Revenge is a dish best served cold means that if one gets it after a long time, the joy is even more. This must be a little like what Ajay Devgn is feeling. It was in 2012 that his movie Son Of Sardaar had been released at the same time as Shah Rukh Khan’s Jab Tak Hai Jaan. The latter was also produced by Yashraj Films, the biggest production house in the industry. 
Ajay found himself in a corner when the combined muscle of his opponents led to them blocking a major chunk of movie screens. He even took the legal route in protest. Ultimately, when it came to the fortunes of the two movies at the box office, both did well but Jab Tak Hai Jaan was ahead by about 10 to 15 percent. What this meant was that despite the powerful forces he was against, Ajay had still managed a big hit which almost came within touching distance of the other. 
Now it seems, the situation has been reversed. Ajay’s Baadshaho is doing pretty well at the box office. In its second week it easily overtook the total domestic collections of Shah Rukh’s Jab Harry Met Sejal. There is still some steam left in Baadshaho, so the gap should widen further. While this might be satisfactory, it must be remembered that Jab Harry Met Sejal was a resounding flop and did not even come anywhere close to Rs100 crore, the benchmark for a successful movie. Baadshaho did not have to try real hard to beat it. 
Meanwhile, Ajay has made a small tweak in the way he approaches the release of his movies. While earlier, like other big stars, he would announce beforehand which slot in a holiday weekend he was going to take for his release, now he will not do that anymore. The movie will only be scheduled after it is finished. In an interview to a newspaper he said that this makes for less last minute pressure. But the reason why such announcements are done is so that other producers become wary of competing against a star’s movie. How Ajay will circumvent that necessity is something he has not revealed yet.

The Queen’s kingdom

Kangana Ranaut continues to traipse along from interview to interview before the release of her movie Simran, candidly and cunningly raking up controversy after controversy.  But what she says also reveals self-awareness about her standing as probably the most in-demand actress. Deepika Padukone might still be the most popular and most expensive heroine but that is in big budget movies with male superstars opposite her.
If it is a script driven heroine-oriented movie of a medium budget moviemaker, then Kangana remains the first choice. She also spoke about being offered a role in Sultan, the Salman Khan blockbuster, but she asked the producer for say over how her role shaped up and when that was refused, turned the offer down, indicating that she considers herself of equal standing. 
There are also reports that she had turned down Thugs of Hindostan too, which stars Aamir Khan because she wouldn’t have much to do in the movie. Ultimately, the role went to Katrina Kaif. Then, there are rumours that Sanjay Leela Bhansali is contemplating on roping her in for his movie which stars Shah Rukh Khan. By now it must be clear to him that just having a Khan won’t be enough. He will have to give Kangana her space in screen presence to get her to take the role.

Priyanka chomps on facts

Priyanka Chopra, who produced a movie in the Sikkimese language, found herself in a bit of a soup recently when she went overboard trying to promote it. The movie is based in the state of Sikkim in north east India. During the course of an interview with a foreign media, she described the north eastern state of Sikkim as one with a history of insurgency and violence and which had no film industry with her movie being the first from there. The only problem was that while many north eastern states indeed had this issue, Sikkim was never one of them. And this was not the first Sikkimese film either. Local Sikkim authorities as well as many in social networking were outraged that she should exhibit such ignorance about a region that was related to a movie she was making. 
Priyanka, then, tried to make amends by issuing an apologetic public statement that said her words had been misrepresented. She added, ‘Sikkim is a peaceful, green state with peace loving people. I know that my statements have hurt the sentiments and pride of the people of Sikkim and for that I truly apologise…some of the statements made were incorrect and while I should have been better informed about certain facts, I take full responsibility for what I said. I understand now that our film was not the first Sikkimese film to be made, but our aim has always been to provide local talent, both actors and technicians, a global platform to shine.’ 

Sister to the fore
 
Farhan Akhtar has just seen back-to-back releases. There was first Daddy, the move based on the underworld don Arun Gawli, in which he played the role of another gangster Dawood Ibrahim. It was a little longer than a special appearance but Lucknow Central which got released last week had him in the lead. He has been in many movies as an actor even though he started his career as a director with the blockbuster Dil Chahta Hai. He went on to direct Don and Don 2, both of them again superhits. But, then, in 2008, he surprised everyone by his appearance in Rock On and people instantly saw that he had great screen presence along with the looks. 
In a recent media interview, Farhan said that he might never have been an actor at all if not for his sister, the director Zoya Akhtar. His mother and father had never had much confidence in his abilities, but she had spotted it by observing how he interacted with people and kept them engaged and entertained. And she prodded him forward. She has also directed him in two movies Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Dil Dhadakne Do, and the two will soon work together once again, naturally with Farhan as the actor and Zoya as the director. 


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