‘Most Eligible Bachelor’: Pooja Hegde ‘singled’ out for praise by filmmakers

Pooja Hegde, who now awaits the theatrical release of her upcoming film, ‘Most Eligible Bachelor’, is receiving praise from south Indian filmmakers for her performance.

The makers of the film arranged for a pre-release function.

After watching the film, producer Dil Raju said, “We’ve first seen glamour in Pooja but slowly she started working on her character and by working on it she became a super performer. Being glamorous and a performer – very few heroines have this and Pooja did that in this movie.”

Producer Allu Aravind said, “Pooja, my love as ever, though you’ve done it (performed well) in my films and though you’ve done it before, the best you did in this (‘Most Eligible Bachelor’). I could not stop myself and I approached you and informed you that I liked your performance.”

Filmmaker Hari Shankar, Bommarillu Bhaskar, Bunny Vasu, Naga Chaitanya and Akhil Akkineni were among those who spoke highly of the actress at the event.

Her upcoming projects include Thalapathy Vijay’s ‘Beast’, Salman Khan’s ‘Bhaijaan’, ‘Cirkus’ opposite Ranveer Singh, ‘Acharya’ with Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan, ‘Radhe Shyam’ opposite Prabhas and ‘SSMB28’ opposite Mahesh Babu.

‘Bigg Boss 15’: Love lost, friendships broken inside the house

With every passing day, ‘Bigg Boss 15’ is becoming more interesting with new gameplans and strategies by contestants and growing rivalries.

Surviving the wild has tested the ‘junglewaasis’ like never before. They are now eager to get back into the house to live comfortably. After a long wait, ‘Bigg Boss’ has now given them a chance to do so as they take on a quirky task.

As ‘junglewaasis’ break into teams for this task, they brace themselves to put their best foot forward. Meanwhile, Vishal Kotian finds an alternative to get back into the house. Knowing that Shamita Shetty is the ‘Sanchalak’ that decides which team has the upper hand, Vishal approaches her with his plan.

He smartly convinces her that she would benefit from having him and his team in the house. As Shamita gives her decision in favour of Team Tiger, the opposing team senses foul play and begins arguing with her. Now that Shamita has taken this bold step, she will have to face the wrath of the ‘junglewaasis’ in the other team, who take her on with complete fury.

On the other hand, another conflict begins between Jay Bhanushali and Karan Kundrra who have remained good friends so far this season. While Karan raises objections about Jay’s swearing, the latter stands his ground. He argues with Karan.

Karan, however, points out how Jay hasn’t been in good form, unlike Pratik. In an unexpected twist, the tide seems to be turning for Pratik as Jay begins to lose his closest friends in the show. Only time will tell what will happen.

Meanwhile, things aren’t smooth in Ieshaan and Miesha’s lives, where an argument has erupted, threatening to compromise their relationship. Ieshaan expresses his discomfort at Miesha openly talking about their relationship, assuming everyone is making fun of them. This upsets her as she asks him to shut up. Is this the end of their bittersweet romance?

Samantha ‘paws’ a visit to the vet clinic post divorce

Actress Samantha was spotted at a veterinary clinic on Wednesday, which came as comforting news to her fans who are worried about her state of mind after her split with actor Naga Chaitanya. The actress was seen with her pet dogs Hash and Saasha, who got to meet their vet.

A picture of Samantha with her pets at the vet clinic has now become viral, as this is considered as Samantha’s first appearance in public post her divorce announcement. Samantha, with a mask on, wore a white top matching it with blue trousers, giving her a casual, yet elegant look.

Samantha is an animal lover, who is also a caregiver for two puppies. The ‘Shaakunthalam’ actress has mentioned that her pet ‘Hash’ has been her stress-reliever ever since she brought him home.

She also brought another pup and named her ‘Saasha’ when her divorce proceedings were going on, which denotes that her pets are her relief from the stress she is going through right now.

Samantha is also to appear alongside NTR on the hot seat of ‘Evaru Meelo Koteeswarulu’ which is to be telecast on Vijayadasami.

She has started dubbing for her upcoming mythological movie ‘Shaakunthalam’ which is directed by Gunasekhar.

Samantha recently announced her divorce from Akkineni Naga Chaitanya. The couple was married for four years before they mutually parted their ways.

‘Sholay’ stuntwoman says she’d give her life for ‘Basanti’

The first stuntwoman of Bollywood – Reshma Pathan – will be seen on the ‘Shaandaar Shukravaar’ episode of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 13’. As Hema Malini celebrates her 73rd birthday on October 16, there will be a surprise for her on the show.

Reshma Pathan, who essayed the role of Hema Malini’s body-double for all the stunts in the iconic film ‘Sholay’, will be there as a surprise. She goes: “Arey O Basanti, Happy Birthday! Pehchana mujhe?” Reshma was the first stuntwoman in the industry and is popularly known as the ‘Sholay Girl’.

Bollywood star Hema Malini and ‘Sholay’ director Ramesh Sippy come on the hotseat answering to questions of host and megastar Amitabh Bachchan. They will be celebrating 46 years of ‘Sholay’. During the show the duo will be sharing interesting stories and behind-the-scenes moments of the film.

Hema Malini said: “You played my body double in ‘Sholay’ and because of all the difficult and dangerous shots you did, I became famous. I remember all of that. And, I also remember that during the shooting, we used to spend a lot of time chatting together.”

Praising Hema Malini, Reshma Pathan says: “You’ve never thought of me just as your body double. You’ve always treated me as a heroine (fellow artiste). And for you, even if in a shot I’d had to give my life, I would.”

‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 13’s ‘Shaandaar Shukravaar’ will air on October 15 on Sony Entertainment Television.

Singer-politician Babul Supriyo’s new song ‘Tera Chehra’ out

Noted playback singer and politician Babul Supriyo pays tribute to legendary ghazal singer Jagjit Singh, in his new song ‘Tera Chehra’.

Produced by Kumar Taurani, Babul lent his voice to the song along with Pranshu Jha. The song is written by Kaif Bhopali, with additional lyricist Priyanka Raina Bala.

Remembering Jagjit Singh, Babul said, “He had a voice that was as smooth as silk, as comforting and soothing as capable of reaching down deep within your soul and unlocking moments and memories, love, pain, laughter, passion and emotions you thought belonged to the past.”

Tips released the song as part of the series of Tips Rewind.

Tips Rewind platform will bring together many popular artistes who will showcase and perform the mesmerising renditions of Jagjit Singh on the same stage.

The artiste line up includes Sonu Nigam, Hariharan, Babul Supriyo, Shaan, Sameer Khan, Ankit Tiwari, Talat Aziz, Amit Mishra, Bandish, Ash King, Shahid Mallya and Navraj Hans.

Taapsee reveals how she prepped for athlete’s role in ‘Rashmi Rocket’

Actress Taapsee Pannu has revealed that for her role in ‘Rashmi Rocket’, she had seen pictures and videos of a lot of Indian and international athletes’ body language before, after and while running.

Taapsee said: “Yes, I did a lot of research at my level for ‘Rashmi Rocket’, apart from what was going on at the scripting level. I had seen pictures and videos of a lot of athletes – Indian and international – to see the body language, before, after and while running, just to see their body types, because I had to take reference of athletes especially who are of my build and height.

Taapsee said she did that bit of the research.

“Of course, I have never seen my body in that kind of a shape, so you are in for a surprise when you are trying to get those muscles to pop out because you want to see how they look on you. I had no idea how they’ll end up looking on me, if I’ll look similar to those references that I had taken or no. So, it was a dive of trust that I did with my training and I am glad that it ended up looking very authentic.”

Produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Neha Anand and Pranjal Khandhdiya, written by Nanda Periyasamy, Aniruddha Guha and Kanika Dhillon and directed by Akarsh Khurana, ‘Rashmi Rocket’ also stars Supriya Pathak, Abhishek Banerjee, Priyanshu Painyuli and Supriya Pilgaonkar.

The movie is set to premiere on ZEE5 on October 15.

Sandalwood all set for ‘Salaga’-‘Kotigobba 3’ face-off on Oct 14

Kannada cine-goers will witness a double dhamaka at the box-office as two big-budget movies starring superstar Kichcha Sudeep and action hero Vijay, respectively, are being released on the same day on Thursday, October 14.

The twin releases will coincide with a major post-Covid 2.0 reset, which will see movie theatres in Karnataka open to full houses.

Superstar Kichcha Sudeep and Madonna Sebastian of ‘Premam’ fame will be seen together in ‘Kotigobba 3’, whose trailer and song have received an enthusiastic response. The first ‘Kotigobba’ sequel resonated well with viewers, so expectations are high from No. 3.

The rushes and promos have assured the audience of a visual treat. As Kichcha Sudeep movies generally get great openings in urban as well as rural centres, all ears in Sandalwood are waiting to hear the box-office cash registers ringing.

‘Salaga’, which is ‘Duniya’ action hero Vijay’s debut film, has also managed to generate much curiosity among Kannada cine-goers. Audiences are eagerly waiting to see Vijay and ‘Daali’ Dhananjay of ‘Tagaru’ fame on the big screen.

The ‘Salaga’ team has arranged for a big pre-release function attended by bigwigs of the Kannada film industry. Experts say both films are going to get great openings and theatres are going to be full till Monday.

Akkinenis on the edge ahead of Akhil’s ‘Most Eligible Bachelor’ release

Akhil Akkineni and Pooja Hegde-starrer ‘Most Eligible Bachelor’ is slated for release on October 15. Being a Bhaskar directorial, it is expected that this movie would deliver a much-awaited hit for Akhil.

Despite his looks, perfect dance moves, and decent acting skills, Akhil’s previous movies didn’t give him a single hit. So, Akhil Akkineni is in dire need of a decent hit now. Touted as a family entertainer, ‘Most Eligible Bachelor’ has grabbed the attention of all.

The Akkineni clan, which is keen on Akhil’s movie career, has kept most of the things related to this movie low key, so as to avoid any kind of disappointments. The previous movies of Akhil were huge on promotions, but failed to deliver. So, everything related to ‘Most Eligible Bachelor’ is being taken care with much attention, so as to give a decent impression.

Akhil Akkineni who drew the Telugu audience’s attention with his appearance in ‘Sisindri’ as a child artiste, later made a cameo in Nageswar Rao, Nagarjuna and Naga Chaitanya-starrer ‘Manam’.

Akhil’s other movies ‘Akhil’, ‘Hello’, ‘Mr. Majnu’ also did not give expected results. So, all hopes are pinned on ‘Most Eligible Bachelor’.

So far, all the promotions have established a decent hype around the movie. The pair also appeared on ‘Bigg Boss Telugu 5’ to promote the movie, which is slated for release during Dussehra. The movie is directed by Bommarillu Bhaskar and GA2 Pictures is bankrolling it.

Urfi Javed of ‘Bigg Boss OTT’ fame comes out in support of ‘poor kid’ Aryan Khan

Urfi Javed of ‘Bigg Boss OTT’ fame has joined the clan of Bollywood actors and others who are supporting Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan. Aryan found himself in a soup after the NCB took him into custody as he was said to have attended a cruise party where drugs were being consumed.

Aryan is presently in custody and the case is being investigated.

Urfi says: “He’ll probably take a lot of time to come out of this trauma. Even before the court’s verdict people have started bashing him just because he is his father’s son. Why don’t we show equal outrage for rapes and murders? We are so quick in shaming actors even before the court’s verdict. Why aren’t we as quick when it comes to shaming rapists?”

Urfi who is known for creating headlines for her airport looks and shows like ‘Bade Bhaiyya Ki Dulhania’, ‘Meri Durga’ and ‘Bepannaah’, shares her perspective on the same adding: “There are political leaders, religious gurus out there facing allegations of rape, still people worship them. And then there is this poor kid who hasn’t harmed anyone but is being publicly bashed so much.”

‘Pushpa: The Rise’ track ‘Srivalli’ out in Hindi, four southern languages

After garnering record-shattering views for the track ‘Jaago Jaago Re’ featuring Allu Arjun from ‘Pushpa: The Rise’, the film’s producers released the multi-lingual song ‘Srivalli’ introducing a deglamourised Rashmika Mandanna on Wednesday.

Sung by Javed Ali in Hindi and by Sid Sriram in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam, ‘Srivalli’ has been composed by the maestro, Devi Sri Prasad. It is a melodious celebration of the character essayed by Mandanna. The song is poised to become a one-of-a-kind chartbuster written and composed in five languages.

Producers Naveen Yerneni and Y. Ravi Shankar of Mythri Movie Makers jointly said, “Kudos to maestro Devi Sri Prasad, Javed Ali and Sid Sriram for creating this memorable song. It is a song that describes what sets Srivalli apart from all the characters in the film. We invite listeners to celebrate Pushpa’s soul through Srivalli.”

Produced by Naveen Yerneni and Y. Ravi Shankar of Mythri Movie Makers in association with Muttamsetty Media, directed by Sukumar, with music by Devi Sri Prasad and starring Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna and Fahadh Faasil, ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ releases on the December 17. The second part of the film will be released in 2022.