Entertainment

Jr NTR in ‘Devara’.
| Photo Credit: T-Series/YouTube

Jr NTR has given an update about the sequel to his pan-Indian movie Devara. The actor spoke about the action adventure movie at the success event of the Telugu movie Mad Square.

The superstar put an end to the speculations of the sequel being shelved. “All those who thought Devara 2 would not happen, I am confirming that we will be back with a bang, he said. Jr NTR spoke during the celebrations of Mad Square, starring Narne Nithin, brother-in-law of the RRR actor. Mad Square is written and directed Kalyan Shankar, and produced Haarika Suryadevara and S Naga Vamsi.

Directed by Kortala Siva, Devara starred NTR, Janhvi Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan in lead roles. The film about a fictional coastal town, where a police officer sets out to curb crime on the high seas and learns of the legend of Devara that governs the high seas.

The movie, which hit the screens on September 27, 2024, received mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. The Hindu review said, “Devara: Part 1 is part-engaging and part-tiresome. If only it was a one-part film, it might have been much more wholesome.”

ALSO READ:Jr NTR on ‘Devara: Part 1’ and how Janhvi Kapoor ‘manifested’ her role in the film

Meanwhile, Jr NTR is currently working on an ambitious project with KGF filmmaker Prashanth Neel. The movie, produced by Mythri Movie Makers and NTR arts banner, went on floors at the Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad on February 20, 2025. The purported period drama is slated to release in theatres on January 9, 2026.

New Delhi:

Mugdha Chaphekar is a popular face on television and has been seen in reputed shows, namely Atrangi Sasural, Dharti Ka Veer Yodha Prithviraj Chauhan, and Kumkum Bhagya.

Mugdha Chaphekar and Ravish Desai had been married for 9 years. Earlier today, Ravish took to social media to announce that the two have parted ways, and are getting divorced after nine years.

For the unversed, Mugdha and Ravish had met on the sets of Satrangi Sasural in 2014. After two years of dating each other, they got engaged on January 30, 2016. Ravish and Mugdha got married in the same year, on December 16.

Ravish’s Instagram post read, “After much contemplation and thought, Mugdha and I decided to part ways as husband and wife to pursue our own paths. It’s been more than a year now. We have had a beautiful journey together that of love, friendship and respect, and that would continue all our lives.”

The actor further added, “We request our beloved fans, well-wishers, and the media to be kind and supportive and give us the privacy we need to heal. Kindly do not believe in any false stories and statements. Thank you for your love and support.”

He turned off the comments for the post and asked fans to not believe in ongoing rumours. Mugdha is yet to comment and share a statement on the same.

On the work front, Mugdha’s most loved onscreen character is Prachi from Kumkum Bhagya. As for Ravish Desai, his popular shows include Ek Nanad Ki Khushiyon Ki Chaabi—Meri Bhabhi, Satrangi Sasural, to name a few. He has also appeared in a few web shows like Made In Heaven, Scoop, and more. 

Mumbai (Maharashtra):

Hrithik Roshan recently shared that he dreams of working with the popular British-American director Christopher Nolan.

The actor, who is celebrating 25 years in the Indian film industry, expressed this desire at an event in Atlanta in the US, which was attended by around 5,000 people to celebrate his journey.

While talking about his dream directors, Hrithik first mentioned his father, Rakesh Roshan, who launched him in Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai in 2000, saying that working with his father was a dream that came true early in his career.

The actor then spoke about how much he admires Nolan, calling him one of his favourite directors, and admitted that he hopes to work with him someday.

As per a press note shared by his team, Hrithik said, “Rakesh Roshan—that dream happened right in the beginning. Now, I’d actually like to work with Christopher Nolan. He is one of my favourite directors.”

Meanwhile, on the work front, Hrithik is all set to mark his directorial debut with Krrish 4.

The news was shared by his father, veteran filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, earlier in March.

Sharing a picture with Hrithik, whom he fondly calls ‘Duggu,’ Rakesh Roshan wrote on Instagram, “Duggu, 25 years back I launched you as an actor, and today again, after 25 years, you are being launched as a director by two filmmakers, Aditya Chopra and myself, to take forward our most ambitious film #Krrish4. Wish you all the success in this new avatar with good wishes and blessings.”

The actor will also be seen in War 2, which is a part of Yash Raj Films’ spy universe. The movie also stars NTR Jr and Kiara Advani, and will hit theaters on August 14, 2025.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A still from ‘Good Bad Ugly’
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The makers of Ajith Kumar and director Adhik Ravichandran’s Good Bad Ugly have finally released the film’s trailer, and if you think you caught all those little easter eggs and references, here are some that you might have missed.

The trailer begins with a shot of women dancing on a cruise ship named Babel Wave. We also get a close-up of Arjun Das’ character who seems to be playing the main antagonist in the film. After a couple of shots of Arjun Das and Raghu Ram dancing, we get a glimpse of Trisha, followed by the rest of the supporting cast, which includes Prabhu, Sunil, Prasanna, Redin Kingsley, Priya Prakash Varrier, Jackie Shroff, Yogi Babu and Shine Tom Chacko.

Arjun mouths the first dialogue of the trailer, which has references to Ajith’s yesteryear hits Varalaru and Villain. Someone also goes through a series of photographs which feature Ajith’s stills from his films Paramasivan and Billa. Similar to the flashback portions shown as animated slideshows in the director’s Mark Antony, we get a slew of illustrated images featuring Ajith in his look from Amarkalam.

The first shot of the actor has him in a toned look with a pendant similar to the one he wore in Dheena. The next one has the actor in his usual black-and-grey hairdo inside a car. As the camera pans, making the actor’s ‘thala’ juxtapose over mounted horns and we get a remix renditition of the famous ‘Oththa Roova’ track from the 1996 film Nattupura Pattu, we hear Arjun saying, “This is my f***ing game”, a direct reference to Ajith’s line from Mankatha.

Following a slew of action shots, we get Trisha saying how Ajith’s character had earlier pushed her father out of a moving car — another reference to Mankatha in which the actor does the same. From the man himself, we get a line on how he left the habit of smoking for himself, gave up drinking for the sake of his wife and put an end to violence for his son, which he would not mind resorting back to in order to save his son. It’s safe to assume that the film’s plot could be about a retired gangster who is forced to take up arms when his son’s life is threatened.

After Kabali, Malaysian Tamil rapper Darkkey Nagaraja makes another cameo appearance as his famous ‘Puli Puli’ song plays while carnage ensues, courtesy AK. Ajith follows it up with the trending Tamil pop-culture ‘Irunga Bhai’ line followed by the ‘card mela 16 number’ line made famous by those spoofing fraud, phishing phone calls.

What follows is a medley of action set pieces with Ajith once again quoting a line from his yesteryear film, and this time, it’s the ‘Kai irrukum’ dialogue from Dheena. If the inclusion of Priya Prakash Varrier and Jackie Shroff wasn’t a surprise already, what comes as a bigger surprise is the cameo of Simran. The actor, who had previously starred alongside Ajith in several films like Vaalee and Aval Varuvala, last teamed with him for Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven in 2000, making the upcoming film their reunion after 25 years.

A few glimpses also hint at the usage of de-ageing techniques, and Adhik might probably opt for animated sequences to show the past life of AK, the retired gangster. Considering how the announcement video of Good Bad Ugly‘s teaser release date opened with the famous Money Heist house, which was known as ‘The Toledo House’ in the Spanish series, and a police car sporting the ‘Policia’ sticker used in a scene, we can assume that some sequences are shot in Spain. With the inclusion of Darkkey Nagaraja and Arjun’s tattoos hinting at him being a Malaysia-based gangster, we could also expect some scenes there, which would also make for a killer Billa reference.

With a long list of references and easter eggs laced throughout the trailer, it’s a given that there will be tonnes more of it in the film which is set to be released in theatres on April 10.

If you still haven’t caught the trailer, check it out here:

New Delhi:

Raajneeti had some of the biggest names in Bollywood in its ensemble cast. The film had  Ajay Devgn, Nana Patekar, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Arjun Rampal, Manoj Bajpayee, Sarah Thompson, and Naseeruddin Shah in key roles. It was directed and produced by Prakash Jha.

The story was based on the Mahabharata, which extensively depicted a looming conflict between rival political families and parties. Amidst a lot of controversy, the film was released in theatres on June 4, 2010.

Dune director Denis Villeneuve in conversation with Film programmer Deepti D’Cunha, revealed that Raajneeti is the first Hindi film that he just watched. He also confessed that he was particularly impressed by Ranbir Kapoor’s performance in the film.

Deepti shared a picture of Villeneuve’s signature on X, and captioned it, “Browsing through old film festival catalogues, I found Denis Villeneuve’s autograph (yes! before selfie days). He had come to premiere Incendies at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, 2010, and I remember the wonderful conversation we had because he’d just watched his first Indian film.”

Browsing through old film festival catalogues and I found #DenisVilleneuve‘s autograph ( yes! before selfie days) He had come to premiere #Incendies at AbuDhabi Film Festival- 2010 and I remember the wonderful conversation we had because he’d just watched his first Indian film… pic.twitter.com/BVoA9ymdAX

— Deepti DCunha (@deemelinda) April 3, 2025

She added,  “Which happened to be Raajneeti, and (he) was very impressed by Ranbir Kapoor and wanted to know more about him. He said he is a wonderful actor and stood out among such an ensemble cast. A fond memory of chatting with him & amazing now to see Denis helming such huge Hollywood films!”

As for Denis Villeneuve, his next is titled Dune: Messiah and will be released sometime in 2026. It will be led by its stars Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, and Florence Pugh who are all set for a comeback. Villeneuve’s last directorial was Dune: Part Two.

There is nothing quite as intriguingly beautiful as a Persian carpet, feels Fannan Raza. The artist and interior designer has crafted over 25 pieces of these lovely “art in carpets”, currently on display at Sublime Galleria.

Apart from being strikingly eye-catching, these works of art come alive when one scans the QR code below the image. Waves wash on the shore, a leopard regally steps out of a carpeted veil , cats gaze at you with their innate hauteur and a bedecked hand-drawn rickshaw takes you down memory lane.

“I wanted viewers to understand what my work was about, even if I was not present to talk to them about it,” says Bengaluru-based Fannan, elaborating on why he chose the digital route for his art.

Fannan, who has also done the voiceover and scripting for each piece, says he was inspired by his father Syed Afham Raza. “He was an innovative engineer, constantly creating something or the other and as the youngest child at home, I got to accompany him on a lot of his projects.”

“I always looked up to him and when I grew up, I decided to get into designing. After qualifying in interior design, I also took up 3D and psychology in design as I was passionate about it,” he adds.

Unfortunately, Syed passed away four years ago and Fannan says he found a measure of solace in art. “Whenever I felt like reconnecting with my dad or find a way to express my emotions, it was always through art,” Fannan says, adding that he was always inspired by the artistry of Persian carpets.

“I did a lot of research before I got to designing my artwork. This exhibition is about my journey of loss and grief, how I coped after I lost my father. There are pieces, which talk about my suffocation, my vision and the paths that Life takes us on.”

And while he wanted to create something tangible and not just digital, Fannan says, “I couldn’t bring myself to talk about my feelings; that is how the augmented reality facet of this show came about.”

Fannan works on a digital format to create these carpets, each of which are 27” by 35” and in a vertical format so they “remain within a viewer’s gaze”. While some have a distinct Arabian Nights mysticism, others showcase different genres. Visitors to the gallery will see instances of still lifes, anime, abstract art, surrealism and more.

When asked why his work is not confined to a definitive genre, Fannan says it has to do with how he processes his emotions. “I sit down in a quiet place and collect my memories or remember my journey. I write down a few key points and then sketch what comes to mind.”

However, he does not stop there. Fannan conceptualises three to four (or sometimes more) rough sketches before, “I take all of these stories and create a whole new piece. Each piece is created under a different timeline. It’s all about how I am able to articulate my emotions through what I am creating.”

A penchant for stories and an eye for detail is evident in each piece at Carpeted Journeys Within. “I used to design tattoos when I was in school and even won competitions,” says the former Josephite, adding that it was not just one element or motif that he would etch, but an entire narrative around the image.

“I also believe in the power of manifestation. As a school boy, I’ve seen UB City come up and believed I would get there one day. Today, my first solo show is in its gallery and its windows look out into my old school grounds,” says the artist, whose work was also on display at the India Art Fair 2024.

“A lot of people are silently grieving, especially after the pandemic and the whole point of my exhibition and my art is to tell people that this sorrow can be channelled, but first, we need to accept it.”

Download the Artivive app to watch Fannan’s art come to life on the page. Carpeted Journey Within is at Sublime Galleria, UB City, till April 27, 2025. Entry fee ₹50.