ENTERTAINMENT

Dec 23 Malayalam star Tovino Thomas says his upcoming film Minnal Murali is the story of an ordinary man from Kerala's Karakulam, who one day gets special powers but does not fly off from the skyscrapers like some of his Hollywood counterparts. Thomas, best known for 7th Day, Ennu Ninte Moideen, Uyare and Mayanadhi, said the Basil Joseph directorial is an origin story of a local superhero who doesn't start fighting the bad guy from the very next day. "We wanted to make a film that works with superhero fans across the world as well as for common audiences who are not used to this genre of movies. I imagined my parents, who are not used to 'Spider-Man', watching and liking the film," Thomas told PTI in an interview.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is expected to attach the gifts, including luxury cars, diamonds and bags, given to actors Jacqueline Fernandez and Nora Fatehi by conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, sources told India Today.

ED officials will soon initiate the process of attaching the gifts in possession of the actors in order to recover the proceeds of crime.

It is suspected that gifts worth more than Rs 10 crore were given to Jacqueline Fernandez by Sukesh Chandrashekhar between December 2020 and August 2021. Nora Fatehi was gifted a BMW car by Sukesh Chandrashekhar's wife Leena Maria Paul. These gifts were allegedly bought using extorted money, making them proceeds of crime.

Conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar is accused of extorting Rs 200 crore from a businessman's wife between June 2020 and May 2021.

Media has learnt that Nora Fatehi has agreed to return the car and other gifts she was given in exchange for doing a show in Chennai. A screenwriter who was paid Rs 15 lakh for a project by Sukesh Chandrashekhar on behalf of Jacqueline Fernandez has also expressed her willingness to return the money.

Jacqueline Fernandez, in her statement to the ED, said Sukesh Chandrashekhar gave her two pairs of diamond earrings, two Hermes bracelets, three Birkin bags and a pair of Louis Vuitton shoes. She also received two Gucci outfits and a multi-coloured bracelet from the conman.

France on Wednesday reported 84,272 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours, coming close to its all-time high of almost 87,000 cases in November 2020.

Coming within reach of the 84,999 new cases recorded at the height of France's spring wave in April, the value was also the country's second-highest this year.

France's health minister earlier on Wednesday said over 100,000 new infections could be reached by the end of this month.

Pushpa held extremely well at the Indian box office on Monday. The film grossed over Rs. 20 crore on Monday, with four days running total now standing at Rs. 140 crore, and will be crossing Rs. 150 crore today. The Allu Arjun starrer is set to be Rs. 200 crore grosser in India, most likely by coming Friday. With holiday period starting in coming days, collections shall remain steady and is likely to cross Rs. 250 crore in India.

The most anticipated movie of the year Spider-Man: No Way Home has increased footfall in Indian theatres. The Marvel frenzy is being witnessed again as the movie has surpassed the three-day collection of Rohit Shetty's Sooryavanshi. 

On the first day of release, the film minted Rs 32.67 crore, thus beating Sooryavanshi’s opening of Rs 26.29 crore. On day two as well, the MCU film earned Rs 20.37 crore. On day three, it minted Rs 25 crore. 

After three days, the box office collection of the film stands at Rs 78.04 crore. As the film is inching towards Rs 100 crore, it is all set to beat the record of Sooryavanshi.