Varun Dhawan back as one of the most popular Hindi actors, gets in competition with Ranveer Singh

 

Ranveer Singh is currently making headlines for his performance in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani. The actor is back with a bang through the movie. Varun Dhawan, too, has gained popularity this month and in fact, he is neck-to-neck in competition with Ranveer for the same.

Ormax Media has unveiled its new list of most popular male actors in Hindi. This is for the month of July 2023.

See the full list here:

Varun is back on the list. He has thrown Zara Hatke Zara Bachke actor Vicky Kaushal out of the list. For the uninitiated, Vicky was the 10th most loved last month. This month, Varun did not only enter the list but also climbed the ladder and took the eighth spot.

Shah Rukh Khan continues his reign as the most loved actor even now. After Pathaan success, he promises more action with the Atlee-directorial, Jawan.

Salman Khan, last seen in Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, is second on the list. The third Khan, Aamir Khan, continues to remain on the ninth spot.

On the other hand, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan and Ranbir Kapoor give competition to the two Khans. Akshay is the third most loved actor despite his rocky career at the moment. He is currently seen in OMG 2, where Akshay reprises his role of Lord Krishna.

Hrithik, recently seen in Vikram Vedha, is now preparing to be Siddharth Anand’s ‘Fighter.’ He will be pairing up with Deepika Padukone for the first time in the film. Apart from that, Hrithik also has Krrish 4 in the pipeline.

Ranbir made all the right noises in 2023 with Luv Ranjan’s Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar. The actor is now in news for Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Animal. His varied looks have been making headlines since a while now.

Kartik Aaryan, recently seen in SatyaPrem Ki Katha, is now preparing to be a part of the franchise film, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. He is also reported to be a part of Chandu Champion and Aashiqui 3.

Ranveer Singh’s popularity went up by one rank since Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani release. He was at the eighth spot last month and is now, the seventh most loved Hindi actor. Ranveer beat new entrant on the list, Varun, by one rank.

Meanwhile, Ajay Devgn, who was the seventh most loved last month, is now last on the top 10 list. He is 10th most loved actor. Ajay currently has Golmaal 5, Drishyam 3 and Singham Again in the pipeline. This is apart from his own directorial franchise, Bholaa’s upcoming sequel.

D 51: Rashmika Mandanna comes on board for Dhanush's next with Sekhar Kammula

It's official. Rashmika Mandanna is all set to play the leading lady in Dhanush's next, which is tentatively being referred to as D51. Rashmika made the announcement of the same with an adorable video. The film is directed by Sekhar Kammula and will be released in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. The film is being produced by Suniel Narang and Puskur Ram Mohan Rao. The details of the rest of the cast and crew are yet to be announced.

The film's producers had recently unveiled a concept poster which features a stash of money placed in the middle of high-rise buildings and slums on either side, hinting at the film's plot. The shoot is likely to begin soon after Dhanush wraps work on director Arun Matheswaran's Captain Miller. Sonali Narang of Amigos Creations Pvt Ltd will be presenting the movie.

Interestingly, D 51 will mark Dhanush's second project with a Telugu director. His maiden venture was Vaathi, which was released in Telugu as Sir. The film was directed by Venky Atluri. The film received mixed reviews at the box office and is currently streaming on Netflix.

Dhanush, in the meantime, is busy with the shoot of his action entertainer Captain Miller. The team had recently dropped a sneak peek from the film on the occasion of his birthday and it had set the internet on fire. The Captain Miller teaser went on to achieve the rare feat of getting 23 million views in 24 hours, one of the fastest videoes till date to achieve the feat. 

Rashmika , on the other hand, is busy with the shoot of Pushpa 2, in which she will be reprising her character Srivalli. The film, helmed by Sukumar, will have Allu Arjun back on screen as the popular red sandalwood smuggler Molleti Pushpa Raj and Fahadh Faasil as Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat . The team recently dropped the first-look posters of both actors.

Ananya Panday nails the Desi Girl look for Dream Girl 2 promotions in silk saree and super-cropped blouse. All pics

 

Ananya Panday is currently busy promoting her upcoming film, Dream Girl 2, with Ayushmann Khurrana. After embracing Gen-Z trends for several promotional outings, Ananya is now channelling her inner Desi Girl for the events. Earlier, she wore a yellow chiffon saree. And now, for a schedule, she draped herself in a teal green-coloured silk saree and a super-cropped blouse. Scroll through to see Ananya slaying her Desi Girl moment.

Ananya Panday promotes Dream Girl 2 in a saree

During the weekend, Ananya Panday stepped out in Mumbai to promote Dream Girl 2 with Ayushmann Khurrana. The actor wore a saree and matching blouse for the occasion and shared the pictures of her Desi Girl avatar on Instagram with the caption, "Dreaming of 25th August [clock emoji] #DreamGirl2." Celebrity stylist Meagan Concessio styled Ananya in the six yards and shared her photos on the gram with the caption, "She's (s)tealing the show." Ananya's drape is from the shelves of the clothing label Ekaya.

Ananya Panday's Desi Girl avatar decoded

Ananya Panday's teal-coloured Banarasi silk saree features a broad patti border and a plain silhouette. She draped the six yards elegantly with neat pleats on the front and the pallu placed on the shoulder to flaunt her toned midriff and cascade into a floor-sweeping train.

Ananya complemented the drape with a matching teal-coloured super cropped blouse featuring a short hem length to flaunt her svelte frame, broad straps on the shoulder, a wide plunging neckline highlighting her decolletage, and a fitted silhouette.

Ananya accessorised the teal drape with contrasting jewels, including a gold-plated and ruby-adorned choker necklace, matching earrings, and a dainty gold bracelet. In the end, she chose subtle eye shadow, berry-toned lip shade, winged eyeliner, mascara on the lashes, darkened brows, rouged cheeks, dewy base, and highlighter for the glam picks. A centre-parted sleek updo gave the finishing touch.

Meanwhile, Dream Girl 2 is set to release in cinemas on August 25. Apart from Ananya Panday and Ayushmann Khurrana, the film also stars Annu Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Vijay Raaz, and Rajpal Yadav in pivotal roles.

Yami Gautam wore a 44k Bandhej silk suit earlier donned by Deepika Padukone: Which diva's styling do you like better

 

Yami Gautam stepped out in the city yesterday to promote her upcoming film OMG 2 with Pankaj Tripathi and Akshay Kumar. Yami slipped into a deep purple-coloured Bandhej silk suit set for the event, styled with minimal yet striking accessories. Her ethnic look reminded us of an exactly similar look worn by Deepika Padukone but in a rani pink shade. Scroll through to see how the divas styled the traditional ensembles.

Deepika Padukone and Yami Gautam in Bandhej silk suit: Who wore it better

Deepika Padukone and Yami Gautam's Bandhej silk suit is from the shelves of the Indian clothing brand Raw Mango. While Deepika's look comes in a rani pink shade, Yami wore the ensemble in a deep purple hue. Deepika donned the outfit in 2021 to visit the Siddhivinayak Temple, and Yami wore it for OMG 2 promotions. They both chose minimal styling for their looks. Scroll through to see the stars in the ensembles and find out the price of the suits.

How Deepika Padukone and Yami Gautam styled the suit set

Deepika Padukone accessorised the suit set with statement gold jhumkis and embroidered bronze-gold juttis. For the glam picks, she chose winged eyeliner, kohl-lined eyes, feathered brows, subtle eye shadow, rouged glowing skin, mascara on the lashes, and a nude lip shade. A centre-parted low ponytail gave the finishing touch.

Meanwhile, Yami Gautam chose ornate gold jhumkis, rings, and strappy high heels for the accessories with the suit. Lastly, she glammed up the ensemble with mascara on the lashes, glossy mauve lips, side-parted lightly-tousled open locks, rouged cheekbones, glowing skin, feathered brows, mascara on the lashes, and subtle eye makeup.

All about the Bandhej suit and its price

If you wish to add the ensemble to your closet, it is available on the Raw Mango website and is called Sushma & Dina. It is available in both Rani pink and purple shades, and adding them will cost you ₹44,800.

Their silk Bandhej suit set features a long kurta and pants. While the kurta has hand-embroidered peacock motifs along its V neckline, brocade gold-coloured polka dot pattern, full-length sleeves, and a breezy silhouette, the pants feature a tapered straight-leg fitting and a relaxed silhouette.

Heart of Stone review: Gal Gadot, Alia Bhatt's pacey spy thriller speaks of sisterhood across age and ethnicity

 

It was only last month that we saw Tom Cruise battle an artificial intelligence villain called The Entity in Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One. And it hasn't been a few months since we saw Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden operate in Citadel, a spy agency that transcends geopolitical borders.

On the surface, Heart of Stone may seem like an illegitimate child of the two spy thrillers. But if one digs deeper, it shows that the playbook of the saturated genre isn't set in Stone and that it could also have a beating Heart at its centre.

I spy, you spy

There's an all-encompassing AI force called the Heart. Unlike The Entity, it does have a shape and form. It's being protected by the Charter, a global spy agency that exists outside the ambit of any country or intergovernmental organisation, just like Citadel.

Now, who's in the Charter, who's in MI6 (UK's spy agency), who operates independently would be leading to sharing who betrays whom, who works for whom and who may get killed. Sure, you'd have seen betrayals and deaths coming from a mile if we're talking spy thrillers here.

None of that may take you by surprise. Because one has evolved into a spy thriller connoisseur, given the healthy dose one has been getting from the bloated genre lately. The pace is brisk, the action is pulsating, and the twists are galore. But what sets Tom Harper's Heart of Stone apart is the second half.

Sisterhood of spies

The women characters are the beating heart of Heart of Stone. Gal Gadot as Rachel Stone is in her usual Wonder Woman avatar when she performs action. Even the way she advances at an opponent is reminiscent of her popular character. But she manages to make Rachel Stone her own woman. She lends her grit, but also cartloads of empathy. She determinedly uses that empathy as a weapon of choice, even though it ends up as her Kryptonite a couple of times. There's a telling scene where she tells her spy boss, tearing up “So I shouldn't have listened to the Heart.”

Here, she's referring to the Heart, the AI device that guides the spy network. But she's also referring to her own heart, the Heart of (Rachel) Stone. The idea of listening to one's instinct as opposed to a technologically advanced tool lies at the heart of the story. The struggle of distinguishing between instinct and impulse makes for Rachel Stone's central conundrum.

Alia Bhatt plays Keya Dhawan, a 22-year-old hacker with a resolute motive. Early on, there's a shot of her raising a toast to Rachel across the bar. Then there's also a shot of her pointing a gun at her later. But the shot from the trailer that perfectly encapsulates her character is the one where she gingerly extracts the Heart and looks at it as if it's a forbidden fruit. Alia channels her instinctive brilliance as an actor in many such moments, especially in the second half, where she hits the sweet spot between being heavy-handed with her villainy and being sceptical of her nobility.

There's thus a strong sense of sisterhood that connects the likes of Rachel and Keya, despite them being from different nationalities and age, and having equally strong but often conflicting motives. This sisterhood spans across an Indian, an Israeli, a Black woman (Rachel's boss), an Asian (Rachel's fellow MI6 spy), and in a cameo, a 76-year-old Glenn Close.

Towards the end, Rachel tells a man who thinks he has the edge over her, “You men just know how to destroy each other. You'll never have what I do: someone watching your back.” This is followed by two women giving their all to take that man down. And that's essentially what Heart of Stone stands for, under its larger-than-life exterior: taking down patriarchy, two women at a time.

Heart of Stone premieres on Netflix on August 11.

Thank You For Coming starring Bhumi Pednekar to have its Gala World Premiere at Toronto International Film Festival 2023

 

Ektaa R. Kapoor and Rhea Kapoor, the dynamic duo behind Veere Di Wedding, are all set for their upcoming project, coming-of-age comedy, "Thank You For Coming" which debuts today as an Official Selection at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2023.

The laugh riot entertainer is the only Hindi feature film to receive a gala debut at TIFF this year and was specially chosen to have its grand gala global premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2023 on September 15, 2023 at the Roy Thomson Hall!

The movie is directed by Karan Boolani and written by Radhika Anand and Prashasti Singh. Bhumi Pednekar, Shehnaaz Gill, Dolly Singh, Kusha Kapila, Shibani Bedi, Pradhuman Singh Mall, Natasha Rastogi, Gautmik, Sushant Divgikar, Saloni Daini, Dolly Ahluwalia, and Karan Kundra also make appearances. The movie is scheduled for a worldwide theatrical release on October 6, 2023.

Talking about the same, Rhea Kapoor shares, "It is a film for this generation and we feel extremely honoured to have the world premiere of our film at TIFF 2023. Even with its unconventional storyline and bold point of view, this movie is an out and out Bollywood entertainer, full of masti and music so it makes this selection that much sweeter! It is a film I am extremely proud of and we couldn't have asked for a better kick-start. I've had the privilege to work with the most talented group of girls that have put their heart and soul into making this movie and we can not wait for the world to see what we have made."

In Thank You For Coming, Kanika Kapoor, a single woman in her thirties, tells the story of her search for enduring love and pleasure. On October 6, 2023, the film will be released in theaters all over the world. It is produced by Balaji Telefilms Limited and Anil Kapoor Film Communication Network Pvt. Ltd.

Adipurush (Hindi) out on OTT: Here's where you can watch Prabhas-Kriti Sanon's mythological drama online

 

Prabhas and Kriti Sanon starrer Adipurush has been one of the most controversial films of 2023. Even after unanimous negative reviews and audience backlash the film was successful in minting a box-office collection of around Rs 450 crores. After merely two months the Hindi version of the epic drama movie is out on OTT.

Cinephiles were seen in a huge rage soon after the film was out in the cinema on June 16. A lot of fans claimed that Om Raut's directorial is a misrepresentation of Ramayana and that it should be straight away banned.

Along with the wrong interpretation, the moviegoers were also not happy with the low-grade dialogues that were used in the film by the actors portraying the God figures. 

One of the theatregoers shared how along with bad dialogues, it is not acceptable to see the Hindu Gods reciting their lines, where some of the words are Urdu. especially with the character of Hanuman Ji

However, a few musical tracks from the film gathered great attention as well as praise from the viewers. Adipurush's Ram Siya Ram is one of those songs that garnered unanimously positive reactions. Sachet Tandon and Parampara Tandon sang and composed the single together, while Manoj Muntashir Shukla wrote the lyrics.

Adipurush, which also stars Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Singh and Devdatta Nage in pivotal roles, is now available to stream on Netflix for its Hindi version.