Eye Spy: Top stories from the world of entertainment

DHAND’S PAGE-TURNER

IT LOOKS like being another strong literary year for British Asian authors in 2025, with brilliant looking books on the way. Great early indications are that The Chemist by AA Dhand will be one of next year’s best novels. The top British crime writer’s latest offering revolves around a mildmannered pharmacist with a deadly side getting caught up in a turf war between two powerful drug cartels. The book, due to be published on May 22, has been described as an adrenaline-filled thriller.

STARS CAN’T SAVE VETTAIYAN

THE presence of popular stars Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Fahadh Faasil and Rana Daggubati ensured that Tamil film Vettaiyan got a strong opening weekend. Unfortunately, the box-office collections plummeted because the recently released action drama had such a poor storyline. With the film’s huge budget, it is sure to be one of this year’s biggest flops. It once again demonstrated the need for better writing in Indian cinema.

NADINE BACK ON RIGHT TRACK

NADINE SHAH follows up live shows in Holland, Belgium and France with a concert in London at 02 Forum Kentish Town on November 22. The talented British singer/songwriter will perform her greatest hits, along with tracks from her acclaimed fifth album Filthy Underneath, which was released earlier this year. It is great to see the British Pakistani star get back to thrilling live audiences with her musical brilliance, after battling a series of personal problems.

FRANCHISE SET FOR FAILURE

IT IS wonderful that British actor Himesh Patel was cast in the lead role of recently released comedy satire Franchise.

What isn’t so great is the whole concept of this high-profile series, which revolves around a crew on a film set. The self-indulgent show isn’t very funny and will likely only connect with those who work in the film industry, instead of appealing to a wider audience. It won’t surprise me if Franchise gets cancelled, which is a shame for a talented cast who deserved better.

NEW RELEASE FOR OLD FILM

THE UTTERLY deluded nature of Bollywood is illustrated by long delayed film Naam being released in cinemas on November 22.

Although IMDB lists it as being made in 2013, the action-drama starring Ajay Devgn and Sameera Reddy is 16-18 years old.

With Devgn’s new movies like Maidaan and Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha failing spectacularly, and Reddy not having had a cinema release in 11 years, it is perhaps the stupidest decision of 2024 to waste money on promoting and releasing this outdated film. Whoever made that decision should be kicked out of Bollywood.

BAD DECISIONS ALL AROUND

WITH a rubbish director (Abhishek Saxena), who has a horrible track record and a flop lead star (Arshad Warsi), it was no surprise that recent Bollywood film release Bandaa Singh Chaudhary was a spectacular failure. I was wondering who would be ill-advised enough to produce such an obvious turkey and saw it was Arbaaz Khan, someone who has been defined by bad decisions. Perhaps even more foolish than him was whoever decided to waste their money on such a terrible looking project.

WELCOME FOCUS ON CATFISHING ORDEAL

A SIGN that recent Netflix documentary Sweet Bobby has been a huge success is the debate it has caused.

The extraordinary story of a British Asian woman who was catfished for nine years, has divided audiences. Kirat Assi has garnered sympathy for being duped by a female cousin (Simran Bhogal) into having a fake online relationship with an attractive male cardiologist (Bobby Jandu).

But on the flipside, many feel she is at fault and silly for being fooled by a fake online profile for so long. Others have questions that include why Simran created such an elaborate and cruel deception.

But ultimately, it has brought forward the issue of catfishing in the era of social media and online dating, and potentially saved some from going through the same ordeal. It also shows a lot more needs to be done to combat a practice that has ruined a lot of lives of people from all age groups and how laws need to be changed.

SALMAN’S DEER HUNTING FRIENDS DODGE DANGER

THERE has been a lot written about notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi threatening to kill Salman Khan for shooting a blackbuck deer in 1998, which is revered by his community.

What very few people have mentioned is the actor wasn’t alone – Bollywood stars Sonali Bendre, Saif Ali Khan, Neelam and Tabu were also part of that alleged hunting party.

While they have faced very few repercussions for that ill-advised trip, it has caused Salman legal problems and death threats across the years, which still continue today.

LOVE AFFAIR CLAIMS FOLLOW PRIYANKA

IN A recent interview filmmaker, Suneel Darshan claimed that Akshay Kumar pulled out of his 2005 film Barsaat after rumours he was having an affair with Priyanka Chopra led to his wife Twinkle Khanna temporarily walking out on him. Darshan replaced him with Bobby Deol and Twinkle apparently banned her husband from working with Priyanka again.

While these new revelations have been widely reported, what various media outlets failed to mention is the similarity with what happened some years later.

Affair rumours swirling between Priyanka and married actor Shah Rukh Khan meant they never worked together again after their 2011 film Don 2: The King Is Back.

HINDI CINEMA’S CHRISTMAS NIGHTMARE

BOLLYWOOD has been ruining Christmas for the past decade with the most awful films being released. While previous flops were mostly headlined by major stars, this year Hindi cinema will hit a new low with absolute stinkers Vanvaas and Baby John due in cinemas during the holiday season. Both movies will be guaranteed box-office disasters and confirm that Christmas really is a terrible time of year for Bollywood fans.

VISHAL SET TO STAGE ‘SPECTACULAR’ SHOW

THERE have been a lot of great arena concerts throughout 2024 and the last and final one of this year will be headlined by Vishal Mishra at OVO Arena in London on November 24.

This will be the popular music star’s first major UK show, which means he has been working really hard to making it special. Mishra being a top composer and an in-demand singer means the musically rich show will have a great variety of songs, including his hits like Pehle Bhi Main, Kaise Hua and Naacho Naacho.

Concert promotor Vijay Bhola said: “This will be a spectacular show from an allround talent, who represents the future of commercial film music in India.

“He will perform with a full live band and promises to deliver audiences an unforgettable experience.