Have you heard? Meet Lady Singham

Rohit Shetty; (right) Deepika Padukone in Singham Again

Yesterday, Rohit Shetty and Deepika Padukone shared her first look from Singham Again. Alongside, the director wrote, "Naari Sita ka bhi roop hai aur Durga ka bhi. Meet the most brutal and violent officer of our cop universe. Shakti Shetty… my Lady Singham… Deepika Padukone." Ranveer Singh, who reprises his role of Simmba in the Ajay Devgn-fronted action drama, commented: "Aag laga degi." He also shared her pictures in a separate post, saying, "Aali re aali, Lady Singham aali. Shakti Shetty has arrived in the cop-verse." Deepika responded with a salute emoji to Ajay's post welcoming her to the squad. The action thriller also stars Akshay Kumar as Sooryavanshi, Kareena Kapoor Khan as Singham's lady love, and Arjun Kapoor as the antagonist.

Batting for the environment

Bhumi Pednekar recently launched The Bhumi Foundation's website, a non-profit advocacy platform that operates nationally to tackle issues related to the environment. Also an active climate warrior, she shared, "My vision for the platform is to bring together an army of climate conservationists and environmental advocates who share a common goal of conserving the environment and creating a more sustainable world." Bhumi is also a National Advocate for Sustainable Development Goals for UNDP India and the Goodwill Ambassador for Healing Himalayas, an NGO that keeps the mountain range clear and protects its ecosystem.

A special one for the b'day

Pooja Hegde is celebrating her birthday at a beach location overseas. Before she flew out for her holiday, she shot some pictures for the announcement of her new movie. The actor teams up with Shahid Kapoor for the yet-untitled film that also marks the Hindi debut of Malayalam director Rosshan Andrrews. Calling it a special film with an exciting storyline, Pooja said, "Rosshan Andrrews is known for weaving magic on the big screen, and I can't wait to start this journey and for the audience to see me in such a unique and different role. I'm also looking forward to working with Shahid Kapoor; he's a stellar performer, and I'm hopeful that our collaboration will be a memorable one."

From one supercop to another

On the auspicious occasion of Mahalaya, marking the start of Durga Puja, Ajay Devgn, who is currently shooting Rohit Shetty's Singham Again in Hyderabad, extended his heartfelt wishes to the team of Bengali cop drama, Dawshom Awbotaar. Anirban Bhattacharya plays a police officer in this Jio Studios and SVF Entertainment joint production that also stars Jisshu U Sengupta and Jaya Ahsan. Sharing the poster of the October 19 release, Ajay wrote, "Presenting Dawshom Awbotaar, the original Bengali cop universe. Best wishes from #Singham to #Probir (sic)." Netizens were all praise for this cross-cultural support for another cop universe in Bengali cinema, calling it a heartwarming spirit of collaboration and support in the Indian film industry.

Fighting for gender parity

In India, a significant divide exists between accomplished actors capable of imbuing characters with brilliance, and stars who can carry an entire film. Remarkably, there is minimal effort being made to narrow this chasm, noted Taapsee Pannu while speaking with Variety at Toronto's BMO International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA). Expressing her desire to bridge this gap and cultivate more stars who possess the power to attract substantial investments, the actor said, "There's a big ego tussle initially. When you're a female actor, a lot of people have problems listening to you, but just because you're a star, they still give in to it." She added, "But when you become a producer, you're not the star in the film, then calling the shots is more difficult for a woman to make people take her seriously."

Playing it safe

While the trailer of Ganapath has evoked mixed reactions from cinegoers, we hear that the masterminds behind Tiger Shroff and Kriti Sanon's action thriller are said to be slyly excluding director Vikas Bahl from the promotions. Apparently, their idea is to avoid the throwback to the filmmaker's #MeToo storm and subsequent legal wrangles. Sources claim the makers are determined to keep the focus on the reunion of Kriti and Tiger, who made their Bollywood debut together with Heropanti. Let's see if this ploy works.

Sunny gets nostalgic

Sunny Deol revisited his younger days during an interview along with son Rajveer, who made his acting debut in Dono. Talking about getting into fights and street racing, Sunny shared, "We used to keep swords, metal rods, and hockey sticks in our cars. Back then, there were gangs around, but things have changed now." The actor, who even crashed a car, added, " I had to keep it a secret from my parents, especially my dad. My mother would handle such situations when they escalated."