Preeti Desai

Tia Bajpai is all set to come up with a courtroom drama 'Lakeerein' which will be released on November 3.'Lakeerien,' a compelling social drama addressing the crucial and underreported issue of marital rape, is poised to captivate audiences and ignite important conversations. It is a powerful narrative that delves into the complexities of consent and domestic violence within the confines of marriage.Tia spoke with ANI about how she readied herself for a film on such a delicate subject. She said, "It took me some time to comprehend that there was such a thing as marital rape when the script was shown to me. Subsequently, I conducted online research, perused numerous accounts, spoke with numerous female law enforcement officers, and learned about the kind of instances and perspectives that women have regarding contemporary issues affecting women. After giving it some thought, I felt that I should do this movie so that I could share this message with the public and make at least a 5 per cent difference."Tia shared the takeaway from the film that she wishes to convey, saying, "Marriage is an institution and a responsibility in itself. We Indians are taught that once you get married, whatever happens, you have to adjust. Many times while giving advice to our daughters, we forget that marriage does not work from one side only, it has to be balanced like a scale. It is also mentioned in the movie that she is today's girl, even though she has been given instructions from the old times, she has a mind of her own. After a time, she feels that this is not right, but somewhere she is a human being."Tia responded to the controversial debate about the film by saying, "It's a male-dominated world but those who are in positions of power are very intelligent people, they will understand this. Whatever is there should not be just for its entertainment purpose, it should also have cultural value. Entertainment is an important part of our entire culture. India is a very cultural country in itself."Tia, who is from Lucknow and played a girl in the movie from Lucknow, remembers shooting a scene in the same temple she used to visit when she was a child. She said, "There was a scene of Mankameshwar Temple and as I am from Lucknow only. I have been going there since my childhood every Monday since the age of 6. I could not believe that I was doing a film scene in that same temple. I am filming the scene with Ashutosh Rana and all the people and priests know you there."Talking about her upcoming projects, Tia said, "I am shooting for a horror film, which is an International film, titled 'Don't Laugh' which will be released in 2024." Talking about the film, earlier, Governor of Uttar Pradesh Anandiben Patel launched the trailer of 'Lakeerien' at Raj Bhawan, Lucknow.The movie depicts Kavya's (Tia Bajpai) struggle as she seeks justice against her husband, Vivek Damodar Agnihotri (Gaurav Chopra), for the horrible act of marital rape. In the courtroom, Bidita Bag's character, Advocate Geeta Bishwas, faces off against Ashutosh Rana's character, Advocate Dudhari Singh.'Lakeerien', a powerful tale of justice and marital rape is set to release on November 3, 2023.

View this post on InstagramA post shared by Maanvi Gagroo (@maanvigagroo)Posting pictures from her intimate wedding ceremony, Maanvi wrote, "In the presence of our close friends and family, today, on this palindrome-ish date, of 23~02~2023, we made it official, in every way. You've loved and supported us in our individual journeys, please continue to bless us in our journey together.Happy #2323 #KGotVi."Maanvi looked beautiful in a red saree. She kept her look simple with minimal make-up and statement jewellery. On the other hand, Kumar Varun opted for a white sherwani for his D-Day.Maanvi Gagroo and Kumar Varun's wedding was a close-knit affair with only family members and close friends in attendance.As soon as Maanvi dropped her wedding update, netizens chimed in the comment section to wish the couple a happy married life."Many congratulations love. Bless," actress Hina Khan commented."Many congratulations.. god bless," actress Gauahar Khan wrote."Yayyyyyy..congratulations KV and ManV," comedian Mallika Dua commented.In January this year, Maanvi had shared news of her engagement. Sharing a picture of herself showing off her ring, she wrote, "So this happened #Engaged."If reports are to be believed, Maanvi and Kumar Varun met through common friends and started dating about a year ago.

View this post on InstagramA post shared by The Aly Goni ~ `ly gwny (@alygoni)In the video, Aly shared short clips from 'Bigg Boss Season 14', with the song 'Yaadien Yaad Aati Hain' playing in the background.Soon after Aly dropped the emotional video, fans flooded the comment section with red heart emoticons and rest in peace messages for the departed soul.Aly also dropped a heartbroken emoticon on his Twitter account after the news of Sonali's untimely demise came.Sonali Phogat, who hailed from Haryana, entered 'Bigg Boss 14' as a wild card contestant. During the show, she found a great friend in Aly. She also confessed that she had some feelings for him despite knowing that he is in love with actor Jasmin Bhasin. Later, she was trolled for expressing feelings for a man younger than herself.Aly handled the situation quite well. He did not disrespect Sonali's feelings. In fact, during Sonali's elimination from the show, Aly had promised to go out on a date with her once he is out of the house.Phogat, 42, was staying at a hotel in Anjuna, North Goa, where she reportedly suffered a heart attack this morning.Hours before her sudden demise, Sonali Phogat had posted some pictures and videos of herself on Instagram. In the images, she was seen flaunting her pink dupatta.In 2016, Sonali Phogat made her acting debut with the TV show 'Amma: Ek Maa Jo Laakhon Ke Liye Bani Amma'. She was also a part of the web series, 'The Story Of Badmashgarh' in 2019.She had risen to fame with her videos on TikTok that had a huge following.

The new Goosebumps live-action series, based on R.L. Stines bestselling books, is headed to the streaming platform Disney+. The new series reportedly got a 10-episode order by the streaming platform and was first reported as being in the works in April 2020.As per Variety, the series follows a group of five high schoolers who unleash supernatural forces upon their town and must all work together, thanks to an in spite of their friendships, rivalries, and pasts with each other, in order to save it, learning much about their own parents' teenage secrets in the process.The new Goosebumps series will be penned by Nick Stoller and Rob Letterman who will also executive producer with Nick Stoller who executive producing via Stoller Global Solutions. Rob Letterman, who directed the first Goosebumps film, is also said to direct the shows first episode.Neal H. Moritz and Pavun Shetty of Original Film, Conor Welch of Stoller Global Solutions, and Iole Lucchese and Caitlin Friedman of Scholastic Entertainment are also executive producing with Sony Pictures Television Studios serving as producer.The Disney+ show is now the second live-action Goosebumps series to make it to air. The first version aired for four seasons and 74 episodes between 1996 and 1998. That show was an episodic anthology, with each episode based on a different Goosebumps book.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series has officially been picked up at Disney+. The series adaptation of the Rick Riordan book series was first reported as being in the works at the streamer back in May 2020. The casting is currently underway. The series pickup news was announced by Rick Riordan in a video message.According to Variety, the live-action Percy Jackson series tells the fantastical story of the titular 12-year-old modern demigod, whos just coming to terms with his newfound supernatural powers when the sky god Zeus accuses him of stealing his master lightning bolt. Now, Percy must trek across America to find it and restore order to Olympus.Percy Jackson book series is comprised of The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The TitansCurse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian. Riordan has also published the companion book The Demigod Files as well as The Demigod Diaries.Both Lightning Thief and Sea of Monsters were previously adapted into feature films. Logan Lerman starred as Jackson. The first filmed was released in 2010 while the second was released in 2013. The two films received mixed reviews from critics but grossed over $425 million combined worldwide.Percy Jackson and the Olympians will be directed by James Bobin. Jon Steinberg will be writing the pilot with Rioodan. Steinberg is currently under an overall deal with Disneys 20th Television, while Bobin recently directed and executive produced Disney Plus Mysterious Benedict Society series and the film Dora and the Lost City of Gold.Steinberg and his producing partner Dan Shotz serve as executive producers alongside Bobin, Rick Riordan, Rebecca Riordan, Bert Salke, Monica Owusu-Breen, Jim Rowe, and Gotham Groups Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, D.J. Goldberg. 20th Television is the studio. Salke was formerly the president of Touchstone Television and originally put the show into development.

Marathi actor Umesh Kamat had to pay a heavy price when his name was misinterpreted as the PA and close associate of Raj Kundra. The similarity in their name and surname proved traumatic for the Marathi actor as he got dragged unnecessarily in the controversy. Due to this major confusion by media officials, his pictures and photos got published as Raj Kundra's associate. The Umesh Kamat in question is the ex-PA and one of the partners of Raj Kundra in his pornography films. The goof up caused a lot of misunderstanding among his fans, relatives, and friends. The 42-year-old actor expressed his disgust over an Instagram post and wrote, "Irresponsible journalism. @aajtak @crimetakofficial #Newsnation". He accused news channels Aaj Tak, Crime Tak, and News nation of causing him trauma with their irresponsible journalism.

Bollywood actress Minissha Lamba made an entry in Bollywood with Yahaan and went on to do films like Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., Bachna Ae Haseeno, Well Done Abba, and Bheja Fry 2, Corporate, Dus Kahaniyaan, Kidnap, Hum Tum Shabana and Zilla Ghaziabad among others. She also participated in the controversial reality show Bigg Boss 8 and got eliminated after 42 days of drama.Recently she is in the limelight after sealing her relationship with a Delhi-based businessman and boyfriend Akash Malik. The actress was earlier married to actress Pooja Bedi's cousin and restaurateur Ryan Tham but got divorced in 2020.At present Minissha is spending her holiday with Akash in Goa and is excited to be in a relationship and have a companion by her side. The 36-year-old actress's Instagram handle is filled with pictures of her time spent with Akash. She feels that a divorce should not stop one from falling in love again as one should find love again by breaking the memories of the past. A close source of the couple also confirmed their relationship and their journey from being great friends to partners. Minissha had appeared in Himesh Reshammiya's music album "Tera Surroor" which became a hit among the masses. The actress has launched an app named Minissha official app exclusively for her fans to chat and have video calls with her.

Taking the rapid increase in a number of positive cases of coronavirus in Maharashtra, the state government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has ordered to shut down cinema halls in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, and Nagpur. These are the cities where most of the cases have been reported. As of now, a total of 18 cases have been reported in the state with 10 cases from Pune, 3 in Mumbai, 1 in Thane and Nagpur each. Earlier today, the Odisha government and Karnataka Government also ordered a complete shutdown of theatres in the state. On Thursday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too announced coronavirus as an epidemic in Delhi and said that schools, malls, and cinema halls will be shut till March 31. Earlier, the Kerala government too had announced the same after they saw a rapid increase in the number of positive cases in the state. On March 11, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus (Covid19) as pandemic after it spread to over nearly 100 countries. The virus which broke out in China first has spread across all the continents. Meanwhile, in India, a total of 74 cases have been reported as of now and one death due to the virus has been confirmed.

Mahira Sharma and Sidharth Shukla started off on a bad note on Bigg Boss 13, but thanks to the constantly changing circumstances in the house, the duo has now been getting along pretty well. It happened when Paras Chhabra supported Sidharth in his spat with Asim Riaz. Recently, an incident between Mahira and Sidharth has left Paras jealous and miffed over the two. After Mahira got in an argument with Rashami, she ran out towards the garden area and was really upset. When Paras tried to talk to her, she did not budge. However, a while later, Sidharth tried talking to her and cracked a few one-liners after which Mahira couldnt help but smile again. In return, before she walked away, Mahira hugged Sidharth and kissed him on his cheek as a token of appreciation. Sidharth even joked about how it was good that Paras did not see this. When Paras found out, he asked Mahira why she kissed him and told her that he got jealous, to which Mahira said that she did it because she wanted to. A while later, Paras questioned her again about her actions and then Mahira replied that she did it because she wants to show the world that its completely okay if friends kiss each other on their cheeks. On insisting, Mahira even agreed to give Paras a kiss on his cheek.

While producersRSVPscolourful musical extravaganza Bhangra Paa Le was wronglybeing reportedas going to the streaming platform, it is beingreleased on January 3 in theatres across India, anothertalked-about filmis not quite that lucky on the same Friday. Unknown toanyone associatedwiththe film the producers Viacom 18 have decided to release Ramesh Sippys Shimla Mirchi , Sippys first directorialventure in 24 years, on Netflix. Neither the director northe principalmembers ofthe cast Hema Malini and Rajkummar Raowere taken into confidence on the release platform. A source close to Ramesh Sippy says the veteran directorof Sholay is mighty miffed, Viacom 18 has taken the decision (torelease Shimla Mirchi on thedigital platform) on their own. Rameshji had no sayin the matter. He made the film in 2014at ameagre budget of 16-17 crores. It wasmeant to be a small sweet romantic film set in Shimla. Rameshji handedover the film to the producers in 2015. Just why they sat on it for4 years and why theyve decided to not give it a theatrical release is not explained. It isnt as if small-town romances dont work in theatres. Viacom themselves have released several such films. Recent films like Luka Chuppi and Pati Patni Aur Woh have done well. Then why this stepmotherly treatment to Shimla Mirchi ? A true gentleman, Ramesh Sippy has decided to stay quiet onthe matter. All he will say is, I am very proudof Shimla Mirchi , and Im glad its finally being released. The platform and format of release is the producers decision.