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Prabhas in Kalki 2898 AD

After the underwhelming response to Prabhas' last few releases, Saaho (2019), Radhe Shyam (2022) and Adipurush (2023), all eyes are on Kalki 2898 AD. Helmed by Nag Ashwin, the dystopian action thriller has been making news ever since its announcement. The action extravaganza also stars Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan, Deepika Padukone, Disha Patani and Shobhana. While the advance bookings for the 2D and 3D format of the film in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam languages have been encouraging, the same can't be said for the IMAX format in Hindi. Earlier this week, the distributor asked for the premium bookings to be halted. While they were resumed a day later, the IMAX screenings didn't have a smooth start on the release day. Reportedly, a few multiplexes had not received the KDM (Key Delivery Message) codes to play the movie in the IMAX format. As a result, some morning shows were cancelled. Naturally, the cinemas had to refund the ticket prices to the public immediately. Chatter in Chennai is that the passkey for the IMAX format in the Tamil versions were also not issued in time. The Telugu and Malayalam versions were screened without any hiccups. Thankfully, the KDM issues were resolved by afternoon and subsequently, it was business as usual.

Action comedy on the cards

It appears that Rohit Dhawan is moving on after his ambitious remake of Sylvester Stallone's Rambo (1982) with Tiger Shroff was shelved a few weeks ago. The director is said to be teaming up with his Dishoom (2016) producer Sajid Nadiadwala for a movie. Reportedly, the duo are planning an action comedy that takes off from Rohit's director-father David Dhawan's Deewana Mastana (1997). While the Anil Kapoor, Govinda and Juhi Chawla-starrer was a comedy, we hear Rohit's script will be action-oriented. Casting calls will be taken after he finalises the screenplay and the film will go on floors only next year. It remains to be seen if Rohit ropes in actor-brother Varun Dhawan for their second collaboration after Dishoom.

Wrap-up with a night shoot

Alia Bhatt has wrapped up her next, Jigra. She recently pulled an all-nighter to complete the upcoming thriller, which she is also producing with mentor Karan Johar. Directed by Vasan Bala, the film features Alia in the lead role alongside Vedang Raina and Aditya Nanda. A source said, "Vasan had scheduled a late night shoot. They picturised a scene featuring Alia and Vedang, from 2 am to 4 am. Later, they shot another dramatic sequence." The informer added that the night shoot marked the completion of the film, "unless some patch-work comes up." The movie, which revolves around a woman's courageous attempt to protect her brother, is slated to arrive in cinemas on October 11.

Where's my luggage?

Aditi Rao Hydari is mighty miffed with her travel to Europe recently. The actor, who is upbeat with the response to her portrayal of Bibbojaan in Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, shared her disappointing experience at Heathrow airport, on social media. The actor, who had to wait long for her baggage, wrote, "Heathrow chaos x 10000.. Two hours at an empty luggage belt!" In another post, the actor shared a screenshot of her conversation with the airport's official social media page where she took up the issue with the authorities. When they denied having any control over the baggage-handling process, Aditi wrote, "Heathrow washed their hands of any answers." She shared a series of posts with a countdown that went over a day, stating that she had not received her luggage and the airport authorities had refused to take any responsibility. In another post, Aditi indicated that it had been 32 hours since her luggage went missing, and the airport authorities showed "zero accountability." Aditi and fiancé Siddharth, who recently attended Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal's reception, are expected to tie the knot later this year.

Batting for animal cause

Jacqueliene Fernandez, who has been keeping a low profile in recent times, will soon be seen batting for animal welfare. She is set to talk about preventing cruelty to animals at the 3rd Vegan India Conference at a suburban five-star hotel early next month. The focus of Jackie's talk will be to encourage people to adopt a plant-based diet, citing how it is rich in proteins and aids muscle-building. An avid animal lover and a vegan, Jackie also launched You Only Live Once (YOLO) Foundation to create and share stories of kindness.