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Love and War: Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal-led upcoming film to go on floors on THIS date

Sep 19, 2024 · 5:26 PM Blog

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s highly anticipated project Love and War is already generating buzz ahead of its shoot. Featuring a stellar cast of Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal, the film is set to begin production on October 24, according to recent reports. Previously, Pinkvilla had exclusively reported that the film’s shoot is scheduled to kick off next month.

A source from the industry told Bollywood Hungama that Sanjay Leela Bhansali is set to start filming Love and War next month. The excitement surrounding this project has been growing, particularly after Heeramandi, with its intriguing title and the star-studded cast of Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, and Vicky Kaushal keeping it in the spotlight. The shoot is scheduled to begin on October 24. The source said, “The movie will finally go on floors from October 24 and that will mark the beginning of the first schedule.”

Earlier, sources close to the development told Pinkvilla that Love and War will be independently produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, without any studio collaboration. “SLB has decided to self-finance Love And War, opting for the model followed by studios like YRF and Red Chillies. Even before the film going on floors, he has signed a massive post-theatrical deal with Netflix, and a near-record music deal with Saregama,” said the source.

The source also mentioned that the initial agreement with Netflix is set at Rs 130 crore, with potential for a higher payout based on box office results. Also, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has secured a Rs 35 crore music deal with Saregama, while discussions are ongoing for a satellite rights deal with a major network, estimated at around Rs 50 crore as per the source.

Love And War is now set for a theatrical release on March 20, 2026, aligning with major festivals like Ramzan, Ram Navami, and Gudi Padwa, which should boost its box office potential. The film was initially planned for a Christmas 2025 release but has been rescheduled.

This marks Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s first collaboration with Vicky Kaushal, while he has previously worked with Alia Bhatt in Gangubai Kathiawadi and with Ranbir Kapoor in his debut film Saawariya. Love And War will also see Vicky Kaushal reuniting with Ranbir Kapoor after their successful collaboration in the 2018 biopic Sanju and with Alia Bhatt, with whom he shared the screen in Raazi the same year.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s most recent directorial venture was the Netflix series Heeramandi, which became a major hit. The series featured a star-studded cast including Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sharmin Segal, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Taha Shah Badussha, Adhyayan Suman, Shekhar Suman, and Fardeen Khan.

ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Sanjay Leela Bhansali inks a big non-theatrical deal for Love And War; Actors opt for profit sharing model

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What is ‘awake craniotomy’ that helped Jr NTR’s fan to undergo brain surgery while watching his film

Sep 19, 2024 · 5:26 PM Blog

While being an actor or a public figure is not easy, there are a lot of perks to being a celebrity. Besides money and fame, actors are often considered literally ‘gods’ by their fans and well-wishers. The love and admiration that they get from their audience is unbelievable. On a similar note, a rather surprising incident from Andhra Pradesh has surfaced where a patient watched Jr NTR’s film while undergoing brain surgery. Check out the pictures below!

As per a report in India Today, doctors of a government hospital performed serious brain surgery on a 55-year-old woman named Anantalakshmi. While she was being operated on, the medical professionals allowed her to watch superstar Jr NTR’s film, Adhurs, on a tablet. As a result, she felt comfortable and the two-and-a-half-hour procedure went smoothly.

For the unversed, this unique approach is called ‘awake craniotomy’. This allows the patient to remain conscious and engaged throughout the complex medical procedure. In medical terms, an awake craniotomy, also called awake brain surgery, is a brain surgery procedure performed while the patient is awake and conscious. Although it was originally used to treat epilepsy, the procedure is often used to remove brain tumors.

During an awake brain surgery, the patient is fully awake and can even communicate with the surgical team. This helps the surgeon to avoid damaging areas of the brain that control critical functions. Awake craniotomy allows the surgeon to test the brain before any significant move and to monitor the patient’s function throughout the surgery.

Coming back to Anantalakshmi, the A Kothapalli resident was diagnosed with a brain tumor after she complained of symptoms like numbness in her limbs and persistent headaches. The woman was diagnosed with a 3.3 x 2.7 cm tumor on the left side of her brain. She opted for a government hospital due to expensive treatment costs at private hospitals. At present, the doctors have successfully removed the tumor while ensuring the patient’s comfort.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Jr NTR has collaborated with filmmaker Siva Kortala for his upcoming movie Devara: Part 1. Apart from the RRR actor, the film will feature Bollywood actors Saif Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor. The Jr NTR starrer is scheduled to hit the silver screen on September 27, 2024.

ALSO READ: Jani Master case: Day after being charged under POCSO, Pushpa choreographer gets arrested in Goa

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Anti-Terror Watchdog Praises India’s Measures, Flags Slow Laundering Trials

Sep 19, 2024 · 5:26 PM Blog

Terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has said India has achieved a high level of technical compliance with its recommendations and taken significant steps to implement measures to tackle illicit finance. In a report released on Thursday, the watchdog has also, however, said the country needs to improve its system as the economy continues to grow, pointing to a need for faster trials for money laundering and terrorist financing.

India has been placed in the regular follow-up category, a distinction it shares with only four other G20 countries.

The mutual evaluation report says a joint FATF-APG (Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering)-EAG (Eurasian group on combating money laundering and financing of terrorism) assessment of India’s measures to tackle illicit finance has concluded that India has implemented an anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) framework which is achieving good results. The areas in which these results have been seen include risk understanding, access to beneficial ownership information and depriving criminals of their assets.

The report says authorities in India make good use of financial intelligence and cooperate effectively, both domestically and internationally.

The evaluation noted that India is the largest country in the world by population and has the largest diaspora. It is also a lower-middle-income country with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, which is currently the fifth-largest economy in the world. India’s main money laundering risks, the report says, originate from illegal activities within the country – relating primarily to fraud, including cyber-enabled fraud, corruption and drug trafficking.

India pursues money laundering cases related to fraud and forgery in line with predicate crime (a criminal act that is a component of a larger crime) risks to a large extent, the report says, but needs to do more for some other offences such as human trafficking and drug trafficking. The country, it said, needs to address the backlog of money laundering cases pending conclusion of court processes.

Terror Threats

The report says India faces serious terrorism and terrorist financing threats, including related to ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) or Al Qaeda active in and around Jammu and Kashmir. Praising India’s emphasis on disruption and prevention and its ability to conduct complex financial investigations, the evaluation points to a need for focusing on concluding prosecutions and convicting and sanctioning terrorist financiers.

Another area pointed out by the report is a need to ensure that measures aimed at preventing the non-profit sector from being abused for terrorist financing are implemented in line with a risk-based approach, including by conducting outreach to such organisations.

Financial Inclusion

Appreciating India’s steps towards financial inclusion, the report said the proportion of the population with bank accounts has more than doubled, due diligence for small accounts is taking place and reliance on digital payment systems has been encouraged. These efforts have supported financial transparency, contributing to efforts to tackle anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing.

“Despite the size and institutional complexity of the Indian system, Indian authorities cooperate and coordinate effectively on matters dealing with illicit financial flows, including the use of financial intelligence. India also achieved positive results in international cooperation, asset recovery and implementing targeted financial sanctions for proliferation financing,” the report states.

Indian authorities also have a comprehensive understanding of the money laundering, terrorism and proliferation financing risks, it says, but also points to a need for sharing insights on them with stakeholders.

The report says there is a good understanding of risk and application of preventative measures in the financial sector, especially by commercial banks, but less so by some other smaller financial institutions.

“Following the assessment, India is placed in ‘regular follow-up’ and, in line with procedures, will report back to the Plenary in three years,” the report says.

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