Big B is in festive mode; Kalki Koechlin's well-kept secret

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan will grace the opening ceremony of the 25th Kolkata International Film Festival on November 8. Shah Rukh Khan, Jaya Bachchan, Raakhee and Mahesh Bhatt are also slated to be present. Germany's Oscar-winning director Volker Schlondorff, Sex Lies And Videotape actor Andie MacDowell and Slovak filmmaker Dusan Hanak would be among the guests. Satyajit Ray's Goopy Gayen Bagha Baye, which is celebrating its 50th year, will be the opening film at the eight-day carnival.

A well-kept secret

Kalki Koechlin was in the first trimester of her pregnancy while shooting for the web series, Bhram. It was tough for the actor to keep it a secret as she suffered from bouts of dizziness, vomiting and nausea. "Only director, Sangeeth Sivan and my makeup artist Angie knew that I was pregnant," she reveals.

When Dutt praised Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Not many would recall seeing Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Munna Bhai MBBS (2003). While on Movie Masti with Maniesh Paul, the actor revealed that Sunil Dutt was so moved by his act that he treated him to a cold drink. It was a big deal for him. Perhaps Dutt Senior saw Nawaz's potential back then itself.

Midnight oil

After taking Bharatnatyam and Tamil lessons, and sitting through long and tedious prosthetic sessions, Kangana Ranaut is all set to begin shooting the Jayalalithaa biopic. The actor is currently in hometown Manali with the film's unit doing last-minute preparations. The way Ranaut is poring over the script late into the night makes her folks wonder if she is appearing for a board exam.

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