Sonu Sood donates 25,000 face shields to Maharashtra Police

Mumbai, Apr 2: Ramayan, the over three-decade-old TV series based on Hindu mythology, garnered 170 million viewers in four shows over the last weekend in its new avatar, the BARC said on Thursday.

This catapulted the Ramanand Sagar production as the highest watched serial in the Hindi general entertainment space ever, the Broadcast Audience Research Council said.

The show was relaunched last Saturday amid the gloomy times of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a lot of thrust laid by the government machinery to popularise the series.

BARC's chief executive Sunil Lulla said the numbers notched up by the series was a bit surprising and called the move as a brilliant one by the Prasar Bharti.

He said eventually, we will also see advertisers flock the series which will be running for a few more days.

The inaugural show of the series on Saturday morning had 34 million viewers glued to their TV sets watching and enjoyed a rating of 3.4 per cent, while a telecast the same evening had 45 million viewers and a rating of 5.2 per cent.

The show bettered its performance on Sunday, with 40 million and 51 million people watching it in the morning and evening telecasts, respectively.

Washington, May 2: American singer Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber have teamed up to help others in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Grande and Bieber announced on Friday(local time) that they are working on a song, 'Stuck With U,' which will drop next week with all proceeds slated to go to coronavirus relief.

The 26-year-old songstress Ariana tweeted on Friday, "Stuck with u by me and @justinbieber out May 8th. head to my Instagram for more info. thank u to @1strcf and @sb_projects for making this possible."

Grande also announced the news on Instagram, and wrote, "Grateful to announce that my friend and i have partnered with @1strcf and @sb_projects on this release. proceeds from the streams and sales of #stuckwithu will be donated to first responders children's foundation to fund grants and scholarships for children of healthcare workers, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), paramedics, police officers and firefighters serving at the front lines during the global pandemic."

The 26-year-old pop-star Bieber, also added in a statement, "More than ever we are seeing the selfless, tireless and amazing work that doctors, nurses and healthcare providers give to the world every day. It is our hope we can lend our voices to raise awareness and give much-needed support for them and their families. It's my honour to come together with my friend Ariana and our SB Projects family to try and do some good."

The two music superstars have also independently been helping people in need. According to sources to Page Six, Grande, who has been communicating her longing to make music during the quarantine, has sent fans between 500 and 1,000 USD using the Venmo app.

One of the Ariana fans told Page Six that the 'Senorita' singer "took care of my salary for the month." She has helped more than 20 fans, said the outlet.

The '7 rings' singer also joined the Disney family singalong in April and sang 'I Won't Say I'm In Love' the animated film 'Hercules.'

Back in February, Bieber cantered his efforts on China, saying at the time that he "couldn't imagine how scary it would be if a new disease was effecting my wife and my family and friends."

The 'Yummy' singer said he made a donation to the country and urged his followers to join in on the conversation.

Bieber also accepted the #AllInChallenge to raise money for COVID relief. The singer said he will fly to your house for a private concert and sing 'One Less Lonely Girl.'

Jun 25: Bollywood star Sushant Singh Rajput’s last movie “Dil Bechara” is getting a release on Disney+Hotstar on July 24.

With an aim to honour the legacy of the actor, the streaming platform is making the movie available to even the non-subscribers.

Rajput was found dead at his Bandra home on June 14 at the age of 34.

Billed as a soulful love story, “Dil Bechara” marks the directorial debut of casting director and Rajput's industry friend Mukesh Chhabra. The film is produced by Fox Star Studios.

“We are humbled to be able to play a small part in sustaining the legacy of a fine actor like Sushant Singh Rajput. In celebration of his life and his extraordinary work, 'Dil Bechara' will release directly on digital this July on Disney+ Hotstar; and will be available to all subscribers and non-subscribers across India. Our prayers and wishes to his family and loved ones,” Uday Shankar, President – The Walt Disney Company APAC and Chairman, Star & Disney India, said.

The actor had a long-standing relationship with the STAR & Disney India network, having started his career with the show “Kis Desh Mein Hai Meraa Dil” in 2008 to his Bollywood transition where he delivered some of his most memorable performances in “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story” (2016) and “Chhichhore” (2019), both produced by Fox Star Studios.

Chhabra said he never imagined he would release the film without Rajput.

 “Sushant was not just the hero of my debut film as a director, but he was a dear friend who stood by me through thick and thin. We had been close right from 'Kai Po Che!' to 'Dil Bechara'. He had promised me that he would be in my first film.

"So many plans were made together, so many dreams were dreamt together but never once did I ever imagine that I would be left alone to release this film. He always showered immense love on me while I was making it and his love will guide us as we release it,” the director said.

“Dil Bechara” is the official remake of 2014 Hollywood romantic drama “The Fault in our Stars”, which was based on John Green’s popular novel of the same name. The Hindi adaptation of the movie was done by Shashank Khaitan and Suprotim Sengupta.

“Dil Bechara” will see Rajput in a leading role alongside debutante Sanjana Sanghi, and Saif Ali Khan in an interesting cameo.

The music of the film has been composed by AR Rahman and the lyrics are by Amitabh Bhattacharya.

“Dil Bechara” revolves around Kizie Basu (Sanghi) and Immanuel Rajkumar Junior or Manny (Rajput) and explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic adventure of being alive and in love.

Together Kizie and Manny embark on an on-off-up-down-sad and sweet profound journey into the heart of that crazy little thing called life. It teaches them what it means to feel truly alive and fall in love.