For a man who is seriously ailing and under treatment out of the public eye, Irrfan Khan is sure making a lot of news. He had recently revealed on Twitter that he had a rare form of cancer and was going abroad for treatment; while it had been a shock to him, he had no intention of giving up. There was no word from him after that. And then there began rumours floating around on social media that his health was deteriorating. One gossip journalist, quoting Irrfan’s family sources, even announced that doctors had given up on him and didn’t expect him to survive beyond a month. 
But Irrfan’s spokesperson issued an immediate rebuttal calling all such rumours completely false and requesting that people not spread or believe them. The other news about Irrfan stemmed from the fate of his movies. Blackmail was just about to be released when he had been diagnosed with the cancer. Irrfan had been insistent that the movie hit the screens as per schedule. It hasn’t worked any wonders at the box office, but will possibly recover its costs if you consider the satellite and other rights that had been sold. And while the critics did not really rave about it, Irrfan’s own performance was much talked about. 
As often happens, he had singlehandedly elevated the movie to a watchable status. But the real surprise has been another 2017 movie of his, Hindi Medium, that suddenly came into vogue again. Hindi Medium had been an unexpected hit at the time, but now what had happened was its release in China where it was pulling the audience with gusto. So much so that the movie crossed the Rs100 crore mark by a wide margin and its initial collections had been spectacular. Hindi Medium celebrates one’s own language over English and that seems to have struck a chord with the Chinese. As it is said, a powerful story can travel beyond languages.

Mending fences

Arjun Kapoor is trying to make good the many strained relationships in his life. Sridevi was the second wife of Boney Kapoor, Arjun’s father, and he had not been close to her. But after Sridevi’s death, he is said to be consoling and supporting her daughters, Jhanvi and Khushi. Recently, the media saw Boney and the two sisters going to Arjun’s house for a dinner. One website which put up a wardrobe malfunction of Jhanvi as she was returning, bore the brunt of Arjun’s fury. He tweeted at them, U know what **** u man **** u as a website for highlighting or bringing it to anyones attention...and it’s shameful that ur eye would go searching for something like this shame on u...this is how our country looks at young women yet another shining example...ashamed by this. 
He is also trying to make up for his broken friendship with Salman Khan’s family. He had been close to them, but then a relationship had apparently developed with Malaika Arora, former wife of Salman’s brother Arbaaz, which led to them estranging him. But after Salman’s recent sentencing in the poaching case, Arjun apparently, was concerned about him and keen to mend fences.

Going too far

Just a few years ago, Kapil Sharma had been the most successful personality on Indian television. His comedy show had some of the biggest ratings for years on end. Then, he made his Bollywood entry in 2015 with a movie called Kis Kisko Pyar Karoon. It became a hit, making about Rs46 crore at the box office. Two years later, in December 2017, came his next movie, Firangi, which was also produced by him. But that one tanked without a whimper. By then, Kapil was already making other unsavoury headlines. He had apparently, assaulted a fellow artiste of his show during a flight, leading to the latter walking out. Then, the show itself had begun to nosedive in its ratings. 
When big stars, who were invited to promote their movies, came on the show, Kapil made them wait for hours and sometimes even cancelled it. He was said to have a drinking problem and there were rumours that he was also suffering from depression. 
Matters however, came to a head recently when he seemed to have publicly lost his bearings. The trigger was bizarrely Salman Khan being found guilty in a poaching case by a court. Kapil took to Twitter defending Salman and lambasting in abusive language what he called fake news. He deleted controversial tweets, only to make fresh ones. Then, came the icing — he phoned and bused in the foulest of language the editor of an entertainment website that had been reporting on his erratic behaviour. The editor taped the call and released it. The ensuing controversy saw Kapil accusing his former girlfriend and business partner of being part of a conspiracy against him. He was about to start on a new television show to salvage his career, but that has now been suspended. Meanwhile, he has also alienated Bollywood with his disrespect towards the stars who came to his show. He is said to be taking treatment and he sure needs it if he is to get out of this hole he has dug for himself. 

More of the same

The hot rumour doing the rounds now is that Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone might have decided to tie the knot. This is not the first time such a rumour has made the rounds and there is no reason to believe that this one is any more genuine than all the earlier ones that turned out to be false. 
Among the rumours floating around now is that an engagement has already happened, and the marriage might be later this year in a private affair. And that the shopping for the occasion was already happening. The two parties obviously have not confirmed anything. Deepika, in fact, refuted all of it when questioned on the sidelines of an event. She said there were no immediate plans of any marriage. And just to make sure there was no confusion, said that she was not already married or pregnant either!

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