Mumbai : Global icon Priyanka Chopra Jonas found herself on the receiving end of social media criticism after she shared glimpses of her Diwali celebrations in Los Angeles. Netizens immediately questioned the presence of non-vegetarian food at her festive gathering. Priyanka had earlier taken to her social media account to share a series of pictures from her Diwali celebrations at her home in the US, that incorporated the vibe, decor, themselves and food.

In a picture, Priyanka was seen eating a non-vegetarian food item. Netizens immediately took to the comments section of her post and questioned Priyanka over serving non-vegetarian dishes during Diwali.The comments read, “My favourite diva suddenly nothing is going well, the outfit, the jewellery and the hair do, suddenly everything is going wrong, for the first time.” Another read, “Non veg in diwali”, “In diwali non veg nooo.”Another user wrote, “How can someone eat Non veg on Diwali”, “Why candle Why not diyas”, “You are eating non-veg on diwali.”

Meanwhile, Priyanka has often spoken through her celebrations about keeping her Indian traditions alive while living abroad. The actress has regularly incorporated Indian rituals and festivals into her family life with Nick and Malti. During Dussehra recently, Priyanka gave fans a glimpse of celebrations at her Los Angeles home that included puja, Shivling Abhishek, havan and Kanya Pujan. One of the pictures showed Nick washing Malti’s feet as part of the ritual, with the little girl dressed in an ivory outfit and wearing a red scarf carrying the words “Jai Mata Di”. The actor is also often seen making efforts to introduce Malti to Indian culture and festivities. In earlier videos, the doting mommy was seen teaching her daughter Indian Hindu shlokas.

Mumbai : The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis has congratulated the Former spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party, Shehzad Poonawalla on his victory in the 2nd season of the reality show ‘Rise and Fall’. On Sunday, the CM took to his X, formerly Twitter, and penned a long note for Shehzad on his victory, and lauded him for his decision to donate his prize money to the CM Relief Fund for Maharashtra’s drought-hit farmers. He wrote, “Your gesture of donating the prize money to the CM Relief Fund for Maharashtra’s drought-hit farmers is truly appreciated. Thank you for standing with our Baliraja”.

Shehzad Poonawalla’s contribution to the CM Relief Fund comes amid the state facing one of its most widespread drought crises in recent years. The state government has declared 305 of its 358 talukas drought-affected, covering more than 85% of the state’s geographical area. The declaration follows a deficient 2026 southwest monsoon, with Maharashtra receiving 804.4 mm of rainfall against the normal 994.5 mm, a shortfall of approximately 19%.

Marathwada is the worst-hit region, as it recorded a 38% rainfall deficit, Vidarbha follows with a 27% deficit. Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar division has the highest number of drought-affected talukas, at 76, followed by Amravati (56), Nashik (52), Nagpur (52) and Pune (51). More than eight lakh farmers have been affected, with soybean and cotton crops suffering. Meanwhile, Shehzad Poonawalla was officially declared the winner of the 2nd season of ‘Rise and Fall’. The show, backed by a powerhouse creative team led by Banijay India, MX Original was hosted by Virender Sehwag. The show is available to stream on MX Player by Prime Video.

Chennai : Actress and singer Shruti Haasan, who is also the elder daughter of actor, producer and parliamentarian Kamal Haasan, on Saturday penned an adorable birthday wish for her dad in which she called him a “glorious uncut diamond” and a person who was “the rarest of the rare”. Taking to her Instagram page to pen the birthday wish to her dad, she wrote, “Happy birthday Appa dearest! I think you’ll appreciate very much that I don’t wax eloquent on here as to why I love you the most but I’ve not always been the best at taking your advice (smiley face).” She went on to say, “I spoke to you this morning to wish you and one of the first things you did was recommend a movie you’d just watched and then proceed to break down why it is that you love that movie so much… years and years in your favourite playground of cinema haven’t jaded, not even a little bit the love and with which you live this magical life and the gifts you give us through your craft.”

Stating that the heart of the little boy who looked up at his first bright light on his very first movie set was vibrant, alive and always searching for more, she said, “You are just the rarest of the rare Appa,the most glorious uncut diamond sparkling in the way only you can. Love you to the moon and back.” Meanwhile, birthday wishes have been pouring in for actor Kamal Haasan from various people cutting across film industries. Raaj Kamal Films International, the actor’s production house, wished the actor a happy birthday by releasing two new stills from his just titled film, ‘Sandiyar’.

Seeking to mark Kamal Haasan’s birthday on Saturday, Raaj Kamal Films International had on Friday announced on its X timeline that the film had been titled ‘SANDIYAR’. The production house also released a poster from the film that showed Kamal Haasan sporting an intense look and holding a revolver. Kamal Haasan was seen leaning into a car through its window. Blood marks on the car’s door gave the impression that the film would be a grim action thriller. The film boasts of a fantastic technical team. It will have music by one of the film industry’s best music directors Anirudh Ravichander. Stunts for the film are to be choreographed by National Award winning stunt masters Anbariv. Cinematography for the film is to be by Sunil KS. While production design is being handled by C S Balachander, costumes in the film are being designed by Amritha Ram. The film is to be produced by Kamal Haasan and R Mahendran, with S Disney joining in as co-producer.