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Let’s begin with our top story. “Besharam Rang song” from Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s upcoming feature Pathaan has been embroiled in controversy ever since its release. Now, Pakistani singer Sajjad Ali has come forward and shared a video of his song “Ab Ke Hum Bichare,” which the internet believes to be the original song from which Pathaan composers Vishal-Shekhar have ‘copied’. Sajjad, some time ago, took to Instagram to share a video of himself singing “Hum Bichare” and wrote, “After listening to a new movie’s song, It reminded me of the song I released 26 years ago.” While the singer has not taken the name of the song, users in the comments section were quick to draw comparisons.
“Pakistani star Fawad Khan, who was recently seen in the blockbuster period drama The Legend of Maula Jatt, recently took to his social media to share a snippet of the interview he gave regarding his film. During the said chat, Khan was asked about Maula Jatt’s Indian release. The film was supposed to come out on December 30 but a day before the release, it was ‘postponed indefinitely’.
The actor said of the Indian release then – “That would be great. If it were to happen, it’s a great way to handshake. Films and music are that kinds of exchange. But things are a bit heated still, let’s see. I’ve heard it may release or it may not.”””
Moving on, Anupam Kher is officially a part of filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s next directorial The Vaccine War and has commenced shooting for the film, the veteran actor announced on Monday, 2nd January. The film marks the fourth collaboration between Agnihotri and Kher after movies such as Buddha in a Traffic Jam, The Tashkent Files and The Kashmir Files. Kher took to Twitter to share the news and posted a photo from the sets of the upcoming movie. Agnihotri, who attained commercial success with last year’s film The Kashmir Files, announced The Vaccine War in November 2022 and also unveiled the official poster of the film. The movie is scheduled to be released on August 15, 2023.
A few reports recently suggested that Boney Kapoor had acquired the Hindi remake rights of the hit Tamil film “Love Today.” The reports also said that Boney had roped in Varun Dhawan to play the lead role in the remake, which will be helmed by David Dhawan. The producer on Monday took to Twitter to respond to the reports and said that he has “not acquired the remake rights” of Love Today. Boney tweeted, “All such reports on social media are baseless and fake.” Love Today is a romantic comedy, directed by and starring Pradeep Ranganathan in the lead role. The film is about the madness that ensues when a couple exchanges their mobile phones.
Meanwhile, work is underway on the next instalment of the financial thriller The Big Bull, says producer Anand Pandit. The Big Bull, which was released on Disney Plus Hotstar, is a fictional tale of a notorious stockbroker named Hemant Shah, played by Abhishek Bachchan. Asked if the sequel will once again be led by Abhishek, the producer said the casting would depend on the script. Pandit, who also had backed Ram Gopal Varma’s 2017 movie Sarkar 3, said they hope to take the critically-acclaimed franchise forward. The film series revolves around megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s Subhash Nagre, a powerful politician. “We are hopeful we can make something like Sarkar 4,” the producer said.
Actor Ajay Devgn on Monday, 2nd January, said he is looking forward to working again with his frequent collaborator Rohit Shetty on the upcoming movie “Singham Again”. Singham Again is the third film in the Devgn-led “Singham series” and the next chapter in Shetty’s cop universe that includes Ranveer Singh’s Simmba and Sooryavanshi, starring Akshay Kumar. Taking to Instagram, Ajay Devgn shared a photo with Rohit Shetty and revealed that he had heard the script for the third part. In December 2022, Rohit Shetty revealed that actor Deepika Padukone will feature alongside Ajay Devgn in the film. Besides the Singham franchise, Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty have also worked on movies such as Zameen, the Golmaal series and Bol Bachchan.
Actor Amit Sadh revealed that he has struggled with mental health in the past. He also added that people were of immense support to him and came around to help. Amit, who has starred in films like Kai Po Che and the thriller series Breathe, emphasised the need for people in Bollywood to be nice to each other and show more compassion. “I have been very fortunate that I’ve had good people in my life. When I was going through the phase, a few genuine people called me, spoke to me and I felt okay after a few days,” he said.
Lastly, Actor Manisha Koirala said that she has not faced any form of ageist discrimination in the industry. The actor, who starred in some of the iconic hits of the 90s, says she hasn’t missed out on projects owing to her age and gender. However, like other actors, she has also seen her fair share of trolling on social media. In a recent interview, Manisha said, “I think it is natural to grow with age but to be discriminated against, for that, is a narrow way of looking at life, that a heroine has to be young and pretty.” Manisha has Kartik Aaryan-starrer Shehzada in the pipeline.
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