Ajay Devgn is ready to revisit the grey side of his screen persona. Almost 21 years after Kaal (2005), the actor will play a supernatural, morally ambiguous character in director Rohit Jugraj’s horror film tentatively titled Griha Pravesh.

“The story is fascinating and something out of the ordinary,” says a source close to production, adding that the film was to be shot in a “single schedule in the United Kingdom from July”. Early this year, mid-day had reported that the film will begin rolling in July (The Devil in Devgn – March 25), but his other commitments have pushed the project.

“The first schedule has been postponed because Ajay is shooting the television series Crime Patrol, which he is hosting. He is also completing the last schedule for the jungle adventure film, Ranger. Kumar Mangat [producer] and Rohit felt that it would save more time if they completed a chunk of the schedule in Mumbai and then went to London later in the year,” adds the source.

The film draws inspiration from the book Garuda Puran, a Sanskrit text comprising a dialogue between Lord Vishnu and Garuda, the King of Birds, and compiled by Veda Vyasa. Divided into two parts, it explores life, duties, death, the afterlife and the soul’s journey, as well as karma and rebirth.

“The book is divided in two parts — Purva Khanda that covers life and duties and Preta Khanda, which focuses on death, the afterlife journey of the soul, and funeral rites. It also focuses on whether actions on earth determine a soul’s experiences, peace, or suffering in the afterlife and its future rebirth. Ajay’s character is somewhere connected to all this [as a corrupted soul],” explains the source.

The first week-long schedule, featuring the characters’ introductions, will be “shot on a suburban Mumbai set depicting British house interiors”. Devgn will then promote Drishyam 3, which releases in October, before shooting for the thriller Chauhaan in December. 

This is the second time Ajay Devgn and Rohit Jugraj are working on a horror film. The latter had assisted filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma on the Devgn-led ‘Bhoot’ (2003).

When dubbing goes global, the voice matters. S S Rajamouli is taking an expansive approach to localising Varanasi, ensuring that the performances of Mahesh Babu, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Prithviraj Sukumaran retain their emotional impact across languages. The filmmaker plans to dub the film in around 50 languages and release it across 120 countries, using real artistes rather than AI-generated or synthetic voices.

“Rajamouli [doesn’t want] the performance to get diluted when the film moves from one language to another. For him, dubbing is not just about translating the dialogue and matching the lip movements. The voice has to carry the emotion, personality, and intent of the character. Rajamouli wants the audience in every market to experience the performance, not just know the dialogue,” explains a source close to production.

Rajamouli recently dismissed suggestions that AI was used to create the film’s glimpse, calling it “a huge insult to their artistic genius”.

The source adds, “The voice is an extension of that performance, so he wants real artistes behind the different language versions. Over 1500 artistes’ works will be sampled before choosing the voices for the final cut.”

A good comedy is one that not only leaves the audience in splits, but also has its makers laughing all the way to the bank. Like Ahmed Khan’s Welcome To The Jungle. After making waves at the box office, the Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty-starrer dropped on JioHotstar on August 21. Word is that producer Firoz A Nadiadwallah and Khan landed a lucrative deal with the streamer.

A trade source revealed, “The ensemble comedy made approximately Rs 196 crore worldwide. The icing on the cake is the sweet deal, said to be over Rs. 90 crore, that they secured with the platform.”

For Khan, August 21 brought a double celebration. While his film began streaming online, it was also his wife Shaira Khan’s birthday.

The director told mid-day, “Working with so many actors was a delight, and now after a super hit, to see it releasing it on OTT is sheer joy. Plus, it’s Shaira’s birthday. She is my pillar of support and always stood like a rock behind me.”

If one measures an actor’s success by the projects in their kitty, Suvinder Vicky comes out shining. The actor, who is currently enjoying a box-office biggie in Awarapan 2, will soon be seen in Hrithik Roshan’s maiden production, Storm. The actor, however, has a different metric to measure success — to him, it’s about earning the trust of his directors.

Vicky told mid-day, “When I get a message from a director saying that they want to work with me, my happiness knows no bounds. Whether I end up doing that project or not is secondary, but that trust shown by them is precious. For instance, Honey Trehan is like my brother. Whether he casts me in his next or not, I will always be present in his films, in spirit.”

The actor collaborated with Trehan on Satluj, which was pulled down from Zee 5. Vicky had almost exited the movie, but a line by Trehan compelled him to remain part of the drama on human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.

“There was a clash of dates between Kohrra and Satluj. I told Sudip [Sharma, Kohrra creator] and Honey to sort it out. Honey is great. When I told him that I was leaving his film because I was getting paid better on Kohrra and it was a longer commitment, he said, ‘My film will not be made without two people, Diljit Dosanjh and you.’”

Even as ‘Satluj’ remains unavailable for streaming, Suvinder Vicky is happy that the controversy around it has shed more light on Jaswant Singh Khalra. “My daughters would ask me what the film was about. I told them to Google it. The new generation should at least get to know about this story,” he said.

A strong three-decade-plus career, largely built on action films, has led Ajay Devgn to know almost everything about the genre. Now the actor is putting that to the test. mid-day has learnt that Devgn, who is fronting director Jagan Shakti’s Ranger, is helming the adventure drama’s climax. Word is that Shakti had filmed an action block with Devgn and Sanjay Dutt, but felt that the climax would benefit from a reshoot with the leading man taking the directorial reins.

Last week, Devgn and Ranger’s action director Kevin Kumar began shooting the climax again at Golden Tobacco Studio in Vile Parle.

A source revealed, “Ajay is reshooting a high-octane action block at Jagan’s request. The director felt that the superstar, being experienced in action, could take the climax to another level. Everybody on the team felt that it needed to look grander than what was shot. During the making of Maa [2025] too, Ajay had reshot certain key action sequences featuring Kajol.”

Exploring the subject of wildlife conservation, Ranger has the actor playing a forest officer who is committed to protecting tigers, but finds it an uphill task with a weak team, corrupt bosses, and aggressive poachers led by Dutt’s character. About the climax, the source revealed,

“The makers have created a set of a massive jungle at the studio. The clash takes place between Dutt’s team of poachers, and Ajay and his officers. The sequence entails car chases, gun fights, and hand-to-hand combat.”

After the climax, the makers will film a special dance number with Tamannaah Bhatia and Ajay Devgn. The song will bring the shoot of ‘Ranger’ to a close.

Something old, something new — that’s what Haiwaan represents to Priyadarshan. If the thriller is the filmmaker’s eighth outing with Akshay Kumar, it also marks his maiden collaboration with Saif Ali Khan. And the more the filmmaker is seeing Haiwaan’s rushes as he cuts the trailer, the more he is convinced that he couldn’t have asked for better performers to bring his cat-and-mouse game to life.

Playing a blind man couldn’t have been easy for Khan. Talking to mid-day, Priyadarshan said that he was impressed by how seamlessly the actor slipped into the role with no training. “No training, nothing,” emphasized the director before adding, “While we were discussing his character, Saif asked me how he should play the role. I told him that the day we start shooting, I’d tell him. On the first day on set when he came to me, I told him to open his eyes, and without blinking, to think that he cannot see. Saif told me that he had never heard such a simple explanation before.”

In Khan, the filmmaker found a curious child, ever ready with questions. “Like my granddaughter, Saif has questions every moment,” laughed Priyadarshan. “Saif is wonderful to work with because he is so transparent. I’ve handled easy-going actors like Suniel Shetty, Shah Rukh Khan, and Akshay, and the most difficult ones like Govinda, Salman Khan, and Akshaye Khanna, but I never had any problem. Once a director shows his actors that he knows what he is doing, they trust him completely.”

Working with Kumar came easy to Priyadarshan after seven movies. However, unlike their past comedies, Haiwaan sees the superstar as a ruthless villain. Priyadarshan elaborated, “Akshay’s character is not grey; he is a psycho in Haiwaan. Akshay and I trust each other so much that he never asked me any questions. He just did what I asked him to do.”

Even as reports suggest that Shahid Kapoor will kick off a comedy later this year, the actor is keen to collaborate with long-time friend and producer Jackky Bhagnani for a big-screen outing. Bhagnani revealed to mid-day that the two friends want to unite forces professionally.

“Shahid and I want to do something together. We feel that while we have been friends for 20 years, we can come together strongly as a professional team. But until we find that correct opportunity, we won’t. We are actively looking for something to collaborate on,” said the actor-turned-producer.

In early 2024, this plan had almost come to fruition. Bhagnani’s Pooja Entertainment and Prime Video had announced their ambitious film, Ashwatthama: The Saga Continues, as part of the streamer’s slate. However, it was soon heard that the project was shelved.  

When we mentioned this to Bhagnani, he shared, “There were multiple reasons why we decided against it. [One being that] Kalki 2898 AD [2024] came after that. When you make a big-scale film, the audience doesn’t judge you on the basis of the amount of money you have spent on it, but on how unique your content is. If it’s not unique, that money goes down the drain.”

Rumours also suggested that Jackky Bhagnani’s banner was producing ‘Suryaputra Mahavir Karna’ with South star Vikram. “We aren’t doing it right now. We have pushed it,” he revealed.

Fourteen years after Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a crackdown on gutkha, pan masala and scented supari advertising, the battle over surrogate promotion has resurfaced, this time involving three Bollywood stars.

Former Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Mahesh Zagade, who led the 2012 crackdown, says the action forced gutkha and pan masala brands to pull advertisements from television and hoardings and dried up their sponsorship of Ganpati mandals in Mumbai and Pune.

Now, the FDA has issued show-cause notices to Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn and Tiger Shroff over their endorsement of Vimal Elaichi, alleging that the campaign is a surrogate front to promote Vimal Pan Masala.

The notices were delivered to Khan's Mannat residence in Bandra, Devgn's bungalow in Juhu and Shroff's production firm. The actors have been asked to place their explanations on record and pull down promotional material from their social media and digital channels within 15 days.

The FDA has invoked Sections 24 and 53 of the Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006, along with provisions of the Consumer Protection Act. It has alleged that the use of identical brand identity, dialogues and presentation creates deceptive brand recall for a prohibited product.

Zagade said the issue was tackled during his tenure more than a decade ago. “When I banned gutkha, pan masala, and scented supari back in 2012, it was the first time such a blanket ban was imposed in Maharashtra. The moment the ban took effect, all promotional advertisements were immediately taken off air and stripped from hoardings.”

Adv Jamshed Mistry, Bombay High Court, said Section 5 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003 prohibits direct and indirect advertising of tobacco products. “Surrogate advertising is strictly prohibited under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003. Section 5 prohibits direct and indirect advertising of tobacco products, and the statutory rules explicitly recognise the use of a tobacco product’s name or brand to promote other goods, services, or events as indirect advertising. If an ad for a product like elaichi is used as a vehicle to promote a banned brand, it attracts regulatory scrutiny.”

Zagade said the crackdown also hit corporate sponsorship of Ganpati mandals. “Back then, Ganpati mandals in Mumbai and Pune were heavily sponsored and flooded with hoardings by gutkha and pan masala giants. That year, their funding dried up completely. Many mandals approached me seeking exemptions, but I refused point-blank. For the next two years during my tenure, not a single ad appeared. If these ads crept back in, subsequent commissioners clearly failed to pursue the enforcement stringently.”

He said the FDA had also acted against celebrities over misleading endorsements. “I had issued personal notices to top actors for misleading endorsements—including fake joint-pain oils—and registered over 450 cases against fictitious claims under food and drug laws. When one veteran actor was confronted, he immediately withdrew. Ground-level action has to be sustained and systemic, not just occasional media hype.”

The case also raises questions about how much responsibility celebrity endorsers have to investigate the brands they promote, particularly where a brand is also associated with a restricted or prohibited product. Adv Behzd Irani and Adv Ruchika Sharma, Advocates, Bombay High Court, said the advertisement would have to be assessed as a whole.

“The FDA’s allegation essentially raises the question of whether the advertisement of an otherwise permissible product is being used to indirectly promote a prohibited product under the same brand umbrella,” they said.

“Legally, the mere use of a common brand name may not, by itself, establish surrogate advertising. The advertisement has to be considered in its entirety, including its presentation, packaging, brand recall, and the overall impression it creates upon the consumer. Importantly, a show-cause notice is an initiation of regulatory proceedings and should not be equated with a conclusive finding of contravention.”

They said celebrity endorsers should exercise greater due diligence when a brand has an established association with a restricted or prohibited product. “In such circumstances, due diligence should extend beyond verifying the legality of the product being advertised and should include an assessment of whether the campaign could reasonably be construed as indirect or surrogate promotion.”

The lawyers said the actors should cooperate with the FDA and submit relevant agreements, legal clearances and due-diligence material. They added that, unless removal has specifically been directed, a show-cause notice itself does not amount to a final finding of illegality, though continuing the campaign would require caution.

A copy of the show-cause notice issued by the Maharashtra FDA to the actors over the advertisement

Romance is on Vedika Pinto’s mind, especially after the love she has received for Netflix’s Musafir Café. While she is open to any story that “resonates” with her, she is keen to explore romance and comedy. “I’d love to do more romance,” she says.

As she navigates the industry, Pinto is also learning to deal with its treatment of newcomers. Recalling how a filmmaker scoffed at her for asking for a script, she says, “Not long ago, there was a film on the table, and I remember asking for a script. But he told my management, ‘Acha, isko lagta hai yeh itni badi actress ban gayi hai ki yeh script maang rahi hai?’ And I was thinking it’s not about being [entitled], this is my job as an actor’.”

The experience reminded her of how filmmaker Anurag Kashyap made her read the script of Nishaanchi (2025), when she was only two films old.

“I wouldn’t trade that relationship for anything,” smiles the actor. “I read the script of Nishaanchi two-and-a-half years before it was made. Nishaanchi took so long to get made because he went to a lot of places [to get collaborators]. Several producers said they would love to make the movie, but with a star name. Platforms suggested that he take alternate talent, but he was fixated on Aaishvary [Thackeray] and me. He said, ‘I will make this movie when I get to make it with my cast’.”

They have made audiences laugh across three franchises and now the cult quartet is ready to take on the undead. mid-day had earlier reported that producer Firoz A Nadiadwallah was planning to reunite Paresh Rawal, Nana Patekar, Anil Kapoor, and Suniel Shetty, potentially for the fourth instalment of the Welcome franchise (More mischief in the making, March 8). Now, a source reveals that the foursome will reunite in director Ahmed Khan’s yet-untitled zombie comedy, headlined by Tiger Shroff.

The film will see the veteran actors reprise their iconic characters — Yeda Anna (Shetty), Uday Shetty (Patekar), Majnu Bhai (Kapoor), and Dr Ghunghroo (Rawal) — crowd favourites since Awara Paagal Deewana (2002), Welcome (2007) and Welcome Back (2015).

“While the movie is a horror-supernatural-drama, it is also a comedy as it will cater to all kinds of audiences, including children,” shares a source from the creative team. Nadiadwallah wants the film to be “a part of the family universe”.

While Kapoor and Patekar did not feature in Welcome to the Jungle, Rawal appeared as Das rather than Dr Ghunghroo. “The idea was to bring back their characters in some way as people love and miss them.”

Shroff’s action hero persona is certain to draw children to theatres, the source assures. “Tiger will play the main protagonist who fights the zombies. Children love and connect to him and that was a major reason for getting him on board.” The veteran actors are also “excited to play the 2.0, new-age versions” of their iconic characters.

“Firoz wants a grand, stylish, and larger-than-life look and feel of the film with ample VFX and comic doses. The film will be shot in UAE, Europe, and across India, and is expected to roll by end of the year. Once the scripting is complete, the heroines will be finalized,” adds the insider.