Have you heard? Whose story is it anyway?

Anil Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Neetu Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Maniesh Paul

Within barely an hour of the release of JugJugg Jeeyo trailer, the film sparked a controversy. Vishal A Singh, a chartered accountant associated with several producers and also the creative executive producer of Sanjay Gupta's Jazbaa (2015), starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, tweeted last afternoon that the upcoming family entertainer is based on his story. "I had registered a story Bunny Rani with the Screen Writers Association in January 2020. I had officially mailed to Dharma Productions in February 2020 for an opportunity to co-produce with them. I even got a reply from them. And they have taken my story and made JugJugg Jeeyo. Not fair, Karan Johar," Vishal wrote. Sharing a screenshot of his mail to KJo's production house, he added, "Screenshot of my mail to Dharma Productions dated February 17, 2020.

"An official complaint will follow." Later in the evening, he posted, "Please read an extract of the synopsis of Bunny Rani I had mailed to Dharma Productions in February 2020. And then go and watch the JugJugg Jeeyo trailer and judge by yourself." He also tagged the movie's actors, Varun Dhawan, Anil Kapoor, director Raj Mehta, Somen Mishra and Ram Solanki from the creative team of Dharma Productions in his tweets. mid-day messaged Somen, who replied saying, "We do not comment on speculation. Our legal team has not received anything. If they do, it will be dealt with appropriately."

Akshay calls for unity

Last week, Adivi Sesh spoke about his film Major's face-off with Akshay Kumar's Prithviraj and Kamal Haasan's Vikram. Now, Akshay's expressed a sensible and different take in it. Calling it a ‘good' thing, he hopes everyone's films work. "We can't stop anybody from releasing their films, right?" Akshay countered at a media interaction recently. He avered, "I hope every film does business because the business is all connected. It is wrong to think we can't coexist. I always say we have to be united, but unfortunately, what I see is that we are not. Hopefully, we will learn."

To new beginnings

Kanika Kapoor married businessman-beau Gautam in London over the weekend. The Baby doll singer walked under a phoolon-ki-chaadar with Mohammed Rafi's classic song, Tere mere sapne ab ek rang hai, playing in the background. Sharing the pictures, Kanika wrote, "And I said yes. Fairy tales can happen to you, just never stop believing in them. Dream because one day those dreams do come true. So grateful to the universe for making us meet." She added, "Excited to start our journey together; to grow old with you, to love you and learn with you."

Elli gets personal

Elli AvrRam, who came from Sweden to pursue her Bollywood dreams, revealed that growing up in an orthodox home, her mother accompanied her when she went clubbing. At a talk in Goa recently, she shared that when she started modelling, she "took ice-cold showers in the mornings and travelled by trains". The actor, who has films like Ganapath with Tiger Shroff, and Goodbye with Amitabh Bachchan and Neena Gupta in her kitty, said, "I lived a life so opposite from my life in Sweden because I was so passionate about my dream that I learnt to enjoy my journey instead of being negative about it." She summed up, "I didn't want to grow and always think ‘what if'. I was fierce and I said to myself, ‘I'm going to go for it'."

For masses and classes now

After Vikram with Kamal Haasan, Vijay Sethupathi and Fahadh Faasil, director Lokesh Kanagaraj will collaborate with Vijay next. He recently confirmed the development, saying the announcement will be made once the action thriller releases on June 3. Buzz is that it is the same script that the filmmaker had written for Rajinikanth. Kanagaraj has reportedly said that his movie with Vijay is designed for both - the masses as well as the classes. Tentatively titled Thalapathy 67, the film also marks the reunion of the actor and director after their last year's runaway hit, Master.

Riders return home

After a 10-day biking trip in Europe with their buddies, Shahid Kapoor, Ishaan Khatter and Kunal Kemmu are back in the bay. The actors had been sharing daily updates from their trip - be it taking dips in icy cold waters, or traversing miles through the day. Sasha, Ishaan and Kunal are said to go on biking holidays regularly. Their last outing was in August 2019. Since the last two years were lost to the pandemic, the trio decided to make the most of the opportunity spared by their busy date diaries and escaped the sweltering heat of Mumbai.

Calling the shots!

Talk in tinsel town is that after taking over the production of Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali from friend Sajid Nadiadwala, Salman Khan is taking over the direction from Farhad Samji as well. Reports are rife that the superstar and his co-producers weren't exactly excited by the rushes. Consequently, their confidence in the director of Bachchhan Paandey took a dip. Eventually, Salman had to step in to make sure the film was shaping up as desired. Sources claim that when the actor is performing his scenes, the chief assistant director and associate director step in his place behind the camera. Apparently, Farhad, though much involved, doesn't exactly have the final say.

Birthday hues

Suhana Khan turned 22 yesterday. Even though it was a working birthday for her, the team of The Archies ensured that it was special for the debutante. The pictures she shared - of a two-tier chocolate cake loaded with cherries and strawberries, and balloons and ribbons on the ceiling - are proof enough of the celebrations on the set for the b'day girl.