Have you heard? And the winners are…

Alia Bhatt, Allu Arjun and Kriti Sanon

The 69th National Film Awards announced yesterday threw up some surprises. Alia Bhatt and Kriti Sanon shared the Best Actress honours for their performances in Gangubai Kathiawadi and Mimi respectively. Allu Arjun bagged the Best Actor award for Pushpa: The Rise. Shoojit Sircar's Sardar Udham won in the Best Hindi Film category, R Madhavan's Rocketry: The Nambi Effect won the Best Feature, while SS Rajamouli's RRR triumphed as the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. Vivek Agnihotri's The Kashmir Files won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. Gangubai Kathiawadi and Sardar Udham bagged five awards each, while RRR won six. Pankaj Tripathi won the Best Supporting Actor for Mimi, and Pallavi Joshi won the Best Supporting Actress for The Kashmir Files. Tripathi, who lost his father earlier this week, said, "If Babuji were around, he'd have been very happy for me. When I first got the National Award mention, he was very proud and pleased. I dedicate my win to my father and his spirit. I am who I am because of him." Esha Deol's short on female foeticide, Ek Duaa, won in the Non-Feature Films category.

Dig that!

It seems that Kajol took a dig at Kangana Ranaut in her social media post. Kangana recently shared a BTS clip from her rehearsal of the navarasas, the nine emotions, for her upcoming film, Chandramukhi 2. Kajol shared pictures showing different expressions, saying, "Who's the clown? Who's the saviour? Me… you… me… you… me… -- Stay with me, by Margaret Glaspy." For the uninitiated, there's no love lost between the K heroines after Kajol's husband Ajay Devgn acted with Kangana in Rascals.

Another party anthem

Buoyed by the success of Pathaan, Siddharth Anand is leaving no stone unturned with his next, Fighter. The Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone and Anil Kapoor-starrer has piqued audiences' interest ever since its announcement. The director's movies always have foot-tapping music, and the upcoming aerial action thriller will be no exception. Siddharth is readying for a pacy track with his team. Duggu, Deepika, Anil and the rest of the cast are said to have begun rehearsals for the big party number. A grand set is being built in a Mumbai studio to shoot the track in the first week of September. Most of the shoot is complete, save for some VFX shots. Post-production is underway to meet the January 25, 2024, release date.

Move over Poo, Geet

Kareena Kapoor Khan has come up with an interesting video to kickstart the promotions of her next, Sujoy Ghosh's screen adaptation of Keigo Higashino's book, The Devotion of Suspect X. It starts with a filmmaker pitching a film called Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gun to her, saying her Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham's Poo becomes a policewoman who hides her gun in her heels. In typical Poo style, Bebo retorts, "Tumhara koi haq nahin banta ki tum itni guilty lago." She is not too pleased as she is also pitched a sci-fi thriller called Kal We Met, Poo-key Blinders, Jab We Pet et al. Her eyes light up when she is offered a movie that is thrilling, has romance and is set in a mysterious location. What's more, it also promises to show Kareena in a never-seen-before avatar. Alongside the video, the actor wrote, "It's a secret I can't wait to tell." Sources claim that the film is being titled Jaane Jaan, and the makers are planning to drop it online on September 22, a day after her birthday. We also hear that the makers are planning to unveil the trailer on September 5 with a special event in the city.

To the moon and back

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently lauded ISRO scientists for the success of Chandrayaan-3. However, she confused astronaut Rakesh Sharma with filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, the video of which went viral. Soon, netizens flooded social media with hilarious memes about her gaffe. One netizen shared a photoshopped image of Rakesh Roshan as an astronaut, saying, "Thank you Mamata ji for the reminder. Big congratulations to Rakesh Roshan on becoming an astronaut and landing on the moon." Another user shared a video of Hrithik Roshan dancing, and wrote, "Hrithik Roshan after he came to know that his father Rakesh Roshan had once gone in space." Yet another netizen remarked, "I think the Hon'ble Mamata Banerjee was watching Koi Mil Gaya before her speech on stage."

Look test

Buzz around B-Town is that the makers of Ramayana are quietly going about their work on the magnum opus. They are not interested in cutting corners or making compromises, so they are in no hurry to finalise things. Even as rumours are rife about Ranbir Kapoor being approached to essay Lord Ram, it is being said that things are far from locked. Reportedly, director Nitesh Tiwari recently did a look test with Kannada actor, Yash. The KGF star underwent several look tests for the part of the demon king, Raavan. "It will take a while before the principal cast is finalised," said a source. He added that the makers want to do justice to the subject and are fine with devoting extra time to pre-production.