ShowBiz

Mumbai, Nov 11 (IANS) Fights and more fights seem to be the flavour of the 16th season of 'Bigg Boss' as the upcoming episode of the controversial reality show will have a showdown between Tina Datta and Priyanka Choudhary over kitchen duties.

A promo of the episode shows Tina asking other contestants to wait to eat rice as Priyanka has already occupied the gas and she's not able to cook rice.

Pat comes the reply from Priyanka, who says: "Abhi banane lag rahi ho, toh kahan se milega phir kisi ko time se."

Priyanka stretches the matter and says that Tina is not telling her to make chappatis and is keeping the pan aside which is why she is not able to make chappatis.

To which, Tina replies: "Phata hua tape recorder chalati rehti hai."

--IANS
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Mumbai, Nov 7 (IANS) The streaming series 'The White Lotus', which is set in a Sicilian resort and follows the exploits of various guests and employees over the span of a week, is getting a lot of positive response for its recently second season. Show director Mike White reveals that he wanted to narrow down the focus of this season to the theme of desire and sexual selection.

Talking about men and a personal connection in the story of season two, Mike says, "Right before I started writing season two, my dad and I went to Sweden. I had planned this trip for us so he could see where his mother's family came from. We had that experience, and shortly after, he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. The miracle of being able to have that trip was so intense."

He further mentions how hearing about sex from his father makes him a teenager all over again, "As soon as my dad starts talking about sex, I'm 14 again. 'Oh my god'. (Laughs) But here's my dad, he's an upstanding, great guy, but he can never escape his animal self. We will be humiliated throughout life because of this part of ourselves. What do we do with desire? What is a 'good man'? What is sexual selection? It's been changing throughout my lifetime."

The second season sees Jennifer Coolidge returning to the role of a wealthy heiress Tanya. The director adds that he intended to explore sexuality from the prism of a heterosexual male.

"In season two, I specifically wanted to explore these themes through the lens of male heterosexuality. I thought it would be interesting to have three generations of men travelling together and have the older men grappling with the reality that their sex drives have essentially ruined their legacies and families, while the grandson character, Albie Di Grasso, is more 'I'm sorry, I actually don't have a sex drive," he concluded.

In season 2, Jennifer Coolidge is joined by an all-new cast, including F. Murray Abraham, Adam DiMarco, Meghann Fahy, Beatrice Granno, Jon Gries, Sabrina Impacciatore, Michael Imperioli, Theo James, Aubrey Plaza, Haley Lu Richardson, Tom Hollander, Leo Woodall, Will Sharpe and Simona Tabasco.

Season 2 of 'The White Lotus' is available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Nov 7 (IANS) Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma has started shooting the last schedule of her next film 'Chakda Xpress' in Mumbai.

A source reveals: "Yes, it is true that Anushka has started shooting the last schedule of Chakda Xpress. She has been shooting non-stop for 'Chakda Xpress' for the past few months. As we all know that she has always strived to be a perfectionist and she has left no stones unturned for this film."

"Anushka has put in months of preparation to get into the skin of the celebrated fast bowler. She now has a gruelling schedule in Mumbai."

The Netflix film, which is based on the life and times of one of the fastest female pacers in the history of world cricket, Jhulan, will showcase how the pacer moves up the ladder despite countless hindrances to fulfil her only dream -- to play cricket.

Jhulan went on to captain the Indian women's national cricket team and is a role model for aspiring cricketers in the country. In 2018, an Indian postage stamp was issued in her honour. Jhulan holds the world record for the highest number of wickets taken by a woman in an international career.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Nov 7 (IANS) The cutest contestant of 'Bigg Boss 16' Abdu Rozik will be seen suggesting his friend Tina Datta about a perfect guy whom she can date.

While Tina, Abdu and Shalin are having a fun filled conversation, Abdu teases Tina that she should date his brother. She gets curious to know his name and he replies: "Shalin Rozik".

The love chemistry between Gautam Singh Vig and Soundarya Sharma has already made the headlines. Few of the 'Bigg Boss' fans and ex-contestants are calling it 'fake' too.

However, Abdu and Shiv Thakare find another way of making that angle more interesting for the audience by enacting them on the show and creating the same chemistry. Abdu sits on the lap of Shiv and acts like Soundarya and both of them call each other 'baby'.

While Abdu laughs at Gautam and Soundarya, he also asks Shiv to watch their intimate moments when they were hugging and kissing each other. Later, Abdu and Shiv imitate them in a hilarious way.

'Bigg Boss 16' airs on Colors.

--IANS
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Chennai, Nov 5 (IANS) With his magnum opus 'Ponniyin Selvan 1' going on to emerge a huge blockbuster, ace director Mani Ratnam on Saturday thanked everybody who had worked on the film.

Participating in a thanksgiving meet organised by the film unit, director Mani Ratnam said that he had no other words but to thank the media with folded hands.

He also thanked producer Subaskaran saying this film wouldn't have materialised but for Subaskaran who said yes to making the film within two minutes of being told of such an idea.

Mani Ratnam also thanked everybody who had worked on the film with him, saying that if it hadn't been for the support that they had all provided this film wouldn't have been what it was.

"I am indebted to everybody -- every single person including carpenters, make up people, all of them who worked on this film. Sometimes, when I stepped out of the set after shoot, I would get scared to see the number of people working on a scene. So many people were working on each scene, all believing in me.

"This was such a big responsibility which I didn't know how I was going to fulfill. I would put it behind me and get into work mode. I would forget this as soon as I began working. I wish to say a very big thank you to all of them who might be invisible to our eyes but their contribution is big."

--IANS
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Chennai, Nov 5 (IANS) The makers of director Vamshi Paidipally's bilingual film 'Varisu', featuring Vijay and Rashmika Mandanna in the lead, on Saturday released the first single 'Ranjithame' from the film, much to the delight of fans and film buffs.

Master of melody S. Thaman has delivered a foot-tapping number that is high on energy.

Vijay himself has sung the song alongside M.M. Manasi. Thaman seems to have used the powerful percussion instrument Thavil to good effect in this song that lifts your spirits right away.

Vivek has penned the lyrics for this number that is sure to set the dance floor on fire. Jani master has choreographed the steps for this pulsating number.

The dances are trendy and graceful.

Rashmika Mandanna looks stunning in the song. The setting and backdrops look vibrant and flamboyant.

Overall, this is a loop-worthy dance track that has the potential to go viral in no time.

In fact, the song garnered a whopping million views on YouTube within just half an hour of being released.

The Telugu version of the song is likely to be released soon.

Apart from Vijay and Rashmika Mandanna, the film, which is scheduled to hit screens for Pongal next year, will also feature Prabhu, Sarath Kumar, Prakash Raj, Jayasudha, Srikanth, Shaam, Yogi Babu, Sangeetha and Samyuktha among others.

--IANS
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Chennai, Nov 5 (IANS) The makers of director Mani Ratnam's magnum opus 'Ponniyin Selvan 1', which is based on the literary classic by eminent writer Kalki, on Saturday announced that they presented a cheque for Rs one crore to writer Kalki's trust in the wake of the film having emerged a blockbuster.

On Saturday, the Ponniyin Selvan unit, including director Mani Ratnam, actors Vikram, Karthi, Jayam Ravi and Parthiban participated in a thanksgiving meet in the city.

The entire unit thanked the media for the extensive support that they provided to the film.

During the meet, it was disclosed that the Lyca Group Chairman A. Subaskaran and Director Mani Ratnam from Madras Talkies had visited the Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Trust and handed over a cheque for Rs one crore as donation towards the corpus fund of the trust.

The donation was handed over to Managing Trustee of the trust, Seetha Ravi, in the presence of Kalki Rajendran, son of Writer Kalki.

The film, the first part of which released earlier this year, went on emerge as a huge blockbuster after striking a chord with audiences of all age groups. In particular, the film caught the attention of senior citizens as it was based on the literary classic by Kalki.

The brilliant story is based on the early life of prince Arun Mozhi Varman, who later went on to be known as the great Raja Raja Chozhan. The plot revolves around the power struggle that happens in the Chola kingdom.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Nov 5 (IANS) Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan, who will soon be seen on the big screen with 'Pathaan', recently hosted a fun Q&A session on his Twitter. He even consoled a heartbroken fan as the latter's love interest is set to marry someone else.

SRK posted a note inviting questions from his fans on Saturday. He tweeted: "We all wake up with questions.today I woke up with answers! So thought maybe we could do a #AskSRK for 15 minutesaif you have time to spare please ask."

As soon as SRK tweeted, fans went berserk and posed several questions which the 'Swades' actor selectively replied to. During the #AskSRK session, one fan shared with SRK that he won't get to see 'Pathaan' with his lady love as he tweeted: "Socha tha gf ke sath pathaan dekhunga lekin uski shadi kisi aur ke ho jayegi (sic)".

Shah Rukh Khan, who is known for his witty remarks, seized the perfect moment and replied: "So sorry man. But akele mein bhi film acchi hi lagegi.don't worry."

Talking about 'Pathaan', the film will mark SRK's return to the screen after more than four years. His last film, 'Zero', in which he shared the screen with Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, tanked badly at the box-office.

--IANS
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Chennai, Nov 5 (IANS) One of south India's top singers, Sid Sriram said that he finds home to be an interesting concept and that he often comes back to the question of what it actually is.

Taking to Instagram to pen a lengthy post on the topic, he wrote: "Home is an interesting concept. It's layered, nuanced and deeply emotional."

"I was on the freeway on my way to the SFO airport yesterday and couldn't stop staring at the sky. It was dusk, sky was gradually changing from a glowing orange to a dark blue. The clouds were black, sprawling and flat. Admittedly, I'm on my phone now way more than I've ever been before. But my phone was dead in the car yesterday."

"I stared at the sky, the walls lining the freeway, other cars, and the only thought that kept occurring to me was home."

"What is it? Is it supposed to instil comfort, is it a respite from chasing the fleeting glimmers of whatever truths we're after? Or is it the truth itself?

"I spend a lot of time in my own head. Sifting through memories, ideas, sources of pain/joy, perceptions of the world, perceptions of self, deep rooted fears, insecurities, and varying shades of my own ego.

"I people watch a whole lot too when I get the chance. And what I've realised is that as humans, we don't yearn for just connection, we yearn for connection with purpose. As beings with sentience, intelligence, emotional aptitude, intellectual ability, without it even reaching our conscious thoughts, our brains work in conjunction with our souls to connect with others to construct meaningful visions for the future."

"I will always believe with every fiber of my being, that at the core of the human spirit is the desire and need to be constructive, not destructive."

"About a year-and-a-half ago, I went to a new city to make music with people I'd never met before. Those people quickly became family, we made music that felt like emotional alchemy. Connection with purpose. With my belief in that idea getting stronger every day, I keep finding myself coming back to the question: what is home?"

--IANS
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New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS) Filmmaker-actor Rishab Shetty and his leading lady Sapthami Gowda are in the National Capital and promoted their mega blockbuster 'Kantara' at India Gate.

The power duo looked enchanting in white. Rishabh was seen wearing traditional south Indian outfit.

After winning hearts of millions in Kannada and Hindi versions, its box office collections are witnessing a constant rise.

'Kantara' Hindi market numbers have constantly been seeing a great jump in its box office collections with a total of 53.7 Cr till November 4.

Other than registering phenomenal growth at the box office, 'Kantara' also made its position at No. 1 in the list of India's Current Top 250 Films which was released by IMDb recently.

Kantara was released in the Kannada version and Hindi version on September 30 and October 14 respectively.

The film is written and directed by Rishab Shetty. Produced by Vijay Kiragandur and Chaluve Gowda, under Hombale Films, the film features Rishab Shetty, Sapthami Gowda, and Kishore Kumar G in pivotal roles.

--IANS
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