SCOOPS: Saina Nehwal biopic makers upset with Shraddha Kapoor? Kapil Sharma donates excess food from his wedding & more

Amole Gupte (left); and Shraddha Kapoor

The progress on Saina, the biopic on national badminton champion Saina Nehwal, has been rather slow. According to sources, Shraddha Kapoor’s dates (she plays the shuttler in the film) are ‘a bit of a mess’. The actress is currently shuttling between this sports drama and Chhichhore, which stars Sushant Singh Rajput. As a result, Saina’s director Amole Gupte is unhappy that his film, which was announced much earlier, has been reportedly getting the second-hand treatment. 

We sent him a text message and asked him whether he was indeed upset with his leading lady because of whom the biopic has been apparently progressing slowly. But he didn’t revert to us till the time of going to press.

Sara Ali Khan (left); and Tiger Shroff

Buzz in the industry is that Sara Ali Khan is likely to pair up onscreen with Tiger Shroff in his next, Baaghi 3. If she indeed signs up for it, then life will have come a full circle for her. The reason being that before she signed up for Abhishek Kapoor’s Kedarnath, the feisty newcomer was supposed to make her debut opposite Tiger in Karan Johar’s production, Student Of The Year 2. But while things didn’t materialise then, and she was cast opposite Sushant Singh Rajput for the tragic love story, she also bagged her second film, KJo and Rohit Shetty’s Simmba, starring Ranveer Singh. And now with reports of her being roped in for Baaghi 3, it would be interesting to see Sara and Tiger team up in this action romance.

Anushka Sharma (left); The actress in Zero

Anushka Sharma believes in going an extra mile for her role. However, for Zero, it seems she not only pushed the envelope but tore it too. From the time the trailer was launched,  each scene shows the actress sitting in a wheelchair, as demanded by her character Aafia Bhinder, a brilliant scientist suffering from cerebral palsy. 

While she would sit in the wheelchair to be in her character throughout her time on the set, we hear that she got one for home, too. “Anushka had a wheelchair at home for about a month because she wanted to internalise Aafia and be perfectly comfortable playing her,” says a source close to the actress, adding, “Every dialogue, every emotion, everything that Anushka has in the film is on a wheelchair. For Anushka, it needed to become a part of herself and she could have only done that by actually becoming Aafia in real life and do everything while being on one. This was a process of metamorphosis for her and she moved around her house and practised her scenes on the carriage.” 

The Pari actress was sold on director Aanand L Rai’s vision for this film that also stars Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif. The source sums up, “The director had a clear brief for Anushka and she worked closely with him and writer Himanshu Sharma during her process of becoming Aafia. So, if audiences are loving her in the film, it is because of Aanand’s concept and how he and Himanshu have written and created a beautiful character like Aafia.”

(From L-R) Rahul Khanna; Akshay Khanna; and Geetanjali Taleyarkhan

Rahul and Akshaye Khanna’s mother, Geetanjali Taleyarkhan passed away on Saturday. She was suffering from heart ailment and breathed her last at their Alibaug residence. 

When she had complained of uneasiness on Saturday morning, Akshaye had taken her to a local doctor, who gave her medication. Later that night, between 9 pm and 10 pm, he found her body temperature had dropped. He and Rahul took her to a civic hospital, where she was declared dead on arrival. The funeral was held on Sunday afternoon in Alibaug. 

Geetanjali and Vinod Khanna were college sweethearts and had got married in 1971. However, after he became a disciple of Osho Rajneesh and moved to the Oregon ashram of the spiritual guru, they divorced in 1985. 

Geetanjali, who came from a well-known family of lawyers and businessmen, was known for her social work and was also one of the founders of CRY foundation. 

Our heartfelt condolences to the family.

Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha

Richa Chadha turns a year older today and to celebrate her big day, beau Ali Fazal planned a birthday getaway to the Maldives. This, we hear, was a surprise for the Fukrey actress. Says a source close to the actor, “Ali had been planning this surprise for quite some time. It was a coincidence that both of them were wrapping up their respective projects at the same time, allowing them a chance to take a break. He asked Richa to block her dates for a vacation around her birthday. He did not reveal any other details and she got to know of the destination only after reaching the airport. This is their first trip to the tropical nation and the couple is staying at a private island resort. They will return to Mumbai this weekend.”

Ginni Chatrath and Kapil Sharma

Kapil Sharma’s wedding in Jalandhar grabbed a lot of attention and had a crazy turnout. Not only that, we have learnt that the popular stand-up comedian donated all the excess food from his wedding to an NGO, Feeding India, which distributes it to the lesser-privileged people in Jalandhar, Amritsar and the nearby cities. 

A source says that when the NGO got to know about Kapil’s wedding, the officials approached him as they knew it would be a big fat Punjabi wedding and there will not only be a lavish spread of food, but also in excess quantity. “When they told Kapil about their cause, he said yes without thinking twice. He told them to take the food from all his functions including the reception in Amritsar and distribute it,” says the source. 

Ankit Kawatra, the founder of NGO, confirms, “Kapil is setting an example for others to follow by donating excess food from his big day. This will surely create a much-needed awareness for the cause and will motivate others. I am pleased to see that the person who makes the country laugh, took this opportunity to make others in need smile, too.”

After spending a considerable amount of time on his film Tumbbad, actor-director Sohum Shah has signed two projects. This time, however, he has kept aside his directorial hat and will only be acting in both the ventures. While one is a slice-of-life film, the other will see him stepping into the digital world. The web series has, in fact, already taken off. Sohum, who, according to sources, is among the main cast in the series, even shot for it on his birthday (December 16).