ShowBiz

Mumbai, Sep 22 (IANS) 'Uttaran' actor Chaitannya Choudhry, who is making his OTT debut with the show 'Hush Hush', said that he wanted to come on board as soon as he heard about the cast including Juhi Chawla, Soha Ali Khan, Shahana Goswami, Kritika Kamra, Karishma Tanna and Ayesha Jhulka.

Chaitanya revealed it was great working with each one of them. "They are stunning, all of them, who wouldn't love working with them. And Soha is simply amazing. She made me feel so comfortable during the shoot, really grateful to have had her as my co-star for this series."

Chaitanya has done several TV shows 'Kahiin To Hoga', 'Dil Hi To Hai', 'Dream Girl', 'Yeh Hai Mohabbatein' and many more.

The series was shot during the pandemic. Talking about his experience of the same, the actor added: "Those were really tough times and a new experience for all of us as a team. The second wave immensely impacted the second schedule."

On how he prepared himself for the show, he said: "After reading the whole script many times, I tried to understand my place in the whole plot and made detailed notes for my character. Subsequent script readings and my own rehearsals really helped me perform my scenes."

Created by filmmaker Tanuja Chandra, the seven-episode thriller is a story of a set of women whose lives take a drastic change when a secret from their past comes in front of them. It streams on Amazon Prime Video.

--IANS
ila/uk

Mumbai, Sep 22 (IANS) Bollywood actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood will feature in a Haryanvi music album for the first time.

He will be in the music album of famous Haryanvi music producer Rao Inderjeet Singh, who is also founder and CEO of the music platform Gem Tunes.

Speaking on the occasion, Rao Inderjeet Singh said, "We now have vast collections of songs in various regional languages in our kitty and the music label is now a one stop destination for million of music lovers." He further said "soon we will also be producing and acquiring rights of Bollywood and Tollywood songs."

He then stated "Bollywood and Tollywood songs have one of the largest fan base and hence we are soon planning to foray in these music markets too."

Since its launch in 2020, 'Gem Tunes' in just two years has captured hearts of music lovers and now it has collection of more than 20,000 songs in 10 regional languages.

--IANS
dc/uk

Los Angeles, Sep 22 (IANS) Rapper Doja Cat has revealed that she's doing an 'R&B album' without rap at all.

"I'm doing an R&B album," the 26-year-old, whose real name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, declared on Twitter, reports aceshowbiz.com.

"Straight R&B and no rap at all."

The post met with positive feedback.

"Not even gon lie, I'm actually excited to hear what this gon sound like. Doja get a lot of hate but she's talented frfr," one person said.

Rapper OT Genesis, meanwhile, asked for collaboration by writing, "Put me on there."

Doja Cat might have changed her mind about how her next project will be.

Back in May, she claimed her upcoming record will be "predominantly rap."

She told Elle, "There's some really cool stuff that I got sent from friends. They're all working on beats, and I'm giving them notes and they know what I want, so I'm excited."

Meanwhile, in a recent interview with CR Fashion Book, she said her next album is inspired by rave culture.

"We just have so many ideas and making those ideas consistent is the challenge right now," she shared. "I can't really tell much. I just know there's a lot going on."

"I'm very into this '90s German rave kind of vibe right now and it's really fun," the musician elaborated further.

"I know that's kind of the trend at the moment but I loved that stuff as a kid and now that I can express it (obviously, I couldn't buzz my head and wear a furry bra and have a belly button piercing back then), I'm sort of embracing that. That's kind of a hint to the album. Rave culture, not house."

Doja's latest album is 'Planet Her', which came out in June last year. With four tracks off the record, she successfully bowed at the top spot on the Billboard Artist 100 chart to become the top musical act in the US for the first time.

--IANS
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Chennai, Sep 21 (IANS) Ajith Kumar's upcoming action thriller, which is being directed by H. Vinoth and was tentatively called AK61, has been titled 'Thunivu', its makers announced on Wednesday.

The first look poster of the film, which also had the title of the film on it, has Ajith relaxing on a chair with a semi-automatic weapon in his hand. The title has the tagline, 'No Guts, No Glory'.

The film, which is a Boney Kapoor production (just like 'Valimai', another Ajith Kumar-Vinoth collaboration), has a plot that revolves 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. Just one more schedule of shooting is left.

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

--IANS
mani/uk

Chennai, Sep 21 (IANS) The unit of director Trivikram Srinivas's Telugu action entertainer, featuring Mahesh Babu and Pooja Hegde in the lead roles, has wrapped up the film's first schedule of shooting, its makers announced on Wednesday.

Taking to Twitter, producer Naga Vamsi tweeted, "The first schedule of #SSMB28 has been completed with some kick-ass high octane epic action scenes. Thank you Anbariv masters for amazing stunt choreography.

"The second schedule will start post Dussehra with our Superstar Mahesh garu and butta bomma Pooja Hegde. More updates as they happen."

Anbariv is the collective name of the twins, Anbumani and Arivumani, who are National Award-winning stunt choreographers best-known for their work in the Kannada blockbuster 'K.G.F. - Chapter 1'.

Anbariv responded to the producer with a tweet of their own. They said, "Our pleasure sir! Thanks to the awesome team!"

The film, which has huge expectations riding on it, is being tentatively referred to as #SSMB28.

This is the third time that Mahesh Babu and Trivikram Srinivas are working together. They have worked together twice prior to this film and both films that they worked together on -- 'Athadu' and 'Khaleja' -- have gone onto become massive blockbusters.

Needless to say, their combination has raised expectations from this film as well.

#SSMB28 is to be edited by National Award-winning technician Navin Nooli, while the team also comprises art director A.S. Prakash, National Award-winning music director S. Thaman and cinematographer P.S. Vinod.

The film is scheduled to hit theatres across the globe on April 28, 2023.

--IANS
mani/uk

Chennai, Sep 21 (IANS) Tamil director Soundarya Rajinikanth, who was inundated with birthday wishes on Tuesday, thanked all those who greeted her and said that God has blessed her this year with the best gift, her child Veer.

Taking to Instagram to thank all those who wished her on her birthday, Soundarya, who posted a picture of her dad Rajinikanth standing behind her, said, "To every person who took time to wish me on my birthday yesterday, thank you so so so much.

"The Gods have blessed me with the best gift this year, my Veer papa. And having this amazing God's child behind me always, life is a true blessing!!!"

The youngest daughter of the superstar had only 10 days ago announced that she had given birth to her second son, whom they have named Veer.

She had said, "With God's abundant grace and our parents' blessings... Vishagan, Ved and I are thrilled to welcome Ved's little brother Veer Rajinikanth Vanangamudi today 11/9/22. A huge thank you to our amazing doctors Sumana Manohar, Srividya Seshadri."

--IANS
mani/arm

Mumbai, Sep 21 (IANS) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan was questioned by a 20-year old 'Kaun Banega Crorepati 14' contestant and content writer Vaishnavi Kumari on how he gets time to spend with his granddaughter Aaradhya Bachchan.

He replied: "I cannot spend much time with her. I go out for work at 7-7:30 a.m. and she goes to school at 8-8:30 a.m. She comes back home at 3 or 4 p.m. and then she has homework, among other things to do as told to her by her mother. And I return home at around 10-11 p.m. and by that time she is off to sleep. So, I hardly have time to meet her."

During a conversation with Dehradun-based Vaishnavi, he talked in detail about his bond with his granddaughter.

He make sure to take out time for her on Sunday and he mentioned that: "When she is free on Sunday, I play with her for some time."

And he also added that when she gets angry, he gives her chocolate and hair bands. She loves pink colour and so he gives her pink hairbands.

The contestant also added to the conversation and told the host that she is planning to prepare for IAS and with her winning amount support her family.

Vaishnavi Kumari will be taking the hotseat on 'Kaun Banega Crorepati 14'. The quiz-based reality show airs on Sony Entertainment Television.

--IANS
ila/khz/

Chennai, Sep 21 (IANS) National Award-winning art director Thota Tharrani has disclosed that temples provided the best reference for his team to create sets for director Mani Ratnam's much-awaited magnum opus "Ponniyin Selvan 1", the story of which is set in the tenth century.

In a video clip released by Lyca productions, the firm that is making the film along with director Mani Ratnam's Madras Talkies, the ace art director is seen saying: "I am doing this film with Mani (Mani Ratnam) after 28 years."

Disclosing that he works out whatever he wants first on paper even today, the art director says: "Whatever I want, I work out on a paper. I work out on a graph, even today."

Stating that the Latha Mandapam was the first set that the art department did for the film, the art director says: "Mani explained to me that he needed a little water front. So, what we did was to erect the whole water pond --two bodies and then the centre passage. It would lead to the exterior of the wall."

Giving details of how they went about recreating the monuments of that era, he says: "We had a person to research on what was used at that time. For instance, did they write on palm leaves or on leather? Yalis were not kept like this. They were only kept in certain areas and things like that. One major source of information is the temples. These are the best references we can get. Two pillars cannot be the same. Only alternate pillars would have one design."

The art director also sheds light on the enormous challenge his team faced while working on this epic film.

"We had some people to get dresses made for the animals. It was not easy. Everyday morning, (one had to) dress up the horse and give the actors -- swords and the spears. Plus, dummies were made. We had to do it in wood, we had to do it in fibre glass and we had to do it in steel with fibre glass and supply them whenever they wanted."

However, the art director and his team seems to have relished the challenge.

"We are making something which is already an epic. So, we have tried to work out on the epic," he signs off.

--IANS
mani/vd

Chennai, Sep 21 (IANS) Actress Varsha Bollamma, who has acted in several critically acclaimed films in Tamil and Telugu, on Wednesday chose to have some fun with her followers on Instagram by putting out a video clip in which she was seen asking "tough questions" and also answering them.

Taking to Instagram, the actress wrote: "After years of research, I bring to you the toughest questions to crack.!! #DontHate," and posted the clip.

Some of the questions she asked and answered in the clip included: "What did one volcano say to another?"

"I lava you."

"What do you call a honey bee that is from the United States of America?

"A USB".

"What do you call an ant that will never leave you no matter what you do?"

"A PermanANT."

"What do you call a honey bee that is not sure?"

"A MayBE."

"Which sweet is never on time?"

"ChocoLATE, cos it is always late."

On the work front, the actress will next be seen in the Telugu film 'Swathimuthyam', which is scheduled to hit screens on October 5.

--IANS
mani/kvd

Chennai, Sep 21 (IANS) Kajal Aggarwal, who has now taken a liking for horse riding, said that our bodies could change but our indomitable spirit and burning passion need not.

The actress, who only months after delivering a baby, is back at work shooting for director Shankar's much-awaited 'Indian 2', featuring Kamal Haasan in the lead, took to Instagram to explain how she has got back into the grind because of her determination and passion for cinema.

Posting a video clip of her riding a horse, she wrote: "Eager and excited, I jumped back into work four months post-partum! Little did I realise that it would feel like starting from scratch. My body wasn't the same as how it used to be. Pre-baby, I could endure very long workdays with taxing amounts of physical activity and then hit the gym."

"Post baby, it's been hard to get back my energy levels. Mounting a horse, let alone riding it seemed like a huge task! My body protested with the martial arts training that came so easily to me earlier."

"Our bodies can change/ may change/ will change but our indomitable spirit and burning passion, need not. We've got to just keep showing up for ourselves and consistently making each day count. It's all about what we choose to prioritise to focus on and not feel guilty about our choices."

Commenting on 'Indian 2', she said: "I'm so glad I've jumped back into the drill with you. Stoked to learn new skills on the job and pursue them as hobbies after. So fortunate to be a part of this industry I call home! Grateful for the opportunities to constantly learn and become an upgraded version of myself."

--IANS
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