BY SACNILK

Mumbai, July 20 - The first trailer of Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana: Part 1 may not have been released online yet, but it has already generated tremendous buzz following exclusive screenings for filmmakers, members of the media, and industry insiders. Those who attended the special preview have taken to social media to share overwhelmingly positive reactions, describing the film as one of the most ambitious cinematic spectacles ever attempted in Indian cinema. The early response has been particularly glowing for Ranbir Kapoor's portrayal of Lord Ram, with many praising his composed and graceful screen presence. Yash's Ravana has also emerged as one of the biggest talking points, with viewers describing his look and intensity as menacing and impactful. The film's grand scale, production design, and cinematography have received widespread appreciation, while the background score by A.R. Rahman and Hans Zimmer has been hailed as one of the trailer's standout elements. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) Several filmmakers and industry personalities have also shared their admiration for the trailer. Director Atlee praised the visuals and performances, calling Yash "unbelievably lethal" as Ravana and Ranbir Kapoor "stunning" as Lord Ram. Many members of the media who attended the screening echoed similar sentiments, describing the trailer as "goosebumps-inducing," "divine," and a visual spectacle that sets a new benchmark for Indian filmmaking. While the response has been overwhelmingly positive, a few attendees pointed out that certain visual effects shots could benefit from additional refinement before the film's release. However, these observations have largely been overshadowed by the praise for the film's scale, performances, and technical excellence. With the online trailer yet to make its official debut, the enthusiastic word-of-mouth from the industry's first screening has significantly heightened anticipation, making Ramayana: Part 1 one of the most eagerly awaited Indian films in recent memory. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) #JaiShriRam... Watched the trailer of #Ramayana in 3D, and there's just one word to describe it: SPECTACULAR.This 4-minute trailer – called #PrathamSankalp – leaves you absolutely mesmerised... The presentation, scale, visuals, VFX, and the background score are simply… pic.twitter.com/2tLQPp8PUq— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) July 20, 2026 Absolutely blown away by the #Ramayana trailer! What a vision by @NamitMalhotra sir and what incredible craft from @niteshtiwari22 sir.@TheNameIsYash bro looks unbelievably lethal, Ranbir Kapoor bro is stunning, and @Sai_Pallavi92 is ethereal. Every frame feels grand, fresh,…— atlee (@Atlee_dir) July 20, 2026 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) WAIT FOR ITWATCH IT TO BELIEVE ITWORTH THE WAIT 3 DAYS TO GO - 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💥💥💥💥💥💥🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿🧿 #Ramayana— Himesh (@HimeshMankad) July 20, 2026 A lot to talk about #Ramayana trailer but can't share details until July 24 because it's on embargo! But I can tell you one thing that it definitely raises the bar of Indian cinema by several notches. Visuals are like a dream on big screen. All of us who have grown up…— Filmy Gautam (@filmygautam) July 20, 2026

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Mumbai, July 20 - Ajay Devgn's Dhamaal 4 continues to enjoy a superb run at the Indian box office, delivering a solid second weekend despite competition from Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. The comedy entertainer has held really well after a strong opening week, with family audiences continuing to drive collections across the country. The film's impressive hold has cemented its position as one of the biggest Hindi hits of the year. The Indra Kumar directorial collected an impressive 28.50 crore net in its second weekend, taking its 10-day India net collection to approximately 124.50 crore. The outstanding weekend performance underscores the film's strong word-of-mouth, as it recorded healthy growth on both Saturday and Sunday after a steady second Friday. With this, Dhamaal 4 has comfortably crossed the 100 crore milestone and remains one of the strongest performers in theatres. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) The film has also continued its decent run overseas, taking its worldwide gross collection to around 170 crore in just ten days. The comedy franchise has once again struck a chord with audiences, translating its popularity into impressive global box office numbers. The film has already emerged as one of the highest-grossing Hindi comedy films of the year. From now on, Dhamaal 4 is well on track to achieve another major milestone. If it maintains a steady hold during the weekdays, the Ajay Devgn-starrer is expected to cross the 200 crore worldwide gross mark by the next weekend. With no immediate threat to its target audience, the film is poised to continue its successful run at the box office.

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Mumbai, July 18 - The winners of the 72nd National Film Awards were announced on Saturday, celebrating the finest Indian films certified by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) during 2024. Article 370 emerged as one of the biggest winners of the ceremony, taking home the prestigious Best Feature Film award, while its lead star Yami Gautam won her maiden National Award for Best Actress. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) Among the other major honours, Kartik Aaryan (Chandu Champion) and Mammootty (Bramayugam) shared the Best Actor award, while Sudipto Sen was named Best Director for The Kerala Story. The award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment went to Kalki 2898 AD, recognising the sci-fi epic's impact both critically and commercially. Several regional films and technical achievements were also recognised across multiple categories, highlighting the diversity of Indian cinema. Notable winners included Srikanth as Best Hindi Feature Film, Lucky Baskhar as Best Telugu Feature Film, Raayan as Best Tamil Feature Film, and Bramayugam, which picked up multiple technical honours in addition to Mammootty's Best Actor win. The awards once again showcased outstanding performances and filmmaking excellence from across the country. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) 72nd National Film Awards 2026 - Winners List Category Winner Best Feature FilmArticle 370 Best ActorKartik Aaryan (Chandu Champion), Mammootty (Bramayugam) Best ActressYami Gautam (Article 370) Best DirectorRajkumar Periasamy (Amaran) Best Supporting ActressRopashree Varkady (Mithya), Sachana Namidass (Maharaja) Best Supporting ActorSanjay Mishra (Bhakshak) Best Feature Film Providing Wholesome EntertainmentKalki 2898 AD Best Film Promoting National, Social and Environmental ValuesCaptain Miller Best Debut Film of a DirectorSwatantrya Veer Savarkar Best Children's Film35 Chinna Katha Kaadu Best Child ArtistRiddhiman Banerjee, Tapomoy Deb, Gitashree Chakraborty, Arundev Pothula & Athish S Shetty Best CinematographyShehnad Jalal (Bramayugam) Best Screenplay (Original)Sukumar (Pushpa 2) Best Screenplay (Adapted)Yogesh Deshpande (Swargandharva Sudhir Phadke) Best Dialogue WriterVenky Atluri (Lucky Baskhar) Best Production DesignNitin Zihani Choudhary (Kalki 2898 AD) Best Action DirectionAnl Arasu (Maharaja) Best Make-Up ArtistP Ravi Kumar (Committee Kurrollu) Best Costume DesignDeepali Noor & Sheetal Sharma (Pushpa 2) Best Music DirectionShashwat Sachdev (Article 370) Best Background MusicGV Prakash (Amaran) Best LyricsManoj Muntashir (Maidaan) Best Male Playback SingerAbhay Jodhpurkar – "Gharat Ganpati" (Navasachi Gauri Mazi) Best Female Playback SingerVaikom Vijayalakshmi – "Angu Vaana Konilu" (ARM) Best ChoreographyVijay Ganguly (Stree 2) Best Sound DesignManas Choudhury (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3) Best EditingR Kalaivannan (Amaran) Best Assamese FilmJuiphool Best Bengali FilmChalchitra Ekhon Best Hindi FilmSrikanth Best Kannada FilmMithya Best Malayalam FilmFeminichi Fathima Best Marathi FilmMukkam Post Bombilwadi Best Odia FilmLahari Best Tamil FilmRaayan Best Garhwali FilmDholi Best Telugu FilmCommittee Kurrollu Best Gujarati FilmMaaran Best Manipuri FilmSunita Best Konkani FilmMog Asum Best Tulu FilmIMBU Special MentionDhanush (Captain Miller) & Suren G (Meiyazhagan)

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The Dhamaal franchise has successfully entered the 100-crore club in India, hitting the milestone on its second Friday. For a comedy series now in its fourth installment, reaching 101.50 crore rupees in net collections by day eight is a testament to its consistent brand pull. Dhamaal 4 has carved out its own trajectory by staying steady through the week. This achievement confirms that there is still a significant appetite for ensemble comedies, provided they can maintain a hold over family audiences during the crucial second-weekend transition. If we look at the specific numbers for Day 8, the film collected 5.50 crore rupees. This represents a very controlled drop of about 8.3 percent compared to the previous day’s 6.00 crore collection. Usually, a second Friday sees a steeper decline, but the film managed to hold its ground across 8,158 shows. These collections are particularly decent when you consider the massive wave created by The Odyssey, which has occupied most of the premium outlets and top-tier screens. In spite of this heavy competition for screen space, Dhamaal 4 has remained steady, pushing its total India net collection to 101.50 crore rupees and its India gross to a healthy 121.03 crore rupees. Logically, the film is benefiting from its family-friendly appeal, which allows it to find significant momentum during evening and night screenings even when facing a major blockbuster. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) The international performance is also contributing steadily to the bottom line. On Day 8, the film added 50 lakh rupees from overseas markets, taking the total overseas gross to 18.75 crore rupees. According to data shared by Venky Box Office, the North America market has been a key contributor, with a Thursday gross of 38,000 dollars (approximately 32 lakh rupees), bringing the total in that region to 814,000 dollars (approximately 6.84 crore rupees). When we combine the domestic and international numbers, the worldwide gross for Dhamaal 4 now stands at 139.78 crore rupees. Occupancy trends for the second Friday show an interesting regional divide and a clear build-up in momentum as the day progressed. The overall occupancy for the Hindi 2D version stood at 16.31 percent, starting slow in the morning at 5.92 percent and climbing to 13.31 percent in the afternoon. By the evening, this rose to 17.08 percent, finally peaking during the night screenings at 25.46 percent. When we look at the major territories, the National Capital Region managed an overall occupancy of 15.8 percent across its 750 shows, with night shows hitting 23 percent. Mumbai followed a similar pattern with 649 shows and an overall average of 16 percent, seeing its strongest turnout at night with 26 percent occupancy. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) The performance in other key cities also highlights where the film is finding its audience. Bengaluru turned out to be a standout performer with the highest overall occupancy at 18.8 percent across 173 shows, bolstered by a massive 34 percent occupancy during the night. In Pune, the film maintained a solid 15 percent overall occupancy over 287 shows, ending the day with 25 percent for night screenings. Meanwhile, the markets in Gujarat showed slightly lower numbers; Ahmedabad saw 11.5 percent overall across 568 shows, and Surat recorded 6.3 percent for its 305 shows. These detailed figures suggest that while the morning starts are generally quiet, the urban centers and late-night audiences are the primary drivers keeping the film steady against newer releases. In terms of advance bookings at the national chains, the film saw a decent turnout for its second Friday, selling around 14,700 tickets. The total gross from these major outlets was approximately 45.5 lakh rupees. If we break this down using rounded figures, PVR was the primary driver with nearly 6,800 tickets sold, bringing in roughly 23 lakh rupees. INOX followed with about 5,400 tickets and a gross of 15.5 lakh rupees, while Cinepolis contributed another 2,500 tickets with a gross of around 7 lakh rupees. These numbers clearly reflect the audience's current preference for watching comedy films in a multiplex environment. On the popular ticketing platform BookMyShow, the film sold about 100,000 tickets on its second Friday alone, which places it at the tenth spot for second-Friday ticket sales in the 2025-26 period. To date, the platform has recorded a total of over 18.1 lakh ticket bookings for the movie. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) The journey to 100 crores in eight days puts Dhamaal 4 in a comfortable position as it enters the crucial second Saturday and Sunday. The goal will now be to capitalize on the weekend surge to push the worldwide gross toward the 175 crore mark. Given the lack of a major new comedy release in the immediate window, the film has a clear path to continue its run without much friction.

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, July 18 - Veteran actor Paresh Rawal has triggered a fresh controversy surrounding the 2023 hit OMG 2 after claiming that the film's original concept was his idea and that he was never credited for his contribution. The actor alleged that he had worked on the story with filmmaker Amit Rai years before the project took shape, but the script underwent major changes after Akshay Kumar came on board, eventually leading to his exit from the film. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) According to Rawal, the initial version of OMG 2 was significantly different from the one that eventually reached theatres. He claimed that the original story did not feature a divine character and that his name was omitted despite contributing to the film's conception. The actor expressed disappointment that he received no story or concept credit after the project moved forward without him. Producer Ashwin Varde has strongly denied the allegations, calling Rawal's claims "baseless, untrue and unsubstantiated." Varde further alleged that Rawal had once attempted to develop OMG 2 without Akshay Kumar, describing such an effort as "unethical." He maintained that the film was developed independently and insisted that Rawal's version of events does not reflect what actually transpired during the making of the sequel. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) Director and writer Amit Rai has also rejected Rawal's assertions, stating that the screenplay and concept of OMG 2 were his own work. Rai denied that the film originated from Rawal's idea, effectively dismissing the actor's claims of creative ownership. With both the producer and director publicly refuting the allegations, the dispute has escalated into one of the biggest behind-the-scenes controversies surrounding OMG 2, reigniting discussions about authorship, story credits and creative recognition in the Hindi film industry.

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Mumbai, July 18 - Singer-composer Kshitij Tarey, known for memorable tracks such as Aye Khuda, Madno and Javeda Zindagi, says composing the music and background score for the upcoming web series Ab Hoga Hisaab allowed him to explore the emotional depth of its characters. The series, starring Mouni Roy, Sanjay Kapoor and Shaheer Sheikh, features two original songs composed by Kshitij Tarey, including the title track sung by him and the romantic number Saaiyaan Ve sung by Shaan. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) Speaking about what made him connect with the story, he said, "When I came on board, the story immediately connected with me. It had so many emotional layers, and capturing the protagonist’s journey through music was both challenging and fulfilling. Along with the background score, creating two completely different songs for the series made the experience even more exciting," Tarey said. The singer said composing for a web series differs from films due to its episodic storytelling and changing viewing habits. "The essence of background music remains the same — it always serves the story and the characters. But with a web series, you compose across multiple episodes and also keep in mind that audiences are largely watching on personal devices, which naturally influences the treatment of the music," he added. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}) Tarey also spoke about collaborating with veteran singer Shaan, calling him an inspiration both professionally and personally. "He is an exceptional artiste and an even better human being. Every interaction with him is a learning experience, whether it’s his approach to singing or the stories he shares from his journey in the music industry," he said. Reflecting on the enduring popularity of songs like Aye Khuda, Madno and Javeda Zindagi, Tarey said the biggest reward for any artiste is knowing that their music continues to resonate with listeners. "When people tell me that my songs stayed with them during some of the most emotional phases of their lives, it means everything to me. There’s no greater satisfaction than knowing your music has become a part of someone’s personal journey," he said.