Amyra Dastur and Mallika Dua turn comic writers for their upcoming web series

Amyra Dastur has been busy riding the waves, literally, in Pondicherry and other areas of Tamil Nadu for her upcoming web series, Trip 2. The actress has also begun shooting for Mental Hai Kya with Rajkumar Rao and Kangana Ranaut. While shooting for trip 2, Amyra’s social media was abuzz with images and videos of the actors having a blast on the set. But one particular co-actor, Mallika Dua and Amyra hit it off like a house on fire.

The two who are starkly different individuals in real life struck a camaraderie that grew into a strong friendship. They cherish their differences especially with Amyra being a quirky South Bombay girl and Mallika being a hilarious brazen Dilli ki ladki. Their jokes and videos became so popular even on the sets that the director knew she had to cash in on this comedy gold. The director got Amyra and Mallika Dua to write and add more scenes to their part of the script. Amyra, who plays Mallika’s cousin sister, interacts with her in all these scenes. The two would sit for hours figuring out dialogues and actions that would make audiences laugh even more.

When asked about their stint as comic writers she said, “When we played off one another in the scenes, the ad lib just came in organically. It’s great to work with a Director that allows her actors to improvise. Sonam loved it and encouraged our input during the shoot.”

If their one minute videos were this hilarious, we cannot wait to see how crackling the series will be.

Bharat Ki Awaaz- Episode 5 on 29th august, 2018

This Independence month,  India’s leading Indian infotainment channel EPIC takes us on a stroll down memory lane with some of India’s iconic speeches in Bharat Ki Awaaz.

This week Bharat Ki Awaaz will show us and educate us about the speeches from  Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, Rajiv Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Maulana Azad.

Bharat Ki Awaaz has been brought to television, with an effort to re-live with context and perspective, the passion and ideas of some of India’s finest orators. Their public addresses at important junctures of history roused the blood of millions - to define, build, and bind our nation together.

Watch ‘Bharat Ki Awaaz’, on 29th August, Wednesday at 10 pm only on EPIC channel.

**Below are the speech descriptions:

1- On Defending our Borders by Lal Bahadur Shastri- 3rd September 1965

2- On the Need for Peace by Maulana Azad- October 1949

3- The Making of India by  Dr. B.R.Ambedkar

4- On the Death of Indira Gandhi by Rajiv Gandhi

AR Rahman & Tabrez Noorani come together for Love Sonia

After previously collaborating on Slumdog Millionaire Filmmaker Tabrez Noorani and Grammy Award-winning composer AR Rahman come back together for Noorani’s directorial debut Love Sonia. Rahman along with breakout artist Bishop Briggs will record new song entitled “I Am More” for the film. The song is penned by Rianjali.

It’s round two for director Tabrez and Rahman, the two have previously worked together for the film Slumdog Millionaire (2008). Rahman's work gained him even more global prominence with the extraordinary success of his score for the film.

Rahman will create the song along with young American-British singer Bishop Briggs who is best known for her popular single River.

Rahman shared, “I’ve known Tabrez since Slumdog Millionaire and then we went on to work on a couple of other projects. With this, he makes his directorial debut and I’m happy for him because projects like these happen with a lot of good intention to propel positive changes in the society. It was a pleasure working with Tabrez, Academy nominated producer David and the talented artist Bishop Briggs for the song ‘I Am More’.”

Tabrez said, “‘I Am More’ is truly magical and sung powerfully by Bishop Briggs. It’s a wonderful combination of AR’s Indian aethetics and the powerful voice of emerging international star, Bishop. Working with AR finally as a director was such an enriching experience, after hearing about various Directors talk about what it was like to work with him. He is truly a genius, understated, humble and so sensitive when it comes to representing the matter of the film. It was a truly unique experience to work with both AR, Bishop and Rianjali who wrote a truly beautiful song. I can't wait for people to hear it.”

Co-Producer Amar Butala added “Love Sonia is an important film. The cast and crew-each individual has made a spirited contribution to the film. Having A.R. and Bishop on board is a blessing and a validation of how much they loved the film. We look forward to releasing our film on the 14th of September in India”

Bishop said, Love Sonia is more than a film; it’s a movement, a conversation and an opening into what’s actually happening in the world today. I feel so honored to be apart of what Tabrez has fearlessly brought to the light. AR is a complete icon and to have collaborated with someone who truly inspires me was an incredible experience I’ll never forget. Tabrez and AR are legends and to have been able to work with them on something so special, that I know will make an imprint on the world, is something I am extremely grateful for.”

Executive Producer Shalini Thackeray, “it’s a great honour to have a maestro like AR Rahman come on board on Love Sonia .With him having worked with Tabrez before, I’m sure he will create something as powerful as the film Love Sonia with the essence of the movie in mind. This song will be a treat for everyone out there."

Love Sonia, a hard-hitting story of a 17 year old girl who risks her life to rescue her sister from the sex trade, was shot in India, Hong Kong and Los Angeles.

The film has a strong ensemble cast staring Manoj Bajpayee, Richa Chadha, Rajkummar Rao, Sai Tamhankar, Adil Hussain, Anupam Kher, Demi Moore, Mark Duplass with Freida Pinto and introducing Mrunal Thakur and Riya Sisodia.

Tamasha Talkies and Samraaj Talkies in association with India Take One Productions, Cinemantra Entertainment and Media & Dynasty Consulting Group present Love Sonia. The film is Tabrez Noorani's directorial debut, produced by the Academy Award nominated producer of Life of Pi, David Womark and Tabrez Noorani. Co-produced by Amar Butala and Executive Producers include Shalini Thackeray, Deepak Nayar and Pravesh Sahni. The Dynasty Consulting Group was instrumental in setting up the movie. Zee Studios will release the film in India. Love Sonia releases on 14th September 2018.

After representing Shillong Football Club, Ali to mentor young football enthusiasts from Lucknow

Actor Ali Fazal is a sports enthusiast and has been associated with the game of Basketball and Football since his early days in school and college. There was a time when Ali hoped to represent India as a basketball player but destiny brought him to tinsel town and the rest is history. Other than playing basketball Ali is also a passionate about football too. He loves watching the game and plays whenever he has free time on his hands. A few years ago Ali mentored a team of children from Shillong as their brand ambassador. While shooting for one of his films in Goa, Ali initiated the idea to fly the boys from Shillong football club to Goa and mentor them side by side while shooting for his film. Taking the legacy forward Ali is now all set to mentor young football enthusiasts from Lucknow while shooting for his current film Prasthaanam.

Lucknow being his hometown holds an important place in his heart and Ali considers it his responsibility to give back in some way or another. What better way than to mentor some local young football players who work really hard to get the basic facilities to play the game they love. Ali like a good Samaritan took the onus to represent the young lads as their mentor while shooting for his film in Lucknow. Even after the completion of his film, Ali will continue mentoring these talented kids till the time their potential is recognised by professional football clubs of India.

Speaking of it, Ali said, “When I worked with the amazing team at Shillong and seeing the kids and their hard work, it really reminded me of my training not too long ago when I was an athlete during my college days. Being a fan of football, I have always had immense interest in the sport on and off the field. And when I met these young, very enthusiastic kids in Lucknow while I was shooting there I was really impressed with their talent on field and I feel with the right mentoring they can do a lot in the sport. They don’t even have proper fields at this point. I am also in hopes to get govt sanctions for multipurpose play fields in the city. So the idea is to, apart from encouraging them, also mentor them by providing them the right guidance and technical support which can help them brush their skills to take up the sport professionally if they wish to in their future. I will be tying up with various sponsors’ as well so push this initiative as game equipment needs to be bought.”

Prassthanam is the official remake of Telugu film with the same name directed by Deva Katta under Sanjay Dutt production. The cast includes Sanjay Dutt, Manisha Koirala, Ali Fazal, Amyra Dastur, and Satyajeet Dubey amongst others. Ali will be seen playing son to Sanjay Dutt in the film.

Recycling way of life for Keith Sequeira!

Actor, Model & VJ, Keith Sequeira has been spending more time at the gym & re-decorating his home post his exit from the show Udaan.

The actor who usually takes part in clean-up drives in & around the city confesses to having an OCD & is very particular about how things are arranged and how they look ; also he religiously follows the policy of best out of waste.

Keith shares, 'I'm a hoarder of furniture & I never let go. I consider it a challenge to change things around while redecorating. I still have a lot of the things I purchased with my first paycheck or even the gifts given to me. They always find a place in my home.'

'I started to do up the place before Rochelle moved in to give it a more “couple's” feeling from a “bachelor's” pad. I'm old school like that & believe in simplicity & functionality. And finally when she came home she added her “women’s touch” and the place just lit up .

Even though I read up a lot on trends , I prefer to keep reinventing/recycling old furniture pieces and not waste and do my part in conserving resources . In my free time I go through interior designing magazines & surf the internet . This time I stuck with rochelle’s idea of shabby chick and recently turned around a wooden table into a beautiful , classy Spanish tilled table .   Also this ends up being cost effective but more importantly creatively fulfilling and adds that extra special personal touch.

In times when actors have access to resources, Keith goes the conservation/recycling way of life “Home is my safe haven & I take more interest in how things should be, it is our space &  should reflect our personality and priorities . If not acting, maybe I would be an art collector, or an interior designer, maybe,' Keith concludes.