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around tinsel town

,Highlights from Cannes 2024

The Indian film contingent not only shone at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, but also marked a milestone with eight films. Payal Kapadia’s first fiction feature film, We all imagine ourselves as light – the first Indian production in the competition in three decades – received a standing ovation of eight minutes. Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal’s first production girls will remain girls Sahana Goswami and Sandhya Suri were screened SatisfactionPremiered in the Un Certain Regard section.

Restored version of Shyam Benegal’s masterpiece churn It was screened under the Cannes Classics segment. Bulgarian director Konstantin Bozanov’s Hindi language film shamelessThe festival also saw the premiere of ‘Women in Film Los Angeles’. Producer Guneet Monga and Women in Film Los Angeles (WIF) launched a new initiative to support female filmmakers in India and the Indian Ambassador to France invited global filmmakers to explore business opportunities in India.

Some other highlights of the programme are as follows:

> Studio Ghibli awarded Honorary Palme d’Or, making history

> ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ director Mohammad Rasoulof fled Iran to attend the premiere

> ‘Beating Hearts’ surpasses ‘The Count of Monte-Cristo’ as new festival best with 15-minute standing ovation

> Israeli screening of film based on October 7 attacks cancelled over security concerns

> Trump campaign threatens to sue controversial film ‘The Apprentice’ starring Sebastian Stan

> Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone give the festival a thrilling triptych with ‘Kinds of Kindness’

,Lok Sabha Elections 2024

Bollywood celebrities performed their democratic duty by voting in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024. Exercising their franchise in the nationwide elections, Hindi film stars set an example and urged fellow citizens to vote. Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor cast their votes on Monday. Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, who are expecting their first child, also exercised their democratic right. Other celebrities who cast their vote included Dharmendra, Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Sanya Malhotra, Suniel Shetty, filmmakers Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar, Ashutosh Gowariker, Kabir Khan and others.

Hollywood

Anthony Hopkins appears in first look at Roland Emmerich’s new Roman Empire series ‘Those About to Die’

Steven Spielberg’s new film may arrive in 2026

Dwayne Johnson transforms into MMA legend Mark Kerr in first look at Benny Safdie’s ‘The Smashing Machine’

Liam Neeson to star in cross-country car chase movie ‘Mongoose’

Release date announced for Mel Gibson, Mark Wahlberg’s ‘Flight Risk’

Steve Carell to star in Bill Lawrence’s HBO comedy

‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ reboot, spin-off with Margot Robbie both still in the works: Jerry Bruckheimer

‘Kinds of Kindness’ director Yorgos Lanthimos announces fourth film ‘Bugonia’ with Emma Stone

Marvel sets Vision series for 2026 with Paul Bettany

‘The Witcher’ season 4 first look: Liam Hemsworth plays Geralt of Rivia

Oscar Isaac to voice Jesus Christ in ‘The King of Kings’

Rupert Friend joins cast of new ‘Jurassic World’ movie

Kalki Koechlin to play American writer in John Keller’s film ‘Her Song’

Bollywood

Ayushmann Khurrana, Sara Ali Khan pair ready for spy action comedy

Bobby Deol and Joju George to star in Anurag Kashyap’s upcoming thriller

Sandrine Bonnaire to direct Jackie Shroff’s film ‘Slow Joe’

‘Ishq Vishk Rebound’ is not a remake or sequel of ‘Ishq Vishk’: Actor Rohit Saraf

Maddock Films’ ‘Munjya’ gets a release date

Yami Gautam and Aditya Dhar are blessed with a son, named Vedvid

Regional

‘Kottukkali’ starring Soori and Anna Ben to participate in Transylvania International Film Festival

Mohanlal is back as the dashing Khureshi Abraham in the first look of ‘Empuran’

Ajith Kumar looks hip and trendy in the first look of Adhik Ravichandran’s film ‘Good Bad Ugly’

Robot car Bujji from Nag Ashwin and Prabhas’ science fiction film Kalki 2898 A.D. unveiled

Vijay Sethupathi’s next film is titled ‘Ace’

First look of Suraj Venjaramoodu’s web series ‘Nagendran Honeymoons’ released

Kavin-Andrea Jeremiah team up for ‘Mask’; Vetrimaaran to produce the film

Kamal Haasan-Shankar’s ‘Indian 2’ release date changed, first single ‘Para’ released

VFX of Vijay’s ‘GOAT’ completed; Venkat Prabhu shares update

Kajal Aggarwal will be a part of Vishnu Manchu’s film ‘Kannappa’

Siddharth made a new film with director Shree Ganesh

Manoj Manchu’s glimpse as Black Sword in Teja Sajja’s ‘Mirai’ revealed

Darshan’s ‘Devil’ gets a release date

World Cinema

Indian actor plays German-speaking man in Austrian film ‘Happy’

First look poster of Shantanu Maheshwari, Avneet Kaur’s film ‘Love in Vietnam’ released

‘Dead Dead Demons Dedede Destruction’ anime series to be released on Crunchyroll

‘One Piece’ to take over The Sphere in Las Vegas for 25th anniversary celebration

Trailers

Kartik Aaryan as Murlikant Petkar is seen fighting all odds in the trailer of ‘Chandu Champion’

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a prosecutor accused of murdering his mistress in the ‘Presumed Innocent’ trailer

Sasikumar, Suri and Unni Mukundan promise explosive action in the trailer of ‘Garudan’

Dakota Johnson explores sexuality, dating and more in ‘Am I Okay?’ trailer

Nick Cage’s scary voice is heartbreaking in the trailer of serial killer horror film ‘Longlegs’

Anand Deverakonda’s crime comedy is seen in the trailer of ‘Gum Gum Ganesh’

Jessica Alba drops a bombshell in Netflix’s ‘Trigger Warning’ trailer

In the trailer of ‘Weapon’, superhuman Sathyaraj becomes the target of Vasant Ravi

Krishna Shankar, Johny Antony and Sudhi Koppa promise a fun cat and mouse comedy with the trailer of ‘Pattapakal’

Sarathkumar pursues a slimy psychopath in ‘Hit List’ trailer

Required Reading

1) Zeenat Aman talks about social media, mental health, pay gap and ‘Bun Tikki’

>> The veteran actor recently attended the #WeSeeEqual summit to further the conversation on equality, inclusivity and mental health

2) Karthik Gowda explains why he feels Kannada cinema lacks consistency

>> Producer-distributor explains why Kannada film industry has been going through ups and downs in the last two years

3) Roopa Rao and director Sahadev Kelvadi talk about Kannada film ‘Kenda’

>> The film’s producer and director talk about the joys and challenges of making the film and what winning the award means

4) Amul MD talks about restoring India’s first crowdfunded film ‘Manthan’

>> Jayan Mehta, who walked the Cannes red carpet, talks about the legacy of ‘Manthan’ and releasing its restored version in theatres

5) Are standing ovations getting out of control? Find out how Cannes 2024 has fared so far

>> Is this practice a real measure of a film’s merit, or just a reflection of the festival’s dynamics and the art of conversation?

6) Stepping up India’s XR game at Cannes 2024

>> Poulomi Basu’s ‘Maya’ is one of the eight projects in the new Immersive Competition category of the Cannes Film Festival

7) Palme d’Or contenders after 30 years and more: A look back at an incredible year of Indian indie cinema at Cannes

>> With eight films showcasing and the largest ever contingent of actors and filmmakers, India makes a big splash at the festival

8) Director Ashwin Agarwal talks about ‘Broken Mirror’ and bringing about social change through films

>> Ashwin Agarwal’s short films on self-acceptance and self-love are getting recognition in the international film world

9) The ‘Kireedam Bridge’ at Vellayani in Thiruvananthapuram is all set to attract fans of the Mohanlal starrer.

>>The Ministry of Tourism has announced that work is in progress to convert the bridge into a tourist spot.

what to watch

1) Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth bring Miller’s manic vision to life in ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’

Read the full review here

2) Manoj Bajpayee shines in the revenge film ‘Bhaiya Ji’

Read the full review here

3) Weak script hampers Mammootty’s performance in ‘Turbo’

Read the full review here

4) Jennifer Lopez carried the moderate action song ‘Atlas’ on her curvy shoulders

Read the full review here

5) Biju Menon, Asif Ali’s thriller ‘Thalavan’ has an interesting plot but squanders its potential

Read the full review here

6) ‘Blue Giant’ is an ethereal, soulful love letter to jazz like no other

Read the full review here

7) Hiphop Tamizha Adhi advocates empowerment in ‘PT Sir’, it’s a dull entertainer

Read the full review here

8) Ravichandran delivers a predictable but interesting courtroom drama in ‘The Judgment’

Read the full review here

9) Altaf Saleem, Anarkali Marikar’s wedding drama ‘Mandakini’ entertains only in parts

Read the full review here

10) ‘Moorane Krishnappa’ is a brilliant rural comedy starring Rangayana Raghu and Sampath Maithrey.

Read the full review here

11) Vijay Kumar tries to save ‘Election’, a meandering film

Read the full review here