DHAMAAL 4 continues to do well in its third weekend as it collects 12.50 crore nett with excellent growth on Saturday and Sunday. The film showed growth on its third Friday and then saw collections more than double on Saturday and followed with another near 30% jump on Sunday which is excellent.

The film now stands at over 145 crore nett and will be around 150 crore nett by the end of the week before SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY arrives. After a long time a Hollywood film is coming which can really put collections in the Hindi film circuits which will allow it have the one of the biggest openings ever for a Hollywood film. It could even challenge the biggest opening ever for a Hollywood film in India.

DHAMAAL 4 is probably looking at lifetime of 160-165 crore nett and whether its towards the lower end of this range or higher end will be determined where it stands when SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY arrives.

DHAMAAL 4 has got the second half of the year to a good start though overseas could have been better as it will beat in India but remain well short of TOTAL DHAMAAL in foreign markets. But that's where maybe the bigger cast of the TOTAL DHAMAAL came into play.

The collections of DHAMAAL 4 till date are as follows.

Friday - 2,25,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 4,50,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 5,75,00,000 apprx

Even as Satluj, based on human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, remains banned, director Honey Trehan has turned his attention to his next passion project. The filmmaker has spent the past few years developing a biopic on legendary Punjabi poet and writer, Shiv Kumar Batalvi, and hopes to take the film on floors by the year-end. The big question then is: who will play the late poet?

As much as he would want his Satluj leading man Diljit Dosanjh to portray the role, that won’t be a possibility. “I really wish Diljit could play Shiv, but there is a technical problem. Shiv was a chain-smoker, and I can’t get Diljit to smoke cigarettes,” shared the director.

That said, the actor and musician will be part of the biopic in some capacity or the other. Trehan added, “Diljit will do something in the film, I don’t know what yet. He is such a pure soul. I want to have him [on the project] just for the right vibe.”

To develop the screenplay, the director travelled extensively across Punjab and met people who knew Batalvi personally. The result — he has created an intimate portrait of the poet, who was known for his poems on love, separation, and longing.

“I met such great people who are in their 90s; someone has an oxygen mask, someone is bedridden. But when you speak to them about Shiv, they get teary-eyed. They take pride that they were so close to Shiv, and that finally somebody is making [a film] on him.”

Devastation and destruction have gripped Assam over the past 10 days, as the state has been battling one of its worst floods in recent years. In the wake of the floods, members of the Hindi film industry have begun mobilising relief efforts on the ground. mid-day has learnt that Salman Khan, who has been shooting Vamshi Paidipally’s yet-untitled next in Mumbai, has been coordinating with his fan club in Assam to distribute food and essential supplies to the state’s worst-hit areas.

A source close to the actor told mid-day, “He connected with the Salman Khan Fan Club [SKFC] Assam and planned a phased process to aid the affected.”

In the first phase of the initiative, Khan’s NGO Being Human has joined forces with the SKFC Assam to distribute ready-to-eat food packets in Sivasagar, from Guwahati.

“Each packet consists of biscuits, jaggery, poha, puffed rice, bread, cheese, and jam. Salman’s priority is to make sure families have enough food to last for at least three days until the situation improves,” added the source.

They are also distributing sanitary pads, mosquito coils, drinking water, and water purification tablets. 

The second phase, to be started next week, will focus on distribution of ration kits and medicines. In the final phase, Being Human will undertake the responsibility of reconstructing schools and hospitals in severely affected areas.

Actor Bhumi Pednekkar has also extended support by partnering with Bharat Disaster Relief Foundation (BDRF), which is currently providing ration kits, hygiene kits, drinking water, and other essential supplies to families in Sivasagar.

A source said, “When Bhumi found out that BDRF was driving relief efforts in Assam, she partnered with the non-profit organization.”

The Delhi High Court has directed the takedown of the teaser of the proposed movie Kala Hiran: The Battle For Legacy.’ The court told producer Amit Jani, “You can’t do this even to a common man. It cannot get worse than this even for a common man.”

The court added, “Either take them (the promotional material) off yourself, or I am going to direct you to do that with strong objections. Every minute it (the teaser) is in the public domain, it is harming the reputation of the plaintiff here. I was mild with you, but you are incorrigible.”

The film reportedly depicts Salman Khan and also portrays the 1998 alleged Black Buck poaching case pending against him.

Setting a 24-hour deadline, Justice Jyoti Singh stated she would order the removal of social media links to the teaser, along with interviews given by the producer regarding Khan and the film. She made it clear that if the producer fails to take down the material, the court will instruct major platforms, including YouTube and X, to step in and remove it.

The court was hearing a plea filed by Khan seeking the protection of his personality rights. The counsel for Jani argued that he had never claimed Khan acted in the film and had merely responded to questions during interviews. Jani maintained that the teaser neither names Khan nor uses deepfake or AI technology. He contended that there is no exclusive protection against depicting public events.

“This is only a teaser, how is his personality getting infringed by this?” he submitted. The court disagreed with the stand taken by the producer and said that this must stop. Justice Jyoti Singh said, “Reputation once lost is lost. You’re linking him (Salman Khan) with LB (Lawrence Bishnoi). I don’t want to name him.”

Chandrima Mitra and Parag Khandhar from Khan’s legal team tells us, “(An) order is awaited. The court said on Monday morning that the interviews given by Amit Jani, regarding this film and Salman Khan, and the teaser released as of now, which are available on various social media platforms, should be taken down within 24 hours.”

Khan’s lawyers argued, “There was nothing left to imagination. This movie is completely about me.” They told the court that Khan had been acquitted in three of the four cases and that the sentence in the remaining case had been suspended.

Justice Jyoti Singh told the lawyer representing the producer, “You seem to get emboldened by the fact that no order was passed last time. Your client thinks he is above the law. He is getting worse day by day... Every minute it is in the public domain, it is harming the reputation of the plaintiff (Salman Khan) here. I was mild with you, but you are incorrigible... You can’t do this even to a common man. It cannot get worse than this even for a common man.”

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On Monday, the Delhi High Court, directed the removal of links related to the teaser of Kala Hiran: The Battle For Legacy, allegedly inspired by Salman Khan’s 1998 blackbuck poaching case. Justice Jyoti Singh also said she would order the removal of interviews by producer Amit Jani.

Salman Khan’s lawyer, advocate Parag Khandhar, says, “The Delhi HC directed Amit Jani to remove Kala Hiran movie teaser appearing on various social media platforms and certain interviews, the links of which are provided by Salman Khan in his application.”

The court has given the producer 24 hours to take down the content, failing which platforms like YouTube would have to act.

In his application filed in June, Salman alleged that the film’s promotional material infringes his personality rights, citing references to him, including a lookalike wearing his signature turquoise bracelet.

Responding to the legal notice, producer Amit Jani rejected the allegations, asserting that the film is based on material already available in the public domain and centres on the Bishnoi community’s efforts to protect wildlife.

Actor Dhanush has finally addressed the criticism surrounding his recent National Film Awards wins. While he received the Special Mention for Captain Miller, it was Raayan (both 2024) winning the Best Tamil Film that sparked widespread debate online.

Speaking at an event on Sunday, the actor admitted that there were stronger Tamil films released that year, but urged people not to overlook the effort he put into making the film. He said, “That year, there were definitely better films than that one (Raayan). The fans of those films expressed their love, and I fully respect them.”

He also recalled missing out on National Awards for acclaimed performances in Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam (2005), Pudhupettai (2006), 3 (2012), Mayakkam Enna (2011), Vada Chennai (2018), Karnan (2021), and Raanjhanaa (2013). “You all told me I’d win again, but I didn’t,” he said.

Requesting people to celebrate his latest recognition, Dhanush added, “Some things simply fall into place on their own, no matter how hard you try; that is exactly how it happened for me. I got the opportunity. Regardless of how the film itself turned out, the effort I put into it was genuine. As a Tamilian, I have received two more National Awards; don’t brush this aside, celebrate it.”

He also quoted actor Ajith Kumar while encouraging his supporters to stay positive: “Just like our Thala Ajith Sir said, no one can defeat you until you admit defeat yourself. What do you say, baby? If you’re bad, I’m your dad.”

Actor Sana Saeed recently opened up about her battle with bulimia, an eating disorder (ED) in which a person repeatedly eats too much and then forces themselves to vomit. She shared her journey on Instagram to help anyone suffering silently “feel less alone in their story”, she tells us, adding that growing up , she had never heard the terms ED or bulimia.

The actor, who made her debut as a child actor with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), says, “I carried so much shame, thinking I was the only one dealing with this,” adding, “For six years, I had no name for what I was going through. Eventually I came across a book that gave me the language for it. That’s when the healing began, and it took four years to recover.”

The pressure of losing weight, she says, began back in college: “That was the era of size zero, when skinny was in. My world complimented weight loss and nothing else, not how you felt, not whether you’d gone hungry all day.”

This also translated when she made her way back to the screen in Student Of The Year (2012). “Being on camera, being commented on, having your appearance be part of the job description... It can turn a normal relationship with your body into a much more complicated one if you’re not careful.”

But the turning point for her came when the reason for healing got bigger than herself. “I remember telling myself that if I got married, I’d never actually enjoy a date with my husband if I was busy worrying about food. If I had children, I never wanted to pass this on. I had to heal.”

Now, she’s permanently settled in Los Angeles, running her own production house with husband Csaba Wagner. “Starting over somewhere nobody knows your history is humbling, but it also cleared space for me to decide who I actually wanted to be,” she says.

Actor Adil Hussain, who was born and raised in Assam, says the state’s recurring floods continue to leave him “terribly angry, frustrated and sad,” as the situation there has remained unchanged since his childhood.

“The authorities haven’t been able to manage the situation. Unauthorized townships have grown, marshlands have been filled with industries and trees are being cut. There’s no investigation into how to reduce the misery of people facing this situation every year,” he says.

As Assam battle floods again, the 62-year-old says he has been in constant touch with singer Papon for updates while trying to help his own family stranded in the deluge. “My sisters’ daughters, my nieces and their respective husbands are stuck with flooding in their house in upper Assam’s Sivasagar. The family is looking for a way to help them,” he says.

Calling for a comprehensive flood management plan, Hussain shares, “Indian scientists are sending satellites to the moon and so many countries, including The Netherlands, have reclaimed land from the sea. So I cannot understand how government after government cannot find engineers, landscape planners and city planners to solve this issue.”

The death toll from this year’s Assam floods has reached 68, with more than 5.24 lakh people still affected in five districts.

With over 350 films across 11 languages, Ashish Vidyarthi is best known for his iconic villainous roles. But beyond cinema, the veteran actor has reinvented himself as a comedian, storyteller and motivational speaker, proving he is far more than the characters he has played. The Bichhoo, Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai and Badal actor, who is also a food vlogger, was recently in Ahmedabad for his show Kahanibaaz.

He shares, “Fafda is my favourite Guajarati dish. The way fafda is made—slipped into hot oil and pulled out at just the right moment—is an art. And nothing beats hot fafda with green chillies and raw papaya kachumbar.”

Ashish, who married Assam-based fashion entrepreneur Rupali Barua in 2023, says, “I am grateful to the universe for bringing Rupali into my life. She came along at a time when I felt alone, and I have never been someone who enjoys being alone. I believe life is meant to be celebrated with someone, and somehow the universe conspired to bring us together. Today, we travel, discover, and create memories together. We met after the age of 50, which is why I truly believe you should never give up hope or tell yourself it’s too late. Everyone deserves to be happy.”

Talking about travelling extensively and exploring different cultures, he says, “It’s exciting to meet different kinds of people. Exploring different cultures makes you realize that there are so many other ways of living, thinking, rejoicing, and finding fulfilment in your life than you thought earlier. It stops me from being arrogant and reminds me to think beyond what I thought was right.”

Talking about staying relevant and the evolution of the audience, he says, “I don’t think about how the audience has changed. I kind of sense what is happening and then modify myself accordingly. So, I don’t sit in judgment of the world. I just want to keep doing things that are relevant. That’s why, apart from doing films, being a speaker and a vlogger, I am also a storyteller, a father and a husband. I love reinventing myself, and that’s why the next project I want to work on is called The Reinvention Project.”

He adds, “I want people to know that it is possible to reinvent yourself. Anyone can do it, and it’s needed to feel valued. There’s nothing more powerful than being valued and nothing more disempowering than feeling ki arre yaar mera time chala gaya hai. So, each of the avatars that you see is my willingness to stay relevant and valuable.”

Talking about the importance of social media, he says, “It allows me to express myself in many ways. There are different aspects of me. I am not only an actor or a storyteller, so social media allows me to bring the other things that interest me to the audience. We all have many hidden layers within us—what I call 'hibernating assets' and 'hibernating dreams' — and that is what I explore through my social media. The world needs all of us to celebrate life rather than saying we missed the bus. I tell people, ‘If you missed the bus, no problem, what did you do when you missed the bus? That is important.’”