MUMBAI: Here we bring exciting updates from television industry to keep you amused. Read on.       

ALTBalaji’s Ragini MMS to star Varun - Divya with THIS actor           

ALTBalaji is set to come up with a new season of erotic-horror web series Ragini MMS, and Ace Of Space couple Divya Agarwal and Varun Sood will be seen in the show. Splitsvilla winner Gaurav Alugh has also been roped in to play one of the important characters.

Ragini MMS return is the third installment of Ragini MMS franchise after Ragini MMS (2011) and Ragini MMS 2 (2014). It stars Karishma Sharma, Riya Sen, Siddharth Gupta and Nishant Singh Malkani in lead roles.

Dipika-Karan V Grover to work with him

After winning Colors' controversial reality show, Bigg Boss 12, Dipika Kakar is all set to come back on screen with Sandiip Sikand's upcoming show on Star Plus. Dipika has been paired opposite Bahu Hamari RajniKant fame Karan V Grover. The show has now been tentatively named as Pani Puri and will focus on a mature love story where the protagonists will be willing to give their love a second chance. Interestingly, Dipika will play a different character than her previous show where she played a traditional and doting Bahu, and this show might prove as an image changer for her.

Tanaaz Irani has been roped in to play an important part in the show. The actress who is a well-known face in the industry and has been a part of many films and shows was also a contestant of Bigg Boss season 3. She was recently seen in cooking show, Kitchen Champions, where she appeared with her husband Bakhtiyar Irani opposite celebrity jodi  Karan Mehra and Nisha Rawal.

Not just Tanaaz, but actors Ashish Nayyar and Deepak Sandhu have also been roped in for interesting characters. While Ashish will play a fatherly role, the show will mark as a comeback for Deepak, and he will be seen in a never seen before avatar.

Pleading GUILTY to BRIBERY charges, THIS actress is in trouble!               

The saga related to college admissions bribery scandal has only been intensified with time passing by and how it has had several celebrities come in question.

One of the first ones in that list was actress Felicity Huffman. According to a report in Hollywood Reporter, Huffman was one of 50 people indicted for allegedly paying bribes to college admissions officials and athletic coaches to ensure their admission. The charges that came down 12 March also implicated actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, designer Mossimo Giannulli, and film financier Bill McGlashan.   

The investigation, which the FBI dubbed Operation Varsity Blues, centers on William ‘Rick’ Singer, the head of a college prep business. According to authorities, Singer (who has pleaded guilty in the case) facilitated bribes paid to coaches at Yale, the University of Southern California and Stanford, among other colleges, to have students falsely admitted as athletic recruits. Singer also arranged to have other people take the SAT or ACT exams for clients' children.     

Huffman said on Monday she would plead guilty to disguising a $15,000 payment to have someone take the SAT for her oldest daughter as a charitable donation. "I am in full acceptance of my guilt, and with deep regret and shame over what I have done, I accept full responsibility for my actions and will accept the consequences that stem from those actions," the actress said in a statement.  

And coming to the movie Otherhood starring Huffman along with Angela Bassett and Patricia Arquette has been bumped from Netflix's schedule of release for now. The movie was supposed to debut on 26 April but for now it has been put on hold.  

Sara Gilbert to now LEAVE it after 9 years of SHOW      

One of the most popular and long-running talk shows on the tube currently, The Talk is all set to bid adieu to its creator, Sara Gilbert. The actress and creator of the show has been associated with the show for nine years but is now set to bid the show goodbye. The lady mentioned how she feels 'out of balance' working on both the shows where she also executive produces The Conners.

"This is something I have been struggling with for a while, and going back and forth," she said at the top of Tuesday's show. "But I've decided it's time for me to leave the show.

"I obviously love it here, and this was extremely difficult. Last season I did The Conners and, as you know, also producing. ... I loved it and felt totally empowered. But my life was slightly out of balance, and I was not spending as much time with my three kids as I would like."

ABC renewed The Conners for a second season in March, and Gilbert is also developing other projects. Rather than try to "do it all," as she put it, she opted to depart The Talk, which she created and has co-hosted since its 2010 debut.

Parth Samthaan’s next move!   

Parth Samthaan is one of the leading men of small screen. The actor became a household name for his stint in MTV India's Kaisi Yeh Yaariyan. And currently, he is making heads turn with his stint of Anurag in Ekta Kapoor's love saga, Kasautii Zindagii Kay 2. While fans are going gaga over his charm and acting chops, the actor is all set to appear on another show. And guess which show we are talking about. Well, it is none other than the Colors TV show Kitchen Champion hosted by Arjun Bijlani.   

The actor has shot for the show recently. Sana Khan joined him for the episode. The duo will be seen competing against each other. They will also be seen dancing and performing on Varun Dhawan's upcoming movie Kalank's song First Class. Hosted by Arjun Bijlani, the episode is going to be rocking undoubtedly.  

Vikas Kalantri turns Producer for a Web Series  

With the growing popularity of web series, Digital industry is flourishing with the fastest pace, and now, another web series is on its way.    

Bollywood actor Vikas Kalantri who is known for his role in movies like Nayee Padosan, and Naqab, turned producer for an upcoming web series. The series, titled XYX, is set to stream on VIU from May, 2019.

Talking to media, Vikas confirmed the news and said, "The series is based on a love-triangle with one boy and two girls who look out for a PG in Mumbai. Later, another girl comes into the picture as she joins them in the company, they are working in. It's a very twisty kind of story. The series is titled as XYX, as in X chromosome and the Y chromosome."

Vikas also revealed that he'll soon be seen in a show titled Star Gazers Of India. It'll be a one hour long show and will air on India-News.

Zee TV's Guddan Tumse Na Ho Payega to get a SPIN-OFF     

Zee TV's popular show Guddan Tumse Na Ho Payega will soon get a spin-off show. After the success of Guddan on digital platform, the makers of the show have decided to create a spin-off show for the digital platform.   

According to reports, Guddan's spin-off will be a finite series of 50 episodes and stream on Zee TV's web platform, Zee5. The series will be based on Guddan's distant cousin Bittan, who admires Guddan. It'll showcase the journey of Bittan who is just like Guddan and dreams of becoming an actress. She wants to work with Bollywood directors Karan Johar and Anurag Kashyap, and as a result, she lands up in Mumbai, following her dreams. However, she later realises that life in Mumbai isn't that easy after troubles come her way. Also, the two will crossover platforms and make special appearances on each other's show.        

Producer Ved Raj, head of Shoonya Square, said to media, "Yes we are currently working on it, since Guddan: Tumse Na Ho Payega enjoys huge popularity online, its spin-off will be made as a digital show. I won't be able to divulge many details, but all I can say is that it is going to be a quirky rom-com with the flavour of Guddan."

Gungun Uprari feels this for HERSELF       

Actress Gungun Uprari, who marked her television debut in 2008 with Bandhan Saat Janmon Ka on Colors, became popular from the very first show. The actress went on to do shows like Buddha, Ganga, Rakt Sambandh, and currently, she is seen in Paramavatar Shri Krishna playing the role of Yashoda Maa.

Talking about her journey, Gungun said to media, "My journey has been good so far but I have been a little choosy sometimes, and I have done only work which I like and I am proud of it because what I left and what I took, it has always been better for me."

Interestingly, Gungun never wanted to become an actress. She said, "I wanted to become a journalist but somehow I came to Mumbai and acting happened."

Speaking about her popularity, she said, "Yes, it's always good to be popular in the advertising and television industry because if you are successful then only you are popular, so success is always good."

While shooting in Filmcity, Mumbai, actors experience a lot of life changing moments and Gungun shares two of them, one being facing the fire while shooting.

The actress shared, "I was shooting in Filmcity and we had created an artificial hut as a kitchen and the shot was: my in-laws try to burn me. So we were trying to burn that hut again and again and we were trying to extinguish it with water and eventually, it became very heavier. So for some reason, I came out and it suddenly collapsed while the fire was still on. It was very scary."

"We were shooting and suddenly a lot of guards came there and they got us evacuated from that place very quickly. It so happened, a leopard along with his family had arrived there. So, it was even scarier," she signed off.