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EXCLUSIVE: Amid UAE ban and PIL controversy, Sanjay Dutt starrer Aakhri Sawal heads for special screening at Rashtrapati Bhavan today

In a major development surrounding one of the year’s most talked-about films, Sanjay Dutt starrer Aakhri Sawal is set to hold a special screening at Rashtrapati Bhavan today, Bollywood Hungama has exclusively learned. The screening comes amid mounting controversy around the film. Over the past few days, Aakhri Sawal has been making headlines after reports surfaced of the film being banned in the UAE, while a PIL was also reportedly filed against the project in India. Despite the storm surrounding the film, the makers appear unfazed and are moving ahead with an aggressive rollout strategy. Sources close to the development reveal that preparations for the Rashtrapati Bhavan screening have been underway quietly over the last few days, though details regarding the guest list and attendees remain under wraps. Directed as a hard-hitting social drama, Aakhri Sawal features an ensemble cast led by Sanjay Dutt, the film has already generated substantial curiosity because of its subject matter ...

EXCLUSIVE: T-Series gears up to announce Satranga, a grand musical spectacle in the making

Something big is brewing at T-Series. Bollywood Hungama has exclusively learned that the Bhushan Kumar-led powerhouse is preparing to announce a brand-new film titled Satranga, described by insiders as a large-scale musical drama mounted on an ambitious cinematic canvas. While an official announcement is expected soon, the project has already begun generating strong buzz within industry circles. Sources close to the development reveal that Satranga is being envisioned as more than just a conventional musical romance. The film is said to be a sweeping emotional spectacle where music forms the very backbone of the storytelling. According to sources, the script is nearly locked, indicating that the creative groundwork is firmly in place. The makers are now focused on assembling the cast, which has not yet been finalized. Given the scale of the project and T-Series’ long-standing relationships with Bollywood’s biggest stars, expectations around the eventual casting are already high. Known...

John Lennon: The Last Interview review – Soderbergh imagines there’s no people with bland AI clipshow

Succession of pointless AI-generated snippets does nothing for film about the artist’s final interview, which took place on the day of his murder Coming just after his superb feature The Christophers , Steven Soderbergh has now made a surprisingly moderate documentary, dominated and frankly marred by uninteresting and pointless AI. It is about the inadvertently poignant final interview given by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on 8 December 1980 in New York’s Dakota apartment building, hours before his death. The interviewers were Dave Sholin, Laurie Kaye and Ron Hummel from San Francisco’s KFRC radio station. On their way out of the building with the conversation on tape, they were accosted by a creepy stalker-fan; in attempt to calm the man down, Kaye gave him a brand new copy of John and Yoko’s new album Double Fantasy. This sinister man was Lennon’s future murderer who got him to sign an album – perhaps this very album – and later shot him dead. It is a chilling, stomach-turning twist of f...

‘It deals with my own blood, my inheritance’: Asia Argento on historical trauma in Death Has No Master

Cannes film festival: The actor’s role in Jorge Thielen Armand’s Venezuela-set surrealist thriller explores deep-rooted tensions of ownership and colonialism In Death Has No Master, Asia Argento stars as an anxious foreigner in Venezuela. Her character, Caro, is on a harried mission to reclaim inherited property from the local caretakers who still reside there. That’s the setup in a surrealist psychological thriller, in which Venezuelan-Canadian film-maker Jorge Thielen Armand unpacks personal history alongside deep-rooted and “eternal” tensions that still affect the country today. “The film has multiple layers of meaning,” says Armand, ahead of the film’s premiere in the director’s fortnight section at Cannes. “Recent events only make those multitudes greater.” Continue reading... from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/VutlFjb via IFTTT

EXCLUSIVE: Anupria Goenka to make her Cannes debut with Bombay Stories; reveals, "Proud of War and Tiger Zinda Hai; thoroughly enjoyed shooting for them…Dhurandhar was a fabulous film"

May is a significant month for Anupria Goenka. Her film, IIZ: Indian Institute Of Zombies, was released on May 15, marking her first theatrical outing after four years. She’ll end the month on a celebratory note as she rings in her birthday on May 29. That’s not all. She has another reason to celebrate this month – the talented and gorgeous actress will make her debut at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Anupria Goenka exclusively told Bollywood Hungama, “I am going to Cannes for the premiere of the film called Bombay Stories. It’s being screened at the market section; it’s not in the official selection. Nevertheless, this will be my first visit to Cannes.” She continued, “After that, I plan to travel around. I haven’t explored Europe much; I have only been to the United Kingdom. So, this birthday, I want to break my pattern and visit other countries (smiles).” She also revealed, “I am leaving for Cannes on May 18, after IIZ: Indian Institute Of Zombies releases on May 15. Wish me l...

EXCLUSIVE: Dharma Productions adopts REVOLUTIONARY pricing strategy for Chand Mera Dil; tickets to be sold for just Rs. 149 and Rs. 199 on release day

Next Friday, May 22, will see the release of Chand Mera Dil, starring Lakshya and Ananya Panday. The film has caught attention due to its youthful flavour, casting, music and also because it belongs to the intense romance genre, which is working big time right now. Bollywood Hungama has learned that the love story might open better than expected due to an aggressive pricing strategy adopted by the makers. A trade source told Bollywood Hungama, “Chand Mera Dil is produced by Dharma Productions, and they are also distributing the film. They have informed cinemas that the tickets need to be sold at a very affordable price. Accordingly, tickets for all shows before 5:00 pm on Friday, May 22, will be available for just Rs. 149. After 5:00 pm, the tickets will be sold for Rs. 199.” The source added, “This offer will be valid only on the day of release. On Saturday and Sunday, theatres have been instructed to go for regular weekend rates. Also, tickets priced at Rs. 149 and Rs. 199 will be a...

Vishal Bhardwaj and Shaunak Sen join new film fund initiative supporting independent cinema

What are the vital ingredients an aspiring filmmaker needs when they have a story to tell but no outlet? Beyond a script, they need financial stability, production expertise, and industry access. Addressing this gap, Humans of Cinema and Safarnaama Pictures have launched a landmark feature film co-production fund of Rs 40,00,000 designed to back an emerging filmmaker with a distinct voice and a clear vision. In a significant boost to the independent ecosystem, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Shaunak Sen (All That Breathes) and globally acclaimed auteur Vishal Bhardwaj have joined the initiative as mentors. Sen is also attached to the selected project as an Executive Producer. The high-profile jury for the fund includes actor Imran Khan, filmmaker Arati Kadav (Cargo, Mrs), producer Aman Mann (All That Breathes), and renowned author and festival director Aseem Chhabra. Harshit Bansal, Founder of Humans of Cinema, shared that the idea took shape when Nazim Momin of Safarnaama Pictures—...

Swindon is not enough – every new housing estate deserves a Dench Close

Bond Place and Desmond Crescent have been named in honour of the 007 franchise after some scenes were shot nearby in the 90s – why stop there? James Bond fans have endured a rough few years. Ever since No Time to Die walloped off Daniel Craig, we’ve been stuck in a weird kind of limbo. There will eventually be a new James Bond film, directed by Denis Villeneuve, the most exciting director in the franchise’s history. But we don’t know when it will come out, or who will play Bond, or if 007 under Amazon will even be recognisable. In summary, we need something tangible to ground our anxieties. What we need is to pack up our things and head to north Swindon, to the site of the former Motorola manufacturing facility, where a new housing estate has just named a bunch of roads after James Bond. Continue reading... from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/9XumsZ2 via IFTTT

Are you sitting uncomfortably? How Backrooms upended the horror movie

It was just a creepy picture on the internet. Now it’s the year’s freakiest film. Its 20-year-old auteur Kane Parsons and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve take us through the terrifying labyrinth Chiwetel Ejiofor has been on a lot of movie sets, but Backrooms was something different: a 30,000 sq ft labyrinth of apparently random corridors and chambers, all carpeted, fluorescent lit and decorated in the same sickly yellow wallpaper. It was so big that people were getting lost in it, says Ejiofor: “Especially on those first days. As you try to navigate your way around and you’re like: ‘I’m sure it’s this door, I’m sure that’s the way.’” He’s laughing at the recollection. “And you find yourself just back in the wrong corner of the whole studio and you’re like: ‘Get me some help!’” This is kind of the point of Backrooms – the movie and the online phenomenon that spawned it. It’s a concept that takes some unpacking, but as the premise for a buzzy A24 horror freakout, ...

Parallel Tales review – Isabelle Huppert pens furtive sexual fantasy for Vincent Cassel in Asghar Farhadi’s latest

Cannes film festival: Iranian auteur Asghar Farhadi returns to France with this intriguing middleweight meta-drama featuring a cameo from Catherine Deneuve Asghar Farhadi is the Iranian auteur whose film-making style has always shown the high European influences of Antonioni and Haneke. He has in fact made two films in Europe: The Past in France and Everybody Knows in Spain. Now he returns to France and the French language for this diverting, middleweight meta-drama about betrayal and about a supposed link between voyeurism and creativity: do writers spy on the characters they have brought to life? Continue reading... from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/9kWXKsO via IFTTT