WAITING IN THE WINGS

Varun Dhawan and Tiger Shroff are two budding stars, one of a kind. Together, they could be the last of the industry kids whose primary ambition is superstardom.

What sets apart these two spirited youngsters from a host of others of their generation is that, looking at their overall filmography, you realise that both are agreed upon the fact that in commercial cinema, it is the hysteria that ultimately counts. When it comes to audience expectation, both these young actors raise expectation of the good old paisa vasool entertainer. What's more, although both actors have delivered a fair amount of boxoffice hits, they are still to be serious contenders to the throne yet.

At a time when many say the days of superstars are over - that the numbers game is all but goneVarun and Tiger seek to defy that contention with a good dose of old-school glamour.

Varun Dhawan: Salman + Govinda + Gen-Now Spunk

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that he is the son of the phenomenal David Dhawan, but Varun Dhawan's on-screen image in his mainstream entertainers has always constantly reminded of a mix of Salman Khan's happy-go-lucky charmer and Govinda's funnyman prankster. Varun has consciously lent that mix his own originality, with ample new-generation spunk. Yet, Varun has managed to impress with a couple of performances of depth too, such as Badlapur and October. These roles are perhaps an announcement to rivals, fans and critics alike: in an era when content is fast dominating every other aspect of mainstream Bollywood cinema, Varun Dhawan is ready for the complex scripts too. For everything else, being the old-school entertainer of Judwaa 2 works just fine for him for now. He needn't experiment with misplaced ambitions as Kalank, and he will be on cruise mode.

RANI RETURNS WITH 'MARDAANI 2'

Tiger Shroff: Fight, Dance & Be Macho

He is a dream as long as he dances or fights. The trouble starts the moment he utters his lines and tries to emote. Tiger Shroff's career is over five years old now. He has become a better dancer and a more invincible fighter. The trouble is there seems not much movement in the emoting aspect.

Look at the bright side. Despite revealing limited histrionic talent, Tiger's fan base has only grown with every new release. Clearly, the young audience likes him - which should be enough for now. Many industry watchers see a lot of Akshay Kumar's early years in Tiger, owing to his dancing and stunt skills. In his early years, Akshay, too, was often written off because of his dialogue delivery and awkwardness before the camera. Today, Akshay has scaled the heights, as a superstar survivor who is counted among the industry's most restrained actors. There's a lesson over there for Tiger, if he must emerge beyond being a traditional commercial star and survive a rapidly changing Bollywood.

Vinayak Chakravorty

Actress Rani Mukerji is getting those fists ready for the second instalment of the Mardaani franchise, in which she plays a kick-ass police officer fighting the baddies.

Rani is set to reprise the role of the fearless and committed Superintendent of Police, Shivani Shivaji Roy in Mardaani 2.

Director Gopi Puthran said, "Rani as Shivani will be seen in a massive showdown with a 21-year-old villain who is an embodiment of pure evil. He is a dangerous criminal who targets women." The film marks the directorial debut of Puthran, who was the writer of the first Mardaani film.

Rani noted that it was an auspicious time to launch the film, given the Navratri festival is on. “As we all know,

Vikram Seth For Bbc One

Acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair has commenced work for the screen adaptation of the Vikram Seth classic A Suitable Boy in Lucknow. The film features Tabu, Ishaan Khatter and newcomer Tanya Maniktala. Tanya will play the central role of Lata, in the project adapted by Andrew Davies.

The creative forces behind the showNair, Seth, and Davies - got together in Mumbai recently to start rehearsals and read through scripts alongside the cast.

"The talent in the room sizzledVikram Seth, author of the masterpiece that I have loved since the day it was written; Andrew Davies, the great craftsman of distillation of epic stories into screenplays; cutting-edge actors, first-timers and legends from across the subcontinent, all coming together to make a human, funny, political, sexy chronicle of India," Nair said.

A Suitable Boy tells the story of spirited university student Lata in 1951 at the same time as the country is carving out its own identity as an independent nation and is about to go to the polls for its first democratic general election.

It is a tale charting the fortunes of four large families and exploring India and its rich and varied culture at a crucial point in its history.

The six-part BBC One drama will be shot on locations across India. Produced by Lookout Point, it is slated to launch next year.

Navratri stands for the victory and battle of good over evil across India. Maa Durga took on the forces of evil and defeated it, and Mardaani 2 will see a woman stand up against evil, against crimes committed against women and take a bold and brave stand."

She added, “I’m thrilled that the "first key communication of Mardaani 2 is happening during Durga Puja that celebrates woman power in its truest and bravest form."

Mardaani 2 was shot extensively in Jaipur and Kota in Rajasthan.

When Tiger Performed Parkour On Top Of 100 Houses

Bollywood's action hero Tiger Shroff jumped on top of about 100 houses in for an action sequence that was shot in Italy for the soon-to-be-released film War.

Director Siddharth Anand said recently, "There is no one better than Tiger in parkour in India and we wanted to exploit his outstanding skill and showcase it spectacularly in our film. The action sequences in War have been designed to give audiences an adrenaline rush."

Parkour is a training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. It includes running, freerunning, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, plyometrics, rolling, quadrupedal movement and other movements as deemed most suitable for the situation.

Tiger performed parkour over 100 houses shot in Matera in southern Italy for the film, which also stars Hrithik Roshan.

"Matera, uniquely, has houses that have been built next to each other. These houses are separated by small bylanes. The proximity of these houses makes it an incredible spot to perform parkour and Tiger was thrilled with our location choice. He flew in 4 days before the shoot and practiced three days straight jumping from one rooftop