Wamiqa Gabbi finalised as one of the three heroines for Akshay Kumar's Bhooth Bangla'

Akshay Kumar and Wamiqa Gabbi

Wamiqa's next biggie

It is known that 14 years after their last collaboration, Khatta Meetha (2010), Akshay Kumar and Priyadarshan are reuniting for a horror comedy. Titled Bhooth Bangla, the Ektaa R Kapoor production also features Paresh Rawal, Asrani and Rajpal Yadav in pivotal parts. News is that the makers have finalised Wamiqa Gabbi as one of the three leading ladies of the movie. Sources say the makers were impressed with her acting chops and approached her as she fit the role to the T. After a round of meetings, Wamiqa signed up for the film. Akshay's character will have a distinct dynamic with the three female leads. Priyan and Ektaa plan to complete the casting soon as they are slated to take the horror comedy on floors in January. By then, Akshay will almost complete Sajid Nadiadwala's Housefull 5 and a considerable portion of Firoz A Nadiadwallah's Welcome to the Jungle.

Realty deals

Suniel Shetty and son Ahan have recently purchased a property in Bandra for R8.01 crore. According to registration documents reviewed by real estate portal Square Yards, they acquired the property through a bank auction via a sale certificate. The Shettys paid a stamp duty of R40.08 lakh on the property spread across 1,200 sq feet. On the work front, Suniel is working on Welcome to the Jungle, while Ahan will soon begin filming Border 2 with Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan and Diljit Dosanjh.

Welcome to the cop universe

Insiders claim that Salman Khan's special appearance in Rohit Shetty's Singham Again is sure to have cinegoers dancing in the aisles. The superstar's two-minute cameo in the action drama is designed to introduce his badass cop Chulbul Pandey into the filmmaker's cop universe. Having recently shot his part for the film, Salman is the latest addition to the cast, led by Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Tiger Shroff and Arjun Kapoor. The keenly awaited meeting between Ajay's Bajirao Singham and Salman's Chulbul Pandey is finally happening on the big screen and is said to set the stage for future developments in Rohit's cop universe. Akshay, who was shooting Housefull 5 in Europe when the Singham Again trailer was launched, recently met up with Ajay, Rohit, Arjun and Tiger for lunch. Sharing a picture from their outing on social media, he wrote, "Hum sab ne mil ke ki bohot si Chulbul baatein." In the latest teaser of his reality television show, Salman greets Rohit and Ajay, saying, "Aapka swagat hai Bigg Boss mein." The filmmaker responded saying, "Aur aapka swagat hai humare cop universe mein."

To new beginnings

Shanaya Kapoor finally began filming her first film as the sole leading lady yesterday. She joined Vikrant Massey on the set of the director Santoshi Singh's Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan. The love story is written by Niranjan Iyengar and Mansi Bagla, who is also producing it with Varun Bagla. "Playing a lover boy is an exciting challenge, and the scale of Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan feels truly grand," said Vikrant, who is riding high on the success of 12th Fail (2023). He added, "I am also looking forward to working with Shanaya in her debut film." Thrilled to team up with the
Sector 36 actor, Shanaya, in a heartfelt note, said, "My character is very close to my heart; she's strong, emotional and vibrant." She also expressed her gratitude for this opportunity.

All set for the hat-ke romance

It was recently reported that R Madhavan and Fatima Sana Shaikh are teaming up for their first romcom together. To be helmed by Vivek Soni, the yet-untitled film is backed by Karan Johar's Dharmatic Entertainment. Maddy and Fatima are set to begin filming this quirky love story between an older man and a younger woman, soon after Diwali.

From the cans to cinemas

Three weeks after Ajay Devgn's Singham Again and Anees Bazmee's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 clash at the box-office, their years-old collaboration, Naam will finally arrive in cinemas. Incidentally, the date, November 22, also marks 33 years since Ajay made his debut with Phool Aur Kaante (1991). After the romcom Pyaar Toh Hona Hi Tha (1998) and thriller Deewangee (2003), Ajay and Anees reunited for the action thriller, which was initially titled Benaam. Produced by Dinesh Patel, who also backed Phool Aur Kaante, Naam was completed in 2005, but for reasons best known to the makers, didn't see the light of day. The film also stars Sameera Reddy and Bhumika Chawla.