ShowBiz

Chennai, Sep 24 (IANS) Well-known Tamil actor Bharath, who has been part of several critically acclaimed superhits including director Vasanthabalan's 'Veyil' and ace director Shankar's 'Boys', will now be seen in a Telugu film titled 'Hunt' after almost a decade.

Taking to Instagram to disclose details of his character in the high-voltage action entertainer, Bharath said: "The world of 'Hunt' is all about guns, bullets, terror, deceit. So what makes the difference to this world ? It's the swagger and the flamboyant 'Dev'!"

"Presenting myself as "DEV" from the world of #Hunt . A Tollywood venture almost after a decade!! Super geared up for this! Thanks to my team Mahesh Surapaneni, Sudheer Babu, Bhavya Creations, Actor Srikanth Meka, Ghibran and Anand Prasad."

Apart from Bharath, the film will also feature two other Telugu stars in the lead.

While actor Srikanth plays a character called 'Mohan Bhargav' in the film, actor Sudheer Babu, plays a tough and dynamic character called 'Arjun Prasad' in the film.

The intense action thriller, which is being directed by Mahesh, has cinematography by Arul Vincent and music by Ghibran.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 24 (IANS) Choreographer Remo D' Souza said that his dream came true after seeing actress Neena Gupta perform on the popular song 'Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai'.

The track is originally picturised on Neena and Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit from the 1993 film 'Khal Nayak' starring Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff.

'Khal Nayak' centres on the escape and attempted capture of terrorist Ballu by inspector Ram and his girlfriend officer Ganga. The film was the second highest grossing Hindi film of 1993.

During the final episode of 'DID Super Moms', Bollywood actors Govinda and Neena Gupta appeared as special guests along with 'Pushpa' star Rashmika Mandanna.

Neena is seen playing the role of mother Rashmika's character in the movie family comedy-drama 'Goodbye'. While she plays her mother, megastar Amitabh Bachchan is seen in the role of her father in the film.

After looking at the contestants performing on the famous dance track of the 90s, Neena also joined them on stage to show her dance moves. And when Remo saw her he said that for so long he wanted to see her performing live on the dance number.

He mentioned: "Today, we are celebrating our super moms in the 'Sapnon Ka Grand Finale', but I must say, it's a dream come true moment for me as I have watched Neena Ji perform live in front of me."

The dance reality show is judged by Remo D'Souza, Bhagyashree Dassani, and Urmila Matondkar. It airs on Zee TV.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 24 (IANS) Actor Ajith Kumar on Saturday left for Bangkok, where the final schedule of shooting of director H. Vinoth's heist thriller 'Thunivu', is to happen.

A picture of the actor, who was seen at the Chennai Airport on Thursday morning, went viral on social media.

Only recently, the unit of director Vinoth's 'Thunivu' had announced the title of the film and its first look.

The film, which was being tentatively referred to as #AK61 until now, has a plot that is believed to revolve around a bank heist.

Interestingly, the unit had erected a giant set resembling Chennai's popular landmark Mount Road in Hyderabad where certain important scenes of the film were shot in its previous schedules.

After the schedule in Bangkok, Ajith is expected to move on to his next project, which is to be directed by Vignesh Shivan.

Manju Warrier plays the female lead in the film and the actress too is expected to join the sets in Bangkok.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 24 (IANS) Director Ra Karthik, who is all set to release his film 'Nitham Oru Vanam', said that his film featuring actor Ashok Selvan in the lead, will be a good travelogue that has a premise beyond the element of love.

The film, which has three heroines -- Ritu Varma, Aparna Balamurali, and Shivatmika Rajshekar, has led many to believe that it will be a romantic drama.


Talking about it, director Karthik said: "Travelogue movies are rare in our Tamil film industry. 'Nitham Oru Vaanam' will be a feel-good travelogue movie, which has three different landscapes with different emotions.

"Since there are many female lead actors in this movie, NOV might give the impression of being a love story, but it has a premise beyond this element, which is about celebrating life."

"Ashok Selvan has excelled as a performer in this movie. All three female lead roles played by Ritu Varma, Aparna Balamurali, and Shivatmika Rajshekar are equally prominent and substantial. All of them have performed respectable roles that will be liked by women from all age groups."

The director continued: "Nitham Oru Vaanam is a movie about positivity. Whenever we feel low and depressed, we feel a desire to travel, which will keep our minds positive. Feel-good movies have become a rarity. Having been confined to homes and walls for the past couple of years due to the pandemic, we as a team, wanted to make a movie that would refresh audiences with smiles as they walk out of theatres."

'Nitham Oru Vaanam' is set around three different periods and landscapes. The film has been shot across the beautiful locales of Chennai, Chandigarh, Manali, Gobichettipalayam, and Kolkata.

Gopi Sundar has scored music for the film which has cinematography by Vidhu Ayyanna.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 24 (IANS) Actress Shruti Haasan, who will be seen playing the character of Aadya in director Prashanth Neel's eagerly awaited film 'Salaar', which features actor Prabhas in the lead along with her, is all praise for her director, who she says has clarity of thought and vision.

Sharing her experience of working with director Prashanth Neel, Shruti said: "Prashanth is fabulous with his actors. It's nice to work with a director who is so clear headed about his vision."

Shruti added: "It has been Prashanth's strength in all of his films. He really creates this world and it is our job as actors to melt into his world."

"With Prashanth, even within the action and drama, there's a core human story he runs so well. 'Salaar' is also so huge, but it's also so human," she points out.

Apart from Shruti and Prabhas, Salaar also stars Prithviraj Sukumaran and Prajapathi Babu in pivotal roles and the film is slated to release on September 28, 2023.

Apart from 'Salaar', Shruti is also busy shooting for her other films in which she will be seen playing the female lead. She plays the female lead opposite Telugu mega star Cheeranjeevi in Chiru 154 and opposite Nandamuri Balakrishna in NBK 107.

Shruti also released her latest single 'She Is A Hero', which throws light on the struggles and triumphs of women and the song has been receiving immense love from the audiences.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 24 (IANS) Veteran actress Neetu Kapoor and actor Sunny Kaushal have commenced prepping for their upcoming film 'Letters To Mr Khanna'.

Neetu took to her Instagram story, where she shared a photograph of the script of the film, which is Lionsgate India Studios's first feature film.

She captioned it: "Shubh Aarambh. Letters to Mr Khanna" along with a joined hands emoji. She also tagged Sunny, younger brother of actor Vicky Kaushal.

Sunny re-shared the post and wrote: "Bahot mazaa aane wala hai ma'am. (It's going to be too much fun ma'am)."

Using comedy as its main premise, the film, directed by Milind Dhaimade, delves into the integral fabric of families, communication, and memories, as well as their role in forcing us to grow up.

The coming-of-age story will capture the beautiful and relatable relationship between a mother and her son. It also stars Shraddha Srinath.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 23 (IANS) The cast of the upcoming six-part series 'The Journey of India' was revealed on Friday to mark India's 75 years of Independence. In addition to Amitabh Bachchan serving as the show host and narrator, each episode will also feature a leading voice to showcase a key theme in India's development as a nation.

Bollywood actress Kajol will walk the viewers down the lane of Bollywood's captivating legacy against the backdrop of an actual film set in action. Telugu star Rana Daggubati, who is also a conservationist, will make the viewers acquainted with India's successful initiatives in sustainability and conservation in tandem with Indian author and wildlife conservationist, Latika Nath.

Sharing his thoughts on the same, Daggubati said in a statement, "'The Journey of India' demonstrates the rich fruit of India's collective hard work and sheer willpower borne for this nation. Adopting sustainability and becoming consciously aware as a nation is admirable, especially at this crucial stage in the climate change crisis. It's an honour for me to be a part of a show that brings these spellbinding achievements to light."

Renowned Indian author Amish Tripathi, who is known for his 'Shiva' trilogy, will pay homage to India's diversity of religions, and Michelin Star chef Vikas Khanna will explore the palatability of Indian cuisine, paralleling his roots to its impact on global cuisine.

The show will also feature contributions from 'RRR' director S. S. Rajamouli, veteran actress Hema Malini, Oscar award-winning composer A. R. Rahman, stalwart industrialist Anand Mahindra, celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, female banking trailblazer Naina Lal Kidwai, climate change activist Vani Murthy, fashion designer Ritu Kumar and renowned dietician Rujuta Diwekar among others.

'The Journey of India' is set to premiere globally on streaming platform discovery+ in India, the US, UK, and the Philippines. The show will drop on October 10 in India on Discovery Channel, TLC, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo and DTamil.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 23 (IANS) Director Vignesh Shivan, who seems to have been thoroughly impressed by the surprise birthday party his wife actress Nayanthara recently threw, has now put out an emotional post, thanking her for the way she loved him.

Taking to Instagram and posting pictures of his birthday celebrations that happened in Dubai last week, Vignesh Shivan wrote," It's my eighth birthday with you my thangamey #Nayanthara! You have made every birthday extra special than the previous one !

"Buta. This one was too emotional! Thank you for being the lover you are! You know what makes me the happiest and you gave me exactly that!

"To more years of love, happiness and peace! Thank you. Love you and the way you love me, more and more !!"

This is the second post that Vignesh Shivan is putting out about his birthday celebrations this year.

Earlier, he had said, "A birthday filled with pure love from a loving family! Awesome surprise by my wife, my thangam -- a dreamy birthday below Burj Khalifa with all my lovely people with me !

"Can't get better and more special than this! Always thanking God for all the lovely moments he gives me in this blessed life!"

--IANS
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Los Angeles, Sep 23 (IANS) Former 'Riverdale' and 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' actor Ryan Grantham has been sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of parole for 14 years for killing his mother.

The by-the-book second-degree murder punishment was handed down by British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Kathleen Ker on September 21 in Vancouver, reports 'Deadline'.

With the sentence already a forgone conclusion over the laws of the Canadian province, the only real wild card was how long the guilty pleading Grantham would have to wait before the currently 24-year-old could apply for parole.

The Leo Awards nominated Grantham turned himself to police soon after shooting his 64-year-old mother Barbara Waite in the back of the head on March 31, 2020, in the family's Squamish home, just north of Vancouver.

A second-degree murder charge in B.C. comes with no parole eligibility of between 10 and 25 years.

In that context, prosecutors had recommended in a sentencing hearing earlier this year that Grantham receive a parole ineligibility up to 18 years. The former actor's legal team had suggested 12 years as a fair consequence. Clearly Justice Ker met them in the middle in her ruling this week.

Originally charged with first-degree murder, Grantham has been in custody for the past two and a half years, law enforcement officials in Vancouver confirmed to 'Deadline'.

Participating in a mental health program since his arrest, Grantham is in the process of being readied for transfer to a more permanent facility, sources say.

With around 30 credits on his resume, Grantham noticeably played Jeffrey Augustine on the fourth season of the soapy 'Riverdale' in 2019.

While appearing briefly, the character had a pivotal role in the Archie comics-based show. It was Jeffrey Augustine who killed the late Luke Perry portrayed Fred Andrews on the series in a hit and run that changed almost everything on the show.

Starting his career back in 2007, Grantham also appeared in the 2010 movie 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid', as well as stints on Supernatural, 'iZombie' and in 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'.

It later was revealed in court that after the murder of his mother, Grantham took video of the body and confessed to the killing on-camera.

A day later, after carefully arranging the body in a semi-religious scene, Grantham hit the road. With ever changing intent, he at one point was going to try to kill Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, as he also wrote in a journal entered as evidence.

Grantham also considered committing a mass shooting at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University or on the iconic Lions Gate Bridge.

Thankfully, none of that came to pass and Grantham instead went to East Vancouver cop shop and surrendered.

"I killed my mother," he is reported to have bluntly declared to police at the front desk of the station.

Back in March of this year, the multiple credit actor expressed sorrow at what he had done. "In the face of something so horrible, saying sorry seems so pointless," Grantham told the Vancouver court and Justice Ker, reading from a sheet of paper.

"But from every fiber of my being, I am sorry."

--IANS
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Mumbai, Sep 22 (IANS) 'Yeh Hai Mohabbatein' actress Anupama Solanki will soon be seen playing the negative lead in the show 'Bindiya Sarkar'.

Bagging the role has been quite a process for Anupama.

Talking about the same, Anupama says: "For the last two months, I have been taking look tests for 'Bindiya Sarkar', but somehow they didn't work. Finally after a lot of hard work, I have now got this powerful role. I was not expecting this character, but all of a sudden I got a call from Jay Mehta Production who called me for a look test and then after a few days, I was locked in for this role."

She adds: "This character is very challenging compared to my earlier shows because this is an unmarried lady who has some spiritual power. She is also very cunning and smart.

"I am very lucky as I always end up getting challenging characters. I am sure people will love this character because it is very out of the box."

Talking about her look, Anupama says, "My look will remind people of the old horror movie 'Jaani Dushman'."

The actress says that she was always intrigued by the title 'Bindiya Sarkar'.

"The title is very unique and I have never heard this type of a title before. I am excited to meet the rest of the cast. I am sharing the screen with Neelu Vaghela mam and Amit Behl sir. They are very senior actors and I am happy to get an opportunity to learn from them," she says.

Anupama played a positive role in the show 'Maddam Sir'.

"Honestly, I always enjoy playing positive characters because I am actually like that. I am sensitive, bubbly and humble, so if you get the character the way you are, it becomes easy. But negative characters are very challenging and tough," she says.

"There is no guarantee that a show will succeed, but I have faith in God and my hard work. Our job is to give the best shot and the rest is left to destiny," she concludes.

--IANS
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