The BUZZ

U P-TO-DATE NEWS ON WHAT’S HOT AND HAPPENING IN BOLLYWOOD

AYUSHMANN BHAVA!

It’s been a 7-year journey of relentless success and stardom for Ayushmann Khurrana. And that is the number of back-to-back hits he has churned out over the past two years. Bala, his new release has registered his career’s best opening-day haul of Rs 10.15 crore, eclipsing the Rs 10.05-crore day one collection of his last release, Dream Girl. Incidentally, Bala is his 13th film in Bollywood since he started off with Vicky Donor in 2012 and, in the likely scenario that the film will see profits, Ayushmann will have an enviable track record of nine hits out of 13 releases.

For an actor who started out as the master of offbeat roles and a poster boy of unconventional films, Ayushmann Khurrana has emerged as Bollywood's most unconventional hit machine.

With his blend of good looks, abundant acting skills and singing talent, Ayushmann isn't exactly the sort of actor you can keep down for long. The actor who started his journey on the small screen soon understood that, with changing times and tastes, the winning trick lay in being part of stories about flaws and imperfections, and in essaying men who strugglewith issues of all kinds. Ayushmann loves the thrill of taking risks with such roles, he tells you, and, if anything, delivering back-to-back hits only increases that thrill.

Over the past two years, he has struck gold with experimental subjects such as Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017), Shubh Mangal Saavdhan (2017), Andha Dhun (2018), Badhaai Ho (2018), Article 15 (2019), Dream Girl (2019) and now Bala.

"He’s got a hit formula - he takes up subjects which are taboo or are brushed under the carpet, and tells these stories in a neat and clean manner, laced with humour. So while there’s entertainment, the films also give a message," trade expert Girish Johar feels.

According to trade expert Rajesh Thadani, Ayushmann's "common man" appeal makes him a star. "His boy-nextdoor image has worked for him," Thadani feels. "The expectation from him is sky high now. He has to pick and choose very carefully.”

To this, Johar adds, "As a fan, I would want him to do something different other than the films dealing with taboo topics, through which he can increase his fan base and stay strong at the box office."

But Ayushmann's love for offbeat cinema looks set to continue: he will next be seen with megastar Amitabh Bachchan in Shoojit Sircar's Gulabo Sitabo, and then address the issue of homosexuality in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan.

House Arrest For Jim Sarbh

No, he’s not in trouble, even though we know Jim Sarbh has played the baddie more than once on screen.

House Arrest is the name of his new release. The Netflix show is about a sensible-guy protagonist, who is buffeted by a bunch of insane people. “The more the guy tries to hold everything together, the more everything around him falls apart, because everyone around him seems insane,” Jim said about his new show.

“We got to bring a bit of our insane energy to the picture, which was fun," he added.

Ali Fazal, Shriya Pilgaonkar and Barkha Singh also feature in the film, which streams on Netflix from 15 November.

In three short years, the 32-year-old has left the audience spellbound with his performances in Neerja, Padmaavat, Sanju as well as in numerous web shows.

Jim says the Netflix tag attracted him to the film. “I wanted to work with Netflix. Also, I wanted to do comedy. I haven't got a chance to do comedy in films so far. And, I loved the script,” he explained, adding, “Platforms like Netflix give a nice space to reach more people and tell different kinds of stories that otherwise would not be told in the mainstream - be it Hollywood or Bollywood. These platforms allow alternative storytelling, which is my zone.”

More House Arrests

The person under house arrest in House Arrest, is not Jim Sarbh, but Ali Fazal.

Ali is Karan, a man who has not stepped out of his flat for nine months. “He is not trapped. He is not psycho or a murderer,” Ali revealed. “It's a voluntary house arrest and there are interesting reasons behind this, which is what the film is all about. There is not one specific reason, he has just had enough of a lot of things. The film is an out and out comedy."

Given the story idea, as also the fact that the humour required the protagonist to be caught inside his own home with lots ofother people, Ali recalled the shooting experience was “claustrophobic”.

"There were 60 to 70 people inside one flat,” Ali said. “We shot at the same location for 25 days. We thought it would be easy but actually it wasn't. Every third night, we used to step out and chill after the shoot.”

Sounds more and more intriguing!

Ali has lately also been busy in Hollywood, shooting for Kenneth Branagh's new HerculePoirot project, Death On The Nile. The film stars Branagh as Poirot and is toplined by Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot. Also featuring in the ensemble cast are Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand,

Armie Hammer, Sophie Okonedo and Letitia Wright.

GAY GUY MEETS A LESBIAN WOMAN…

… and there’s a typical Bollywood ending. No, we don’t know that to be true! What we do know, is that it’s an unusual theme for Zareen Khan and Anshuman Jha's next release Hum Bhi Akele, Tum Bhi Akele. A mainstream Bollywood film, it has a gay man and a lesbian woman leading the narrative. The Harish Vyas directorial will premiere at the upcoming South Asian International Film Festival at Manhattan.

The film, which was also one of the ten selected scripts from Asia at the South Asian Film Market (SAFM) in Singapore in November 2018, is scheduled for a Valentine's Day 2020 release in India.

On hearing about the premiere, both leads Zareen and Anshuman shared their excitement.

“I'm feeling on top of the world that we will be premiering in New York. It’s a film that is very close to my heart and I'm really very excited,” said Zareen.

Anshuman said “This film discovers and re-discovers the love in friendship. And which better city than the Big Appleto premiere such a theme!”

When Akshay And Samlan Make Music

There are barely any stunts which the Khiladi can’t do himself, and now adding to his list is a music-video debut with Filhall. Kriti Sanon's sister Nupur stars alongside Akshay Kumar.

The soulful number is sung by B praak, with lyrics by Jaani. Directed by Arvindr Khaira, the song depicts the story of that true love which is pious, selfless yet incomplete.

Akshay’s character, a doctor, comes across his old love who has met with an accident. He takes the audience back in time to the days when they met, fell in love and separated. With over 14 million views in less than 24 hours, the video has got a huge thumbs up from industry colleagues.

Meanwhile, superstar Salman Khan has gone behind the microphone to sing a song again, this time for his upcoming film Dabangg 3 along with Payal Dev.

Salman’s first song came for his 1999 film Hello Brother, and has since recorded songs for films such as Kick and Hero. For this latest number Yu Karke, which Payal describes as a “fun peppy dance number”, the music isset by Sajid-Wajid, who have scored music for the other various Salman-starrers including Dabangg 2 and Partner. Dabangg 3, directed by Prabhu Deva, is slated to release on 20 December.

On Child Labour And Trafficking

Although filmmaker Brahmanand S. Siingh's upcoming feature Jhalki is shown from the perspective of a child, it is not a children’s film.

Instead, it’s a reality many children suffer. “Our protagonist is a nine-year-old girl named Jhalki, and we, as audience, see the world through her eyes,” said the filmmaker, about the film that features two young actors, Aarti and Goraksha, along with Boman Irani, Sanjay Suri, Divya Dutta, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Govind Namdev.

The film shows how a little girl fights for her young brother who is a victim of