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Around Tinsel Town
>> When stars descended at Jamnagar
Mukesh Ambani’s youngest son, Anant, is set to tie the knot with industrialist Viren Merchant’s daughter, Radhika Merchant, later this year and the three-day pre-wedding festivities was attended by celebrities, sports personalities and bigwigs of the tech world. Bollywood icons Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, south Indian sensation Rajinikanth, and Senegalese-American singer Akon were some of the guests. Rihanna kicked off the event with her performance while Deepika Padukone danced with Ranveer Singh and Shah Rukh, Aamir, Salman Khan shook their legs to ‘Naatu Naatu’. Rajini, who attended the bash with his family, called the pre-wedding function mesmerizing.
>> Not much to enjoy for makers of ‘Enjoy Enjaami’
In a video shared via X, music director Santhosh Narayanan revealed that Arivu, Dhee and himself — the artists behind the viral song ‘Enjoy Enjaami’ — have not been remunerated by the music label Maajja, even after three years since the release of the song. The composer added that he is now planning on starting his own label so that indie artists can have a “smooth and transparent platform to publish their work and earn revenue.” When a section of social media misinterpreted it to be directed at AR Rahman, Santhosh posted a tweet to clarify that Rahman has been “a pillar of support without any expectations through the entire Maajja fiasco,” and that the Oscar-winner is “also a victim of false promises and malice.”
Bollywood
Alia Bhatt to headline a film in the YRF spy universe
Anupam Kher announces new directorial, ‘Tanvi The Great’
Ananya Panday announces Prime Video’s coming-of-age drama series ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’
Darsheel Safary hints at reuniting with Aamir Khan 16 years after ‘Taare Zameen Par’
Nora Fatehi joins cast of Kunal Kemmu’s ‘Madgaon Express’
Hollywood
Anthony Hopkins to star in Timothy Woodward Jr’s directorial ‘Eyes In The Trees’
Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis to return for ‘Freaky Friday’ sequel
‘House of the Dragon’ Season 2 set to premiere in June
Priyanka Chopra Jonas to play a pirate in ‘The Bluff’
Cast of ‘The Last of Us’ season two revealed
Richard E. Grant, Stephen Fry and others join cast of ‘Too Much’
Cameron Diaz in talks to star opposite Keanu Reeves in Jonah Hill-directed ‘Outcome’
Kevin Spacey to play ‘The Devil’ in ‘The Contract’
Rebecca Ferguson on board Chris Pratt’s sci-fi thriller ‘Mercy’
Kumail Nanjiani joins the cast of ‘Only Murders in the Building’
Clémence Poésy, Emily Beecham join cast of ‘King and Conqueror’
‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ renewed for two more seasons
‘Baywatch’ to get a reboot; Lara Olsen onboard as showrunner
Wendell Pierce on board James Gunn’s ‘Superman’
Ming-Na Wen joins cast of new ‘Karate Kid’ film
Regé-Jean Page teams up with Steven Soderbergh for spy thriller ‘Black Bag’
Carla Gugino joins Bill Murray and Naomi Watts in ‘The Friend’
Margaret Qualley to play Amanda Knox in limited Hulu series
‘SNL 1975’ origin movie adds Nicholas Braun, Tommy Dewey and more to cast
Documentary ‘Frida’ to stream on Prime Video from March 14
Regional Cinema
Jahnvi Kapoor joins Ram Charan’s film with Buchi Babu Sana
‘Kalki 2898 AD’ makers reveal Prabhas’ character name in new poster
Tamannaah Bhatia is a Shiva devotee in Sampath Nandi ‘Odela 2’
Suraj Venjaramoodu to make his Tamil debut with Vikram’s ‘Chiyaan 62’
Vishnu Manchu stars as Bhakta Kannappa in ‘Kannappa’ first look
Team ‘Get-Set Baby’ wraps up production
Sharwanand’s next titled ‘Manamey’; first look out
‘Manjummel Boys’ becomes fastest Malayalam film to cross Rs 100 crore-mark at box office
‘KGF’-fame Ravi Basrur on board Unni Mukundan’s ‘Marco’
Varalaxmi Sarathkumar gets engaged to gallerist Nicholai Sachdev
Nivetha Pethuraj slams rumours levied against her: ‘I still believe there’s some humanity left’
Trailers
Vijay Deverakonda and Mrunal Thakur team up for a quirky family drama in ‘Family Star’ teaser
Pankaj Tripathi suspects Sara Ali Khan, Karisma Kapoor and others in ‘Murder Mubarak’ trailer
Sara Ali Khan becomes the voice of freedom in ‘Ae Watan Mere Watan’ trailer
Colin Farrell is fantastic as a private detective investigating a high-profile missing case in ‘Sugar’ trailer
Ajay Devgn leads the charge in ‘Maidaan’ trailer
Rajat Kapoor fends off pirates in ‘Lootere’ trailer
Iconic video game gets eye-popping series adaptation in ‘Fallout’ trailer
Chris Sanders brings a heartwarming adventure in ‘The Wild Robot’ trailer
Essential reading
1) Kate Winslet on raising hell with ‘The Regime’ and more
>> The Oscar-winning actor talks about her upcoming mini-series in which she plays a paranoid populist leader
2) Prakash Raj on presenting Kannada movie ‘Photo,’ and being targeted for his politics
>> The veteran actor discusses his growth as an individual and an artist
3) Nimisha Sajayan talks about being Mala Jogi, the lead character in ‘Poacher’
>> She also speaks about exploring new characters in Tamil cinema and other languages
4) Singer Pradeep Kumar tells why he turned producer for this road film
>> Pradeep Kumar and team behind ‘Nalla Perai Vaanga Vendum Pillaigale’ talk about how the film happened
5) ‘True crime allows you to pretend you are an investigative journalist’: Makers of Netflix’s ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story’
>> The makers share how they got the High Court’s go-ahead after a CBI plea delayed its release citing the ongoing case
6) Director Guruprasad on ‘Ranganayaka’ and forming a hit combination with Jaggesh
>> Ahead of his fifth film, Kannada filmmaker Guruprasad opens up his penchant for comedy
7) Nag Venkat talks about his experience of turning from a software engineer to a filmmaker
>> The debutant shares his experience on ‘Kailasa Kasidre’, a cat-and-mouse game with action, romance and comedy
8) Remembering the prolific music director Vijaya Bhaskar
>> A panel discussion at the 15th Bengaluru International Film Festival went down memory lane to describe the greatness of the Kannada composer
9) Sumanth Bhat on directing the Kannada movie ‘Mithya’ and fulfilling a long-cherished dream
>> Backed by Rakshit Shetty, ‘Mithya’ is a poignant movie about an 11-year-old boy’s trauma of losing his parents
10) ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ and how the legal drama goes beyond the confines of labels
>> A detailed take on the genre-blending Best Picture contender at the Academy Awards
11) From ‘Premalu’ to ‘Manjummel Boys,’ a look at Mollywood’s purple patch
>> The recent Malayalam films have earned a combined record gross collection in Kerala of over ₹200 crore
12) With the Oscars nearing, a deep dive by makers of documentaries on how the format is being welcomed
>> Directors and producers discuss the Indian documentary scene and why visual non-fiction narratives are gaining popularity
What to watch
1) R Madhavan makes the mean monster shine opposite Ajay Devgn in ‘Shaitaan’
2) ‘Gaami’ is an immersive soul-searching journey
3) Three terrific female leads deliver poignant movie magic in ‘The Color Purple’
4) Death becomes them in Andrew Haigh’s piercing drama ‘All of Us Strangers’
5) A fantastic Urvasi shoulders ‘J Baby’, a meandering tale on kinship
6) Millie Bobby Brown’s ‘Damsel’ is a fairytale misfire struggles to slay dragons and stereotypes
7) Shivarajkumar, Prabhu Deva add fun to ‘Karataka Damanaka’
8) ‘Shōgun’ is an endlessly engaging samurai saga
9) ‘Fairy Folk’ is an unusual urban fantasy that exposes the reality of corroding relationships
10) ‘The Zone of Interest’ is a harrowing, one-of-a-kind portrayal of apathy
11) Adam Sandler cannot save ‘Spaceman’, a gloomy sci-fi affair
12) ‘American Fiction’ gets all the write stuff from Jeffrey Wright
13) Nothing much is uncovered in ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth’ docu-series
14) Bejoy Nambiar’s technical prowess overpowers the plot in ‘Por’ which battles for our attention