Priyanka Chopra has been having a whale of a time ever since she got out of the shackles of Bollywood and launched her career overseas, in music, television shows and movies.
However, all the while she is maintaining a foothold in the Hindi film industry too. Her demand here at the moment is just next to Deepika Padukone and she has the freedom now to be extremely choosy about what movies to take on.
That is not all. She has also donned a hat as a producer of movies in regional languages. This is not the most lucrative business to get into and it is impressive that she should be taking the effort to focus on regions that are not in the centre stage when it comes to movies. She is now said to be producing a movie in the Assamese language. Earlier her production house had been associated with movies of languages like Marathi and Sikkimese, making her footprint extends all the way from one end of the western world to the deep interiors of India. 
But things are kind of slow in the personal space, going by an interview she gave to a film magazine. On being asked whether she was in a relationship, Priyanka said that she had been single for a year but before that there had been a very committed relationship. And that she was yet to come across someone interesting enough since then. As to who she had been seeing till a year back, obviously no names were revealed. It is not even certain whether there indeed is anyone like that because it would have been hard to keep it secret from the gossip mill. The word Priyanka used for herself in the interview to explain her single status was serial monogamist. Given the absence of too many rumours about her, that might very well be an accurate label.


Amitabh Bachchan , Rishi Kapoor are together again


In the 1970s, Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor weren’t really the best of friends. When cast together in Kabhie Kabhie, they did not even speak to each other. Rishi had a candid explanation for how the cold vibes started in his autobiography that had been published a year ago. He said it had to do with him getting a best actor award for Bobby and Amitabh feeling that his role in Zanjeer was more deserving. He candidly admitted that Amitabh had good grounds for it because Rishi had bought the award by paying Rs30,000 to a middleman who had offered it.
Amitabh probably got to know about it later but Rishi put what he did to own immaturity being only 22 years old at the time. And later when they acted together, Rishi also felt that filmmakers wrote their movies based on Amitabh while he had to languish in the background. But then they had become closer, working jointly in many movies. Even so, the last one they did was Ajooba in 1991, as many as 27 years ago. But they are finally coming back together for a movie called 102 Not Out where Amitabh plays the 102-year-old father to a 75-year-old Rishi. A one-minute trailer of it was released recently and it took many back in time to another age.


Rumours abuzz about 
Alia, Ranbir affair


News about the alleged Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt relationship is beginning to gather steam. That they are spending a lot of time together was apparent to many but whether it had spilled over onto love territory was not just a question but also a very tempting assumption.
They are both single and, even though Ranbir’s movies are not doing well, still among the leading lights of Bollywood’s young brigade. There was an age gap of over a decade between the two but that is not unusual. They were obviously not going to come out and admit it, even if it were true. However, in a TV chat show, the fashion designer Manish Malhotra, who is intimate with many stars in the film industry, seemed to have let the cat out of the bag. He was asked by the host to predict which would be the biggest hook up for 2018. His reply was the one between Ranbir and Alia.
This is of course not confirmation that they are already into a relationship but given the nature of how secrets are kept in the industry, that is about as close as anyone will reveal something like this. Meanwhile, some intrepid gossip mongers managed to eke out an episode of Karan Johar’s chat show that had happened many years ago when the guest had been Alia. To a question on Ranbir, she speaks about finding him adorable and wanting to marry him. Karan incidentally is the producer of Brahmastra, the movie which the two are shooting together and which led to these rumours beginning.
There have also been reports which said that this was a PR stunt by Karan’s team and that Ranbir had been none too pleased to get his name linked to a romance, considering all the bad press that his earlier relationships had got him. It is a little too late now though. True or false, the Ranbir-Alia love story is now the centre of attention and speculation for their fans.


Salman, Shah Rukh 
on collision path?



Dabangg is one of those Salman Khan franchises that deliver a bigger hit with every passing sequel. The third edition is in the works and it is being directed by Prabhu Deva. He incidentally was the director who started the Salman as superstar makeover with Wanted. He makes breezy entertaining fares which are usually big hits. Plus Salman’s appeal is on fire again after the stupendous success of Tiger Zinda Hai.
All this might mean sleepless nights for Shah Rukh Khan whose movie Zero is slated for a release in December this year. It is said Dabangg 3 might also release the same time, and if it is a contest between the two Khans, then based on current form it is a no-brainer who will come out trumps. The slot is usually occupied by Aamir Khan’s movies but this year his Thugs of Hindostan is releasing early November, which was traditionally when Shah Rukh released his movies. As the three superstars shuffle their usual release dates around, the only one who is in danger of a flop seems to be Shah Rukh.

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