkata has always been Bollywood’s top choice for film shoots due to its rich heritage and vintage locations. From ’36 Chowringhee Lane’ to ‘Yuva’, ‘Parineeta’, ‘Kahaani’, ‘Love Aaj Kal’, ‘Barfi’, ‘Lootera’, ‘Gunday’ and many more films have ventured into Kolkata to find the real essence of their stories.

“The city has always been Bollywood’s favorite cultural destination. Even South films are opting for Kolkata, Rajinikanth’s Annaatthe being the latest one.”

While the City of Joy never fails to charm creative people like filmmakers, actors and cinematographers, mouthwatering cuisines from the land of mishti doi and roshogolla only makes the experience a little more sweet and memorable.

Sara Ali Khan looks ravishing in new photoshoot

Bollywood actress Sara Ali Khan sprinkled monochrome magic with her latest photograph dressed in a gorgeous black bikini top paired with a sarong.

Sara posted a set of images on Instagram, where she is seen posing next to a door flaunting her perfect curves in a tiny bikini top paired with a layered sarong with a thigh high slit.

“Kash Kabhi Yu Ho Na Hasrate Na Junun Ho… Tera Khyaal Ho Aur Tu Ho Dil Me Bas Sukoon Ho,” the actress captioned the image. She also posted a short clip of the shoot to her Insta Stories with the song “Khwab ho tum ya koi haqeeqat” from Dev Anand-starrer “Teen Deviyan”.

The 25-year-old actress’ picture currently has 1.7 million likes on the photo-sharing website.

Sara will be next seen in “Atrangi Re”, co-starring Akshay Kumar and Dhanush, and directed by Aanand L. Rai. “Atrangi Re” is written by Himanshu Sharma and is billed as a cross-cultural love story.

Randhir Kapoor reveals story behind selection of song ‘Ek Radha Ek Meera’

Actor Randhir Kapoor shared some interesting trivia involving his father, the late legendary actor and director Raj Kapoor, when he and Randhir witnessed famous lyricist Ravindra Jain singing the song ‘Ek Radha Ek Meera’ during a wedding in Delhi.

The actor goes down memory lane and shares: “My father, the late Raj Kapoor saab and I had visited Delhi for someone’s wedding and Ravindra Jain was singing there. My father was seated in the front row while I was sitting right behind him. Ravindra Jain was singing the song ‘Ek Radha Ek Meera’ and my father really liked it so much that he requested him to sing it once more. He sang the song once again, with full excitement.”

Yesteryear’s famous actor Randhir Kapoor is going to be the chief guest on the show, ‘Indian Idol 12’ for the ‘Randhir Kapoor Special’ episode. He shared a few anecdotes behind this song after the performance of one of the contestants Arunita Kanjilal.

Randhir Kapoor said further that after the performance of Ravindra Jain, Raj Kapoor enquired about the song and the movie from which it was taken, he adds: “Ravindra Jain said that it was not from any film but his own song. That is when my father asked him if he could give this song to him. He readily agreed and my father said that from today, this song is mine.”

The 74-year-old actor who is known for movies like ‘Jawani Diwani’, narrates how later, Raj Kapoor invited Ravindra Jain at Randhir’s house along with a couple of his friends just to ensure that the actress Babita also listens to the song, ‘Ek Radha Ek Meera’ and gives her approval.

He also added that how the very next day, when he visited the studio, he got to know that Raj Kapoor and Ravindra Jain had gone to a farmhouse in Pune and within 5 days he returned with all seven songs along with the lyrics ready for the movie, ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’.

He divulges: “Ravindra Jain is one of the most talented and underrated music directors of all time. All the songs were recorded and in a week’s time the shooting started. The entire film, ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’ revolves around this song.”

The show airs on Sony Entertainment Television.

My relationship with food has evolved over time: Bhumi Pednekar

From gaining 12 kgs for her debut film ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’ to losing all the extra pounds for her next film ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ and changing her shape with her each film, actress Bhumi Pednekar is on a long journey with food and healthy diet.

As the actress recently tried her hand at cooking pasta for a digital food show, Bhumi opens up on her best food destination, memories and why her relationship with food is a crucial part of who she is.

Bhumi will appear in the finale episode of ‘You Got Chef’d – Season 3’ that releases on Gobble, the lifestyle channel of Pocket Aces, as well as on YouTube.

Sharing her cooking experience Bhumi told IANS : “Well it was a virtual episode in which I cooked with Chef Ranveer Brar and I must say that even though I thought cooking is such a tough task, if you are guided right, it actually is not! I am not a cook at all, I am a super foodie! But when I started cooking the pasta, of course, the chef guided me, but I ended up making a portion of good pasta.

“I think I am not as bad a cook as I assumed I am. We cooked pasta as the theme of the episode was Italian food memory, it was delicious. Can I say this, that combination of few things could never go wrong, and our pasta was one of such things. We cooked a portion of pasta in butter, garlic, mushroom and asparagus sauce…it was mouthwatering! I must say that pasta is one of the versatile dishes, with so many easy tasty combinations that if you learn to cook one of them, trust me, you could impress all your friends and family with one meal of pasta! I was so excited when eventually I made it..yessss!! (she laughs)”

So, what is Bhumi’s favorite food destination?

“Food destination would be Mexico and Japan. But I am always game for a food trip to Mexico because, in India, we do not get the best variety of Mexican and South American food. When I started travelling internationally and I went to Mexico I was just so in love with their food and culture. Japanese food and pan-Asian cuisine we still get here in India. I love Japanese food too, tasty, flavourful yet so many healthy options one can get with Asian food.”

Asked about narrating her best food memory and Bhumi recalls a story of one of the bylanes of New York.

“New York is one of my favorite cities to travel. Whenever I am there, I take long walks. I love pizza and in New York, every block has a pizzeria. You won’t believe that I am one of them who would go to all the best pizzerias of every block and eat one fresh slice with a different topping! I feel like a child then really and my friends would laugh at such madness. But those toppings are so good, how can I miss them? (laugh)” recalls Bhumi.

Since there is a lot of body transformation Bhumi has gone through and constantly working on herself to look good and stay fit, which is a part of the beauty business, the actress explained how her mind is trained to a healthy lifestyle.

“Initially, for me, it was to do with gaining and losing weight to look in a certain way. But from the time I started my journey as an actress, I realised, our look is a combination of food, exercise and healthy habits that we can sustain for life. For instance, my trainer always focused on core strengthening and increasing metabolism and immunity. I think during the pandemic we all have understood the importance of immunity.

“In my diet, I always maintain a great combination of protein and carbs. Of course, I am guided by experts but I think there is no shortcut that offers a lifelong result, it is always a gradual process. My relationship with food has evolved with time,” Bhumi signed off.

Bhumi has an interesting line-up of films that includes ‘Badhaai Do’, ‘Mr Lele’ and ‘Raksha Bandhan’.

Feel super happy when people do stuff on reels and covers with my song: Badshah

Badshah has released his new song ‘Baawla’ which is a dance number and the artist says how he feels excited to see his fans are doing inspiring content based on his music on social media.

Created by Badshah and Uchana Amit, written by Badshah, with music by the rapper and Aditya Dev and featuring Samreen Kaur, Baawla is a dance ride that hits the music scene.

Talking about the song Badshah said, “Baawla aligns with my vision to give listeners music that has its roots in our traditions. Nothing makes me happier than having people do inspiring stuff with my creations on reels and covers. I feel loved and fortunate to be able to do what I do. I hope Baawla will be the groovy dance number of the listeners’ good times.”

The song ‘Baawla’ is streaming on all digital platforms.