First Day First Show | Reviews of ‘Khufiya’ and ‘Mumbai Diaries 2’
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Bollywood
Karan Johar’s ‘Koffee With Karan’ is back with Season 8
Actor Ranbir Kapoor asked to appear before ED in Mahadev betting app case
Boney Kapoor speaks on Sridevi’s death, reveals she experienced blackouts
‘Yodha’, ‘Merry Christmas’ to release on December 8; clash preponed
Aamir Khan to produce Sunny Deol-Rajkumar Santoshi’s ‘Lahore, 1947’
Akshay Kumar to headline action film ‘Sky Force’
Actor Gayatri Joshi, husband involved in car accident in Italy
Kangana Ranaut’s ‘Tejas’ to hit theatres on October 27
Alia Bhatt commences shoot for Vasan Bala’s ‘Jigra’
Mona Singh, Tanvi Azmi-led crime series ‘Paan Parda Zarda’ goes on floors
Hollywood
‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ head writers decline to return to show
Titanic submersible movie in the works 3 months after OceanGate Titan tragedy
Julia Ormond sues Harvey Weinstein saying he assaulted her
‘Django Unchained’ actor Keith Jefferson passes away at 53
Netflix mails its last DVD, a copy of the Coen Brothers’ ‘True Grit’
Paramount+ announces documentary on boy bands
George Miller’s ‘Mad Max’ prequel ‘Furiosa’ eyes Cannes 2024 premiere
Chris Rock in talks to direct Martin Luther King Jr biopic
Robin Williams’ daughter criticises AI recreations of her father
Hulu renews ‘Only Murders in the Building’ for season four
Nicole Kidman’s ‘Expats’ gets a premiere date on Prime Video
Regional cinema
TJ Gnanavel’s ‘Thalaivar 170’ goes on floors; Rajinikanth calls it a ‘huge entertainer with a social message’
CBI conducts searches, registers corruption case against unknown CBFC officials after actor Vishal’s bribery allegations
Siddharth reacts to ‘Chithha’ press conference disruption in Bengaluru
Vijay-Venkat Prabhu film ‘Thalapathy 68’ goes on floors
Mohanlal-Prithviraj’s ‘Lucifer’ sequel ‘Empuraan’, goes on floors
After Prabhas, Mohanlal joins Vishnu Manchu’s ‘Kannappa’
Venkatesh, Nawazudding Siddiqui’s ‘Saindhav’ gets a new release date
It’s a wrap for Nandamuri Balakrishna’s ‘Bhagavanth Kesari’
Aishwarya Rajinikanth’s ‘Lal Salaam’ to release on Pongal 2024
First look and motion poster of Unni Mukundan’s ‘Marco’ out
Trailers
The ‘Leo’ trailer shows a ‘bloody sweet’ reunion for Vijay and Lokesh Kanagaraj
Shivarajkumar brings out the big guns in the action-heavy trailer of gangster drama ‘Ghost’
In ‘Ganapath’ teaser, Tiger Shroff, Kriti Sanon and Amitabh Bachchan star in a futuristic action drama
Ravi Teja is India’s biggest thief in ‘Tiger Nageswara Rao’ trailer
New trailer of Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ captures the journey of Elvis
Shyam Benegal’s ‘Mujib’ trailer brings to life the story of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Trailer of Mark Ruffalo’s ‘All the Light We Cannot See’ shows an epic World War II story
In ‘Martin Luther King’ teaser, the vote of one man becomes a deciding factor in rural Telangana
‘Devil on Trial’ trailer chillingly explores ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ murder case
‘Doona!’ trailer, starring K-pop star Suzy, hints at a coming-if-age romantic drama
Brian Cox plays the “The Controller”, in ‘007: Road to a Million’ reality series trailer
‘The Buccaneers’ trailer shows a thrill-seeking American girls gang descend upon high-nosed London
New in streaming
New on Netflix this week: Beckham, a documentary on the famous England footballer, third season of Lupin, Vishal Bharadwaj’s espionage drama Khufiya and more
New on Amazon Prime Video this week: Second season of Mumbai Diaries, horror comedy Totally Killer, Halloween special Make Me Scream, and more
Coming to Apple TV+: Lessons in Chemistry, an American drama based on an historical fiction by the same name, ThePigeon Tunnel, adocumentary, love triangle Fingernails, and more
New on Disney+ Hotstar in October: Season 2 of Loki, period drama Sultan of Delhi, 100 Years of Disney, and more
Essential reading
1) Oscar 2024 | South cinema’s global ambitions
>> With South Indian cinema breaking free from the ‘regional cinema’ tag, all eyes are on international festivals but some issues still hobble their chances
2) Nikolaj Coster-Waldau interview: Treat others the way you want them to treat you, it’s that simple
>> On the sidelines of Paris Fashion Week 2023, the actor talks about his connection to France and hitting the runway with his daughter
3) Dame Helen Mirren interview: The world should be as available and accessible to women as it is to men
>> The actor talks about how fashion can empower women and why she would love to visit India soon
4) Actor Franz Rogowski on ‘Passages’: The sex scenes were not difficult, once you get intimate with someone
>> The actor discusses filmmaker Ira Sachs’ empathetic and collaborative work ethic and working with co-star Ben Whishaw
5) Understanding the deliberate pacing of Kannada films ‘Toby’ and ‘SSE (Side A)‘
>> The two films, told unhurriedly, have led to a debate on the relevance of slow-burners in mainstream Kannada cinema
6) Srikanth Nagothi: In ‘Month of Madhu’, I have tried to not judge the characters played by Swathi and Naveen Chandra
>> The director holds forth on making his Telugu film starring Swathi and Naveen Chandra as a middle-class couple
7) Calling the shots: Director Arunachalam Vaidyanathan on ‘Shot Boot Three’
>> The director talks about the market for children’s films and on the importance of not sticking to a particular genre
8) Ophelia Lovibond on ‘Minx’ Season 2, pussy-bow blouses and Gucci skirts
>> Lovibond speaks of the joys of building a backstory for her character, an intense feminist in the adult entertainment industry in ‘70s Los Angeles
9) Is the ‘anti-superhero’ genre of movies and shows at risk of getting saturated?
>> ‘The Boys’ spin-off ‘Gen Z’ is here and it won’t be long before the ‘anti-superhero’ plank starts wearing thin
10) Far mightier than the sword: Agni Sreedhar on his tryst with cinema
>> Gangster-turned-writer Agni Sreedhar talks about his stories that have been made into films, including ‘Edegarike’
11) Munish Sharma: In the spotlight after an 18-year journey
>> Driven by the acting bug, the ‘Blindfold’ actor’s journey has been about sustainability, grit and luck
12) ‘Little Miss Rawther’ is a small film with a big heart, says the film’s lead actor and writer Shersha Sherief
>> Sherief talks about his film, which is billed as a “soulful musical romance” between a tall guy and a petite woman
What to watch
1) David Gordon Green cannot bring Halloween magic into this reboot, ‘The Exorcist: Believer’
2) Vishal Bhardwaj conjures up a soulful human drama in the guise of a spy thriller in ‘Khufiya’
3) An earnest Akshay Kumar struggles to salvage this mission impossible, ‘Mission Raniganj’
4) Season 2 of Nikkhil Advani’s medical drama ‘Mumbai Diaries’ is gripping despite gaps
5) ‘Passages’ is an effusive, exacting look at transitions, big and small
6) Muralitharan’s biopic ‘800’ is an ordinary telling of an extraordinary tale
7) Swathi, Naveen Chandra are the soul of Srikanth Nagothi’s moving relationship drama, ‘Month of Madhu’
8) ‘Irugapatru’ is a flawed but heartfelt drama with impressive performances
9) Tinu Pappachan’s craft fails to save ‘Chaaver’, a poorly-written film
10) Trisha-starrer ‘The Road’ is a predictable, dead-end thriller
11) ‘MAD’ is a light-hearted campus entertainer
12) ‘Loki’ Season 2 is a fun ride through space and time
13) ‘The Boys’ spin-off ‘Gen Z’ is as diabolically delicious
14) This crazy Jimmy Shergill showreel, ‘Choona’, is hamstrung by endless posturing and detailing
15) K-drama ‘Moving’ is a stunningly original, complex superhero saga with a terrific ensemble
16) Wes Anderson’s short films ‘The Swan’, ‘The Rat Catcher’, ‘Poison’ are short, sweet and sabre-sharp
17) Benicio Del Toro aces in ‘Reptile’, an old-fashioned, muscular thriller