Paulo Coelho calls Shah Rukh ‘king’, ‘legend’; SRK replies
Mumbai– As the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer ‘Pathaan’ continues to set new records at the box-office, the Badshah of Bollywood received praise from acclaimed author Paulo Coelho, who recently took to Twitter and spoke about his ‘king’ friend while calling him a ‘legend’ in the same breath.
Paulo Coelho posted a tweet from SRK, which has a video of fans swarming outside his Mannat residence in Mumbai, with the caption, “King. Legend. Friend. But above all, AGREAT ACTOR (for those who don’t know him in the West, I strongly suggest ‘My name is Khan – and I am not a terrorist’).”
Reacting to the tweet, SRK wrote, “You are always too kind my friend. Let us meet up sooner than soon!! Bless you.”
This is not the first time that Paulo Coelho has lavished praise on SRK. In 2017, the author had congratulated the ‘Baazigar’ actor on the seventh anniversary of the movie ‘My Name Is Khan’ on Twitter, saying the actor delivered an Oscar-winning performance in the movie.
He wrote, “His first (and only) movie that I watched (this year, even if it was released in 2008) was ‘My Name is Khan’. And not only was the movie excellent, but SRK deserved an Oscar if Hollywood was not manipulated. He kindly offered to send the other titles; as you probably guess, it is not easy to find them in Switzerlanda.”
Manoj Bajpayee chuffed with response to ‘Joram’ at Rotterdam film fest
Mumbai– National Award winning actor Manoj Bajpayee is chuffed with the response to his film ‘Joram’ at the ongoing 52nd edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). The film is a survival-thriller and tells the story of a displaced indigenous man.
It stars Manoj Bajpayee, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Smita Tambe and Megha Mathur. It also features Tannishtha Chatterjee and Rajshri Deshpande in special appearances.
The screening was attended by the cast and crew including director-producer Devashish Makhija, Manoj Bajpayee, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Smita Tambe, producers Shariq Patel, Ashima Awasthi, Bhumika Tewari, and Anupama Bose.
Manoj Bajpayee said: “I am touched with the overwhelming response we received for ‘Joram’ at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. I am pleased to know that the riveting survival story of ‘Joram’ and its intricate characters struck a chord with those who watched it. It was an honour to have been a part of the grand event in Rotterdam.”
He further mentioned: “I was fortunate to meet other critically acclaimed filmmakers whose films I would be interested to experience. On behalf of director Devashish Makhija, Zee Studios and all those involved in making ‘Joram’ I express my gratitude to all those who supported and shortlisted our film for viewing at your prestigious festival.”
‘Joram’ marks the third collaboration between Devashish and Manoj Bajpayee, and his third film to be screened at IFFR after ‘Ajji’ and ‘Bhonsle’.
Director Devashish Makhija said: “It is a privilege for a film to have its first ever public screening before an audience as engaged, enthusiastic and emotional as the one at IFFR. With a take-off as energising as this, we are hopeful ‘Joram’ has found wings that will help her soar.”
IFFR, which returns with the new edition as the on ground event after 2 online editions in 2021 and 2022 because of the pandemic, is being held at Rotterdam, Netherlands from January 25 to February 5, 2023.
Presented by Zee Studios and produced by Zee Studios in association with Makhijafilm, ‘Joram’ is all set to be released this year.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu shares photo dump from a busy January
Mumbai– Actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who swayed the nation with her moves in “Oo Antava” from “Pushpa: The Rise”, and her work in the recent release “Yashoda”, recently shared that the year started on a busy note for her as January was all about work for her.
On Friday, the actress took to her Instagram to share throwback pictures that capture her working on herself and working on projects. She has posted several pictures including the one where can be seen spending time with the team of “Citadel”.
Another picture sees her in the look for the trailer launch of “Shaakuntalam” and also a picture of her workout from the gym. The actress is now at work in full force with nothing seems to be stopping her.
She titled the post, “January”.
The last picture from her carousel is a message she shared about self-love and motivation. And indicating how she got back on her feet. She had earlier opened up about a skin ailment, Myositis that she had got but is now clearly back with full force, we can see there is no stopping for the most popular actress in India.
On the work front, Samantha has an interesting slate of projects including the Disney-like fairytale film “Shaakuntalam”, the romantic comedy, “Kushi”, and “Citadel”.
Aisha Ahmed recounts how Dilli-6 residents expected Akshay to show up for shoot
Mumbai– Actress Aisha Ahmed, who is gearing up for her new streaming series ‘Minus One: New Chapter’, recently recollected her experience on shooting for the series bang in the middle of Delhi in Chandni Chowk.
The actress, admitted to being completely bowled over by the lip-smacking street food during the shoot but, one thing she vividly remembered was how people around the location thought that Akshay Kumar is coming for the shoot given Khiladi Kumar has already shot a film with Chandni Chowk in its title.
For a short schedule Minus One team shot in the national capital, sharing his experience in Delhi, Aisha Ahmed said, “Shooting in Delhi was lovely, there was obviously great food coming in for every meal because I’ve been in Bombay for so long that I’ve forgotten what good food tastes like. This was also the first time I shot in a live location. I’ve shot in Amritsar before but that was a guerrilla shoot, but here it was a proper shoot set up and we were bang in the middle of old Delhi”.
She further mentioned: “That was really fun, people were just standing and watching, they just kept looking and I don’t think anyone had anywhere to go, they didn’t care who it was, which actors were there, I’m sure they wouldn’t have recognised us. We couldn’t hear ourselves, people were constantly rooting and cheering. One thing I’ll never forget is that we could hear people going around and saying “Akshay Kumar aa raha hai” and Ayush and I were looking at each other and thinking – ‘Bro? Akshay Kumar?’ We didn’t know that. Being in a sweet old town like that It was just a beautiful feeling”
The show explores how two people are trying to define their identities, and eventually learn to let go of the labels and be who they are meant to be.
Aisha’s co-actor in the series, Ayush Mehra said, “Shooting in Chandni Chowk was like shooting with 500 people surrounding you at all times, we had to have bouncers, security, and people looking at us. That day it felt like I was actually shooting. It was a beautiful experience because a lot of people were watching you, and they would come in the middle of the shot saying ‘Hi’. They just knew that there was some shooting taking place so they showed up. It was a very fun, memorable, and a good day of shooting.”
Produced by Writeous Studios and created by Sidhantha Mathur and Shubham Yogi, ‘Minus One: New Chapter’ is set to release on Lionsgate Play on February 14.
I am not a gold digger like Chahatt Khanna, says Sukesh Chandrashekhar
New Delhi– Incarcerated alleged conman, Sukesh Chandrashekhar has released one more letter in which he has claimed that he had never proposed to TV serial actor Chahatt Khanna, when she had come to meet him in Tihar Jail.
Chandrashekhar’s statement comes after Khanna, in an interview with a national daily, claimed that she was trapped in visiting him in Tihar jail, where he went down on his knees before her and proposed marriage.
When she told him that she is already married and has two kids, she was told that her husband was not the right man for her.
Khanna also told the publication that it was only after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned her in the alleged extortion case involving him – a little more than a year ago – that she learnt that Chandrashekhar is not former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s nephew.
In a letter addressed to the media, Chandrashekhar, who is in the capital’s Mandoli jail, claimed that he never proposed to Khanna and she came for a business meeting for some movie production offer, which is also recorded in her statement to the ED.
“I have no interest to date or be with women, who are already married or have children. I am not desperate like these Gold Diggers like Chahatt. My association with Chahatt, Nikki has been only for professional reasons, for which the meetings happened, and advance was paid,” he said in his letter.
“Chahatt says she did not realise that she was in Tihar!! How can someone not know that they are entering a jail for a mulaqat? Was she a 10 year old, in fact even a 10 year old would know what a jail looks like,” he further said.
“She claims that she was tricked by Pinky (Chadrashekhar’s aide Pinky Irani), so I would want to ask, an actress who has done so many projects and a well connected person, how can she blindly trust someone and travel all the way to Delhi and come to Tihar Jail all alone? She is a trained liar. This shows what kind of stories she is making now,” he said.
“If she came to Tihar to meet me or if I was calling her as she claims, why did she not ever report anything to anyone or the police since 2018, what was stopping her to make a complaint all these years?” he added.
Investigations are going on in a money laundering case involving Chandrashekhar and Bollywood actors, including Jacqueline Fernandez and Nora Fatehi, who have also been questioned in relation with the case.
Earlier this month, Delhi’s Patiala House Court adjourned arguments in the alleged money laundering case and the matter will be next heard on February 15. (IANS)