Bajirao Singham meets Chulbul Pandey: Salman Khan to shoot cameo with Ajay Devgn

Salman Khan

Chulbul, Singham to unite?

Over the last few weeks, rumours have been rife that Salman Khan is being roped in for a special role in Rohit Shetty's Singham Again, starring Ajay Devgn in the titular role and Kareena Kapoor Khan as his leading lady. Mid-day recently reported about the filmmaker's meeting with Salman on the set of Sikandar last Wednesday (Jab Shetty met Salman, October 5). With Akshay Kumar reprising his role as Sooryavanshi and Ranveer Singh as Simmba, the action drama gets bigger with Deepika Padukone and Tiger Shroff joining Rohit's cop universe. Latest reports claim that Salman's supercop Chulbul Pandey from the Dabangg franchise will have a cameo in the upcoming Diwali release. However, everybody's favourite Bhaijaan won't have an extended role like Akki and Ranveer in the festive offering. It is being said that Rohit is managing a coup of sorts by bringing Ajay's Bajirao Singham and Salman's Chulbul Pandey together on screen for a while. The filmmaker will surely present the latter in a full-fledged role in a future project. Salman is expected to shoot the cameo with Ajay in the coming days, the details of which are being closely guarded. It appears that with this ace, Singham Again is set to steal a huge march over the other Diwali outing, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3.

Mentor returns

Over four years since she left the reality television show, Roadies, Neha Dhupia is all set to reclaim her place as a mentor in the upcoming season. Known for her no-nonsense approach, the actor will bring her cut-throat decisions and sharp commentary to the competition, as she joins the show's original mentor, Rannvijay Singha. "Neha has been an integral part of the Roadies journey, and her return is set to shake things up in the best way possible. The road tour begins this week and the show will be shot until December," said our source. Neha has done a few meetings with the core team. An insider, who is an integral part of the creative team, revealed, "Several new elements are being added. Season 20 will be a major level up for the show."

‘Alia is absolutely fearless'

Actor Jason Tham, who plays a gangster in Jigra, is excited about sharing screen space with Alia Bhatt, who is also a producer on the thriller with mentor Karan Johar. Talking about his experience of working with her, he says, "If I can define Alia in one word, it has to be ‘Beast'. When it comes to scenes, she is absolutely fearless, a true professional and a director's actor. You'll be amazed by her ability to switch on and off. I've always admired her work and sharing space with her was quite challenging as she was outstanding." Also praising director Vasan Bala, Jason adds, "Vasan sir is a visionary, and an actor's dream, he lets you improvise to get the best out of the scene. He also has many quirky suggestions that elevate the scene. Moreover, his friendly and approachable nature made the entire experience even more exciting." He considers himself doubly fortunate to be a part of this project.

Finally, a breakthrough!

Shanaya Kapoor's Bollywood debut seems to be finally materialising. Sanjay and Maheep Kapoor's daughter has reportedly bagged the lead role opposite Vikrant Massey in Aakhon Ki Gustaakhiyaan. Helmed by Santosh Singh, the film is based on Ruskin Bond's popular short story, The Eyes Have It. Shanaya plays the role of a theatre actor, while Vikrant essays the part of a visually-challenged musician in the film. The title is inspired by the song, Aakhon ki gustaakhiyaan, from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), starring Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai.

Summoned!

Rhea Chakraborty appears to have got caught into another controversy. This time around, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell has summoned the actor in connection with the alleged HIBOX app scam. Set to take place on Wednesday, October 9, the investigation revolves around a February 2024 scheme that reportedly defrauded approximately 30,000 investors of about R500 crores through promises of high daily returns. While there's no official word on Rhea's involvement in the matter, her summons came up after Elvish Yadav and Bharti Singh were called for questioning by Delhi Police. Ever since the number of those duped and the amount came out, scrutiny of social media influencers is said to have intensified as the police probe the app's promotional activities. Rhea's upcoming appearance before the IFSO Unit is expected to shed light on the broader implications of this alleged fraud.

Inspiring the south

Binny and Family didn't draw crowds to cinemas, but it has wowed the studio behind S Shankar's Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar-starrer 2.0 (2018) and Mani Ratnam's two-part period action drama, Ponniyin Selvan. Lyca Productions has reportedly acquired the Telugu and Tamil remake rights of Ssanjay Tripaathy's directorial venture that featured Anjini Dhawan (niece of Varun Dhawan), Pankaj Kapur, Himani Shivpuri, Rajesh Kumar, Naman Tripaathy and Charu Shankar. Impressed with the film's tonality, the studio bosses are keen to take it to family audiences around the globe.