Aanand L Rai to present a range of exciting films in 2018

​With two huge successes including quirky comedy, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan and India's official entry to the Oscars, Newton, both in 2017, filmmaker Aanand L Rai has solidified his reputation for consolidating entertainment and content in his craft. After presenting small town tales of romances under his banner, Colour Yellow Productions, the cinephile is exploring an array of genres in 2018.

With a line-up of films that have made headlines before going on floors, this year looks exciting and action packed for his production house. The first movie of the year to hit the big screen on the 12th of January, under his home banner, Mukkabaaz, has been helmed by Anurag Kashyap and is a love story of a boxer in a small town in Uttar Pradesh.

Drawing a huge buzz, Rai has partnered with Shah Rukh Khan for one of the most highly anticipated films of the year, Zero, that broke the internet by releasing its teaser at the beginning of the year.  The filmmaker is all set to creatively partner with Kashyap again with a film titled Manmarziyan. Believer of stories that come from remote small towns, Rai will be releasing director, Rahul Shanklya’s, Nimmo, a small film with a big heart. Also in the pipeline is a sequel of hit 2016 film, titled, Happy Bhag Jayegi Returns, followed by a Sonakshi Sinha-starrer comedy helmed by Mudassar Aziz.

Rai will be joining hands with director Navdeep Singh for a thriller, with Saif Ali Khan essaying the role of a bounty hunter in the 18th century. The filmmaker will be pairing with Newton director, Amit Masurkar for the second time, for a film that’s touted to get on floors this year. An addition to this line up, is a story from Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’s writer Hitesh Kewalya and an interesting drama, Heer written by Manmarziyan’s writer, Kanika Dhillon.

Talking about his collaborations, Rai says, “2017 proved to be a successful year with entertaining and content driven films doing well at the box office and 2018 looks equally promising with new collaborations. While we have been associated with family entertainers, we also want to present a gamut of genres to the audience. The process of scripting, casting, scouting for locations and putting together the entire project is very exciting and the team is ready and excited to start working with these immensely talented filmmakers.”​

Shilpa Shetty Kundra reaches to the top

Farah Khan Kunder who is known for her choreography and direction graced the set of Super Dancer Chapter 2. It was a reunion for Geeta Ma and Farah Khan Kunder as they are friends since childhood. The contestants are raising the bar for themselves with back to back hit performances where Shilpa Shetty Kundra felt that the table was quite low according to the performances.

Last episode Shilpa Shetty Kundra climbed to the top in the audience but this time the bar was raised so high that she requested for the biggest ladder available on the set. After a stunning performance by Akash Thapa, she asked for the ladder and started climbing to the top which still felt a bit low with the level of performance presented in front of the super judges and the guest. Shilpa Shetty Kundra cannot expect more from the performances as it has gone too high for her. After all the performances it was a surprise celebration for Farah Khan Kunder to celebrate her birthday with the contestants and all the judges and hosts. She was surprised with the enthusiasm and excitement and wasn’t expecting it to happen.

Source from the set revealed,” An exciting day with unexpected moments. It was very surprising when Shilpa Shetty Kundra climbed such a huge ladder. A surprise which Farah mam loved was the cake and the excitement which all the contestants and the judges had which made it very memorable for her.”

Sonu Sood’s home production ‘Sarvggun Sampanna’ to go on floors in April

Sonu Sood’s next Sarvggun Sampanna made under his production banner Shakti Sagar Productions also featuring Arjun Rampal will be going on floors around April this year. Directed by Karan Kashyap, who has served as an assistant on films like Bunty Aur Babli, Chak de! India, and Raavan, Sonu and Arjun are scheduled to begin with reading sessions and workshops once the later returns from his Jharkhand trip.

Sonu confirms, “It’s a comedy set in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which revolves around these two guys. We have been working on the script for the past eight-nine months. We’ll cast the actress soon.” Sonu, who shares a great rapport with Arjun and bonded well over fitness while shooting for JP Dutta’s Paltan in Ladakh, says, “I felt Arjun could do justice to the role, which is really powerful. Arjun has loved the script.” If sources are to be believed, Sonu had recently visited Farrukhabad, which is near Lucknow, to inaugurate a gym dedicated to his late mother, Mrs Saroj Sood. “During the trip, he also decided to do a reccee of the city and nearby places with the film’s director. Sonu was excited about the script as most of his college friends are from Bihar and he has been to the state a couple of times. They even plan to source costumes from UP and Bihar to make the characters look authentic,” informs a source. Sonu who is currently shooting for the Kangana Ranaut-starrer Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi admits that he had always wanted to produce films. “When I was shooting for my first film, all my co-actors would tell me that I was headed in that direction but I never thought it would happen. But I learnt the craft in the course of the 70-80 films I have done across languages and realised that producing films would allow me to tell stories of my choice,” he says, explaining that it’s easy to act and produce a film simultaneously. “That lets you understand the script and the role well and helps design the film accordingly.” On the production front, Sonu is also working on a biopic on ace badminton player P V Sindhu. “The team has locked the script and is currently scouting for an actress to play the titular role,” adds the source.

Pooja Hegde stuns the cover of Femina Brides magazine

Going by her red carpet looks, it is evident that Pooja Hegde has quite a penchant for turning heads. Recently, the gorgeous actress graced the cover of Femina Brides magazine with its latest issue themed ‘fairytale wedding’. Looking elegant in soft pastels, dramatic puffs, elaborate embroideries and defined make up, Pooja went on to reveal her clandestine details of her ideal dream wedding. Photographed by Taras Taraporvala, the stunner wore creations by Gaurav Gupta, Manish Malhotra, Shriya Som & Shehla Khan and sported jewellery by Platinum Evara.

THIN IS OUT, FIT IS THE NEW SEXY; SAYS LIZAA MALIK

In an industry where actors are always aiming for six pack abs and size zero body, actress Lizaa Malik has a different take on it. Keeping up with her passion for dance & music, Lizaa is regular with her Zumba routine “I have a simple mantra -One must be comfortable with their body and should be fit”. The actress says the secret behind her perfect body is not any crash diet but a combination of regular workouts and healthy eating “I think ideally one should not reach a stage where you have to go on crash diets. Crash Diets are worst for your body. You need to be conscious on daily basis. I feel workouts and healthy eating should be a part of everyone’s lifestyle”Lizaa Malik is every girl’s envy on fashion and health front. If you think that the starlet must be depriving herself from delicacies, it’s completely wrong "For me, working out and eating healthy is a part of my lifestyle. I am careful about what and how much I eat but I do not deprive myself of anything. I don't indulge into crash diets for a particular shoot. I know people who eat in a crazy way and then suddenly they want a perfect body, and to achieve that they go on crash diets which takes a heavy toll on their body in the long term” says Lizaa Malik.Lizaa Malik who was last seen in a music video "Baby Tera Fraud Romance" which crossed over 2 million views on youtube was praised not just for her screen presence but also for her physique. Lizaa Malik believes that each person should spare an hour and dedicate that time to fitness “Everyone needs to enjoy their “me” time and working out is the best form of “me” time. You should workout depending on your likes. You must enjoy working out. Sports, Yoga, Gym all provide the same result if done regularly. I believe that you must never pressurize yourself in order to be a certain size, in fact take things slow and steady. That provides the best results long term. It is not necessary that you need to splurge on expensive gyms or different form of workouts. A simple one hour walk and basic exercises along with healthy eating should be practiced regularly in order to see the desired results”“One must not come in peer pressure and aim for six pack abs or a size zero figure. You should be fit and healthy. Thin is out. Fit is the new Sexy!!”