Have you heard? New twist in the clash

Prabhas and Shah Rukh Khan

Rumours are rife that the makers of Salaar have threatened to pull out the Prabhas-starrer from PVR-INOX multiplexes and Miraj cinemas in south territories. Reason: The multiplex chain is reportedly going back on their promise of playing fair and allocating equal number of screens and shows to Prashanth Neel's action thriller. They are said to be favouring Shah Rukh Khan's Dunki after he apparently offered them a lucrative deal on Tuesday night. Incidentally, this development came after single screens took a stand against opening advance bookings for Rajkumar Hirani's directorial venture for Friday. Industry sources claim that the makers of Salaar and their distribution partners AA Films are miffed with this underhand move on the part of King Khan and the multiplex chains. "If PVR-INOX and Miraj give a raw deal to the Prabhas-Prashanth film, it will backfire on them in the long run vis-à-vis other releases from the south Indian film industry. The multiplex chains cannot bank on only Hindi and Hollywood releases in the south territories, they need our films for the business as much as they need the others," said an insider. Last heard, talks were underway on Wednesday night to resolve the stalemate as Dunki arrives today, and Salaar releases tomorrow.

Ride once more

Dhak Dhak didn't set the cash registers ringing when it released in cinemas in October, but the response it garnered after the OTT release has motivated the makers to plan a sequel. Alongside a picture of herself astride a bike, Fatima Sana Shaikh wrote in her social media post, "We are ready to go to Barcelona. Are you joining us for yet another extraordinary road trip?" Stating that her character Sky is ready to take Uzma (Dia Mirza), Mahi (Ratna Pathak Shah) and Manjari (Sanjana Sanghi) on their next road trip, she added, "But it would be great if we can have more people." Sanjana tagged producers Taapsee Pannu and Pranjal Khandhdiya, and director Tarun Dudeja, saying, "Let's do this one more time. Jaldi shuru karo."

Spreading positivity

Ayushmann Khurrana is upbeat that 2023 saw three all-time blockbusters crossing the R500-crore mark, and hits like Ranveer Singh-Alia Bhatt's Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani and his own Dream Girl 2. "From a narrative that Hindi cinema is boycotted, to it having no takers, our industry has cracked the content game to possibly register its biggest theatrical year," he says. Crediting the writers, directors and producers, he adds, "Hindi cinema will always find love provided we make the best cinema for audiences to enjoy, experience and engage with."

Studio backing out of two films

Talk in the trade is that Jio Studios is backing out of producer Firoz Nadiadwallah's Welcome to the Jungle and Hera Pheri 3. Incidentally, the first schedule of Welcome to the Jungle was wrapped up recently and the next shoot is scheduled for February 2024. Sources attribute it to the producer's financial issues, including debts and litigations that are yet to be resolved and closed. According to a source, "Jio came on board only on the basis of Akshay Kumar being a stakeholder in both the films. But given that Firoz's pending issues could jeopardise the movies in future, the studio decided to exit after considerable thought and discussion." Akshay, who leads the cast and is also a producer on both the films, is said to have stepped in to resolve the stalemate. "We will know how things pan out in the coming weeks," adds our source.

Two of a kind

Even as Vicky Kaushal is working on Chhava, director Laxman Utekar's biopic on Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, a Marathi film on the iconic Maratha king is set to arrive much earlier. Filmmaker Digpal Lanjekar announced yesterday that his Shivrayancha Chhava will release on February 16, 2024. While the identity of the actor playing the titular role hasn't been revealed yet, the poster of the protagonist set to confront a tiger has piqued audience curiosity and anticipation. Interestingly, Shivrayancha Chhava is Digpal's sixth offering on Maratha history, after Farzand, Fatteshikast, Pawankhind, Sher Shivraj and Subhedar, starring Chinmay Mandlekar as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Mrinal Kulkarni as Rajmata Jijabai. Whether the Marathi movie will have any impact on Vicky's Chhava remains to be seen.

Work time, family time

mid-day recently reported that Wamiqa Gabbi has joined Varun Dhawan in Kochi for the Hindi remake of Atlee's 2016 Tamil hit, Theri (Ending year on set is a perfect curtain call, December 15). Like Thalapathy Vijay in the original, Varun plays a double role in this entertainer and also has Keerthy Suresh as the other leading lady opposite him. Since it is a long schedule and he isn't likely to be back in the bay soon, the Dhawan family joined him in the Kerala city. Director-dad David, mother Laali and wifey Natasha flew down recently and the actor couldn't be more pleased. Varun shared pictures of them savouring the south Indian breakfast, captioning them, "A day in Kochi." The pictures also featured a canine, whose name, the actor said, is ‘Happy'.

On a hit parade

Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga and producer Bhushan Kumar have not only surpassed the performance of their first collaboration, Kabir Singh (2019), but also set a new benchmark with their latest blockbuster, Animal. They are extending their association with the Prabhas-starrer Spirit, a project fronted by Allu Arjun, and Animal Park with Ranbir Kapoor again. Buoyed by Bhushan's support, Sandeep says, "The kind of freedom he gives in terms of my creativity and the liberty to choose any song makes me feel at home at T-Series. There is nothing more than that a director needs or can ask for. In fact, after the movie was made, I realised that we never discussed the budgets."