Weekend roundup: Tollywood's top newsmakers of the week

If you have missed the exciting news, gossip or latest developments that made headlines in Tollywood this week, here is a weekly roundup for you. Take a look:

Weekend roundup: Tollywood's top newsmakers of the week

South superstar Ram Charan would love to work in Bengali cinema. Yes, you read it right! While speaking at a recent event the ‘RRR’ star said that he’s open to do films in other languages as well since he wants Indian cinema to grow as a seamless industry where borders will be blurred between so-called regional film industries. Ram Charan said that he has a fair knowledge of Bengali cinema and he loves Bengal films. The celebrated actor also urged that filmmakers from Bengal to reach out to him with a good script. His popularity grew manifold after the recent box office success of ‘RRR’. Ram charan’s performance in the Rajamouli-directed film was hailed by everyone and the epic action entertainer enjoyed a great box office run in West Bengal as well.

Salman Khan will be in Kolkata in January next year to perform in a major event at Eco Park. Not only the Bollywood star but several other celebs including Sonakshi Sinha, Jacqueline Fernandez, Prabhu Deva, Ayush Sharma, and Guru Randhawa will also accompany him. Salman’s brother Sohel Khan and his personal security guard have already visited Kolkata to inspect the security measures of the venue where the actor will be performing live. The ‘Wanted’ actor is expected to arrive in the city on January 19. He will reportedly give a courtesy visit on the same day to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee which will be followed by a night-long rehearsal ahead of the big performance day on January 20.

We already know Dibyendu Bhattacharya will play the main villain in Ankush’s much-anticipated action entertainer ‘Mirza’. Now, seasoned actor Rudranil Ghosh has joined the cast. Ankush who’s making his debut as a producer with this film has been keeping the details of ‘Mirza’ cast a secret to keep the surprise element intact. If everything goes according to plan, the shooting will start early December. ‘Mirza’ is being directed by Sumit-Sahil and will release during Eid 2023. The upcoming film’s teaser, filled with thrilling action sequences and whistle worthy catchy dialogues, has already been lapped up by all.

The frenzy and madness surrounding Arijit Singh’s Kolkata concert on February 18 next year has matched new heights now. The current ticket prices for the concert, to be held at Eco Park, starts from Rs 2,500 onwards but what has left everyone in shock is the price of the tickets that are near the main stage. While 2,500 is for a bronze ticket, 4,000 is for Silver, 8,000 for gold, 10, 500 for platinum, and the last one, 75,000 for the Dimond lounge. The bronze section will be the one that will be farthest from the stage and the diamond lounge is just near the stage where Arijit will perform. Interestingly, last week the Dimond lounge ticket price was 50,000.

Filmmaker Shieladitya Moulik without mentioning anyone’s name has slammed the source of the recent rumour around Aindrila Sharma’s health condition that spread like wildfire since Wednesday midnight and at the same time explained how this current trend of social media following is actually destroying real talents. The ‘Hridpindo’ director has one question to those who appear as social media influencers and transform their social media accounts into portfolios, “How can popularity in an app (Instagram) be a currency for talent?” Shieladitya also feels that we are saying ‘content is king’ since 2019 and yet the scenario hasn’t changed in real life, “The idea of an actor who has greater following on social media will be able to give more audience reach is simply stupid. It’s a stupid idea. It’s affecting the actual talents who are deprived of opportunities because of this social media madness. It has to change.”

The Bagha Jatin biopic will see a new female lead opposite Dev. The actor-producer is looking for a fresh actress to play Indubala, the young wife of Bagha Jatin. And his production house has already announced a casting call on social media for that. According to the announcement, the actress has to be 20-25 years old, 5’3 – 5’7 in height and has to be fluent in speaking Bengali. If the candidate has theatre experience it will be an added advantage. Meanwhile, the shooting of Dev’s much-anticipated film, the ‘Bagha Jatin’ biopic, has been delayed for the time being. According to industry sources, the first schedule will start in January-February next year.

Arkadeep Mallika Nath is coming up with a political thriller titled ‘Mir Jafar - Chapter 2’. The cast of the upcoming film is an ensemble one featuring Srabanti Chatterjee, Saurav Das, and Priyanka Sarkar in the lead. It will also star Ziaul Roshan, Ferdous Ahmed, Subrat Dutta, Sohini Sengupta, Bulbuli Panja, and Joy Sarkar in pivotal roles. Speaking about the film, the director is pretty much excited as he reveals that the film is inspired by a controversial incident we saw in West Bengal recently. The plot will shed light on some disturbing incidents in a village set in a political backdrop and will explore the dark side that often remains unnoticed by all. In the thriller, Saurav Das is set to play the role of Mir and Ziaul Roshan will be seen as Jafar. While Srabanti Chatterjee will take on the role of a refugee who escaped from Bangladesh, Priyanka Sarkar will be seen as a girl from the village in concern.