SCOOPS: Salman Khan won't get married before 60, Kapil Sharma's show beats KBC and Bigg Boss 12 in TRP game and more

Yesterday afternoon saw a flurry of activities at the Kalina airport as several B-town were spotted there. They were headed to Delhi as Karan Johar had reportedly organised a meeting of B-Town’s young talent with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Along with Gen Now actors like Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao, Vicky Kaushal, Sidharth Malhotra and Bhumi Pednekar were filmmakers like Rohit Shetty, Ekta Kapoor and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari. Reportedly, the meeting was held to talk about the impact of cinema on Indian culture. 

“What they think about India as an evolving country? How do they think the industry can evolve? What are their views on cinema and what kind of changes they would like to see, besides the impact of movies on our culture are some of the things that were discussed,” said a source. 

Salman Khan will not be a married man before he’s 60. Before you assume we’re making predictions for the superstar, this isn’t about his real life, but his reel one in Ali Abbas Zafar’s Bharat. Adapted from Korean drama Ode To My Father, the film has Salman and Katrina Kaif ageing through different eras, showing the evolution of India as a country. We hear that it will see the two stars get married only when they hit the 60-mark in the film. Guess, we’ll have to gear up for a different kind of shaadi on screen this Eid. 

Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone are clearly the much-in-love couple of the year. The two stars got married last November and have been painting the town red together, ever since. At a recent event of his forthcoming film, Gully Boy, Ranveer was quizzed if his wife had seen its promo. The Simmba actor replied, “Deepika has not seen the trailer but she has seen the teaser. She really loved it.” When probed if he would make a rap song for her, he quipped, “She will get a full solo show where I will perform only for her.”

Kapil Sharma has returned to TV with a bang. The stand-up comedian’s show has opened with a rating of 3.4, which is more than that of Amitabh Bachchan’s Kaun Banega Crorepati 10, (2.6) and Salman Khan’s Bigg Boss 12 (3.1). The first episode of The Kapil Sharma Show had the Simmba team Ranveer Singh and Rohit Shetty as guests. While Kiku Sharda, Sumona Chakraborti and Chandan Prabhakar from his earlier team continue to be a part of the show, the new entrants are Krushna Abhishek and Bharti Singh. 

The episode saw everyone from Kiku to Chandan taking potshots at Kapil’s decision to shut down his earlier show abruptly. Krushna played on their former rivalry in a funny manner, while Ranveer couldn’t stop teasing Kapil about how he whisked away Deepika Padukone, whom the stand-up comedian adores. The latter, too, showed his witty self and took all the digs made at him sportingly. 

The Paris outdoor of Kizie Aur Manny, starring Sushant Singh Rajput and debutante Sanjana Sanghi, took off on Wednesday. Initially scheduled for December, the outdoor was deferred owing to the civil unrest in the French capital and also because the dates of Saif Ali Khan, who plays a small, but important part in the film, were unavailable. 

For over a month, France has been witnessing yellow vests protests against the high-living costs and anger with the country’s leadership. Even as the protests are said to converge into other big cities of the European nation, the Bollywood film team is reportedly staying and shooting in areas far away from and undisturbed by the unrest. 

According to our informer, “The locations that director Mukesh Chhabra is shooting at, haven’t been affected by the protests yet. The team is hopeful of wrapping up their shoot before the situation worsens when the protests are said to extend to other cities of France around January 19.” 

Since the last few years, Fatima Sana Shaikh has been having a working birthday. The actress, who turns a year older today, was first preparing for her big debut Dangal and then gearing up for its release. She followed the same routine with her second outing Thugs Of Hindostan. 

Today, she will celebrate her birthday with her family and close friends at her home in Mumbai. While it will be a low-key affair, the actress is gung-ho about beginning her next movie in the new year of her life. “Tomorrow (January 12), Fatima starts shooting for her new untitled multi-starrer film that is being helmed by Anurag Basu,” says a source close to the actress, adding, “It’s a 10-day schedule in Bhopal and she will be filming her introductory scenes and other important sequences with Rajkummar Rao. She’s excited about this film and can’t wait to begin working on it.” 

Uri: The Surgical Strike, based on the 2016 Indian Army’s attack on terrorist camps in Pakistan after our jawans were brutally killed, releases today.

Audiences will witness a new avatar of Vicky Kaushal in this actioner as Major Vihaan Singh Shergill. The actor, who often discussed with director Aditya Dhar about how this movie is not about heroes, says, “When you play a commando, you realise they are the real heroes. This has been the most physically and mentally demanding character that I’ve played so far.” Yami Gautam had to chop off her long tresses to look sharp and poised for her part as an intel officer. She states, “The director wanted to keep it as authentic as possible and said it was the role’s demand. I trusted him and went ahead with it.”

Mohit Raina essays the role of Captain Karan Kashyap. He avers, “Given the vision that Aditya had in mind while he read out the script to me, I understood the film’s scale and reach.” Paresh Rawal plays a crucial role that is inspired by National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval. The veteran actor enthuses, “I’m fascinated with the kind of work Doval saab has done.”

While the movie draws parallels to the 2012 Hollywood hit Zero Dark Thirty, Aditya points out, “The surgical strike is one of the most significant events in the history of the Indian Army. This was a story that had to be told.”

Basking in the success of Kedarnath, producer Ronnie Screwvala sums up, “RSVP (his production house) in its new avatar is much more of a passion project. A balance of realism coupled with entertainment allowed us to bring forth Uri: The Surgical Strike.”

When the first poster of Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga was released a few months ago, it featured the name of Rajkumar Hirani’s production house prominently. However, the same was missing in another poster that was released on December 26, 2018.