Entertainment
Payal Kapadia's 'All We Imagine As Light' has to settle for a Grand Prix at Cannes (Lead)
Cannes, May 26 (IANS) So near, yet so far. Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine As Light’ came home with the Grand Prix, but not the Palme d’Or, from the glittering awards event that brought the curtains down on the 77th Cannes Film Festival on Saturday night.
Still, it was a big moment for Indian cinema, which was evident from the extended standing ovation that the director and her three lead stars got from the house-full audience.
It was in as far back as 1994 that the festival’s prestigious competition section featured an Indian film — Malayalam director Shaji Karun’s ‘Swaham’, which did not win any award. The Palme d’Or that year, incidentally, went to Quentin Tarantino’s classic, ‘Pulp Fiction’.
The Palme d’Or went to American filmmaker Sean Baker for ‘Anora’ nine years after he was named one of the Directors to Watch by ‘Variety’, which calls the film “a rowdy whirlwind romance between an exotic dancer (Mikey Madison) and the obscenely rich son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn).
Baker, notes ‘Variety’, is the first American director to clinch the top prize at Cannes after Terrence Malick earned it for ‘The Tree of Life’ in 2011.
Kapadia received the award from Hollywood star Viola Davis along with the film’s three lead actors — Kani Kusruti, Chhaya Kadam and Divya Prabha.
In her acceptance speech, Kapadia started by giving a shout-out to the Best Director award winner, Miguel Gomes from Portugal, whose work she said she followed.
She then went on to make a statement on the value of female friendship, as opposed to the stereotypical representation of women pitting themselves against each other.
Kapadia also urged the festival’s decision-makers not to make the world wait “for another 30 years” to see an Indian film in the competition section.
Reacting almost immediately after the announcement, Anurag Kashyap raised a toast to the hope and inspiration that 38-year-old Kapadia has become to an emerging generation of independent filmmakers.
India has had a great run at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Debutante actress Anasuya Sengupta got the Best Actress prize at the festival’s Un Certain Regard segment for her performance in Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov’s ‘The Shameless’.
Mysuru doctor-turned-filmmaking aspirant Chidananda Naik’s Film & Television Institute of India (FTII) student film ‘Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know…’, which he made in just four days, won the first prize at the ‘La Cinef’ segment of the festival.
Also honoured at Cannes was the veteran cinematographer, Santosh Sivan, who became the first Asian to be awarded the prestigious Pierre Angenieux ExcelLens in Cinematography award named after the inventor of the zoom lens that revolutionised cinematography.
Hailed by the BBC as a “magical ode to nocturnal Mumbai”, ‘All We Imagine As Light’ has been described as “a delicate triple portrait of women who have devoted their lives to helping others, but have received precious little in return in terms of money, status or freedom.”
As would be expected from a Payal Kapadia film, it makes a strong political statement as well by showing one of the characters, a Hindu, nurturing a relationship with a young Muslim man.
The film’s climax, in more than one way, is the scene of them making love in a forest near the beach town where the three lead characters decide to have a little break.
The stars of the Indian-French co-production are Kani Kusruti, who audiences outside Kerala would identify as the one who plays the strong-willed personal secretary of Huma Qureishi’s character in ‘Maharani’, Chhaya Kadam, last seen bringing the house down with her stellar performance in ‘Laapataa Ladies’, and Divya Prabha.
Kapadia, who’s acclaimed artist Nalini Malini’s daughter and FTII graduate, won the Golden Eye at Cannes in 2021 for her politically incendiary debut documentary, ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing’.
The jury for the competition films was presided over by the ‘Barbie’ hitmaker Greta Gerwig. Its members, a number of them women, included J.A. Bayona, Spanish filmmaker; Ebru Ceylan, Turkish actress and screenwriter; Pierfrancesco Favino, Italian actor-producer; ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ star Lily Gladstone; Eva Green, French actress; Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda; Nadine Labaki, Lebanese actress and filmmaker; and French actor Omar Sy.
Here’s the complete roster of the other winners who were honoured on Saturday night:
Jury Prize: Former Palme d’Or winner Jacques Audiard’s Spanish film ‘Emilia Perez’. The Mexico-set musical — about a cartel boss who disappears in order to re-emerge as a woman, according to ‘Variety’ — stars Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and trans star Karla Sofía Gascon.
Best Director: Miguel Gomes from Portugal for ‘Grand Tour’, which blends colour and black- and-white cinematography to tell the early 20th-century story of a British civil servant who attempts to flee his fiancee by hopping from one Asian country to the next.
Best Actor: Jesse Plemons, a.k.a. Kirsten Dunst’s husband, ‘Kinds of Kindness’ (director: Yorgos Lanthimos, who was in the news not so long ago for his Emma Stone film, ‘Poor Things’). Plemons, says ‘Variety’, plays three roles, those of submissive businessman, grieving police officer and bisexual cult member in this surrealist satire.
Special Award for Best Screenplay: ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’, Iranian dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof’s latest film, for which he was condemned to an eight-year prison sentence back home
Best Actress: The quartet of stars of the Spanish film ‘Emilia Perez’ — Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascon and Selena Gomez. Lily Gladstone of ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, who was on the jury presided over by Greta Gerwig, described the award as “the harmony of sisterhood”.
Best Screenplay: ‘The Substance’ (starring Demi Moore), Coralie Fargeat
Camera d’Or (which is awarded to a first film): ‘Armand’, director Halfdan Ullmann Tondel, who, incidentally, is grandson of Norwegian actress Liv Ullman and Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.
Special Mentions: ‘Mongrel’ (directed: Chiang Wei Liang) and ‘Bad For A Moment’ (director: Daniel Soares)
Short Film Palme d’Or: ‘The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent’ (director: Nebojsa Slijepcevic)
–IANS
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Allu Arjun is poised to dominate the box office with his highly anticipated film, Pushpa 2: The Rule, set to release on December 6, 2024. The excitement surrounding this film is phenomenal, already making headlines with an impressive pre-release collection of RS 1,085 crores! This achievement is particularly notable, given that it reached this milestone well before the movie even debuts in theaters.
Fans are eagerly looking forward to Allu Arjun’s return as Pushparaj, the character that earned him a National Award for Best Actor in the first installment, Pushpa: The Rise. The buzz surrounding Pushpa 2 is unparalleled, and the film is expected to break even more records upon its release. The pre-release collection includes a record-setting deal for theatrical rights, sold for ₹640 crores, making it one of the most lucrative film deals in Indian cinema.
Additionally, Pushpa 2 has secured a significant digital distribution agreement with Netflix, which acquired the rights for ₹275 crores, highlighting the high demand for the film. The overall pre-release earnings have been impressive across various regions, with ₹220 crores collected in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, ₹200 crores in the North, ₹50 crores in Tamil Nadu, ₹30 crores in Karnataka, ₹20 crores in Kerala, and ₹40 crores from overseas markets. The music rights were sold for ₹65 crores, while the satellite rights fetched ₹85 crores, contributing a total of ₹425 crores from non-theatrical rights.
Directed by Sukumar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, Pushpa 2: The Rule features a talented cast, including Rashmika Mandanna and Fahadh Faasil alongside Allu Arjun. The film’s music will be released by T Series, further adding to the anticipation.
With Allu Arjun’s National Award win and the remarkable pre-release collections, it’s clear that Pushpa 2 is set to be a blockbuster. As the release date approaches, fans are excited to see how this film will perform at the box office. If the pre-release collections are any indication, Pushpa 2 is bound to shatter records and become a massive success!
Mumbai, Aug 22 (IANS) Actress Anu Aggarwal, who rose to fame with “Aashiqui”, and “King Uncle”, recalled the time when filmmakers would come to her with money for signing a film and would not have a script ready.
In a conversation with Lehren shared on Instagram, the actress could be seen talking about it.
“I was shocked to see that people who don’t have their scripts are not ready when they would come to sign me up for a film. They would have the money ready and I would say I don’t want to sign with the money. I would like to hear the script.”
“They would say the script will be made so you can sign,” she added.
“This was the way and because I am an actor I would like to see what my role, story is. Everything is important. Nobody would have a script… 98 per cent of people would not have the script,” she said.
Anu Aggarwal gained immense popularity in the 1990s after featuring in the musical romantic drama “Aashiqui” directed by Mahesh Bhatt.
She starred alongside Rahul Roy and Deepak Tijori.
The film was known for its music, by composer duo Nadeem–Shravan establishing their careers.
The soundtrack album has been rated fourth by Planet Bollywood on their “100 Greatest Bollywood Soundtracks”.
It was the best-selling Bollywood album at the time of its release.
The film was remade in Kannada as “Roja” in 2002.
A sequel to the film, “Aashiqui 2”, with a completely new theme, directed by Mohit Suri, with Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor, was released in 2013.
–IANS
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Entertainment
Ram Charan's daughter Klin achieves this milestone on grandfather Chiranjeevi's birthday
Mumbai, Aug 22 (IANS) On the 69th birthday of actor and politician Chiranjeevi, his son Ram Charan has shared a peek into their family vacation to Paris, France, which is also the first trip of his daughter Klin Kaara with her grandparents.
Ram took to his Instagram account, where he has 23.9 million followers, and shared a family picture from Paris.
The snap shows his parents– father Chiranjeevi, mother Surekha, his wife Upasana Kamineni, and their furry friend–pet dog. We can see Chiranjeevi holding his granddaughter Klin adorably in his arms.
Ram looked dapper in a black shirt, matching trousers and an olive green jacket.
They are posing against the backdrop of Eiffel Tower.
The post is captioned as: “Klin Kaara’s first trip with her grandparents!!! Memorable”.
In another post, Ram dropped a photograph with his father, wearing matching South Indian ethnic outfits.
He wrote in caption: “Happpiest birthday, Appa!!”
Meanwhile, on the occasion of Chiranjeevi’s birthday, UV Creations and director Vashistaa Mallidi have unveiled the highly anticipated first look poster for ‘Vishwambhara’, a fantasy adventure film.
Sharing the poster on social media, the makers wrote: “When darkness and evil take over the world, a Magnanimous Star shall shine bright to fight, Happy birthday, MEGASTAR @KChiruTweets, Let the world witness your aura with #Vishwambhara, Get ready for a MEGA MASS BEYOND UNIVERSE, In cinemas from January 10th, 2025.”
The movie promises to be a cinematic spectacle, featuring Chiranjeevi in a lead role. The film also stars Trisha Krishnan, Ashika Ranganath and Kunal Kapoor.
The film will be released on January 10, 2025.
Chiranjeevi was last seen in Telugu action drama ‘Bhola Shankar’ directed by Meher Ramesh. It also featured Tamannaah Bhatia, Keerthy Suresh and Sushanth.
Meanwhile, Ram Charan last appeared in action drama ‘Acharya’, directed by Koratala Siva. The film starred Chiranjeevi, alongside Pooja Hegde, Sonu Sood and Jisshu Sengupta.
He next has ‘Game Changer’, and ‘RC16’ in the pipeline.
–IANS
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Entertainment
Rani Mukerji: Shivani Shivaji Roy shows how a woman can lead from front in a male-dominated field
Mumbai, Aug 22 (IANS) Actress Rani Mukerji has talked about why she loves her character Shivani Shivaji Roy from “Mardaani,” which has completed 10 years in Hindi cinema on Thursday.
She said: “Shivani Shivaji Roy is my most favourite on-screen character. She is a defiant, fierce force of nature who will stand up for what is right no matter what. She is someone who subverts gender norms in cinema and shows how a woman can also lead from the front in a male-dominated field.”
As the film celebrates its 10th anniversary, Rani is grateful for all the love and acclaim that she has received.
She said: “I’m truly proud of my ‘Mardaani’ franchise. It is a franchise that keeps on giving. The love, adulation, and the respect that I have received from Mardaani is truly humbling.”
On Thursday morning, the makers of the film teased fans about the next chapter of the franchise.
Production Yash Raj Films banner took to YouTube, where they dropped a teaser of sorts, which begins from the first installment, which first released in 2014.
The production company captioned it: “10 years of #Mardaani and the next chapter awaits… Celebrating the feisty, daredevil cop #ShivaniShivajiRoy and the spirit of #Mardaani today. Thank you for a decade of love and appreciation for our beloved franchise. We are inspired… again… thanks to you. #RaniMukerji #10YearsOfMardaani.”
Rani is too excited to reprise the role and don the cop uniform once again.
She said: “I’m looking forward to bringing back Shivani Shivaji Roy on the big screen soon. It’s been a while since I have donned the cop uniform and paid tribute to the women police force of our country.”
“Each (woman cop) one of them relentlessly works hard to keep our families safe and I have always loved to salute these fearless women. Shivani will be back and I hope you will give as much love to her as you have always showered for 10 years now!” added the actress.
–IANS
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Mumbai, Aug 22 (IANS) Bollywood actress and fashionista Sonam Kapoor brought out her A-game in fashion, where she flaunted “minimal, bold and effortlessly on point” look.
The actress took to Instagram, where she shared a string of pictures. In the pictures, she is seen wearing a powder pink shirt, paired with a blazer and long skirt. She completed her look with sunglasses.
“Celebrating @perniaq season 2 podcast drop with that sleek @phoebephilo energy—minimal, bold, and effortlessly on point. Shoutout to the squad for keeping the vibe,” she wrote and also mentioned that she is styled by her sister Rhea Kapoor.
Recently, Sonam shared several glimpses from her son Vayu’s vintage car themed cake as he turned two on August 20.
Sonam took to Instagram, where she shared a reel of the two-tier toddler friendly, refined sugar free chocolate cake. It featured a vintage ice blue car atop of the cake with the number 2 written on it.
The actress had also penned a heart-felt note for her son Vayu.
“My baby turns two today!!! Happy 2nd Birthday to our sweet, precious Vayu! W Being your mom is the greatest gift I could ever receive. You’ve filled our lives with so much joy, laughter, and wonder,” Sonam said.
The actress shared that with her son, everyday is an adventure filled with “your boundless curiosity, your infectious laughter, and your sweet, loving nature.”
“You’ve brought so much light and happiness into our world, making every moment more beautiful and every relationship stronger. You’ve deepened the love between your dadaa and me in ways we never imagined, and you’ve brought pure, unfiltered joy to everyone who loves you-your nani and nana, dadi and baba, kaaa masa, Masi and chachu,” she said.
“Your sweet spirit and playful energy make our family complete, and we are so blessed to have you in our lives.”
She tagged Vayu as her sunshine, music, little genius, and their endless “source of happiness”.
“We love you more than words can say, and we can’t wait to see all the amazing things you will continue to bring into our lives,” Sonam said.
–IANS
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