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Around Tinsel Town

>> Comic Con India expands to Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Pune for 2025 season

Comic Con India is set to expand its footprint in 2024, bringing the vibrant pop culture celebration to three new cities: Kolkata, Ahmedabad, and Pune. Fans in these cities can look forward to an immersive experience with the events scheduled for Pune on March 8-9, 2025, followed by Kolkata on February 22-23, 2025, and Ahmedabad on March 22-23, 2025.

Bollywood

Baba Siddique and the big Bollywood connection

Salman Khan pays respects to Baba Siddique at late NCP leader’s house

Akshay Kumar, R Madhavan, Ananya Panday team up for Sankaran Nair’s biopic

Kangana Ranaut’s ‘Emergency’ cleared by CBFC, release date to be announced soon

Ahead of ‘Singham Again’, Rohit Shetty to re-release ‘Singham’ next week

Divya Khosla accuses Alia Bhatt of ‘rigging’ collections of ‘Jigra’

Radhika Apte expecting first child with husband Benedict Taylor

Manipur actor Bijou Thaangjam calls out ‘Jigra’ casting team for ‘unprofessional behaviour’

Alia Bhatt reveals ADHD diagnosis

Hollywood

Jane Fonda to receive 2025 SAG Life Achievement Award, says “deeply honoured and humbled”

Angelina Jolie to be felicitated at Santa Barbara Film Festival

Paul Schrader calls ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ a really bad musical

Cast and crew of ‘The Apprentice’ react to Donald Trump’s comments

‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ bombs with $150-200 million in projected losses

Toni Vaz, actress and stunt performer, passes away at 101

Actor Cameron Diaz opens up on why she took break from acting

Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson to lead ‘Song Sung Blue’

Anthony Hopkins to star in ‘Maserati: The Brothers,’ biopic of famous car family

Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller star in first look at Scott Derrickson’s ‘The Gorge’

Jeff Goldblum hints at end of the road for his ‘Jurassic Park’ character Dr Ian Malcolm

‘The Wild Robot’ sequel in the works at DreamWorks with Chris Sanders to return

Regional Cinema

RJ Balaji to helm Suriya’s next; AR Rahman on board

Rajinikanth’s ‘Vettaiyan’ crosses ₹240 crore mark at the worldwide box office

Rima Das’ ‘Village Rockstars 2’ wins Kim Jiseok Award at Busan International Film Festival

Marathi actor Atul Parchure passes away at 57; CM Shinde says he was among his fans

Nithya Menen reunites with Dhanush for ‘Idli Kadai’

Upendra directorial ‘UI’ gets a new release date

Vijay Antony’s next is a murder mystery titled ‘Gagana Maargan’

Arjun Sarja returns to direction with ‘Seetha Payana’

Nani’s second film with ‘Dasara’ director Srikanth Odela goes on floors

Ram Charan-Shankar’s ‘Game Changer’ gets a new release date

‘Akhanda 2 – Thaandavam’, Nandamuri Balakrishna’s next with Boyapati Sreenu, launched

Siddhu Jonnalagadda reunites with ‘Tillu Square’ makers for ‘Kohinoor: Part 1’

World Cinema

‘The Apprentice’ director Ali Abbasi slams censorship in India as film misses release

Cannes winner ‘All We Imagine as Light’ to release in theatres across India

Joseph Gordon-Levitt ‘enamoured’ by ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, says it felt like a Martin Scorsese film

Re-release of Japanese-Indian anime film ‘Ramayana: The Legend of Prince Rama’ postponed

‘Look Back’ anime film from ‘Chainsaw Man’ creator gets Indian theatrical release date

‘One Piece’ anime to go on shocking six-month hiatus, Egghead Arc to resume in April 2025

Japan’s Toho buys Ghibli animation distributor GKIDS to further overseas growth

Trailers

Trailer of Do Patti shows Kriti Sanon double up for Kajol’s small-town thriller

‘Citadel: Honey Bunny’ trailer shows Varun Dhawan and Samantha as spies in the ‘90s

Rebecca Ferguson grapples with the truth in the trailer of ‘Silo’ Season 2

Chiranjeevi is the prophesied legend in teaser of Vassishta’s ‘Vishwambhara’

Helena Zengel protects a mythical creature from Willem Dafoe in the trailer of A24’s latest, ‘The Legend of Ochi’

Theo James doubles up against a sinister toy in trailer of Osgood Perkins’ ‘The Monkey’

Teaser of Keerthy Suresh starrer ‘Revolver Rita’ promises a blend of action and dark comedy

Joju George promises a gritty gangster saga in the trailer of his directorial debut, ‘Pani’

Feathers McGraw is back for revenge in the trailer of ‘Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl’

Trailer of ‘Bird,’ Andrea Arnold’s coming-of-age drama, shows Barry Keoghan as a single father leading a turbulent home

Taron Egerton battles Jason Bateman in the teaser of Netflix’s upcoming thriller ‘Carry-On’

Arjun Ashokan attempts to crack an unsolvable case in the teaser of mystery thriller, ‘Anand Sreebala’

Saiju Kurup promises a fun satire with a social commentary in trailer of ‘Porattu Naadakam’

Teaser of ‘Anpodu Kanmani’, starring Arjun Ashokan, Anagha Narayanan, hints at a humorous take on societal structures

Essential reading

1) Two sisters and a cop: Kriti Sanon and Kajol on their act in ‘Do Patti’

>> The actors, along with screenwriter Kanika Dhillon and Netflix chief Monika Shergill, discuss the finer points of their new hillside thriller

2) Director Rajesh on ‘Brother’, writing films on interpersonal relationships and the future of comedy

>> He talks about his upcoming release and his reunion with Harris Jayaraj, while also responding to criticisms

3) ‘The Wild Robot’ interview: Chris Sanders on a return to animation roots

>> He says technological advancements allowed for a return to animations’ roots, while paying tribute to Hayao Miyazaki’s hand-illustrated backgrounds

4) Anya Chalotra interview: ‘The Witcher’ actress opens up about headlining videogame ‘Unknown 9: Awakening’

>>  She speaks of her love for all things SRK, saris and chole batura, and her latest gig as Haroona in the video game ‘Unknown 9: Awakening’

5) ‘Martin’ row: Are makers of the Dhruva Sarja starrer against YouTube reviewers?

>> In a clash between reviewers and filmmakers, the YouTube community bats for freedom of expression while ‘Martin’ makers call for responsible film criticism

6) ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ at 30: Hope is a good thing

>> The writer looks at the iconic movie 30 years later, as we might see it for the first time, and ponders why it acquired such staying power

7) Actor Saiju Kurup: I have realised it is better not to have a wish list

>> He talks about his OTT debut ‘Jai Mahendran,’ the success of his production debut ‘Bharathanatyam,’ and what keeps him going in Malayalam cinema

8) The Trump card to satire: is political parody losing its touch?

>> ‘The Apprentice’ has arrived in theatres, depicting a man immune to satire; but what happens when the subject is beyond parody?

9) Jyothirmayi interview on ‘Bougainvillea’: I was Amal Neerad’s first and last choice for my character

>> She speaks about returning after a hiatus, working with Amal, and how filmmaking has changed over the past decade

10) ‘Citadel: Diana’ interview: Matilda De Angelis and Gina Gardini on reinventing ‘Citadel’ in Italy

>> They unpack the challenges of making an espionage drama that felt distinctly Italian while still residing within the expanding ‘Citadel’ universe

11) Tanishk Bagchi revamps ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ title track with Diljit Dosanjh and Pitbull

>> The music producer brings a fresh fusion of sounds to Bollywood with the title track, blending nostalgia with cross-cultural beats

12) Composer Anirudh’s brand Piece of Rock brings his Hukum Tour T-shirts to India for Deepavali

>> Dwarakesh Vikram, one of the co-founders, speaks about the clothing label conceptualised and co-founded by Anirudh Ravichander

13) Sanjana Krishnamoorthy on ‘Lubber Pandhu’, assisting Mani Ratnam in ‘Thug Life’, and more

>> She also speaks about finding support from the industry and how ‘Vadhandhi’ was a turning point in her approach to acting

14) Sundar S on ‘Prakarana Tanikha Hantadallide’: We worked on theatre elements while making this film

>> He speaks about how having a cast and crew comprising theatre enthusiasts let them use stagecraft to make the crime thriller

What to watch

1) Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong’s powerhouse bromance steals revolting origin story in ‘The Apprentice’

Read the full review here

2) Chris Sanders pilots ‘The Wild Robot,’ an epic journey, soaring on magnificent wings of imagination

Read the full review here

3) Amal Neerad’s ‘Bougainvillea’ is an unsatisfying psychological thriller

Read the full review here

4) ‘Murphy’ is an intriguing time travel film that deserved incisive storytelling

Read the full review here

5) Alfonso Cuarón creates a cornucopia of cinematic delights in ’Disclaimer’

Read the full review here

6) Courtroom drama ‘Janaka Aithe Ganaka’ is a missed opportunity

Read the full review here

7) Delectable flourishes eclipse minor flaws in Jiiva and Priya Bhavani Shankar’s mind-bending thriller, ‘Black’

Read the full review here