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Mumbai, Oct 14 (IANS) A biopic on the RSS Founder Dr K.B. Hedgewar is in early works. The first of its kind film, it will trace the journey of Dr Hedgewar and will be made in three languages - Hindi, Marathi and English.

Padma Shri recipient Anup Jalota along with Jasveer Singh, Dr Rahul Joshi, L. Nitesh Kumar and Jayanand Shetty will lend their vocals to the song 'Tufan Hai Tera Rakt Aab' from the film. The music of the song has been directed by Dr Sanjayraj Gaurinandan and has been written by Shiv pujan Patwa and Sorabh Bharat.

Commenting on the occasion, Anup Jalota said in a statement: "I am honoured to be associated with the film. It is an amazing subject. People, especially our youth, should be aware of our freedom fighters. 'Tufan Hai Tera Rakt Aab' signifies his ideologies"

The film will be produced by Jayanand Shetty and Akshay Shetty Memorial Foundation, and will be directed by Sunny Mandavarra.

Producer of the film Jayanand Shetty, said in a statement: "Our film is a tribute to his journey, his struggles & his movements. His foresight and capability is established by the fact that the RSS today is one of the world's largest social organisations. Even today, Dr Hedgewar is a much revered figure in the Nationalist Movement of India."


--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun believes that young tearaway pacer Umran Malik could have been a great fill-up for the team ahead of the start of T20 World Cup in Australia and should have been included in the squad instead of a spinner.

Malik, the Jammu-based pacer, who made heads turn by clocking speeds above 150kmph consistently in IPL 2021 and then in the 2022 season, made his debut for India in T20Is through away series against Ireland and has played three matches till now.

After this, he featured in India 'A' squads for four-day as well as one-day series against New Zealand 'A' and also played for the Rest of India side in the recent Irani Cup match against Saurashtra.

In his first full season of playing in the IPL, Malik was in top form for Sunrisers Hyderabad, picking 22 wickets from 14 matches at an average of 20.18 and economy rate of 9.03.

He picked one four-wicket haul and five-wicket haul respectively while playing an instrumental role in picking wickets for his franchise in the middle-overs phase. He was also named as the emerging player of the season at the end of the competition.

"Umran Malik is exciting, he's got the pace. And given the right kind of fields he's done pretty well in the IPL. Considering the wickets in Australia I feel India have carried far too many spinners. Somebody like a Umran Malik would have been a great fill-up for the team," said Arun on Wednesdays with WV (Raman) show on Sportstar.

In their T20 World Cup, India have picked a variety of spinners in off-spin of Ravichandran Ashwin, leg-spin of Yuzvendra Chahal and all-rounder Axar Patel as a left-arm spin option. Apart from the trio, batting all-rounder Deepak Hooda is capable of giving a few overs of off-spin too.

"Yes there is bounce, the grounds are big and spinners have a very important role in Australia but I think three spinners are too many. Because at any given point you would be playing just one spinner in the team and you have the choice of two spinners in the side. Three spinners is too many. That's why I said Umran Malik instead of one spinner would have been a very, very wise move," added Arun.

With no Jasprit Bumrah due to back injury, India have called up Mohammed Shami, who has been named as a travelling reserve apart from fast bowling options in Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur, with Malik and Kuldeep Sen unable to travel to Australia as net bowlers due to visa delay.

After playing two practice matches in Perth against Western Australia XI, India will now move towards Brisbane where they will play two warm-up matches against defending champions Australia on October 17 and last year's runners-up New Zealand on October 19.

India, the inaugural Men's T20 World Cup winners in 2007, are in Group 2 of Super 12 stage at T20 World Cup, alongside Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa and two qualifying sides from the first round of the tournament.

They will open their T20 World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), followed by matches on October 27 (against first qualifier side at SCG), October 30 (against South Africa at Perth Stadium), November 2 (against Bangladesh at Adelaide Oval) and November 6 (against second qualifier side at MCG).



--IANS

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Chennai, Oct 14 (IANS) If sources in the industry are to be believed, dubbing has begun for megastar Chiranjeevi's upcoming film, tentatively being referred to as 'Mega 154', even as shooting continues on one hand.

Helmed by director Bobby (KS Ravindra), the film is currently being shot in Hyderabad. Industry insiders say that the team is canning an important action sequence in the film in which Ravi Teja is playing a powerful and lengthy role.

Sources say that the film has been scheduled for release for Sankranthi in 2023 and works are progressing as per schedules.

In accordance with that, the team has begun dubbing from Friday.

Shruti Haasan plays the leading lady opposite Chiranjeevi in the movie billed to be a mass-action entertainer laced with all the commercial ingredients.

Naveen Yerneni and Y Ravi Shankar are producing the film, while GK Mohan is the co-producer.

'Mega154' has music by Devi Sri Prasad, while Arthur A Wilson is handling its cinematography. Niranjan Devaramane is the editor and AS Prakash is the production designer. Sushmita Konidela is the costume designer.

While the story and dialogue were written by Bobby himself, Kona Venkat and K Chakravarthy Reddy have penned the screenplay. The writing department also includes Hari Mohana Krishna and Vineeth Potluri.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Oct 14 (IANS) Rajasthani folk singer Mame Khan, who is known for his Coke Studio track 'Chaudhary', has released his new album titled 'Desert Rose' (Registan Ro Gulab).

Featuring some of the most revered musicians in the independent space like Purbayan Chatterjee, Taufiq Qureshi, Gino Banks, Sheldon D'Silva, Ojas Adhiya, Dilshad Khan, Amar Sangam and Nihal Kamboj, the album is a colourful celebration of love, life and Mame Khan's colourful homeland of Rajasthan.

Happy and excited about the release of the music album, Mame Khan said in a statement, "Releasing an album along with six music videos as an independent Folk artist, is a huge achievement. Music is part of my DNA but bringing it out to my audience is another level."

The entire album along with its music videos was released on Friday onward across all audio streaming platforms.

"The title 'Desert Rose' (Registan Ro Gulab) is a mirror of what the listener can expect - something exceptionally unique and filled with beauty and inspiration. As rare and as beautiful like a Rose in the Desert," Mame Khan added.

--IANS
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Mumbai, Oct 14 (IANS) Former 'Bigg Boss 13' contestant Dalljiet Kaur has given a response to her former husband Shalin Bhanot, who is currently seen in the 16th installment of the reality show, and said that they are not "best friends."

Shalin had stated that Dalljiet and him have remained close friends, even seven years after their divorce while he was speaking to co-contestant Tina Dutta in the show.

Tina asked Shalin about his first marriage on a recent 'Bigg Boss 16' episode. He denied when she asked if his marriage was abusive, and added that he is still best friends with his ex-wife without naming Dalljiet.

Dalljiet took to Twitter and wrote: "No I am not your best friend Shalin. Meeting once a month or two months for the sake of my child does not qualify as friendship.

"I wish you luck with your love life but leave me out of your fiction and stories, please. And u r calling it funny? Really? Tina no hard feelings for you."

Dalljiet and Shalin got married in 2009 and walked separate ways in 2015. The actress had accused Shalin of being abusive and even hitting her when she tried to leave their home.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) Singing sensation B Praak, who has belted out hits-after-hits such as 'Ranjha' and 'Mann Bharryaa 2.0' among many others, said that 'Teri Mitti' from the Akshay Kumar-starrer 'Kesari' was one of the toughest numbers he has ever sung. He also added that every time before he goes on stage, his ritual is to pray to god for a good show.

"Teri Mitti' was one of the toughest songs I've ever sung. It's a powerful song that tells an incredible story and invokes patriotic fervour. So, to do justice to it was something I was very adamant about," said the singer, who is all set to perform in the capital for Zee Live's Supermoon ft. B Praak tour.

When asked what is the one thing you do before going on stage every single time?

"Mai Rab ka naam leta hu. Before every show, I take a few minutes where I just close my eyes and pray for a good show and the health and happiness of everybody present there," pat came the reply.

B Praak has mainly sung numbers in Hindi and Punjabi. But is there any specific language that you would like to sing a song in?

"Abhi tak toh I only have sung songs in Hindi and Punjabi. Eventually, I would like to sing in all major Indian languages. But given the number of languages we have; it'll take me more than a couple of lifetimes to learn all of those languages!"

Music plays a key role in B Praak's life.

Asked what and how much is the role of spirituality in your life and in music, he said: "A lot! I'm very much connected to God. I believe there is someone who is looking after us and we should never forget the supreme power he holds."

--IANS
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Los Angeles, Oct 12 (IANS) 'Under the Silver Lake' star Sydney Sweeney has been signed for a new 'Barbarella' movie for Sony Pictures.

The film is currently in the early phase of development, with no director, producer or writer currently attached, reports 'Variety'. Sweeney seemed to confirm her involvement with the project through an Instagram post.

The actress shared an image of original artwork from the original 1968 space opera, with a caption, "time to save the universe."

According to 'Variety', Sweeney has become somewhat of a marquee talent at Sony Pictures, with the actress co-starring alongside Dakota Johnson in the Marvel Comics adaptation 'Madame Web'.

The studio also landed the rights to 'The Registration', an adaptation of Madison Lawson's thriller of the same name. Brad Fuller is producing, while Sweeney is attached to star.

Adapted from French writer and illustrator Jean-Claude Forest's comic series, the original 1968 'Barbarella' starred Jane Fonda as the eponymous space-travelling heroine. Although the film was not a box office smash at the time, it has garnered a cult film status in the decades since, with Barbarella widely seen as one of Fonda's most iconic on-screen roles.

--IANS
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Los Angeles, Oct 12 (IANS) The entire world has been bitten by the 'Pushpa: The Rise' bug as now New York City's mayor performed actor's iconic hand gesture from the film.

New York's Mayor Eric Adams was seen doing the hand gesture during an event organised by the Telugu community in the city where he interacted with the people and also celebrated the festival of Batukamma with them.

A clip shared by a fan account on Twitter, Mayor was seen performing the iconic hand gesture with two more guests.

The fan account wrote, "Thank you @NYCMayor for Showing Your Love towards Our Indian Film #Pushpa ai, ! Special Thanks and Congratulations to our @anusuyakhasba gaaru and #mangli for making the event grand Successful Video By : @NYCMayorsOffice @alluarjun ac #Anasuya ac #AlluArjun @PushpaMovie"

Allu Arjun's 'Pushpa: The Rise' became a phenomenon upon its release. The film also stars Rashmika Mandanna and Faahad Faasil. The second installment has gone on floors.

--IANS
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On his 80th birthday, the thespian is not ready to call time on his career. Amitabh Bachchan has been a struggler, superstar, bankrupt, a small screen phenomenon, a celluloid colossus and has more or less essayed all types of roles to remain an iconoclast. The arc of his universe littered with peaks and troughs has been legendary.

In an age where hyperboles are common, he stands apart for his being and remains a true legend. Over the years, I have met him and spoken with him several times. Modest to the point of being self-deprecatory, he refuses to accept that his persona remains larger than life. Never afraid to speak his mind, he is distantly related to funambulism.

As he once told me: "I want to keep working, I shall continue to do my best." He added, "Actually, I don't know what else to do. Life is a blur when one is essaying different roles, it is so fulfilling. As a professional, I cannot afford to be complacent. I want to perform and be tested; I want the energy of the younger generation of directors and actors to rub off on me. An actor's career should not and cannot end, the stream should run ceaselessly. Actors should take on fresh challenges because the human mind is a sponge, it soaks up all the time, the process of learning doesn't end." His new movie "Goodbye" is out in theatres and will be followed by "Uunchai" next month.

At one level, suspicion and shadows lurk in the corridors of his mind. The thespian in his autumn cannot and will not forget his bankruptcy. His insecurity stems from those dark days. They act as a whetstone for him, a reference point and equally a reminder. In his case, it is the fear of the known rather than the unknown. "This is the incentive to keep going, because in my mind's eye, I still fret over what will happen tomorrow," he said. "Peaks and troughs are what life is all about. I've been at the lowest ebb in my life - professionally, commercially and personally," he averred.

The Bachchan saga mushroomed in an age when black marketing and smuggling were ruling the roost, his cult type characters were chiselled by Salim Javed and the finished product who took on the establishment became embedded in the memory recesses of cinema goers. The booming baritone and long legs helped as he became the instrumentality against suppression, repression and oppression.

My first meeting with him came when ABCL was looking at a tryst with corporatisation and I went to meet him at his Ajanta Hotel office in Juhu, Mumbai. I was asked to wait and was fiddling with my dictaphone when I saw a pair of Kolhapuris under my eyeline and the famed Paul Muni baritone saying "Hi - I am Amitabh Bachchan". Subsequently as luck would have it, my next job was at Plus Channel which was also housed in the same Ajanta Hotel complex and one saw more of the Man himself.

Subsequently, one has met Bachchan many times. He even invited me to be a judge at his KBC show and my joy knew no bounds. The one question that always nagged me was didn't he ever get bored at being typecast as he took on stereotypical roles for Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai in the 1970s and 80s? I asked him this during one of my interviews with him and he provided a perspective which when viewed from his prism made complete sense. His take on this was strategic and is somehow lost on millions of his aficionados.

He said: "I don't think I got typecast, this is a misconception. For every Manmohan Desai or Prakash Mehra film like 'Amar Akbar Anthony' or 'Zanjeer', myopically there was different cinema that I did and it was with deliberate intent. People forget I did 'Alaap', 'Chupke Chupke', 'Bemisal', 'Jurm', 'Barsaat Ki Ek Raat' and so many more."

Actually Bachchan and Hrishikesh Mukherjee collaborated in many films - "Anand", "Abhiman", "Namak Haram", "Chupke Chupke", "Bemisal", "Mili", "Alaap", "Jurmana", he was also the narrator for "Bawarchi" and played cameos in "Guddi" and "Gol Maal".

Mukherjee invariably brought out the sensitive side of Amitabh Bachchan. In a 1998 interview to Filmfare, Mukherjee shared that other directors of the era "reduced him (Bachchan) to a stunt man". He said: "Other directors tried to exploit his image. They reduced him to a stunt man. Some people said I made a blunder by making him sing classical songs in 'Alaap' when he was busy holding guns and booze bottles in other films. Unfortunately, 'Alaap' didn't do well. It was released during the Emergency when I was very depressed. I thought it was the end of my life."

Bachchan says: "All the films I have done have been meaningful, every one of them had a beginning, a middle and an end. More importantly, poetic justice was served within 3 hours in all of them. You and I shall never get poetic justice in our lifetime - that is the beauty of Indian cinema. My age restricts me from playing young characters, so I must do roles commensurate with my age. I am fortunate to be getting work at this age."

At the same time, he acknowledges Salim-Javed's role. "Salim saheb and Javed saheb gave me scripts and stories that put me in the eyes of the public. Their scripts were creatives of immense credibility, the very best ever, perhaps. They were very conversant with the moods of the audience and they had a great sense of screenplay. I am not sure how they used me with reference to Paul Muni, but why do we always compare our work with that of others in foreign lands. Salim-Javed are established, home-grown talents, and we should take great pride in them. Equating them with someone from the west is unacceptable to me."

When Rajesh Khanna was the presiding deity of Hindi cinema and romance and Kishore Kumar's voice for him dominated the scene, Prakash Mehra queered the pitch with the creation of the Angry Young Man casting Amitabh Bachchan as the brooding Inspector Vijay Khanna turning B Town on its head forever. Mehra, along with Desai, who fathered the grander opus with his formulaic cinema unleashed a spanking new brand of Hindi films. While Mehra helmed "Zanjeer", "Hera Pheri", "Muqaddar Ka Sikandar", "Lawaaris", "Namak Halal" and "Sharaabi" to put Bachchan on the road to megastardom, Desai on the other hand reinforced the Bachchan mystique by creating entertaining capers extraordinaire.

The Bachchan-Desai collaborations were blockbusters - "Amar Akbar Anthony", "Naseeb", "Coolie", "Mard", "Parvarish", "Suhaag", "Desh Premee", et al. Then there was Yash Chopra who again threw into stark relief the brooding imagery of Bachchan - from "Dewaar", "Trishul", "Kala Pathar" to unleashing the romantic hero in "Kabhie Kabhie" and "Silsila". In this journey, there is one more director who cannot be ignored for his work with Bachchan - Ramesh Sippy - who made "Sholay", "Shaan", "Shakti" and "Akayla" with him. From Kachins to Gabbana, Bachchan has carried off many characters dressed in many shades by essaying a wide variety of characters.

To the movie which made him, Bachchan says "Zanjeer", "Dewaar", or "Namak Haram".

"They were all landmark films that made a great impact on the audience. It was a challenge and a joy to be associated with them. 'Zanjeer' gave me my first individual success, but the others were of equal value."

These directors were responsible for the Bachchan mystique in many ways. His body of work is long and distinguished, many of his recent roles have show the fine actor that rests within - "Shamitabh", "Paa", "Pink", "Badla", "Wazir", "Piku", "Black" - as he emotes his way to new heights, giving expression to his art and craft.

--IANS
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By Shambhu Nath Choudhary
Ranchi's poet Anwar Ali will turn 80 on October 11. One may ask, who is this Anwar Ali? It is none other than Amitabh Bachchan, the superstar of Hindi films - who made his film debut as a character with this name over five decades back.


In "Saat Hindustani" released in 1969, by journalist, scriptwriter, and filmmaker Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, the actor played the role of a poet who resided in Hindpiri, Ranchi. However, the character is entirely fictional i.e. no poet of this name ever lived in Ranchi.

The story of the film revolves around the fight to liberate Goa from Portuguese occupation. Seven people from different states of the country leave for Goa on this mission, one of them being Anwar Ali. In one of his dialogues in the film, Amitabh introduces himself saying: "Main hoon Anwar Ali. Bihar ke Ranchi ka rehne wala hoon aur shayri karta hoon." (I am Anwar Ali. I live in Ranchi, Bihar and I am a poet.)

The sincerity by which Bachchan played this character got him the 'Best Newcomer' award for the role. Interestingly, Abbas paid Rs 5,000 as acting fee to him.

In one of his interviews, the actor was recorded saying that even though the fee wasn't a lot in that time, it also wasn't extremely less for a newcomer.

He had also said: "Agar Anwar Ali ke kirdar ke taur par mujhe break na mila hota, toh pata nahi mai aaj kis maukaam par hota." (If I had not got a break as Anwar Ali, I don't know where I would be today.)

"Saat Hindustani" was first released in Delhi's Sheela Cinema, and Bachchan watched the first show with his parents. Before this, the trial screening of the film was also held, in which Abbas saheb specially invited Meena Kumari. Meena Kumari showered a lot of praises on Anwar Ali's character which left Bachchan blushing.

Abbas had a special connection with Ranchi and perhaps this was the reason behind him including Ranchi and mentioning it about half a dozen times in the script of "Saat Hindustani". He was great friends with the famous writer Ghiyas Ahmed Siddiqui of Ranchi. According to Siddiqui's brother and retired professor, Dr. Siddiqui Mujibi, whenever his brother went to Mumbai, Khwaja Saheb himself came to the station to receive him.

Bachchan celebrates his birthday on the same day as the birth anniversary of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan, the leader of the 'total revolution'. It may be a mere coincidence, but while playing the role of Anwar Ali, Amitabh takes the latter's name in a dialogue. In the dialogue, he says: "Main us Bihar rajya ka rehnewala hoon, jaha Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan aur Maulana Mazharul Haque ki paidaish huyi hai (I belong to the state of Bihar, where Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan and Maulana Mazharul Haque were born)."

--IANS
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