Priyanka Chopra reaches 13 million Twitter followers

Actress Priyanka Chopra has reached 13 million followers on Twitter and she celebrated the milestone by leaping on the beach in Boca Raton, Florida, where she has been shooting "Baywatch" movie. 

The 33-year-old actress thanked all her fans and hoped that her "crazy ride" continues. 

Snapdeal won't renew Aamir Khan's contract as brand ambassador

Indian e-commerce major Snapdeal.com has decided against renewing Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan’s contract as brand ambassador, The Economic Times reported Friday.

The one-year deal ends later this year.

"It was extendable by a year but the company decided against it," one of two sources that the newspaper spoke to said. It was not immediately clear whether Snapdealwould replace Khan with another celebrity.

The Economic Times said Snapdeal didn't respond to its questions, while it couldn’t reach Khan for comment.

Marketing industry experts ET quoted said that the move by Snapdeal likely stemmed from Khan’s comments last year about growing intolerance in the country.

Dilwale enters list of highest foreign grossers in 10 days

Shah Rukh Khan has added another film to the top 10 foreign collectors from Bollywood with Dilwale.

The pre-Christmas release, starring Khan, Kajol, Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon in lead roles, has grossed $18.5 million in the first 10 days. This puts the Rohit Shettydirectorial at the number seven spot in the top 10, overtaking Happy New Year.

The highest foreign collector from Bollywood is Aamir Khan’s PK, released last December. The film has made about $47 million in the international circuit, with China contributing almost $17 million to this number. Salman Khan’s 2015 Eid release Bajrangi Bhaijaan takes the second spot with $29 million, followed by Dhoom 3 (2013) at $28 million.

Dilwale is co-produced by SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment and Rohit Shetty and was released in 1,210 screens abroad. While the majority of the screens were in traditional markets–North America (the US and Canada), the UK and West Asia, the film also released day and date in new territories like Jordan, Spain, Finland, Trinidad and Guyana. Read More.

'Star Wars 7' makes it to AFI best films list before release

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is already a big hit with US critics - it has made the American Film Institute’s annual list of movies of the year a full day before its release. 

 

The highly-anticipated new installment of the blockbuster sci-fi franchise had its world premiere on Monday (December 14) and doesn’t hit cinemas until Friday, but the jury of AFI members, scholars, artists and critics have named the movie among the best of 2015, The Hollywood Reporter. 

 

The new “Star Wars” film has already received rave reviews and has broken records in advance ticket sales in the US, with more than USD 100 million for its opening weekend. 

 

The previous record holder was Batman film “The Dark Knight” in 2012, which raked in USD 25 million prior to its release. 

 

The other AFI best film honourees include acclaimed movies “Spotlight”, “Mad Max: Fury Road”, “Carol”, “The Big Short”, “Bridge of Spies”, “Inside Out”, “The Martian”, “Room”, and “Straight Outta Compton”.

The AFI list often mirrors the Academy Awards Best Picture nominations, which will be announced on January 14. 

 

Officials also selected 10 TV shows for its top 2015 picks with returning favourites “The Americans”, “Fargo”, “Game of Thrones”, and “Homeland”. 

 

The rest of the list is comprised of new series “Better Call Saul”, “Black-ish”, “Empire”, “Master of None”, “Mr Robot”, and “UnReal”. 

 

Matthew Weiner, the creator of Emmy-winning series “Mad Men”, which ended its seven-season run earlier this year (15), will receive the AFI Special Award during a luncheon on January 8 in Los Angeles.

Hope everything good happens with 'Dilwale': SRK on boycott

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, without directly commenting on the MNS appeal to boycott “Dilwale”, said they just want positive things to happen to the film. 

The Maharashtra Navnirman Chitrapat Karmachari Sena had appealed to people to boycott the Shah Rukh-Kajol-starrer releasing this week, alleging that the actor has “ignored the plight of farmers reeling under severe drought”. 

When asked about his reaction, Shah Rukh, 50, said, “Before the film’s release it’s better if you ask me questions about the film, because we have been so caught up with work, we don’t understand other things. But God willing, everything good will happen with our film.” 

He was speaking at the music celebration party of the Rohit Shetty directed romantic-action-drama yesterday. 

MNS Chitrapat Karmachari Sena chief Amey Khopkar had said they were not seeking a ban on the film but were appealing to people to boycott the film as “SRK is taking Maharashtra for granted.” 

Also starring, Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon, “Dilwale” is set to release this Friday. 

Shah Rukh Khan unseats Salman as India’s top-earning celeb

Shah Rukh Khan has regained his position as India’s top-earning celebrity with estimated earnings of Rs 257.5 crore this year, pushing Salman Khan to the second position in the latest Forbes list. 

Shah Rukh had lost his top rank to ‘friend and archrival’ Salman last year and had slipped to the third position, Forbes said in its annual India Celebrity List for 2015 today.

Incidentally, the list comes a day after Salman Khan was acquitted by Bombay High Court in a nearly 13-year-old hit and run case. 

Salman’s estimated earnings, as per the latest list, stands at Rs 202.75 crore – more than Rs 50 crore less than that of Shah Rukh Khan. Amitabh Bachchan is at third position, down from his second position last year. 

Forbes said the total wealth of top 100 celebrities stood at Rs 2,819 crore, while cinema and cricket dominate the top-ten positions. 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been ranked fourth and is followed by Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Deepika Padukone and Hrithik Roshan in top-ten. 

Besides the earnings estimates, the overall Celebrity 100 list also takes into account the fame. “Their gross pre-tax earnings are combined with their fame scores to arrive at the Forbes India Celebrity 100 List,” the magazine said. 

In terms of earnings alone also, 50-year-old Shah Rukh topped the list while Salman is at the second position. However, Akshay Kumar ranks higher at third position in terms of earnings and is followed by Dhoni and Bachchan at fourth and fifth places, respectively. 

Forbes said Shah Rukh’s estimated earnings at Rs 257.5 crore is the highest ever any celebrity has made in the four-year history of the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list. 

“In fact, his earnings make up as much as 9 per cent of the total wealth of the top 100 celebrities this year - Rs 2,819 crore,” it said, although he still lags behind at number-four in terms 'fame’ ranking where 73-year-old Bachchan reigns at the top position. 

Amir hhanhas made it to the top five for the first time. He is at number 5 on the list this year and his superhit movie PK and revenues from brand endorsements helped him rake in an estimated Rs 104.25 crore, his highest in the last four years. 

“It is an increase of 145 per cent to the amount he earned in 2012. On the other hand, Alia Bhatt and Madhuri Dixit have moved up the list despite any movie release in the time period under consideration (October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015). Their rise on the list is entirely due to earnings from brand endorsements and their fame quotient,” Forbes said. 

The list this year has also witnessed a few who jumped ranks and moved up considerably higher in just one year. Among the top-three rank gainers are Dhanush (who moved up 41 ranks) and is at number 37, Rohit Sharma and Allu Arjun (both moved up 38 ranks) and are at number 12 and number 42, respectively. 

This year’s list has 14 debutants, among them cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, who comes in straight at number 31. Filmmaker SS Rajamouli and actor Prabhas make it to the list due to the monster hit Baahubali. 

There were more dropouts this year though – 19 celebs lost their ranks on the Celebrity 100 list for 2015 including Sanjay Leela Bhansali, A R Murugadoss and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.