The actors discuss Dhoom Dhaam in which they play a bride and groom being chased by goons, the portrayal of Gujaratis in Hindi cinema and comedy as a serious business

In the upcoming rom-com-caper Dhoom Dhaam, a different kind of action ensues as a bride and a groom are chased by gangsters on their first night. Pratik Gandhi plays the groom Veer Poddar, a meek Gujarati boy while Yami Gautam is Koyal Chaddha, a bride who very quickly goes from bashful to all-guns blazing. “It’s quite a bizarre situation. One can’t help but laugh,” says Pratik. “The film is a great mix of rom-com and crime-caper and that’s what made me say yes to it.”

For Yami it was the pure fun she had while reading the script that gravitated her towards the project. “It was great to do a film whose events unfold in just one night,” she says. “Our reference was films like The Hangover (2009). I know actors say it a lot but with each script, we indeed are looking for something new and fresh to do.”

For Yami it was the pure fun she had while reading the script that gravitated her towards the project. “It was great to do a film whose events unfold in just one night,” she says. “Our reference was films like The Hangover (2009). I know actors say it a lot but with each script, we indeed are looking for something new and fresh to do.”

When it comes to project choices, Yami has been very particular. In her previous works like A Thursday (2022), Dasvi (2022), OMG 2 (2023) and Article 370 (2024), she embodies women characters that are fleshed out, a rarity in an industry where actresses are still used as props to amp up the glam. “I am very conscious of being part of films in which I exist and my character is pivotal to the story,” she says. “If my role is such that it can be played by anybody else, I am not in for that.”

Pratik too is playing a different kind of hero in Dhoom Dhaam. He is somebody who can happily take the back seat as Yami’s Koyal goes devil behind the wheel. “Corporate has a word for it, situational leadership,” he quips. “A team might have one leader but another person takes charge in situations where his or her expertise is needed. Moreover, who exactly is a hero? Films have fed us over the years that it is the alpha male. But in real life, anybody who can manage a difficult situation tactfully is the real hero.”

While Pratik might be playing a timid groom, Yami, after Article 370, is back again in an action role. Although this time it’s more goofy but still as difficult. “I was running in a 25 kg lehenga,” she says. “My hair was going haywire with every shot and I had to tame it again and again in order to maintain continuity. The behind-the-scenes of creating comedy isn’t that fun.”

While Pratik might be playing a timid groom, Yami, after Article 370, is back again in an action role. Although this time it’s more goofy but still as difficult. “I was running in a 25 kg lehenga,” she says. “My hair was going haywire with every shot and I had to tame it again and again in order to maintain continuity. The behind-the-scenes of creating comedy isn’t that fun.”

Like most actors, Pratik also believes comedy is a serious, difficult, business. “It’s tough to judge,” he says. “While portraying any other emotion you get a range. Like I can cry at a different intensity from point A to B in a scene. In a comic sequence, however, the landing time is reduced to a micro second. A joke either works or not.”

Yami adds, “And imagine trying to land that joke in the 11th take!”

News Credits: Cinema Express

Salman Khan and Rashmika Mandanna’s chemistry will make you want to watch Sikandar’s first song Zohra Jabeen on repeat

After what seems like a really long wait, Bollywood’s Bhaijaan Salman Khan finally unveiled the teaser of his much-anticipated film Sikandar last week. Along with massy action sequences, which were no less than a treat for Salman fans, the one minute and twenty one seconds long clip gave us a short but sweet glimpse of Rashmika Mandanna, who will be seen as the superstar’s love interest in the film. This was enough to send the internet into a frenzy. But the wait for Eid is going to be very long. Thankfully, knowing exactly what his fans need, Salman gave us a taste of his and Rashmika’s onscreen chemistry with the film’s first song today.

Titled Zohra Jabeen, the romantic party track has been helmed by Pritam, Nakash Aziz, Dev Negi and Mellow D. The foot-tapping beats along with the fun and colourful vibe will remind you of Salman and Kareena Kapoor Khan’s chartbuster hit Aaj Ki Party from their 2015 film Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Well, the song has three major highlights— Salman’s unmatchable swag, Rashmika’s sizzling dance moves, and their surprisingly cute chemistry. When the film was initially announced, many netizens had pointed out the age gap between the actors. But when you see Salman and Rashmika together in Zohra Jabeen, they somehow fit together perfectly.

Another point to be noted is that Salman’s dance moves are effortlessly cool, a major improvement from the highly trolled lunges that he performed in Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan (2023) song Naiyo Lagda. Fans could not have agreed more. Soon after the song was dropped, one social media user gushed, “uff moves bhai ka swag Alag hi level hai @beingsalmankhan ek no song bhai n steps ,” whereas another fan wrote, “Kaha gye wo log jo keh rhe the bhai ko dance krne nhi aata.” Meanwhile, another happy movie-buff shared, “Zohra Jabeen is STRAIGHT CHARTBUSTER! Going to rule all the music charts.. FULL EID vibes, Salman Khan – Rashmika fresh cracking chemistry.. Single screens will dance on it for sure! ”

How excited are you to meet Sikandar Salman Khan and his Zohra Jabeen Rashmika Mandanna in theatres on Eid 2025?

News Credits: Hindustan Times

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is one of the finest filmmakers who has consistently redefined entertainment. While he has created magic on the big screen with his extraordinary cinema, he has also made a remarkable impact in the digital space with his debut web series, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. With its majestic visuals, captivating music, compelling narrative, and outstanding performances, the show has won both hearts and critical acclaim.

Infused with SLB’s signature opulent storytelling, Heeramandi is also adorned with a mesmerizing soundtrack crafted by the maestro himself. While the music of Heeramandi celebrates SLB’s deep love for melody, he has now taken a traditional route by launching the album on vinyl.

Taking the launch of the limited edition vinyls, Fardeen Khan took to his Instagram saying, “Having grown up listening to vinyls there’s something special about unsealing a brand new one especially when it’s the official soundtrack of Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. As bit of a vinyl collector, adding SLB’s compositions to my collection feels like owning a piece of cinematic history. But hey, Sanjay, where are the Nawabs? Did they refuse to spin?”

Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar received unanimous praise worldwide and marked the launch of SLB’s very own music label, Bhansali Music. Heeramandi earned a spot on Google’s Most Searched List of 2024 as the only Indian web show on the list. It also secured the #1 position on IMDb’s Most Popular Indian Web Series of 2024. Notably, He solidified his global influence by launching his music label, at the Miss World 2024 pageant, where he debuted the song Sakal Ban from his first web series, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. Unveiled alongside the top 14 Miss World contestants from around the world, the song marked yet another milestone in his illustrious career.

Furthermore, the anticipation builds for SLB’s next Love & War. It’s thrilling to look forward to the monumental collaboration of Sanjay Leela Bhansali and the talented trio of Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal on the big screen in the film. The film will be released on March 20, 2026.

News Credits: Bollywood Hungama

The director, along with writer Varun Grover and filmmaker Nasir Shaikh, discuss the making of Superboys of Malegaon, the real-life story behind the film, and the condition of writers in the Hindi film industry

Malegaon is a fascinating city, fascinated with cinema. Situated at a distance of 280 kilometres from Mumbai, the dreams of its residents travel even further. In Superboys of Malegaon, the city’s people, most of them employed in the cloth manufacturing industry, after the day’s toil, rush to the dark of the theatre, finding both joy and solace in the bright lights of the big screen. What’s playing can be either a Bhai or a Buster Keaton film.

The city is also home to a fledgling film industry, pioneered by Nasir Shaikh, who, along with his friends, gave a local spin to films like Sholay (Malegaon Ke Sholay) and Superman (Yeh Hai Malegaon Ka Superman). Malegaon and its moviemakers were the subject of the 2012 documentary Supermen of Malegaon by Faiza Ahmad Khan. Now, with Superboys of Malegaon, director Reema Kagti and writer Varun Grover delve into their story with a mix of fact and fiction.

Reema says her friend and longtime collaborator Zoya Akhtar was the one who initially got intrigued by Nasir’s story. Zoya and Nasir met at a film festival in 2012. “She told him she knows him from the documentary, he said he knows her too since he had parodied his father’s (Javed Akhtar’s) film (Sholay),” Reema reminisces with a laugh. “Zoya asked him about his background, his friends, his family and his filmmaking. She realised there was a lot more to the story. The documentary is beautiful but we were not only looking at the making of one of his films, we were looking at the making of Nasir.”

Adarsh Gourav (Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, Guns & Gulaabs) plays the director Nasir in the film, while Vineet Kumar Singh essays the role of the late Farogh Jafri, who penned the parodies and Shashank Arora is the late Shafique Shaikh, the thin, meek actor who plays Superman in Yeh Hai Malegaon Ka Superman. Nasir says when he came to know that a film was being made on his life, he was curious as to who was playing him. “When Adarsh ji’s name came up, I started watching his films,” he says. “I saw The White Tiger and gathered that he is a film lover. When I went on the set of Superboys for the first time and saw him act, there were some scenes where I thought to myself ‘It would be great if he does it this way’ and he did it exactly like that.”

While Adarsh spent two weeks shadowing Nasir in Malegaon in order to get into the character (they also made another film in this brief time, a spoof amalgamation of Krantiveer and Hera Pheri), Varun too visited the place to fetch for stories. “There were so many tales that at one time I told Reema and Zoya that Superboys of Malegaon should actually be a series,” he says. “When I went to Malegaon, I met and spoke to the people who became the characters in the film. That rarely happens.”

One of the characters written by Varun, Farogh (Vineet Kumar Singh), based on Nasir’s late writer Farogh Jafri, in a crucial scene, after his film idea is shunned, screams in frustration: ‘Writer baap hota hai, writer (The writer is the father!).” A line, improvised by Vineet on set, but which gives form to frustrations of probably all screenwriters in the industry. “I would have probably written the writer is both baap (father) and maa (mother). They are the originators of the story,” says Varun.

When Hindi cinema is going through a bleak time, statements like “content is king” float around, but writers still don’t get adequately remunerated and in worse cases even not credited for their work. Since Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, there haven’t been any star-screenwriters. “It’ a systemic problem,” says Reema. “The dire state of writers reflects in the kind of films we are making. I wish to see writers get the kind of respect they got back then (in the times of Salim-Javed). But instead of things getting better, now certain platforms have a policy to not credit even the crew of the film. You want a writer to write better, better pay him enough so he doesn’t have to do ten other jobs to support his family.”

News Credits: Cinema Express