Latest news with #OhMyGod2
Hindustan Times
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Shahid Kapoor's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj biopic shelved, director Amit Rai holds the 'system' accountable
The life and valour of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj has been cinematised at least a handful of times for the movies. However, the correct kind of zeal and commitment is required to be able to translate an aura that powerful and relay it to the masses. Shahid Kapoor's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj movie shelved, director breaks silence(Photos: X) The Amit Rai-helmed Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj biopic could very well have been that film to tick all the boxes with Shahid Kapoor in the lead. However, if recent media reports are to be believed, the film has been shelved for good. Now while a film's fate being cut short in this manner is not in any way unheard of in the industry, Amit for one, made sure there was no scope left for any speculations to take control of the narrative. In a chat with Mid-Day, the director pointedly blamed the "cruel system" which has soured the experience of mounting this larger-than-life film for him. Amit emphasised on the overlapping systems of "casting, production, stars, and management" which ultimately eat into the film itself. More so, what left Amit really affected was how quick everyone is to point out the flaws. "Within minutes, somebody writes a five-pager, pointing out what is wrong and what is right in the film", he huffed. It is worth mentioning here that this isn't the first big hurdle Amit has weathered when it comes to his professional aspirations. Amit also helmed the uber-controversial 2023 release, Oh My God 2. Starring Akshay Kumar and Pankaj Tripathi in the lead, the film came under intense scrutiny for showcasing the likeness of masturbation in context of a minor. While the film was properly completed and also saw the light of day in terms of a theatrical release, Amit fought tooth and nail when it came to censorship clauses governing the final cut of the film. However, the censored version is what made it to the theatres, as well OTT. Coming to Shahid, the actor will next be seen in Vishal Bharadwaj's Arjun Ustara. The film will reportedly star Triptii Dimri opposite Shahid, also marking the latter's fourth film with Vishal, Kaminey (2009), Haider (2014) and Rangoon (2017) having set very worthy precedents already. Do you think Shahid was the perfect fit to play Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on screen?
Indian Express
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
‘Star Wars inspired from Mahabharat, ET from Satyajit Ray script': Akshay Kumar and Vishnu Manchu claim all Hollywood superheroes inspired by Indian mythology
Actors Akshay Kumar and Vishnu Manchu are all set for the release of their upcoming mythological film titled Kannappa. Directed by Mohan Kumar Singh, the film will follow the story of Kannappa (Manchu), who was a devout follower of Lord Shiva (Akshay Kumar). During the promotions for the film, the duo sat down for an interview where they talked about the plethora of stories available in the country and how Hollywood takes a lot of inspiration from these tales. They listed out some specific instances of when the West borrowed ideas and narratives that originated in India. While talking to Bollywood Hungama, the duo was asked whether all the stories present in the country were getting a stage or a medium to be shared. Akshay agreed with the fact that the country and its history have an immense bank of stories to pull from, and in many cases, creators from the West have reached into that bank and taken some stories for themselves. Akshay said, 'There are so many stories here, and I personally believe that Hollywood takes a lot from our stories. Their superheroes and their superpowers are all inspired by our mythology. The kind of stories we have is unbelievable, like I didn't know the story behind Kannappa before the film.' ALSO READ: When Paresh Rawal refused to star in Akshay Kumar's production venture Oh My God 2: 'I didn't like the story' Manchu added to this and said, 'Even Star Wars has been inspired by Mahabharat, and E.T actually came from a script written by Satyajit Ray.' Ray admitted in an interview that his original script had been making the rounds of L.A. for some time, and suddenly one day they announced E.T., which was very similar to his story.' What Manchu is presumably referring to is a script titled 'The Alien', which was written by Satyajit Ray. While Steven Spielberg, who directed E.T., never admitted to plagiarism, it is believed that the unproduced film was the inspiration behind one of Spielberg's most sought-after works of cinema. During the interview, Akshay also commented on the Hera Pheri 3 situation and stated that he was positive that the movie will get made and that he is keeping his fingers crossed. Kannappa is being helmed by Mohan Kumar Singh, and the cast of the film includes Akshay Kumar, Vishnu Manchu, Prabhas, Mohanlal, Preity Mukhundan, Mohan Babu, and Kajal Aggarwal. It will release on June 27 and will have to compete with Brad Pitt's F1, which will be releasing just two days prior.
Indian Express
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Our kids deserve better than Housefull 5, a broken censor board, and biased audience
In an age where cinema holds immense power to influence culture and shape young minds, the double standards of the Indian censor board are not just baffling — they are dangerous. Take Housefull 5, the latest instalment of a franchise that has long thrived on adult comedy, double entendre, objectification of women and slapstick vulgarity has been given a U/A certificate, green-lighting it for 'family viewing' with parental guidance. In sharp contrast, Oh My God 2, a film designed to educate teenagers on sex education and adolescent health was slapped with an 'A' certificate, making it inaccessible to the very audience it aimed to enlighten. This contradiction not just exposes the gaping hole in how the censor board defines appropriate content, and what it truly believes is 'safe' for children but also highlights a deeper societal discomfort with truth-telling. Especially, when it comes to sex education. I witnessed this contradiction firsthand at the screening of Housefull 5 at a multiplex packed with over a hundred people. The audience was a full house of families–from toddlers to seniors, all drawn in by the promise of a 'family entertainer' as implied by the U/A certificate. The Mukesh tobacco ad played, the lights dimmed, anticipation was high. But the moment the film began, a sense of unease settled in. Billionaire Ranjeet Dobriyal (played by Ranjeet) dies just before his 100th birthday bash on a cruise ship. Soon, characters played by Shreyas Talpade, Dino Morea, Fardeen Khan, Chitrangada Singh, and others are introduced. The discomfort starts early: a female lawyer (played by Soundarya Sharma), enters in a highly sexualised manner with Ranjeet's will, sits provocatively, and becomes the target of a crass joke where the character of Shreyas Talpade uses rolled-up paper as binoculars as she crosses her legs. Some chuckled, others looked on, squirming in their seats. ALSO READ | Housefull 5 director blames viewers for focusing on 'skin show, objectification of women' in the Akshay Kumar-starrer: 'The plot is driven by women' But this was just the beginning. In one scene, Soundarya's cleavage is emphasised through two clumsy paper-dropping incidents, drawing the gaze of camera and male characters. One might expect grown adults to roll their eyes at such dated attempts at humour. But when a child, barely 10, sitting near me laughed at the scene, the real problem is obvious — what were they laughing at and what were they learning? As the film progressed, the scenes grew more disturbing. Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, and Riteish Deshmukh each show up with Nargis Fakhri, Jacqueline Fernandez, and Sonam Bajwa, respectively, to stake their claim to Ranjeet's empire–the only clue being that Jolly, his heir, has a foreigner wife and a burn mark on his butt. What follows is a slew of jokes centred around skin show, sexual positions, and degrading female characters. Especially when Akshay Kumar asks Nargis Fakhri to show off her body to prove she is a 'foreigner' woman. Phrases like '69' and visual gags of women being inappropriately touched in the dark pass off as punchlines. The curiosity these scenes brought in children's eyes wasn't comic–it was loaded with questions no parent had prepared to answer. And who could blame them? The CBFC told them this was 'safe' to watch — that this was 'family-friendly entertainment.' ALSO READ | Housefull 5A and Housefull 5B ending explained: Who are the killers in this Akshay Kumar-starrer? But so was not the fate of Oh My God 2, a film that dared to do what our education system often avoids. With Akshay Kumar in a divine avatar, the 2023 film approached topics like masturbation and puberty not with vulgarity, but with empathy and clarity. It was not flawless but a sincere effort to destigmatise topics that are often hushed in Indian homes and classrooms. But the CBFC found it to be 'too explicit', delayed it, ordered multiple cuts, and finally stamped with an 'A' certificate. Rather than focusing on the content and its purpose, censor board was busy taking issue with Akshay Kumar originally playing Lord Shiva in OMG2, forcing the makers to recast him as 'Shiv ka Das' to avoid offending religious sentiments. However, it didn't find an issue with the way women were objectified, crass dialogues and voyeurism in Housefull 5–and labelled it U/A. The most sobering reality is not just the system–it's us, the audience. Housefull 5, despite its regressive humour and objectification of women, is racing ahead at the box office. Tickets are selling out, laughter echoes in packed theatres, and it is being labelled as 'mass entertainer'. We are the same people who laugh at sexist jokes in movies like Housefull 5 or watch it with our children in theatres but often be the first one to raise moral alarms when a web series depicts nudity, intimacy, or profanity–even when done in context. The double standards of the censor board only reflect the double standard of our society. Jyothi Jha works as a Copy Editor at the Indian Express. She brings in more than 5 years of experience where she has covered Entertainment majorly for TV9, NDTV and Republic Media. Apart from Entertainment, she has been an anchor, copy editor and managed production team under the Politics and Daily News segment. She's passionate about Journalism and it has always been her first choice, she believes in what George Orwell had once said, " Journalism is printing what someone else does not want you to do, rest everything is public relations". ... Read More
Indian Express
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Dipika Kakar gets discharged from hospital after 11 days, gets emotional about support she received from fans: ‘People took out time to read namaz'
Dipika Kakar is back home after spending 11 days in the hospital following liver tumour surgery. Dipika's husband and actor Shoaib Ibrahim updated their fans about the latest development through his YouTube channel. In the video, he also shared glimpses of Dipika leaving the hospital and meeting her son after a long time. In the video, Shoaib said, 'She got discharged after 11 days and has come for a check-up. These past few days have been incredibly difficult for me and my family, but we are thankful for everyone's prayers and support. This is just one part; a lot of things are still ahead.' Dipika Kakar, who underwent a 14-hour surgery, seemed quite emotional as she left the hospital and thanked the doctors. In the video, she was seen personally thanking all her doctors and hugging the nurses who cared for her during her time in the hospital.' Post her discharge on June 12, Dipika reunited with her son Ruhaan and other family member. Shoaib said he was planning to upload the vlog on the day of her discharge itself, but decided to delay it by a day due to the Ahmedabad plane crash. ALSO READ | When Paresh Rawal refused to star in Akshay Kumar's production venture Oh My God 2: 'I didn't like the story' Dipika Kakar sat through the vlog while Shoaib Ibrahim did most of the talking. At the end, they thanked their fans who sent them motivation through messages and comments. A visibly emotional Dipika was at loss of words for the kind of support she received from her fans in the past 11 days. She said, 'The fact that a lot of you took that 2 minutes of time, to read namaz and pray for me means a lot. You have no idea how motivating it was for us in these tough times.' In the video, Shoaib also cleared the air around Dipika having a needle around her neck. He said, 'A lot of you showed concerns about the needle around Dipika's neck, it is actually IV. Usually, doctors put it on your hand but at times of surgery, they insert it on the neck.' The actor added, 'After she was out of ICU, the doctor suggested her to keep it as her hands had become puffy and would hurt her.' Just before getting discharged, the doctors removed the IV from her neck and stitches around her waist, which caused her a little discomfort. 'After they took out the thing from the waist, it is hurting a bit,' said Dipika. Dipika Kakar was diagnosed with the tumour in her liver in May. The actress took to her Instagram handle to share the news with her fans. She wrote, 'As you all are aware last few weeks have been quite difficult for us… walking into the hospital for a pain in the upper area of my stomach… and then finding out its a tennis ball size tumour in the liver and then finding out that the tumour is second stage malignant (cancerous)… it has been one of the most difficult time we have seen, experienced! I am all positive and determined to face this and walk out stronger InshAllah! With my entire family being by my side… and all the love and prayers pouring in from all of you I will sail through this too!'
Pink Villa
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Before Hera Pheri 3, did you know Paresh Rawal also BACKED OUT of THIS Akshay Kumar sequel?
Paresh Rawal has been the talk of the town ever since he opted out of Hera Pheri 3. While the legal proceedings between Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar's production company are going on, here's taking you down the memory lane when the celebrated actor had backed out of another Akshay Kumar starrer. That too was a comedy film and a sequel. Before Hera Pheri 3, it was Oh My God 2, which was also offered to Paresh Rawal, but it couldn't materialize. The movie was later released with Pankaj Tripathi playing the role along with Akshay Kumar's character. In an interview, Paresh Rawal shared why he didn't sign the sequel to his 2012 hit comedy movie Oh My God. The actor said, 'I didn't like the script, so I didn't want to be part of it.' He mentioned that he does not favor cash-grab sequels made only to tap into the monetary benefits. For the unversed, OMG 2 revolves around the important subject of s*x education. It met with positive word-of-mouth and emerged as Super Hit at the box office with total earnings of Rs 205 crore gross globally. How did Paresh Rawal's dispute with Akshay Kumar turn ugly? Soon after Paresh Rawal stepped out of Hera Pheri 3, Akshay Kumar 's company, Cape Of Good Cinema, sued him for Rs 25 crore. Loved for playing Baburao Ganpat Apte in the first two parts of the Hera Pheri franchise, the actor returned the signing amount along with interest, which fueled the conflict even further. The duo is known for delivering several iconic movies together which includes Hera Pheri, Welcome, Awara Pagal Deewana, Bhagam Bhaag, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, OMG and others. However, things are not the same as they were. Though the actors have recently wrapped the shoot of Priyadarshan's horror-comedy Bhoot Bangla together, audiences will definitely miss Paresh Rawal if Hera Pheri 3 ever proceeds without him. Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates.
