Actor Vijay Rangaraju Apologises for His Comments on Kannada Actor Vishnuvardhan

Vijay Rangaraju, the Telugu actor, posted a video apologising to the fans of late Kannada actor Vishnuvardhan and his wife Bharathi, after he said made some negative statements about the actor in a recent interview.

In the three-minute-long video, he cited his financial and professional struggles as reasons that led to him making negative statements on the late actor. He also apologised to actors Sudeep Kichcha, Puneeth Rajkumar, and Upendra who had called for an apology from Rangaraju.

In the interview, Rangaraju had narrated an incident about Vishnuvardhan during the shoot of the Kannada film Muththaide Bhagya. In the film, the late actor had a cameo and was shooting for a scene when he reportedly saw Rangaraju and Kannada actor Jaya Malini hug. He immediately asked them to leave the set and stated that it was disturbing for him.

“His mentality, from the beginning, has not been good,” Rangaraju had said in the interview. He went on to narrate other incidents that showcased Vishnuvardhan in a poor light.

The comments did not sit well with the Kannada film industry. According to a report by The Times of India, Vishnuvardhan’s fan association, Dr. Vishnu Sena Samiti, filed a complaint against the actor with the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce. The organisation has called for strict action to be taken against Rangaraju.

Actors such as Puneeth Rajkumar, Sudeep Kichcha, Rakshit Shetty, and Yash had taken to social media to express their displeasure and sought an apology for the defamatory remarks made against the veteran Kannada actor.

Puneeth’s Twitter post said, “Defaming one our senior most artist Dr. Vishnuvardhan was uncalled for. We want the concerned person to provide an unconditional apology for his act. The entire film industry stands united respecting art and an artist’s contribution Let us be human first.”

Similarly, Rakshit Shetty wrote, “The veteran actor Vishnu Sir has been the epitome of dignity. To bring disgrace to such a personality is highly condemnable. He who has made such derogatory statement should revoke it and apologise promptly. Let us be mindful of our words and be respectful towards fellow artists.”

Vishnuvardhan died in 2009 at the age of 59 due to a cardiac arrest.

Actor Arya Banerjee Found Dead in Her Kolkata Residence, Police Rules Out Homicide

Actor Arya Banerjee was found dead in her apartment in Kolkata on Friday. She was 35.

According to a report by The Indian Express, her domestic help had informed the neighbours after the actor did not respond to calls. Her neighbours also tried to call her several times before they reached out to the police.

The police broke into the apartment and found her lying in the bedroom. She was bleeding from the nose and had vomitted but there were no other injuries. She was rushed to the hospital where she was declared dead upon arrival.

Samples were collected from her bedroom by a forensic team.

The postmortem report has ruled out homicide. Quoting IANS, a report in The Times of India stated that the actor was suffering from cirrhosis of liver. “It was not a case of homicide. Alcohol was found in her stomach at the time of her death,” said Kolkata Police Joint Commissioner (crime) Muralidhar Sharma.

Banerjee was the daughter of the late sitar player Nikhil Banerjee. She had acted in films such as Milan Lutharia’s The Dirty Picture (2011) and Dibakar Banerjee’s film LSD: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (2010). Apart from appearing in Hindi films, the late actor had also acted in an episode of television series Savdhaan India. She had also worked on a couple of modelling assignments in Mumbai and she took up a three-month acting course at Anupam Kher’s acting school, Actor Prepares, in 2013.

According to a report by The Telegraph, the actor had been living alone since the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown. The report added that she usually kept to herself, wouldn’t interact with her neighbours and would get food delivered at home from food delivery apps.

“We are trying to find out who would visit the house for any work. Her call details are being scanned to see if she was in any distress and if she had received any food from outside in the last 24 hours,” the police said to The Telegraph.

‘Dil Bechara’, ‘Soorarai Pottru’, ‘Money Heist’ & ‘Scam 1992’: Most Searched Films & Web Series in 2020

Dil Bechara, late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s last film, and Suriya’s Soorarai Pottru were the most searched movies in India in 2020 while Pataal Lok, Mirzapur 2 and Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story were the most searched web series, according to Google’s Year in Search 2020 list. 

Here’s a recap of the top 10 films and web series that were trending in 2020.

Dil Bechara

Dil Bechara is a coming-of-age romantic drama starring late actor Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjana Sanghi. It premiered on Disney+ Hotstar in July, a month after Rajput died by suicide, making this film his swan song. Dil Bechara is a remake of The Fault In Our Stars (2014), directed by Josh Boone starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, which was a screen adaptation of the Josh Green novel of the same name.

Soorarai Pottru

Actor Suriya‘s Tamil drama film Soorarai Pottru premiered on Amazon Prime Video in November. The film is based on the life of retired Indian Army captain and founder of the low-cost airline Air Deccan, GR Gopinath.

Tanhaji

Tanhaji: The Unsung Hero is a historical drama directed by Om Raut, starring Ajay Devgn, Kajol and Saif Ali Khan. The film released in February and is based on the life of the Maratha warrior Tanaji Malusare, who was warrior-king Shivaji’s military assistant.

Shakuntala Devi

Shakuntala Devi is a comedy-drama biopic of Shakuntala Devi, the renowned mathematician who was also known as the ‘human computer’. It premiered on Amazon Prime Video in July. The film stars Vidya Balan in the lead along with Jisshu SenguptaSanya Malhotra, and Amit Sadh in pivotal roles.

Gunjan Saxena

Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl is a biopic on the Indian Air Force pilot Gunjan Saxena, who was one of the first female pilots who went to war at Kargil in 1999. The film stars Janhvi Kapoor as Saxena, along with Pankaj Tripathi as her father and Angad Bedi as her brother. The film premiered on Netflix in August and focuses on her achievements, as well as on how she battled gender discrimination in a male-dominated profession.

Laxmii

Laxmi is a comedy horror film starring Akshay Kumar and Kiara Advani. It premiered on Disney+ Hotstar in November. The film’s trailer drew flak on social media for how the actor and filmmakers had handled the portrayal of a transgender person.

Sadak 2

Sadak 2 is a sequel to the 1991 road movie Sadak, directed by Mahesh Bhatt. It released in August on Disney+ Hotstar. Marking the return of Bhatt in the director’s chair, the film stars Sanjay Dutt and Pooja Bhatt who reprised there roles in the sequel along with Alia Bhatt, Jisshu Sengupta and Aditya Roy Kapur. The film’s trailer released in August and became the second most disliked video on Youtube.

Baaghi 3

Baaghi 3 is the third action thriller film in the Baaghi series, starring Tiger Shroff, Shraddha Kapoor, Disha PataniRiteish Deshmukh and Ankita Lokhande. The film, that released in theatres in March just before the lockdown, was the eighth most searched in the search engine giant.

Extraction

Extraction was the only Hollywood film that made it to the India’s most trending movies in 2020 as per Google among nine other Indian films. The action-thriller film stars Chris Hemsworth in the lead along with Randeep Hooda, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Golshifteh Farahani, Pankaj Tripathi, David Harbour and Priyanshu Painyuli. The film premiered on the OTT giant Netflix in April.

Gulabo Sitabo

Gulabo Sitabo is a comedy-drama film starring Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana, who appeared on screen together for the first time. The film, that paved the way for big budget Indian films to release on digital platforms, premiered on Amazon Prime Video in June. The film also features Farrukh Jaffar, Srishti Shrivastava and Vijay Raaz.

Web Series/TV

Money Heist

Money Heist, a Spanish heist crime drama television series, was the most searched web series on Google in 2020. Shot in Spain’s Madrid, this 2017 television series initially released on a Spanish network in May until later that year Netflix acquired the streaming rights. The OTT giant then released the first part on November 2017, followed by the second part in 2018, part 3 in 2019 and the fourth in April 2020 along with which it renewed the show for a fifth and the final part. The series has won a number of awards at the 46th International Emmy Awards.

Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story

Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story is a Hindi crime drama web series directed by Hansal Mehta, that premiered on SonyLiv in October. The series is an adaptation of journalist Sucheta Dalal and Debashish Basu’s 1992 book The Scam: Who Won, Who Lost, Who Got Away, based on the shocking stock market scam by infamous stockbroker Harshad Mehta in 1992. The series stars Pratik Gandhi in the lead along with Shreya Dhanwanthary, Hemant Kher and Nikhil Dwivedi.

Bigg Boss 14

Bigg Boss: Ab Scene Paltega is the fourteenth season of the Indian reality television series Bigg Boss that is hosted by actor Salman Khan for the eleventh time. The series was broadcasted on Colors in October and also streams on OTT platforms Voot and Disney+ Hotstar. The show is the Indian version of the Dutch-British show Big Brother and the franchise extended its presence in Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi.

Mirzapur 2

Mirzapur 2 is the second season of the action crime thriller web television series Mirzapur that premiered on Amazon Prime Video in October. Based on Purvanchal (east region) in Uttar Pradesh, the series evolved from a very patriarchal set up in the first season to women-driven in the second season, making it one of the most searched web series on Google this year. The series features Pankaj Tripathi, Rasika Dugal, Shweta Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Divyendu Sharma, Vikrant Massey, Sheeba Chaddha, Rajesh Tailang, Harshita Gaur, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Vijay Varma, and Isha Talwar.

Paatal Lok

Paatal Lok is a Hindi crime thriller web series, produced by Anushka Sharma‘s Clean Slate Filmz. It premiered on Amazon Prime Video in May. Following numerous controversies regarding the plot and ‘Boycott Paatal Lok’ trends on social media, the series made to the top 10 list of most searched on Google and was praised as one of the best Hindi series. The series is inspired from Tarun Tejpal’s 2010 novel The Story of My Assassins and features Jaideep Ahlawat, Abhishek Banerjee, Neeraj Kabi, Swastika Mukherjee, Gul Panag and Ishwak Singh.

Sex Education

Sex Education is a British comedy-drama television series that streams on Netflix. The first season premiered in January 2019 followed by the second season in January 2020. It has been renewed for a third season.

Breathe: Into the Shadows

Breathe: Into the Shadows is a 12-episode crime drama thriller web series that premiered on Amazon Prime Video in July. The series stars Abhishek Bachchan, Amit Sadh, and Nithya Menen in lead roles.

Dark

Dark is a three-season German science fiction thriller series that first premiered in 2017. The third season premiered on Netflix in June. The series deals with space and time travel and its effect on human nature.

Bandish Bandits

Bandish Bandits is an Indian web series that premiered on Amazon Prime Video in August. The series has a musical theme and stars Naseeruddin Shah, Ritwik Bhowmik, Sheeba Chaddha, Rajesh Tailang, Atul Kulkarni and Kunaal Roy Kapur.

Special Ops

Special Ops is an Indian espionage thriller series starring Kay Kay Menon in the lead. It premiered on Disney+ Hotstar in March and has been released in seven major Indian languages.

Photo Source: Wikipedia

Vikrant Massey to Star in Hindi Remake of Malayalam Film ‘Forensic’

Vikrant Massey, the Hindi film actor, is set to star in the Hindi remake of the Malayalam film Forensic, PTI reported on Saturday.

It is among the three Hindi remakes of South Indian films that Mansi Bagla’s production company Mini Films has acquired rights for.

Forensic is a crime and mystery thriller starring Tovino Thomas as the protagonist. It released in theatres this February and is currently streaming on Netflix.

Forensic is co-written and co-directed by Akhil Paul and Anas Khan and the film marks their directorial debut. The film features Mamta MohandasReba Monica JohnRenji Panicker, Dhanesh Anand and Saiju Kurup in prominent roles.

Thomas plays the role of Samuel, who is a medico-legal advisor better known as a forensic officer, the same role that Massey will be playing in the Hindi remake. The story revolves around the forensic officer who uses his forensic skills in search of a psychotic serial killer who is out on a killing spree and his victims are usually little girls.

Talking about the film, Massey told PTI: “When I saw Forensic, I was immediately hooked onto it. It is an intelligent film that keeps you on tenterhooks. At the same time, it is an out-and-out entertainer.”

Bagla said that the Hindi remake will be a one of a kind film. “In Hindi films, we have always seen cop movies but have not seen a movie on a forensic officer who plays a vital role in solving any crime drama.”

It is not clear when Massey, who is currently shooting for 14 Phere, is expected to begin shooting for the remake.

There has been no announcement on the title and the rest of the cast of the Hindi remake yet. There has also been no official announcements on the shooting schedule or release date of the film.

Annaatthe: Rajinikanth’s Next Will Resume Shooting on December 15

Rajinikanth’s Annaatthe will resume shooting on December 15, announced Sun Pictures on Saturday, the same day as the actor’s birthday. Besides Rajinikanth, the film also stars NayantharaKeerthy Suresh, Prakash RajSooriMeena, and Khushbu.

Sun Pictures, which is bankrolling the film, also shared a video of Siva, the film’s director, wishing Rajinikanth for his birthday. Siva says in the video, “With the wishes from fans and the grace of god we are resuming the shooting for Annaatthe. I feel happy to commence the shooting.”

Shooting for Annaatthe was brought to a halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a Times of India report, shooting will commence at the Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad.

On December 3, Rajinikanth had said that 40 percent of the film still remained to be shot. He was speaking to the media regarding the launch of his political party. Rajinikanth also said that his political work would not hinder the shooting for Annaatthe, as it was his “duty to complete it”.

Annaatthe is helmed by director Siva and bankrolled by Kalanithi Maran under his banner, Sun Pictures. Earlier this year, the makers of Annaatthe had announced that the film would release in theatres in 2021 during Pongal.

This is Nayanthara’s fourth film with Rajinikanth after Chandramukhi, Kuselan, and Darbar. While Soori and Sathish will be working with Rajinikanth for the first time with this film, Prakash Raj was last seen with Rajinikanth as IG Subramaniam in Padayappa (1999), Meena as Ranganayaki in Muthu (1995), and Khushbu as Rekha in Pandiyan (1992).

Annaatthe will have music composed by D Imman, cinematography by Vetri Palanisamy, editing by Ruben, and art by Milan. Dilip Subbarayan is handling stunts with Brinda and Prem Rakshith choreographing dance. Anu Vardhan, Dhatsha Pillai, Shravya Varma, Anu Parthasarathy, and Sangeetha are working on costumes. Lyricists Viveka and Mani Amudhavan are penning lyrics, Aadhi Narayana is co-writing the script and Siva, Chandran, Savithri Muthu, and Bhagyaraj are jointly writing dialogues for Annaatthe.

Jungle: Vijay Antony Releases Teaser of Vedhika’s Tamil-Telugu Horror Film

Jungle‘s teaser has been released by composer-turned-actor Vijay Antony on Friday. The film, starring Aadi Saikumar and Vedhika Kumar, is a bilingual Tamil-Telugu horror movie.

The teaser was released in both languages.


The video, which depicts supernatural elements and rituals, teases about something (as yet unseen) that breathes, lurks and hunts, presumably in a jungle. It also shows Vedhika making a dual appearance in one scene. The film’s publicity team has described the teaser as “blood curdling”.

Though Jungle‘s release date has not yet been confirmed, the film’s publicity manager told Silverscreen India that it  would be released in theatres and not through OTT platforms.

Apart from Aadi Saikumar and Vedhika Kumar, Jungle will also feature actors Lallu, Noyrika, Viswa, Jeyakumar, Madhusudhana Rao, Rajshri Nair in pivotal roles. Jose Franklin will be scoring the film’s music while Goutham George will be the cinematographer. The editor of Jungle is Shivanandeeswaran and the stunt coordinator is Don Ashok.

Jungle will be produced by Mahesh Govindaraj and Archana Chanda under the banner of Auraa Cinemas. Jungle is written and directed by Karthik and Vignesh. It will be presented by Ranveer Kumar.

Earlier in November, the team had released the first look poster of the film and said that the film’s shooting has been wrapped up and was in the post-production phase. The team highlighted the background music and cinematography as stand out elements.

While Jungle will mark Aadi’s debut in the Tamil film industry, Vedhika’s last Tamil film was Kanchana 3, a horror film from the Muni franchise. She has also appeared in the first installment of the franchise and the 2007 horror-comedy film Muni, alongside Raghava Lawrence.

Rajinikanth’s Top 10 Iconic Dialogues

Rajinikanth is turning 70 on December 12, 2020, and his unique style, charisma, and mannerisms remain unmatched in popularity. Since his debut in K Balachander’s 1975 Tamil drama Apoorva Raagangal to movies like Thalapathi (1991), Annamalai (1992), Muthu (1995), and Sivaji (2007), Rajinikanth’s dialogues became iconic primarily because of his stylish delivery.

As Neelambari says in Padayappa, vayasanaalum un style um azhagum unna vittu innum pogala (Even after you’ve aged, your style and looks have not left you).

Here’s 10 iconic Rajinikanth dialogues that epitomise that style.

Kabali (2016) – Naan vandhuten nu sollu, thirumbi vandhutenu. Twenty-five varushathuku munadi epdi ponano Kabali apdiye thirumbi vandhutan nu sollu. Kabali da!” (trans: “Tell them that I have come back. Kabali has returned exactly the way he left 25 years ago. Kabali da!”)

When Pa Ranjith’s Kabali (Review here; Interview with the director here) released in 2016, Rajinikanth’s dialogue in the high-energy song Neruppu Da, declaring his return, became very popular. Audiences would often quote those lines, in between jamming to the song.

Sivaji (2007) – “Kanna, panninga dha kootama varum. Singam single a dha varum” (trans: “Only pigs come in a group. The lion comes alone.”)

Shankar’s Sivaji is a gold mine of punch dialogues. So much so that in one scene, comedian Vivek parodies the film industry’s habit of having actors say punch dialogues, then goes on to deliver a slew of punch dialogues himself, such as “Pasanga paakradhu pogo, Sivaji kitta vendam go go. (trans: “Children watch Pogo, don’t mess with Sivaji go go”).

What’s unforgettable though is a scene in which Rajini gets caught by a gang of ruffians. He goes on to mock them with this dialogue.

Moondru Mugam (1982) – “Thee pettiku rendu pakkam urasuna dha thee pudikum. Aana indha Alex Pandiyan ku endha pakkam urasunalum thee pudikum.(trans: “With a matchbox, fire is created only when you strike on both sides. But for Alex Pandian, fire is created if you strike any side.”)

Rajinikanth played three roles in Moondru Mugam but his role as police officer Alex Pandian is what became iconic. Pandian’s ruthless handling of criminals won him dangerous enemies. An altercation with one such enemy led to this this dialogue, which became a classic.

Padayappa (1999) – “En vazhi thani vazhi, seendatha.” (trans: “My way is a unique way. Don’t provoke me.”)

Over the years Rajinikanth developed such an invincible popular image that no villain would even try going up against his character. Hs characters also tended to be misogynistic.

However, Neelambari from Padayappa was a rare villain that stood her ground against Rajinikanth. She too was subjected to misogyny but that didn’t stop her. She happened to be at the receiving end of this dialogue.

16 Vayathinile (1977) – “Idhu epdi iruku?“(How is this?)

Rajinikanth began his career, not as a hero, but a villain. In 16 Vayathinile, he played the antagonist Parattai, who lusts after Mayil (Sri Devi) and whose aim is to constantly belittle and put down Gopalakrishnan (Kamal Haasan). As he makes demeaning jokes, he asks his sidekicks – how is this?

Annamalai (1992) – “Na solradhayum seiven, solladhadhayum seiven.” (trans: “I will do what I say, and also what I don’t say.”)

Annamalai was an important film in Rajinikanth’s career. It became so popular that the background music used in the film became the trademark music played before all his subsequent his films, along with a visual of the “Superstar Rajini” title card.

In the film, the loyal Annamalai is betrayed by his rich friend. He then vows to his friend that he would become even richer than him. And as he says, he does.

Arunachalam (1997) – “Aandavan solran, Arunachalam seiran.” (trans: “God tells, Arunachalam does.”)

In many of his films, Rajinikanth has played spiritual characters that state their views about God. However, when it comes to punch dialogues, his iconic line in Arunachalam appears to echo his spirituality the best. What God says, Arunachalam does.

Baasha (1995) – “Naan oru dharava sonna, nooru dharava sonna madri.” (trans: “If I say it once, it is equivalent to saying it a 100 times.”)

Baasha bhai is one of Rajinikanth’s most iconic characters and this simple and effective dialogue is perhaps the most quoted of all his dialogues. Mark Anthony, played by Raghuvaran, belittles Baasha, calling him inexperienced. However, Baasha proves him wrong and responds masterfully.

Baba (2002) – “Naan yosikaama pesa maaten, pesinapiragu yosika maaten. (trans: “I don’t talk without thinking. Once I talk I don’t think.”)

Baba may not have had a good run at the box-office but it had a number of entertaining moments and dialogues. Towards the end, Baba is tasked with a serious decision that could impact the entire nation. Baba, however, makes the right decision, since he doesn’t talk without thinking.

Muthu (1995) – “Naan eppa varuven, eppadi varuvennu yarukkum theriyadhu, aana varavendiya neratthil correcta varuven.” (trans: “Nobody knows when and how I will come, but I will definitely come at the right time.”)

This particular dialogue is rich with Muthu’s sense of loyalty to his ejamaan. When his ejamaan is in trouble, Muthu assures him, he will definitely come to his aid.

Now in 2020, the dialogue seems especially apt for the speculation surrounding Rajinikanth’s decision to join politics.

Jungle Teaser Starring Aadi Saikumar, Vedhika

Movie : Jungle
Banner: Auraa Cinemas
Producer: Mahesh Govindaraj

Written & Directed by Karthik & Vignesh
Main Cast: Aadi Sai Kumar, Vedhika
Other Cast: Lallu, Noyrika, Viswa, Jeyakumar, Madhusudhana Rao, Rajshri Nair
Music Director: Jose Franklin
Cinematographer: Goutham George
Editor :Shivanandeeswaran
Art Director: SK
Stunt: Don Ashok
Line Producer: Sathiyamoorthy
Executive Producer: Shreeram & Victor Prabaharan
Production Executive: Ramesh.M.V
DI : Igene
DI Colorist : Siva
VFX: Nxgen Media
Publicity Designs: Saba Designs
Pro: Suresh Chandra & Rekha (D’one)

Direction Team: Vignesh Babu, R Prem Kumar, S.Satish Kumar, Sudhakar.S, Siva.S
Dop Team: Vishnu K Raja, S. Srinivas, Rj. Avinash

Kuruthi Aattam Teaser Starring Atharvaa, Priya Bhavani Shankar

Production Banner: Rock Fort Entertainment

Starring : Atharvaa, Priya Bhavani Shankar, ‘Datho’ Radha Ravi, Radhika Sarathkumar etc.,

Crew :

Writer – Director – Sri Ganesh
Music – Yuvan Shankar Raja
Produced by – T.Muruganantham
Director of Photography – Dinesh Purushothaman
Editor – Anil Krish
Art Director – Kumar Gangappan
Action Director – Vicky
Lyrics – Yugabharathi, Karthik Netha
Sound Design – Sync Cinema
Sound Mixing – Aravind Menon
Costumes – Perumal Selvam
Colorist – Prasath Somasekar
Publicity Design – Kabilan
Stills – Sathish
Co Director – Karthick S
PRO – Suresh Chandra, Rekha D’one
Team Rockfort – Karthik Ravivarma, KB Sriram, APV Maran

Music on – Five Star Audio

Marvel Studios Announces Several Films, Series on Walt Disney Investor Day

Marvel Studios on Thursday announced several new series and films on the occasion of the Walt Disney’s Investor Day 2020, weaved around the heroes and villains of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

Listed below are the 20 new releases including original series on characters such as Hawkeye, Groot, She-Hulk, Ms Marvel along with movies like Fantastic Four, The Guardians of Galaxy, among others.

WHAT IF…?
Marvel Studios claims What If…? to be its first animated series. Set to release in summer 2021, an exclusive first look of the original series was unveiled on Thursday. Directed by Bryan Andrews along with head writer Ashley Bradley, What If…? is an inspiration from the comic books of the same name with a tweaked script on the Marvel Cinematic Universe that “reimagines famous events from the films in unexpected ways.” The series focuses on different superheroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe featuring a voice cast that includes Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter and Jeffrey Wright as the voice of The Watcher.

Hawkeye
Marvel Studio’s Hawkeye, an original series, is directed by Rhys Thomas along with the directing duo Bert and Bertie which is set to premiere on Disney+ in late 2021. Jeremy Renner who reprises his role of Hawkeye aka Clint Barton will be joined by Hailee Steinfeld, who will play the role of the well-known archer from the Marvel comics Kate Bishop, the studio confirmed. The series also features Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Zahn McClarnon, Brian d’Arcy James, and Alaqua Cox who will star as Maya Lopez

Fantastic Four
The new feature film for Marvel’s First Family Fantastic Four will be directed by Jon Watts. The family comprise Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic), Sue Storm (Invisible Woman), Johnny Storm (Human Torch) and Ben Grimm (The Thing)

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Director James Gunn, who directed The Guardians of the Galaxy, is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to write and direct an original special titled The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special for a Disney+ release in 2022. Marvel Studios also has the upcoming third The Guardian of Galaxy to release in 2023.

Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania will be directed for the third time by Peyton Reed. Kathryn Newton joins the cast to play the role of Cassie Lang, the daughter of Scott Lang and Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror. Reprising their old roles are Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly as Hope van Dyne/Wasp, Michael Douglas as Dr Hank Pym, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne aka Hope’s parents.

Thor: Love And Lightning
Thor: Love and Thunder, directed by Taika Waititi, stars Christian Bale as the villain Gorr the God Butcher and who will join Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, and Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, who are reprising their roles. Confirming that Jane Foster will become the Mighty Thor, Goddess of Thunder, Waititi said: “When we were shooting Ragnarok, I was reading one storyline by Jason Aaron, called THE MIGHTY THOR. And for those of you that don’t know that storyline, it’s incredible and full of emotion and love and thunder. And it introduces, for the first time, a female Thor.”

I am Groot
Marvel Studios’ I am Groot will be a series of shorts that will feature a seedling along with several new and unusual characters, according to the Marvel Studios.



Armor Wars
Armor Wars is an original series in which Don Cheadle returns to play the role of James Rhodes aka War Machine, who faces Tony Stark’s tech consequences in this classic Marvel story.

Ironheart
Ironheart features Dominique Thorne in the role of the genius inventor Riri Williams who creates the most advanced suit of armour since Tony Stark aka Iron Man.

Secret Invasion
Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion stars Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn from Captain Marvel as Skrull Talos.

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier is an original series whose official first-look was released on Thursday and it will be streaming from March 9, 2021 on Disney+.

Other announcements include Captain Marvel 2, She-Hulk, Moon Knight (an original series), Ms Marvel, Loki (an original series) WandaVision (an original series), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings whose production is wrapped up and will be in theatres July 9, 2021.

Marvel Studios has also announced that it will not be recasting anyone else as Black Panther after the demise of Chadwick Boseman, who played the title role. 

Pixar has also announced a row of new releases on the same occasion.

Turning Red

Burrow

Inside Pixar

Pixar Popcorn, a mini-series of shorts

Dug Days premiering in fall 2021.

Lightning McQueen and Mater premiering in fall 2022.

Win or Lose releasing in fall 2023.

Luca releasing in theatres June 2021.

Disney Plus also announced that the subscription fee will increase for US and Europe from March 2021.

‘Star Wars’ Spin-Off Series ‘Ahsoka’ and ‘Rangers of the New Republic’ Among New Set of Content Offered by Disney

The Walt Disney Company announced several new spinoff in the Star Wars franchise on Thursday.

Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic (two new spin-off television series set in The Mandalorian timeline), Obi-Wan Kenobi (a new series for which Hayden Christensen will be returning as Darth Vader), and Rogue Squadron (a feature film that will be helmed by Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins) were among some of the titles announced by the entertainment giant.

The company also announced that in the next few years, it will release roughly about 10 Marvel series, 10 Star Wars series, 15 Disney live-action films, and the Pixar series on Disney+. The announcements were made during the virtual Investor Day 2020 meet held on Thursday.

Streaming app Disney+ will offer two spin-off television series set in The Mandalorian timeline. The Mandalorian (2019) starts five years after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983), and was created by Jon Favreau for Disney+. It is the first live-action series of the franchise. The Investor Day meet announced two series set in the same timeline of The Mandalorian, Ahsoka starring Rosario Dawson, who will be reprising her role as the title character, and Rangers of the New Republic. More details are awaited on the series. Both the shows will be executive produced by Favreau and Dave Filoni.

According to The Verge, both the shows will crossover with future seasons of The Mandalorian and culminate in a “climactic story event”.

Disney announced that Hayden Christensen will be returning as Darth Vader for its original series Obi-Wan Kenobi that will stream on Disney+. The series will be beginning 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith (2005). Christensen will be reprising his role as Darth Vader after he played it in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith, alongside Ewan McGregor, who will be starring in the title role in the original series Obi-Wan Kenobi. McGregor also played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

In 2022, Disney+ will star streaming Andor series starring Mexican actor Diego Luna. The new live-action series will see Luna reprising his role in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) as Cassian Andor. Disney also released a teaser of the Andor series, along with a few behind-the-scenes making of the creation.

Disney+ is planning to bring a new Star Wars series called The Acolyte. According to Disney, the show will be brought by the creator of Russian Doll Leslye Headland and is touted to be a mystery thriller. As per the franchise, the series will take into “a galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era”.

Disney announced a new film from the Star Wars franchise which will be helmed by filmmaker Taika Waititi and produced by Lucasfilm. The New Zealand filmmaker has already directed one episode of the series The Mandalorian.

Patty Jenkins is set to direct the next feature film of Star Wars, that will be titled Rogue Squadron. As per the franchise, the story will be based on a “new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill-ride, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy”. In a video posted by Jenkins, she said that her best memories were from seeing her father’s squadron take off. Saying that her father’s demise while he was in service has ignited the desire of her dream as a filmmaker to make fighter pilot film, Jenkins said, “When the perfect story arrived in combination with another true love of mine, the incomparable world of Star Wars, I knew I’d finally found my next film. I’m extremely honored and excited to take it on, and grateful to Lucasfilm, Disney, and the fans for extending that thrill to me.”

The film is expected to hit the theaters in Christmas 2023.

A Star Wars adventure film titled A Droid Story is in the developmental stages. Lucasfilm Animation will be collaborating with Lucasfilm’s visual effects team for this film that will feature robots R2-D2 and C-3PO guiding a new hero.

Centering around Star Wars character Lando Calrissian, Disney+ will be coming up with a new event series Lando. The project, which is in the early stages of development is helmed by Justin Simien.

Disney+ will be bringing some new animated content inspired by the Star Wars universe. Japanese anime creators are set to collaborate with the franchise to create animated short films that will explore the Star Wars galaxy.

Coming soon on Disney+ will be Star Wars: The Bad Batch, an animated series that will revolve around the clones from the 2008 TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The synopsis according to the franchise reads, “The series follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch (first introduced in The Clone Wars) as they find their way in a rapidly changing galaxy in the immediate aftermath of the Clone War. Members of Bad Batch — a unique squad of clones who vary genetically from their brothers in the Clone Army — each possess a singular exceptional skill which makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew. In the post-Clone War era, they will take on daring mercenary missions as they struggle to stay afloat and find a new purpose.”

Disney+ will be also presenting Willow series, that will be produced by Lucasfilm starring Warwick Davis. The pilot episode is set to be directed by Jon M Chu and is expected to release in 2022. As per the franchise, Willow will commence filming in March 2021 in Wales.

Willow, an Original Series from Lucasfilm starring Warwick Davis, with pilot directed by @JonMChu, is coming in 2022 to @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/pZSvG6T7cf

Apart from this, Disney also revealed the price hike of Disney+ streaming services in the US and Europe and the introduction of international general entertainment content brand Star, that will be launched in February 2021.

Niharika Konidela & Chaitanya JV’s Wedding: In A Single Photo Story

Niharika Konidela, the Telugu actor and producer, married businessman Chaitanya JV on Wednesday in a wedding ceremony at Udaivilas Palace in Udaipur. A number of photos were shared on Instagram by the 120 guests present, which included Konidela’s uncles, Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan, as well as cousins, Ram Charan, Allu Arjun and Allu Sirish.

Here’s a photo story of the event, compiled by Silverscreen India from photos posted by Joseph Radhik, Kalyaan Dhev, Nagendra Babu, Allu Arjun, Chaitanya JV, Sandy’s Artistry, Allu Arjun, and Sneha Reddy.

Konidela, who is the daughter of actor and producer Nagendra Babu, left for Udaipur along with her family for the wedding on December 7. She had also shared a photo of herself with her family, including her brother Varun Tej and fiancé Chaitanya, inside a private jet.

According to reports, Konidela and her family will leave for Hyderabad on Friday and will subsequently host a reception for friends and colleagues from the Telugu film industry.

Noise of Silence: First Bollywood NRC Film Is Not Political, It’s About The North-East, Love & Loss, Says Director

Noise of Silence, India’s first film about the NRC list and a couple excluded from it, along with the story of a Rohingya Muslim girl’s search in India for her mother, releases on 11 December on an OTT platform. Despite its politically volatile themes, director Saif Baidya, who shot the entire film in Tripura, talks to Silverscreen India about how the movie is not political, but about “true stories”. 

Shooting in a BJP-ruled State

With OTT platforms now coming under government regulations, Silverscreen India asked Baidya if he expected to face censorship issues from the government.

Baidya said, “Why will there be any problem? I haven’t shown anything that involves politics, I have just brought the true stories, the pain of loss and the struggles of the Assamese people in front of the camera, and the main thing is I wanted to inform people what is NRC.”

In fact, Baidya said that the ruling party Chief Minister had supported the shoot. He said, “The Tripura CM who is from the BJP (Biplab Kumar Deb) has himself had lent support during the shooting and I shot without any interruption or intervention.”

The film’s trailer released on December 8 and ended with a voiceover saying, “The government of our country will not throw out any citizen.” The Chief Minister, said Baidya, had praised the trailer and encouraged him to make more short films and documentaries set in Tripura.

Baidya said he hasn’t tried to show “what is right what is wrong” Instead, he has tried to put up the facts and inform the viewers about what is NRC, while also showing the suffering that the citizens of Assam have been through during the process.

Based on True Stories

In Noise of Silence, a Rohingya refugee girl (played by Puja Jha) crosses the border in search of her lost mother. In a parallel plotline, an Assam-based elderly couple find that their name is not on the NRC list. Meanwhile, a teacher in Assam finds his salary stopped because his name is not on the NRC, and commits suicide for fear of being humiliated.

The idea for the film came to Baidya in 2017, when “news broke out that year of violence and atrocities against the Rohingyas in Burma. Thousands of Muslims, including children, were killed and buried or burned alive.” Baidya’s (then) Assistant Director from Assam, Aditya Bhattacharya, found that his and his mother’s name “did not appear on the NRC list for the past five years (prior to 2017)”. Bhattacharya’s father is in the Indian Army, and his name was on the list.

Baidya said, “Aditya and his mother had to visit the court every month since then. But their hearing was postponed to another date each time. When I heard that, I thought that was a story that needed to be heard.”

A Story from the North East 

It was shortly after, in 2018, that Noise of Silence started to come together.

Baidya said, “I came to know that the owner of Drishyam Films and producer of Masaan, Manish Mundra, was looking for a script similar to that of Masaan.” Baidya pitched his idea but Mundra said that he wanted more to the story. By then Baidya had shot his feature film NCR: Chapter One and Chaar Pandraah (currently streaming on Hotstar).

During the film’s release in 2019, NRC became a national issue after the final list of NRC came out in Assam with around 19 lakh people left out of citizenship by the state, and with rising protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Baidya once again pitched the script, but it was rejected again.

Instead, he was told, “Tell me about everyday stories from the North or Punjab (because these stories are the ones that mostly run in the Bollywood).” Somehow, he managed to persuade them. 

Baidya wanted to shoot in Assam but he was unable to bring life to the locations there. However, he did find several locations in Tripura that mirrored what he had imagined. Plus, there were places that had never been brought on screen.

Assam and the CAA

Assam is a state that has seen long-standing protests since 1826 leading to the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985 signed by Rajiv Gandhi. Initiated by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) who are also leading the anti-CAA protests, the Assam Accord was the pinnacle of a six-year-old historic Assam Movement.

The NRC in Assam traces back to 1951 when the first Census of Independent India was conducted which is the first NRC compiled based on Census. AASU started the movement to protect their culture and language when the Bengalis came to be imposed on Assam during the Bengal partition. The provenance of the tensions between the Assamese and Bengali linguistic communities lies in their state’s own history and continues till date.

For decades the greatest single factor of politics of Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya arguably have been the anxiety of being dominated or overrun by Bengalis. Clause 6 of the Assam Accord assured protection of local rights, culture and language. The basis of the NRC finalised in early 2019 under the supervision of the Supreme Court was also determined from the Assam Accord’s cut-off date. The contradictions between ethnolinguistic politics and religious-nationalist politics advocated by the BJP that made its way into the northeast and tried to give the appropriate anti-outside sentiment, an anti-Muslim turn are now out in the open.

After the Supreme Court passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill(CAB) and turned it into the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the protests in Assam and Meghalaya have been directed only against the CAA while rest of the country has been protesting both the proposed NRC as well as the CAA.

A Film That Is Not Bengali 

The film was originally supposed to be titled “Udabaastu” (or “Refugee” in Bengali) but there was concern that it would then be seen as a Bengali film. Half an hour into the first shot on the banks of a river in Tripura, Baidya said they picked “Noise of Silence” instead, and registered it immediately.

Baidya was initially in talks with National awardee Geetanjali Thapa who he thought would be perfect for the role of the Rohingya refugee girl. But with Thapa working on another project, he cast Puja Jha (Jamtara) instead, as an actress who was the right fit for the age of the character. The film also features Firdaus Khan, Ajay Kundal and actors from Tripura’s National School of Drama.

Baidya, who is an engineer-turned-filmmaker, won the Youth National Film Award for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for his fifth film Teenage Year (2013) at India’s Youth National Film Awards. He also , said Noise of Silence was based on true stories. His films Overdose, Ittar and Kali-Bari were an official selection at 7th Dadasahib Phalke Film Festivals in 2017. His short film City of Dreams also won three special festival mention award at the 2017 Dadasahab Phalke Awards.

“Like every year I had planned to premiere Noise of Silence in the MAMI film festival. But due to the coronavirus situation I had to change plan and release it on OTT first.”

According to Baidya, this is the first Bollywood film based on the NRC (the National Register of Citizens) and also the first film ever to have been shot entirely in Tripura. 

While a theatrical release for Noise of Silence is likely in January 2021, Noise of Silence will be released on MXPlayer by Hungama Play as well as on Airtel Xstream and SonyLIV.

Ramya Krishnan’s ‘Queen’ Wins Best Original Programme Award at the Asian Academy Creative Awards 2020

Queen, the 2019 Tamil web series starring Ramya Krishnan, has won the Best Original Programme by a Streamer/OTT Award at the Asian Academy Creative Awards 2020. The series is loosely based on the life of late AIADMK leader and six-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalitha.

Krishnan thanked the Queen team for their performance against pan-Asian competitors on Tuesday:

Krishnan also pointed out that the series won the award on December 5 – the day the series began filming, and also the same day that Jayalalitha passed away.

Krishnan further wrote, “Content wins! Looking forward to the filming of Season 2 soon.”

The eleven-episode web series follows the life of Shakthi Seshadri (played by Ramya) as she goes from being a brilliant school student to a successful actor and, eventually, a powerful politician.

Helmed by filmmakers Gautam Vasudev Menon and Prasath Murugesan, Queen also stars Indrajith Sukumaran. Sukumaran’s character is loosely based on MGR, the late actor-turned-politician. Other prominent roles include Sonia Agarwal (Shakthi’s mother), and Vamsi Krishna (Shakthi’s lover). The series was written by Reshma Ghatala.

Queen has been renewed for a second season. In June, Ramya told IANS, as reported by the Hindustan Times, “I am just waiting to get there and be a part of it. People can expect more action, more interesting content, thrilling and exciting content.” She also said, ““We don’t have clarity on when shooting will start. With the quarantine right now, we are yet to know.” Further, “Last when I spoke to (writer) Reshma, she was done with the script. It’s all ready to go on floors but it all depends on the quarantine phase.”

Queen released exclusively on MX Player on December 14, 2019.

Nirvana Inn Review: A Languid, Atmospheric Mood Piece

Director: Vijay Jayapal

Cast: Adil Hussain, Sandhya Mridul, Rajshri Deshpande

 

The camera stays stationary as a man walks down the slope at a distance and disappears into the valley. We stay with the image while he climbs up the hill to a close up. The opening shot is Western-like, an introduction to the main character in Vijay Jayapal‘s Nirvana Inn and to the air of a new, foreign place He is Jogiraj Chakraborty (Adil Hussain) aka Jogi and with this introductory shot, we are transported into a virginal location, for both Jogi and us. He looks around, lights a smoke and finds his way to Nirvana Inn, the staycation enterprise where he is the new manager. Both the man and the place – they shot in Manali – lend the proceedings an isolated mystery.

It’s not easy to slot Nirvana Inn into a genre. It’s not exactly horror or a supernatural thriller. There are no what-is-lurking or what-is-happening questions, and no who-could-it-be suspense. It’s languid and goes for the atmosphere, the only cliche you can accuse it of is the hill station setting. But streams and dusty roads, tall trees and vegetation, and the mountainous terrain do add detail to something psychological reeling inside Jogi. We hear snarling noises that disturb Jogi in his sleep. Vijay films it from the loft, through the walls and towards Jogi in bed, like a creature crawling within stone and into his body. He sees people whom he remembers from a different life that makes him stop in his tracks but jolts himself up soon to carry out his managerial duties.

Nirvana Inn is a film where almost every character knows what is happening right from the start, but the audience is fed in spoonfuls gradually. But the cliche is subverted in the sense that it’s not what is in the place. It’s what Jogi brought with him, what came along with him. There is an inoperable locker in Jogi’s cupboard that very well could be the Pandora’s Box that is his head. Even his name points to something else, a man looking for peace or last-ditch enlightenment.

Jogi’s Hindi flows with a heavy Assamese accent that others find difficult to understand. This dissonance in communication acts as another layer of enigma around him. Through silent shots of his past, we learn more about him, where he is really from and it falls into place. He is an outsider who is here to exorcise memories within him. He is stalked by a mysterious figure that always ends up on the other side of a riverbank, which neatly connects to a past event. And Vijay imparts shades to other characters that colour our understanding of who these people are and where we are. The slimy but god-fearing inn owner who believes in auspices of time. Leela (Sandhya Mridul), a long-time guest at the inn who is chatty and boisterous, as if she is from a universe removed from the film. Jogi also encounters an exorcism for the local mechanic’s daughter who looks possessed. Unrelated strands of parables form a blanket of solitude over the larger narrative in Nirvana Inn. There is also a femme fatale character, played by Rajshri Deshpande that only Jogi can see through. The first time they speak, she refers to him with respect – aap – but the very next line, it becomes tum.

Adil Hussain’s performance possesses a hurried physicality to it. He walks in quick strides with his hands immobile at times. Coming from Assam, the accent too is natural to him. As Jogi, the agitated state of his mind and body can be infectious. The film is really about grief and its aftermath – a thematic concern it shares with Vijay’s debut feature Revelations – the denial or reconciliation of it and the hints for all these are in Hussain’s performance. When he is offering his boss a lift to the nearby town, he says mere paas time hi time hai – I have all the time in this world. We can notice a tinge of sadness in that line though the scene has nothing to match that sentiment. Jogi might be offering a favour as the subordinate, but his restlessness is still apparent, that he has so much time when he really should not or feels that he doesn’t deserve.

The film played at Busan International Film Festival in 2019 and will be streaming for 99 hours on Cinemapreneur from December 11.

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The Nirvana Inn review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Silverscreenindia.com and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.

Ooty’s 136-Year-Old Cinema Hall Reopens: ‘Assembly Rooms is a Way of Life Here’

The Assembly Rooms cinema hall in Ooty reopened on Friday after being shut for more than eight months in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In a time when many theatres across India are closing, the 136-year-old theatre, which is also Ooty’s oldest, was revamped during the hiatus.

Inaugurated by the District Collector of the Nilgiris, Innocent Divya, the cinema hall now has a new compound wall built around it that showcases iconic scenes from classic movies on LED-display instalments. Divya is also the ex-officio President of Assembly Rooms.

D Radhakrishnan, the honorary Secretary of Assembly Rooms, tells Silverscreen India that audiences can now book tickets online. He said, “We had been pondering for some time but it is also very closely related to Covid. It helps with social distancing. We thought that we should do it with this reopening as it will help keep people apart. People who are extra cautious can book online and come.”

While Assembly Rooms is a service-oriented institution maintained by a public Trust, lack of revenue during the pandemic had affected the cinema hall just like it has affected private theatre, said Radhakrishnan. Further, he said that ticket prices had to be raised to Rs 100, 80 and 60 in order to cover the SOP requirements including masks and provide better services. Despite the price hike, Assembly Rooms would be the kind of an institution that many people would be able to identify with, he said.

Assembly Rooms was bought by Lady Willingdon in 1886, who bequeathed it to the people of Ooty in 1922. Due to its British origins, Assembly Rooms has predominantly been an English movies-only theatre. It thus reopened with Christopher Nolan’s Tenet.

It is only over the last two decades that the cinema hall has begun to screen Tamil and Hindi films.

While movies like 10 commandments, the entire James Bond gamut, Guns of Navarone, Longest Day, Love Story, Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, and To Sir, with Love, made for iconic screenings for Assembly Rooms, several Shah Rukh Khan films as well as films like Petta and Darbar have been screened more recently.

As an ode to Assembly Rooms’ iconic screenings, Radhakrishnan carefully handpicked a select few movies, including Sound of Music, Ben Hur, Enter the Dragon, Titanic and Mackenna’s Gold, to put on display on the newly built LED display wall. The wall also pays tribute to late actor Sean Connery.

The entire project, which cost approximately about Rs 38 lakh, has been built in such a way that if there is any necessity to change the pictures on display, they can be taken down and other images can be featured, said Radhakrishnan. “It becomes a sort of selfie spot, people can just stand in front of the LED boards or in front of their favourite actors,” he added.

Calling it the Wall of Fame, Radhakrishnan said, “The location of the theatre is on Garden Road. Garden Road is Ooty’s best known road. With the garden being the main attraction in Nilgiris, the road has the largest tourist flow. So we thought that if we keep this display then the road itself gets a value addition.”

According to Radhakrishnan, the key to keeping up with the times while preserving something’s historical value is to strike the right balance. “People should be able to connect with the theatre. They should not feel that they are walking into some modern complex. A sense of belonging should always be there,” he said.

In a bid to preserve the memories of the past, a museum was built in front of the theatre hall in 2017 featuring old film paraphernalia, including a 1954 vintage Bauer projector. Radhakrishnan said, “When we moved from analogue to digital in 2015, I asked somebody in Coimbatore that I didn’t know what to do with the projector and he said that he will take it for Rs 10,000 scrap value. It angered me. Immediately, we decided we will go for a museum.”

Radhakrishnan believes that there are no other institutions like Assembly Rooms in the entire country. That’s why he thinks future generations should continue to keep it going. “People, when they come to Ooty, should look forward to seeing Assembly Rooms. Cinema is changing so much. We don’t know what is going to happen in the future. People should know how we made movies and how we screened movies,” he said.

In the four days of reopening, Assembly Rooms saw only around 30 to 35 people fill the 344-seat auditorium. “With the mandatory 50 per cent occupancy rate, we cannot expect a lot of people,” said Radhakrishnan. However, Radhakrishnan feels more people will visit.

Assembly Rooms has always been treated as the collective property of the people of Ooty, said Radhakrishnan. He added, “To many if they don’t visit Assembly Rooms, their week or day is not complete. Assembly Rooms is a way of life in Ooty.”

AK vs AK: Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap Lock Horns as Themselves in Film’s Trailer

The trailer of AK vs AK, the upcoming Hindi film starring actor Anil Kapoor and director Anurag Kashyap, was released by Netflix on Monday.

Based on a fictionalised feud between the director and the actor, Kashyap and Kapoor star as themselves in the film, which revolves around the search for Kapoor’s daughter and actor Sonam Kapoor, who is kidnapped by Kashyap after Kapoor insults him during a talk show.

Before the trailer was released, Kashyap and Kapoor engaged in a verbal spat on social media. It started on Sunday when Kapoor congratulated the team of Netflix’s web series Delhi Crime for winning the Emmy Award on Twitter. Kashyap retweeted it and took a dig at Kapoor for his Oscars nomination. What followed was a war of words between Kashyap and Kapoor through a series of tweets, which proved to be a gimmick that set the premise of the battle between the two shown in the film.

The film will be helmed by Vikramaditya Motwane and also stars Sonam Kapoor and Boney Kapoor, Kapoor’s elder brother, in cameo appearances.

The trailer features Kashyap and Kapoor taking jibes at each other. While Kashyap brings up the topic of nepotism in, Kapoor calls Kashyap the “biggest fraud in the industry”.

On Monday, Kashyap released his version of the trailer, that said that cinema is a director’s medium and not that of an actor’s, taking potshots at Kapoor’s stardom.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap10)

On the same day, Kapoor released his version of the trailer, calling it “real narrative” focusing on his stardom.

The trailer triggered discussions from social media users, who have been quick to criticise the film. A user called Anil Chopra called out at Kapoor, who wears a military uniform in the trailer, for using derogatory language while in uniform.

Another user called Vineet Jindal, who claims to be a lawyer, political analyst, and social activist, according to his Twitter handle, said Kapoor using derogatory language while wearing the uniform of an Air Force personnel was “not acceptable”.

Associate editor of ABP News Neeraj Rajput pointed out that it was mandatory to take permission from the Ministry of Defence for making any drama, documentary, or film related to the armed forces.

Some social media users criticised Netflix for churning out inferior content, following the streaming giant’s recently-released reality series The Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wiveswhich was called out for being uninteresting and shallow.

AK vs AK is set to premiere on Netflix on December 24.

‘Unpaused’ Trailer: Amazon Prime’s Anthology Film Captures Life During Lockdown

The trailer of Unpaused, Amazon Prime Video’s first Hindi anthology film, was released on Tuesday at a virtual press conference. Unpaused is a collection of five short films set in a post-Covid-19 world. Directed by Raj & DK, Nikkhil AdvaniTannishtha ChatterjeeAvinash Arun, and Nitya Mehra, the shorts delve into themes of friendship, love, hope, second chances, and new beginnings.

The trailer begins with the ‘Janta curfew’ declared in March 2020, a precursor to the eight-month-long nationwide lockdown, and goes on to capture what life has become since then. The film shares a resemblance with the Tamil five-film anthology Putham Pudhu Kaalai, also released on Amazon Prime Video.

Unpaused will premiere on Prime Video on December 18.

Aparna Purohit, head of India originals, Amazon Prime Video, said, “These stories are a reminder that there is hope at the end of a dark tunnel and chance for us to embark on new beginnings.”

The five short films were shot during the lockdown, with the crew adhering to government rules and regulations issued in Maharashtra, said Amazon Prime Video in a statement. The shorts were shot with a cast and crew of 10 people each, all of whom had to undergo Covid-19 tests. The cast and crew also said that the film’s pre-production was done through Zoom calls.

Director and actor Tannishtha Chatterjee, who has directed Rat-A-Tat in the anthology, said, “This whole Zoom thing and Zoom rehearsal was really frustrating. Even a lot of pre-production, all the discussions, locations, reccee also, some of it was done through Zoom.”

Actor Ratna Pathak Shah, who has acted in Chand Mubarak in the anthology, called the online rehearsals “narcissism of the worst kind”.

Glitch, directed by Raj & DK, stars Gulshan Deviah and Saiyami Kher, is about a hypochondriac man meeting a girl on a blind date. The director duo’s last collaboration with Amazon was the 2018 webseries The Family Man, featuring actor Manoj Bajpayee.

Apartment, directed by Nikkhil Advani features Richa Chadha, Sumeet Vyas and Ishwak Singh, is about the owner of a successful online news magazine who has to deal with her husband’s sexual indiscretions.

Tannishtha Chatterjee’s second directorial, Rat-A-Tat, starring Rinku Rajguru and Lillete Dubey, focuses on the loneliness that senior citizens faced during the lockdown.

Talking about her film, Chatterjee said, “What is nice (about) the way we explored it, is that it’s not very dramatic. Because a lot of stories which happened during the lockdown were not dramatic. You are surrounded by this huge pandemic, a drama that has changed the world, changed our lives, but something has not changed at all. It is paused and yet you are trying to find meaning in it.”

Vishaanu, directed by Avinash Arun, marks his second collaboration with actor Abhishek Banerjee after the web series Paatal Lok. Also starring Geetika Vidya Ohlyan, Vishaanu is about the life of a migrant family who are forced to illegally sneak into a lavish flat.

Talking about the communities that are at the receiving end of every disaster, Arun said, “I think it was very important for me to tell the story of a time that people are living in currently, and thus, will be able to resonate much more.”

Unpaused producer Sanjeev Kumar said, “The biggest tasks were getting the location, convincing the people and working with PPE kits and all. But we achieved it.”

Chaand Mubarak, directed by Nitya Mehra and starring Pathak Shah and Shardul Bhardwaj, is about an affluent middle-aged single woman who is forced to depend on a young rickshaw driver for help during the lockdown.

Talking about his experiences, Bhardwaj said he was happy to have found work in the middle of a pandemic. He said, “I am new. For me, it was this sheer privilege to get this. I was at home for six months during the lockdown.”

Christopher Nolan Slams Warner Bros.’ Plan to Release Films on HBO Max on the Same Day

Christopher Nolan, the director of the film Tenet, slammed production giant Warner Bros. over their plans to release films simultaneously in theatres as well as on streaming platform HBO Max.

Talking to ET Online, Nolan said that Warner Bros. tried to be a “loss-leader for the streaming service – for the fledgling streaming service.”

Last week,WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar had announced in a statement that after DC’s Wonder Woman 1984, all their films slated to release in 2021 will release simultaneously on HBO Max as well as in theatres for US audiences on the same day. A total of 17 films, including Tom & JerryGodzilla vs. KongMortal Kombat, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do ItThe Suicide SquadReminiscenceMalignantDune, King RichardCry Macho, Matrix 4, will now be released under this hybrid model.

In the interview with ET Online, Nolan said that he was in “disbelief” over the studio’s decision. “Especially the way in which they did. There’s such controversy around it, because they didn’t tell anyone. In 2021, they’ve got some of the top filmmakers in the world, they’ve got some of the biggest stars in the world who worked for years in some cases on these projects very close to their hearts that are meant to be big-screen experiences,” he said.

“It’s very, very, very, very messy. A real bait and switch. Yeah, it’s sort of not how you treat filmmakers and stars and people who, these guys have given a lot for these projects. They deserved to be consulted and spoken to about what was going to happen to their work,” Nolan added.

Calling HBO Max “the worst streaming service”, Nolan told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement, “Warner Bros. had an incredible machine for getting a filmmaker’s work out everywhere, both in theaters and in the home, and they are dismantling it as we speak. They don’t even understand what they’re losing. Their decision makes no economic sense, and even the most casual Wall Street investor can see the difference between disruption and dysfunction.”

Tenet, which is Nolan’s latest release was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Nolan’s relationship with Warner Bros. started in 2002 with his film Insomnia.

Lucas Shaw, a business reporter with Bloomberg, had mentioned in a Twitter thread that Nolan had insisted on Tenet be released in theatres and Warner Bros. obliged as a “favour to Nolan and to test the theatres”. He said Warner Bros. lost a lot of money with Tenet and made only “$60M in the biggest market in the world” while “Inception made $292 in the US” and “Interstellar made $188M”.

A report in Deadline mentioned that Legendary Entertainment, the production company that has co-financed the upcoming films Dune and Godzilla vs. Kong, is likely to take legal action against Warner Bros. over their HBO Max deal announcement.

Sources told Deadline that executives at Legendary Entertainment found out about the HBO Max deal only 30 minutes before Warner Bros. went public with the announcement. The report mentioned that executives were considering if streaming these films would tarnish “the long term viability of the franchises”.

According to Deadline, Legendary Entertainment “has or will send legal letters to Warner Bros. as soon as today”.

Godzilla vs. Kong is scheduled to premiere on May 21, 2021, while Dune is slated to release on October 1, 2021.

Shakeela: Pankaj Tripathi Shares First Look as ‘The South Indian Superstar’

Pankaj Tripathi shared his first look in Shakeelathe multilingual biopic starring Richa Chadha, on Monday. Tripathi is playing the role of a glamorous actor, or as his Instagram post describes it, “The South Indian superstar”. 

Tripathi, who has primarily acted in Hindi films, said in a press release, “I have a beautiful part in the film. I play an actor for the first time in my career. I have always wanted to play an actor on screen and bring out the idiosyncrasies of artists on screen. It’s an interesting and colourful character.” 

 

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A post shared by Pankaj Tripathi (@pankajtripathi)


Shakeela is a biopic of the South Indian actor of the same name, who has worked in the Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam industries in over 250 films. She is widely considered to have became a sex symbol in the 1990 to early 2000 era. Shakeela also stars Sheeva Rana, Ester Valerie Noronha, and Rajeev Pillai.

Though Tripathi and Chadha have collaborated on other films, this is the first time that they have been cast together in leading roles. Tripathi and Chadha first appeared in the Hindi dark comedy crime film series Gangs of Wasseypur, followed by a number of films, including Fukrey (2013) and its sequel Fukrey Returns (2017), Masaan (2015), and the upcoming Hindi film Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai. 

Shakeela is set to release in theatres on November 25, on Christmas day, after delays caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The release date was recently announced when Richa Chadha shared her first look for the film.

Written and directed by filmmaker and journalist Indrajit Lankesh, Shakeela is produced by Sammy Nanwani and Sahil Nanwani under the banner of Sammy’s Magic Cinema Motion Picture Production, UFO Moviez and Zee Music Company. The film’s dialogues have been written by Rohan A Bajaj, while editing has been handled by Ballu Saluja.

Vijay Sethupathi’s ‘Laabam’ Will Release in Theatres, Not Netflix

Laabam, the upcoming Tamil film starring Vijay Sethupathi and Shruti Haasan, will have a “big theatrical release soon,” said Sethupathi on Tuesday. The announcement comes a day after Netflix bought the streaming rights for the film.

On Monday, Sethupathi’s production house announced that Netflix India had acquired the film’s digital streaming rights. The tweet has since been deleted, and Sethupathi tweeted today to confirm that the film would not have a direct OTT platform premiere.

Earlier, the film’s publicity manager Yuvraaj had told Silverscreen India that Laabam would be released in early 2021. The shooting of the final phase of the film is currently in ongoing. “The shooting will be completed within one week and the film will be released in February or March next year,” he said.

Directed by SP Jananathan, Laabam also stars Jagapathi Babu, Sai Dhanshika, and Kalaiyarasan in prominent roles. Ramji is the cinematographer, while D Imman will score the film’s music.

Laabam‘s trailer was released in August and showed Sethupathi as an activist supporting farmers who suffer at the hands of big corporate companies.

OTT platforms Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have thus far successfully tapped into the regional film market. Netflix in particular has not only released several original regional films but has also procured the streaming rights of several upcoming big ventures.

Several big-budget films (including all of Warner Bros. 2021 films) have committed to digital releases due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before the announcement of Laabam streaming on the OTT platform, there was also speculation that Vijay Sethupathi and Vijay‘s film Master would have an OTT release. After queries from fans on social media, the film’s producers XB Film Creators and Seven Screen Studio issued a statement clarifying that they had indeed been approached by an OTT platform, but had decided on a theatrical release.

‘Ringan’ Director Makarand Mane Begins Shooting Debut Hindi Film

Makarand Mane, the Marathi filmmaker best known for the National Award-winning film Ringan, began shooting his upcoming Hindi debut film in Pune on Sunday. The film, which has no title as yet, stars Vaibhav Tatwawaadi and Anjali Patil.

Tatwawaadi released the first look of the film on social media.

The upcoming film is likely to be a romantic drama, and will be produced by Autumn Breeze Filmz. Mane told The Times of India, “All I can say right now is that the subject is as close to everyone’s heart and it is a story of a new unfolding journey of relationship. I’m sure the audience will like this movie too.”

Vaibhav Tatwawaadi, who has starred in Marathi films like Surajya (2014) and Mr. and Mrs. Sadachari (2016), has never had a leading role in a Hindi film. He has, however, played supporting roles in several Hindi films, including Bajirao Mastani, Hunterrr, and Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi.

Tatwawaadi told IANS (as reported by Mid-Day), “As soon as I heard the narration, I was hooked on to it, it’s a feel-good film and will appeal to all. I have always wanted to work with Makarand Mane as I like his sensibilities with the way he deals with the subject.”

Mane had earlier won the National Film Award in the Best Feature Film in Marathi category for Ringan (2015). Ringan is about farmers’ struggles and follows a father and son as they travel to the pilgrimage town of Pandharpur in Maharashtra. The film also won Mane the Best Debut Director and Best Story awards at the Filmfare Awards Marathi 2018.

The upcoming film also marks the second collaboration between Tatwawaadi and Patil, who co-starred in Hutatma, a 2019 Marathi web series that was set against the backdrop of the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement, a movement that advocated for a Marathi-speaking state.

Details on the rest of the cast and crew are yet to be announced.