21 June,2024 07:04 AM IST | Mumbai | The Hitlist Team
Junaid Khan
Much to Yash Raj Films (YRF) and Netflix's relief, the Gujarat High Court lifted the stay on the period drama, Maharaj yesterday. After hearing the petition that Siddharth P Malhotra's directorial venture hurt the feelings of the Pushtimarg sect, the court had halted its direct-to-OTT release on June 14. The film marks the acting debut of Aamir Khan's son Junaid and also stars Jaideep Ahlawat, Shalini Pandey and Sharvari. Hearing for the matter began on Wednesday (June 19). While the petitioners argued that the film could cause law and order issues, counsels for the production house and the streaming giant reasoned that it is based on Saurabh Shah's book Maharaj, which has been available since 2013 and hasn't caused any problems. Moreover, the book is based on the 1862 Maharaja Libel Case. They also assured the court that the movie doesn't depict any religion in a negative light. Justice Sangeeta K Vishen, who viewed the movie recently, stated that the court didn't find anything objectionable in it. She also maintained that the film doesn't hurt the religious feelings of the petitioners or the Pushtimarg sect. Observing that no untoward law and order incident has come to light since the book's release, the judge vacated the stay and allowed the movie to be streamed.
It would be natural to assume that someone hailing from a film family will have friends in the industry circles. However, during her appearance on Sit with Hitlist, Sara Ali Khan revealed that it wasn't the case with her. The actor, who pursued history and political science in Columbia University with the ambition of becoming a lawyer, said, "Janhvi Kapoor, Ananya Panday, Radhika Madan are friends I made at work. It's not like our parents are actors, so we carried that friendship forward and hung out together." She also revealed that she didn't attend any industry parties until much later. "In fact, the first film party I ever attended was Mr Amitabh Bachchan's Diwali bash in 2016. That was after I had been signed on for [debut film] Kedarnath and was yet to begin filming." Crediting actor-mother Amrita Singh for brother Ibrahim and her grounded upbringing, Sara added, "Mom made sure we have a full life outside of films."
Regina Cassandra has announced her collaboration with Sunny Deol, in his new film, the working title of which is SDGM. Helmed by Gopichand Malineni, the Mythri Movie Makers production was launched recently with a mahurat ceremony. Sharing pictures from the occasion on social media, Regina wrote, "To new beginnings and new adventures! Kickstarting a very exciting project on an auspicious note with more than legendary company." Gopichand is scheduled to begin filming today. Rishi Punjabi is the DoP on board, while S Thaman will compose the soundtrack.
It is known that after his film with Allu Arjun failed to materialise, director Atlee is set to collaborate with Salman Khan. News is that the filmmaker is planning a north-south combination. A source said, "After discussing multiple ideas, Atlee and Salman have zeroed in on a two-hero project. The director is keen to cast a top south actor with Salman." While several movies have seen two actors pitted against each other, Atlee's larger-than-life subject will have both the stars play heroes. The filmmaker is working on the screenplay and once he finalises it, he will give a joint narration to Salman and the south star. Sun Pictures is said to back this cinematic experience, which will be announced after both actors give their nod to the final screenplay.
Lakshya, who is gearing up for the release of his debut film, Kill, underwent intense training for his part as an elite commando in Nikhil Nagesh Bhat's directorial venture. More so as the action takes place inside an express train in this pacy thriller backed by Karan Johar and Guneet Monga Kapoor. Interestingly, his strong background in sports during his teens came in handy. "I did some wrestling during my student years. That helped when we trained extensively over nine months for this film," he reportedly said about the rigorous prep.
Kartik Aaryan is the first guest on the new talk show, Komedy with Akki. Host Vikalp Mehta plays his favourite Akshay Kumar character - Khiladi 786 - with his humour adding a quirky element to the whole performance in the MTV Beats and JioCinema show. When asked about plans of taking a break after all the work he did during the making of Kabir Khan's directorial venture based on Paralympic champ, Murikant Petkar, Kartik replied, "There was so much in his story that we didn't need to fictionalise it to give it a new spin or twist." Reiterating that the movie stays true to Petkar's life, the actor added, "Chandu Champion is a multi-genre movie where I got to do so much that I would like to rest a while. However, I will not stop working." Kartik is set to begin the next spell of Anees Bazmee's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 in the coming week.
Bhagyashree Limaye, who plays Rukku in Munjya, shares a great bond with co-actors Sharvari and Abhay Verma. "We were like a family on set, sharing meals, stories, and pranks," she said about the experience of working on director Aditya Sarpotdar's horror comedy. Talking about her bond with fellow Maharashtrian Sharvari, Bhagyashree, who was previously seen in the television series, Kande Pohe, shared, "On our first day of shoot together, Sharvari told me she had watched and enjoyed the entire series. Aditya sir, also a Maharashtrian, showed all the episodes to Abhay to help him understand Pune's culture and my character."
