Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone's King leak goes viral: Are fan pages bigger than official promotions now?

Leaked visuals from the South Africa schedule of King, featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, went viral online; Siddharth Anand requested fans not to circulate such visuals to preserve the film’s cinematic experience. Once upon a time, Bollywood controlled the first look. A poster was planned. A teaser was timed. A still was approved. A magazine cover was negotiated. A campaign was built week by week, sometimes month by month. The audience saw what the studio wanted them to see, when the studio wanted them to see it. That world is gone. The King leak controversy proves it. One leaked visual from a foreign schedule can now do what crores of marketing money once did. Ignite national conversation before the makers are ready. Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone’s leaked visuals from the sets have sent fans into overdrive, while director Siddharth Anand’s appeal not to circulate them has raised a larger question: in today’s cinema ecosystem, are fan pages more powerful than offici...

Rise of the Conqueror review – Gladiator meets throat singing as Mongol hordes ride out

Christian Mortensen takes up arms as the 14th-century kingmaker Timur but could do with a stronger force behind him and a better beard in front

The western-produced Greco-Judeo-Roman epic has been with us since early cinema, while the Chinese film industry kept the eastern end up with a string of recent historical pictures. But what about the lands in between? Apart from a smattering of pictures about Genghis Khan, including John Wayne’s regrettable appearance in 1956’s The Conqueror, the Mongol hordes have not exactly ravaged the box office. So it’s refreshing to see Rise of the Conqueror sally forth, with Christian Mortensen in the saddle as the 14th-century Turkic-Mongol chieftain Timur.

This is basically Gladiator with added throat-singing. Man-at-arms Timur is a kingmaker caught between his native Barlas tribe, which includes his testy brother-in-law Hussayn (Mahesh Jadu) who’s eager to reclaim his family’s rule in Samarkand; on the other side is occupying Mongol warmonger Tugluk (Maruf Otajonov), who appreciates him for his khan-do attitude. Tugluk pegs Timur to advise his son, Ilias (Joshua Jo), to whom he has entrusted the city. But this feckless scion doesn’t appreciate the babysitter; after he poisons Timur, the latter is forced into exile with the Zoroastrian raiders he once hunted.

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