India’s Parineeti Chopra, Harrdy Sandhu Headline ‘Code Name: Tiranga’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran After “Sunrise” in 2014 and a double whammy with “The Wayfarers” and “Nirvana Inn” in 2019, Indian thespian Adil Hussain is back at the Busan International Film Festival this year with two more films – “The Storyteller” in the Jiseok section, and “Max, Min and Meowzaki” in the Open Cinema strand. Hussain, best known internationally for “Life of Pi” and “Star Trek: Discovery,” also won global plaudits for “What Will People Say” and “Hotel Salvation.” Both of the actor’s Busan films this year are by festival alumni – “The Storyteller,” is by Ananth Narayan Mahadevan, whose “Bittersweet” was in Busan 2020 and “Max, Min and Meowzaki” is helmed by Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy, who was at Busan in 2016 with “A Billion Colour Story.”

Naman Ramachandran Priyanka Chopra Jonas (“The White Tiger”), Richie Mehta (“Delhi Crime”) and Anurag Kashyap (“Sacred Games”) are among the luminaries who are part of Awedacious Originals’ slate. Awedacious is a production company led by Apoorva Bakshi, one of the producers of Mehta’s International Emmy-winning Netflix series “Delhi Crime,” and Monisha Thyagarajan, who served as associate producer on the show.

Naman Ramachandran Following its launch earlier this month in Malaysia, streamer Aha is set to bow in Singapore and the Middle East. The service, currently available in the Telugu and Tamil languages, will also begin offering Malayalam-language content with an eye on the Middle East expansion, where a migrant population that speaks the language abounds. Operated by Arha Media and Broadcasting, the Telugu-language service began in Jan. 2020 and the Tamil service followed in February this year. Malaysia, where there is a large Tamil-speaking population, was a logical next step, with four originals by local filmmakers in Malaysian Tamil, where the inflexions are slightly different from the Tamil spoken in India. Singapore, which also has a significant Tamil population, will follow.

Naman Ramachandran As Amazon Prime Video closes in on six years of operations in India, it is one of the market leaders in the streaming segment. A major part of the success is due to it getting a handle on the multiple local languages in the vast market. “One of the things we look at when we expand into new territories and languages is to see early signs and then double down on those early signs,” Gaurav Gandhi, VP, Amazon Prime Video India told Variety. The service programs in 10 languages in India, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali and English. “When we started programming in 10 languages we saw early signs before most others how content travels across languages,” says Gandhi, who spoke on the sidelines of the APOS conference in Singapore. “Today, 50% of our audience base is watching content in four plus languages, which was not the case three or four years back. And a big reason for that is the fact that as you program multiple languages across the board, we realize that you truly transcend linguistic boundaries and barriers and expand the linguistic palette.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Singapore-based production group Beach House Pictures has teamed up with executive Raghav Khanna to launch new unit Riverland Entertainment in Mumbai, India. The newly-formed production company will develop a slate of unscripted series and documentaries from India. It will do so by partnering with local Indian talent to create content intended for global and Indian audiences, while also leveraging Beach House Pictures’ international expertise and reach, and with access to Beach House’s post-production facility, Space Lion Studios. Khanna, who is a former head of Netflix’s documentary production in Asia-Pacific, is set as MD of the new operation. He will work closely with Beach House Pictures founders Donovan Chan and Jocelyn Little. 

Naman Ramachandran San Diego’s The Old Globe has announced an extension of Aditya Chopra’s “Come Fall in Love – The DDLJ Musical” due to popular demand. The Broadway-bound production has been extended for one week and will now play through Oct. 23, 2022. Chopra’s U.S. stage musical reimagining of his immensely popular 1995 Bollywood film “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,” commonly abbreviated to DDLJ, addresses the need for cultural unification in a divided world. Shoba Narayan plays Simran, a young Indian American woman whose future is set via an arranged marriage back in India to a family friend. But when she convinces her strict father that she should spend a summer of freedom and fun in Europe, she falls for the charming Rog (Austin Colby), and her plans go out the window.

Naman Ramachandran The release of revered Indian filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s hugely anticipated epic adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthy’s classic Tamil-language novel “Ponniyin Selvan” is the realization of his childhood dream. One of India’s most celebrated filmmakers whose films include “Nayakan,” “Bombay” and “Iruvar,” Ratnam read the novel when he was in high school and wanted to make it ever since. Post the tremendous critical and commercial success of “Nayakan” (1987), when that film’s lead Kamal Haasan wanted to make another film with Ratnam, the filmmaker considered “Ponniyin Selvan,” but the stars did not align at that time. Ratnam’s last film, “Chekka Chivantha Vaanam” (2018), was co-produced by his Madras Talkies and Subaskaran’s Lyca Productions (“2.0”).

Watch the clip above.)Young Queen Charlotte, played by India Amarteifio is determined to flee some sort of event (and what sounds like an arranged marriage) by climbing up a flowering and somewhat thorny vine. Corey Mylchreest, who plays Young King George, stumbles upon her, and not knowing who he is, she asks for his help in getting over the wall.But, while she tries angle after angle, he refuses her requests and reveals his true identity, leaving her stunned.The clip is fans’ first real look at the show, with Amarteifio bringing to life the beloved character originated by actress Golda Rosheuvel in “Bridgerton.” “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story” follows Queen Charlotte’s rise to prominence and power.

Queen Charlotte! Netflix's spinoff series centered on the monarch has an official title, and only ET has the exclusive details the very first look. The anticipated prequel drama, which introduces India Amarteifio as the young queen, will be titled . In the official first photo (see above), which ET exclusively debuts, Amarteifio steps into the shoes of Queen Charlotte in a long-sleeved, corseted cream gown, draped by a light gray hooded cape as she adorns an elaborate crown on her head matched with priceless jewels for earrings.Though she looks fit to reign over England, her pensive facial expression as she steps into a palatial setting will leave fans wondering as she looks off to the side.A limited series aimed to expand the universe, follows Queen Charlotte's rise to prominence and power. The prequel, which returns Bridgerton's Golda Rosheuvel as the older version of the character, tells the story of how the young queen's marriage to King George sparked both a great love story and a societal shift, creating the world of the Ton inherited by the characters in the flagship series.

Naman Ramachandran After his directorial debut “Rocketry: The Nambi Effect,” which bowed at the Cannes market earlier this year that he also wrote and co-produced, R. Madhavan is back solely as an actor with thriller “Dhokha – Round D Corner,” directed by Kookie Gulati (“The Big Bull”). After stints in music videos, Khushalii Kumar makes her film debut, playing a woman with a personality disorder who is taken hostage by a terrorist. She is married to Madhavan’s character. “It’s very tightly knit and any sort of revelation might give you a hint and ruin it for people,” Madhavan told Variety about the plot of the film. “It looks like a pretty straightforward story, but as the film progresses, nobody is actually who they seem.”

Naman Ramachandran Hindi-language “Maja Ma,” starring Bollywood icon Madhuri Dixit Nene, is the first of many Indian original films from Amazon Prime Video, Aparna Purohit, the head of India originals for the streamer, has revealed. The film is a Prime Video commission, as opposed to an acquisition. “We have been acquiring films, we have been putting films straight on our service and over the last two years, we put almost 60 films out and we also bought into co-productions. Producing our own films was the next logical step,” Purohit told Variety. Next up are films in the Telugu and Tamil languages, with films in Malayalam and Kannada being explored. “We want to tell stories that are truly rooted in our soil, stories that are compelling, that are differentiated, in the hands of very passionate creators – story being the starting point for every decision. That’s the strategy,” said Purohit. “And we want to really delight our audiences spread across the length and breadth of the country.”

EXCLUSIVE: Game of Thrones alum Jerome Flynn has joined the cast of 1923, Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone prequel series at Paramount+.

Naman Ramachandran British-Sri Lankan actor Nimmi Harasgama has returned to the U.K. stage after nearly a decade with “Silence,” a co-production between Donmar Warehouse and Tara Theatre. Harasgama, who was a member of the U.K.’s National Youth Theatre and went on to get a BA in drama and theater arts at Goldsmiths College, London University, has also trained at Groundlings Improv School and Lesly Kahn and Co Drama School in Los Angeles. The actor shot to international prominence with a brace of films by Sri Lankan auteur Prasanna Vithanage – “August Sun” (2003), for which she won best actress at Las Palmas, and “Flowers of the Sky” (2008), which premiered at Busan. After some shorts and roles in BBC series “Doctors,” Harasgama had an extended run on the U.K. stage in productions such as “The Snow Queen” (Unicorn Theatre); “Gandhi and Coconuts” (Kali Theatre Company); “Aunty Netta’s Holiday for Asylum” (Tamasha Theatre Company – Edinburgh Festival Fringe); and “Handful of Henna” (Rasa Theatre Company).

Manori Ravindran International Editor Vice Studios global president Kate Ward is joining BBC Studios to oversee its factual portfolio, Variety can reveal. Ward has been appointed to the role of managing director for factual at BBC Studios Productions, where she replaces Tom McDonald, who left the company earlier this year to join National Geographic. With her new role, the well-respected executive — who most recently served as president of global studios and Pulse Films for Vice Media Group — will take on one of the most significant production portfolios in the U.K. industry, spanning the BBC’s Natural History Unit, Documentary Unit and Science Unit. She will also oversee relationships with BBC Studios’ roster of production companies, including Louis Theroux’s Mindhouse Productions, David Olusoga’s Uplands TV and James and Soleta Rogan’s Rogan Productions.

Naman Ramachandran Prashant Nair, Sundance audience award winner for “Umrika,” and veteran producer Ronnie Screwvala (“Uri: The Surgical Strike”) are teaming up on series “The Support Group.” Nair serves as the director-showrunner on the multi-season series, which follows three characters from very different backgrounds who form an uneasy alliance to escape the consequences of an accidental killing. The series is produced by Screwvala’s RSVP in association with Sidharth Jain’s House of Talkies. While a streaming or broadcast partner has not been revealed yet, typically Screwvala prefers to develop content on his own steam and then negotiate with partners who buy into the show’s vision.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winning film “Triangle of Sadness” has been sold by Coproduction Office to major distributors around the world. “Triangle of Sadness,” which was acquired by Neon for North America at the Cannes Film Festival, just had its North American premiere at Toronto and is playing at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Coproduction Office has now sold the movie worldwide to major distributors. Recent deals have been closed with Stay Golden (China), Edko (Hong Kong), Impact (India), Gaga (Japan), Green Narae (South Korea), Catchplay (Taiwan), TBA Studios (Philippines), Sun (Latin America), Frontrow (Middle East), Forefont (South Africa) and Les Films 26 (French-speaking Africa).