SCOOPS: Taapsee Pannu opts out of Anurag Basu’s film, marriage on Farhan Akhtar and Shibani Dandekar's mind

Anurag Basu’s anthology has constantly been discussed in the last few months for its casting. The director has faced several woes while getting actors to sign on the dotted line for his next project. Based on a similar style as his previous venture Life...in a Metro, the slice-of-life drama has four stories intertwined with each other. While actors like Rajkummar Rao, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Aditya Roy Kapur and Abhishek Bachchan have been locked for the same, the Jagga Jasoos helmer wanted Taapsee Pannu to play the main role opposite Adi. But now, after several delays, the actress has opted out of the film. She begins work on her next Hindi movie Womaniya next month and is in the midst of a gruelling prep for it. We hear the filmmaker couldn’t give clarity about the dates, hence the actress turned it down.

A restaurant in the US has on its menu a special dish called Deepika Padukone Dosa! A fan of the actress sent the snapshot of the menu to her on her social media account, which she shared. “In Austin, people are eating Deepika Padukone as a dosa menu!! (sic),” the fan wrote. The Padmaavat actress responded by saying, “What a great way to begin the year... Happy New Year!” Not to be left behind, her hubby Ranveer Singh, too, shared it on his account and joked, “I’d eat that.” 

Amy Jackson has begun the year by getting engaged to George Panayiotou, whom she has been reportedly dating for three years. The 2.0 actress posted a lovey-dovey picture with her beau and wrote, “1st January 2019 — The start of our new adventure in life. I love you. Thank you for making me the happiest girl in the world (sic).” The actress got engaged in South Africa where the couple is holidaying. In the picture, she is seen flaunting her diamond engagement ring.

Sidharth Malhotra wrapped up the first schedule of Marjaavaan and then took off for a beach holiday to ring in the New Year. Now, we hear Sid will dive into work, right after returning to the bay as the second schedule of the action drama begins in a few days from now. But the team will first shoot an item number for the film.

Says a source, “Nushrat Bharucha will groove to a recreated version of a popular old dance number and much like Dilbar (Satyameva Jayate), this too will be a club track. Sidharth’s character will be seen visiting the pub with his friends, when Nushrat will try to woo him. That’s the setting of the upbeat song.” Riteish Deshmukh, who plays the main villain and a midget in the film, joins the crew around mid- January, after the track is shot.

Farhan Akhtar and Shibani Dandekar have not hidden the fact that they are together. The couple, who started dating a few months ago, has been spotted holding hands several times in public and they even attended a few Bollywood events together. So, the obvious question that is being raised now is whether the two lovebirds are planning to take their relationship to the next level. We hear that marriage is already on the minds of both Farhan and Shibani and they are figuring if they want to settle down sometime later this year or early next year. A friend of the model-turned-VJ told us on condition of anonymity, “They are extremely serious about each other and Farhan’s kids have also warmed up to Shibani, so this looks like the most obvious step for the two.”