Hema Malini says there is a dearth of opportunities for older actresses in Hindi films unlike in Hollywood, where quality roles get written for female stars of all ages.

Malini, who has starred in more than 150 films during her glorious career, feels she can still play a variety of characters on screen but feels quality roles are hard to come by.

“Internationally, such beautiful films are made with elderly actresses but that doesn’t happen here. They don’t want to invest money because filmmaking is too expensive so why would they risk it with me? That’s the problem… No one comes to me with (good roles),” the 67-year-old actress told PTI.

“Meryl Streep is doing fantastic work. She is of my age. I can also do so many things but I need opportunities for that,” she added.

The actress, who is the BJP MP from Mathura, was last seen on the big screen in a guest appearance in megastar Amitabh Bachchan-starrer ‘Aarakshan’ (2011).

She will now be seen in Ramesh Sippy’s upcoming production ‘Shimla Mirchi’, which also stars Rajkummar Rao and Rakul Preet Singh.

“It is a sweet comedy and I had fun doing the film. I say yes when interesting roles come up and I thought this part was really nice so I agreed to be a part of it.”

Malini, meanwhile, has entered a new territory– singing.

She has launched her maiden album “Dream Girl”, which has been composed by Babul Supriyo and features his duet “Aji suniye to zara, kya hai manjra” with the actress.

The album also has two Bengali songs, which Malini had originally recorded for Kishore Kumar.

“I never thought I would sing professionally but it so happened that I made Babul hear a Bengali song I had sung many years ago. He thought I should sing and bring out an album. I readily agreed. I don’t let any opportunity go.”

When asked what was the reaction of her family to her songs, Malini said, “My family liked the tracks. Dharam ji was surprised to hear me sing. To impress him, I even recorded a ghazal and made him hear that. He said, ‘I never knew you sing so well’. I said that now whenever you write a ghazal next, I will sing.”

‘Dream Girl’ was earlier launched in Mumbai by Dharmendra, Bachchan and his wife Jaya Bachchan. The ‘Baghban’ actress has also recorded a bhajan album, which she will release soon. (PTI)

Trivikram actually planned to wrap up A Aa in three months and release it for Sankranthi. But nothing went as per plan as the movie took more than double the intended time to finish.

It is finally coming on May 6th! Trivikram had other plans for making this film ahead of his other commitments.

Trivikram wanted to complete this film within 20 crore budget excluding his remuneration. His idea was to finish it in sixty odd days.

Nothing went as per plan and A Aa took so much time to reach the finish line. Budget was also doubled as Trivikram couldn’t compromise on the quality. This means A Aa should make more than 40 crore to be a profitable venture.

Trivikram’s plan was to make a quickie on tight budget so that he and the producer can share the profits. Now they should release the movie in deficit as Nithin’s market range is under 25 crore.

A Aa should perform beyond expectations to reach the breakeven point, which is not going to be an easy task because of the high competition in summer.

Nithiin-Samantha starrer ‘A AA’ directed by Trivikram will be releasing on May 6 and this has been confirmed. The movie however might find a huge competitor in the form of Mahesh Babu.

The latter’s Brahmotsavam is likely to release on April 29 failing which it will release on May 6. This would mean a straight fight at the box-office.

Having said that, Trivikram and Mahesh Babu are good friends and it is quite possible that an understanding might be arrived at so that both movies do not collide with each other and eat up into one another’s market share.

While Trivikram is coming on the back of a flop ‘S/o Satyamurthy, Mahesh has delivered the biggest hit of his career ‘Srimanthudu

Actress Alia Bhatt, who will be seen sharing screen space with superstar Shah Rukh Khan in Gauri Shinde’s next film, says the actor is the best co-star she has ever worked with.

“The film’s shooting has started. I had a great time. I was so nervous… I didn’t want to forget my dialogues, so we did rehearsals. He is the best co-star I have ever worked with,” Alia said here.

Stressing that Shah Rukh is a “passionate worker”, and so, she never felt that “I am Alia and he is Shah Rukh Khan”.

The movie is yet to be titled.

Meanwhile, Alia is busy promoting her forthcoming entertainer “Kapoor & Sons”. Talking about her character in it, she said: “She is a girl-next-door kind of a girl. She has an emotional baggage and the film revolves around family and relationships.”

Directed by Shakun Batra, “Kapoor & Sons” will release on March 18.

After starring in Kanchana 2, Tamil actor Raghava Lawrence has been busy with his next venture, Motta Siva Ketta Siva.

Twitter exploded with first-look posters of the upcoming film, taglined ‘The mass cop’, on Thursday.

Motta Siva, Ketta Siva – also starring Sathyaraj and Nikki Galrani – is a remake of the Telugu hit, Pataas (2015). The film is about a corrupt policeman who has a change of heart over a period of time. Nikki Galrani plays his love interest.

The New Indian Express reported on Monday that though the film’s first look was to be released on Mahashivaratri, the plan was changed at the last minute.

The filmmakers decided to release the poster on March 10 – the birthday of Sri Raghavendrar – instead. And that came as no surprise, given that Raghava is known to be an ardent devotee of Sri Raghavendrar.

Anantapur MP and senior leader J C Diwakar Reddy is known for his straightforward talk and that sometimes lands him and his party, presently Telugu Desam Party, in trouble.

On Thursday, Diwakar Reddy dropped the bombshell saying he was also a victim of Operation Akarsh launched by TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu.

“I was also lured into the TDP by the party boss, who has been attracting the MLAs and leaders from other parties. In this case, Naidu is no different from his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao, who has been luring the Opposition MLAs into the Telangana Rashtra Samithi,” he said.

He went on to say that KCR was better than Naidu in treating the defectors from other parties.

“KCR has offered money, if not posts and positions to all the defectors. Otherwise, he will take care of their interests by getting their works done. In the TDP, this is not the case. Those who joined the TDP from other parties have got neither money nor posts,” he lamented.

However, Diwakar Reddy said the YSR Congress party MLAs were joining the TDP on their own, as they were vexed with their leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. “The defections will continue to happen,” he said.

Seven films are releasing today and only one out of them seems promising and that too because of Murugadoss!

Tuntari starring Nara Rohith is a remake of Tamil hit Maan Karate, which was produced by Murugadoss. He also wrote the story for it. Now Tuntari makers are trying to cash in on that factor.

Nara Rohith has been a busy bee ever since he made debut as an actor but he is yet to score a big hit. Can Tuntari give him the much needed break?

Luckily for him this is the only movie to look forward to among all the new releases today. None of the other straight movies have generated any interest among the filmgoers.

RP Patnaik’s Tulasi Dalam, O Sthree Repu Raa, Odarpu Yatra and Nenu Maa College are the straight films and the dubbed flicks like Siddharth’s Chikkadu Dorakadu and Simbu’s Mr. Manmadhan For Sale are also trying their luck today.

Do your duty and disappear is what our Power star shared in his interview. From Reel to real life, if there is one thing he has been consistent at, it is at mouthing dialogues written by others.

The aforementioned line was coined by Raju Ravitej during their Yuva Rajyam days and our power star is plagiarizing the same. And the biggest joke is that after films, he will restrict himself to being a writer!!!

He can’t put pen on a paper and write one line of sensible English or Telugu. Of course one has to give him credit for his master theatrics and image building strategy. Furthermore, he mentions, he was a reluctant actor.

Not long ago, he was begging his brother to help him debut as an actor. It was because of Chiranjeevi’s grace that PK was able to step into the tinsel town.

Tables have turned now and both the brothers are showing a unified image, where PK is to dancing to his brothers steps in Sardar as both have realized that their loyal subjects KAPU’s aren’t trusting them anymore.

One can only hope that the Kapu community will realise soon… ” Evaro Vastharani Edo Chestharani Eduru Choosi Mosapokumaa… Nijam marichi nidhurapoku raa “.

They all should realize that every leader is selling them and making fortunes out of their aspirations!!

Allu Arjun’s market range has increased by leaps and bounds lately. Buyers are happy to invest big in his films as he is the most consistent and reliable hero among the big stars at the moment.

Pre release business stats of his upcoming film Sarrainodu is almost equal to that of Pawan Kalyan’s Sardaar Gabbar Singh and Mahesh’s Srimanthudu in few areas.

Sarrainodu has got bigger offers than the above films in some areas proving the potential of the Stylish star. As per trade reports, Sarrainodu’s pre release business in Ceded is more than Mahesh’s Srimanthudu.

In fact Ceded buyers are offering lesser price for Brahmotsavam than Sarrainodu. Although Pawan Kalyan has upper hand over Allu Arjun in Ceded, he has clearly fell short of Bunny in Karnataka.

Sarrainodu was bought for 9 crore by the Karnataka buyers and Sardaar Gabbar Singh is not even close to that mark.

Surprisingly Karnataka is the weakest market of Pawan Kalyan. Mega heroes usually dominate this market but for some reason Pawan’s films don’t draw similar attention from the Karnataka buyers.

Although he is yet to get a proper commercial hit, Nara Rohit continues to do an astonishing number of films.

His movie ‘Thuntari’ is releasing today and his next movie ‘Savithri’ will release in a couple of days. Then, there is ‘Shankara’ which has been looking for a release for a long time.

Apart from these, he has nearly a half dozen films at various stages of production including ‘Raja Cheyyi Vesthe, Pandaga la Vacchadu, Appatlo Okadundevaadu, Needhi Naadhi Oke Kadha, Kadhalo Rajakumarudu and Jo Atchuthananda’.

Well, being the nephew of the Chief Minister certainly helps. But it would be better for Rohit’s career if he probably were to focus more on quality of content than on number of films.

Actor Nara Rohit made interesting remarks when asked about whether he throws any political weight around in bagging plum film offers.

“My Peddananna (Chandrababu Naidu) is CM. So, as per you, I must be working with Rajamouli garu and other big directors right?,” Rohit shots back at news reporters with a grin on his face. Setting the record straight, he further said that neither him nor his family won’t try to use any kinda political influence but always try to live like common people. “We believe in hard work and prefer only that,” says Rohit.

Meanwhile, Rohit’s next film Tuntari is all set for release Tomorrow and Rohit is quite upbeat about the film where he is seen as kick boxer for the first-time. “I grew up watching several boxing films. But Tuntari is not completely about boxing. It’s just one part of the film. There’s more to it. It has romance, entertainment, drama in right proportions,” clarifies Rohit.

Veering towards his upcoming films, Rohit says his role in Savitri is close to his real life whereas his role in Tuntari required lot of effort. He also made it clear that his up next Appatlo Okadundevadu and Raja Cheyyi Vesthe are different genres that he has never attempted before. “With each and every film, I make sure I try something different. I never like being typecast. From Banam to recent Asura, I attempted new,” reasons Rohit.

Talking about playing a crucial role in Balakrishna’s 100th film, Rohit says, “I don’t know what role I’d get. But if I’m given chance, I’d love to do any role in his film.” Rohit is quite confident that Tuntari, directed by Kumar Nagendra of Gundello Godari fame, would work in his favour.

There was an uproar on Nandamuri Balakrishna’s comments on women at an audio launch and the actor too clarified it in house and even released an apology letter officially. This comments of him caught attention of National media too and finally went down with Balayya’s clarification.

Nevertheless, Balayya babu once again proved that he has got all his fans still there with him. Here is a lady fan of him posed with ‘Jai Balayya’ tattoo on her neck. That’s one diehard fan of Balayya!

Film industry is the place where the best of friends now turn foes the next minute. One such friendship gone sour is that of blockbuster producer Bandla Ganesh and the filthy rich hero cum producer Sachiin Joshi.

That Sachiin filed a case against Bandla last year following a financial dispute is a known news. Sachiin alleged that Bandla owes him a huge amount of money which the producer is in no mood to repay. Sachiin time and again publicity targeted Bandla by tweeting about his fraud.

And now, today is Bandla Ganesh’s birthday and his fans and several celebs wished him on this occasion. But Bandla received the most unexpected shock of the day when Sachiin tweeted, Happy Birthday My Dearest Fraud @ganeshbandla Will soon visit you in jail #Bandlaganesh”.  Sachiin also warned that he will stop the release of any film made by others in association with Bandla Ganesh.

Sachiin’s tweet has witnessed a mixed reaction since many felt that the actor should have spared his vengeance on Bandla at least on his birthday. Well, no one knows what all Sachiin is going through due to the alleged fraud. But this tweet also hints that Bandla is staring at a huge legal emergency.