Scoops: Aamir Khan attracts huge crowd in China, 'Simmba' anthem roars

Recently, there were reports that Aamir Khan was denied permission to promote his Diwali offering, Thugs Of Hindostan (TOH), in a Chinese university. However, it turns out that the superstar, who is visiting the neighbouring country for the release of the film there, was invited by the university of Guangzhou city to give a talk to its students. Previously, his Dangal and Secret Superstar have done huge business at the Chinese box office.

The authorities had made arrangements at the venue with a capacity of about 500 people. But by the time Aamir reached, there were about 3,000 people who wanted to get in. Seeing the huge crowd, the campus management panicked. And realising that their arrangements were far from adequate they decided to call off the event.

On the plus side, the event organisers arranged four times more security for the subsequent public interactions of Aamir over the next couple of days of his promotional tour in China. TOH, also starring Amitabh Bachchan, Katrina Kaif and Fatima Sana Shaikh, is slated to release in China on December 28.

Ayushmann Khurrana, who has been getting a lot of congratulatory messages for the huge box office success of his two 2018 releases — Sriram Raghavan’s AndhaDhun and Amit Sharma’s Badhaai Ho — hit on a novel idea to share his happiness with everyone who supported him in the journey.

Though he himself is stationed in Mathura ‘trying to drive the cold away’, the actor, who has been on a roll since Bareilly Ki Barfi and Shubh Mangal  Savadhaan last year, thoughtfully took it upon himself to spread happiness and cheer this holiday season with his own team, close friends, family and even some members of the media.

Ayushmann has got printed personalised cards wishing everyone ‘badhaai ho’ and ‘andhadhun’ success in the coming year. And like Santa Claus, he has also managed to get chocolates and plum pudding across to most people who walked with him through this year. Must say, it is a thoughtful gesture. Successful people, especially actors, often tend to forget to give credit to their team. Looks like Ayushmann has proved to be an exception and he believes that Rome was neither built in a day nor was it built by a single person.

The music reality show Indian Idol is coming to a close and recently the team shot for the finale episode. A source from the set tells us that a special video of Maniesh Paul was played out and for the first time the actor-host, who is usually witty and full of masti, broke down. “The video showed his journey so far right from his struggling days from Delhi to Mumbai. Two of his teachers spoke about how he was a backbencher in the class, but always ahead in entertainment. His friend from Delhi recalled the times they used to spend at a sweet shop and Maniesh used to perform different acts. His wife, Sanyukta, who was his girlfriend then, shared that whenever she used to call him, he’d tell her that he is eating lunch at Yash Raj Studios, when, in fact, he would be sitting outside the studio for hours and having sandwiches,” reveals our source. 

She also shared that he used to walk from Chembur to the airport to save money when he was looking for work and later used that amount to buy a ring for her. Our informer further says, “When Sanyukta said, ‘You have no idea how important and priceless the ring was for me,’ Maniesh broke down. This was the first time that the fun-loving guy that he is as a host, was so choked with emotion.” Later, Maniesh called each and everyone from the team to join him on stage and thanked them.

After making an appearance on a dance show, Kapil Dev recently shot for Sunil Grover’s comedy outing, Kanpur Waale Khuranas. Not only that, the former cricketer also unveiled his book We The Sikhs Around The World on the show. A source from the sets says, “Sharing cherished memories about the book, Kapil said that it is regarding 100 gurudwaras across the world. It talks about the rituals and customs of the gurudwaras and aims at preserving the legacy. It took him five years to complete the book. He said this show was the perfect platform as it rounds up the highlights of the year 2018.” 

A producer, who was known to wear his heart on his sleeve in his younger days, seemed to have settled down after marriage. However, recent reports strongly suggest that he is back to flirting. Actually, it is a little more than that. It seems an art film actress, who even pulled off a film, and the producer are quite involved. 

Honestly, who would have thought a commercial mainstream producer and an arty, flighty sort would start to enjoy each other’s company so much? Especially since the kind of cinema they individually stand for has no commonality. 

After the groovy party anthem of the year, Aankh Marey, comes the Simmba storm, Aala Re Aala. The latest song from the movie dropped yesterday and its high-energy dhol beats, as well as the catchy tune, make it a rage on the dance floor. Tanishk Bagchi has composed the foot-stomping number, which has been sung by Dev Negi, and written by Shabbir Ahmed. The wild ditty will make you want to dance no holds barred! The film stars Ranveer Singh and Sara Ali Khan. Reliance Entertainment presents, Rohit Shetty Picturez and Dharma Productions, Simmba is slated to release worldwide on December 28, 2018.