Have you heard? Romcom on their minds

Sidharth Malhotra and Kriti Sanon

Last October, news first emerged that Sidharth Malhotra was teaming up with producer Dinesh Vijan for a thriller. However, the project, also starring Janhvi Kapoor as the leading lady, was aborted much before it could go on floors this summer. Now, talk in tinsel town is that Sid and Dinesh are collaborating for another movie. This time around, it will be a romantic comedy to be helmed by Tushar Jalota. Interestingly, the Mimi, Bhediya and Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya producer's favourite heroine, Kriti Sanon is being roped in as the leading lady. After films like Shershaah, Mission Majnu, Yodha and a web series like Indian Police Force, Sid is looking to explore the romcom space and has liked Tushar's subject. Kriti, too, is excited by the idea, which has been conceptualised keeping the family audiences in mind. However, things will be confirmed only after the actors hear the final narration, after the director locks the screenplay. For now, Kriti has Sajid Nadiadwala's Housefull 5, while Sid is said to start an action flick with director Balwinder Singh Janjua.

This friendship is unique

Over four years since Salman Khan opted out of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Inshallah at the nth hour, the two remain good friends. During a recent interaction for his web series debut, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, the filmmaker shared that even though he has worked with the biggest stars, the only one he remains friends with is his Khamoshi: The Musical (1996) and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) actor. "The only person that I'm still friendly with is Salman Khan. Even if Inshallah didn't happen, he stands by me," Sanjay reportedly said. He added that his Saawariya (2007) actor often checks on him and cares for him. Talking about the superstar's gesture after their fall-out, the filmmaker revealed, "On work, we may have sparred, we may have not had our moment correct, and it didn't fall into place. But after one month, he called me and I called him and we talked. So that is a friend."

Betting big on real estate

Like many of her industry colleagues, Malaika Arora, too, has made sound investments in real estate. The actor, who lives in a plush sea-facing apartment in Bandra, has reportedly rented out her Pali Hill house to designer Kashish Hans. It is being said that Kashish has paid a deposit of R4.5 lakh for the three-year lease, with a monthly rent of R1.5 lakh for the first 11 months. The rent will be hiked by about five per cent for the subsequent tenure. About two years ago, Malaika leased out another flat in Casablanca Apartments in Bandra to a studio for four years, and the rent for the first year was R1.2 lakh per month with an increase for the following years.

At the crossroads

Heralded as the next action hero at one time, Tiger Shroff hasn't had a good run in cinemas in the aftermath of the pandemic. After a hat-trick of flops, the actor's actioner, Rambo, was shelved. We hear, the studio deemed it an unviable project to invest in. Rumour has it that Tiger was recently advised by an influential producer to slash his remuneration. An industry insider tells us, "Tiger was told, in no uncertain terms, to quote no more than a third of his last asking price, which was Rs 30 crore. While he is part of Rohit Shetty's multi-starrer, Singham Again, any investment in him is being seen as a risky proposition."

A collab after eight years

It is known that Priyadarshan is planning a thriller with Saif Ali Khan playing a visually-challenged protagonist. Moreover, Bobby Deol is being roped in to essay the antagonist. Now, we hear that the yet-untitled movie is the filmmaker's Hindi adaptation of his 2016 Malayalam offering, Oppam, starring Mohanlal in the lead. Apparently, Saif and Priyan had discussed the remake soon after the Malayalam original released, but things didn't pan out. In the interim, the filmmaker even contemplated making the film with Ajay Devgn. But their plans didn't materialise. After about eight years since their first discussion, things finally seem to be falling into place for Priyan and Saif.

Train-ing days

Gurpreet Singh, who plays the role of Rafique Baig in the television show, Vanshaj, often opts for Mumbai local trains to travel to Naigaon for the shoot. "Interacting with fellow commuters from diverse backgrounds and hearing their stories makes the journeys memorable," he says. Moreover, it also helps him professionally. He explains, "It has made me more aware of the city's hustle and bustle, which I can channel into my performance."

Return to a fuller house

It is known that for Housefull 5 (HF5), producer Sajid Nadiadwala is keen to reunite the cast of the previous instalments. Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh, who have been constants since the first Housefull (2010), will lead the fifth outing as well. The latest addition to the cast is Arjun Rampal, who played Deepika Padukone's brother in the first instalment. He returns to the franchise after nearly 14 years. While details of the principal characters are being kept under wraps, we hear Sajid is sparing no effort in taking HF5 several notches above its predecessors, in terms of content and scale. Recently, Abhishek Bachchan, who starred in Housefull 3 (2016) was brought on board. Director Tarun Mansukhani is set to begin prep for the film that goes on floors in August in the UK.