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Around Tinsel Town

>> Red Lorry Film Festival comes back to Mumbai and debuts at Hyderabad 

After a successful inaugural edition last year in Mumbai, BookMyShow’s Red Lorry Film Festival returned for its second season and this time, apart from going for ‘Take Two’ in Mumbai, the festival’s Parallel Verse debuted in Hyderabad. The opening day witnessed a mix of screenings, insightful masterclasses and nostalgic journeys through the golden eras of cinema in both the venues. In Hyderabad, under the Legacy Talks segment, audiences were treated to the 1955 Telugu classic Missamma, starring N.T. Rama Rao and Savitri.

In Mumbai, Honouring the legacy of Smita Patil on her 70th birth anniversary, the festival screened Mirch Masala with Prateik Smita Patil and director Ketan Mehta, in attendance to celebrate her contributions to Indian cinema. The jury selected Paul and Paulette Take A Bath as the winner of the Fresh Frames category, while Souleymane’s Story received the Frontrunner title.

Bollywood

Hrithik Roshan to make his directorial debut with ‘Krrish 4’

Salman Khan confirms film with Atlee delayed, also confirms ‘rustic, next-level’ film with Sanjay Dutt

Akshay Kumar, Arshad Warsi starrer ‘Jolly LLB 3’ release date out

‘Jewel Thief – The Heist Begins’: Saif Ali Khan, Jaideep Ahlawat’s caper gets release date

‘Awarapan 2’: Emraan Hashmi to return as Shivam

Prime Video announces Season 2 of ‘Dupahiya’

Hollywood

Marvel unveils star-studded cast for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

Christoph Waltz joins ‘Only Murders in the Building’ season 5

Will Smith channels his post-slap introspection into music on ‘Based on a True Story’

Sydney Sweeney to take on dual role in thriller ‘I Pretended to Be a Missing Girl’

Apple TV’s thriller series ‘Severance’ gets renewed for season three

Regional Cinema

‘RC 16’: Ram Charan’s film titled ‘Peddi’

‘Jana Nayagan’: Vijay’s swansong film, directed by H Vinoth, gets a release date

Release date of KGF Yash’s ‘Toxic’ out

Tamannaah Bhatia’s ‘Odela 2’ to hit theatres in April

Pranav Mohanlal teams up with ‘Bramayugam’ director Rahul Sadasivan

It’s a wrap for Nayanthara – Nivin Pauly’s ‘Dear Students’

‘PR 04’: Pradeep Ranganathan-Mamitha Baiju film goes on floors

World Cinema

‘Dandadan’ composer Kensuke Ushio teases ‘Orb’ anime OST release

Record-breaking Chinese animation ‘Ne Zha 2’ sets Indian theatrical release

Trailers

Salman Khan takes over Mumbai for a mission in ‘Sikandar’ trailer

Mohanlal and Shobana promise nostalgia, fun and mystery in ‘Thudarum’ trailer

Leonardo DiCaprio gets revolutionary in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘One Battle After Another’ trailer

In ‘Bazooka’ trailer: Mammootty is a classy Mr Nobody

Akshay Kumar fights the British Empire in ‘Kesari Chapter 2 teaser

In ‘Raid 2’ teaser, Ajay Devgn returns as fearsome revenue officer Amay Patnaik

Essential reading

1) Shruti Haasan interview: ‘Coolie’ and ‘The Eye’ will mark a new path in my career

>> Shruti Haasan opens up on her pursuit of independent music and her big film releases

2) Film producer Max Howard on the evolution of the animation industry

>> Max Howard was recently in India for a masterclass on dissecting cinematic masterpieces and gaining a deeper understanding of the craft

3) Filmmaker Hemanth M Rao on turning producer

>> The Kannada director talks about turning full-fledged producer with ‘Agnyathavasi’ and the need to support newcomers with unique stories

4) Sivaji on ‘Court’: A new generation is discovering me

>> Actor Sivaji opens up on returning to cinema after a hiatus, and why the recognition for his work in ‘Court: State Vs A Nobody’ is significant

5) Filmmaker Santhosh Mada’s Tulu feature, ‘Pidayi’ wins award at BIFFes

>> Malayali director Santhosh Mada talks about his award-winning Tulu film ‘Pidayi’

6) Director Sajeed A on ‘Vadakkan’ which explores the paranormal rooted in Kerala

>> The debutant filmmaker talks about how his paranormal thriller ‘Vadakkan’, set in Kerala, has theyyam as its backbone

7) ‘Adolescence’ and the cinema of radicalisation 

>> A look at how Netflix’s ‘Adolescence’ pulls back the curtain on the concept of manosphere 

8) Screen Share | Films that smell like fresh greens and expensive cologne

>> This week’s column lists the films that capture the thrill, chaos, and moral dilemmas of financial markets

9) How ‘Orb: On the Movements of the Earth’ became an anime phenomenon

>> A deep-dive on how the anime presents a chronicle of efforts that have made the uncontainable threats of knowledge more volatile

10) ‘MAD Square’, ‘Robinhood’ to kickstart summer at the movies

>> Summer 2025 will witness a steady line-up of Telugu films such as ‘Hari Hara Veera Mallu’, ‘HIT 3’ and ‘Kingdom’

11) A cinephile’s pilgrimage to the monumental Prasads Multiplex in Hyderabad

>> At the Red Lorry Film Festival, a journalist, visiting the city for the first time, shares if his sky-high expectations measure up to its towering white arch

What to watch

1) Mohanlal, rich production design fail to save ‘L2: Empuraan’

Read the full review here

2) ‘Veera Dheera Sooran: Part 2’ is Vikram’s explosive, heady and largely gripping gangster drama 

Read the full review here

3) Sandhya Suri’s ‘Santosh’ is a layered procedural that dissects the casual cruelties of power

Read the full review here

4) Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender light up Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Black Bag’

Read the full review here

5) Nithiin, Sreeleela’s action-comedy ‘Robinhood’ is a misfire

Read the full review here

6) ‘MAD Square’ is a middling film with a few laughs

Read the full review here

7) Yogaraj Bhat delivers a love triangle with philosophy in ‘Manada Kadalu’ 

Read the full review here

8) Seth Rogen’s meta-comedy cameo-fest ‘The Studio’ is an absolute riot

Read the full review here

9) Steven Yeun, Sandra Oh thrill in ‘Invincible’ S3, a supersonic ride into the superhero psyche

Read the full review here

10) ‘Severance’ Season 2 finale takes us once more into the fray

Read the full review here