‘The Battle at Lake Changjin’ continues its victorious box-office march

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‘The Battle at Lake Changjin’ continues its victorious box-office march

Chinese patriotic war film ‘The Battle at Lake Changjin’ continues to rake it in, ending this past weekend with cumulative earnings of $769 million since it was released on September 30.

As a result, it has become the fourth top-grossing film in Chinese history, right behind the 3D computer-animation fantasy film ‘Ne Zha’. It is projected to settle down at No. 2, dislodging the 2021 comedy ‘Hi, Mom’, according to Variety.com. China is the world’s largest cinema theatre market.

Starring actor, director and martial arts exponent Wu Jing and actor and singer Jackson Yee, ‘Changjin’ is about the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, or Lake Changjin, during the Korean War (1950-53).

This fierce battle in freezing weather between the UN forces led by the US Army and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army culminated in the complete withdrawal of all international forces from North Korea. Predictably, therefore, the film was announced as a part of the Communist Party of China’s 100th anniversary celebrations. More than 70,000 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers participated in it.

Forecasts from the Chinese ticketing agency Maoyan point to ‘Changjin’ reaching 5.43 billon renminbi (or $843 million at current exchange rates) over its lifetime. If it were to achieve that humungous total — and it’s highly likely — it would narrowly overtake ‘Hi, Mom’ for second place.

The biggest film of all time in China remains the 2017 war film ‘Wolf Warriors II’, which has earned $882 million. It chronicles the adventure of a loose-cannon Chinese soldier who goes to an Africa nation to protect medical aid workers from rebels and arms dealers.

Ajay Devgn on his Indian Ocean adventure with Bear Grylls

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Ajay Devgn on his Indian Ocean adventure with Bear Grylls

Bollywood star Ajay Devgn opens up on his trip to the Indian Ocean with Bear Grylls for the survival skill-based reality show ‘Into The Wild’. He says it was an adventure-packed journey and entirely a different experience from what he has done in his film career. The trip also worked as a short break for him.

Ajay says: “My September break to the Indian Ocean worked for me in many ways. It was my first trip ‘Into The Wild’ with Bear Grylls. I’ve done dangerous things in films from the start of my film career 30 years ago. But what I did during the ITW trip with Bear was altogether different. It was scary, thrilling, adventurous, exhilarating and so much more. It also worked as a short personal break.”

The world-famous adventurer Bear Grylls and Ajay Devgn travelled to sea full of sharks and facing harsh weather conditions, eventually moving towards uninhabited islands.

He shares his most difficult moments from the journey: “Well, there was so much nervous energy within me when I was doing my stunts with Bear, I can’t recollect each moment separately. Overall, I can tell you when I was in the middle of the deep ocean and Bear was trying to come in a helicopter to rescue me and take me to an island nearby, the waters were perilous. The wind of the chopper machine and the pressure of the water in which I was immersed neck deep was very dangerous. Of course, I had full faith in Bear but I must confess, I could barely keep my head above the water.”

Ajay adds that he loves forests but more challenging was the ocean: “I love the forests, so that bit was much easier. Bear knows his way around the wild, he is a natural. I just followed him, but it was the ocean that presented challenges.”

During the show we often see Grylls eating unique stuff on his expeditions. And what Ajay was offered by him and the Bollywood cop replies back: “Raw fish! I must confess, it wasn’t what I wished for. However, when you are in the wild, you have to survive. So, you eat what you are given.”

When asked why he accepted this offer, he says being a great fan of Bear, Ajay instantly said ‘yes’: “I took it up because I am a huge fan of Bear Grylls. He is a master adventurer; he is a great human being and a daredevil. I wanted to spend time in nature and who better than Bear as a companion.”

While opening up about his upcoming projects, he reveals: “I’m currently shooting for my home production ‘May Day’ that has Amitabh Bachchan and Rakul Preet Singh in the lead with me. I’m also directing this film. Besides this, I have ‘Maidaan’, a biopic on one of India’s football legends. I’m also making my foray into OTT with ‘Rudra – The Edge of Darkness’, in which I play the lead. Three other projects are being finalised. And, I have three very special appearances in S.S. Rajamouli’s ‘RRR’, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, and Rohit Shetty’s ‘Sooryavanshi’.”.

‘Into The Wild’ with Bear Grylls and Ajay Devgn will stream on October 22 on discovery+. The broadcast premiere of the show is scheduled on October 25 on 14 linear channels including Discovery Channel.

‘Halloween Kills’ proves to be a box-office killer in North America

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‘Halloween Kills’ proves to be a box-office killer in North America

‘Halloween Kills’, David Gordon Green’s slasher film starring Jamie Lee Curtis, is headed for the biggest pandemic-era earnings figure recorded by a horror flick or a movie opening simultaneously on the big screen and a streaming service.

Besting competition from Daniel Craig’s swansong as Agent 007, ‘No Time to Die’, and Ridley Scott’s historical epic, ‘The Last Duel’, ‘Halloween Kills’ earned $22.9 million on Friday from 3,705 theatres in North America, according to ‘The Hollywood Reporter’.

It was well on its way to a projected $50 million weekend collection, thanks mainly to the enthusiastic response of young adult audiences. Till date, ‘Godzilla vs Kong’ boasts the biggest domestic box-office opening for a dual release ($31.6 million).

The competition — ‘No Time to Die’ and ‘The Last Duel’, a critically acclaimed movie with Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer and Ben Affleck — catering to older audiences clearly could not stand up against youth power. In the case of ‘The Last Duel’, moreover, historical movies are finding fewer takers.

MAA president Manchu Vishnu’s overenthusiastic tweet goes viral

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MAA president Manchu Vishnu’s overenthusiastic tweet goes viral

Manchu Vishnu, who was elected president of the influential Tollywood industry body, Movie Artists Association (MAA) last Sunday, posted a video on his Twitter timeline showing him with the superstar and Jana Sena Party supremo, Pawan Kalyan, at Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya’s Alai Balai event here.

The highlight of the event was Pawan Kalyan’s speech, but it is Manchu Vishnu’s video that has gone viral. The video features Pawan Kalyan, sitting on a chair, which Vishnu captioned, “Can you guess who’s at the end of the video?”

Vishnu’s tweet has become a point of discussion among Pawan Kalyan’s fans. Earlier, Vishnu’s brother, Manchu Manoj, had visited the location of the shoot for Pawan Kalyan’s forthcoming movie ‘Bheemla Nayak’ and shared pictures from there.

While the Manchus seem to be trying hard to convey something, their actions are in contrast to their speeches, which has become a controversy. It is to be noted that, MAA elections had the Manchu family speak about Chiranjeevi, his brother Pawan Kalyan, and actor Ram Charan.

Manchu Vishnu was seen blaming Ram Charan for ‘probably’ not voting for him in MAA elections. They also had spoken about Chiranjeevi and his brother Pawan Kalyan, who supported Prakash Raj in the elections, instead of supporting Vishnu who stood for the presidential elections of MAA.

But, Mohan Babu, Manoj, and Vishnu greeted Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan well on the polling day. This contradiction during the speeches and when people come face-to-face has invited unwanted negativity for the Manchu family.

Rashmika beats Samantha, Vijay Deverakonda, Yash to top Forbes list

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Rashmika beats Samantha, Vijay Deverakonda, Yash to top Forbes list

Bengaluru-based actress Rashmika Mandanna, who has been busy with back-to-back movies in multiple languages is one of the most happening heroines in the South.

With her upcoming Bollywood entry, Rashmika becomes quite famous in the North too. Topping the most influential actors list by Forbes India, Rashmika has beaten Samantha, Vijay Deverakonda and Yash.

Recording a high growth rate in the number of followers on her social media pages, Rashmika Mandanna, who stars in Telugu and Kannada movies occupies the top spot on the list of the ‘most influential actors’.

Vijay Deverakonda, who shot to fame with his movies ‘Pelli Choopulu’ and ‘Arjun Reddy’, is second on the list, followed by Kannada’s most happening handsome hunk Yash. Samantha Ruth Prabhu occupies a fourth place on this list, followed by Allu Arjun.

The metrics considered are the average likes, average comments, engagement rate, average video views, and the follower count on the social media profiles of the celebrities. This influence is calculated and represented through ‘Qoruz Score’, which is out of 10. Rashmika scores 9.88, while Vijay Deverakonda earned 9.67. Yash’s score is 9.54, while Samantha’s score is 9.49, followed by 9.46 scored by Allu Arjun.

Forbes has considered the Instagram activity of the popular celebrities from the Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada film industries over their most recent social media posts as of September 30.

Rashmika Mandanna is playing a rural girl in Allu Arjun’s upcoming action-drama ‘Pushpa’, while she is to appear in Sharwanand’s ‘Aadavally Meeku Joharulu’ soon.

Actor Vijay’s fan club wins over 100 seats in TN rural polls

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Actor Vijay’s fan club wins over 100 seats in TN rural polls

Even as superstar Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam drew a blank in the rural local body polls in Tamil Nadu, the fan club of young superstar, Thalapathy Vijay won more than 100 seats.

Vijay, who had not given permission to float a political outfit and filed a criminal case against 11 persons including his parents, S. Chandrashekhar and Sobha Sekhar, in this connection, had, however, allowed his fans to contest the polls.

This was the first time that Vijay, who, going by popularity ratings is second to Rajinikanth in Tamil cinema, allowed his fan club – All India Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyyakam – to contest from the rural bodies of nine districts which went to polls.

The actor’s fan club won 115 of the 169 seats it contested and according to its General Secretary and former Congress Puducherry MLA Bussy Anand, won unopposed in 13 seats.

Anand also told the media that 45 of the 115 winners are women, and other winners include farmers, lab technicians, students, school teachers, and traders.

The All India Thalapathy Makkal Iyyakam has more than 10 lakh registered members and the fans association generally does not have any political affiliations, except in the 2011 elections, when Vijay extended support to the AIADMK and Jayalalithaa.

Several political pundits believe that these results would lead to Vijay scouting for a larger role for himself in the future politics of Tamil Nadu.

“Vijay has done proper research before jumping into the fray and he has allowed his fans to use his name and flag. He knew that he could win a few seats given his popularity in Tamil Nadu. He is likely to take a plunge in the politics of Tamil Nadu as there is a clear vacuum of popular leaders in the state,” Madurai-based think tank Socio-Economic Development Foundation’s Director R. Padmanabhan told in interview.

Taapsee Pannu: Sports stars are actually the real heroes for me

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Taapsee Pannu: Sports stars are actually the real heroes for me

Actress Taapsee Pannu, who plays a sprinter in her latest film ‘Rashmi Rocket’, says that she is always in awe of sports personalities and that she feels they are the real heroes.

She candidly revealed that squash is her favourite sport to play and when it comes to her favourite sportsperson she said, “I don’t think I can choose because I am in so much awe of these sportspeople, they are actually the real heroes for me. I follow them more than I follow any other profession, or I don’t think I consider any other profession as heroic as representing the country!”

Taapsee also confessed that running comes naturally to her, since she was an athlete in school and would run in 100, 200 and 400-metre races. For her role, she had to learn some professional sprinting techniques. Next, she had to unlearn and readopt the right technique to keep her free of injuries.

She shared these anecdotes in an exclusive chat with IMDb.

When asked about her most favourite memory on sets, she reminisces, “Once when I was sprinting during shots and there were real athletes, we had called who were there running with me, who were probably watching the training…the compliments from them that I did really look like a real athlete were the most cherished ones coming from the people who do it as a profession.”

Directed by Akarsh Khurana and also featuring Priyanshu Painyuli, Abhishek Banerjee, Shweta Tripathi, and Supriya Pathak, ‘Rashmi Rocket’ releases on ZEE5.

Sharwanand, Siddharth-starrer ‘Maha Samudram’ hits screens

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Sharwanand, Siddharth-starrer ‘Maha Samudram’ hits screens

Telugu romantic action drama ‘Maha Samudram’ starring Sharwanand, Siddharth, Aditi Rao Hydari and Anu Emmanuel released on Thursday. Helmed by ‘RX 100’ director Ajay Bhupathi, the movie caught the attention of the audience even before its release.

The movie has now released after the team established a good hype with their well-planned promotions. The early reports from theatres revealed that the movie has a well-written story with good performances.

‘Maha Samudram’ is set in Vishakhapatnam, with the story of two close friends. Vijay (Siddharth) and Arjun (Sharwanand) are two people with different goals. Vijay leaves his pregnant lover Maha (Aditi Rao Hydari) in trouble.

On the other hand, Arjun is forced into the underworld, landing him in drug dealing.

The cinematography is good with rich production values on the screen. The action sequences are well-crafted too though a routine second half spoils the game for ‘Maha Samudram’.

It is up against other big-ticket movies like ‘Pelli SandaD’ and ‘Most Eligible Bachelor’.

Guru Randhawa, Mrunal Thakur’s ‘snow fight’ in Kashmir!

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Guru Randhawa, Mrunal Thakur’s ‘snow fight’ in Kashmir!

Singer Guru Randhawa and actress Mrunal Thakur had a playful time in Kashmir while shooting for the new music video ‘Aise Na Chhoro Mujhe’ which also captured their ‘snow fight’.

While the entire team was under layers of clothes freezing in minus 10 degrees, both the artistes were having snow fights and were riding on the snowmobile all around the location.

Both the stars had so much fun on the set of the music video that director Aashish Panda had to break in and remind them to get back to work!

Presented by Bhushan Kumar’s T-Series, the love song penned by Rashmi Virag and composed by Manan Bhardwaj, is a romantic track that tells a modern-day Romeo-Juliet love story.

Fardeen, Riteish-starrer ‘Visfot’ to go on floors next week

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Fardeen, Riteish-starrer ‘Visfot’ to go on floors next week

The shooting for Fardeen Khan’s comeback film ‘Visfot’, which also stars Riteish Deshmukh, will begin from next week.

‘Visfot’ marks Fardeen’s return to the big screen after 11 years. The son of late veteran star Feroz Khan, Fardeen was last seen on the silver screen in the 2010 movie ‘Dulha Mil Gaya’.

The mahurat pooja of ‘Visfot’, directed by Kookie Gulati, took place on Friday and was attended by the cast of the film.

Director Gulati said: “The opportunity to work with this combination and actors like Riteish and Fardeen is indeed rare. I can’t wait to share this incredible story with the audience.”

‘Visfot’ is the official remake of 2012 Venezuelan film ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ which was selected as that country’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 85th Academy Awards.

The thriller thrives on the collision between the city’s stark contrasts – the ‘chawls’ of Dongri and the high-rises.

Sanjay Gupta, whose company White Feather Films is producing the film, said: “Every film has its own destiny and timing. This film happened to me when the world had shutdown in the pandemic.”

T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar, who is backing the film, added: “As a producer, I’m always on the lookout for something new. On ‘Visfot’, we have Sanjay Gupta, who has a signature style of making movies. And we have Kookie Gulati to helm it. From Fardeen, Riteish to the team, we have a fiery combination at hand much like the title of ‘Visfot’.”

‘Visfot’, presented by T-Series and Sanjay Gupta, is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Anuradha Gupta and Sanjay Gupta and directed by Kookie Gulati.

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