After the success of 12th Fail, Vikrant Massey has been on a signing spree, and is presently gearing up for the release of The Sabarmati Express in November. While the promotions begin in November, we hear that the actor has started shooting for a love story titled Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan, which will mark the big-screen debut of Shanaya Kapoor. According to sources close to the development, Vikrant Massey and Shanaya Kapoor have started shooting for Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan today.

The film is being produced by Mansi and Varun Bagla under their banner, Mini Films with Santoshi Singh as the director. “Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan is written by Niranjan Iyengar and Mansi Bagla, and is a pure love story – a genre that has gone missing for the last few years. The music is composed by Vishal Mishra, and the album will have a lot of melodies with top singers of the fraternity,” revealed a source close to the development.

Talking about venturing into the romantic space with Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyaan, Vikrant Massey says, ““Playing a lover boy is an exciting challenge, and the scale of Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan feels truly grand. Mansi’s belief in me as a romantic lead has been constant, and together, we’re creating something special. My gratitude goes to Mansi and Varun Bagla for this incredible opportunity and working with Santosh Singh again has been creatively fulfilling. AKG has all the elements to win people’s hearts and I am really excited and looking forward to be working with Shanaya in her debut film.”

Shanaya Kapoor insists that the story of Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan holds a special space in her heart and is excited to share the screenspace with Vikrant. She shares, “It’s very exciting for me to be sharing the screen with Vikrant in such a heartfelt and original story. My character is very close to my heart – she’s strong, emotional and vibrant. And I am grateful for this opportunity. I would like to thank Santosh for guiding me every step of the way, and I am excited about working with dynamic and involved producers Mansi and Varun Bagla. Need all your love and blessings as we embark this journey.”

Taylor Swift made an unforgettable statement when she declared that she would depart from her usual Eras Tour setlist her performance in New Orleans on Saturday. Appearing in an orange dress, the singer informed the audience of 65,000 people that instead of performing one of her own works, she would sing Espresso from her friend Sabrina Carpenter‘s hits. 

While singing Espresso, she stopped to express her admiration for Carpenter and her work over the past few years. Taylor praised her friend, saying, “I love my friend, and I’m just so proud of Sabrina and the year she’s had.” However, the surprise didn’t end there.

Now, to make this moment even more memorable, Swift took her phone and called Carpenter, saying that everybody in the stadium sang the song to the last word. Taylor brought Carpenter out on stage to perform with her moments after the Karma hitmaker sang a few lines of Espresso. 

As the D-Day is arriving, the battle for the screens between Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 and Singham Again is getting intense, and the formers seems to have gotten a better deal than expected due to a strong distributor partner in the form of Anil Thadani. According to present trends, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is headed to score a near-equal showcasing with Singham Again in the single screens and non-national chains, whereas the national chains of PVRInox and Cinepolis are expected to be in the range of 58:42 in the favour of Singham Again, with PVRInox going for 60:40, and Cinepolis bargaining to be in the ratio of 55:45.

These are still early days, as with 4 days still to go, the dynamic will change as the bigger players from the industry could step in to sort out the distribution game of Singham Again. At the moment, the national showcasing for Singham Again: Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 seems to be in the ratio of 54:46, which is a big win for BB 3, against a giant like Singham Again. However, as mentioned above, these are still early days, and the distributor of Singham Again is negotiating to get a bigger deal in terms of showcasing.

The fight is on to be towards the 57:43 slab of showcasing at an all-India level, and we shall know the exact show divide between the cop universe saga, and the horror comedy by the end of Thursday. The advances of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 has already opened at limited centres, and we still await clarity with regards to the same of Singham Again.

Talking of the opening day box office potential, the top 3 national chains, PVRInox and Cinepolis hold the business of about Rs 52 crore (nett), with the single screens and non-national chains contributing about Rs 48 crore to the total business. One must note that this is taking into account the hiked pricing model for the Diwali 2024 weekend. Of the Rs 53 crore up for grabs in the top 3 national chains (57:43 divide), Singham Again is expected to get Rs 30 crore, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is aiming at Rs 22 crore. Talking of the single screens and non-national chains, the divide is expected to be 53:47, Singham Again will be aiming to get a capacity in the vicinity of Rs 26 crore, with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 getting the opportunity of Rs 22 crore.

At an all-India level, the total single-day capacity of Singham Again will be in the range of Rs 54 to Rs 58 crore, whereas Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 will have a housefull capacity of 44 to 46 crore, depending on where the final distribution ratio settles. In the forefront, BB 3 seems to have gotten a great deal, also due to the packaged deal with Pushpa 2. In a high-profile clash, distribution muscle plays a major role, and the duo of Bhushan Kumar and Kartik Aaryan seem to have played their cards right by getting Anil Thadani on board if the early trends are anything to go by. 

The showcasing will keep swinging both the ways from Monday to Thursday, and there will also be tweaks in the showcasing for the weekend on Friday based on the what the actual word of mouth for the two films is from the Friday morning shows. All eyes on how the things unfold in the coming few days as the battle from hereon is just going to go intense.