Holly to Bolly: Ranbir Kapoor might star in sports biopic on Indian field hockey player

Plus, Hollywood to remake Vidya Balan's Kahaani with Dragon Tattoo director; Emma Stone and Colin Firth realise dream of working with Woody Allen

Ranbir Kapoor, who has been tipped to star in a new sports biopic. Lucas Jackson / Reuters

Kapoor might star in sports biopic on Indian field hockey player

Ranbir Kapoor has been tipped to star in a forthcoming biopic on the Indian field hockey player Dhyan Chand, according to The Times of India. Ila Bedi Dutta (Agneepath) is writing the script, while Rohit Vaid is the director. Earlier reports had suggested Shah Rukh Khan would play the lead role. Bollywood has seen a sudden surge in biopics on Indian sports stars after 2013's Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, about the athlete Milkha Singh, won a host of gongs on the Indian awards circuit. Next up is Priyanka Chopra's Mary Kom, about the Olympic boxer Mary Kom, which is due out in September; and John Abraham's 1911, about the Indian football player Sibdas Bhaduri, due out next year. – The National staff

Hollywood to remake Vidya Balan’s Kahaani with Dragon Tattoo director

The 2012 thriller Kahaani, which bagged several awards, will get a Hollywood remake that will be directed by Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). Titled Deity, the story revolves around an American woman who visits Kolkata in search of her missing husband and finds herself at the centre of a dangerous conspiracy. The story unfolds in the context of a colourful, week-long festival. "Deity will be a compelling and exciting thriller with complex and interesting characters," said Oplev. "A neo-realistic style to the story and images will take the audience deep into Kolkata's many different levels. A fascinating clash between American and Indian culture." – IANS

Stone and Firth realise their dreams of working with Woody Allen

Colin Firth had been hoping for decades to get a call from Woody Allen.

Emma Stone, at only 25, hadn't been waiting nearly as long – but she notes that her family dog is named Alvy, after a classic Allen character, and she can keep up with Firth in a spontaneous recounting of the bank robbery scene in Take the Money and Run. The two stars of the forthcoming film Magic in the Moonlight were both working for the first time with Allen and they sat down recently to recount what it was like.

“I was incredibly nervous,” said Stone. “You don’t get to know him first – there’s no rehearsal; you don’t see him before shooting.”

As for Firth, he had a quick and somewhat strange phone call with the 78-year-old director.

“I thought he’d asked for the call and it turns out he thought I’d asked for it,” said Firth. “Cate (Blanchett) told me the same happened to her with Blue Jasmine.”

While Stone’s already working with Allen again – shooting in Providence, Rhode Island – Firth doesn’t think that lightning will strike twice for him.

“It’s taken him 50 years to ask me the first time, so by the current rate I’ll be 104 by the time he asks me again.” – AP