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Comedy, romance, J Lo and pirates in ‘Shotgun Wedding’

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Josh Duhamel was filming a scene in the new action-rom com “Shotgun Wedding” in which his fiancé, played by Jennifer Lopez, throws a grenade up in the air. He hits it like a baseball into a bad guy who blows up and sets off a display of rainbow-colored fireworks. “I was like, holy (expletive) this movie is bonkers,” Duhamel said. The film, directed by Jason Moore, starts out like a regular romantic comedy. Lopez’s Darcy and Duhamel’s Tom are having a big destination wedding on an island. There’s funny and awkward family dynamics and a charismatic ex-boyfriend shows up too. And Darcy and Tom find themselves fighting and about to call off the wedding moments before they’re to walk down the aisle. Then a band of pirates armed with guns arrive and takes the wedding party hostage. Lopez, who produced and stars, came to the Mark Hammer script through her producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, — they’ve been been making films together since “Maid in Manhattan.” “She’s kind of the architect of careers,” Lopez said. “We do really kind of think about not just what we want to do, but what the audience would enjoy or what the world needs at different times. I even do that as an artist with my albums and the things I want to put out in the world as a message.” “Shotgun Wedding,” streaming Friday on Prime Video, was not just a fun genre mash up in a slick package, Lopez liked the idea that her character was getting married for the first time at an “older age” and that Tom was the “groomzilla,” obsessed with the details and logistics of planning the fete. It took, she said, “Different things that people don’t think of as conventional and normal and making that thing regular and acceptable.” The film was not exactly a hard sell for anyone involved. From Cheech Marin, who plays Darcy’s billionaire father, to Jennifer Coolidge, as Tom’s very normal Midwestern mother, everyone basically heard “Jennifer Lopez” and “Dominican Republic shoot” and signed up. “It was a funny script,” Coolidge said. “We had a table read at the very beginning and I remember it was such a good table read. I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be really fun.’” There was a hitch before they got to the island. Armie Hammer had been originally set to play Tom but he stepped away from the project after misconduct allegations surfaced, which he has denied. They were two weeks into prep and a pivotal role needed to be recast. Moore, a Broadway veteran, didn’t panic. “There’s always a moment when the understudy has to go on,” Moore said. “It always works out. ... There were a couple of days of ‘Oh boy’ and it yielded something even more wonderful.” Duhamel had been on Moore’s shortlist and had been friendly with Lopez for years. “He’s an incredibly handsome 1940s movie star who’s not afraid to look vulnerable and silly,” Moore said. Duhamel and Lopez spoke over Zoom and decided it was a go. “You really do need a certain kind of chemistry,” Lopez said. “This was not just romantic comedy chemistry. It’s more, you know, trusting each other and doing actions and doing stunts and also broad comedy. It was a lot.” “It was so much better than I even imagined,” Lopez added. “We were just like right on the same wavelength.” Coolidge also approved. “They’re so fun to look at,” Coolidge said. “You know, you want to see everything ... you want to see them get together. You’re attracted to both people and then you watch them, you know, be attracted to each other.” But of course pirates get in the way of some of that, and also promptly force the wedding guests to stand in a pool as their hostages while they try to find the fighting bride and groom. It was a lot of time partially submerged in water with about a dozen other people. “I’m probably not supposed to say, but we didn’t change the water the whole time we were shooting,” said Coolidge. D’Arcy Carden, who plays Marin’s new-agey and much younger girlfriend, said those 20 some days were a little humbling. Marin and Steve Coulter, who played Coolidge’s husband, would even sometimes take naps in their soaking wet suits next to one another, of which Carden says she has photographic proof. But aside from soggy shoes for two weeks, Carden said it was “as dreamy a situation as you could be in.” Much of the cast even lived together in a giant house and would go out together most nights, which translated into a family-like atmosphere on set. “It was like this weird sort of movie dorm,” Duhamel said. “But with a spa and a hot tub and a pool and a beach.” Lenny Kravitz, as Darcy’s ex-boyfriend, even flies in (in a helicopter) to disrupt things. “He’s an amplified sort of ridiculous version of, you know, a tiny part of what people think I am,” said Kravitz, a longtime friend of Lopez’s. Moore wanted to make sure that the film looked “big and James Bond and lux. Sometimes action rom coms can look kind of small,” he said. And all were impressed by Lopez, who doesn’t act the “movie star” part on set. During a day filming scenes on a small boat in the open water, Lopez went into producer mode and decided they didn’t need an extra boat for her makeup person to be out there with them. She could do her makeup herself. And she nailed it, Moore said. “She is a mogul and a producer and a storyteller, an actress, a singer and a brilliant physical comedienne,” Moore said. “She’s got discipline and she’s got artistic finesse which is a wonderful combo. She really can do everything.”

Josh Duhamel was filming a scene in the new action-rom com “Shotgun Wedding” in which his fiancé, played by Jennifer Lopez, throws a grenade up in the air. He hits it like a baseball into a bad guy who blows up and sets off a display of rainbow-colored fireworks.

“I was like, holy (expletive) this movie is bonkers,” Duhamel said.

The film, directed by Jason Moore, starts out like a regular romantic comedy. Lopez’s Darcy and Duhamel’s Tom are having a big destination wedding on an island. There’s funny and awkward family dynamics and a charismatic ex-boyfriend shows up too. And Darcy and Tom find themselves fighting and about to call off the wedding moments before they’re to walk down the aisle. Then a band of pirates armed with guns arrive and takes the wedding party hostage.

Lopez, who produced and stars, came to the Mark Hammer script through her producing partner Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, — they’ve been been making films together since “Maid in Manhattan.”

“She’s kind of the architect of careers,” Lopez said. “We do really kind of think about not just what we want to do, but what the audience would enjoy or what the world needs at different times. I even do that as an artist with my albums and the things I want to put out in the world as a message.”

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“Shotgun Wedding,” streaming Friday on Prime Video, was not just a fun genre mash up in a slick package, Lopez liked the idea that her character was getting married for the first time at an “older age” and that Tom was the “groomzilla,” obsessed with the details and logistics of planning the fete.

It took, she said, “Different things that people don’t think of as conventional and normal and making that thing regular and acceptable.”

The film was not exactly a hard sell for anyone involved. From Cheech Marin, who plays Darcy’s billionaire father, to Jennifer Coolidge, as Tom’s very normal Midwestern mother, everyone basically heard “Jennifer Lopez” and “Dominican Republic shoot” and signed up.

“It was a funny script,” Coolidge said. “We had a table read at the very beginning and I remember it was such a good table read. I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be really fun.’”

There was a hitch before they got to the island. Armie Hammer had been originally set to play Tom but he stepped away from the project after misconduct allegations surfaced, which he has denied. They were two weeks into prep and a pivotal role needed to be recast. Moore, a Broadway veteran, didn’t panic.

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“There’s always a moment when the understudy has to go on,” Moore said. “It always works out. … There were a couple of days of ‘Oh boy’ and it yielded something even more wonderful.”

Duhamel had been on Moore’s shortlist and had been friendly with Lopez for years.

“He’s an incredibly handsome 1940s movie star who’s not afraid to look vulnerable and silly,” Moore said. Duhamel and Lopez spoke over Zoom and decided it was a go.

“You really do need a certain kind of chemistry,” Lopez said. “This was not just romantic comedy chemistry. It’s more, you know, trusting each other and doing actions and doing stunts and also broad comedy. It was a lot.”

“It was so much better than I even imagined,” Lopez added. “We were just like right on the same wavelength.”

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Coolidge also approved.

“They’re so fun to look at,” Coolidge said. “You know, you want to see everything … you want to see them get together. You’re attracted to both people and then you watch them, you know, be attracted to each other.”

But of course pirates get in the way of some of that, and also promptly force the wedding guests to stand in a pool as their hostages while they try to find the fighting bride and groom. It was a lot of time partially submerged in water with about a dozen other people.

“I’m probably not supposed to say, but we didn’t change the water the whole time we were shooting,” said Coolidge.

D’Arcy Carden, who plays Marin’s new-agey and much younger girlfriend, said those 20 some days were a little humbling.

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Marin and Steve Coulter, who played Coolidge’s husband, would even sometimes take naps in their soaking wet suits next to one another, of which Carden says she has photographic proof.

But aside from soggy shoes for two weeks, Carden said it was “as dreamy a situation as you could be in.”

Much of the cast even lived together in a giant house and would go out together most nights, which translated into a family-like atmosphere on set.

“It was like this weird sort of movie dorm,” Duhamel said. “But with a spa and a hot tub and a pool and a beach.”

Lenny Kravitz, as Darcy’s ex-boyfriend, even flies in (in a helicopter) to disrupt things.

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“He’s an amplified sort of ridiculous version of, you know, a tiny part of what people think I am,” said Kravitz, a longtime friend of Lopez’s.

Moore wanted to make sure that the film looked “big and James Bond and lux. Sometimes action rom coms can look kind of small,” he said.

And all were impressed by Lopez, who doesn’t act the “movie star” part on set. During a day filming scenes on a small boat in the open water, Lopez went into producer mode and decided they didn’t need an extra boat for her makeup person to be out there with them. She could do her makeup herself. And she nailed it, Moore said.

“She is a mogul and a producer and a storyteller, an actress, a singer and a brilliant physical comedienne,” Moore said. “She’s got discipline and she’s got artistic finesse which is a wonderful combo. She really can do everything.”

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Kareena pays tribute to grandfather Raj Kapoor with performance on his song

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Kareena Kapoor paid a special tribute to her grandfather Raj Kapoor during IIFA 2025 with an incredible performance on his popular song ‘Pyaar Hua Ikraar Hua’ from his film, “Shree 420”.

In addition to this, Kareena also gave a memorable performance on another one of Raj Kapoor’s songs from “Shree 420, “Mera Joota Hai Japani”.

From the costumes to the expressions, Kareena’s performance is everything we hoped for.

Both these performances have been dropped by IIFA on their official IG account.

Previously, talking about her IIFA performance, the ‘Jab We Met’ actress called it “especially close to my heart”.

Elated to return to the IIFA stage, Kareena released a statement that read, “Celebrating Indian Cinema’s Global Triumph in the Heart of Jaipur, I’m excited to be returning to the IIFA stage after many years, and what better time than for their Silver Jubilee Edition.

“In a sense, IIFA’s journey and mine have almost run parallel – we’re celebrating 25 years together in the cinema.

“This performance is especially close to my heart as it pays tribute to my legendary grandfather, Raj Kapoor, whose 100th birth anniversary was recently celebrated across the country with so much love.

“It’s a surreal moment for me to be able to connect these dots and be a part of this celebration of legacy, family, and the enduring power of cinema.”

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Michelle Obama and her brother to launch a podcast with weekly guests

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Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, will host a new weekly podcast series starting this month featuring a special guest pulled from the world of entertainment, sports, health and business.

“IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson” will address “everyday questions shaping our lives, relationships and the world around us,” according to a press release. IMO is slang for “in my opinion.”

Some of the guests slated to speak to the former first lady and Robinson, the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, include the actors Issa Rae and Keke Palmer and psychologist Dr. Orna Guralnik.

Other guests include filmmakers Seth and Lauren Rogan; soccer star Abby Wambach; authors Jay Shetty, Glennon Doyle and Logan Ury; editor Elaine Welteroth; radio personality Angie Martinez; media mogul Tyler Perry; actor Tracee Ellis Ross; husband-and-wife athlete and actor Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union; and Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky.

The first two episodes — the first is an introductory one and the second features Rae — will premiere on March 12. New episodes will be released weekly and will be available on all audio platforms and YouTube.’

“With everything going on in the world, we’re all looking for answers and people to turn to,” Obama said in a statement. “There is no single way to deal with the challenges we may be facing — whether it’s family, faith, or our personal relationships — but taking the time to open up and talk about these issues can provide hope.”

Obama has had two other podcasts — “The Michelle Obama Podcast” in 2020 and another in 2023, “The Light We Carry.” Her husband, Barack Obama, offered a series of conversations about American life between him and Bruce Springsteen.

The new podcast is a production of Higher Ground, the media company founded in 2018 by the former president and first lady.

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IIFA 2025: Drones light up sky with SRK’s signature pose

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International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA 2025), which was held in Jaipur, concluded on a magical note courtesy of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

He showed up on the stage in style and left everyone awestruck with his performance on tracks ranging from Chaiyya Chaiyya and Lungi Dance to Jhoome Jo Pathaan, and Shava Shava among others.

To make the night more memorable and nostalgic for the audience in Jaipur, he also shook a leg with his Dil To Pagal Hai co-star Madhuri Dixit Nene.

The duo relived their old days by grooving to Koi Ladki Hai from the 1997 hit Dil To Pagal Hai, evoking cheers from the crowd.

His entry was as grand as ever. Right before he appeared on the stage, several drones lit up the sky in Jaipur, taking the shape of Shah Rukh Khan’s name, his signature pose, and a crown.

Before hitting the stage, Shah Rukh made an appearance on the green carpet.

Dressed in a sleek all-black outfit, he was seen greeting paparazzi and fans.

While walking the green carpet, he also bumped into singer Shreya Ghoshal. The two shared a hug and posed for the cameras.

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