Big celebrities make their moves for new chess film

Here's a lovely combination of some big names coming together.

Stars gather

Amitabh Bachchan is set to play a chess master in a new movie, Do, that also features Farhan Akthar and Aditi Rao Hydari in leading roles. The exciting project will be produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and directed by Bejoy Nambiar.

Hot filmmaker

It seems like Sidharth Malhotra is fast becoming the hottest new sensation in Bollywood. After Student of the Year and Hasee Toh Phasee, he recently delivered the blockbuster Ek Villian. Now ace filmmaker Farhan Akthar has signed Malhotra for a romance with a twist. Karan Johar has stepped in to co-produce the movie. Some of his other projects include the boxing movie Warriors with Akshay Kumar and the superhero film Bhavesh Joshi.

Terminator in town

Last week was dominated by the star-studded audio launch of Shankar's latest film, I. The chief guest for the event was Arnold Schwarzenegger, and superstar Rajinikanth stayed for the full duration of the event. The cast is headed by Vikram and Liverpool import Amy Jackson, and the music is composed by Oscar-winner AR Rahman. Anirudh Ravuchandher, who sings one of the songs, was also present at the event - already being billed as the grandest audio launch in the history of Indian cinema. Speaking to reporters after the event, Shankar emphasised that the film would be unlike any of his previous efforts and added that, despite the impression created by the preview, it had no resemblance to Hollywood films like The Hulk or Wolfman.

Earlier in the day, Schwarzenegger caused quite a media stir with his arrival at Chennai International Airport. Shortly after that, Surya coincidentally bumped into him and the photograph they took together has since gone viral. Schwarzenegger asked for - and got - a 20-minute meeting with Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalitha.

Selfie song

With the hype of that audio launch now over, the Tamil Nadu media were once again in a frenzy with the audio release on Thursday of Vijay's latest film, Kaththi, which also has music by Ravichander. The soundtrack includes the trendy song Let's take a selfie, Pulla, which is sung by Vijay. The film is scheduled to be released in South Africa and the rest of the world this Diwali.

Top tweet

Director KV Anand sparked a huge buzz on Twitter after tweeting: "If time and script permits, I will work with @dhanushkraja in 100 films." Dhanush plays the lead in Anand's latest film, Anegan. After a string of successes with films like Ayan and Ko, Anand tasted box-office defeat with Surya Maatraan. He is now confident that Anegan will once again strike gold for him.

Shocking read

Actress Shri Dhivya was mortified when she saw a website carrying her photo with a story about a Telugu actress who was exposed as part of a prostitution ring. The website had failed to check the name and confused the accused, Dhivya Shri, with Dhivya. It could prove a costly error.

Role reversal

Simbhu has revealed that he will direct his next film in early 2015. The actor, who is now awaiting the release of two of his films - Vaalu and Idhu Nammu Aallu - has been waiting for some time to start his third directorial venture after huge success with Manmadhan and Vallavan, his first two films from behind the camera. - Shalandra Bunseelal and Devan Nair