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Around Tinsel Town
>> Kerala State Film Awards 2022: ‘Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam’ wins Best Film, Mammootty and Vincy Aloshious win acting honours
Mammootty in a still from ‘Christopher’ | Photo Credit: @mammukka/Twitter
The past decade at the Kerala State Film Awards has seen the rise of a younger crop of filmmakers and actors and the foregrounding of unconventional themes, so much so that the mainstream superstars were conspicuous by their absence from the winner’s list during this period.
> Shahi Kabir’s journey from the Police department to an award-winning debut
> Actor Vincy Aloshious’ journey to the top from a talent show
> Win for ‘Nna Thaan Case Kodu’ came while Ratheesh was working on its spin-off
>> ‘Oppenheimer’ sparks social media controversy over sex scene and a CGI dress
Florence Pugh and Cillian Murphy in ‘Oppenheimer’
Some social media users called for the boycott of Oppenheimer, which features the titular character having sex as he reads out verses from an ancient Sanskrit scripture claimed to be from the Bhagavad Gita
In another instance, a scene featuring a naked Florence Pugh has been altered by the censor board to add a CGI black dress.
>> Trevor Noah to make India debut with ‘Off The Record’ tour
Trevor Noah. | Photo Credit: Reuters
Actor and stand-up comedian Trevor Noah is extending his ‘Off The Record’ tour due to popular demand and is all set to tour India for the first time. With sold out-shows through USA and Europe between 2022 and 2023, the comedian will kick-start his Asia tour from India.
Bollywood
Vikramaditya Motwane announces shows on Emergency, Tihar Jail
Ayushmann Khurrana’s ‘Dream Girl 2’ poster unveiled
Richa Chadha begins shoot for her maiden international project
Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Kennedy’ to close Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2023
Radhika Madan’s ‘Sanaa’ to premiere at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2023
‘Made In Heaven’ season 2 gets release date
Jewish group demands removal of ‘Bawaal’ from Prime Video
Manoj Bajpayee begins filming for ‘Silence’ sequel
Deepti Naval, Kalki Koechlin’s ‘Goldfish’ to release in August
Anshuman Jha’s ‘Lord Curzon Ki Haveli’ set for world premiere at IFFM 2023
Hollywood
Actor Kevin Spacey acquitted of all nine sexual offence charges in London trial
Emmys to be postponed due to Hollywood strike: reports
First look of Christos Nikou’s ‘Fingernails’, featuring Jeremy Allen White and Jessie Buckley, out
Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ records biggest opening weekend ever for a female director
Greta Gerwig at the premiere of Barbie in London | Photo Credit: AP
Venice Film Festival unveils A-list lineup with ‘Priscilla,’ ‘Ferrari,’ ‘Maestro’ amid strikes
Toronto Film Festival unveils a starry lineup — and hopes the strike ends by September
TIFF 2023: Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’ to open Toronto Film Festival
SAG-AFTRA Foundation relief fund gets a ‘historic’ donation from Dwayne Johnson
We will not allow you to take away our dignity: Bryan Cranston to Disney’s head
After ‘Barbie’ success, Mattel set to make it big in Hollywood with 14 films
Donald Glover, Stephen Glover developing ‘Lando’ series for Lucasfilm and Disney+
I went to hell and back: Jamie Foxx opens up about health scare, hospitalisation
Ryan Reynolds to bring back sitcom ‘ALF’ on his Maximum Effort channel
‘John Wick’ prequel series ‘The Continental’ to debut on Prime Video in September
First images of Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham-Carter, Johnny Flynn’s from ‘One Life’ out
‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ set for a sequel, series
Aubrey Plaza to headline Off-Broadway revival of ‘Danny and the Deep Blue Sea’
‘Saw X’ gets an Indian release date
Regional Cinema
‘D51’ poster: Dhanush teams with Sekhar Kammula for next
Karthi and Arvind Swami team up for ‘96’ director Premkumar’s next
Pawan Kalyan asks Tamil film industry to be inclusive
‘Kanguva’ is about human emotions: Siva on Suriya-starrer
Varun Tej - Karuna Kumar film titled ‘Matka’
Vijay Sethupathi is the ‘dealer of death’ in Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Jawan’
Dulquer Salmaan teams with Venky Atluri for ‘Lucky Baskhar’
Nora Fatehi joins the cast of Varun Tej, Karuna Kumar’s ‘VT14’
First look of Nithiin’s ‘Extra’ out; gets a release date
Rukmini Maitra to star in Ram Kamal Mukherjee’s ambitious Bengali film ‘Draupadi’
Ragini Dwivedi joins the cast of Mohanlal’s ‘Vrushabha’ film goes on floors
New release date for Arjun Ashokan’s ‘Olam’ announced
Nadigar Sangam President Nasser clears air over the new FEFSI guidelines
Goundamani returns to acting with ‘Oththa Votu Muthaiya’
Teasers & Trailers
‘Captain Miller’: Dhanush goes all guns blazing in Arun Matheswaran’s actioner
Ram Charan launches the massy trailer of Chiranjeevi’s ‘Bholaa Shankar’
‘Only Murders in the Building’ season 3: Meryl Streep makes a mark along with a star-studded cast
‘One Piece’: Iñaki Godoy sets sail as Luffy in live-action series
‘The Hunt For Veerappan’ Netflix docu-series: How the brigand fell
‘The Morning Show’ season 3: Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and Jon Hamm are pushed to the brink
‘Choona’: Trailer of Jimmy Shergill’s heist-drama out
‘Invincible’ season 2: Superdaddy issues
‘Gandeevadhari Arjuna’: Varun Tej is out to settle some unfinished business
Manikandan and Atharvaa team up for ‘Mathagam’
‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ trailer unveiled at Comic Con 2023
‘Twisted Metal’: Anthony Mackie’s post-apocalyptic action-comedy series
Trailer of Urvashi’s 700th film, ‘Appatha’, out
New in streaming
New on Amazon Prime Video this week: Season 2 of ‘Good Omens’, Jenna Ortega’s ‘Scream VI’, and more
New on Netflix in July: Kohraa, an investigative drama from the creator of Pataal Lok, four-part adventure docuseries Unknown, Season 3 of Sweet Magnolias and more
New on Disney+ Hotstar in July: C.H.U.E.C.O, the first season of the Spanish drama, Season 2 of the crime show Shadow Detective, The comedy drama Slumber Party andmore
Coming to Apple TV+: Season 2 of David S Goyer’s epic saga Foundation, the documentary series Stephen Curry: Underrated, The Afterparty Season 2, and more
Essential Reading
1) From ‘Frankenstein’ to ‘Oppenheimer’: Capturing science and its purveyors on camera
>> On the occasion of the release of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer,’ here’s a deep dive into the representation of scientists in Hollywood and pop-culture
A still from ‘Oppenheimer’
2) Kohrra: Navigating the turmoil of love and family in a crime drama
>> This gripping show blends crime and emotion by poignantly exploring family relationships and illuminates the shadows of desires and human frailties
3) Big Kannada films fail to keep the promise while fans snub small gems
>> While it’s unfair to expect an exact repeat of 2022, the industry’s slump in form has indeed happened sooner than expected.
4) Nina Sosanya and Maggie Service on ‘Good Omens’ Season 2: ‘Anything can happen’
>> The actors who played Sisters Mary Loquacious and Theresa Garrulous in Season 1, return to run a fabulous coffee shop and a gorgeous record store right beside Mr Aziraphale’s bookshop
5) Nanda Kishore on directing Mohanlal in ‘Vrushabha,’ and moving on from the ‘Pogaru’ controversy
>> Kannada filmmaker Nanda Kishore admits that arrogance led to his downfall, and sees the pan-Indian film ‘Vrushabha’ as an opportunity to rise again in the industry
6) Jaya Prada in a new avatar
>> Actor Jaya Prada is busy these days — acting in films and web series, and being a judge on a reality show
7) Manjusha Radhakrishnan on designing costumes for ‘Saudi Vellakka’
>> The costume designer talks about designing costumes for a feature that landed her the Kerala State Award for the Best Costume Designer
8) Debutant director Lenin Balakrishnan all praise for actor Lena for her work in his Malayalam movie ‘Article 21’
>> Lenin wants more people to watch the film because the aim of making the film was to make people aware of Article 21-A
9) Malayalam director Vijay Menon explains what ‘Njaan Ippo Entha Cheyya’ is about
>> The narrative is about urban angst and how Gen Z reacts to different challenges, says Vijay Menon.
What to watch
1) Karan Johar’s celebration of imperfections looks well-groomed but lacks a beating heart in ‘Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani’
2) The second volume of the third season of ‘The Witcher’is a fitting farewell to Henry Cavill and a set up for Liam Hemsworth
3) Pawan Kalyan and Sai Dharam Tej cannot save the bore that is ‘BRO’
4) ‘LGM’ is like a MS Dhoni innings without any sixes or boundaries
5) A confused mix of genres ends up in no man’s land in ‘Kurukkan’
6) A restrained Santhanam and a hilarious third act save ‘DD Returns’
7) ‘They Cloned Tyrone’ is John Boyega and Jamie Foxx’s zany trip down a Blaxploitation rabbit hole
8) Michael Sheen and David Tennant are ineffably delightful in the second season of ‘Good Omens’
9) ‘Aachar & Co.’ is a partly nostalgic period drama that lacks emotional punch
10) An unsure screenplay dulls ‘The Beanie Bubble’
11) ‘Happiness for Beginners’ is a formulaic rom-com embellished with smart dialogue
12) ‘Kousalya Supraja Rama’ is an engaging take on the perils of male ego
