Latest Bollywood News Today Transcript at 11:30 AM on 21 July 2023
In our top story, the much-awaited glimpse of Project-K has been released amid much fanfare at the ongoing San Diego Comic-Con in the USA. The makers also announced the final title of the film as “Kalki 2898AD”, replacing the working title. Actors Prabhas and Kamal Haasan released the teaser at a special event. A multi-lingual sci-fi film, Project-K has been directed by Nag Ashwin and produced by Vyjayanthi Movies. The glimpse shows a war-torn world in the future, where people seem to be ruled by dark forces and technology and are treated violently by the oppressor. The film also stars Amitabh Bachchan and Disha Patani in pivotal roles.
Moving on. Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan-starrer Bawaal released today on Amazon Prime Video and the first reactions from their peers in the film industry sound quite promising. The film, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, is the story of a newlywed couple who travel to Europe to visit World War 2 sites while their relationship is going through a difficult patch. Arjun Kapoor praised the film and called it a “unique yet entertaining” story. Filmmaker Karan Johar called it an “unusual and original love story” and praised the performances of Varun and Janhvi. He shared on Instagram – “Possibly the most unusual and original love story seen in the mainstream. It moved me in so many moments.”
Film producer Ronnie Screwvala speculated the reason why Bollywood films haven’t been performing well with critics and audiences in recent months. He said in an appearance on Raj Shamani’s podcast, that the main problem is that Hindi filmmakers haven’t evolved with the times, which is why audiences aren’t turning up to watch their films in theatres. He shared – “I don’t want to be judgmental, but I think we’ve taken our audience for granted here. When you’re in an insular industry and you’re clannish, you just do the same thing again. At every meeting, someone is finishing the sentence for you. Sorry, but where’s the diversity? Who’s going to challenge you?”
Meanwhile, actor Vijay Varma’s outings as men in varying shades of grey, including Gully Boy, Darlings, Prime Video series Dahaad, and Lust Stories 2, have led to his fans constantly enquiring about his next positive role. He told PTI in an interview – “I don’t believe in standing out or trying to get attention. I feel it’s not an actor’s job. I figured that I had to play a character like the most regular guy. If I do anything out of the ordinary, then the characters around me will look stupid. I’m trying to kind of mix it up. I’m just very happy that I have a medium, an audience. I want to keep doing good work.”
Actors Ishita Dutta and Vatsal Sheth welcomed a baby boy on the night of 19th July. The Drishyam actor is expected to be discharged later this week, as per reports. Vatsal took to social media to share the first picture of their son and wrote alongside – “We have been blessed with a baby boy. Thank you all for the love and wishes.” In the photo, the couple is seen holding the baby. Their friends from the industry dropped congratulatory messages on the post. Earlier, speaking to indianexpress.com, Ishita had shared – “As a parent, of course, you tend to be strict but I want to have a connection. I would always want to have an honest conversation with them.”
Meanwhile, actor Genelia Deshmukh recently revealed that some film producers and directors suggested she change her name during the initial days of her career. But she refused to take the suggestion and never agreed with them. The actor, in an interview with Siddharth Kanan, shared, “When I first came into films, people told me to change my name. I don’t know what they were thinking but they said people will find it difficult to pronounce. But I insisted that’s my name. Today everyone calls it, so I am glad I didn’t take the suggestion.” Genelia will be next seen in a film titled, Trial Period. It also stars Manav Kaul.
Actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub found himself at the centre of a major controversy after a scene featuring him in the Prime Video series Tandav was singled out by a certain section of society because it offended their religious beliefs. Zeeshan spoke to the Lallantop, where he was asked how he navigated the controversy. He shared – “It wasn’t a good time, sure, especially the first 10 days. Then, slowly, it died down when agendas became clear. But I understood one thing about this industry, people whom I trusted, left me hanging. Projects I was almost signed up for were taken away. It taught me that a lot of people are opportunistic.”
Lastly, Veteran actor Raj Babbar is proud of his actor-son Prateik Babbar for getting his life back on track after facing a few setbacks. Raj recently opened up about the time when Prateik was in a dark place which made things difficult for him, and his loved ones. In an interview with Rajshri Unplugged, Raj while talking about his family, said, “Prateik is there in the film industry and he is doing everything he can. He is very sincerely working. There was a time in between when he troubled everyone and was troubled himself but now he has molded himself. He is doing good work, he is getting good offers.”
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