First Day First Show | Magizh Thirumeni, Dibakar Banerjee interviews-OxBig News Network

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Bollywood

Anurag Kashyap plans to move to south India, cites disillusionment in Bollywood

Director Sajid Khan opens up on life post #MeToo allegations: ‘I thought of ending my life’

Maddock Films unveils ambitious horror-comedy universe, sets release dates for ‘Stree 3’ and ‘Bhediya 2’

Singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh meets PM Narendra Modi, calls it ‘ a fantastic start to 2025’

Asha Bhosle goes ‘Tauba Tauba’: 91-year-old legend performs Vicky Kaushal-Karan Alluja’s iconic song a Dubai concert

Hollywood

Justin Baldoni alleges Ryan Reynolds ‘berated’ him, files $250 Million lawsuit against The New York Times over Blake Lively incident

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie reach divorce settlement after eight years

Jason Momoa officially cast as Lobo in ‘Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow’

‘The Batman’ sequel to be released in 2027

Tom Cruise’s upcoming movie with Alejandro G. Iñárritu gets a release date

Regional Cinema

‘Manjummel Boys’ director Chidambaram and ‘Aavesham’ filmmaker Jithu Madhavan team up

‘Vidaamuyarchi’: Ajith Kumar-Magizh Thirumeni film not to release on Pongal 2025

I am cancer free, will be back to films soon: Shivarajkumar

‘KGF’ star Yash appeals to fans to prioritise safety, avoid grand gatherings ahead of birthday

Television actor Dileep Shankar found dead in Thiruvananthapuram hotel

Trailers

Ram Charan takes on the corrupt in Shankar’s ‘Game Changer’ trailer

In ‘The Recruit’ Season 2 trailer, Noah Centineo takes espionage outing to South Korea

Zahan Kapoor’s rookie cop steps into India’s most dangerous prison in ‘Black Warrant’ trailer

In ‘Flight Risk’ trailer, Mark Wahlberg isn’t what he seems in Mel Gibson’s aerial thriller

Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun seek the meaning of love in a dystopia in ‘Love Me’ trailer

Essential reading

1) ‘Vidaa Muyarchi’ was suggested by Ajith Kumar: Magizhi Thirumeni interview

>> The filmmaker speaks about how Ajith Kumar provided the source material of ‘Vidaa Muyarchi’ and why the audience should see the film without any preconceived notions

2) Dibakar Banerjee on shelved Netflix film ‘Tees’: A society gets the culture it deserves

>> In search of a new home for his much-anticipated dystopian social drama, the filmmaker discusses his craft, concerns, and contours of casual censorship

3) The Hindu’s Kannada cinema roundtable 2024: Meet the mavericks of Sandalwood

>> Rukmini Vasanth, Sandeep Sunkad, Srinidhi Bengaluru, Nagarjun Sharma and Chethan D Souza talk about their respective films that went on to become big hits in 2024

4) Why are fans furious over Ajith’s ‘Vidaamuyarchi’? | Explained

>> With the makers of Ajith Kumar’s upcoming film with Magizh Thirumeni, ‘Vidaamuyarchi’, announcing their exit from the Pongal race, we look at the long and arduous road of the film’s making and release

5) Finding Bengaluru in Kannada cinema

>> With the emergence of the pan-India movement and the popularity of period dramas, stories set at the heart of Bengaluru have been few and far in Kannada cinema since the last decade

6) Screen share | Films on living, and thriving, despite loneliness

>> It is Kani Kusruti’s world and we are just living in it. Here is a deep dive into two of her recent portrayals of loneliness where one ends up finding light at the end of the tunnel

7) Column | Bollywood is South obsessed

>> A hirsute makeover, dizzyingly-fast action scenes, ‘mixed’ casts — Mumbai film studios’ dependency on the Tamil and Telugu hit film formula continues

8) How Samuel Nicholas, Harris Jayaraj’s son, is making a mark in music

>> Music composer Harris Jayaraj’s son, Samuel Nicholas, who recently debuted with independent single, ‘Aiyaiyo’, talks about film composing

9) Abhimanyu Thilakan on waiting to make his acting debut in ‘Marco’

>> Abhimanyu Thilakan talks about his role in Marco and the challenges that came with it

10) Breakout talents of Tamil cinema in 2024: From Anna Ben and Preity Mukhundhan to Pari Elavazhagan and Jenson Dhivakar

>> As 2024 comes to a close, Gopinath Rajendran lists debutant performers who pushed the boundaries of what’s expected from newbies, as well as well-known artists who showed how it’s done when offered career-defining roles

11) Tamil cinema in 2024: Where biggies failed to deliver and smaller films took centre stage

>> As the year draws to a close, Gopinath Rajendran takes a look at Tamil cinema’s hits, misses, and everything in between

12) Kannada cinema in 2024: Controversies and comebacks

>> After some underwhelming affairs and flops such as ‘Martin’, Sandalwood witnessed a turnaround with fresh stories and box office hits from stars such as Upendra’s ‘UI’ and Sudeep’s ‘Max’

13) 2025 in film: Bollywood lost in the woods

>> Horror, humour, heroism, and a hash of nostalgia drive the Bollywood bandwagon even as it is unsettled by the pan-Indian wave emanating from the South. A look at what is brewing in Bollywood

14) Looking glass: What is in store for Telugu cinema in 2025

>> ‘Game Changer’ to ‘G2’, ‘Daaku Maharaaj’ to ‘Kubera’ and ‘The Girlfriend’, a look at what’s cooking in Telugu cinema

15) 2025 in film: Major Hindi movies to brace for

>> Dance-offs, permissible decibel levels and a halfway decent Salman Khan film — our hopes from Hindi cinema in the new year

16) Shyam Benegal’s generosity of spirit and time

>> A nephew and filmmaker remembers the veteran director (1934-2024) as a collaborator who “kept on giving”

17) Telugu book ‘Master of Suspense: Hitchcock’ explores the master’s films through the eyes of 45 Telugu filmmakers

>> The collaborative project by Pulgam Chinnarayana and Ravi Padi features over 60 essays by Telugu filmmakers, journalists and writers, analysing Alfred Hitchcock’s films, one at a time

What to watch

1) The audience is hunted in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe film, ‘Kraven the Hunter’

Read the full review here

2) Tovino Thomas-Trisha Krishnan investigative thriller, ‘Identity’ gets lost in a convoluted plotline

Read the full review here

3) Tears of laughter rain down on the sophomore season of ‘Shrinking’

Read the full review here

4) ‘What If’ Season 3 is a quantum leap into jaw-dropping entertainment

Read the full review here

5) Tabu-powered ‘Dune: Prophecy’ is as overwrought as it is addictive

Read the full review here

6) It’s fight or flight for Taron Egerton in ‘Carry-On’

Read the full review here

7) Jim Carrey offers double the fun while Keanu Reeves in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’

Read the full review here

8) ‘Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl’ is cracking good fun

Read the full review here