Meena Iyer (BOMBAY TIMES; April 21, 2015)

Even as most vacationers pack their bags and head to cooler climes to beat the Indian summer, many of our Bollywood stars are going to be sweating it out in the sweltering heat. Akshay Kumar has an important release, Gabbar Is Back, lined up for May 1. So, he will be on a cross country trek, promoting the film. And it's not as if he will take a break immediately after. Instead, Mr Diligent will head to Punjab and sweat it out for Singh Is Bling. The actor's next holiday will be only mid June to coincide with son Aarav's school vacation. Shahid Kapoor, too will be in Akki's territory - Punjab - shooting a marathon spell for his next, Udta Punjab.

Hrithik Roshan couldn't have chosen a more arid location than Bhuj to spend his summer. The light-eyed superstar is already wearing a bronzed look from his last schedule of Mohenjo Daro. And he's back there working on nuancing that tan more in the harsh sunlight.

Ajay Devgn is wondering whether he and the Indian summer are inseparable. Last year, he was busting his chops, shooting in soaring temperatures of Mumbai and Goa for Rohit Shetty's Singham Returns. This year, he's in Hyderabad, racing to finish Drishyam, his July 31 release. He grins mischievously and says, “I'm inviting all my friends to spend time with me. Why should I be the only one sweating it out?“ Of course, on a more practical note, Ajay and his wife Kajol, who will also join Shah Rukh Khan on the sets of Rohit's Dilwale, will probably plan a family vacation when they are both relatively easy on their shooting schedules.

Others who will be busy travelling for their respective film's promotions are Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone along with Irrfan for Piku, Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor for ABCD 2, Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar for Dil Dhadakne Do and Ranbir Kapoor for Bombay Velvet. Anushka Sharma, it is said, will be juggling between promoting her films with Ranbir and Ranveer, and also cheering for beau Virat Kohli at the cricketainment tourney till May end.

Also juggling between the cricket stadiums and film studios is Shah Rukh Khan, who will soon begin shooting for his second film with Rohit Shetty. The team is scheduled to head to South Africa some time in June, as the ace director is keen to shoot high-end action there.

Currently smitten-with-one-another couple Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt will be working together again, this time in Shakun Batra's tentatively titled Kapoor And Sons, in which they will also be joined by Fawad Khan and Rishi Kapoor.

Sonakshi Sinha will start filming AR Murugadoss' Akira. And Tabu, who is in a naughty mood, says, “Yaar, I'm going to be kicking up a storm in my police inspector's uniform in Hyderabad.“

Saif Ali Khan had allotted some dates for a film to be shot in Darjeeling, and Kareena Kapoor Khan was looking to join him there for a bit. However, one hears his shoot is delayed. Meanwhile, the Nawab and his Begum will finish some of their joint endorsement work.