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The Mother of All Lies review – pursuing the truth of Morocco’s brutal dictatorship years

Asmae El Moudir employs a delicate mix of handmade replicas and oral testimony to brilliantly evoke personal and collective trauma Between those who refuse to remember and those who struggle to forget, a tumultuous clash of minds occupies the centre of Asmae El Moudir’s inventive documentary, a prize-winner at last year’s Cannes film festival. Through a constellation of clay figurines and dollhouse-style miniature sets, most of which were constructed by El Moudir’s father, the director recreates her oppressive childhood in the Sebata district of Casablanca. Under the watchful eyes of her domineering grandmother Zahra, all personal photos are banished from the house, save for a picture of King Hassan II. The delicate mix of handmade replicas and oral testimony brilliantly evokes the personal and collective trauma that stem from Morocco’s “Years of Lead” – a period of state brutality under Hassan II’s dictatorial rule. Lingering on the nimble fingers of El Moudir’s father as he puts t

Aditi Rao Hydari slams Heathrow airport authorities post her baggage claim delay of over 32 hours

After receiving immense role for her role as Bibbojaan in the recently released web-series Heeramandi, Aditi Rao Hydari recently took off to London to fulfill her other commitments. The actress, however, was extremely upset over the baggage ordeal and took to social media to share her disappointing experience at the Heathrow airport. The actress apparently had to wait for over 2-3 hours to get her own baggage and described the issue in a series of posts. Aditi Rao Hydari shares photos and videos on Instagram In a series of videos and photos she posted on her Instagram story, Aditi Rao Hydari described her awful experience at the Heathrow airport as she continued to wait for the arrival of her baggage. In the first post she said, “Heathrow chaos x 10000 2 hours at an empty luggage belt! (vomiting face emoji) @heathrow_airport Worst!!!!!!! (angry face emoji)”. In yet another post, she shared a screenshot of her conversation with Heathrow airport’s official social media page where she

Prince Narula and Yuvika Chaudhary announce pregnancy after six years of marriage: “We are very happy and nervous”

Television personalities Prince Narula and Yuvika Chaudhary took to social media on June 25 to announce the exciting news that they are expecting their first child together. The couple shared a heartwarming message alongside a photo featuring a red toy car parked next to Prince's car. A Note Filled with Excitement and Gratitude In the caption, written in Hindi, Prince expressed a rollercoaster of emotions. "We are extremely happy and nervous at the same time," he wrote, also conveying their gratitude to God and their parents. He playfully mentioned their upcoming arrival as the "Privika baby," hinting that the baby's name might combine theirs. Prince also humorously stated that Yuvika would become "number two" for their parents as their child takes center stage in their lives. Yuvika reacted to the post with several hearts, clearly mirroring the couple's joy. The news was met with positive responses from fellow celebrities including Gauahar K

Dance Revolutionaries review – performers dance like nobody’s watching

This two-part homage to dance greats Robert Cohan and Kenneth MacMillan captures the intimacy of live performance Here is a two-part documentary that pays homage to dance greats Robert Cohan and Kenneth MacMillan . Directed by David Stewart, Dance Revolutionaries essentially presents two pieces performed by dancers from the Yorke Dance Project and the Royal Ballet, and with the noble intention of making modern dance immersive and accessible. The first part, Portraits, is choreographed by Cohan (who died in 2021) and aims to “explore life’s private moments” in six solo performances created in collaboration with its cast. In theory, you’d think a dance film would fail to capture the intimacy of a live performance, but somehow Portraits accentuates it; the uninhibited passion of the dancers and lack of direct performance to the camera make it borderline voyeuristic. Each dance is set in a public but desolate place, from office buildings, and a seafront to a graffiti-scrawled tunnel, cr

Sonakshi Sinha shares her opinion on ‘Love Is Universal Religion’ amid receiving flak for her inter-faith marriage with Zaheer Iqbal

Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal recently tied the knot in a beautiful but simple ceremony in Mumbai but their inter-faith marriage invited trouble from hardcore Hindu activists. The latter accused the actress of promoting ‘love jihad’ further asserting her hand in attempting ‘Islamify’ India. Furthermore, these activists from Bihar even went on to threaten the actress to refrain from entering the state. While many of her fans came in support of her, an artist made a statement about ‘love is love’ and the actress couldn’t agree more about it! An artist creates a beautiful caricature of Sonakshi Sinha and Zaheer Iqbal Taking the concept of man and wife by recreating a frame-worthy moment from the reception bash of Sonakshi and Zaheer, the artist posted this caricature on his official social media handle with the caption, ‘Love Is Universal Religion’. Immediately reacting to the photo and the words, actress Sonakshi Sinha dropped a comment saying, “Truest words!! This is adorable (feeli

X Trillion review – all-women voyage to the ‘Pacific garbage patch’ packs a rousing punch

This film following a group travelling 3,000 miles to investigate plastic pollution reveals some shocking truths, even if it feels a little light on science Co-founded by environmental activist Emily Penn in 2014, not-for-profit organisation eXXpedition has made waves with their all-women voyages to remote sea territories, where their members witness firsthand the startling scale of marine plastic pollution. Taking part in the project in 2018, film-maker Eleanor Church was among a multidisciplinary cohort who set sail across 3,000 miles towards the North Pacific gyre , the infamous “garbage patch” where ocean plastics have been accumulating since the 1950s. The arduous journey is one of both heartache and beauty. There are moments of sheer wonder, as the awestruck women observe a pod of dolphins spin, jump and glide across the cerulean sea. The same shimmering waves, however, also carry countless pieces of plastic, which irreversibly disrupt existing ecosystems. Throughout their thre

Shahid Kapoor’s wife Mira Rajput reveals about almost suffering from miscarriage in her first pregnancy; says, “I almost miscarried when I was four months pregnant”

Shahid Kapoor and Mira Rajput, who are currently proud parents to two children, have often opened up about parenting and what it is like to raise two children. However, the latter made a rather shocking revelation recently when she addressed the issue of miscarriage and shared that she herself was on the verge of suffering one during her first pregnancy. Mira Rajput reveals about being admitted in the hospital after the first four months In a podcast with Prakhar Gupta, Mira Rajput said, “Not many people know this, but when I was pregnant with my daughter, it was my first pregnancy. And you are like, oh, I am 21-20, whatever… I am healthy, and I am like very fit and the prime of my life in terms of having kids. What is the worse can happen, and I almost miscarried when I was four months pregnant. Came back and had this sonography and the doctor tells me that lie down right now.” She also continued about how the doctor admitted her immediately and even told her that she could lose her

Karan Johar reveals the reason behind giving Koffee With Karan a skip in 2024; calls Season 8 rapid fire a ‘snooze alert’

Karan Johar, who is known for his quirky jibes and witty one-liners did not receive a great feedback when it came to his show Koffee With Karan Season 8 which released in 2023. The filmmaker-host’s show is known for its fun conversations where actors spill the beans on their personal and professional lives, making some intriguing revelations. However, the year of 2024 will not mark the return of the show, asserted KJo, who also promised that he is definitely looking at releasing Season 9 next year. In an interview with Sucharita, Karan Johar discussed what went wrong with Season 8 of Koffee With Karan and revealed how a fun and peppy round like the Rapid Fire had become so boring that he didn’t want to give out the prize (coffee hamper) to anyone. “In the history of Koffee with Karan, it was the most boring rapid fire. It was so boring that I was like snooze alert. I’m like why am I even doing this? You’re not giving me questions. Should we just drop the rapid fire? Main hi hamper gha

The Last Breath review – Julian Sands’s last film is solid shark-meets-shipwreck thriller

A group of friends are terrorised by a shark while exploring a shipwreck in an unremarkable film that marks Sands final outing onscreen In most respects this suspense-thriller with aquatic antagonists is pretty unremarkable, apart from the sad fact that it was British actor Julian Sands’s last film before he died while hiking. It’s a shame that he didn’t have a more interesting role, but few get to choose their swan song. Sands has a strictly functional supporting role here as Levi, a grizzled boat captain originally from Blighty, looking for the wreck of a ship that went down in the Caribbean during the second world war. Unable to dive any more because of an injury, Levi stays onboard supposedly knitting (even though the red hat he wears looks more like a misbegotten crochet project) while his younger crewmate Noah (Jack Parr) searches the ocean floor. Then not long after they finally find the wreck, a posse of Noah’s friends from New York show up hoping to enjoy a diving holiday. L

The Investigator review – harrowing documentary details search for justice after Balkan wars

Viktor Portel’s film follows Czech investigator Vladimír Dzuro as he returns to sites of torture and death, and meets survivors as well as supporters of perpetrators Revisiting the blood-soaked conflicts that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991, Viktor Portel’s harrowing documentary follows Vladimír Dzuro, a Czech investigator committed to bringing war criminals to justice. Drawing from Dzuro’s bestselling book The Investigator: Demons of the Balkan War, the film primarily focuses on the atrocities committed by Serbian forces; as Dzuro returns to sites of torture and death, his encounters with the survivors as well as supporters of the perpetrators are at once riveting and heartbreaking. The Vukovar massacre , one of the most infamous incidents of the war, is recounted in eye-opening detail. In 1991, in the final days of a battle between the Croatian National Guard and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) during the Croatian war of independence, the latter vetoed a

Devoleena Bhattacharjee criticizes Bigg Boss OTT 3 and calls it ‘disgusting to the core’; pens a note saying, “This is not entertainment, it's filth”

Devoleena Bhattacharjee, who was a part of Bigg Boss 15, recently took to social media to share her opinion on the recent launch of Bigg Boss OTT 3. The digital version of the reality show, which is currently in its third season, saw several influencers as contestants including the famous trio of Armaan Malik, Payal, and Krithika Malik. Devoleena, who was upset with the idea living with two wives, decided to call out the reality show and shared about it on social media. Devoleena Bhattacharjee calls it ‘filth’ Expressing that she is disgusted over a man confessing about falling in love with another woman, while being married to her best friend, and living with both of them, the actress criticized the show and called it ‘filth’. She said, “Do you think this is entertainment? This is not entertainment, it's filth. Don't make the mistake of taking this lightly because it's not just a reel, it's real. I mean, I can't even understand how anyone can call this shamelessn