Have you heard? Leading lady changed

Months after news of Ayushmann Khurranarsquos collaboration with Dinesh Vijan for a horror comedy first appeared things are finally moving forward However Samantha who was said to make her bigscreen Bollywood debut with Vampires of Vijay Nagar is no longer associated with the Aditya Sarpotdardirected venture Industry sources attribute her exit to unavailability of dates after the delay in production plans Now Rashmika Mandanna has reportedly been signed on as the leading lady opposite Ayushmann Work on the screenplay and dialogues is underway and the makers plan to begin filming in November By then Ayushmann will wrap up his spycomedy with Karan Johar and Rashmika will complete Pushpa 2 The Rule with Allu Arjun and Sikandar with Salman KhanAll for thrillersEven as his onscreen roles keep him busy Ajay Devgn is continuing with his production plans He has greenlit a web series to be helmed by casting directorturnedfilmmaker Honey Trehan The director is currently working on the screenplay and is planning to begin filming in December Details regarding the plot and cast are being closely guarded all that is known is that it is a suspense thriller The yetuntitled show marks Ajayrsquos fourth production venture in digital entertainment after Tribhanga 2020 The Great Indian Murder 2022 and The Trial Pyaar Kaanoon Dhoka 2023From Shanghai with loveVikrant Massey is overwhelmed with the response to his film 12th Fail 2023 at the recently concluded Shanghai International Film Festival SIFF Sharing his ldquophenomenalrdquo experience of revisiting Vidhu Vinod Choprarsquos directorial venture eight months after its release the actor said ldquoWhile it was a packed house I was also pleasantly surprised to meet some Chinese people who could speak in Hindi It was lovelyrdquo Admitting that he did miss Chopra at SIFF Vikrant added ldquoIrsquom absolutely sure that once we officially release the film in China we will make up for the time lost hererdquoMaking memories with moviesArpit Ranka who essayed Duryodhana in Mahabharat and Kans in RadhaKrishna on television will soon be seen as the antagonist in the upcoming film Kannappa He plays the baddie Kaalmukh in the Vishnu Manchustarrer that also has cameos by Akshay Kumar Prabhas and Mohanlal ldquoEvery actor dreams of getting a good role For me after a threeyear break being a part of a worldwide film with an iconic cast is a dream come true Akshay Kumar Prabhas and Mohanlal ji are panIndia superstarsrdquo he sharedNo story no funDuring an interaction with the media last week Anil Kapoor refrained from divulging the reason for his absence from Welcome to the Jungle He played Majnu bhai in producer Firoz A Nadiadwallahrsquos first two instalments Welcome 2007 and Welcome Back 2015 Recently Nana Patekar who played Anilrsquos partnerincrime Uday Shetty in the first two editions revealed why they opted out of Ahmed Khanrsquos directorial venture ldquoThey did approach us We said no Kahaani nahin hai Utna mazaa nahin aayardquo he told a news portal Sharing that the comedy wouldnrsquot be complete without Anil and him the fiery actor added ldquoWelcome is possible only if Anil and I are there If you remove me then he alone canrsquot make Welcome and viceversardquo Point toh haiKangyrsquos Bard connectionAfter multiple delays Kangana Ranaut has finalised the release date of her directorial venture Emergency The political drama revisits the Emergency of 1975 imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi This summer the actorfilmmakerturnedpolitician had deferred the filmrsquos date with cinemas owing to her contesting the parliamentary elections from Mandi Himachal Pradesh which she won with a considerable margin Sharing the new release plans on social media Kangana also connected the film to one of the Bardrsquos famous plays She wrote ldquoIrsquom deeply inspired by William Shakespearersquos Macbeth The essence of Emergency is the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints It is undoubtedly the most sensational chapter of Indian democracy and I am eagerly awaiting its worldwide release on September 6 2024 sicrdquo Hopefully she will enlighten us more about the moviersquos Shakespearean connect in the coming weeksThree to tangoIt is known that Varun Dhawan is teaming up with directorfather David Dhawan for a romantic comedy Sources claim that the Ramesh Tauraniproduction is a love triangle where the protagonistrsquos confusion is treated with plenty of humour While it is not known at this point if the yetuntitled film is an adaptation of one of Davidrsquos yesteryear hits we hear that the makers have roped in Mrunal Thakur and south actor Sree Leela as the leading ladies Incidentally this movie also marks the Hindi debut of Sree Leela who forayed into acting with the Kannada film Kiss 2017 Apparently the actor feels that the laugh riot will be the perfect vehicle for her Bollywood launch Moreover David and his writers are creating a fullon entertaining track to launch Sree Leela in Hindi cinema The makers are keen to begin filming next month and release it on October 2 2025