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Around Tinsel Town
>> Cannes 2024: Festival to screen Indian directors Payal Kapadia and Sandhya Suri’s films
Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light and Sandhya Suri’s Santoshhave been selected In Competition and Un Certain Regard sections respectively, at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and Kapadia’s film will compete for the top prize Palme d’Or. The 77th edition will open with Quentin Dupieux’s The Second Act.
Titles from Yorgos Lanthimos, Francis Ford Coppola, and Trump film The Apprenticewill also compete at the festival and George Lucas will receive an honorary Palme d’Or. Meanwhile, Konstantin Bojanov’s TheShameless features an Indian and Nepali cast of characters.
>> All about CinemaCon 2024
Walt Disney showcased highlights from its upcoming theatrical slate at the 2024 CinemaCon Convention in Las Vegas, with Inside Out 2, Captain America: Brave New World, Deadpool & Wolverine, Alien: Romulus and Moana 2 were teased at the event.Meanwhile, Universal Pictures teased Wicked, Twisters and announced Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. Warner Bros. gave a glimpse of the Joker sequel, Beetlejuice 2 and more.
Bollywood
‘KGF’ star Yash, Prime Focus India team up for Ramayana adaptation
Salman Khan’s next film is titled ‘Sikander’, to release on Eid, 2025
Cinematographer Gangu Ramsay of iconic Ramsay Brothers dies at 83
‘Maidaan’ makers issue statement for plagiarism claims
Ekta Kapoor introduces Bonita Rajpurohit as a transwoman protagonist in ‘Love Sex Aur Dhoka 2’
Tabu, Kareena and Kriti’s ‘Crew’ enters Rs 100 crore club in nine days of release
Bhamini Oza to play Kasturba Gandhi in ‘Gandhi’ series
Biopic on first Ashok Chakra recipient from Kashmir announced
Ankita Lokhande to star in Sandeep Singh’s web series ‘Amrapali’
Hollywood
Disney sets release dates for ‘Star Wars’ movie, ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’, ‘Toy Story 5’, and ‘Moana’ live action
‘GOT’ prequel series ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight’ finds lead actors
Kit Harington says ‘GOT’ spinoff on Jon Snow is ‘off the table’
‘House of Cards’ creator Beau Willimon roped in for ‘Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi’
‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ wraps up 12 seasons, references ‘Seinfeld’ in finale
Actor Jonathan Majors avoids jail time for assaulting his ex-girlfriend
97th Oscars set for March, 2025 with an extended voting period
‘Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story’ documentary will kick-off new DC Studios label
Renée Zellweger to return for new ‘Bridget Jones’ movie
‘Blair Witch Project’ reebot in the works from Lionsgate and Blumhouse
Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher announce divorce
‘The Color Purple’ director Blitz Bazawule to tackle ‘Black Samurai’ film for Warner Bros
Damien Chazelle’s next film after ‘Babylon’ picked up by Paramount
Regional cinema
Vijay and Venkat Prabhu’s ‘The Greatest Of All Time’ to release on September 5
Rajinikanth’s ‘Vettaiyan’ to release in theatres in October
Vijay Deverakonda files complaint about ‘negative propaganda’ against actor’s new film ‘Family Star’
Kamal Haasan’s ‘Indian 2’ to release in June
Malayalam movies out of PVR screens over content-sharing row
Pradeep Ranganathan teams up with ‘Love Today makers; film to be directed by Ashwath Marimuthu
Prithviraj Sukumaran-starrer ‘Aadujeevitham - The Goat Life’ crosses Rs 100 crore mark globally
Bharath Mohan to direct ‘Indru Netru Naalai 2’
Dhananjaya’s next is ‘Kotee’, directed by Parameshwar Gundkal
Venkatesh Daggubati teams up with Anil Ravipudi for the third time
Shivarajkumar in a lawyer’s attire in new poster of ‘Bhairathi Ranagal’
Basil Joseph’s next titled ‘Marana Mass’; Tovino Thomas to produce it
Film producer Gandhimathi Balan passes away
World cinema
‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ named most popular animated series in the world by Guinness World Records
Trailers
Lady Gaga puts a smile on Joaquin Phoenix in ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ teaser
Allu Arjun thrashes goons while rocking a saree in ‘Pushpa 2 The Rule’ glimpse
Sanjay Leela Bhansali creates a sizzling world of passion and betrayal in ‘Heeramandi’ trailer
Dulquer Salmaan is a common man on an extraordinary journey in ‘Lucky Baskhar’ teaser
In ‘Bridgerton’ Season 3 Part 1 trailer, it’s Penelope Featherington’s time to shine
Mia Goth’s Maxine is haunted by a creepy serial killer in ‘MaXXine’ trailer
In ‘Srikanth’ trailer, Rajkummar Rao promises a hard-hitting performance
Tovino Thomas plays an actor stuck on the wrong side of superstardom in ‘Nadikar’ teaser
Pratik Gandhi, Vidya Balan’s ‘Do Aur Do Pyaar’ trailer promises to be a bittersweet rom-com
James McAvoy is unsettling in ‘Speak No Evil trailer, the new psy-horror
Teaser of Sivakarthikeyan-produced ‘Kurangu Pedal’ pedals in with a tender rural drama
Essential Reading
1) Tabu on ‘Crew; and the box office success: This is a great phase to be in
>> As the veteran actor finds herself at the centre of a string of hits, she opens up about her work and staying relevant to audiences
2) Caste and cinema: The long shadow of Amar Singh Chamkila
>> The Punjabi singer’s biopic has dropped on Netflix and here is a look at how Chamkila’s ethnic identity informed his art
3) R M Veerappan: The life and times of the Tamil film producer and veteran Dravidian politician
>> In a public career spanning over 50 years, RMV was pivotal in shaping MGR’s acting career, apart from being a successful producer
6) How filmmakers in Tamil Nadu are using streaming platforms to up the ante
>> Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi, Halitha Shameem, Madhumita and Nandhini JS weigh in on why several female filmmakers in Tamil Nadu have OTT content in their repertoire
7) Actors who multitask: Siddhu Jonnalagadda, Adivi Sesh, Naveeen Polishetty and Vishwak Sen
>> Also donning the hats of screenwriters, these young actors have carved a niche in Telugu cinema
8) Arun Bose: ‘Marivillin Gopurangal’ is a light-hearted entertainer that will resonate
>> The Malayalam director talks about his latest release starring Indrajith, Shruti Ramachandran and Vincy Alosious
9) Unni Mukundan on how his role in ‘Jai Ganesh’ was transformative personally and professionally
>> The actor essays a wheelchair-bound character in the mystery directed by Ranjith Shankar
10) ‘The Kerala Story’: A film and the politics of resentment
>> Idukki diocese’s decision to mandatorily screen the film for Catechism students has had an impact on low-decibel electioneering in the State
11) What made Sivaji Ganesan an actor nonpareil?
>> Y Gee Mahendra recalls the experience of working with the thespian and the making of three iconic Sivaji films
12) PVR to roll out 90 more screens across India in 2024 and focus on indie movies: Sanjeev Kumar Bijli
>> The Executive Director of PVR INOX talks about the rise of independent films and the many hues of entertainment
What to watch
1) ‘Fallout’ is a roaring rampage of post-apocalyptic carnage
2) Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff jest and joust in ‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan,’ a loud and clear mass entertainer
3) In ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’, Vineeth Sreenivasan’s humour holds together this ode to cinema and friendship
4) Fahadh Faasil’s uninhibited act carries the thinly-plotted ‘Aavesham’
5) Imtiaz Ali’s ‘Amar Singh Chamkila’ is a vibrant musical gamely anchored by Diljit Dosanjh
6) Ajay Devgn takes a straight shot at sporting glory in ‘Maidaan’
7) ‘Romeo’ is a lopsided tale of one-sided love with Vijay Anthony having a lot of fun
8) ‘DeAr’, starring G V Prakash, Aishwarya Rajesh, is a contrived relationship drama
9) In ‘Perfect Days,’ Wim Wenders paints a charming portrait of the everyday
10) In ‘Scoop’, Gillian Anderson, Rufus Sewell sparkle in an engrossing drama on Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview
11) ‘One Life’ is a conventional biopic driven by the ever-dependable Anthony Hopkins
12) ‘Civil War’ is Alex Garland’s fractured dystopia
13) ‘The First Omen’ is a deliciously scary prequel that revives the franchise
14) Andrew Scott consummately nails 50 shades of grey in ‘Ripley’, the Netflix series
15) Colin Farrell’s ‘Sugar’ is a missed opportunity
