India’s Applause Entertainment Reveals Robust Film Slate, Doubles Down on Investment as it Turns Five (EXCLUSIVE)

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Two Korean and two Indian movies make the cut in the Busan International Film Festival’s New Currents main competition section. Thet are joined by one each from Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Germany. The section has a track record of making significant discoveries among new Asian films and directors.The selected titles are eligible for multiple awards, including the New Currents Award, the FIPRESCI Award, the NETPAC Award, and the KB New Currents Audience Award. The selection comprises: “Ajooma,” directed by Hu Shuming (Singapore-Korea); “Blue Again” from Thailand’s Thapanee Loosuwan; “Hail to Hell,” by Korea’s Lim Oh-jeong; “Memento Mori: Earth,” by Vietnam’s Marcus Vu Manh Cuong; “No End,” directed by Nader Saeivar and flying the flags of Germany, Iran and Turkey; “A Place Called Silence,” by Malaysia’s Sam Quah; “Shivamma,” fromIndia’s Jaishankar Aryar; Japanese director Kubota Nao’s “One Thousand and One Nights”; “A Wild Roomer,” from Korea’s Lee Jeong-hong; and The Winter Within,” directed by Aamir Bashir, and structured as a co-production between India, France and Qatar.

Burgeoning Saudi Arabian content company Arabia Pictures Group is joining forces with Greece-based audiovisual group Tanweer on a strategic partnership that will see them cooperate on production and distribution across all formats in the Middle East and North Africa.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The delayed 46th edition of the Hong Kong International Film Festival wrapped Wednesday with the award of 13 prizes for its young filmmaker, documentary and shorts competitions. Hailed by the jury as “one of this year’s most distinguished films both creatively and artistically,” Qiu Jiongjiong’s “A New Old Play” was named best film for the Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language). “A New Old Play” is a tale of a family of Sichuan Opera artists living through a tumultuous era. It also collected the FIPRESCI Prize, with the jury commending the film for “its masterful approach and inventive visual style.”  In the global category, Palestinian director Maha Haj’s “Mediterranean Fever” was chosen as the Firebird Award winner for being “an all-rounded gem that is at once a thriller, social comedy, and odd couple bromance.” 

Selome Hailu The Michelle Monaghan vehicle “Echoes” was the most-viewed title on Netflix during the Aug. 22-28 viewing window, its first full week of availability after premiering on Aug. 19. With 68.5 million hours watched, the limited series passed Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman,” which was watched for 53.8 million hours in the same period and had held the No. 1 position on the English-language series chart for the three weeks prior. “Me Time,” the comedy film starring Kevin Hart and Mark Wahlberg, debuted as the second-most-watched title of the week and the No. 1 movie. Racking up 59.2 million hours watched in its first three days of availability on the streamer, “Me Time” follows Sonny (Hart) as he reconnects with his best friend Huck (Wahlberg) for a wild weekend while his wife (Regina Hall) and kids are away.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix India has expanded existing partnerships and forged new ones with several of the country’s leading production houses. They include T-Series, Red Chillies Entertainment, Pooja Entertainment, Viacom 18 Studios, Luv Films, Reliance Entertainment, RSVP Movies, Benaras Media Works, Maddock Films, Junglee Pictures, Balaji Telefilms and Matchbox Shots. Monika Shergill, VP, content, Netflix India, says: “With some studios, we have a partnership to bring more of their films on the service, like T series – we’ve been doing so many films with them – Pooja Entertainment, RSVP, Red Chillies, they’ve been long standing partners. But across the board, we are working with many.”

EXCLUSIVE: Arjun Rampal is on his way to a shoot in Poland after a week’s work in London and a short stop in his home country India when he sits down for a chat with Deadline.

Naman Ramachandran Director Aditya Chopra has revealed a grand vision for “Come Fall in Love,” the stage adaptation of his immensely popular 1995 film Bollywood film “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,” commonly abbreviated to DDLJ. Producer Yash Raj Films has also shared an exclusive image of the production’s rehearsal with Variety. Chopra said: “I first conceived the story of DDLJ (even before it was called DDLJ) as a Hollywood love story of a white American man and an Indian woman. My main motivation at that time was to present Indian culture and values to a global audience. Years later, as I reimagine the story as a Broadway musical, my mainstay is still the same, showcasing Indian culture to a world audience. And the most powerful way to depict a country’s culture and values is to see it from the perspective of someone who does not belong to the same culture. That is the starting point of ‘Come Fall In Love,’ the story of Indian Simran, her culture and heritage, through the eyes of American Roger.”

I. JORDAN has shared a new double single ‘Hey Baby’ / ‘I Had The Best Of Times’ – listen to the two tracks below.The latest release from the producer and DJ fka India Jordan arrives as part of an ongoing series of paired songs. It follows this summer’s ‘Always Been’ / ‘First Time Back’.Per a press release, the dancefloor-ready ‘Hey Baby’ has become the most requested cut at I.

EXCLUSIVE: Criminal Minds showrunner Simon Mirren and his production partner Benjamin Anderson are currently in Mumbai working on a procedural drama series with Indian firms Applause Entertainment and Locomotive Global, Deadline can reveal.

With Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom Exodus due to world premiere at the upcoming Venice Film Festival, Zentropa has dropped a look at the kinetic opening sequence as well as a set of new posters (check out the video above and see photos below).

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood star Hrithik Roshan has revealed a direct link between “The Lord of the Rings” and his sci-fi franchise “Krrish.”Roshan was one of the guests at Amazon Prime Video’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” Asia-Pacific premiere in Mumbai on Thursday. The actor revealed that his father Rakesh Roshan, who directed “Koi… Mil Gaya” binge-watched Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy in 2004.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorThe international trailer has been debuted for Jafar Panahi’s “No Bears,” which has its world premiere on Sept. 9 in competition at Venice Film Festival, before moving to Toronto Film Festival and New York Film Festival. Celluloid Dreams, which is handling world sales, has revealed territory deals with several distributors.

Amazon Prime Video announced today that two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will premiere on Sept. 1 and 2 (depending on time zone). The rest of the episodes will follow a weekly, single-episode rollout.

EXCLUSIVE: Applause Entertainment is readying a sketch comedy show billed as ‘Saturday Night Live meets The Kumars at No. 42,’ as the company turns five. Also on the slate is a travelog tracing the journey made by legendary prince Lord Ram and a documentary on the climate crisis in India, Deadline can reveal. An access doc on Hindi movie megastar Salman Khan is also nearing completion.

Naman Ramachandran On the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day on Aug. 15, the first teaser of Bollywood war epic “Pippa” has been revealed and Dec. 2 has been set as the release date.

Johnny Depp is royalty in iconic French director Maïwenn’s love story “Jeanne du Barry”.

Tom Hiddleston is getting back into character!

patka and cuts his hair.Screenwriter Atul Kulkarni’s decision to speak about the possibility of unity in India, or at least to see one’s enemies as people with similar hopes and fears, stands as the most compelling narrative transformation in “Laal.” To that virtuous ideological end, Brother Muhammed (Manav Vij), a Muslim fighter Laal saves from dying, replaces Lieutenant Dan. Their interreligious friendship illustrates the film’s message of tolerance.Those most familiar with the original Best Picture winner will likely catch themselves searching for its best remembered elements, including the scene where Gump receives a medal from President Lyndon B.

Marta Balaga Tom Hardiman’s feature debut “Medusa Deluxe,” which premiered at Locarno on Saturday, has already seduced multiple international distributors with its mixture of humor, grief and competitive hairdressing.Now Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales has sealed further deals for the unusual murder mystery in Spain (Elastica Films), Benelux (Filmfreak), Scandinavia and the Baltics (NonStop Entertainment), Variety has learnt in exclusivity.As previously reported, A24 has acquired North American rights to the film, produced by Emu Films with the support of BFI, BBC Films, and Time Based Arts.MUBI holds the rights to U.K./Ireland, France, Latin America, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Turkey, India and Southeast Asia. “The buyers are excited about ‘Medusa Deluxe’ because it’s a quirky, original piece of cinema which can appeal to younger audiences, especially since A24 and MUBI will lead the way on global marketing,” said New Europe Film Sales CEO, Jan Naszewski.Hardiman, a self-confessed hairdressing aficionado, has joined forces with celebrity hairstylist Eugene Souleiman in order to show a community struggling with tragic loss yet still striving for perfection.“There is this cathartic moment at one point, two people genuinely caring about each other, and you have this hairstyle with a boat on the top.