Vidyut Jammwal, who is known for his daredevil action on screen, recently attended the Maharashtra Shree 2024 bodybuilding championship as the special guest.  Besides lauding the participants for their hard work, dedication and perseverance, the actor announced a special prize of Rs 2 lakh for the winner. He said, “We, as a society, need to strive towards and encourage bodybuilders and athletes to achieve their dreams. I’m always on the lookout for talent and ideologies that are focused on finding each one’s warrior spirit. I am glad that I have a chance to interact with and do my best to support these phenomenal bodybuilders who will stop at nothing to make their dreams a reality.”

Date’s the issue

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Prithviraj Sukumaran, who is gearing up for the release of Aadujeevitham aka The Goat Life recently shared why his collaborations with Chiranjeevi didn’t materialise. First, he couldn’t take up Chiru’s offer to play a key role in his historical action drama, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy (2019). Later, he had to decline the megastar’s offer to helm the Telugu version of the Malayalam hit Lucifer (2019), which marked Prithviraj’s directorial debut. Talking about The Goat Life, Prithviraj admitted that Blessy’s directorial venture has long been in the making. While work on the development began in 2010, the film went on floors in March 2018 and shooting wrapped up in July 2022.

A father-son story first

Boman Irani unveiled the teaser of his directorial debut, The Mehta Boys, yesterday. He has also co-written with Alexander Dinelaris, who won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Birdman (2014). The father-son story stars Avinash Tiwary as Boman’s son. The actor-filmmaker recalled that years ago, he had shared the one-line idea with a young girl in production, who said that she’d like to be a part of it whenever he made it. “Many years passed and I worked on it with Alex. The young girl is Aparna. It is serendipitous for this to happen, I would not have it any other way,” the actor-director said, referring to Aparna Purohit, head of India Originals, India and Southeast Asia, Prime Video.

Being better every day

Sara Ali Khan says she has been striving for versatility ever since her debut with Kedarnath (2018). After the direct-to-digital release of her suspense thriller Murder Mubarak last week, she has the period drama, Ae Watan Mere Watan dropping on OTT tomorrow. The actor, who plays the part of freedom fighter Usha Mehta in the film, recently shared, “I want to be a better version of myself every day. I have always been a secure person, but I am not that over-the-top selfless kind of a person.” Conceding that she is finally reaching the stage where she feels genuinely happy for people around her, Sara adds, “It comes from the genuine gratitude for whatever we have. Everybody asks for your aim, but no one sees where you come from. I am living my dream and I want to feel it.” She added that the last time she had two dramatically different movies releasing in a month was in December 2018, with Kedarnath and Simmba.

Kuchh meetha ho jaaye!

Last Friday, Kriti Kharbanda and Pulkit Samrat tied the knot in an intimate Punjabi ceremony in New Delhi. Since then, she has been sharing glimpses from their post-wedding rituals, like griha-pravesh, on social media. Yesterday, Kriti gave a dekko of the first dish she prepared in the Samrat household. She posted a series of pictures as she cooked a meal in her sasural, captioning them, “meri pehli rasoi”, and “approved by daadi.” Impressed with his actor-wife’s cooking, Pulkit also shared the pictures on his social media, along with heart emojis.

Ajay goes international

Ajay Devgn yesterday announced his visual effects studio, NY VFXwaala’s strategic partnership with Sweden’s Goodbye Kansas (GBK) Studio. The Stockholm-based studio boasts an extensive portfolio of services, integrated across films, series, commercials, games, and trailers, with expertise in VFX, FX, 3D face and body scanning, performance capture, animation, and real-time capabilities. The partnership also aims to launch a joint venture studio in India. “Our endeavours involve setting new benchmarks with each project. We embrace a continuous process of learning, evolution, and adaptation to the latest technologies,” said Ajay. Delighted to foray into the international arena, he added, “Our unwavering passion for delivering excellence persists, fuelled by our core values and dedication. We look forward to this journey with GBK.”