You are listening to the Expresso Entertainment Update. Here is the latest news from the world of Bollywood brought to you by The Indian Express.
“Let’s begin with our top story. Bollywood star Salman Khan has a fan following of millions. And while many fans hope to meet their hero someday, one fan from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, could fulfil his wish recently to meet the actor.
Salman Khan was reportedly quite impressed to meet the die-hard fan, Sameer, who had travelled 1100 km on his bicycle to meet his idol. When the fan reached Khan’s residence, he was already in, so the two met. According to reports, the two also discussed Salman’s upcoming projects, including the highly anticipated actioner Tiger 3. Later, fan accounts shared photos of the pair and it went viral on social media.”
“Moving on. Actor Alia Bhatt, who received a lot of acclaim for her performance in Gangubai Kathiawadi, was recently praised for her incredible work in the film by BFI (British Film Institute) National Archive’s Robin Baker. In his Instagram caption, Baker wrote that if he was a BAFTA or Academy member, he would vote for Alia Bhatt in the Best Actress category.
He called Bhatt’s performance “sensational” and called the film “big, brash, sentimental and hugely enjoyable.” The film is currently in the middle of a campaign at the Oscars and the BAFTAs. As per reports, it has been submitted for all the key categories including – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and others for the 95th Academy Awards.”
“Late legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has been featured on the renowned American magazine Rolling Stone’s list of the 200 Best Singers of All Time. She claimed the 84th spot on the list. Late American singer Aretha Franklin took the top spot, followed by Whitney Houston and Sam Cook.
Talking about Lata, the magazine wrote, “The crystalline, eternally girlish voice of ‘the Melody Queen’ is a cornerstone of Indian pop music, with a global influence spread via Bollywood films, whose golden era she defined. Lata was the empress of playback singers, the vocal magicians who perform songs for actors to lip-sync in lavish movie musicals and recorded over 7,000 such songs.”””
Meanwhile, Janhvi Kapoor gave some praiseworthy performances in her recent films like Good Luck Jerry and Mili. While she did receive some acclaim for these, the Dhadak actor said that she does not value herself based on the results of films. In a recent interview, Janhvi shared that there is enough ‘machinery’ to make one feel like they have reached the top even when they have done some ‘rubbish’ work. She was presumably talking about the social media and PR machinery that does not give the correct picture of one’s success or failure. Janhvi had also previously spoken about her massive social media following at the Film Companion roundtable and said that one’s “virtual presence does not necessarily translate into ticket sales.”
Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui emerged from playing small roles to leading major films, all on the strength of his talent. He doesn’t hail from a film family, nor does he look like a conventional leading man, but after a series of acclaimed performances in films like Gangs of Wasseypur 2 & Raman Raghav 2.0, he has carved a niche for himself in the Hindi film industry and he doesn’t believe in looking back. In a recent interview, Nawaz said that he was ‘done’ playing small roles. The actor also said that ‘money and fame’ are by-products of hard work. He was last seen in the box office flop Heropanti 2 and has several films including Tiku Weds Sheru and Bole Chudiyan lined up next.
“Meanwhile, the first glimpse of Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel’s film “”Gadar 2″” is out. The movie is said to be a sequel to the 2001 blockbuster Gadar. The original had also featured Deol and Patel in lead roles.
ZEE Studios recently shared their line-up of releases for the new year, which features multiple projects starring actors like Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Yami Gautam among others. Towards the end, the clip shared a glimpse of Deol lifting the wheel of a cart in the air, possibly to aim at a group of baddies. Gadar 2 will be helmed by Anil Sharma. The film is slated to release in the first half of the new year. “
Singer Shaan recently caught up with Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani and Sonu Nigam. He took to Instagram and shared a photo with all of them sitting around a table. And, fans flooded the comment section of the photo with heart emojis calling the musicians the “OGs”. The four, considered among the most popular playback singers in the industry, have had illustrious careers and delivered numerous hits in Bollywood. Shekhar Ravjiani and Vishal Dadlani have composed for films like Student of the Year, Chennai Express, Om Shanti Om, The Dirty Picture, and War among others. On the other hand, Sonu Nigam has sung in various languages. Shaan has crooned for chartbusters like “Jab Se Tere Naina”, and “Chaar Kadam” among others.
“Lastly, actor Neena Gupta is known for her strong performances in both commercially and critically successful films. However, her life has intrigued people since she became a mother in 1988. Recalling the year when daughter Masaba was born, the Badhaai Ho actor said that she had good and bad experiences. While she enjoyed motherhood, she was also at the receiving end of social stigmas.
Neena had two big releases last year – Sooraj Barjatya’s Uunchai and Vikas Bahl’s Goodbye.”
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