India’s Taapsee Pannu Reveals New Producing, Acting Projects and ‘Shah Rukh Khan in Rajkumar Hirani World’ Film ‘Dunki’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Warner Bros Discovery‘s international restructuring has continued with James Gibbons setting out the shape of his Asia Pacific team, with Japanese Country Manager Masami Takahashi choosing to retire.

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood war epic “Pippa” will get a direct-to-streaming release on Prime Video. “Pippa” is based on the book “The Burning Chaffees,” written by Brigadier Balram Singh Mehta and the screenplay is by Ravinder Randhawa, Tanmay Mohan and Menon. Ishaan plays Captain Mehta of the 45th Cavalry tank squadron who fought on India’s eastern front during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, which led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Matchbox Shots is developing a project on slain Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moose Wala. Indian rapper, singer and songwriter Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, known as Sidhu Moose Wala, was a star of Punjabi-language music and cinema whose work charted on Billboard globally. His work was not without controversy – it delved into raw, unfiltered issues, making him a voice for many.

Naman Ramachandran Stewart Copeland, founder and drummer of The Police, is reuniting with Indian musician Ricky Kej for the Resonance Climate Concert in Dubai during the COP28 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Copeland and Kej previously collaborated on “Divine Tides,” which won two Grammys and on “Police – Beyond Borders” where the legendary rock band’s classic songs are recreated in global languages.

Naman Ramachandran Former Disney India head and leading producer Siddharth Roy Kapur has warned of some practices that could arise in making films for streamers. Delivering the keynote address at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival‘s Industry Connect Symposium on Monday, Kapur, who is currently basking in the success of International Emmy nominated series “Rocket Boys” for streamer SonyLIV, lauded the positives brought to the industry by the platforms but also pointed out the pitfalls.

Indian actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas talked about how she was warned away from doing female-centric films when working in Hindi cinema, as well as her ambitions to expand her portfolio in the U.S., in a  conversation with fellow Indian actress Bhumi Pednekar at Mumbai Film Festival today. 

Naman Ramachandran Italian auteur Luca Guadagnino and Indian filmmakers Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti‘s Tiger Baby will lay the ground for future collaborations at a Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival event. The event, designed as a celebration of Guadagnino, will honor his work. “Tiger Baby’s celebration of Luca Guadagnino’s contributions to world cinema marks a significant step toward fostering international collaboration and sharing diverse stories with a global audience.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Film Bazaar, South Asia’s largest film market, has selected a range of projects from around the world for its annual co-production market. The 20 selected projects are from 11 countries, most are already structured as co-productions, and they are all South Asian-themed.

Mumbai Film Fest To Honor Luca Guadagnino & Mani Ratnam

Jordan Moreau The International Documentary Association announced the 17 feature-length and 25 short documentaries included on the shortlists for the 39th IDA Documentary Awards, which will be held during the week of Dec. 11in Los Angeles.

Naman Ramachandran The talents of Bollywood megastar Salman Khan and leading singer Arijit Singh will finally be united in Yash Raj Films’ “Tiger 3.” Singh has sung two numbers for the film. “Leke Prabhu Ka Naam,” a dance number featuring Salman and Katrina Kaif releases next week, while the second song is a romantic track. India deploys a practice known as playback singing where singers render songs that actors lip-sync to on screen.

Naman Ramachandran Celebrated Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap was in vintage free, frank and forthright form at a masterclass in Toronto on Sunday. “I have a massive problem with authority and authority has problems with me,” was one of the many nuggets from Kashyap, whose very first film “Paanch” (2003) was banned in India and whose subsequent work has been the subject of domestic scrutiny while being celebrated both at home and globally. Kashyap’s cop noir “Kennedy,” which had its world premiere at Cannes earlier this year, is on an extended festival run.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief India’s Yash Raj Films has set a mid-November release date through the Diwali holidays for “Tiger 3,” its anticipated spy-action film starring Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif and Emraan Hashmi. Holiday complexities have caused the company to devise what it called a “strategic and unique release plan.” Having previously only released teaser footage, YRF has now also unveiled a full trailer. Unusually, the film will open in Indian and international theaters on a Sunday – Nov. 12 – the first day of Diwali. “2023 is the year of ‘Adhik Maas’ which has led to complications regarding festival dates.

She’s appeared in iconic shows like Goodness Gracious Me, EastEnders and Strictly Come Dancing but now Nina Wadia is turning her hand to children’s TV. Nina, 54, narrates the brand-new series, Tweedy and Fluff, a heartwarming children’s show about two tiny animated characters. “When I first saw the show, I fell in love with it,” says Nina.

Naman Ramachandran Hansal Mehta‘s “The Buckingham Murders,” which premieres at the BFI London Film Festival, will be the first in a franchise. Written by Aseem Arrora, Raghav Raj Kakker and Kashyap Kapoor, the film follows Jasmeet Bhamra (portrayed by Kareena Kapoor Khan), a detective and mother who, after losing her own child, must investigate the murder of a 10-year-old in Buckinghamshire, going down a rabbit hole of secrets, where almost everyone in the small town becomes a suspect.

The Wrestler, directed by Bangladeshi-Canadian filmmaker Iqbal H. Chowdhury, and September 1923, from Japan’s Tatsuya Mori, picked up the New Currents Awards as Busan International Film Festival wrapped a busy 28th edition on October 13. 

EXCLUSIVE: Beach House Pictures is riding the crest of an Asian true crime wave. Having created three premium doc projects for Netflix, the Singapore-based producer has now optioned the story of the disappeared Instagram adventurer Justin Alexander.

Big Brother star Farida Khalifa shares a surprising link to King Charles.The 50 year old make-up artist, who shares tutorials on TikTok, where she has amassed over 27,000 followers, once applied henna to the King. Speaking on a video she posted to TikTok, Friday said: "I've put Henna on King Charles. I was featured in his Prince's Trust booklet as one of the successful businesses that they had funded.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Bertrand Bonello‘s “The Beast,” a dystopian romance drama starring Lea Seydoux (“No Time to Die”) and George MacKay (“1917”), has been bought by distributors in all major markets following its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Represented in international markets by Kinology, “The Beast” has sold to the U.K. (Vertigo Releasing), Italy (iWonder), Spain (Caramel), Australia and New Zealand (Rialto), Benelux (Imagine), Scandinavia (NonStop), Latin America (Impacto), Middle East (Front Row), Poland (New Horizons), Greece (Weirdwave), Portugal (Alambique), CIS (Capella), Romania (Transilvania), Bulgaria (Cinelibri), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom), India (Superfine) and Indonesia (P.T.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Crawling Angel Films and Singapore’s Akanga Film Asia are teaming on Busan Asian Film School (AFiS) alumnus Aakash Chhabra’s feature directorial debut “I′ll Smile in September.” The film is selected at the Busan International Film Festival‘s Asian Project Market. Akanga’s credits include Cannes winner “Tiger Stripes,” Locarno winner “A Land Imagined” and its “Oasis of Now” is in competition in the festival’s New Currents strand.