Hindi
National awardee film editor Aarif Sheikh directs dance extravaganza
MUMBAI: Film editor Aarif Sheikh, who won the National Award for Samay – When Time Strikes and who has been the man behind the edits of noted films like Makdee, Maqbool, Taxi No. 9211, Parzania and The Blue Umbrella, is ready with his first directorial venture Let‘s Dance that is set to release on 19 June.
“Although dancing is the DNA of the film, I always wanted my story to be solid. It needed to hold on its own. Although I was working with mostly new artistes, I never had any trouble extracting performances, as all my actors were perceptive,” says Aarif.
Introducing the US-born-and-bred dancing sensation Gayatri Patel, the film has the debutante playing a simple but determined dance teacher, who on her path to fame changes course to motivate a group of underprivileged kids.
Shifting base from US to Bollywood to pursue acting, Gayatri first spent time taking tips from theatre top-guns Satyadev Dubey and Makrand Deshpande, did an acting workshop with Veena Mehta and played the role of Ophelia in Neeraj Kabir‘s play Hamlet. She also did three music videos for Venus opposite Inder Kumar and Jugal Hansraj, till one day, Aarif decided to launch her as the lead in his directorial debut.
Produced by Dr Arvind Patel, the film co-stars Ajay Chaudhary, Aqib Afzaal, Sugandha Garg, Asif Basra, Abhaas Yadav, Nikuunj Padaya, Paras Arora and Anjan Srivastav.
“I‘ll never forget Let‘s Dance, it‘s imbedded in my soul. Every shot, every scene, every creative decision of mine,” adds an excited Aarif.
Hindi
Rashmika Mandanna, Shanaya Kapoor and Naila Grrewal climb IMDb’s Indian celebrity rankings
Upcoming films and returning shows are driving fan interest across Bollywood and streaming
MUMBAI: Bollywood’s popularity contest has a new weekly scorecard, and the numbers are telling. IMDb’s Popular Indian Celebrities list for this week places Shanaya Kapoor at number six, buoyed by buzz around her film Tu Yaa Main. Naila Grrewal slots in at seven on the back of the returning comedy series Maamla Legal Hai, while Rashmika Mandanna climbs to eighth, riding mounting anticipation for Cocktail 2.
The list, available exclusively on the IMDb app for Android and iOS, tracks trending Indian entertainers and filmmakers each week, drawing on data from more than 200m monthly visits to the platform worldwide.
Further down the rankings, Raaka is keeping two of its biggest names in the spotlight. Deepika Padukone holds 11th position, with Allu Arjun close behind at 13th, as the film continues to find traction with audiences.
The list offers fans a weekly pulse on who is breaking through, who is holding steady, and who is fading. It is a barometer as unsparing as the box office itself.
