Five members of late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's family have been killed in a road accident in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. The accident occurred on Tuesday when nine relatives of Sushant were returning to Jamui district from state capital Patna on a sports utility vehicle (SUV) after attending the last rites of another relative. Read: Schools, plants close as Indian capital is smothered by smog "A speeding truck coming from the opposite direction rammed the SUV in the Halsi area of Lakhisarai, in which 10 people, including the driver, were travelling," police officer Awadhesh Kumar told the local media. "The impact of the crash was such that six occupants -- the five relatives of Sushant and the driver -- died on the spot. The truck driver managed to flee the spot," he said. Four other relatives sustained injuries in the accident and were admitted to hospitals in Lakhisarai and Jamui, the officer said. "We suspect that the SUV driver dozed off at the wheel." The deceased were identified as Laljit Singh, his two sons -- Ram Chandra Singh and Amit Shekhar -- daughter Baby Kumari and niece Anita Devi, as well as SUV driver Pritam Kumar. Read:India opens to vaccinated foreign tourists after 18 months An FIR for rash and negligent driving has been filed against the truck driver. "Efforts are on to nab the driver of the killer vehicle," the police officer said. Sushant was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his Mumbai flat on June 14 last year. An autopsy revealed the 34-year-old took his own life. A federal investigative agency probe also confirmed the autopsy report.

The love story of Bollywood actor Rajkummar Rao and his long-time Bengali girlfriend Patralekha Paul is straight out of a Hindi movie. Some 10 years ago, Rajkumar saw actress Patralekha's photo in an advertisement and decided to marry her. They later met at an event in Mumbai and fell in love. Read:Top 10 Best South Indian Thriller Movies for Weekend Movie Mania A decade on, the two are tying the knot this week, after being in a live-in relationship. The low-key, three-day-long wedding ceremony in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, 250km from Delhi, begins on Wednesday evening, media reports said. "It is going to be a very close affair for Rajkummar Rao, 37, and Patralekhaa, 32. They have invited only select guests from the film industry," a unnamed source was quoted by the media as saying. A versatile actor, Rajkumar made his Bollywood debut with Dibakar Banerjee's film 'Love Sex Aur Dhokha' in 2010. After a few supporting roles in a couple of films, he made a mark in the film industry with his acting in social drama 'Kai Po Che!' in 2013.  He got the coveted National Film Award with his portrayal of the late human rights activist Shahid Azmi in biopic 'Shahid' in 2013. Rajkumar also acted in hits like 'Queen' in 2014 and 'Trapped' in 2016. Read:Puneeth Rajkumar: A Popular Benevolent Short-Lived Actor in the Kannada Film Industry Among the Delhi University alumnus' 2017 blockbuster releases were, 'Bareilly Ki Barfi' and 'Newton', both comedy movies. A year later, his film 'Stree' broke all his previous records in terms of revenue collection. On the other hand, Patralekha, a Bengali born in the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya's capital Shillong, made her debut with director Hansal Mehta's film 'CityLights', opposite Rajkummar.

A day after getting bail in a pornographic films case, Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty's husband Raj Kundra walked out of a jail in the Indian city of Mumbai on Tuesday. Raj was arrested on July 19 by the crime branch of Mumbai Police for allegedly making and uploading on OTT (over-the-top) platforms several pornograhic films. Last week, Mumbai Police filed a 1,400-page chargesheet in the case. In an inspirational social media post, Shilpa wrote:  "There are always going to be moments that push you to the ground. In times like these, I truly believe that if you fall seven times, make yourself strong enough to be able to stand back up eight times." "This rise will demand a lot of courage, grit, will-power, and strength during some of your most difficult moments. But, these qualities will only make you more resilient and robust in this journey called life. You will come back with renewed determination and motivation," she added. After hours of grilling, Raj was arrested on July 19 by the crime branch of Mumbai Police in connection with the pornograhic film case. A total of 21 people have been arrested in the case so far. According to Mumbai Police, the pornograhic films were shot in India by Raj's movie production firm and then transferred to Britain via a UK-based company. "There was a case registered with the crime branch Mumbai in February 2021 about the creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps. We've arrested Raj Kundra in this case as he appears to be the key conspirator of this," the police said then. The 45-year-old British-Indian businessman insists he is innocent. In 2013, Raj hogged the media limelight after he was grilled by Delhi Police in connection with a betting and spot-fixing scandal that rocked the country's multi-million dollar cricketing tournament, the Indian Premier League. He's a co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals team. Shilpa and Raj tied the knot in 2009, after dating for a couple of months. They have two children -- a son and a daughter. A former model, Shilpa made her Bollywood debut in the thriller Baazigar (1993) starring Shah Rukh Khan as an anti-hero in the lead role. She went on to act in many other hit flicks, including action comedy Main Khiladi Tu Anari and romantic film Dhadkan. Shilpa is also a celebrity endorser for several leading brands and products as well as a number of fitness campaigns such as the Fit India Movement, launched by the Indian government.

Indian tax police Wednesday raided Bollywood actor Sonu Sood's properties in the western city of Mumbai over alleged tax evasion charges. Sources told UNB that the residence and five other premises of Sonu -- who helped thousands of migrant workers stranded by the Covid-19 lockdown in Mumbai return home last year -- were raided by tax sleuths. The raids were in connection with a recent deal between the 47-year-old actor's firm and a real estate company based in the city of Lucknow in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the sources said. The raids come days after the actor met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital, fuelling rumours of his political debut with Aam Aadmi Party. "Sonu Sood a Messiah who helped millions of poor who were orphaned by the govt. This Income Tax raid shows Modi Govt's insecurity," Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party tweeted, in the wake of the tax raids. Though he started his acting career in regional language films on southern India in 1999, Sonu began starring in Hindi films in 2002. He earned accolades for his role in Mani Ratnam's Yuva in 2004 and in Aashiq Banaya Aapne a year later. In 2010, the former model played the lead villain in Abhinav Kashyap's blockbuster Dabangg, co-starring with superstar Salman Khan. He also owns a production house.

Bollywood heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor and his actress-girlfriend Alia Bhatt are all set to get married this year only. The confirmation has come from none other than another leading actress, Lara Dutta. "I believe they (Ranbir and Alia) are getting married this year," Lara said in a media interview aired in India on Monday night. The 38-year-old Bollywood hunk and 27-year-old Alia have been dating each other for three years now. Read: Bollywood: Actors Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt to tie the knot? In February this year, a widely shared online photo of Alia wearing a wedding dress for an advertisement shoot first fuelled speculation of the couple's plan to tie the knot. A month prior to that, Ranbir and Alia made their New Year travel to the western state of Rajasthan with their families. And just before the trip, Ranbir had reportedly said that he wanted to get married to Alia soon. The son of actors Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, and the grandson of veteran actor-director Raj Kapoor, Ranbir made his acting debut with noted filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali's  tragic romance Saawariya in 2007, a commercial failure. Ranbir rose to prominence in 2009 with his performances in the coming-of-age film Wake Up Sid, romantic comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and drama Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year. One of the highest-paid actors of Bollywood, he also supports charities. Read: Bollywood superstar Ranbir Kapoor tests positive for COVID-19 Alia, on the other hand, is the daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and actress Soni Razdan. Shw made her acting debut as a child in the 1999 thriller Sangharsh. Her debut as an adult actor was with filmmaker Karan Johar's teen drama Student of the Year (2012).  Alia won the Best Actress award in 2014 for playing a kidnapping victim in the road drama Highway. In addition to acting in films, Alia has launched her own line of clothing and handbags, and is the founder of the ecological initiative CoExist.

Legendary Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar died at a private hospital in India's financial capital Mumbai on Wednesday. He was 98. The 'Tragedy King of Bollywood' was admitted to the premier Hinduja Hospital last week after he complained of breathlessness. In fact, he had been in and out of the hospital over the past few years with age-related illnesses. "Dilip Kumar passed away due to prolonged illness at 7.30 am," Dr Jalil Parkar, a doctor who had been treating the thespian at the hospital, told the local media. Read:Bollywood actor Fatima behind Aamir Khan's divorce? The actor's family friend, Faisal Farooqui, also confirmed the death on his Twitter handle. “With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip saab a few minutes ago. We are from  God and to him we return." Prime Minister Narendra Modi too took to social media to offer his condolences to the family and fans of the cinematic legend. “Dilip Kumar ji will be remembered as a cinematic legend. He was blessed with unparalleled brilliance, due to which audiences across generations were enthralled. His passing away is a loss to our cultural world," Modi tweeted. Read:Superstar Aamir Khan, filmmaker wife announce divorce On Monday, his actress-wife of 50 years, Saira Banu, tweeted: “We are grateful for God's infinite mercy on Dilip Saab that his health is improving. We are still in hospital and request your prayers and duas so that Insh'Allah he is healthy and discharged soon.” Born Yusuf Khan in Peshawar (now in Pakistan) in 1922 before the partition of India, Dilip Kumar acted in 65 films in an illustrious career spanning five decades. A trendsetter in Bollywood who inspired generations of actors, Dilip Kumar won hearts of millions in India with his all-time greats like Mela, Naya Daur, Ganga Jumna, Devdas and Mughal-e-Azam. He last acted in a film in 1998. Read: Bollywood: 'There is no life without you' Apart from a number of film awards, Dilip Kumar was conferred with two of India's highest civilian awards. "To us actors, he was The Hero. #DilipKumar sir has taken an entire era of Indian cinema away with him," aptly summed up Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar in a tweet.

Unlike in Bollywood romantic flicks, that happily-ever-after endings always don't happen in the real lives of celebrity couples. The same holds true for Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan and filmmaker Kiran Rao, whose 15 years of marriage is rumoured to have ended the same way it began -- with "an extra-marital affair". Rumoured Link-up Grapevine is abuzz that Aamir's affair with 29-year-old Dangal co-star Fatima Sana Shaikh led to his divorce. The rumoured link-up, in fact, started way back in 2016 when Aamir and Fatima were spotted many a time walking hand in hand while they were shooting for the sports drama, where the latter played the role of the former's daughter.

Bollywood actor Gaurav Dixit has been absconding since Friday night (April 02, 201) when India's narcotics control authority raided his flat in the city of Mumbai and seized huge quantities of banned drugs, officials said Saturday. Gaurav made his debut in Bollywood with the film Fun Can Be Dangerous Sometimes in 2005. His other popular films include Bobby: Love and Lust (2005) and The Magic of Cinema in 2011. He also acted in a number of TV serials. Sleuths of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) carried out the raid at the actor's flat around 9 pm on Friday after his name emerged in the Bollywood drugs scandal during the recent interrogation of another actor, Ajaz Khan. Also read: Bollywood: Sushant's ex Rhea among 33 charged in drugs case "Gaurav was not at home then. But he fled when he saw the anti-narcotics sleuths upon his return to the highrise apartment complex. We have seized huge quantities of ecstasy and hashish from his flat," an NCB official told UNB. NCB started probing the drugs scandal following the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June last year. Among the first to be arrested in the case were his rumoured girlfriend Rhea, also an actor, and her brother Showik. Both are currently out on bail. Rhea was, in fact, arrested by NCB on September 9, following days of questioning, and accused of procuring cannabis for her late actor-boyfriend, whose body was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his Mumbai flat on June 14. Also read: Bollywood drugs scandal: Actor Arjun Rampal grilled for over 6 hours Immediately after the arrest of Rhea, the names of at least 20 top Bollywood celebrities — from actors to filmmakers to designers — surfaced in the drugs case.  Several of them, including leading female Bollywood actors —  Rakul Preet Singh,  Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan and Shraddha Kapoor — were subsequently grilled by NCB.  All the actors, however, reportedly denied any links with such drug dealers. The grilling took place in the wake of WhatsApp chats retrieved from Rhea's mobile phone indicating that they procured banned substances like cannabis, weed and hash from dealers with links to foreign countries. Read Bollywood: Chargesheet against Sushant's ex Rhea a 'damp squib'

Barisal-born Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty Sunday joined India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in the poll-bound eastern state of West Bengal's capital Kolkata.

Speculation is rife that Barisal-born Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty may soon join India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has not yet been able to zero in on its chief ministerial face in the poll-bound eastern state of West Bengal. The Indian state and Bangladesh share a land border and a common language.