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Ranbir, Ayan on ‘Brahmastra’: We had the opportunity to create our own Marvel

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Filmmaker Ayan Mukerji’s upcoming magnum opus ‘Brahmastra Part One: Shiva,’ is now moving towards the finishing line after years in the making.

The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Nagarjuna Akkineni and Mouni Roy.

Based on Indian mythology, the film is set in contemporary India, where a secret society called the Brahmansh has guarded ‘Astras’ created in ancient India for generations. The most powerful among these, the Brahmastra, is now waking up and it threatens to destroy the universe, reports ‘Variety’.

Constructed as a trilogy, which is part of an ‘Astraverse’ created by Mukerji, the first part follows the protagonist Shiva (Kapoor), who is in love with Isha (Bhatt). Their lives are changed forever when Shiva learns that he has a mysterious connection to the ‘Brahmastra’ and a great power within him that he doesn’t understand just yet – the power of fire.

“It’s deep rooted in Indian culture, and we had the opportunity to create our own Marvel, which Ayan is trying to do with his Astraverse,” Ranbir told Variety.

He added: “Any film, any good compelling story, made in your culture, in an authentic way, in a true form, will connect to a large audience.”

“There is a little luck to play to it – like what kind of release you get, what kind of exposure you get. And in our case, we have Disney. And there’s nothing better than that. So, I believe that ‘Brahmastra’ is in a great place where we have that opportunity, where a world audience can witness it.”

“We were just three best friends, Alia and I, sitting and dreaming this film with Ayan, and being soldiers to him,” said Kapoor. “We were really excited and really privileged to be part of this film and part of this vision so selfishly as an actor that I would do it over and over again.”

Kapoor will get to do it at least twice again in the remaining two parts of the ‘Brahmastra’ trilogy.

“‘Brahmastra’ is not an end in itself, but it’s a means to a larger end. We have part two and part three ahead of us, we have the potential to really take the storytelling in many diverse directions even beyond ‘Brahmastra,’ and there is no way to do it at the scale at which I hope to do it, unless our audience base does not increase. So that’s definitely part of the ambition,” Mukerji told Variety.

“Let’s start with some strong baby steps with part one. I think we’ve gotten far enough with this with having, over time, gotten Disney to lay their attention on the film, help us to push the release a little wider, and I’m hoping that can bring in bigger and wider returns for us.”

According to ‘Variety’, the benchmarks for Indian action films this year have been set by ‘K.G.F: Chapter 2’ which collected USD 161 million and ‘RRR’, which has grossed USD 155 million so far. The latter is directed by S.S. Rajamouli, also known for the ‘Baahubali’ franchise. Rajamouli is presenting the Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam language versions of ‘Brahmastra’ which will also release in its original Hindi language.

“Certainly, with all humility, definitely, I think our ambition is larger than that (‘RRR’) number overseas. And I hope that, as a key step with Disney coming on board, just our overseas distribution before it even crosses over to the western audience, I hope it’s able to reach the subcontinent audience in the western world in a much wider fashion, so that we can actually see that return on box office numbers,” says Mukerji.

Bollywood

Saif Ali Khan gets back to work, shares shirtless workout video: ‘First the mind, then the body’

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Actor Saif Ali Khan has resumed his fitness routine, giving a glimpse of his workout session through a new video.

The actor shared the clip on Instagram in which he is seen shirtless while exercising. In the video, the ‘Omkara’ actor is seen flaunting his well-toned physique and muscles as he performs a series of exercises and a few yoga asanas. Going shirtless for the workout session, Saif appears focused on bringing both his mind and body back on track.

Alongside the video, Saif spoke about getting back on track, highlighting the importance of mental and physical well-being as he looks forward to the New Year. “Time to get back to work!.. First the mind.. then the body .. back on track for a happy new year,” he wrote.

A few days ago, Saif, who is an avid social media user, shared another interesting video on his Instagram account. The ‘Hum Tum’ actor posted a clip in which he was seen opening a champagne bottle using a meat cleaver after failing to find a bottle opener. In the video, Saif first placed his glasses on top of his head before swiftly opening the bottle in one smooth motion. He then handed the champagne bottle to one of his helpers.

Sharing the clip, he captioned it, “Nawabi hacks #23, when you can’t find an opener, you try the meat cleaver!! Please do not try this at home…(sic).”

Meanwhile, Saif recently made headlines following his appearance with wife Kareena Kapoor Khan on Karan Johar’s popular chat show ‘Koffee With Karan’. During the episode, Karan asked the couple to call someone famous. However, Saif expressed his desire to call his wine dealer instead. When the ‘Jab We Met’ actress pointed out that the wine dealer was not a celebrity, the actor quipped, “Well, he is a celebrity to me.”

During the conversation, Saif also opened up about how the attack at his residence last year had affected his younger son, Jeh. Recalling an emotional moment, the actor revealed that Jeh had handed him his plastic sword and asked him to use it if a similar incident happened again.

“Jeh gave me his plastic sword and said, ‘Next time that thief comes, use this.’ For a couple of months after that, he kind of kept the plastic sword with me… So, the whole thing happened in front of him, the fight and all and he thinks I am a great protector. He thinks I am Iron Man,” Saif recalled.

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Chetan Hansraj reveals four-hour transformation into Raja Mali in ‘Ramayana: Part 1’

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Actor Chetan Hansraj offered a glimpse into the extensive creative work behind the making of the upcoming epic “Ramayana: Part 1” and revealed that it took four hours of daily work to sculpt the look of his character Raja Mali.

Chetan took to Instagram, where he also praised action director and movement expert Terry Notary, stunt coordinator Ian Van Temperley and animation supervisor Andrew Doucette for their contributions to the film, which he described as a historic cinematic undertaking.

Taking to the caption, Chetan spoke about the “architects of the epic.”

“The visual madness you are all seeing on the big screen doesn’t happen in isolation. It takes a village of absolute masterminds to build a cinematic universe of this scale. Massive respect to our visionary director @niteshtiwari22 for steering this colossal Rs. 1,500 crore ship and trusting me to anchor the opening sequence,” Chetan wrote in the caption.

He went on add: “Before I even stepped onto the Volume, the brilliant Virginia Holmes @virgholmes and her team spent 4 grueling hours every day meticulously sculpting the ancient, brutal visage of Raja Mali onto my face.”

Then came the physical execution, he mentioned.

“An incredible honor working alongside the legend Terry Notary @terrynotary(Action Director , Motion Capture & Movement Director). We spent hours breaking down the exact physics and psychology of a demon king so that every single movement felt lethal.”

“Huge props to Ian Van Temperley @stuntalliancegroup and his stunt team for curating those absolutely insane action sequences, ensuring every swing of the axe was merciless.”

Chetan concluded: “And a massive shoutout to Andrew Doucette (Animation Supervisor) for taking all that raw performance capture data and translating it into the most groundbreaking VFX Indian cinema has ever seen. The blood, sweat, and scale of this film is historic. Thank you for the massive love on the recent posts!”

Ramayana: Part 1 directed by Nitesh Tiwari. The film is based on the Hindu epic Ramayana by Valmiki. It is the first of a two-part film, with Part 1 being based on the first three kāṇḍa (chapters) of Ramayana which chronicles the life of Prince Rama from childhood up to his adventurous 14-year exile.

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Ranbir Kapoor reveals Amitabh Bachchan raps and records bhajans at his private home studio almost every night

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Bollywood superstar Ranbir Kapoor revealed that megastar Amitabh Bachchan has a private recording studio at home, where the veteran actor records raps and bhajans through the night but never releases them.

Ranbir made the revelation while talking about Amitabh’s passion for music and his lesser-known side, while appearing on the quiz reality show, Kaun Banega Crorepati.

Ranbir said Amitabh Bachchan continues to experiment with music and records songs at his home studio, even though he does not put them out for the public.

“Bachchan sahab ke ghar mein ek recording studio hai. Woh raat-raat bhar rap aur bhajan record karte hain, lekin kabhi release nahi karte.” (Amitabh Bachchan has a recording studio at home. He records raps and bhajans all night, but never releases them)

Responding to Ranbir’s observation, Amitabh Bachchan jokingly spoke about the quality of the recordings and the magic of modern music technology.

The megastar said referring to pitch-correction technology that, “Par woh gaane layak ho toh na… ek woh yantra sa aata hai na jisme idhar se gaana gao besura, udhar sur mein nikalta hai..” (But only if those songs are worth listening to! There’s this device, you know, where you sing off-key on one end, and it comes out perfectly in tune on the other)

The revelation offers a glimpse into Amitabh’s continued association with music. The actor has himself sung many songs during his career, beginning with ‘Mere Paas Aao’ from ‘Mr Natwarlal’ in 1979.

He went on to lend his voice to a lot many memorable tracks, including ‘Rang Barse’ and ‘Neela Aasman So Gaya’ from ‘Silsila’, ‘Mere Angne Mein’ from ‘Laawaris’, ‘Jahan Chaar Yaar’ from ‘Sharaabi’, ‘Main Yahan Tu Wahan’ from ‘Baghban’, ‘Ekla Cholo Re’ from ‘Kahaani’ and ‘Piddly Si Baatein’ from ‘Shamitabh’.

Amitabh has also sung for films in later years, including ‘Hori Khele Raghuveera’ from ‘Baghban’ and ‘Rozana Jiye’ from ‘Nishabd’.

A lot many songs picturised on Amitabh Bachchan have also been sung by playback singer Sudesh Bhosle, whose voice became closely associated with the actor.

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