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FLAWED, LIKE US ALL: SHAHID ON KABIR SINGH

He started out by playing a chocolate boy in Ishq Vishk, but then with films like Kaminey, Haider and Udta Punjab, Shahid Kapoor proved his versatility and talent in carrying off flawed characters with finesse. And with his latest film Kabir Singh, the actor is surprised to see how his most flawed character on-screen has become his most loved.

His role as Kabir has been condemned by a section of the audience and critics, who have tagged it misogynistic and one which perpetuates toxic masculinity. But the film, a remake of the Telugu blockbuster Arjun Reddy, has still scored Rs 200 crore and more at the box office.

Shahid thanked his fans for their love, with an Instagram post in which he deconstructed the character. "Thank you for understanding him, forgiving him and loving him with all your heart. We all fall apart. And we all must strive to rise from our faults. To be better... to be wiser and to be kinder… The most flawed character I have ever played has become my most loved."

Shahid feels Indian cinema and the audience have come a long way.

"More power to brave choices. More power to you all for your maturity and humanness. You have given me wings to fly. To not only be burdened by the need to be loved to be a star but to have the courage to be hated in equal measure to be an actor. Here's to cinema mirroring life. To protagonists who don't have to be restricted by their goodness and can be human and imperfect. There is perfection in imperfection and that is the beauty and the challenge of this human life," he wrote.

SAMEER ANJAAN: A SONG FOR KARGIL

Maths Movies

Maths for fun? It’s true. Come

12 July, India is going to the theatres to see a maths movie - a regular mainstream Bollywood movie on maths.

Of course it helps that the film, called Super 30, has the hunky Hrithik Roshan as the lead.

Now if only we had Hrithik as our maths teacher…

The film is based on a real life story. Hrithik plays Bihar mathematician Anand Kumar, who trains students for the entrance test for the highly valued Indian Institute of Technology IIT, the nation’s leading educational institution for the sciences. He picks 30 of the most talented students each year, all from disadvantaged backgrounds, and sees most of them through to the best possible university education they can get. His students, called ‘Super 30’, go on to rewarding professional careers, and raise their standard of living to a level they could not have dreamt of before.

It’s a slightly different maths movie than others that have done well: A Beautiful Mind, The Man Who Knew Infinity, X + Y, The Imitation Game, Hidden Figures, The Oxford Murders, and that golden favourite Good Will Hunting. The nerd in us comes out as we say this: all of these deserve another sitting. Don’t you agree?

Adding to this list, check out 90 to Win (2017), a gem of a film from India,which is hugely topical in another way: a maths genius tries to create an alternative to the Duckworth Lewis method used in cricket. Aha, we hear you say…

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Kargil Vijay Diwas this month (26 July), lyricist Sameer Anjaan has penned a special song for the martyrs. Shatadru Kabir has sung the number, with music by Raju Singh.

Working on the project took Sameer to the war-torn region. “I learnt the entire story of Kargil, the situations the soldiers faced in the mountains,” said the lyricist of films like Krrish 3, Dhoom 3 and Dabangg 2.

He claimed it gave him the opportunity to “think about and feel” the war, so that his words came straight from the heart. He revealed that he had always wanted to write a patriotic piece for the soldiers, and that thus far, hadn’t found an opportunity.

The Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat released a Kargil Tribute Song in a special ceremony recently to honour, salute and pay homage to the Kargil heroes and war veterans.

The 20th anniversary celebrations are aimed at ‘Remembering their sacrifice', ‘Rejoicing the victory' and ‘Renewing the pledge'.

Anil Kapoor In Bindra Biopic

Father and son will be playing father and son.

Yup, it makes sense. As Harshvardhan Kapoor plays Olympic gold medal winning shooter Abhinav Bindra, who best to play his dad but his dad Anil Kapoor!

We all know the story of Abhinav’s rise to Olympic glory and the special role his father Apjit played in it.

Anil caught up with Apjit recently.

"Great stories deserve to be told,”

Anil said afterwards. “We had the pleasure of understanding the family's journey and Abhinav Bindra's career graph. This is a film that we're all really excited to bring to the silver screen."

The biopic will be directed by Kannan Iyer. Abhinav Bindra became the first Indian sportsperson to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics, when he won the 10 m Air Rifle event at the 2008 games held in Beijing.

KANGANA IN 'ONE OF A KIND FEMALE-LED ACTION FILM'

If ever there was a Bollywood star who believes in “female heroes”, it has to be Kangana Ranaut.

She has been in the news very recently getting all judgemental during a presser for her upcoming Judgementall Hai Kya, but she’s already signed up a dhaakad new role.

Oh wait, apparently it’s called exactly that - Dhaakad.

She describes it herself as a "one of a kind female-led action film".

"After the success of Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, it has been proven that audiences are loving larger than life films with a female hero,” she said recently.

"Being an army kid myself, I've always wanted to start off with an action film,” director Razneesh "Razy" Ghai said. “This is a great time for a film of this genre and I'm looking to push the boundaries on this project with my visual style.”

The makers are looking to rope in a leading action director from Hollywood to choreograph the elaborate sequences. Filming will take place across India, South East Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The film is set for a Diwali release.

Bottle Cap Hungama

So we’ve had Ice Bucket, Kiki and the 10-Year Challenge. Now it’s Bottle Caps, and celebrities from Hollywood as well as Bollywood are all jumping on the bandwagon.

Kickstarted, literally, by taekwondo instructor and fighter Farabi Davletchin on Instagram, the Bottle Cap Challenge expects participants to knock the cap off a bottle with a kick. No hands, thank you.

Actor Jason Statham, who is known for his action thriller roles, attempted the challenge spinning and kicking the cap of a bottle with near perfection.

If Jason Statham is in on it, can our very own khilari Akshay Kumar be far behind?

"I couldn't resist Bottle Cap challenge,” Akshay wrote on Insta after executing a perfect kick. “Inspired by my action idol