Rajasthan is likely to witness another celeb wedding soon. As per reports, Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani have chosen Jaisalmer for their big day. Sources say that the Bollywood couple will get married at Suryagarh, a heritage property. The wedding festivities will apparently begin on February 5 with sangeet and mehendi ceremonies, while the wedding will take place on February 6.

A source revealed that the couple was keen to marry at one of the heritage properties of Rajasthan and eventually picked Suryagarh in Jaisalmer. The two actors first shared screen space for Shershaah, which released in 2021 and won a lot of appreciation.

Sidharth and Kiara went on a vacation a few days ago to ring in the New Year together.

She has worked in two films amid the Coronavirus pandemic, and nothing seems to be stopping Kriti Sanon from working more. Currently, she’s in Arunachal Pradesh, and will begin the shoot for Bhediya opposite Varun Dhawan.

“It’s good to be back on set. Firstly, to be fortunate enough to be working at this point. 2021 is hopefully going to be a busy year, I think I love being busy. I am in fact, looking forward to different kind of projects, which are not in any one genre. It’s very exciting as an actor,” she exclaims.

Recently, she had wrapped up a schedule for Bachchan Pandey, which reunites her with her Housefull 4 (2019) co-star Akshay Kumar.

On how’s it been for her so far, shooting at a rapid pace with all the Covid-19 restrictions in place, she says, “To be honest, once you are on set, in front of the camera, nothing matters. You have to forget everything. When the camera is rolling, as an actor, you can’t wear a mask. On set, you have a team going around to make sure people are wearing masks and are protected, giving us sanitizer time and again. That’s the only difference, nothing else. Especially in Jaisalmer, where the number of cases is lesser as compared to shooting in Mumbai.”

Sanon adds that the entire crew travelled on a charter flight, the same which they have done for Bhediya too. “On the way, we were doing our mandatory Coronavirus test. It keeps your mind away from the scare of Covid-19. I feel the enthusiasm is still the same, it has not slowed down the process,” says the actor.

Shooting with Kumar, she continues, is a ‘lot of fun’. “We were there in Jaisalmer for 45 days, and shot at the same palace as Housefull 4. Whenever we shoot with him, it’s always a lot of fun on and off set, everyone eats together. How all these days passed, we didn’t realise, it was just so much fun. The place itself is so beautiful. And in between all this and playing games, we made a film! Having said that, I am also very excited about my role and character,” she says.

Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 12, 2020)

After teaming up on Zoya Akhtar’s musical drama Gully Boy, Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt were all set to reunite in the Karan Johar-directed period extravaganza, Takht, with the actor playing Dara Shikoh. The film was all set to roll in March, in Jaisalmer, followed by a marathon schedule in Italy, where the team had identified some vintage structures resembling those from the Mughal era. However, the ongoing pandemic hit their plans for a six. Now, Mirror has learnt that Karan has decided to put the film on the backburner even though the script is locked.

“Takht will have to be mounted on a certain scale and needs several actors in the same frame all through the narrative, which won’t be possible given the present social distancing guidelines. So, the project has been put on hold for now. The team will decide on the future course of action once the on-ground scenario gets back to normal,” revealed a source close to the development, insisting that the film has not been shelved and will happen in future with the same cast.

In the meantime, the filmmaker has scripted a love story, which he plans to roll with next. “Karan has been working on the script all through the lockdown and recently narrated it to both Ranveer and Alia. They loved it and have given their verbal nod to the film. It’s a love story with a fun vibe. Karan will step away from his intense zone and go back to something along the lines of his debut film, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,” the source informed, adding that the plan is to take it on floors next year, with a recce towards the year-end.

The filmmaker and his team will head to Italy and France among other places, on January 18, for recce of his next directorial, a period saga set in the Mughal era
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 7, 2020)

Mirror had previously reported (August 8) that Karan Johar’s much-awaited period-saga, Takht, will go on the floors in March. At the time, the filmmaker was giving finishing touches to the script. Now, we have learnt that the script is locked and KJo is currently on a recce in Jaisalmer. As per plan, the film will go on the floors in March.

According to a source close to the development, the director and his production team have made several visits to the shooting spots in the past. “Karan, along with cinematographer Mitesh Mirchandani, National Award-winning art-director Sabu Cyril and his assistant directors will be in the desert city for the next five days to extensively analyse the locations and plan the cinematography and set designs,” revealed the source.

After Jaisalmer, KJo and his team will fly to several European locations, including Italy and France, on January 18 for another round of recce. “He’d always planned to spend January on the final round of recce and will be exploring locations similar to the landscape of Rajasthan in countries across Europe. Massive sets will be erected everywhere—from Jaisalmer to Europe—for which a mammoth budget has been earmarked,” the source added. As of now, the action scenes as well as the costumes have been locked for the film, which will also have battle sequences.

KJo has earlier described his upcoming directorial as the “epic battle for the majestic Mughal throne”. It’s a tale of two warring brothers, based on the fight for the throne between Shah Jahan’s two sons, Aurangzeb and Dara Shukoh (played by Ranveer Singh and Vicky Kaushal). The film also features Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Janhvi Kapoor and Bhumi Pednekar in pivotal roles, with Anil Kapoor as the Mughal patriarch, Shah Jahan. “There will be some workshops in February with the entire cast to get a sense of their characters before moving on to the epic battle,” the source signed off.

The film will be shot in a start to finish schedule and is targeting a 2021 release.

Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; October 19, 2019)

In a candid chat with Bombay Times, Kriti Sanon opens up about her Housefull 4 co-star Akshay Kumar, the one prank he pulled on her while shooting, and the confusion that ensued on set with two Kritis on board the same film. Read On…

Housefull 4 is based on the concept of reincarnation. It is set in two different eras, and is being called a ‘reincarnation comedy’. Did this aspect of the film excite you to do an all-out comedy film?
I don’t know if I will ever get to do a comedy set against a period backdrop. The subject makes it different from the other films from the franchise. The storyline is that everyone dies and is then, reborn. The old pairs get swapped, and only one person from the group remembers it — this idea drove me crazy (laughs!).

Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh have been a part of the franchise earlier. Did they help you ease in?
Akshay sir and Riteish are like a riot on sets. They are fabulous at comedy and both are funny on and off-camera. I love their sense of humour. If you have such co-stars, you can feed off their energy. Sometimes, during the scenes, they can throw you off-guard with their impromptu reactions and you have to match up. Bobby is quieter as compared to the other two and he keeps to himself. He enjoyed the most in Jaisalmer (Rajasthan). We stayed at a heritage palace, and he didn’t want to move out from there. The other actor who was a lot of fun was Johny Lever. I also got to learn a lot from him. He is so good at what he does that I couldn’t control my laughter. While doing scenes with him, we would crack up every time he delivered his lines. He had to redo his scenes because of us.

How was your bonding with the other actresses (Kriti Kharbanda and Pooja Hegde)? And did Akshay play pranks on any of you?
Well, I did bond with both of them. In the current times and the reincarnation period, we are siblings. We are a bunch of sisters that don’t get along with each other. In the film, we are just catty and bitchy. The entire team of actors bonded really well on the sets. The good thing about Akshay sir is that once he arrives on the set, he doesn’t go back to his vanity van. So, in between shots we would play games. He would just pick up an orange and play catchcatch. It was as random as that (laughs!). This time, I am glad that he didn’t play any major pranks on us. No ‘Akshay Kumar’ kind of pranks (laughs!). However, there is one prank he pulled off while we were shooting in London. The location had a lot of horses and horse poop. He came to me and told me that he knows palmistry and that he can predict my future within minutes. He held my hand and pretended to be reading it. Even before I realised, within seconds, I saw that he had kept some on my hand. It didn’t freak me much, as it was dried and not gooey (laughs!), but there were others who did panic.

With Kriti Kharbanda and a Kriti Sanon on the sets, was there any confusion?
Initially, when they would call our name, we both would be clueless about who they were addressing. But as the shoot progressed, I was called Kriti, and she was called Kharbanda. Then, they started calling me by my surname and her by her surname, too. Later, I was called Sanon while she was addressed as KK. The funny bit is, they gave up on calling us ‘Kriti’ (laughs!).

Suddenly there has been an abundance of bald men on screen —Ayushmann Khurrana (Bala), Sunny Singh (Ujda Chaman), and even you are romancing one yourself, Akshay Kumar, in the film…
Cuts in…I think bald can be really sexy, depending upon how you carry it. Take Pitbull or Dwayne Johnson for example. They look fabulous!

The film was earlier being directed by Sajid Khan. Then suddenly, when his name cropped up in a #MeToo case, Farhad Samji stepped in. As actors, did you feel a jerk in the transition?
Obviously, every person has different energy on a set, and two people will direct the film differently. There was a different kind of energy and rhythm that came in when Farhad stepped in. Fortunately, he has also been associated with earlier films of the franchise. Thus, the project wasn’t alien to him. He knew it in and out. At that point, we didn’t want the film to get affected as money and sweat had gone into it. So, we all came together and carried the project forward.

Moving on…While this one hilariously takes you back to a period in time, you have a real period drama coming up — Panipat (based on the third battle of Panipat). This is the first time you will be portraying a real-life character. Was that a challenge?
Panipat is my first ever period drama. It is for the first time that I am playing a real-life character on screen. Also, this is the first time I am playing the role of a Maharashtrian woman. Even though, it is set in the earlier era, the character of Parvatibai is so powerful. She was a vaidya (ayurvedic doctor), who was quite strong-headed, very opinionated and made sure her voice was heard. I am not sure if there were many women like that in the era. I just applaud Ashu sir’s (Ashutosh Gowariker) interpretation of the character.

What sort of training did you have to undertake for the film?
I learnt Marathi and have spoken a few lines in the film. During Raabta, I had undertaken training for hand-to-hand combat and sword-fighting. I brought all that to use only in this film. I had to fight while dressed in a nauvari sari. Mind you, it was not a ready-to-wear sari. I had to drape it in the traditional way every day.

We have been hearing a lot about your sister Nupur planning to make her Bollywood debut. What’s happening on that front?
For now, I am happy that she has bagged a music video opposite Akshay sir. Since childhood, she has been passionate about singing. Music plays an important part in her life and I am happy that she is starting her journey as an actor with a music video. When I was new to Mumbai and was looking for a break as an actor, there was a point when I felt like taking up whatever came my way. However, I am glad that I didn’t do that. I keep telling Nupur to go slow because an actor’s debut film sets his or her career graph.

Johny Lever on working with both Mithun and his son
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 19, 2019)

After working together in the 2001 drama Lajja, Johny Lever and Rajkumar Santoshi are reuniting for Bad Boy, which marks the acting debut of Mithun Chakraborty’s son Namashi and producer Sajid Qureshi’s daughter Amrin. The marathon schedule in Ooty is still going on but the veteran comedian has completed his portions in a week’s time. “I play Amrin’s relative from a Bengali family and have a hilarious face-off with her love interest Namashi which will bring the house down with laughter,” Johny promises, saying that Namashi, whom he has known since his childhood, is a talented actor. “He was born for the movies and I’m not saying this because he is Mithun Chakraborty’s son. He as a learnt a lot from his father and done several acting courses.”

Johny and Mithun worked together in several films. The one he recalls is Yugandhar (right) in which both played dacoits. “I could not get a shot right despite 12 retakes so Mithun stopped the shoot and requested the director to leave me alone for some time and advised me not to overthink the scene and in the course of a conversation, diverted my attention. When I returned after a break, it was okayed in one shot,” he recounts.

Next up: The reincarnation comedy Housefull 4 in which he teams up with daughter Jamie for the first time. “Even though I don’t have any scenes with her, our roles are connected. Mine has a surprise twist, we shot mainly in Jaisalmer. The sets were amazing,” he exults.