Ek Thi Rani Ek Tha Raavan

Star Bharat launches prime time show that reiterates the strengths of today’s women! 

Led by its brand philosophy ‘Bhula De Darr, Kuch Alag Kar’, Star Bharat launches Ek Thi Rani Ek Tha Raavan. The show addresses the pertinent issue of stalking in our country through the powerful story of a young girl- Rani. Set in the historic town of Jhansi, home to Rani of Jhansi, the show reveals the nightmares of Rani, the protagonist, who has been living in a dilemma about leaving her home every hour of the day as she is stalked. Belonging to a broken family, she aspires to study and become a teacher, but steps out with little enthusiasm everyday fearing a follower. A man who waits until she leaves her doorstep and keeps her company during her day. He is a 27 year old guy- Rivaaj who is neither her friend, nor her lover BUT HER STALKER.

It’s Rani’s journey from being a Jhansi waali Rani to becoming a JHANI KI RANI wherein ultimately, she stands ups against her stalker.

The show launches on 21 st Jan at 8pm on Star Bharat

Sonali Bendre Behl collaborates with son Ranveer Behl for a live book discussion

A best-selling author and voracious reader, actress Sonali Bendre Behl has always used social media to reconnect to her passion for books and encourage the habit of reading in her followers.

Sonali’s Book Club, started by her on Facebook, has developed into a stronger community with over 13,000 members bringing together aspiring writers, readers and books.

The latest discussion hosted by Sonali's Book Club at the Facebook Office was a very special occasion. Because not only did Sonali resume after a hiatus, but was also joined for the very first time by her son Ranveer Behl for an engaging discussion!

The book 'Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel', recommended by Ranveer was read by the mother-son duo and made for an interesting discussion at the book club!

Sonali Says, "It feels so good to be back! I really missed interacting with members of the book club on the Facebook lives. This one is special as it's the first one for 2019 and it's our first mother-son collaboration on SBC. So glad to have Ranveer do the discussion with me, he was the one who picked this book and reading it with him has truly been a lot of fun."

CELEB PARENTS ABUZZ ABOUT NEW CHILDREN'S BOOK - THE DOT THAT WENT FOR A WALK

'The Dot That Went For A Walk', an upcoming children's book by Caterpillar Wings, is an inspiring initiative with stories from 51 highly accomplished women right from Rani Laxmi Bai, Indira Gandhi, Kiran Bedi to Deepika Padukone.

In an attempt to change the narrative around childrens tales, the book ushers in a new way of storytelling featuring stories of 51 inspiring women from India. While most fairytales show how princess needs a prince to save her, this book tells stories of Indian women who are their own knights in shining armor. 'The Dot That Went For A Walk' is curated by Lakshmi Nambiar, Reema Gupta and Sarada Akkineni and also includes illustrations by 51 artists from across the country.

Mini Mathur appreciated the book saying, "Move over princesses! This book is so empowering for our little ones... real life examples of inspirational indian women who save the day.. and the prince". Gautami Kapoor poured her heart out in a video mentioning it to be the  most amazing book with beautiful illustrations and Hiten Tejwani appreciated the book and Tisca Chopra called it as a "delightful read".

Actress Tannaz Irani commented how her daughter loves reading these books and such an inspiring book about all woman achievers and television actress Barkha Sengupta shared images of her daughter reading the book and wrote "51 short stories about the incredible women achiever’s of India .... quite a bedtime read for my little one!"

Rakkhosh receives thundering response at world premiere at PIFF

India’s first POV film (a film where the camera is rigged to see everyone and everyone is seen talking to the camera) Rakkhosh, was screened to a thundering ovation at the Pune International Film Festival over the weekend after which famed journalist Sameer Nakhate interviewed Team Rakkhosh, consisting of producer Sayali Deshpande, Creative Producer Prashen Kyawal, writer and director Srinivinay Salian, film strategist S. Ramachandran and actors Barun Chandra, Sonamoni Jayant and Atul Mahale.

“When I heard the script, I knew I wanted the world to hear this story. So I decided to bankroll is,” says Sayali. Srivinay Salian who was then supposed to be just the writer for the film, got a narration of this story called Patient No 302, by Narayan Dharap, and was asked to write it. “I didn’t want to read the story and I said that I would write it first and if they didn’t like it, I would then read the book and then modify my script. Thankfully, they liked the story,” says Salian.

Rakkhosh produced by Santosh and Sayali Deshpande also Sanjay Mishra, Priyanka Bose, Tannishtha Chatterjee among others,

Creative Producer Prashen Kyawal says that the uniqueness of the film also got him hooked. “I liked the idea of the camera being the hero of the film. Normally actors are trained to look away from the cameras when saying their dialogues. But then this film needed the actors to look into the camera while saying their lines,” says Kyawal.

Barun Chanda who has worked in over 50 films including Seemabaddha directed by Satyajit Ray says, “I was given the script and as I read it, I could not put it down. It was a tough script, but I wanted to read it. I am sure, no one has ever made this kind of a film ever in India before,” says Chanda who essays the role of Dr Idris in the film.

Actor Sonomoni has a unique distinction. All the films she has worked in have bagged national awards. Be it films like Traffic Signal, Bose, Chillar Party, Shamitabh, Mukhabinay and Ventilator among others have gone to win national awards. “When I was narrated the script, the director knew the character very well and he exactly narrated what he wanted from the actor. And that was the reason why I did the film and it was a very unique project in itself,” says Sonomoni who plays a nurse in the film.

Actor Atul Mahale from Nagpur who has an important role in the film also talked about the challenges one has while doing a film in mental asylum. “If you see the film there are 150 people in the asylum, but each of them has a different character brief,” says Mahale.

Asked how he would describe the film, S Ramachandran says, "It is a film which tells you that there is an insane in every 'insaan'!'"

The film has been edited by Filmfare award winning editor Dinesh Poojari.

Gulshan Devaiah took on his most physically challenging role immediately after his knee surgery

Actor Gulshan Devaiah after giving an impeccable performance as JJ in his latest release Smoke an Eros Now Original is all geared up with his next Vasan Bala's Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota which has already won several praises globally across festivals. Gulshan admits it was his most challenging role till date that strained him physically and mentally to play the role of a martial arts expert. The film Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota was offered to Gulshan immediately after his knee surgery for which he had taken an involuntary break owing to the doctor's recommendations. Gulshan went through reconstructive knee surgery of his right leg. He was at a stage when he was going through immense pain and on road to recovery post the surgery. He wasn't taking up any work and was advised complete rest up to one year. But destiny has something else decided for the talented actor Gulshan. Ankur Khanna, the producer from RSVP offered MKDNH to be directed by Vasant Bala which was an offer that Gulshan couldn't deny.

Gulshan has collaborated with Vasan before too in the critically acclaimed film, Peddlers. It was a difficult decision for Gulshan to make, it involved huge risk since he was supposed to do his own high octane martial art stunts. As an actor for Gulshan, it was worth taking the risk for agreeing on the film. The immense trust from the producer and the director on him and working again with Vasan was enough to bring back the zing in him to play the part in Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota soon after his knee injury.