Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 9, 2018)

After Mujhse Shaadi Karogi, Jaan-e-Mann and Tees Maar Khan, Akshay Kumar has now been roped in as special guest for the finale episode of season 11 of Salman Khan’s reality show Bigg Boss which airs this Sunday. Recently, there were rumours of a fallout between the duo after Salman backed out as of the Akshay-starrer Kesari that he was co-producing with Karan Johar.

The film, inspired by the Battle of Saragarhi, kicked off last week and is now being co-produced by Akshay and KJo and directed by Anurag Singh. It is scheduled for release on Holi 2019. The Khiladi Kumar has impressed with his turbaned look as Havildar Ishar Singh. A source reveals that Akshay and Salman will be performing on one of their hit numbers, most likely the title track of Mujhse Shaadi Karogi. Akshay will also be going into the house to spend time with the final three contestants and is supposed to give them some fun tasks to do.

The episode will be shot in the early hours of January 14 with the winner being announced that evening. The show’s team is also in talks to get the actor’s his Pad Man co-star Sonam Kapoor to join him and are waiting for a confirmation from her. Five contestants, Hina Khan, Shilpa Shinde, Vikas Gupta, Puneesh Sharma and Akash Dadlani, are fighting for the top spot in the last week of the reality show.
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Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; January 9, 2018)

The 11th edition of Salman Khan’s Bigg Boss has been a rather successful one. And the channel will draw curtains on the show this Sunday. The grand finale is scheduled for January 14, where one contestant will walk away with the cash prize and trophy. Like every year, this time, too, the channel has planned something special for their finale.

Akshay joins Salman
Akshay Kumar will drive down to Lonavala for the shoot. Confirming the same, a source from the team says, “Yes, Akshay will be present for the grand finale and he has readily agreed to be a part of the show.” The Bollywood superstar has made several appearances on the reality series to promote his films in previous seasons, too. This time, he will be there for his upcoming social drama Pad Man that releases on January 25.

No bad blood there
Earlier, speculations were rife that Salman and Akshay had a fallout. The duo was meant to do a film together. Salman was co-producing Kesari (based on the Battle of Saragarhi) with Karan Johar, before he realised that Ajay Devgn, too, had announced a movie revolving around the same topic. So, he opted out of the project and now, Akshay has begun shooting for the period flick.

Salman’s ouster from the project had caused quite a flutter and once his ex-manager took up Akshay’s work, it only added more fuel to the reports of a supposed fallout between the two.

But a source says it’s not true at all. “Akshay and Salman have always been great buddies. They never had a fallout. They are professional enough to understand why the other one chose to do what he did. If there was remotely any tension between the two, the Bigg Boss episode would never have happened. Akshay happily agreed when the team proposed this plan during a promotional meeting,” adds our source.

Another source informs, “Watch out for Salman and Akshay’s bromance during the episode. That will be enough to throw all the rumours out of the window.”

Live for all fans
Akshay will zoom off to the Bigg Boss sets early morning, but the shoot will begin only post evening. “This time, the channel plans to do a live telecast. So, fans will get to see both the actors live as nothing will be pre-recorded, except the contestants’ performances. Akshay may also present the cash prize or trophy to the winner,” adds the source.