<h2>We&rsquo;re Floored!</h2>
It seems Kriti Sanon, Shahid Kapoor, and Rashmika Mandanna are staying grounded before their movie takes off &mdash; watching the trailer with the media at a promotional event on Tuesday
<h2>Smells Like Success&nbsp;</h2>
Sometimes the coolest collaborations start with an unexpected DM. And so it was, in the case of Samantha Ruth Prabhu and her brand Secret Alchemist. Co-founder Ankita Thadani was unaware that she had a celebrity fan in Samantha when the Theri star first reached out, having already tried a handful of her aromatherapy products.
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t looking for a brand ambassador at the time,&rdquo; Ankita recalls, &ldquo;but we discovered an instant bond,&rdquo; and that synergy transformed a casual call into a powerhouse partnership &mdash; with the actor ultimately investing in the company.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/jun/Ankita-Samantha_e.jpg" alt="Ankita Thadani and Samantha Ruth Prabhu " width="1280" height="720" /> Ankita Thadani and Samantha Ruth Prabhu
What began as a post-COVID &ldquo;passion project&rdquo; for Ankita has evolved into a serious business in a few short years, with Samantha on board. A new line of hair perfumes has recently hit the market &mdash; with actor Kajal Aggarwal lending additional star heft to the launch &mdash; and there&rsquo;s more to come in the clean perfumes space soon.
Yet, at its core, this success story boils down to conviction. It&rsquo;s the same conviction that led Ankita to drop architecture during COVID to pivot into aromatherapy &mdash; breathing fresh life into her mother&rsquo;s existing business. It&rsquo;s also what drove Samantha, deeply attuned to her own wellness journey, to invest in a lesser-known homegrown brand. And the hands-on partnership has proven invaluable.&nbsp;
&ldquo;She really understands the pulse of the audience,&rdquo; Ankita says of Samantha, who remains remarkably involved in the brand&rsquo;s evolution. In an era of superficial celebrity endorsements, this connection proves that real wellness isn&rsquo;t just about a face on a bottle &mdash; it&rsquo;s about shared belief. And that smells authentic.
<h2>Portraits Without Pretence</h2>
Truth be told, a camera doesn&rsquo;t just capture an image &mdash; it captures character. It sees right through the expensive contour, the curated PR scripts, and that often exhaustingly fake smile. And who better to know this than Atul Kasbekar? The man has spent decades capturing airbrushed perfection for the Kingfisher Calendar, so believe me, he knows exactly how much work goes into manufacturing a fantasy.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/jun/Atul-Kasbekar_e.jpg" alt="Atul Kasbekar" width="1280" height="720" /> Atul Kasbekar
This Thursday, though, Atul is stripping away the smoke and mirrors for Honest &mdash; a first-of-its-kind immersive homage to raw character, on view at Jio World Plaza, BKC, until July 5. He&rsquo;s putting icons like Naseeruddin Shah, Kalki Koechlin, Johny Lever, Neena Gupta, Boman Irani, and Sunil Grover centre stage, and we can&rsquo;t wait to see their unmasked avatars.
As Atul so elegantly puts it: &ldquo;This is an attempt to rediscover what feels real in a world that just doesn&rsquo;t sometimes. Maybe honesty is the last truly luxurious thing left.&rdquo; Clearly the concept resonates with connoisseurs, because everyone from Ajay Piramal to Anand Mahindra is singing the show&rsquo;s praises before the gallery doors have even swung open.
<h2>Poetry In Motion</h2>
Putting Penrith on the map this week is Saiyaara star Ahaan Panday, who we hear is currently shooting in the quaint Cumbria town. Alongside co-star Sharvari, the actor is busy filming Ali Abbas Zafar&rsquo;s highly anticipated action-romance.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/jun/Ahaan-Panday_e.jpg" alt="Ahaan Panday" width="1280" height="720" /> Ahaan Panday
As it turns out, this scenic market town in the UK is a beautifully poetic fit for Bollywood&rsquo;s reigning romantic hero. Penrith is steeped in literary romance, famously being the place where the legendary romantic poet William Wordsworth grew up and went to school.
It feels entirely fitting that a modern cinematic love story is being framed against the very same rolling landscapes and red-sandstone backdrops that once inspired some of history&rsquo;s greatest love letters to nature. For a star currently capturing the hearts of millions, filming in Wordsworth&rsquo;s old stomping ground adds a touch of classic, timeless romance to this tale.
<h2>One Last IPL Love Letter</h2>
Some amongst us have cringed at former England captain Kevin Pietersen constantly cooing over the IPL, but with the glitzy tournament having concluded this week, the only thing left to stomach is KP&rsquo;s parting shot &mdash; delivered via X. Practically vibrating with enthusiasm, he gushed: &ldquo;A HUGE congrats... What a truly incredible tournament. It just keeps getting better and better! And to the fans &mdash; YOU ARE THE REAL DEAL! You are loved by all, more than you can possibly imagine.&rdquo;
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/jun/Kevin-Pietersen_e.jpg" alt="Kevin Pietersen" width="1280" height="720" /> Kevin Pietersen
To be fair, KP was one of the tournament&rsquo;s earliest and most vocal disciples, back when the England and Wales Cricket Board treated it like forbidden fruit. He walked so today&rsquo;s generation could run (straight to the bank, of course). He even turned out for Delhi, Pune, and this year&rsquo;s champions, RCB, before serving as mentor of the Delhi Capitals last season.
Yet his relentless, sugary cheerleading reads less like commentary and more like a beautifully formatted, never-ending job application. Cynics might suggest he&rsquo;s polishing his credentials for the next media or coaching gig on these shores. Then again, with the IPL now one of the biggest shows in world sport, can you really blame KP for wanting another slice of the pie?

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Sonali's Society: Kriti, Shahid, Rashmika's movie fever, and Atul's homage

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Home / Lifestyle / Sonalis Society / Article / Sonali's Society: Kriti, Shahid, Rashmika's movie fever, and Atul's homage