Have you heard? Two new beginnings

Aamir Khan and Sunny Deol

Come February, Aamir Khan will kick-off two new production ventures. First will be Sitare Zameen Par, which sees him return to face the camera after a year-and-half's hiatus from acting. The actor-filmmaker has reportedly been preparing to play the protagonist in director RS Prasanna's adaptation of the 2018 Spanish film, Campeones. Aamir is said to have participated in quite a few reading sessions with his co-actors and also finalised his look in the social dramedy. Apparently, he has allotted about two-and-half months for the movie, which is slated to go on floors early next month. Around mid-February, Lahore: 1947, his collaboration with director friend Rajkumar Santoshi and starring Sunny Deol, begins filming. Sources claim that work on building the set at a Mumbai studio for the period drama based around the Partition has already begun. While Sitare Zameen Par is being planned as a Christmas 2024 release, Lahore: 1947's date with cinemas will be finalised after they have complete shooting a substantial portion for the movie.

Festive Friday fireworks

Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff-starrer Bade Miyan Chote Miyan won't have the Eid weekend to itself this April. Even though the makers of Ali Abbas Zafar's directorial venture, featuring Prithviraj Sukumaran as the antagonist, had booked April 9 in advance, they will now have to share the box-office earnings with Ajay Devgn's Maidaan. Director Amit R Sharma's retelling of India's golden years in world football is now set to arrive on the same date. Ajay plays former coach Abdul Syed Rahim, who led the Indian football team to glory from 1950 to 1963. Incidentally, Ajay and Akki's films have clashed a few times during Diwali in the past, but this is will be their first Eid face-off. On the other hand, Runway 34 and Heropanti 2, Ajay and Tiger's 2022 festive outings respectively, had failed to meet expectations.

Keep it clean

Even though Siddarth Anand's Fighter appears to be a patriotic film, the Censor Board sought a few alterations before clearing it with a U/A rating. For starters, the makers of the Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone starrer were asked to incorporate the anti-smoking message in Hindi. An expletive used in two dialogues was replaced with more acceptable words. A couple of ‘sexually suggestive visuals' had to be deleted. In a television news sequence, 25 seconds of the audio were replaced with more appropriate audio. The aerial action thriller, which also stars Anil Kapoor, Akshay Oberoi and Karan Singh Grover, has a run-time of two hours and 46 minutes.

Dance with me

Abhimanyu Dassani, drawn by his passion for dance, recently visited to New York to conduct an exclusive dance workshop for kids. A fusion of Indian and Western dance styles, the workshop turned out to be memorable for both, the actor and the spirited kids. Calling it an exhilarating experience, Abhimanyu said, "More than teaching kids, I always end up learning so much about life from them." The actor, who was stationed at the Big Apple for a few days, added, "With Indians having migrated all over the world, I believe the new generation requires a little bit excitement to stay connected to our culture, especially films. I look at this as an opportunity to be a connecting bridge to draw the kids more towards films and culture."

Who will Vijay romance next?

Even as Vijay Deverakonda's upcoming offering Family Star is being readied for release, his new project, tentatively titled VD12, has been garnering buzz since its announcement. Triptii Dimri, who is riding high on the success of Animal, is said to be in the reckoning to play the leading lady. Interestingly, talk is also that Sapta Sagaradaache Ello: Side A and Side B star Rukmini Vasanth is being considered for a crucial role. Gowtam Tinnanuri, director of the spy thriller, is looking to begin filming in March. Initially, Sree Leela was cast opposite Vijay, but she opted out as she had already committed the required dates to another project.

Now, Taapsee pans Animal

Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal continues to be a topic of debate. In a recent interaction, Taapsee Pannu shared why she feels films like the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer are dangerous for society. Asserting that she is not an extremist per se, the Dunki actor stated she disagrees with people who say that those who can watch Gone Girl can watch Animal too. Pointing out that ‘Hollywood films operate in a different context,' Taapsee said that Bollywood has a wider influence as ‘youngsters copy dialogues and hairstyles of film stars'. She also stated that those calling critics of Animal as pseudos need to get a better and clearer understanding of the Indian social and cultural landscape first.