Hansal Mehta will live with a regret of not approaching late Bollywood actress Sridevi for a film he had in his mind. But the filmmaker is determined to make a movie on her, and says he might approach actress Vidya Balan for the project.

The news of Sridevi's sudden demise last month left everyone shocked. Mehta took to Twitter to share his grief, with the post: "There will never be another Sridevi. I was about to approach her for a film. That film will now be dedicated to her. If it finds an actor."

Prodded about the project, Mehta told IANS: "I will always regret that I didn't approach her and could not make a movie with her. But I will make a film on her."

From her surreal beauty to her charming smile to her perfect dance moves, Sridevi — who began acting as a profession at the age of four — was known for her ability to slip into myriad roles.

Be it her double role in CHAALBAAZ, as a woman with retrograde amnesia in SADMA, a shape-shifting woman in NAGINA, a crime journalist in MR. INDIA, a mother who wants acceptance from her daughter in ENGLISH VINGLISH, or the revengeful mother in "Mom" — Sridevi got into any character with much ease.

Mehta got a little introspective as he got talking about the project, divulging that the film may just be based on a book. But he refused to give out any more information.

"It will be made," he assured, adding: "There are actors (who I have in my mind). I might approach Vidya Balan. I will make the film," he reiterated emphatically.

At the moment, Mehta is looking forward to OMERTA — his next project with actor Rajkummar Rao. Through the film, he traces the life of British-Pakistani terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh.

The film is shot in real locations across London and India while recreating Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Known for intense dramas like SHAHID and ALIGARH, Mehta said: "We make the films because we want to challenge ourselves. We choose stories which are challenging… That is the joy of making the film."

With OMERTA, he wants to provoke a thought.

"My intention is not to disturb people… my intention is to provoke a thought. My intention is to let you have your own emotions, your questions after watching the film.

"This film has a variety of meanings for different people. For some, it is a thriller, for some it can be very cool. At a festival, women were swooning over Raj. They loved his evil act. They thought it was cool.

"In Toronto, there were angry people, people were numb, people who were very upset. All these reactions are a result of the film depicting a certain truth," Mehta said.

Presented by Swiss Entertainment and Karma Media, and produced by Nahid Khan, the film is releasing on April 20.

As it nears its release date, Mehta is anxious about how the Indian audience will react to the film.

"I am actually very anxious. I want the people to watch the film. It is an important film. It is a complete anti-hero film. There is an antagonist who is unapologetic and unsympathetic. He is your principal character and to have that kind of principal character as your main lead and make a thriller…I am interested to see how the audience will respond to this anti-hero," he said.

Hansal Mehta will live with a regret of not approaching late Bollywood actress Sridevi for a film he had in his mind. But the filmmaker is determined to make a movie on her, and says he might approach actress Vidya Balan for the project.

The news of Sridevi's sudden demise last month left everyone shocked. Mehta took to Twitter to share his grief, with the post: "There will never be another Sridevi. I was about to approach her for a film. That film will now be dedicated to her. If it finds an actor."

Prodded about the project, Mehta told IANS: "I will always regret that I didn't approach her and could not make a movie with her. But I will make a film on her."

From her surreal beauty to her charming smile to her perfect dance moves, Sridevi — who began acting as a profession at the age of four — was known for her ability to slip into myriad roles.

Be it her double role in CHAALBAAZ, as a woman with retrograde amnesia in SADMA, a shape-shifting woman in NAGINA, a crime journalist in MR. INDIA, a mother who wants acceptance from her daughter in ENGLISH VINGLISH, or the revengeful mother in "Mom" — Sridevi got into any character with much ease.

Mehta got a little introspective as he got talking about the project, divulging that the film may just be based on a book. But he refused to give out any more information.

"It will be made," he assured, adding: "There are actors (who I have in my mind). I might approach Vidya Balan. I will make the film," he reiterated emphatically.

At the moment, Mehta is looking forward to OMERTA — his next project with actor Rajkummar Rao. Through the film, he traces the life of British-Pakistani terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh.

The film is shot in real locations across London and India while recreating Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Known for intense dramas like SHAHID and ALIGARH, Mehta said: "We make the films because we want to challenge ourselves. We choose stories which are challenging… That is the joy of making the film."

With OMERTA, he wants to provoke a thought.

"My intention is not to disturb people… my intention is to provoke a thought. My intention is to let you have your own emotions, your questions after watching the film.

"This film has a variety of meanings for different people. For some, it is a thriller, for some it can be very cool. At a festival, women were swooning over Raj. They loved his evil act. They thought it was cool.

"In Toronto, there were angry people, people were numb, people who were very upset. All these reactions are a result of the film depicting a certain truth," Mehta said.

Presented by Swiss Entertainment and Karma Media, and produced by Nahid Khan, the film is releasing on April 20.

As it nears its release date, Mehta is anxious about how the Indian audience will react to the film.

"I am actually very anxious. I want the people to watch the film. It is an important film. It is a complete anti-hero film. There is an antagonist who is unapologetic and unsympathetic. He is your principal character and to have that kind of principal character as your main lead and make a thriller…I am interested to see how the audience will respond to this anti-hero," he said.

Actor Varun Dhawan has been receiving much appreciation and love for his character Dan in Shoojit Sircar’s OCTOBER.

In an interview with a leading publication, Shoojit Sircar spilt the beans on how Varun was casted for the movie, debutant Banita Sandhu and thought behind the story.

Shoojit mentioned how Varun was trying to approach him since a year on text messages before their first meeting that was finally set up back in November 2016. He said, “That day I was rushing to wrap up things before flying off to Kolkata when Varun called asking if we could meet. Since he lived in Juhu, I wondered if he could come over immediately. He’d just woken up and told me he was not dressed. I told him not to bother, we’re pretty casual around here.”

When Varun met Shoojit, the actor was being his clumsy self in his ripped denims, a crumpled shirt and disheveled hair.

The director observed him closely and that’s when he discovered ‘Dan’ in his eyes.

He said, “For a year we had been auditioning newcomers for the leading man’s role in OCTOBER and suddenly there he was in front of me. Varun looked 20-21 and his eyes reflected honesty”.

As the meeting came to an end Shoojit clicked a picture of Varun and immediately sent it to his writer Juhi Chaturvedi and producer Ronnie Lahiri saying that he has discovered Dan. After receiving a thumbs up from them, the next day Varun was invited back to the director’s office and offered the leading role in OCTOBER.

“He was so happy that we’d be finally working together, that he accepted immediately. Varun is now my ‘Dil ka Tukda’.”

Talking about debutant Banita Sandhu, he said, “She doesn’t just speak, she speaks sense and is the kind of girl you could easily fall in love with”.

In the trailer we get a glimpse of Dan and Shiuli working in the hospitality section of the hotel industry. Sharing his personal experience, the director said, “I worked in a hotel in Delhi for a year-and-a half in the accounts department. I gave out salaries and I saw staff members lurch home like zombies after a 10-12-hour shift, tumble into bed, wake up and return to work. They have no life, they live to make guests comfortable during their stay”.

Shoojit has always been known to bring an essence of Delhi in all his movies. “Juhi and I both are from Delhi and try to think of ways of portraying the city differently. In Piku, we portrayed it with humor, in Pink it was dark, in OCTOBER you’ll see a poetic Delhi,” he promised.

The trailer has definitely managed to peak the curiosity of the audience, “The trailer was designed to confuse, pique curiosity. It’s just a simple story of a boy and a girl, which has grown from personal experiences and not any film, brought to life by the beauty and fluidity of Juhi’s writing,” he said.

Shoojit adds that the idea of OCTOBER has grown out of experiences of his life and the writer, Juhi‘s life. They were discussing on an idea of a love story even before finishing Madras Cafe and the scripting of ‘Piku’ without any intention of turning it into a film.

The director and his writing partner, Juhi wanted to change the perception of love by delving deeper into the poetic space comparing its beauty to that of the Shiuli flower. “When Juhi suggested we name the girl after the flower, it triggered off more thoughts on love and what it means,” he remembers.

He signed off saying, “For me love is an everyday affair and more about what you can do without expecting anything in return, like what a mother does for her child. It cannot be explained, it has to be experienced which is why we want the audience to ‘feel’ OCTOBER”.

Produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar, OCTOBER stars Varun Dhawan and Banita Sandhu. A Rising Sun Films Production, directed by Shoojit Sircar the film is set to release on Apr 13.

Actor Mohsin Khan says shooting with a baby is fun, but it comes with its own challenges.

He is shooting with a baby for a sequence in TV show 'Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai'. In the track, Naira (Shivangi Joshi) and Kartik (Mohsin) rescue a baby, and they bring her home to take care of her.

"Shooting with little babies is actually an amazing experience. We recently began shooting with a baby and cannot get enough of her. Her mother never holds her when on set," Mohsin said in a statement.

"I love playing with her and when I make her smile, it makes me feel like I am her hero. Having said that, I feel that pacifying a crying child is the biggest challenge, in a good way because to understand what is wrong with them is a challenge. Hats off to our parents who have actually gone through all the infant woes."

The show is aired Star Plus.

Actor Mohsin Khan says shooting with a baby is fun, but it comes with its own challenges.

He is shooting with a baby for a sequence in TV show 'Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai'. In the track, Naira (Shivangi Joshi) and Kartik (Mohsin) rescue a baby, and they bring her home to take care of her.

"Shooting with little babies is actually an amazing experience. We recently began shooting with a baby and cannot get enough of her. Her mother never holds her when on set," Mohsin said in a statement.

"I love playing with her and when I make her smile, it makes me feel like I am her hero. Having said that, I feel that pacifying a crying child is the biggest challenge, in a good way because to understand what is wrong with them is a challenge. Hats off to our parents who have actually gone through all the infant woes."

The show is aired Star Plus.

Actress Manjari Fadnnis, who will be seen playing Maniesh Paul's girlfriend in the comic thriller BAA BAAA BLACK SHEEP, was anxious on the first day of shoot as she had to do her first scene with Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor, Kay Kay Menon and Maniesh Paul.

Sharing the experience, Manjiri says, "I was anxious, but at the same time it was such a great learning experience that I think I'm blessed to have shared screen space with all these stalwarts of acting."

Also, Kay Kay Menon was the only actor who never got his cellphone on set, making Manjiri more in awe of him and more anxious.

Speaking about it, Director Vishwas Paandya says, "Manjari has done very well in the film and she has never looked as good in any other movie before, but on her first day she was definitely anxious."

BAA BAAA BLACK SHEEP, directed by Vishwas Paandya, stars Maniesh Paul, Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor, Manjari Fadnnis & Kay Kay Menon in a special appearance.

Produced by Anand Swarup Agarwal & Krishna Datla, under the banner Agastya Films, it is a Soham Rockstar Entertainment and Swarup Productions presentation.

The film will release on Mar 23.

The prominent release of the week, Raj Kumar Gupta’s Ajay Devgn, Saurabh Shukla and Ileana D’Cruz starrer, RAID, was never expected to open like a SINGHAM or GOLMAAL, but still the 20 percent (all India average) start was a tad disappointing.

Having said that, based on the positive reviews and audience feedback, the film did pick up during the latter shows and though the first day will come just under 10 crore, the film is expected to end the opening weekend in the 28-30 crore range, fingers crossed!

Meanwhile, despite the fact that T-Series’ Urvashi Rautela starrer HATE STORY 4 could not quite match up to it’s predecessor(s), the film managed to hold on netting 19 crore (to be validated) during the opening week from India and should be a safe bet for the investors.

Checking out Anushka Sharma’s horror flick PARI, the film added another 5 crore plus thus netting 25-26 crore in two weeks from India and will end up as a creditable break even project, after accounting for all the rights.

Concluding with SONU KE TITU KI SWEETY, the film added another 16 crore thus netting 89 crore (to be validated) in three weeks from India, and the way it is holding, it may well end up as a super duper hit!

Nandita Das is doubtful if FIRAAQ, her directorial on the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots, would have released in the current socio-political environment. The actor-filmmaker, who believes people have become "touchy", says space for disagreement and existence of different ideologies is crucial in a democratic society.

From raising her voice on the bias against dusky skin in Indian society, acting in thought-provoking and bold films like FIRE and I AM and making a film like FIRAAQ — Nandita's work has made substantial contribution to the attempt at bringing about a change through the medium of entertainment.

Over the past few years, censor issues, bans and protests related to movies has become rampant.

Asked if people are becoming over-sensitive about films, Nandita told IANS: "Sensitive is not the word. People are being touchy. For me, sensitive is a positive word. Being sensitive means you care about somebody, you care for others' pain.

"Being touchy and trying to control opinion, trying to dictate what to say, what to show, is not being sensitive. As a society, we should have space for dissent to grow.

"We should have a difference of opinion, ideology and argument. I might just dislike some of the films and TV shows that are shown, I might just find it completely regressive but does that mean I will break all the TV sets and stop people to watch them?

"No, I will express my opinion on social media. I would rather use these platforms usefully."

Nandita was present at the launch of the '#FilmForChange campaign, an initiative by the Indian Documentary Foundation and Good Pitch India, to support documentary films and filmmakers.

She believes more documentaries can enrich the audience.

"I think documentary films bring out the truth of the matter in the narration. In today's time, when investigative journalism is going away and people's attention span is becoming shorter, we need more and more documentary films to get an insight of the incidents that are happening around us," she said.

Nandita said she finds the digital platforms a great space for the audience to watch many interesting and engaging documentary films.

"It is true that the release or even making of a documentary is difficult in terms of budget and in terms of getting financiers. But as more and more people are watching documentaries on the digital platform, filmmakers gain a chance to convince producers about how people are watching such films and their money will not be wasted," said the 1947 EARTH actress.

The audience is eagerly awaiting her new directorial MANTO, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the role of author Saadat Hasan MANTO.

Without giving out much, Nandita said: "It was a tough film to make as not much documents were easily available. In the film, I have captured only four years of Manto's life."

Nandita Das is doubtful if FIRAAQ, her directorial on the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots, would have released in the current socio-political environment. The actor-filmmaker, who believes people have become "touchy", says space for disagreement and existence of different ideologies is crucial in a democratic society.

From raising her voice on the bias against dusky skin in Indian society, acting in thought-provoking and bold films like FIRE and I AM and making a film like FIRAAQ — Nandita's work has made substantial contribution to the attempt at bringing about a change through the medium of entertainment.

Over the past few years, censor issues, bans and protests related to movies has become rampant.

Asked if people are becoming over-sensitive about films, Nandita told IANS: "Sensitive is not the word. People are being touchy. For me, sensitive is a positive word. Being sensitive means you care about somebody, you care for others' pain.

"Being touchy and trying to control opinion, trying to dictate what to say, what to show, is not being sensitive. As a society, we should have space for dissent to grow.

"We should have a difference of opinion, ideology and argument. I might just dislike some of the films and TV shows that are shown, I might just find it completely regressive but does that mean I will break all the TV sets and stop people to watch them?

"No, I will express my opinion on social media. I would rather use these platforms usefully."

Nandita was present at the launch of the '#FilmForChange campaign, an initiative by the Indian Documentary Foundation and Good Pitch India, to support documentary films and filmmakers.

She believes more documentaries can enrich the audience.

"I think documentary films bring out the truth of the matter in the narration. In today's time, when investigative journalism is going away and people's attention span is becoming shorter, we need more and more documentary films to get an insight of the incidents that are happening around us," she said.

Nandita said she finds the digital platforms a great space for the audience to watch many interesting and engaging documentary films.

"It is true that the release or even making of a documentary is difficult in terms of budget and in terms of getting financiers. But as more and more people are watching documentaries on the digital platform, filmmakers gain a chance to convince producers about how people are watching such films and their money will not be wasted," said the 1947 EARTH actress.

The audience is eagerly awaiting her new directorial MANTO, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the role of author Saadat Hasan MANTO.

Without giving out much, Nandita said: "It was a tough film to make as not much documents were easily available. In the film, I have captured only four years of Manto's life."