Baghdadi is a name synonymous with folk, funk and freedom. The innovative artist now joins hands with II Music for his latest song ‘Jailan’ a snazzy tune with a  rustic soul, it  revives memories of  Punjabi folk  with  a hip-hop twist targeted for the Gen Z  audience. Written, composed and performed by Baghdadi,  the USP of the album is the medley of old school Punjabi spice and new age sizzle.

Baghdadi hails from the heart of Punjab and is a one-of-his-kind ‘masked artist’ who may not have revealed his face as yet, but has won the heart of the nation with his music, be it audio or video. In fact, the new video has already become the talk of the town. And Baghdadi is aware of this, he said, “The idea was to create a song that everyone will enjoy and I am happy that Jailan lives up to the promise. ‘Jailan’ is available on all leading music platforms and the music video is now live on YouTube”.

There is an old saying, nothing succeeds like success and it is the way the actors play the game of success that leads to more success. NTR Jr has been rocking since RRR made headlines and it is the decisions he has been making post the success that is leading to more excitement. Two prominent names, superstar NTR Jr and super director Prashanth Neel, come together to make a career defining announcement. The announcement of the film was made on NTR Jr’s 39^th birthday. The director is not willing to reveal much at the moment but dismisses the rumour of it being an action entertainer. “It’s going to be a different genre, a different subject, something the audience cannot imagine.  We will discover the ethos as and when we commence the shooting. The idea has been fermenting in my mind for more than 20 years and I cannot wait any longer to share it with the world”.

After a silence of a long year, superstar Yash has announced the title of his next film, A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups. It is interesting how our film titles are changing over the years. Today, all our big projects are Pan India and sometimes, Pan Universe as well.  This time the internationally acclaimed director, Geetu Mohandas and Yash are combining forces for an ambitious project. Currently in the process of putting the rest of the team together, producer

Venkat Narayana is super excited about his forthcoming venture, so is the director.  Mohandas shares that although Liars Dice and Moothon were well received internationally, he craves to cater to his country. “A Fairytale of Grown -ups is an attraction of opposite worlds. What will motivate me is the aesthetics of the story telling and of course Yash”. The film is scheduled to release worldwide on 10 April, 2025.

So, Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire featuring Prithviraj Sukumaran and Prabhas is out and
excitement begins for all the actors featured in the film, Shruti Haasan, Jagapathi Babu, Tinnu
Anand, Easwari Rao, Sriya Reddy and Ramachandra Raju, the magnum opus is backed by
Vijay Kiragandur. For Prithviraj Sukumaran more so because he has also come on board as
the distributor and will be distributing the film in Kerala under his Production, Prithviraj
Production with his wife Supriya Menon. Directed by Prashanth Neel under the Hombale
Films banner, ‘Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire’ hits the screens on 22 December 2023.

2024 is going to be a year of unsung heroes and that includes India’s first Olympic winner –
Khashaba. Jio Studios have commenced the filming of the Marathi film to be directed by
Nagraj Manjule that pays homage to Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, who clinched a historic
wrestling medal in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, making him the first Indian in post
Independent India to win an individual Olympic medal.
Five Times National Award winner, Jaya Ahsan from Bangladesh; debuts in Hindi films with
Pankaj Tripathi in Kadak Sing. Four films of Jaya Ahsan were screened at IFFI this year
which included her first Iranian film, Fereshta and her recent film Kadak Singh. The actor is
also a trained classic singer and has a diploma in Rabindra Sangeet

There is an old saying in show business, when it rains, it pours and that is coming true for
Sachin-Jigar who have been on a roll for a while. This year the celebrated music duo weaved
magic at the Bali Yatra in Cuttack with their memorable numbers ‘Apna Bana Le’, ‘Phir aur
kya chahiye’, ‘Tere vaaste’ and more. High on the success of their superhit love ballad ‘Phir
aur kya chahiye’ has created history as the most streamed song.
The other love ballad to make headlines is King’s ‘Maan meri jaan’ crossing over 275
million plays, followed by Karachi singer-songwriter Kaifi Khalil’s tune ‘Kahani suno 2.0,’
composer-duo Sachet Parampara ‘s ‘Malang sajna’, Arijit Singh, Pritam and Amitabh
Bhattacharya’s ‘.

Vikas Bahl started his career with advertising, later he worked with several companies like UTV, Spotboy and  others. In 2011, he first shot into fame with Chillar Party and even won the National Film Award for Best Screenplay, with Vijay Maurya. The film also garnered the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film, which gave him the confidence to direct a film he always wanted to, Queen, starring Kangana Ranaut changed Kangana and Bahl’s destiny.

Bahl’s  was on top of the world when his next film Shaandar, about a destination wedding crashed at the box-office.  Bahl was confused. Showbusiness is unpredictable but the setback was difficult to endure.  He was not ready for a feature film so he directed a short film Going Home,  with Alia Bhatt, on women’s safety, that went viral. Slowly, he mustered confidence to make a biopic on mathematician and IIT-JEE coach Anand Kumar called Super 30 which was acknowledged by both the box-office and the critics.

All of us discovered the devastatingly handsome Fawad Khan in Pakistani serials. For me it was Zindagi Gulzar Hai and for others it was Humsafar.  He was outstanding in both.  Producer Rhea Kapoor had a brainwave to cast him opposite her sister Sonam Kapoor in Khoobsurat/ 2014 and he was so striking that soon all the top banners were queuing up for him. In 2016 Kapoor & Sons and Ae Dil Hai Mushkil brought him in the headlines and just when we thought we had another Khan in show business, Fawad was asked to pack up and return to Pakistan. India did not want any exchange of art or artists with the neighboring country.

 A million hearts broke but it was not such a big loss because Indians still got to watch Fawad Khan in Pakistani serials and Fawad Khan’s heroines and directors were happy that the prodigal had returned home. Wishing you a happy birthday and a happy journey in time to come.