In Ranbir Kapoor’s latest film, Animal, he portrays a wealthy, unruly character. The film is garnering attention not only for the intense performances and gripping music but also for the film’s remarkable production design. Interestingly, the lavish mansion showcased as Ranbir’s family home in the movie is none other than the famed Pataudi Palace near Delhi.

Viewers keen on identifying the film’s locales have drawn parallels between clips from Animal and archived videos of Pataudi Palace available online. During the filming last year, a crew member even tagged the palace as the shoot location on their Instagram stories.

Pataudi Palace, presently owned by Saif Ali Khan, who is married to Ranbir’s cousin Kareena Kapoor, originally belonged to Saif’s late father, the renowned cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan. After a hotel company took control of the property, Saif personally bought it back. The palace’s origins are traced to Saif’s grandfather, the Nawab of Pataudi, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi. At present, Saif’s mother, the esteemed actor Sharmila Tagore, resides there.

The estate also referred to as Ibrahim Kothi, is situated in the town of Pataudi within Haryana’s Gurgaon district. Its opulent interiors are renowned for expansive hallways, towering arches, ornate paintings, and lavish green gardens, exuding a regal aura.

Spanning 10 acres, the palace boasts an impressive 150 rooms, including seven dressing rooms, bedrooms, and billiard rooms, alongside grand drawing and dining rooms. The estimated value of this property stands at a staggering Rs 800 crore.

Notably, Pataudi Palace has served as a filming location for several movies, including Eat Pray Love, Mangal Pandey, Veer-Zara, Gandhi: My Father, and Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. More recently, Saif’s OTT series Tandav was also filmed there.

Amid speculation over the BJP’s chief minister picks in the three heartland states it just won, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, today appeared to send a message to the party leadership without really pushing his case.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a four-time Chief Minister, led his party to a historic victory in Madhya Pradesh on the back of schemes like “Ladli behena” but may still not get the job again, with the party consulting with other possible candidates and leaning towards a generational change.

Speaking to reporters during an event in Bhopal to mark the death anniversary of BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, Mr Chouhan said, “I paid tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar. The BJP government is following the path shown by him, under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, we are working for the welfare of the last person in society.”

The remark was seen by many as a subtle attempt by the Chief Minister to remind the party leadership of how his government’s welfare schemes such as Ladli Behna played a key role in winning the election for the BJP.

This comes at a time when there is talk of the BJP considering completely new faces instead of veterans while choosing Chief Ministers for the heartland states, with an eye on the bigger election due next year.

Ever since the BJP scored a thumping win in Madhya Pradesh – 163 out of 230 seats – Mr Chouhan has insisted that he is a footsoldier of the party and that he is “not in the race”.

In an interaction with reporters, also yesterday, Mr Chouhan said his next goal was to ensure the BJP’s victory in all 29 Lok Sabha seats in the general election next year. The BJP won 28 out of the 29 seats last year, one going to the Congress.

Careful to not be seen as lobbying for the top post, Mr Chouhan has stayed away from Delhi. “I am not going to Delhi. Tomorrow, I will go to Chhindwara where we were not able to win all the 7 seats of Vidhan Sabha. I have only one resolution: the BJP should win all 29 seats of Madhya Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections. We want to prepare a garland for Prime Minister Modi. It will be made of 29 lotuses that we present to him when he becomes Prime Minister again,” he said yesterday.

Following his victory, the Chief Minister visited two night shelters in Bhopal to take stock of the arrangements ahead of winter. He also tasted the food at the night shelter. He also went to a locality in Bhopal and met a group of ‘Ladli Behna’ beneficiaries. A viral video showed him and his wife dining and interacting with people at a restaurant. The activities appear to be aimed at creating a perception that the 64-year-old has his ear close to the ground and is not part of any race for power.

The BJP leadership has been meeting with leaders from the three states as part of the brainstorming to choose Chief Ministers who will lead the heartland into the key elections next year.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda today met with key leaders from each state. A marathon meeting was held at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence last night to discuss the frontrunners in the three states.

The crucial issue of picking Chief Ministers for three heartland states ahead of next year’s general elections started today with a mega meeting of BJP’s top leaders at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence. Besides PM Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah, the meeting is being attended by 12 MPs who resigned from parliament after winning the assembly polls.

Today’s session is the second consecutive meet — yesterday the leaders had been in in a four-hour huddle.

Earlier this week, the BJP wrested Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress and retained its hold on Madhya Pradesh amid a buzz on anti-incumbency.

In all three states, the party had gone into polls without a Chief Ministerial candidate, contesting under the banner of PM Modi — a move that delivered in spades.

Now with the victory, the knotty question of who would helm the states has come up. The brain-storming has been on since Sunday, feeding speculation about a hunt for new faces.

The tallest leaders of the states — Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan, Raman Singh in Chhattisgarh and four-time Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj singh, while being in the running, have left the decision to the Central leadership.

Of these, Madhya Pradesh has the longest list of contenders. Besides Ms Raje, the front-runners include Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, part veteran Kirori Lal Meena and state BJP chief CP Joshi.