Welcome to Cyrus Says!
American dancer and actress Lauren Gottlieb joins Cyrus Says and drops bomb after bomb — from working with Tom Cruise on Tropic Thunder, pitching Britney Spears (but choosing JLo), and the time Tobey Maguire fired her!

She also reflects on her whirlwind life: from dancing on Glee and So You Think You Can Dance, to shifting to India, doing Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, starring in ABCD, and becoming a desi at heart (almost).
Watch the video episode till the end to catch Cyrus messing up something very basic.

🎧 Expect stories about:

Her working with Tom Cruise
How she ended up training him for an Award Show
Choosing JLo over Britney!
Getting fired by Tobey Maguire on a Hollywood set
Working on Glee, puking in a trashcan, and getting written into the show!
Moving to India, struggling with aunties, accents, and culture shock
Representing India at the Oscars for Naatu Naatu
This is one of the wildest ride episodes we've done. From Hollywood madness to Mumbai monsoons — Lauren's done it all.

Cyrus and Shreyas Manohar return for a chaotic yet insightful episode covering everything from iconic restaurants to superhero hypotheticals. They begin with the news about Jimmy Boy, the beloved Parsi eatery forced to shut down just before its 100th year—only for Shreyas to clarify that the legacy continues across Mumbai in the form of takeaways and pop-ups.

The episode also ventures into what one should do in a zombie apocalypse, before moving into a sharp comparison between comedy scenes in New York and India. They cap things off with a funny discussion about Superman landing in Maharashtra—and MS Dhoni trademarking the phrase “Captain Cool.” Is it branding genius or just peak Dhoni?

In this powerful episode of Cyrus Says, journalist and author Rudraneil Sengupta joins Cyrus to talk about his deeply researched book The Beast Within, which explores the raw, real world of Indian wrestling and the socio-cultural landscape that surrounds it.

From the akhadas of Haryana to the rise of female wrestlers like the Phogats, Rudraneil shares what it was like to witness a society where women in veils live alongside girls training in wrestling singlets — a striking portrait of tradition clashing with progress. He also recounts stories of Chandgi Ram and the early days of resistance to women’s wrestling, leading to the eventual rise of Mahavir Phogat and his daughters.
The conversation also touches on sexual misconduct scandals, the resilience of women athletes in the face of fear, and what we can learn about culture by truly immersing ourselves in it.
Rudraneil also opens up about the darker realities he uncovered while writing the book — stories of missing children, ineffective policing, and the silent heroes fighting to make a difference. With vivid characters like Meera and ACP Sophia, and insights into gymnastics, Virat Kohli, this episode is both wide-ranging and deeply rooted in truth.