Penguin Random House India is delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of Unfinished​ ​by Priyanka Chopra

Unfinished is a collection of personal essays, stories, and observations by actress, producer, activist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Priyanka Chopra. The book will be published simultaneously in the US by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House US, and in the UK by Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK.

Priyanka Chopra is a multifaceted personality whose foray into the entertainment industry began at the age of 17 when she won Miss India and went on to win Miss World the following year, a title that catapulted her to international stardom. Priyanka earned popular and critical acclaim over three seasons as Alex Parrish on ABC’s show Quantico, making history as the first Indian actor to star as the lead of a TV drama series, and winning two consecutive People’s Choice Awards for the role, again making history as the first Indian actress to win the award. In April 2016 she was featured on the cover of TIME magazine’s coveted TIME 100 issue, as one of the Most Influential People in the world, and in November 2017 was named to Forbes illustrious list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.

Additionally, Priyanka produces global TV and film content under her banner Purple Pebble Pictures. With more than 80 million social media followers, Priyanka is also committed to using her reach for good. Priyanka is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, a United Nations Foundation Girl Up Champion, and is involved in a number of efforts to protect children’s rights and promote the education of girls, including her namesake charity The Priyanka Chopra Foundation for Health and Education.

‘The flavor of the book will be honest, funny, spirited, bold, and rebellious, just like me. I have always been a private person; I’ve never spoken about my feelings during my journey but I am ready to do so now. I was raised to be fearless when it came to opinions, and I would like to tell my story in the hopes of inspiring people--especially women--to change the conversation, to shatter glass ceilings. Women are always told we can’t have everything. I want everything, and I believe anyone else can have it too. I’m proof of it.’ – Priyanka Chopra

 ‘Unfinished by Priyanka Chopra is not just a memoir but a manifesto for women who believe that they can’t just have it all but that they deserve it all. Priyanka is one of the most influential women in the world, and it is not a badge she wears lightly. I love how unapologetic she is about her success and her ambition. There’s something about the Priyanka Chopra phenomenon that feels both revolutionary and accessible, and that’s entirely a result of the person that she is.’ – Manasi Subramaniam, Senior Commissioning Editor, Penguin Random House India

‘I met Priyanka Chopra for the first time when she delivered the Penguin Annual Lecture in New Delhi in 2017, and was amazed at the way people in the audience, and especially young women, responded to her words, her provocation and her rallying cry. At Penguin Random House India, we are committed to publishing strong female role models, and are immensely proud of having Priyanka Chopra on that list.’ – Meru Gokhale, Editor-in-Chief, Literary Publishing, Penguin Random House India

UK and Commonwealth (including India) rights were acquired at auction from Siobhan O’Neill and Fiona Baird, on behalf of Mel Berger, of William Morris Endeavor.

Unfinished will be published in 2019.

Dr. Mashoor Gulati and Neha Kakkar Own The Stage on Dus Ka Dum With Dumdaar Salman Khan

Nation’s loved comedian and a personality who wears many hats will be seen on Sony Entertainment Television’s game reality show Dus Ka Dum. He is none other than Sunil Grover who is considered to be one of the most entertaining comedians and is fondly known as Dr. Mashoor Gulati. The comedian will be seen at his hilarious best on the show along with singing sensation and India’s youth idol Neha Kakkar who will be seen as a judge on Indian Idol 10 along with Anu Malik and Vishal Dadlani. 

Both of them had a gala time with Dumdaar host Salman Khan where Sunil Grover entertained everyone with his hilarious acts whereas Neha Kakkar rapped on the song ‘Unchi hai Building’ with Salman Khan. Contestant Suparna from Jamshedpur who was visibly excited got a chance to shake a leg with her idol Salman Khan. No one can miss this episode as it is going to tickle everyones funny bones! 

Sunil Grover and Salman Khan also made a parody of the song “Chaand Chupa Badal Mein” as they jointly added the lines of the song which turned out to be a beautiful one. Salman Khan made sure that the contestants and guests on the show are made comfortable and have a great time. He has never made anyone feel that he is a superstar. This episode is to watch out for!

Shweta Tripathi to play a dancer in India's first feature on Alopecia, Gone Kesh

Actress Shweta Tripathi after impressing the audience worldwide with her acting chops and innocent charm in films like Masaan and Haramkhor, is all set to play a 15-year-old aspiring dancer in Gone Kesh which is touted to be India's first ever film based on Alopecia. The film deals with a very common disorder which is often neglected by the people affected by it. Alopecia develops when the immune system attacks the hair follicles, resulting in hair loss from the scalp.

Shweta plays a middle-class girl who is an aspiring dancer and wants to fulfil her dreams to be a dancer but is diagnosed with Alopecia. Though she finds the temporarily solution for Alopecia at the age of 19 in the film but yet it steals the precious years of youth, dwarfs her ambitions and wrecks havoc on her life. The film is directed by debutante Qasim Khallow the first ever Tibetan Muslim to work in Bollywood. The director has worked on films like Fan, Dum Laga Ke Haisha, Kill Dil, Gunday, Aurangzeb, Ek Tha Tiger, Chaar Din Ki Chandni, Yamla, Pagla Deewana, and Chamku. He has been the camera person for these films and also is responsible for the entire BTS video for each film.

The film is set in the backdrop of a small town Siliguri, in West Bengal and it explored the different human emotions, pain, loneliness, fear, humour, courage and ignorance in a light-hearted manner.  It would be a visual treat for fans to see Shweta performing such an intense character flawlessly onscreen after Haramkhor.

The makers of the film are looking forward to releasing the film by October this year. When asked Shweta she said, "Gone Kesh is an extremely special film to me. I had given my consent after reading just the synopsis. I choose films when they strike a chord with me and this one did and how!"

Times Network appoints Mihir Bhatt as Chief Editor – IPs

Times Network, part of India’s largest media conglomerate, The Times Group, today announced the appointment of Mihir Bhatt as Chief Editor – IPs. In his role, Mihir will spearhead efforts to create unique and content-rich offerings on all IPs of the network, in addition to his editorial and anchoring responsibilities at ET NOW. Based in Noida, he will report to Sandeep Gurumurthi, Managing Editor, ET NOW, Times Network. 

Commenting on the appointment, Sandeep Gurumurthi, Managing Editor, ET NOW said, “We are delighted to have Mihir join us. The knowledge, expertise and experience that Mihir brings on board will further strengthen our IP offerings as a network. Having led an editorial team in a national channel, his understanding of content that influences, impacts, engages and inspires is very strong. Mihir is also a seasoned business news anchor and will enrich the star-studded anchor line up of ET NOW.” 

Speaking on his new role, Mihir Bhatt said, “I am excited to be a part of the Times Network team. Having spent several years creating landmark content-led IP’s and innovating editorial outcomes, I look forward to harnessing my best efforts and strengths to create impactful and content rich campaigns.” 

Mihir joins Times Network after a successful stint at Zee Business where he led the editorial team. He was instrumental in successfully creating marquee content properties for Zee Business such as Sensex Ka Sultan, Hunt for India’s Smart Investor, Market Excellence Awards and Zee Business Bull Run to name a few. As part of his editorial responsibilities, he designed and executed large-scale editorial activities for Zee Business such as GST Campaign, Gen Next Budget, Ministerial Conclave and Tycoons@Dalal Street.

About TIMES NETWORK: 

TIMES NETWORK, is part of India’s largest media conglomerate, The Times Group. It houses upscale brands including; TIMES NOW – India’s No. 1 English News channel, ET NOW - India’s leading English Business News channel, MIRROR NOW  -  second English General News Channel which is considered to be the gold standard of Impact Journalism; MOVIES NOW and MOVIES NOW HD – India’s leading English Movies channel; MN+ – The Gold class of Hollywood; Romedy NOW and Romedy NOW HD – a unique destination for Love and Laughter; zoOm styled by Myntra-India’s one-stop youth entertainment destination to the English Entertainment Cluster is MNX and MNX HD – The channel that brings the next level of Hollywood entertainment to India. The network delivers segmented and differentiated content under one umbrella. It informs, entertains and engages over 100 million urban affluent viewers in India and is available in over 100 countries across the globe.

Ankita Lokhande, Rashami Desai, Karanvir Bohra wish their manager a happy birthday

Television artist manager turned producer Santosh Gupta’s birthday party was attended by a bevy of television stars that his company Pinnacle Celebrity manages. Santosh Gupta who is in this business for more than twelve years is not the producer of MTV’s popular show ‘Date to Remember’ and also owns the BCL ‘Mumbai Tigers’ team.

Present at the event were Rashami Desai, Ankita Lokhande, Karanvir Bohra with wife Teejay Siddhu, Aarti Chhabria, Balraj Syal, Vindhya Tiwari, Vividha Kirti, Vaishali Takhar, Vandana Singh, Gaurav Bajaj, Aparna Dixit & Ali Merchant. All of them wished Santosh a great year ahead. Co-producer Nishant Pitti of MTV's ‘Date to Remember’ also graced the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Santosh Gupta said; “I am very happy to have such friends that are like family, having the presence of loved ones doubles the celebrations. I hope the coming year will help us increase our portfolio further with newer production ventures on the anvil.”