Rana Daggubati interview, ‘Despatch’ review-OxBig News Network

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Around Tinsel Town

>>Golden Globes 2025: Payal Kapadia earns two historic nods for ‘All We Imagine As Light’

Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia continued her trailblazing journey with two nominations at the 2025 Golden Globe Awards for her critically acclaimed film, All We Imagine As Light. The film has secured nominations for Best Director and Best Foreign Film, marking a significant moment for Indian cinema on the global stage. Bollywood star Alia Bhatt gave a shoutout to Kapadia over her historic nominations. “History is yours,” Alia wrote on her Instagram.

Meanwhile, Jacques Audiard’s bold musical Emilia Perez,which tells the story of a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender-affirming surgery to become a woman, leads the nominations for the 82nd Golden Globes with an impressive 10 nods. It leads over its other contenders such as the musical smash Wicked, the papal thriller Conclave and the postwar epic The Brutalist.

>>Actor Allu Arjun gets interim bail for four weeks 

Telangana High Court granted interim bail for four weeks to actor Allu Arjun, who was arrested earlier in the day (December 13, 2024) by Chikadpally police in a case of woman’s death in stampede at Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad on December 4, 2024. Hours after his arrest, Magudampalli Bhaskar, the husband of the deceased Revathi, issued a statement that he was ready to withdraw the complaint lodged with the police.

Earlier in the week, Allu Arjun had approached the Telangana High Court seeking to quash the FIR registered against him in connection with the death of a woman due to asphyxiation during the premiere of his movie Pushpa 2. The Telugu superstar had expressed condolences on his social media handles and offered support for the family of the deceased. He promised to give Rs 25 lakh to the family as a “goodwill gesture.” Meanwhile, the actor’s team clarified that rumours of him joining politics were “false and baseless.”

Hollywood

Selena Gomez engaged to record producer Benny Blanco

Austin Butler cast as Patrick Bateman in Luca Guadagnino’s ‘American Psycho’

Director Ridley Scott says Paul Mescal will star in Sony’s Beatles movies

James Gunn to shoot ‘pickup shots’ for ‘Superman’, clarifies there are ‘no reshoots’

Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. to make MCU reunion in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

Bollywood

Andrew Garfield praises Shraddha Kapoor after their red carpet encounter

‘Welcome’, ‘Stree 2’ actor Mushtaq Khan kidnapped near Meerut, manages to escape

Kareena Kapoor Khan thanks PM Modi for commemorating grandfather Raj Kapoor’s legacy

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma gets bail in High Court

Ranbir Kapoor confirms completion of Nitesh Tiwari’s ‘Ramayana’ Part 1, updates on ‘Animal’ trilogy

Regional

Keerthy Suresh marries long-time boyfriend Antony Thattil

Allu Arjun’s ‘Pushpa 2: The Rule’ crosses Rs 1000 crore mark at global box office in six days

Disturbing, uncomfortable: Ajith Kumar on fans using ‘Kadavule…Ajithey’ slogans

Nayanthara gets time till January 8 to respond to case filed by Dhanush in Madras High Court

‘Chiyaan 63’: Vikram teams up with ‘Mandela’ and ‘Maaveran’ director for next

‘Akhanda 2 – Thaandavam’: Release date of Nandamuri Balakrishna’s film with Boyapati Sreenu announced

Trailers

In ‘Baby John’ trailer, Varun Dhawan is a dad on a mission to avenge the wrongs done to him

In ‘28 Years Later’ trailer, Danny Boyle promises an intense film set in a horrifying post-apocalyptic world

Mark Grayson ups the stakes for third outing in ‘Invincible’ Season 3 trailer

Vikram plays dotting family man with a dark secret in ‘Veera Dheera Sooran’ teaser

‘Yo Yo Honey Singh: Famous’ trailer offers glimpse into the life of India’s most famous rapper

Essential Reading

1) Rana Daggubati interview: On ‘Solo Leveling’ and the untapped multilingual treasure trove of anime

>> Part self-aware cinephile, part cultural chameleon, the Telugu star has taken a spirited plunge into India’s fastest-growing pop culture phenomenon

2) Pan-Indian cinema: A plague of tiring sequels, buzzkill cliffhangers, ineffective cameos and half-films

>> In franchising their project for better monetisation, pan-Indian films are depriving audiences of the satisfaction of a complete product

3) The rot within: Manoj Bajpayee, Kanu Behl on ‘Despatch’

>> The actor and the director discuss their new film, a shadowy anti-thriller inspired by crimes past and present

4) 2024’s new brigade: Debut directors of Telugu cinema

>> Nanda Kishore Emani, Vidyadhar Kagita, Yadhu Vamsi, Sujith and Sandeep are among the first-time directors whose Telugu films made a mark

5) ‘Srirangam’ set to re-release for Margazhi: Why this Tamil film on the devadasis is relevant

>> Sharada Ramanathan’s ‘Srirangam’, starring Aditi Rao Hydari in the lead, is based on the Devadasi era

6) Focus on women filmmakers make a political point

>> Around 50 out of 177 films at this year’s International Film Festival of Kerala are directed by women

7) Delegates from outside Kerala on what draws them to the festival every year

>> Over 130,000 delegates have registered for the 29th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala

8) Vidya Balan wants to “de-age” with fun films

>> At the Kolkata International Film Festival, actor Vidya Balan spoke about wanting to explore the comedy genre

9) Filmmaker R Balki: Box-office blockbusters are the biggest threat to cinema

>> The filmmaker said during KIFF’s Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture, citing factors like AI and social media as threats to the sustenance of the art form

10) In ‘Parikrama’, Goutam Ghose probes the human cost of development

>> That progress can be cruel shines through in this postcard from Italy with a deeply Indian stamp

11) Hema Committee reports inspires an art exhibition

>> A group of artists have come together to create works of art based on the report and the representation of women in Malayalam cinema

12) Puneeth Amarnath on ‘Total Khanna Da!’: ‘A message of love, acceptance and respect from a Kannadiga’s perspective’

>> Puneeth Amarnath, director and writer of the seven-minute film, says ‘Total Khanna Da!’ is a non-confrontationist view of the language debate

What to watch

1) Tailored for Manoj Bajpayee, ‘Despatch’ is a seaming crime drama that examines the death of investigative journalism

Read the full review here

2) ‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’ s a dazzling yet cautious canter through Middle Earth’s lore

Read the full review here

3) Shiva’s irreverence cannot save ‘Soodhu Kavvum’, an insipid comedy

Read the full review here

4)‘Miss You’, starring Siddharth, Ashika Ranganath, is a contrived, forgettable romance drama

Read the full review here

5) ‘Bandish Bandits’ Season 2 series is an out of tune, overly dramatic continuation

Read the full review here

6) Hugh Grant slays in religious chiller ‘Heretic’

Read the full review here

7) ‘The Red Virgin’ is a tale of parenthood and principles anchored by impeccable performances

Read the full review here