Akshay Kumar and Sunny Deol to face-off at box-office on Republic Day weekend 2025

Sunny Deol

Face-off once more

It appears that Akshay Kumar and Sunny Deol are set to face off in cinemas again. The two actors, whose OMG 2 and Gadar 2: The Katha Continues had clashed on August 11, 2023, will now have Sky Force and Jaat opening in cinemas on January 24, 2025. Apparently, producer Dinesh Vijan feels that the Republic Day window is the best weekend for the Akshay-led action thriller that revisits India's first air strike on Pakistan. Helmed by Sandeep Kewlani and Abhishek Anil Kapur, Sky Force also stars Sara Ali Khan, Nimrat Kaur and debutant Veer Pahariya. On the other hand, the Mythri Movie Makers, the producers of Sunny's Jaat also believe that the January 24 is the best date for the action drama with a strong patriotic flavour. Also starring Randeep Hooda, Saiyami Kher, Regina Cassandra and Vineet Kumar Singh, the film marks Sunny's maiden collaboration with acclaimed director Gopichand Malineni. The makers revealed the first look on Sunny's 67th birthday on Saturday. Interestingly, Sunny was to have Lahore 1947 with director Rajkumar Santoshi releasing on the big weekend. However, Aamir Khan, who is producing the Partition saga, is planning to bring it to cinemas in the second quarter of 2025.

Case filed against Ektaa, Shobha

Ektaa R Kapoor and her mother Shobha have landed in a legal soup. A case has been filed against them under the POCSO Act for allegedly involving minor girls in inappropriate scenes in ALT Balaji's web series Gandii Baat season 6. The case has been registered against Ektaa, Shobha, their production house, Balaji Telefilms Ltd and their OTT app, ALT Balaji under section 295-A of IPC, IT Act and sections 13 and 15 of POCSO Act. While the complaint states that the series streamed on ALT Balaji between February 2021 and April 2021, the controversial episode is not currently streaming on the app. Running into seven seasons, the adult comedy series was directed by Sachin Mohite.

Unique idea for MunnaBhai

Over the last several years, director Rajkumar Hirani has often been asked about his third MunnaBhai film starring Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi. After Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006) emerged a runaway hit, the filmmaker was planning to make MunnaBhai Chale America. However, they had to abort the idea for reasons best known to them. When Hirani was asked about MunnaBhai 3 recently, he said, "I have five half-finished scripts for Munna Bhai. I'd spend six months on a script, reach the interval, and it just wouldn't go beyond that. There is a Munna Bhai LLB, Munna Bhai Chal Base, Munna Bhai Chale Amreeka, and more." Sharing that even Sanju wants another edition and that is now his priority, Hirani added, "The most important factor is that the next instalment has to get better than the previous films. But now, I have a unique idea. Of course, over the course of 100 years of cinema, everything has been said. But yes, I am working on that idea. Sanju might just come home and threaten me to get done with the next."

Sai's gift for budding filmmakers

Celebrated filmmaker and theatre personality Sai Paranjpye has donated her collection of original, handwritten drafts and screenplays of films, telefilms, teleplays, and stage plays in Marathi, Hindi, and English to Ashoka University's Archives of Contemporary India. The collection also includes drafts and screenplays of the director's celebrated movies like Sparsh (1980), Chashme Buddoor (1982), Katha (1983), Disha (1992) and Saaz (1997). Moreover, her papers will be available to researchers and scholars looking to gain valuable insights into her works and their impact on Indian cinema. Calling it "an unimaginable opportunity," Paranjpye said, "To be catalogued alongside icons like Girish Karnad, Dilip Padgaonkar, and Suresh Kohli is a privilege beyond words." While advising budding filmmakers, she said, "My advice would be to study the life around them and watch good films, both from India and abroad, as it provides a valuable learning experience."

Sam backs Kangy's views

Kangana Ranaut, who is known to mince no words in her social media posts, yesterday found a supporter in Samantha. The actor-politician, who is set to release her next, Emergency, after the upcoming Punjab elections, re-shared a post about ‘witches' on X. It read, "Witches are women who are connected to their higher self, their intuition, infectious free spirit, indomitable willpower and uncontrolled desire to break all boundaries make them mysterious, frightening and dangerous to those who are caged and cursed." Soon, Samantha shared a screenshot of Kangana's post on her social media stories, saying, "Word" and tagged the Emergency actor-director.

The end game

Shabana Azmi recently shared how the climax of Fire (1996), her film with director Deepa Mehta, was changed after a discussion with step-son Farhan Akhtar. During a masterclass session with Vidya Balan at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, the veteran actor spoke about discussing the movie with Farhan who loved the script. "He said, ‘I don't like the end because Radha [Shabana's character] dies. It will ruin the whole purpose of the film and people might think, you did something wrong. She must survive'," Shabana recalled, adding that she shared the feedback with Deepa, who altered the ending.

The franchise must go on

Even as the makers of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (BB3) are getting ready to release the horror comedy on Diwali, buzz about continuing the franchise has started. Rumours are rife that the Kartik Aaryan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Vidya Balan-starrer has tuned out better than Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022). What's more, writer-director Anees Bazmee has even got an idea for BB4. He is said to begin developing the concept after BB3 opens in cinemas. Kartik, who has been leading the cast since BB2, will return in the fourth edition.