World Cups are usually a quadrennial affair. But in Nora Fatehi’s calendar, they are turning out to be a much more frequent event. In February, the actor and dancer performed at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup’s opening ceremony in Mumbai. Is another World Cup outing on the cards? That’s what we’ve heard. mid-day has learnt that Fatehi has been approached to perform at the FIFA World Cup 2026.

According to sources, her act will be held at the Toronto Stadium in Canada on June 12, before the host country plays its opening match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. This has been lined up a day after the FIFA World Cup opening ceremony takes place at the iconic Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on June 11. 

A source told mid-day, “Nora has been approached to take part in the ceremony before Canada’s first match. As one of the three countries hosting the football World Cup, Canada is planning a grand entertainment launch on June 12. Nora has a busy work schedule in June. So, she is weighing in on the situation. That said, she will most likely perform at FIFA as it’s an extremely prestigious event.”

After she gives her nod, Fatehi will zero in on the songs she will be shaking a leg to.

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If things work out, this will be Nora Fatehi’s second appearance at the FIFA World Cup. The actor and dancer had performed at the closing ceremony of the 2022 edition in Qatar

Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar The Revenge entered the Rs. 1,000 crore club on its third Sunday, the fastest Indian film to achieve the feat after Pushpa 2 (2024). Even as the film continues its strong run, a section of viewers labelled it ‘propaganda’.

Reacting to the criticism, actor and Lok Sabha MP Ravi Kishan says that the film franchise “revived the industry and brought out facts in cinematic brilliance”.

“Calling it a propaganda film is very wrong! Actors from the South supported it openly; everyone should do that,” Kishan opines, adding, “A new trend has started of calling films propaganda; log yeh ek naya kabootar pakad liye hain!”

The actor, recently seen in Maamla Legal Hai season 2, compares the franchise to the 1975 blockbuster Sholay: “The writer picks topics from real news and incidents, and the team cinematically presents them on the screen. The truth needs to be brought in front of people.”

While the 56-year-old was not a part of the franchise, he has “no regrets”. “Someone somewhere must be writing a Dhurandhar for me. Log chal ke aate hain, main reng ke aaya hoon after 35 years and 750 films,” he laughs, adding, “But I’d like to work with Aditya or (filmmaker) Sanjay Leela Bhansali, like I got to work with (filmmaker) Karan Johar in (upcoming film) Naagzilla.”

Actor Janhvi Kapoor made her Bollywood debut in 2018 opposite Ishaan Khatter with Dhadak. Now, she has revealed struggling with depression despite her first film’s commercial success.

“Every time anyone talks to me about my first film, they are like, ‘She was so good in it’. But my memory of Dhadak was very different. I was depressed after Dhadak,” the 29-year-old said on Raj Shamani’s podcast, adding, “I thought ho gaya, pack-up ho gaya. People hate me.”

Janhvi made her debut just months after the sudden and tragic death of her mother, veteran actor Sridevi in February 2018.

“I got all of my validation in my life from my mum. She went away. So I was like, ‘I’m going to shift that to the audience’. I was expecting some across-the-board acceptance, which I didn’t know does not exist,” she shared.

The actor admitted that she focused only on criticism, overlooking the film’s strong performance at the box office: “I didn’t even acknowledge that it was a very big success. I think it was the most commercially successful film with newcomers until Saiyaara. It didn’t click that it was a hit. I just knew that I sucked and people hated me… Because I only looked at the negative, and that became my reality.”

Saiyaara (2025), starring Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, broke Dhadak’s record for highest opening day ticket sales for a debutant-led Hindi film.

Today, when the world is witnessing the US and Israel’s war with Iran, Rana Daggubati’s production Neelira takes us back to another war — the Eelam conflict in Sri Lanka. What drew him to the Tamil release was how it zoomed in to examine the effects of a war on ordinary lives.

He shares, “You’ve seen so many films about war, but this one takes a human angle. Today, we’re constantly hearing what world leaders are saying — [Donald] Trump said this, someone else said that — but that’s a high-level view of what’s going on. Every place has people and their everyday life gets affected because of wars.”

That point is highlighted in Neelira. Set in 1988, Someetharan’s directorial venture tells the story of a family preparing for a wedding, only to get caught in crossfire between the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Daggubati adds, “Most war films take sides. One side is good, the other is bad. That’s the usual narrative. This film throws that out; it doesn’t stand with anyone. It’s humans against war.”

According to him, such movies are a way of “recreating time” and understanding chapters of history. Yet, they are steadily shrinking in Indian cinema.

Daggubati reflects, “A lot of drama has moved to long-form series. People are also consuming short-form content. So, cinema is stuck in the middle, and it starts playing safe.”

However, as a producer, he is certain of the kind of stories he wants to tell. “Films like this age well. They’re not here for a three-week run. As long as war exists, there will be people dealing with its trauma. If we don’t tell these stories, we lose something much bigger than a film.”

DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE collected 23 crore nett on its third Saturday which is a 15% jump from the previous day. Friday was a holiday for Good Friday which meant inflated collections. So, the growth was going to be limited. Generally there was limited growth on Saturday for all the films that are currently being screened in theatres. The two figures are an 43 crore nett which are excellent for the third week.

The film now stands at a huge 848 crore nett and this should go to around 875 crore nett after this weekend which will mean around 100 crore nett more than DHURANDHAR in just eighteen days. The film is totally dominating as far as the market for Hindi films go as there is no other Hindi film around that even collected 10 lakh on Saturday.

DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE is the record holder in Delhi/UP,  East Punjab, Nizam/Andhra, Mysore and TNK. Basically its North India and South India so far. These are fastest because its the local feel for North and for South its always the scale as far as Hindi films goes. The biggest ones in South India in history are about scale. It should add a few more circuits including Mumbai but there, the gaps will not be like these North and South circuits.

The collections of DHURANDHAR THE REVENGE (Hindi) are as follows.

Paid Previews - 40,00,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 75,00,00,000 apprx

Friday - 72,00,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 97,00,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 1,00,00,00,000 apprx

Monday - 60,00,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 46,00,00,000 apprx

Wednesday - 42,00,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 44,00,00,000 apprx

Friday - 37,00,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 55,00,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 57,00,00,000 apprx

Monday - 22,00,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 24,00,00,000 apprx

Wednesday - 17,50,00,000 apprx

Thursday - 16,00,00,000 apprx

Friday - 20,00,00,000 apprx 

Saturday - 23,00,00,000 apprx

Remember Paresh Rawal screaming ‘Teja main hoon, mark idhar hai’ in Andaz Apna Apna (1994)? Saket Patel, one of the junior artistes in Ramayana: Part 1, went through something similar, telling the internet, “Yeh character main hoon, turban idhar hai.”

In a sequence from Ramayana’s teaser that shows Ranbir Kapoor flanked by large crowds, eagle-eyed fans spotted that a character’s turban changed colour from blue to purple as the shot transitioned from wide to close-up. That was enough for the internet to declare that the crowd was AI-generated.

“There is no need for AI to create a crowd,” Patel told mid-day over a call. He also viewed the incident as an opportunity to own the narrative. “When the shot was in the teaser, I was happy. But when everybody started talking about the colour change in the turban, I thought, ‘Let me just go out and tell people that I exist,’” he said.

Patel recalled that filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari shot the sequence two years ago at Film City. “I got to know that the makers were looking for people for a crowd sequence and went in as an extra,” he said, adding that the scene featured around 500 artistes.

“The shoot went on for a half a day. Ranbir remained in character. So, he was not interacting with anybody other than the director and the team. It was a large set. It’s not a green screen, as people are claiming it is.”

Saket Patel (encircled) in the contentious scene. Pics/YouTube

In March, mid-day reported that Sunny Deol had quietly kicked off his next, the working title of which is ‘Antony’, in Mumbai (Sunny goes full steam ahead, March 28). Now that the Mumbai leg is wrapped up, the senior actor is heading to Goa. Nope, not for a well-deserved break, but for more work.

Sources have told us that director Balaji Ganesh has planned a month-long schedule in the state, where the leading man will shoot some critical fight sequences.

A source revealed, “This is where the story’s scale expands. The movie is about Sunny’s cop character trying to bust a crime syndicate in Goa. Naturally, some of the film’s biggest action set-pieces are planned here. A major fight sequence involves a high-speed pursuit along the coastal roads, followed by combat set against the shoreline. The unit is also planning a night shoot featuring explosions and heavy-duty stunts, with Sunny sir performing a large part of the action himself.”

The movie also stars Jyotika, and Vijay Varma as the antagonist.

Ever since actor Paresh Rawal revealed that a sequel to Malamaal Weekly is in the works, fans have been excited about its development.

While recent reports suggested that Maidaan director Amit Sharma would helm the sequel to the 2006 film, he firmly shut down the speculation.

“There seems to be some speculation around this, but no, this is not true. I’m not attached to the film in any capacity,” Sharma says.

Requesting an end to such reports to avoid confusion, he adds, “I’d really appreciate it if we could avoid circulating unverified information.”

Malamaal Weekly, directed by Priyadarshan, starred Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Riteish Deshmukh, Asrani and Shakti Kapoor, among others.

The historic Kapoor Haveli in Peshawar, Pakistan, once owned by the late actor Raj Kapoor, has sustained significant damage following heavy rains and an earthquake on Friday night.

Continuous rainfall had already weakened the structure, and late-night tremors on Friday further destabilized the building. Shakeel Waheedullah, secretary of the Heritage Council in KPK province, confirmed the damage, saying, “A section of the haveli’s wall caved in after the quake.”

The century-old Kapoor Haveli was once home to late actor Prithviraj Kapoor, the first member of the Kapoor family to enter the film industry. Built by his father, Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor, between 1918 and 1922, it remains a significant cultural site and was declared a national heritage site by the Pakistan government in 2016.

Over the years, the estate has been visited by several members of the Kapoor family. Prithviraj’s sons, late actors Shashi Kapoor and Shammi Kapoor spent time there before Partition, while Raj’s sons, late actor Rishi Kapoor and actor Randhir Kapoor, visited in the 1990s and urged the Pakistan government to undertake its restoration.

Actor Vidya S Malavade recently sparked concern after sharing a health update on Instagram following a physical setback. “Yes, I injured myself as I tore my calf muscle, leaving me on recovery for eight weeks,” she revealed, posting a glimpse into her healing journey that began at the height of a professional milestone. Reflecting on the incident, she spoke about the unpredictability of live performance. The injury occurred just after the premiere of her first musical in Singapore.

“As the curtains went down and I was about to take a bow with the team, I don’t know what happened. What I remember is I was in excruciating pain and I was unable to walk,” she said.

What followed was a ‘crazy week’ of intensive rehabilitation. “I had to rest my right leg. I had a doctor and physio there for a lot of needling and healing… but I had to fly back after a week,” she noted. Since returning home, she has been working with her trainer and physiotherapist to keep other muscles active while the tear heals.

On taking up her first musical, she added, “Bollywood never gave me a chance to do roles that were lively… After all these years, when this play came along, I had to say yes.”

For her, the trade-off was worth it: “Toh kuch paane ke liye, kuch pain toh uthana padta hai.” Despite a packed schedule, she remains determined. “I am working hard to be back on stage in 10 days’ time. Also, I am limping my way to a shoot,” she said.

She is set to film the finale of Mismatched later this year, alongside projects including one starring Huma Qureshi.