MUMBAI: As the weekend is around the corner, we bring you thrilling updates from B- Town to keep your weekend pleasurable. Read below:
 

‘Gully Boy' to have world premiere at Berlin film fest

Zoya Akhtar's Gully Boy, starring Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt and Kalki Koechlin, will have its world premiere at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival.

The first nine films chosen for the Competition and the Berlinale Special of the gala were announced via statement on Thursday.

Gully Boy, loosely inspired by the life of rapper Divine, has been selected as part of the Berlinale Special programme. It is set for release on 14 February 2019.

Ranveer is ecstatic about the news.

"Delighted!!! Gully Boy has been selected by the Berlin International Film Festival for a special gala screening!!! Ow Oww," Ranveer tweeted.

The film, about street rappers from Mumbai, is so far among three productions which have been invited to participate in the Berlinale Special.

The 69th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival will run from 7 to 17 February next year.

As part of the Official Programme, Berlinale screens recent works by contemporary filmmakers, as well as documentaries and works with extraordinary formats.

Alongside the previously announced opening film, The Kindness of Strangers by Lone Scherfig, six productions and co-productions from Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Serbia, and Turkey have been invited to take part in the Competition.

'Rangeela Raja' passed with three cuts by FCAT

The battle of words with the Central Board Of Film Certification (CBFC) has ended for Pahlaj Nihalani. His film Rangeela Raja, which had been ordered 20 cuts by the Examining Committee, has now been passed with only three cuts by the Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal (FCAT), also known as the Tribunal.

But according to Nihalani, even those cuts are unjustified.

"They have objection on my using names from the Ramayan and the Mahabharat. Do they think they own these scriptures? The holy books belong to all of us. And we know how to respect them.

"They also feel I was disrespecting women in the film. I've never done that in my 40 years as a filmmaker. In our family, women run the show," Nihalani said.

He feels the CBFC has practised a vendetta policy against him.

"Since I was the CBFC chairperson and I am no longer there, they decided to teach me a lesson. The 20 cuts that they originally ordered were all unwarranted, unjustified and grossly unfair.

"If I was the CBFC chairperson, I wouldn't have ordered a single cut in my film. But then I don't know where my successor is. I've never met him during my attempts to get my film out of the CBFC's clutches," he said, referring to current censor board chief Prasoon Joshi.

Now that the Govinda-starrer has been cleared, Nihalani will release it on 11 January.

"I can't release it in December with Shah Rukh Khan's Zero or Ranveer Singh's Simmba. Who will pay for the heavy losses I've suffered because of the delay?"

Shaad Randhawa to be seen in 'Marjaavaan'

Actor Shaad Randhawa will soon be seen in director Milap Zaveri’s upcoming multi-starrer Marjaavaan.

"It's always a pleasure to work with a good team. The film looks exciting and I am looking forward to starting the shoot," Shaad said in a statement.

The film features Sidharth Malhotra, Riteish Deshmukh, Rakul Preet Singh and Tara Sutaria among others. Riteish will play a dwarf character in the film.

Shaad has earlier worked with Zaveri in Raakh, a short film. He started his career in Bollywood with the film Woh Lamhe in 2006, and has acted in films like Aashiqui 2, Ek Villain, Mastizaade and Hate Story 4 to name a few.

Produced by Bhushan Kumar of T-Series, Nikkhil Advani, Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani's Emmay Entertainment, the film is slated to release on 2 October next year.

Alia feels shy talking about relationship with Ranbir

Actress Alia Bhatt says she feels shy to talk about her relationship with her Brahamastra co-star Ranbir Kapoor.

Alia interacted with the media at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards 2018 here on Thursday.

In a recent interview, Alia's filmmaker father had said he feels happy that his daughter is in a relationship with Ranbir.

Asked how does she look at acceptance from her father on her relationship with Ranbir, Alia said, "Why are you going into future? You should stay in the present moment. To be honest, I don't want to talk about it.

"I am feeling shy but I love my father and anything he says obviously means the world to me, but I don't want to talk about this right now."

On her upcoming line-up of films, Alia said, ‘Kalank is releasing next year on 18 April and Gully Boy is releasing on 14 February. Gully Boy has been selected at Berlin Film Festival and Brahmastra is releasing on Christmas, so what a fabulous next year it's turning out for me."

Alia made her Hindi film debut at the early age of 19 with Student of The Year. Now other star kids like Janhvi Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan have made their Hindi film debut this year.

How does it feel when people term her as 'senior' to Janhvi and Sara, she said, "I am not a senior. If you call it senior, then I am a senior to them but I don't think there is such kind of vibe between us and they are not very much younger than me.

"They all are such beautiful girls. They treat me with a lot of warmth and shower upon me lot of love, so I will only give lots of love and warmth back to them."

Art is never a competition: Filmmaker Iram Haq

Norwegian-Pakistani actress filmmaker Iram Haq, whose film What Will People Say has been selected as Norwegian entry for the best foreign language film at the 91st Academy Awards, says telling a compelling story is more important for her than winning an award because she does not believe in competition when it comes to art.

How did she first react on her film being chosen to represent Norway at the Oscars.

Haq, whose film stars Indian actors Adil Hussain, Ekavali Khanna and Rohit Sarafi, told leading publication, "When I started making the film, the most important thing for me was to tell a story in an utmost honest manner. And as an individual, I strongly believe that art is never a competition."

"Of course, it is a big honour for me that my film has been chosen but I want to say that it is not possible to compete in art. Reaching out to people with a story is important," added Haq, whose earlier film I am Yours was also selected as the official Norwegian Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film.

This year, Rima Das's Village Rockstar has been selected as India's official entry to Oscar.

The story of Haq's What Will People Say deals with the journey of a young girl who is dealing with socio-cultural difference and a disturbed relationship with her parents.

According to her, understanding the generational gap and expressing a critical view on the matter through the film was very important.

Talking about projecting a balanced view with the story, Haq said, "It was important for me to put out both sides of the story. You see, the film is basically a love story between a father and his daughter and that does not really work because they are coming from two different generation, gender and mindset.

"While the daughter understands the cultural values of her father and how he is struggling to accept the cultural difference of a world that is very different from a regular south Asian society, the girl is a Pakistani born and brought up in Norway.

"It is almost impossible for her to live her entire life to please her family."

What Will People Say not just features Indian actors, but is also shot in various parts of India, mostly in Rajasthan. In fact, Adil won the Best Actor award at the Amanda Award or the Norwegian National Awards.

On casting Indian talent, especially Adil, Haq said, "He is a wonderful actor and he was the perfect choice for playing the father. How wonderfully he transformed the character from script to screen through his performance."

Being a Pakistani girl who is born and brought up in Norway herself, just like the protagonist Nisha -- played by Maria Mozhdah -- the film is quite autobiographical for the director.

Reflecting upon that, she said, "When our parents went abroad and were not well-integrated, they feared to embrace the new culture. That is how they ended up taking wrong decisions for their children."

"I had to live life like a well-mannered South Asian girl in my home because according to my parents, ‘log kya kahenge (what will people say)'... otherwise, we will lose out on our tradition and culture. They think the new generation will lose themselves in the western culture.

"With this film, I wanted the young generation to break free of that constant thought of ‘log kya kahenge' and assert that we are not here to live up to the expectation of ‘log (people)'... we are here to live our zindagi (life). This is how I always stand by my child as a mother," added Haq, who has a 22-year-old son.

She was kidnapped and taken to Pakistan and lived there for a year. She had lost connection with her parents.

"I want to say that the story of the film is told with a lot of love but at the same time, it is a critical voice on how you shut down a young voice, or the voice of a girl, because she is a girl or because the individual is young. I am a strong believer of respecting young voice."

Before making her directorial debut in 2010 with the short film Little Miss Eyeflap, Haq worked as an actress, writer and theatre artiste for many years.

Is she interested in collaborating more with Indian actors?

"I have already worked with Indian artistes and producers over here in India and of course I love India. I speak the language and it feels like they are my people. So, I am open to the idea of collaborating with Indian artistes in the near future," smiled the 42-year-old, who was here to attend an event organised by the Royal Norwegian Consulate General to strengthen entertainment ties between India and Norway.

Varun, Alia elated to win Favourite Actors at Kids Choice Awards

Actors Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt won Favourite Movie Actors at the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards 2018, where Deepika Padukone walked away with the Powerhouse Performer of the Year title.

Alia and Varun, who have co-starred in films like Student Of The Year and Badrinath Ki Dulhania, are excited about being recognised by children at a gala evening here on Thursday.

Varun, who also won Favourite Entertainer (Films), said it is a special award like none other that celebrates children.

"It is always fun performing with and for the kids along with their favourite toons. This year too my act was unique with it being an adventurous aerial act," Varun said in a statement.

Alia, who performed too, said, "Performing for my young fans is always fun and each year of this unique awards has been much more entertaining and exciting than the previous.

"Being recognised by kids and being slimed as a mark of honour was a lot of fun and an amazing experience."

Kartik Aaryan bagged a special award for being a Dynamic Performer and Ishaan Khatter was named the New Kid in the block.

Tiger Zinda Hai was chosen as the Favourite Bollywood Movie, while Swag se swagat from the movie was adjudged Favourite Bollywood Movie Song. Tiger Shroff won Favourite Dancing Star.

From the television world, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah won big as it took home the award for Favourite TV show and its actors Dilip Joshi and Munmun Dutta won Favourite TV characters for their portrayal as Jethalal and Babita respectively.

The Favourite Child Entertainer on TV went to Aakriti Sharma of Kullfi Kumarr Bajewala.

The awards show, 'by the kids, for the kids and of the kids', celebrated the best in the world of Indian entertainment across film, television, mobile gaming and sports. This year saw nearly 350,000 votes making it an inclusive award and a representation of children and their choices.

Held at the NSCI Dome, the show had performances by the Bollywood stars along with Nicktoons.

Motu and Shin Chan won the Favourite Indian toon Character and Favourite Show of the year award respectively.

The Awards will premiere on Nickelodeon on 6 January 2019.

Deepika to start film on Laxmi Agarwal early next year

Actress Deepika Padukone, who will next be seen on-screen playing the role of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal in Meghna Gulzar's yet untitled film, says they will start working on the film early next year.

Deepika was interacting with the media at Nicklodean Kids Choice Awards 2018 here on Thursday.

Laxmi was attacked at the age of 15 and she had to undergo several surgeries. Later, she took up the job of helping acid attack survivors and continues to promote campaigns to stop acid attacks.

She even received the US State Department's International Women of Courage Award in 2014 from the former US First Lady Michelle Obama.

Deepika will also turn producer with the film.

"We will start working on the film early next year. I think it's a story that needs to be told. It's a very important story and it's a true life incident, so hopefully good things will come out of it."

Deepika, daughter of legendary badminton player Prakash Padukone, made her film debut with Om Shanti Om, and went on to become part of successful films like Cocktail, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Ram-Leela, Bajirao Mastani and Padmavat.

She is considered one of the top actresses of the Hindi film industry.

"It obviously feels nice because it's a result of hard work. It is not something that has fallen in my lap.

"I think today, I will pass on the same message to kids who are present over here that to work hard, believe in your dreams and have fun while you are at it. Life is not only about coming first or being at the top, but it's about having fun and enjoying the process."

'Simmba' will be blockbuster: Deepika

Actress Deepika Padukone, who just got married to long time boyfriend actor Ranveer Singh has said her husband's forthcoming film Simmba will be a blockbuster.

"I think it has success written all over it. So, I think we are just focused on his film's release and then, we will figure out honeymoon and birthday all after that," said Deepika here at the Nicklodean Kids Choice Awards 2018 on Thursday.

At the trailer launch of Simmba, Ranveer had mentioned that he made Deepika watch few rushes of the film and she had complimented him saying Hot lag raha hai. On Thursday, reiterating that, Deepika said, "Yes I did when I watched the trailer. Of course, I loved it."

"It's a signature Rohit Shetty film and I have had the pleasure of working with him (in Chennai Express) in creating one of my most memorable characters. But having said that, Simmba is on its way to becoming a blockbuster."

The film also features Sara Ali Khan, Ashutosh Rana and Sonu Sood in pivotal roles.

It is scheduled to release on 28 December.

(Source: IANS)