Shah Rukh Khan's trademark wit was at work when he commented on Salman Khan's new song, Pyaar karona. SRK's quip came during an interactive Twitter session with fans titled "#asksrk", when a user asked him what he thought of the new song that Salman has released on the coronavirus outbreak, titled "Pyaar karona".

"Bhai kamaal ka Single aur Singer hai..." was Shah Rukh's reply.

Many fans feel SRK was playing a pun using the word "Single" -- which could refer to the song, as well as Salman's bachelor status. "Bhai" could be a reference to Salman, of course, but Shah Rukh could also be addressing the fan.

Among several other interesting questions, SRK was asked who he would love to work with -- Martin Scorsese or Christopher Nolan. His reply, again, was a cryptic one, and many users felt he is hinting at a possible collaboration with Rajkumar Hirani in the future.

Replying to the question about Scorsese or Nolan, Shah Rukh tweeted: "Wow both are awesome and I have met them... but Raju apna sa lagta hai... nahi?"

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It seems there's nothing better than sharing old and unseen pictures on social media these days. A lot of the Bollywood celebrities have already done that and have been doing that even now. So the next celebrity to join the list is Sanjay Dutt's daughter Trishala Dutt, who shared a fantastic throwback picture with her mother Richa Sharma.

The picture is all the way back from 1988, where Sharma could be seen holding her in her arms and it was indeed a heartfelt moment. And one of the people to comment on the post was Maanayata, who wrote- Beautiful, followed by hearts and a smiling emoji.

Have a look right here:

Trishala and Maanayata share a great bond and rapport and can often be seen commenting on each other's Instagram pictures and posts. Even Priya Dutt had a wonderful comment on the post and wrote- "So beautiful, she is an angel in heaven now trish, always looking over you. She loved you more than anything in this world. God bless her soul." (sic)

We wish to see more such pictures in the future!

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A four-way conference call between us, Sharon Isbin, and Ayaan and Amaan Ali Bangash makes one thing crystal clear. The two sarod-playing brothers have unfettered respect for the Grammy-winning American guitarist, since they consider it an "honour" to be collaborating with her for an unusual concert slated for later this week. It's a word they use multiple times during the phone call. And Isbin, on her part, tells us from Kolkata that she's as enthused about the performance as anyone else.

The gig is unusual because it isn't everyday in our country that the worlds of Indian and western classical music collide on stage. Isbin is one of the world's leading lights in the latter genre. But her introduction to western classical music was wholly by accident. "We were living in Italy for a year when I was nine years old, and my older brother asked for guitar lessons. But he didn't want to study classical. He wanted to be Elvis Presley. So, I volunteered to take his place and raised my hand out of family duty," she reveals, adding that while her father was a nuclear scientist, it was her mother who ensured that she received a solid musical education.

It's a different story for the Bangash brothers, of course. It's almost as if it was preordained that they would take to the sarod, considering that their father, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, is one of the world's most prolific practitioners of the instrument. But even though they have collaborated with many different musicians — including with Derek Trucks of the rock band Allman Brothers — this is the first time that they will be playing in India with Isbin, who they have known for years.

Ayaan and Amaan Ali Bangash

Ayaan says, "Sharon and we have had mutual admiration for each other's cultures, and I think it's really important to connect with the individual with whom you'll be performing. Also, since we have known each other for a long time, it was easier to develop the music. It's taken us around six years to compose this piece, and I'm glad that everything has fallen into place for us to perform it in India for the first time."

And Isbin adds that her affinity for Indian string instruments began when she was in college. "I loved listening to the sitar, sarod and the tabla back then, and would go to raga concerts because I found them to be meditative. I have also studied transcendental meditation, which of course originated in India, and have been practising it since my teens. That's every single day for many years. So, I have a certain spiritual attraction to the culture and the music here," she says.

Amaan, meanwhile, points out how the sarod and classical guitar have a shared commonality, in that they belong to the larger family of string instruments. Think about it. The guitar, in India, has had a profile that's associated more with jazz, rock 'n' roll and electronic music. Rarely, if ever, has the western classical guitar been heard here in this kind of a collaboration, which also features tabla player Vijay Ghate and mridangam exponent Sridhar Parthasarthy. "We have never played these pieces with a guitar before. But both are string instruments. One is played with the fingertip and the other is played with the finger nails. So, the technical approach isn't wholly different," he tells us, while Ayaan adds that playing this composition will be different for the brothers because they are sticking to a written score.

He further says, "I think everyone's music is a reflection of who they are as individuals. Their soul comes out through their music. And all of us have come out of our comfort zones here to reach a meeting point. Eventually, though, things just happen on stage, you know? You might rehearse all you want, but at the end of the day, what the piece shapes us as is something that has some kind of energy and universal blessing, and we hope to reach that final destination with dignity and grace."

ON February 21, 8 pm
AT Royal Opera House, Girgaum.
LOG ON TO bookmyshow.com entry '300 onwards

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Total Dhamaal
U: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Director: Indra Kumar
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Arshad Warsi, Jaaved Jaaferi, Riteish Deshmukh, Sanjay Mishra
Rating: 

The first thing you notice about this Hindi film (or at least I did) is that it plays with English subtitles. Not that most need it; but great relief, nonetheless. For I had returned from the same Mumbai theatre only the evening before, within the first minute of a Malayalam film (a heavily recommended Kumbalangi Nights), having realised that the pic had no English subs, and people were laughing at jokes (presumably), that I couldn't access.

Would Total Dhamaal, in a language you didn't understand, be watchable still? Technically there is hardly a plot/story. So you'll follow what's going on, regardless. But this is the sort of deliberately-sasta, kaam chalau comedy that works on simplest set-ups, and pay-offs - or punch-lines - that you ought to be in sync with. Some jokes work - at a pure comic timing level. Several don't. But that's really what you walked in for. For the record, the first Dhamaal (2007) had entered theatres hot on the heels of the fab Golmaal (2006), with Arshad Warsi common to both - making the former seem like pretty much a sequel to the latter. Modelled along the lines of the Spencer Tracy epic It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), Dhamaal actually had a lot of dhamaal going for it.

Ever since, Golmaal has turned into a four-part, money-spinning franchise (or as Devgn calls it, his "retirement plan"). As have similar all-star comedies from the time - Housefull (the fourth instalment is on its way), Kya Kool Hain Hum (in the screwball, sex-com space), Masti (there've been three so far - directed by Indra Kumar, as well).

This is the third in the Dhamaal series, and as a ride, perhaps mainly intended for kids, if you consider the amount of slapstick (instead of adult) humour, stereotyped 'Madrasi', Bihari, Gujju kinda gags, and tonnes of fine VFX paraphernalia - collapsing bridge, rickety helicopter, cute animals bumbling around in the farm, folk either hanging or flying off ledges… This is besides a lot of self-referential Bollywood one-liners that appear as stuck in time as, of course, the picture itself.

And so the password to open a door is 'one-two ka four; four-two ka one' as Lakhan, or Anil Kapoor, jumps off a wall. 'Ek do teen' as in the Madhuri Dixit Nene song is referred to, since Dixit is in the movie, along with Kapoor. Rohit Shetty is summoned in a line while cars fly. Ajay Devgn is of course the dude. His sidekick, Sanjay Mishra, whose refrain, "Dhondu, just chill," made him a superstar with Shetty's All The Best (2010), a similar mad-cap comedy, gets, "Bro," a new takia-kalaam here.

But my favourite guys in this movie have got to be Adi, and his man-child partner Manav (Arshad Warsi, Jaaved Jaaferi). Glad they've survived the franchise's original line-up (the only ones to, besides the perennial ensemble-com favourite, Riteish Deshmukh).

The entire lot is after a Rs 50 crore booty. All they know is that it's kept at a zoo. And with presumably someone called OK, which is what you must feel like - never mind what happens in the movie thereafter. Anything I say about this expectedly total dumb maal, should be construed as boring old me, coming in the way of your heightened, harebrained entertainment. Already have; read no further!

Also Read: Exclusive: Ajay Devgn on Total Dhamaal: It's very difficult to make people laugh

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India women’s cricketer Smriti Mandhana posted this picture to her two million Instagram followers, enjoying lunch with her parents during the Coronavirus lockdown. “Nothing compares to Maa ke hath ka khana and Papa ki kahaniya sunna [food cooked by mom and listening to dad’s stories],” she captioned the post that went on to receive nearly four lakh ‘likes’ within a few hours.

See the full post below.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

Nothing compares to Maa ke hath ka khana and Papa ki kahaniya sunna😇🥰

A post shared by Smriti Mandhana (@smriti_mandhana) onApr 14, 2020 at 9:48am PDT

Smriti Mandhana is part of the Indian women's cricket team and is one of the most instrumental batswomen in the team. Smriti Mandhana won the  International Woman Cricketer of the Year in 2019. In the same year, Mandhana also became the third-fastest women's player to score 2,000 runs in ODIs. At age 22, she was also the youngest women's T20I captain for India eves. She has 4 centuries and 17 fifties in women's ODIs.

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It's no secret that many aspiring athletes would kill to receive a training session with All Blacks player Sonny Bill Williams. 

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Mowbray has been out to Holland to watch Maher, 25, on a number of occasions but faces a big challenge to tempt the Holland international to play in the Championship.