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Sikandar Kher, who can currently be seen starring in Dev Patel’s feature directorial debut Monkey Man, has signed with Zero Gravity Management.

While Monkey Man is Kher’s first major international film, he has long been a household name in India, following a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Debut Actor for his performance in Woodstock Villa in 2008.

His more recent credits include the role of Daulat in Disney+/Hotstar’s Aarya, as Nishikant Adhikari in Netflix’s Monica, O My Darling, and as the brooding West Bengal cop Partik Kal in Netflix’s vampire series Tooth Pari: When Love Bites, among others. He also appears in Siddharth Singh and Garima Wahal’s recently released Dukaan.

Director duo Siddharth Singh and Garima Wahal, who are gearing up for the release of their film ‘Dukaan’, based on surrogates, has talked about how the upcoming movie is different and why they chose to not go for a big Bollywood name.

Talking to Ians, Wahal said: “This film is about surrogacy. Surrogates are faceless so if we would’ve gotten a big name attached to the film, it wouldn’t have looked like a surrogate only. We have taken a face, which is seen but not much. That gives justice to the film.”

Singh said that they had reached out to big names, however the offers were declined.

“We did reach out to big names… but whoever we approached said ‘I don’t want to play pregnant’, ‘give me a glamorous role’. We thought it wouldn’t justify the film then we decided to take a person, who is entirely convinced with this role,...

New Delhi, July 1 (Ians) Siddharth Singh, an Indian Jiu-Jitsu fighter, expressed his determination to win a medal at the upcoming Asian Games, despite facing limited support for the emerging sport in India.

He emphasised that the Indian team is making every effort to excel and leave no stone unturned in representing the sport for the first time at Asian Games. Additionally, he shared his excitement about competing in China for the first time.

Last week, Siddharth won his 10th national level Jiu Jitsu title in Haldwani.

The nationals served as a qualifying tournament for the Asian Games, which will be held in China from September 23 to October 8 this year.

Jiu-jitsu is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting, and submission holds.

“India obviously wanted to send a strong team. That’s why they organised these trials to find out who are the best champions of each weight class.

Jaipur, June 7 (Ians) Rajasthan Patriots on Wednesday unveiled their jersey for the inaugural season of Premier Handball League, here.

Ahead of their first clash, Rajasthan Patriots, which is owned by Krida Pvt Ltd, launched the jersey in the presence of their complete squad. The jersey follows the same hues of their logo — blue and white, representing the team’s spirit of calmness and perfection.

While all the players will be seen wearing a mix of blue and white jersey, the goalkeeper of Patriots will be donning the jersey with a mix of pink and black jersey, as per the rules of the games.

Rajasthan Patriots will kick-off their campaign on the opening day of the league, on Thursday, as they take on Maharashtra Ironmen at Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium, here.

Earlier this week, Patriots had announced their squad for the first ever Premier Handball League which will see a mix...

Guwahati, March 11 (Ians) Assam will soon have a cancer research centre which is believed to be the largest in South Asia, officials said on Saturday.

The cancer facility has been planned to be built in Kamrup rural district’s Amingaon area.

According to state health department officers, once the centre comes up, Assam would represent the northeastern states on the world map of research hubs as a result of the state-of-the art facility here.

In a workshop held here on Friday under the auspices of the state government’s Medical Education and Research Department, experts discussed the project’s operational design and road map.

Dr D Nori, an internationally renowned oncologist, as well as professors from Aiims, Iit Guwahati, Gauhati Medical College Hospital, and other top medical institutions took part in the workshop to create a schedule for carrying out the project.

A series of consultative sessions were planned, according to Siddharth Singh,...

In an exclusive interaction with Ians, revealing how he dealt with the newfound fame, Anshul said: "I have thought or imagined or visualised so many things in this game that I’m going to be a world champion. I’m going to fight with top fighters. I’ll put Indian Mma on the map. But fame hasn’t come into my head. It’s like, I haven’t thought about it that I’m gonna be famous. It’s a new thing, but it’s good. I can realise that people are showing this love to me, and they are saying, okay, you are representing India in the UFC, so you have this responsibility; be careful, don’t mess this up.

"I understand that I have this responsibility now. I’m representing my country, Mma Community and I know I have to work hard, I have been consistent. I need to work harder.

New Delhi, Oct 10 (Ians) After winning a silver medal in Jiu Jitsu Asian Continental championships in Abu Dhabi, Indias spearhead in the sport, Siddharth Singh is now aiming for the gold medal in Acb World Championship scheduled to be held in Saint Petersburg, Russia on December 14-18.

“My next target is to win a medal in the World Championship to be held in Russia in December. It’s a proud moment for me to become the first Indian to win a medal in Jiu Jitsu Asian Continental championships held on October 1. I am overwhelmed to get so much support from the fans her”,” Siddharth said.

Siddharth who became the first Indian to get the second position in the Asian rankings, said that it was not easy for him to compete in the Asian Continental championships.

“Despite the injuries, I was determined to compete and win a medal for India at...

Bollywood actor Sikandar Kher will be seen playing a Gujarati shopkeeper in his next film title ‘Dukaan’. The film centres on the theme of surrogacy, and it will mark the directorial debut of the duo Siddharth Singh and Garima Wahal who are known for writing scripts of films like ‘Goliyon Ki Raasleela: Ram-Leela’ and ‘Toilet: […]...

Mirchi, the city-centric music and entertainment company, hosted the 13th edition of the Smule Mirchi Music Awards on 11-12th March, which focused on celebrating the best of the music industry and its talent in the last ten years. With its ‘Dus Saal Bemisaal’ theme, India’s biggest music platform, hosted by Sonu Nigam witnessed some of the most scintillating performances.

Several Bollywood actors and singing sensations attended the musical evening, which created a perfect blend of cinematic brilliance. Celebrities and artists like Sonu Sood, Ila Arun, Shravan Rathod, Mithoon, Ajay Atul, Armaan Malik, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Aditya Narayan, Antara Mitra, Shruti Pathak, Javed Ali, Palak Muchhal, Yashraj Mukhate, Shweta-Shraddha Pandit, Salim-Sulaiman, Jigar & Krystal D’Souza, Iulia Vantur, Jeet Ganguly, Shantanu Moitra, Shail Hada, Vijay Dayal, the Miss India winners and many more added to the charm of the celebration.

The spectacular evening witnessed Sonu Nigam’s heartfelt tribute to all...

The incredible writing duo Garima Wahal and Siddharth Singh, known has Siddharth-Garima, have given film fans some brilliant words both as story, screenplay, dialogue writers and lyricists. If you have seen Ram-Leela, Bajirao Mastani, and Padmaavat you know their work. Not only that, they have also written for Toilet Ek Prem Katha, Kabir Singh, the upcoming Animal and more. Now they are adding a new line and taking on a new challenge.

Sony Pictures Films India’s Saale Aashiq will mark the directorial debut of Siddharth – Garima. The gritty youth drama, is set to go on the floor in the second half of 2021.

Excited about the association, Vivek Krishnani, Managing Director, Sony Pictures Films India says, “Over the last couple of years as we have ramped up our local production, we have especially focused on partnering with and nurturing new and young talent. Be it writers, directors, or actors; we...

You’ve been lost in the worlds created by writers Siddharth and Garima in films like Bajirao Mastani (Lyrics) and Ram-Leela. Now the incredible pair have ventured into the complex tale Raabta, directed by Dinesh Vijan and starring Sushant Singh Rajput, Kriti Sanon and Jim Sarbh. Set in two time periods, both the present and a time long ago, Raabta is about connection, re-incarnation, mystery, karma, life, and love.

The film tells the story of Shiv (Sushant Singh Rajput) and Saira (Kriti Sanon), two seemingly ordinary individuals going about their lives, until their paths cross and they realize that they belong to one another. Unaware of a connection that was forged over several hundred years ago, Shiv and Saira are inexplicably drawn to each other and quickly develop a beautiful and fun relationship. The third facet to their relationship emerges in the form of Zakir Merchant, a billionaire who goes...

We first experienced the magic of Siddharth and Garima’s writing in the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directed Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela. The duo, along with Mr. Bhansali, brilliantly transformed the story of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet into an Indian context and the result was rave reviews for the writing and the stars.

For their next project they entered the world of a love story of a warrior – Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s epic Bajirao Mastani starring Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra. For what is being called his magnus opus, Mr Bhansali went to Siddharth and Garima to paint beautiful pictures with their lyrics for three of the biggest songs, ‘Deewani Mastani’, ‘Pinga’ and ‘Mohe Rang Do Laal’.

I was granted the amazing privilege to interview Siddharth and Garima about RamLeela and it was a joy to write the piece. This week, I once again was honored with the...

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Ramleela has kept the audience waiting eagerly for the movie ever since the release of its official trailer. ‘Ishqyaun Dhishqyaun’ is one such song that has stirred the audience with the on-screen chemistry between Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh.

Penned by Siddharth-Garima, the music is by the director Sanjay Leela Bhansali himself. The song has Deepika and Ranveer dancing in sync with each other and showing a naughty romance through their moves. Both the lead actors reportedly underwent strenuous rehearsals for the filming of the song. In-spite of the extensive practice session neither of the actors complained. Infact, Ranveer was heard saying that he had a lot of fun while shooting for the song. Vishnu Dheva, who has choreographed the crazy steps for the foot-tapping song said “they’ve done their best”. Bhansali also involved himself into all aspects of the song – direction, choreography...