Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has directed some of Hindi cinema's most memorable actresses. Yet, when he speaks about daughter Alia Bhatt, there is genuine surprise in his voice. During an interview when asked if he is proud of her daughter being the biggest star in the country, he first corrects us, 'one of the biggest stars of the country', and then goes on to say,

"She's astounded me because Soni and I never thought she had this kind of latent talent in her. We didn't really have what you would call a film culture at home. I kept making movies, but that was my work. When I saw her in Highway, I was astounded. I'm again astounded by her in Gangubai Kathiawadi. From where did she get that body language? She was never exposed to that kind of society or culture. I woke up to her exactly the way the nation woke up to her."

One compliment, in particular, convinced him she had truly disappeared into the character. "For me the greatest compliment to performance came from an event to Jharkhand. A tribal woman who watched Udta Punjab said she believed Alia belonged to her community. I thought, 'Oh my God, this is as real as it can get.'"

He goes on to add, "I always tell my children that whenever you feel you're soaring towards the zenith, remember you haven't even scratched the surface."

Asked whether he sees shades of his younger self in Alia, Bhatt smiles before saying evolution has made her better than the previous generation.

"She has a drive. Every generation is superior to the previous one. Evolution has its own way of improving itself. There is this thirst she has. She oscillates between Mumbai, Cannes, Singapore and Hyderabad, shoots films, fulfils professional commitments, comes back home and continues to play the role of a wife and a mother. It is an astounding kind of energy. (However), One of the greatest roles she's playing today is the role of a mother. It is very humbling to watch. You're such a big star, but you never make anyone around you feel that. The role of a mother becomes the most important role you will ever play. She's promoting films across the country, yet she's constantly running her home," he explains.

If Alia continues to surprise him as an actor and mother, granddaughter Raha Kapoor has transformed the entire family's dynamic. "She'll outdistance Ranbir Kapoor and Alia by miles. She's different. She has a different vibe. When she comes, the whole house becomes hostage to her energy. For those few hours, she becomes the centre of everything," he confesses.

Does he spend a lot of time with her? Bhatt replies, "I recently went with Neetu (Kapoor) to her school for her Grandparents' Day. Soni was in Istanbul. We were walking through a cloud of soap bubbles. I was holding Raha's hand while Neetu was holding the other. It was a beautiful moment. That was something which I remember doing with only Pooja. It brought back memories of walking with Pooja when she was little. Suddenly, time collapsed. She is a vibrant version of Pooja. (Eventually) The same kind of family."

Bhatt laughs while describing his unusual bond with his granddaughter. "She can't quite figure me out. She probably wonders, 'Who is this man and why does he speak the way he speaks?' I manage to tell her one story. She enjoys correcting me whenever I pronounce the name of an animal incorrectly. Soni is very protective of her. She has got the best Nani, and Dadi," he explains.

He continues, "And her father. Oh my God. I'm also astounded by the role he's playing as a parent. And they both are stars. It just shows that this narrative that, working actors especially stars neglect their children, which we heard in our days is a thing of the dark past and is not true anymore. Today you have better communication. You have CCTV cameras shooting for and you can see what's going on at home."

As Raha reminds him of Pooja, his eldest daughter, one cannot help but mention her. Bhatt's bond with eldest daughter Pooja Bhatt has often fascinated the industry, but he believes their closeness was forged long before fame arrived.

"When you become a father at 22 and you're struggling, life is different. I'd carry her water bottle to school. I'd wait around Bandra because I didn't have enough money to travel back and forth. I was unemployed. I spent a lot of time with her. I'd take her to my music sittings. She would sit there in her school uniform while the sessions went on. She, amongst my children, has spent the maximum time with me in those days. She has the courage to stand alone," he ends.

The recently released trailer of director Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana has garnered massive buzz. Actor Kajal A Kitchlu, who portrays Mandodari in the upcoming film, is glad that the epic is being positioned for the global audience.

“I really believe that it’s high time we told our superhero stories to the world. We want to talk about Lord Ram, Lakshman, Hanuman ji and all the wonderful characters that we’ve grown up reading, studying and learning about. This is a great time for Indian cinema to have that sort of global appeal,” she shares, adding that the Ramayana is a great place to start.

The 41-year-old adds, “What better story than Lord Ram to do that! I feel this is just the perfect narrative to give of our country. He’s the Maryada Purushottam, and there’s no one more heroic than him. And having (actor) Ranbir Kapoor play his role is a great representation.”

Having been away from Hindi cinema for some time, Kajal is delighted to be a part of such a major project. “It is satisfying as an actor to be associated with a magnanimous project like Ramayana. The kind of scale that you get to witness when you’re on set, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’m really grateful to be a part of it,” she ends.

Namit Malhotra’s Ramayana has landed in controversy days after its trailer release. Arjun Kumar, president of Shri Ramlila Mahasangh and Lav Kush Ramlila, Old Delhi, has asked the makers for an advanced screening of the film to ensure that no religious sentiments are hurt.

Questioning the portrayal of Ram in the trailer, Kumar tells us, “How can Shri Ram, who lived with dignity, be shown taking a pledge and getting angry to kill someone? Also, (actor) Ranbir Kapoor is promoting sale of land in Ayodhya in an ad, and here he is playing Shri Ram. Will Ram ever sell Ayodhya’s land?”

He also believes that things like the costumes “could be rejected by the viewers” after the release.

Kumar clarifies that they don’t want the film to flop as “if films made on a great book like Ramayana flop, a negative message goes to society”. He also insists that they are not giving any certificate to the film, but will ask for scenes to be removed if “any of these hurt the sentiments” of Hindus.

Kumar warned that if the screening isn’t arranged, Shri Ramlila Mahasangh, along with various Hindu organizations, will stage demonstrations across Delhi and other states.

We reached out to the team of Ramayana, but they refused to comment on the matter.

Wherever Ram goes, Sita follows, but that certainly doesn’t apply to Sai Pallavi, who plays Sita in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana. While the film has hosted four major promotional events yet, Pallavi’s absence from the events and social media has sparked speculation, from online criticism to rumours of a fallout with the team.

Sources, however, say it is purely a scheduling issue. Pallavi is currently shooting Mani Ratnam’s next with Vijay Sethupathi in Kolkata. “Sai has a packed and demanding schedule in Kolkata. The team will move to another location immediately after this. She is focused on finishing her commitment first,” says a source.

Those close to the actor also stress that she has never treated social media as part of her publicity strategy. “She has always maintained a low-key online presence. The trailer is on her grid now. While she reposted it a bit late, that’s just how she has functioned throughout her career. She went for the Delhi event and then straight for her shoot,” says an insider, adding that Pallavi was never meant to attend the Ramayana unveiling at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Pallavi is expected to join co-stars Ranbir Kapoor and Yash, who play Ram and Ravana respectively, for the next phase of promotions. “The plan has always been for Sai to join the promotions in the next phase, which starts in September in several international locations.”

Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana: Part 1 found itself at the centre of two different conversations on July 24. While the epic’s first major showcase at San Diego Comic-Con was met with applause from the international audience, its India trailer launch was called off amid the ongoing student protests.

Minutes before the Comic-Con panel began with actors Ranbir Kapoor and Yash in attendance, producer Namit Malhotra announced that the trailer would no longer be released globally as scheduled. 

A source said, “The makers chose to withhold the online launch, saying it would arrive at a later date. The protests across India had prompted the makers to do a rethink.”

The presentation itself went ahead as scheduled, with the team unveiling exclusive footage of the epic to an enthusiastic response from the nearly 4800 attendees.

“This marked only the second time an Indian film has received such a prominent showcase at San Diego Comic-Con after Kalki 2898 AD,” added the source.

While rumours over the past few days suggested that Ramayana: Part 1 might arrive ahead of schedule, the makers reaffirmed at the event that it will be a Diwali 2026 release.

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A dance performance preceding the ‘Ramayana: Part 1’ panel was widely criticized for being a mish-mash of multiple dance forms

A yellow Ambassador glides onto the red carpet. Flashbulbs erupt as Shanti Priya (Deepika Padukone) steps out in blush pink silk, her wave choreographed for stardom. Moments later, the fabric catches Om’s sleeve, setting in motion one of Hindi cinema’s most cherished meet-cutes. Years earlier, audiences had travelled to an altogether different world, where Helen danced to Mehbooba Mehbooba inside a cave lit by flickering torches. One film recreated the glamour of 1970s Bombay. The other conjured a ravine that never existed. Both persuaded millions that these worlds were real.

If you’ve ever visited the Harry Potter studio outside London, wandered through Warner Bros’ archives in Hollywood or admired K-pop exhibitions in Seoul, you know some entertainment industries preserve their history behind glass. Bollywood, for some reason, has never done so. Here, the cave comes apart plank by plank, the palace becomes plywood again, costumes disappear into garment bags and props are counted, labelled and packed into trucks. Still almost nothing is truly discarded.

“Most costumes and many props are hired,” says veteran filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar. “You use them for the shoot, return them afterwards and pay the rental.” Furniture, crockery, chandeliers, doors, windows and architectural fragments all begin another journey once the cameras stop rolling. Every item is checked against an inventory, packed away and stored until another script calls it back into service.

Ad filmmaker and photographer Sunhil Sippy says production designers often become collectors by default. “Many own prop houses themselves, or they’ve spent years building collections from Chor Bazaar and antique markets.” It’s not unusual for things from their own homes and studios to even find a way into frames. “For close-ups, I’d often bring something from my own house, an object I lived with every day because I knew I wouldn’t find it in a rental house. The right object gives a frame its truth.”

Not every prop returns to a rental house. Some end up at Many Many Things, a Versova prop studio run by production designers Shaira Kapoor and Dhara Jain, whose work covers Gully Boy, Bombay Velvet and The Archies. Over the years, productions have left behind what many would see as a museum-worthy collection of collectibles: a miniature red vintage car sourced for a Lays commercial featuring Ranbir Kapoor, gold bricks made for a smuggling sequence in Bombay Velvet, even two cement brains created as paperweights for a radio station set in Tumhari Sulu.

“We never planned to start a prop house,” says Kapoor. “Some pieces stayed back after productions, others came from family, and many were simply too special to let go.” Every object is catalogued, barcoded and tracked before heading out to its next assignment.

That, they insist, is how Bollywood has always worked. Doors, windows, plywood, lights, furniture and fabrics are dismantled, stored and reinvented. “We pride ourselves on making the same object look completely different,” Kapoor says.

“A new lampshade, fresh upholstery or different artwork can transform it.” Nothing illustrates that better than Zoya Akhtar’s The Archies. The pair sourced nearly 10,000 vintage books, along with vintage cookware and utensils, for Betty’s (Khushi Kapoor) home from Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ooty, Bangkok, and international Etsy sellers. Once filming ended, most were sold on. “We don’t know exactly where they went,” Jain says. “But they’re still in the ecosystem. They’ve simply moved to another shelf.”

While a handful of props are preserved, Kakkar says that remains the exception. “Commercials work on rentals. Keeping elaborate sets after a shoot isn’t practical. The economics just don’t support preserving every unique creation.”

Costumes have had an even more uncertain fate. Academy Award-winning costume designer Bhanu Athaiya treated preservation as second nature, says her daughter, Radhika Gupta. “She never folded old saris or fabrics. She rolled them, wrapped them in mulmul cloth and stored them in steel trunks.”

Even that could not protect them from the weather and termites that infested them. Athaiya began designing in 1953, long before climate-controlled storage. Studio lights generated intense heat, makeup stained fabrics and colours faded under harsh lamps. “The costumes didn’t survive very well,” Gupta says, “More importantly, they belonged to the production houses, not to her.”

Until the 1970s, few studios archived costumes. Raj Kapoor was among the exceptions, though many garments, including costumes from Mera Naam Joker, were later lost in the RK Studios fire. Gupta still remembers actors arriving at their home to try on costumes as tailors and embroiderers worked around them. “My mother was a director’s designer,” she says. Directors described the character and mood of a scene, and Athaiya translated them into attire, even using colours in the black-and-white era to create tonal contrasts on screen.

Looking back, Gupta believes preserving costumes is about far more than saving clothes. “As Indians, we don’t really have a strong culture of preservation,” she says. “We tend to discard things and take them for granted.” Conservation, she adds, requires time, expertise and sustained funding.

Some of Athaiya’s surviving work has reached the public through the People of Mumbai exhibition at CSMVS, where costumes, sketches and archival material traced both her career and the city’s cinematic journey. “Bhanu Athaiya became a natural choice because her journey from the Sir JJ School of Art to costume design reflects that evolution,” says the exhibition’s architect, Nandini Somaya.

Displaying the collection required a careful process. Costumes were protected under acrylic sheets, while larger garments—including the landmark sari worn in Gandhi—were mounted on custom plastic supports and enclosed in protective cases to prevent stress on the fragile fabric. But such examples remain rare.

Madhav Agasti, who tailored costumes for more than 350 films, including Mr India and Andaz Apna Apna, says costumes usually remained with producers once filming ended. Mogambo’s military-inspired uniform, he believes, is still with Boney Kapoor. Lead costumes are never really reused, Kakkar explains. Designed for one actor and one character, they often end up with producers, collectors or members of the crew. Sometimes they become personal keepsakes. Shivam Hingorani, an assistant director on Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, still treasures the brown AllSaints jacket worn by Ranbir Kapoor. “The moment I saw it, I knew I wanted it.” And once production wrapped up director Ayan Mukerji handed it to him.

And, thus, Bollywood’s best stories survive in fragments: a sari wrapped in mulmul, a villain’s uniform in a producer’s cupboard, or a prop on someone’s shelf. They may never draw museum crowds, but for the person who recognizes one from the screen, those ordinary objects still possess the power to collapse time, carrying them back to the moment the story first came alive.

On July 2, social media was abuzz as an 11-second video featuring Ranbir Kapoor started doing the rounds, with many claiming that it was leaked footage from the asset of Ramayana: Part 1 that was showcased at CinemaCon 2026. Soon, the makers of the Kapoor, Sai Pallavi, and Yash-starrer sprang into action, deploying its anti-piracy partners to remove the content through takedown notices.

According to sources, a part of the footage being circulated widely on X, Reddit, and other platforms was not authentic.

A source revealed, “Our team is actively monitoring the internet and getting the material removed. Some elements of the 11-second video are AI-generated, while some glimpses of the film have been morphed and used. In any case, the team doesn’t want any look to be out yet. Glimpses, even the AI-generated ones, take away from the film’s vision.”

Director Nitesh Tiwari and producer Namit Malhotra are said to be treating both piracy and AI-generated misinformation with equal seriousness. “The trailer will be launched later this month on an international platform. It’s on us to ensure nothing goes out before the launch,” added the source.

Five days after a tragic accident claimed the life of a crew member on the set of Love & War, filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali resumed the period drama’s shoot at Royal Palms in Goregaon on June 22. We’re told the latest schedule, which already faced months of delays, commenced under heightened safety measures.

In the wake of the accident that happened around 3 am on June 17, Bhansali Productions has apparently put an immediate stop to all night shoots of the Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal-starrer until further notice.

The demise of carpenter Chandradhari Yadav, 42, who was working on the film’s set when he allegedly suffered an electric shock, has naturally affected the crew.

A source from the set told mid-day, “The electric wire was loose and he got a shock. After the accident, the makers have decided that no night shoots will be conducted going forward. They have also ordered additional electrical inspections, mandatory safety audits before every shift, and stricter monitoring of on-set work conditions to prevent such an incident in the future.” 

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Following an accident that led to the death of a carpenter on the sets of filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming film Love & War on June 17, Bhansali Productions has offered compensation of Rs. 40 lakh to the victim’s family.

The incident took place in the early hours of June 17 at Royal Pump Studio in Mumbai’s Film City, where 42-year-old carpenter Chandradhari Singh Yadav died after suffering a severe electric shock. Preliminary findings suggest a short circuit may have caused the electrocution.

FWICE general secretary Ashok Dubey says, “Humne Rs. 50 lakh kaha tha aur humne apni taraf se prayatna kiya hai for Yadav’s family to get maximum compensation. Unhone (production team) hume bataya hai that insurance se bhi Rs. 10-15 lakh direct victim ki family ko mil sakta hai.”

The film body’s chief advisor Ashoke Pandit adds that members are urging the administration to “form a joint committee to get an audit for old structures and check on safety measures”.

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We’ve been in talks with the production team since the day of the accident. Humne apni taraf se prayatna kiya hai for Yadav’s family to get maximum compensation.

- ASHOK DUBEY, FWICE GENERAL SECRETARY

As football fever grips fans across the globe with the FIFA World Cup in full swing, actor and avid football enthusiast Aparshakti Khurana reveals his deep passion and enthusiasm for the sport.

“Despite my hectic professional commitments, just the adrenaline that football carries keeps bringing me back to it,” he shares, adding that the sport is his “biggest stress buster”.

With excitement building for the ongoing World Cup, the 38-year-old shares his match-day ritual: “I try to keep my day easy at work so I’m fresh enough to watch the match... you need a lot of energy as a fan too.”

Aparshakti also adds how it fascinates him to witness the standard of football on display. He says, “The quality of football has gone up so much in the past few years — the fitness, the competition and the intensity.”

While among Indian footballers, the actor reserves a special admiration for former player Sunil Chhetri and calls him a “legend”, on the global stage, Argentina’s Lionel Messi remains his favourite. “He’s inspired generations while remaining grounded, and his journey reflects what football is all about — passion, perseverance and teamwork,” he says.

While the actor feels Indian football is progressing positively, he stresses the importance of investing in grassroots development: “More investment in youth academies and football infrastructure would help. Consistent success from the national team and stronger domestic leagues can inspire a larger fan base and create a long-term football culture.”

Having played several matches for All Stars FC, a celebrity football team dedicated to raising money for charity, Aparshakti is quick to name actor Tiger Shroff as the best footballer in the team. “His fitness is unmatchable.”

Comparing football dressing rooms with film sets, Aparshakti adds, “Even though I haven’t played football at the highest level, I know one thing for sure — no film set can compare to a locker room or a sports field. That’s where we find the real heroes. We make only films on them.”

Croatia: Technically strong, disciplined and capable of surprising bigger nations

Argentina’s Lionel Messi

Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain

Argentina lifting the World Cup in 2022

Sunderland ’Til I Die (2018)

Jason Statham (Hollywood actor). From Bollywood, I’d say Ranbir Kapoor and Tiger Shroff

Badminton

Argentina vs Spain with Argentina emerging as winners

The cameras are ready to roll again for Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal. After a brief pause, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Love & War is set to return to the sets on June 18 for the film’s grandest sequences yet. mid-day had earlier reported about remainign shoot (Climax caught in a calendar clash – April 5).

The upcoming schedule centres on an elaborate song sequence, featuring nearly 200 dancers alongside the lead cast. “It’s being designed as a spectacle. It was originally to kick off on June 8, but is now starting on the 18th at Royal Palms,” reveals a production insider.

The sequence will be shot over multiple days on a specially constructed set, with extensive rehearsals already underway.

The insider adds, “The choreography, costumes, and production design have been in preparation for weeks. The scale is enormous, even by Bhansali standards. Every frame has been meticulously storyboarded, which is why the shoot was pushed by two weeks.”

Mumbai: Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor has acquired a land parcel in Ayodhya for Rs 3.31 crore, amid rising investor interest in the temple town’s real estate market.

The transaction involves a 2,134 sq ft land parcel in the 75-acre plotted development project located on the banks of the Sarayu river in Ayodhya.

Kapoor’s investment comes as Ayodhya witnesses increased real estate activity following large-scale infrastructure development and a surge in tourism after the Ram temple inauguration. The project includes a 5-acre vegetarian luxury hotel to be operated by The Leela.

He has bought the land parcel directly from the project’s developer The House of Abhinandan Lodha.

“I believe Ayodhya has chosen me, and I have just answered this calling. Ayodhya is deep rooted in our history and is a critical part of our cultural fabric. This land at The Sarayu became my gateway to ensuring this becomes a part of my legacy for my family,” Kapoor said.

Abhinandan Lodha, chairman of the House of Abhinandan Lodha, said Ayodhya is witnessing long-term growth driven by infrastructure, tourism and increasing investor attention.

According to the company, Ayodhya has received public and allied investments of more than Rs 85,000 crore over the last few years across roads, railways, airport connectivity and urban infrastructure.

The city attracted around 16 crore visitors in 2024 and is projected to receive up to 28 crore annual visitors by 2030.

Founded in 2020, the House of Abhinandan Lodha said it has sold over 13 million sq ft of developed land and currently has around 25 million sq ft under active development across five states.

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

When filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali sets his mind on something, he refuses to settle for anything less than perfection — and perfection takes time. Since his ambitious period saga Love & War was announced in January 2024, the film has stayed in the news — not just for its star-studded cast of Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal, but also for its persistent delays.

Originally slated for a March release this year, the film remains incomplete. Bhansali recently shared that only 10 per cent of the shoot is pending. However, scheduling conflicts loom at large. “Ranbir has Ramayana: Part Two, and Vicky has Mahavatar in the line-up. Nitesh Tiwari wants to wrap up the second part to begin post-production, because July onwards time will be dedicated to the promotions of Ramayana: Part One,” says a source.

Kaushal, who was expected to bulk up for Mahavatar, but was busy with Love & War shoots all through 2025, has now finally set that plan in motion. As a result, Love & War will only resume filming in the second half of 2026, adds the source.

What remains? The climax. Despite a recent health scare, Bhansali is determined to meet the January 2027 deadline. “He has been working non-stop for the last two years. The team is reworking timelines. Post-production is progressing alongside to save time. Sanjay is certain that the film will release on schedule and exactly how he envisioned it,” another insider reveals.

Twenty-six years into her career, Kareena Kapoor Khan continues to reinvent herself with ease. At a recent event in Mumbai, the actress spoke to us about evolving with the times, balancing food and fitness, how her characters become pop culture icons, and why the revival of Raj Kapoor Studios is not on the cards at this point. Excerpts:

Rumours of cousins Ranbir Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor reviving the iconic Raj Kapoor Studios have been rife, but Kareena sets the record straight.

She clarifies, “That’s just not true. It was even being discussed in our family group, and everyone was like, ‘This isn’t happening.’ I feel people really want it to happen. I feel like Ranbir is focused on acting. He loves acting. I think he’s the best actor in India we have today. So, his focus is on that. It’s heartbreaking, but it’s not happening. Maybe Lolo and Ranbir should think about it because I don’t think I can think like a director or a producer.”

As the conversation flows, the actress, who made her Bollywood debut with Refugee in 2000, talks about reinventing herself.

“There is no sketch, but reinvention is trying to do something different every year. I had never worked with Meghna Gulzar. She’s a wonderful director. Our film (Daayra) is topical, and I’m really looking forward to it. My reinvention will come with my character. I am hoping to do something really different this year, maybe a good show, maybe a miniseries. In fact, I’ve always wanted to do a mini series,” she shares.

Many of the characters she played – like Geet (from Jab We Met) and Poo (from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham) – are pop culture icons, leading to many younger-generation women enacting them.

She says, “I don’t see people intentionally trying to do that, but I feel like Poo and Geet have become such pop culture benchmarks that, in 2026, you’re kind of associating with them. But no one really intentionally wants to (ape them), because you have to have your own identity, and that’s very important.”

Bring up the topic of fashion, and Bebo admits there is pressure every time she steps out. “Of course, there is pressure, but I enjoy fashion, so I enjoy it to my comfort. I don’t like doing things or being fashionable because I will still be uncomfortable. I won’t follow a trend or do something just because it’s cool or looks cool. I’ll first see what I want to do. So, there’s never really any plan to make a fashion statement. I feel when you wear outfits that are wearable, fashion becomes a statement,” she explains.

Kareena, who started the size-zero trend in Bollywood, is passionate about her food. She confesses that she still loves her parathas.

“I have a great relationship with food and fitness because I like to eat. I had two parathas today. I have to have my parathas. I like to try different workouts and experiment with them, but my heart crawls back to yoga, because that’s where it lies. In fact, in 2026, I restarted my yoga journey, which I started in 2007 with Tashan. I can feel my body transforming again. I’ve tried a thousand workouts, but I always go back there. So, I’m always going to eat my parathas and continue doing my yoga,” she signs off.

After several reports claimed that Mohit Suri, 44, has roped in actor Ranbir Kapoor, 43, for his next project, touted to be a gangster-backed musical love story, the filmmaker rubbishes the claims.

Mohit tells us that there is no film in place yet, largely because he is still writing his next script. “No, no, it’s not (true). I’m still writing my film,” he tells us, adding that he hasn’t even reached the stage where casting conversations begin.

While the two did meet recently, he insists that it was more of a casual setup than a professional discussion. “He did call me up. So it’s just an informal discussion, but not about a film, we just met,” he shares, adding, “Ranbir has always been praising me and talking highly about me in the past… so this was not a conversation to talk about a film.”

Setting the record straight about his next project, Mohit says he is still writing the script. “The fact is the film (last directorial, Saiyaara) released in July (last year)… I need about one to two more months to at least finish my script. I’m not there yet,” he says.

Actor Ranbir Kapoor is currently awaiting the release of two of his films, Ramayana Part One and Love & War. While the former is locked for a Diwali 2026 release, there has been considerable speculation around the latter’s timeline.

During an Instagram Live session on Saturday, Ranbir confirmed that rumours of Love & War being postponed are true. However, he stopped short of announcing a fresh release date. Directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the movie stars Ranbir alongside Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal. When first announced, the film was slated for Christmas 2025, but was later pushed to March 20, 2026, a window that also sees the release of Dhurandhar 2.

Earlier this year, reports suggested the film might now arrive only in 2027. However, a source close to the project denied this exclusively to HT, reiterating that the film is still targeting a 2026 release. “The film is very much set to release in 2026,” the source said, adding that production remains on track. “Sanjay Leela Bhansali has just completed shooting a song track, and most of the major sequences have already been wrapped.”

In the Live session, Ranbir clarified that the movie will release after Ramayana Part One, which is slated to hit screens in October. If schedules hold, the film is likely eyeing a December 2026 window, though no official date has been locked.

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During the Instagram Live interaction, when asked about his current favourite film, Ranbir Kapoor quickly named Dhurandhar and praised the project. “I think the entire cast and crew just smashed it...really good times at the movies... I am listening to all the amazing tracks from Dhurandhar.”

Sanjay Leela Bhansali builds his on-screen world perfectly and patiently. Love & War is no exception. Word in the industry is that the Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal-starrer, which went on floors in November 2024, still has 70 days of filming left.

The love triangle is currently being shot at Film City in Goregaon, Mumbai. A source close to the production told mid-day, “We have over two months of shoot remaining, with six songs yet to be filmed. Nearly 35 days have been blocked only for the songs. As with any Bhansali film, these aren’t quick tracks; they have been envisioned as elaborate sequences mounted on a grand canvas. These period-specific songs will need a lot of prep before being filmed.”

Naturally, the delay in completion has impacted its release plans. Love & War was earlier targeting an Independence Day release. However, Aamir Khan recently announced that his production, Lahore 1947, will arrive in cinemas on August 13.

“Independence Day was an attractive window, but Love & War’s team would have to race against time to meet that deadline. Plus, with Lahore 1947 booking the date, it didn’t make sense to crowd the space. Bhansali would prefer a clear run for his love story,” added the source.

The movie’s new release date is yet to be finalized.