Have you heard? No more missing in action now 

Aamir Khan

No more missing in action now

Over the last couple of years, Aamir Khan has been working towards transforming his production house into a studio. A couple of months ago, the actor-filmmaker roped in Aparna Purohit, former Head of Originals for India and Southeast Asia, Amazon Prime Video, to lead Aamir Khan Productions in its new journey ahead. After the success of Kiran Rao's Laapataa Ladies, Aamir has Pritam Pyaare starring son Junaid, Rajkumar Santoshi's Lahore 1947 with Sunny Deol, Vir Das's Happy Patel and RS Prasanna's Sitaare Zameen Par in various stages of post-production. The actor-filmmaker and his production team are finalising their next slate of films, one of which could star Aamir in the lead. To be helmed by Santoshi, the slice-of-life subject has plenty of humour and a social message at its core. An insider shared, "Aamir will, however, finalise his next as an actor only after he locks the edit of Sitaare Zameen Par." Adapted from the 2019 Spanish film, Campeones, the Prasanna-directed movie is slated to release this Christmas. The perfectionist actor will continue to do one film at a time, with a release every 18 months or so.

Musical chairs

Akshay Kumar's Skyforce, which is being readied for an October 2 release, had hit a speed-breaker recently. Reason? Oscar-winning composer MM Keeravaani opted out of Sandeep Kewlani and Abhishek Kapur's directorial venture due to the creative differences with producer Dinesh Vijan over the background score. It is being said that they parted ways on an amicable note, hoping to team up in the future. After MM had opted out, GV Prakash Kumar, who composed the soundtrack and the BGM for Akki's Sarfira, was roped in for Skyforce. While the superstar is pleased with their collaboration, Dinesh, too, found GV to be in sync with their vision, and was more than happy to have him on board. The young composer, who is also Oscar winner AR Rahman's nephew, has assured the makers that he will spare no effort in helping them meet their deadline.

Aankh lag gayi

Rumour has it that Shah Rukh Khan is battling another health hazard. The actor, who suffered a heatstroke and dehydration a few weeks ago during an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad, is said to be flying to the US for eye treatment. While the nature of the problem is not known at this point, the Jawan (2023) star visited a Mumbai hospital on Monday evening. But apparently, the treatment couldn't be done as planned. So, instead of further delay and the problem getting aggravated, SRK decided to head to the US to treat his eye trouble. The actor is slated to begin his next, King, with daughter Suhana Khan, later this year.

Thrice as nice

Ektaa R Kapoor seems keen to replicate the success of her production, Crew, which starred Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Kriti Sanon. This time around, she is joining hands with producer Dil Raju for a film to be helmed by Amit Rai, who previously directed OMG 2 (2023). Amit is working on a script revolving around three female protagonists, along with Ektaa's development team. The director also has the biopic of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj with Shahid Kapoor lined up. While he has completed the first draft of the historical drama, it remains to be seen which of the two movies goes on floors first.

An epic collab

The makers of Ramayana are sparing no efforts in making up for the time lost due to legal wrangle with producer Madhu Mantena. mid-day reported that director Nitesh Tiwari is getting 12 sets ready to resume filming his mythological adaptation with Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Ram and Sai Pallavi as Sita (Mithila comes to Mumbai, July 30). Now, we hear that Kunal Kapoor is the latest addition to the cast. The actor, previously seen in The Empire (2021), has reportedly begun his prep for the two-part project. While it is not yet known which character Kunal will portray, he is slated to join the next schedule. Nitesh and his team have drawn out a year-long schedule for the two parts and will wrap up by December 2025.