Mumbai, July 27 (IANS) The Paris Olympics has kicked off with a spectacular opening ceremony, and Bollywood stars are rallying behind the Indian contingent participating in the biggest sporting event.

Actress Deepika Padukone took to her Instagram stories and shared a video of the opening ceremony, featuring Indian athletes PV Sindhu and Sharath Kamal, who led the Indian team as flag bearers during the Parade of Nations on the River Seine in Paris, France.

Her ‘Singham Again’ co-star, Ajay Devgn, also showed his support by posting on X: “To all Indian Athletes, You are the pride of our nation. The best at what y’all do. Be assured that we will be cheering our hearts out to see perform. It’s time to bring home the hardware. Cheers and good luck! #OlympicGames #Olympic2024.”

Sonali Bendre shared a picture of the Indian contingent at the Olympics on her Instagram story, captioning it: “Rooting for Team India.”

Alia Bhatt also took to Instagram stories and posted a picture from the event with the caption: “Onward and upwards, Team India.”

While many praised the Indian athletes, actress and politician Kangana Ranaut criticised the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024.

Taking to Instagram stories, the actress posted a video from the event and wrote: “The Paris Olympics is under fire for including a ‘child’ in their hyper-s*xualised, blasphemous rendition of The Last Supper. An apparent child could be seen joining the drag queens during the performance. They also showed a naked man painted blue as Jesus and mocked Christianity. Leftists totally hijacked Olympics 2024. Shame (sic).”

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Mumbai, July 27 (IANS) Actress Parineeti Chopra’s mother, Reena Malhotra Chopra, has shared a heartwarming post on the firstborn child, highlighting the strength and growth it brings.

Reena, who is a travel blogger and artist, took to her Instagram story, where she has 32.2K followers, and shared a touching message about firstborn children.

The post reads: “Your firstborn is the one who experiences everything with you. The one who shows you how strong you are, the one who walks through motherhood with you, and you grow just as much as they are growing up.”

Reena tagged Parineeti in the post, adding a red heart emoji.

The ‘Ishaqzaade’ actress re-shared her mother’s post on her Instagram stories.

Parineeti, who hails from Ambala, Haryana, has two brothers — Shivang and Sahaj — and her cousins include actresses Priyanka Chopra and Mannara Chopra.

On the personal front, Parineeti married Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha on September 24, 2023.

Professionally, Parineeti began her career with Yash Raj Films (YRF) as a public relations consultant before making her acting debut in the 2011 romantic comedy ‘Ladies vs Ricky Bahl’, which also starred Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma.

The actress has since appeared in films such as ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’, ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’, ‘Jabariya Jodi’, ‘The Girl on the Train’, ‘Golmaal Again’, ‘Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar’, and ‘Mission Raniganj’.

Parineeti’s most recent role was as Amarjot Kaur in the biographical musical drama ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’, directed by Imtiaz Ali. The film, which stars Diljit Dosanjh in the titular role, is currently streaming on Netflix.

It charts the untold true story of Punjab’s original rockstar of the masses, the highest record-selling artist of his time, Amar Singh Chamkila.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 27 (IANS) Actor Rajesh Kumar, who is best known for his portrayal of Rosesh in the sitcom ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’, has turned chef and shared an interesting recipe for foxtail millet and peas pulao with his fans.

The ‘Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand’ actor took to Instagram and posted a video of himself cooking foxtail millet (Kangni) and peas pulao alongside chef Vikas Chawla.

In the caption, Rajesh wrote: “#MILLETS ARE remedy FOR 100’s of diseases. Tried cooking one of the simplest recipes under the guidance of great #chefvikaschawla. Also sharing the recipe. DO TRY AT HOME…Foxtail Millet (Kangni) and Peas Pulao.”

Rajesh also shared the entire recipe for the dish.

“Recipe Ingredients: 1 cup boiled foxtail millet (check boiled millet recipe link below). 1-2 teaspoons ghee (as per choice). half teaspoon cumin seeds. 1 medium onion, thinly sliced. 15-20 shreds of ginger julienne (as per choice). 1 green chilli (slant cut).Salt, to taste. Fresh coriander for garnish. 2 teaspoons fried onion (it will add another level of flavour).”

The actor further shared the instructions for the recipe.

“Instructions: 1. Take 1 cup boiled millets. (Recipe link given below or check on @yourmilletchef page). 2. Heat ghee over medium flame and add cumin. 3. Stir for a minute until the onions are translucent; do not let them brown. Add ginger julienne and green chillies, and stir for a few seconds. 4. Add boiled peas and salt, stir it. 5. Sprinkle a handful of water all over the pan and immediately pour over boiled millet, spreading evenly on the cooked mixture. 6. After spreading millets, sprinkle salt as per taste. 7. Wait for 2 minutes as this will allow the steam to pass through millets, giving the flavour of veggies underneath. 8. Stir well and serve hot with fresh coriander leaves. CHEF’S TIP: Please do try adding fried onion to take it to another level. (We haven’t shown it here).”

Rajesh added: “You may also try this recipe with other large millets, like proso and kodo. You may try any other vegetables of your choice.”

Meanwhile, on the work front, the actor was recently seen in the mystery film ‘Rautu Ka Raaz’ and the web series ‘Yeh Meri Family 2’.

–IANS

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Mumbai, July 27 (IANS) Actor Ranveer Singh, who was last seen in ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’, is set to star alongside Sanjay Dutt, R Madhavan, Akshaye Khanna, and Arjun Rampal in a yet-to-be-titled-film.

The film, described by Ranveer as a “big motion picture adventure”, will be helmed by Aditya Dhar, who is known for ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’.

On Saturday, the actor took to Instagram and shared a collage of monochromatic images featuring R Madhavan, Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Aditya Dhar, Arjun Rampal, and himself.

Ranveer penned a heartfelt note in the caption, thanking his fans for their patience.

The actor wrote: “This one is for my fans, who have been so patient with me, and been clamouring for a turn like this. I love you all, and I promise you, this time, a cinematic experience like never before. With your blessings, we embark on this great, big motion picture adventure with spirited energy and pure intent. This time, it’s personal.”

This announcement follows the shelving of multiple projects involving Ranveer, the most recent being ‘Rakshas’, which was to be directed by Prashant Varma of ‘HanuMan’ fame.

Ranveer reportedly opted out of the film due to creative differences with the director.

Meanwhile, the actor also has the Farhan Akhtar directorial ‘Don 3’ in the pipeline, in which he will take over the titular role from Bollywood icon Shah Rukh Khan.

Additionally, Ranveer will appear in a cameo role in ‘Singham Again’ alongside Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Tiger Shroff, Arjun Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, and Shweta Tiwari.

–IANS

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Los Angeles, July 27 (IANS) Pop icon Britney Spears and singer-songwriter Halsey appear to have no problems between them despite recent events.

Halsey recently released the music video for ‘Lucky’.

Hours after its release, Britney posted about it on X, but she quickly deleted the message, reports ‘People’ magazine.

In the now-deleted post, Spears wrote: “For obvious reasons, I’m very upset about the Halsey video.”

“I feel harassed, violated, and bullied. I didn’t know an artiste like her and someone I looked up to and admired would illustrate me in such an ignorant way by tailoring me as a superficial pop star with no heart or concern at all,” she wrote.

“I have my own health problems, which is why I took down my Instagram account yesterday. I will definitely be putting it back up to show I CARE,” the post continued.

“I’m speaking with my lawyers today to see what can be done on this matter. It feels illegal and downright cruel.”

According to ‘People’, shortly after deleting the post, Spears claimed her previous critique of Halsey’s music video was “fake news” and asserted, “that was not me on my phone.”

“I love Halsey, and that’s why I deleted it,” Spears wrote on X.

Halsey, 29, who uses she/they pronouns, responded to Spears’ second post, showing her support for the pop artist.

“I love Britney!!!! I always have and always will. You were the first person who ever made me realise what it means to feel inspired. And you continue to inspire me every day,” Halsey wrote on X.

–IANS

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