NewsBytes

Sonam leaves awards show midway for Fawad Khan

Pakistani heartthrob Fawad Khan recently celebrated his 34th birthday while attending the YPO conference in Goa with his wife Sadaf. And we all saw Instagram pictures of the two rolling in, with the actor remaining rather hush-hush about his big day. The couple flew back to Mumbai the next day, where his co-stars threw him a birthday dinner.

On his return to Mumbai, Fawad met his unit from Kapoor and Sons including co-stars Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt and they all celebrated his birthday over an intimate dinner. But it seems Sonam Kapoor and Fawad, too, have developed a special bond as the star cut his third cake of the birthday week with his Khoobsurat co-star. Sonam, who was attending Filmfare Glamour and Style awards, told Masala! that she raced out midway just to join Fawad’s birthday party! “The only reason I would run out of an award ceremony is FK,” said the 29-year-old, who hosted a birthday bash for Fawad at her Juhu bungalow. The two were also joined by Anil Kapoor and Sonam’s sister Rhea Kapoor.

Queen Latifah takes the lead in Empire spinoff

Earlier in August, co-creator of Empire, Lee Daniels, announced a pilot in collaboration with 20th Century Fox that would be about a white woman named Star who forms a girl group with two black women. The producers also hinted on the possibility for a crossover with Empire. “Perhaps down the line there will be some shared DNA, but not heading into the show,” said Fox’s Dana Walden. Now, months after the announcement, Daniels has finalized the cast for the untitled project.

According to TVLine, Queen Latifah will star as Carlotta, an Atlanta beauty salon owner who also happens to have an amazing voice and plays a mentor to the girl group, who hopes to make it big with their musical act. And while Carlotta becomes a surrogate mother to the trio — played by newcomers Jude Demorest, Ryan Destiny and Brittany O’Grady — she doesn’t approve of their dreams. Queen Latifah was last seen in NBC’s musical The Wiz.

Just like Empire, the drama will showcase the allure and heartache of the cut-throat, competitive music industry but will explore cultural themes from a newer perspective. The series will also see transgender actress Amiyah Scott play Cotton, a friend of the girls who harbors dreams of becoming a star herself. Production for the series is said to begin this month in Atlanta.