India’s ZEE5 Unveils 111-Strong 2023 Slate, Executives Reveal Content Strategy (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran India’s Rajshri Deshpande, star of Rotterdam winner “Sexy Durga” and hit Netflix series “Trial by Fire,” headlines “Privacy,” the first teaser for which has been unveiled. The film will have its world premiere at Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan). “Privacy” is a voyeuristic social thriller set in and around the slums of Mumbai. It follows Roopali (Deshpande), who works at the Mumbai surveillance command and control center as an operator. While being ambitious, she constantly fights her own guilt and resists her dark past. Things start to get complicated when Roopali ignores protocol and begins to investigate a robbery and murder that takes place on her watch. The film takes the neo-noir approach to explore themes of mental health, voyeurism and access to information.

Naman Ramachandran Streamer Disney+ Hotstar has unveiled a trailer for the second part of Indian series “The Night Manager.” The first part of the Indian adaptation of the 2016 BBC series of the same name, based on John le Carré’s 1993 novel, began streaming in February and the second part will stream from June 30. Anil Kapoor plays arms dealer Shailendra Rungta, aka Shelly, who is pitted against Shaan Sengupta (Aditya Roy Kapur), the titular night manager. In the second part, Shelly and Shaan join forces to run an empire. Director Sandeep Modi said: “Anil Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur, both have an aura of their own, when they were brought together for Shelly and Shaan, we were sure that it would be the biggest fight ever. The ‘Night Manager’ part 1 opened a web of secrets and brought Shelly and Shaan together. Now that both of them have joined hands, we are left in confusion of what awaits behind the doors. One thing I can guarantee is excitement gets double and action gets triple. ‘The Night Manager’ part 2 will be bigger, better and bolder. This union is indeed something one would never expect.”

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood star Bhumi Pednekar, celebrated for her films that advocate social change, has revealed ambitious goals for World Environment Day. Pednekar founded non-profit advocacy platform Climate Warrior – funded from her acting remunerations – through which she strives to neutralizing her and her family’s carbon footprint and making her own home sustainable and the organization also has larger goals. Initiatives include supporting an NGO called Healing Himalayas that clears pollution from the mighty mountain range after every tourist season;  Mumbai beach cleaning drives; working towards plastic free film shoots; working with upcycling and recycling organizations and waste segregation initiatives across India; leading anti open defecation campaigns; marching for climate justice; supporting transformative companies that make ink from pollution and various other projects.

Netflix fans, it's Tudum time once again!The streaming service's worldwide fan event returns on June 17, live-streaming from Brazil after two years of virtual events, to give fans first looks, never-before-seen footage, and exclusive news from their favorite movies, series and games.Kicking off at 1:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m.

EXCLUSIVE: With the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike entering its second month in the U.S., writers and filmmakers around the world are taking note of how these issues play out in their own countries.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The 25th Shanghai International Film Festival, June 9 to 18, has unveiled the titles in contention for awards in its four main feature-length sections: main competition, Asian New Talent, Animation film and documentary. These are eligible for the festival’s prestigious Golden Goblet Awards, winners of which will be announced at the Shanghai Grand Theater on the evening of June 17. While SIFF remains the only mainland China festival to be accredited as a so-called A-list event by the International Federation of Film Producers (FIAPF), its selections are largely separate and distinct from those at other major international festivals.

NBCUniversal has entered into a partnership with Indian streaming service JioCinema, owned by Viacom18, bringing thousands of hours of NBCU films and series to India. 

couple in the works! On the final part of this season of 's tell-all special that aired Sunday on TLC, Jen revealed that she gave her phone number to fellow castmate Debbie's son, Julian, after Debbie wanted to hook them up.Julian made a fiery in-person appearance during the tell-all to confront his mom's much younger ex, Oussama, for taking advantage of her. Jen — who's also on shaky ground with her on-and-off fiancé, Rishi, who's from India — was clearly appreciative of Julian passionately standing up for his mother.

was raised following the Indian/Dharmic religion Sikhism, but previously stated on Instagram post that she does not follow any one religion.Watch the podcast clip in the video above.

Priyanka Chopra is reflecting upon her time as an actress, detailing a moment where she felt her boundaries were crossed. An India native, Chopra's career accelerated after she won the Miss World 2000 pageant. She began starring in Bollywood films, and was hired to work with a director she was unfamiliar with.

Disney+ Hotstar has announced School of Lies, a Hindi missing child drama from BBC Studios India.

Naman Ramachandran A-lister Manoj Bajpayee, one of the few Indian actors who scores critical acclaim and commercial success in equal measure, has notched up another triumph with ZEE5 Global film “Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai.” Directed by Apoorv Singh Karki (Prime Video series “Flames”) and written by Deepak Kingrani (Disney+ Hotstar series “Special OPS”), the film is a courtroom drama based on the real-life case of a once-revered and powerful Indian religious leader who is currently serving a life term in jail for the rape of an underage girl. Bajpayee plays the prosecuting lawyer who is pitted against a phalanx of celebrity lawyers. “Usually what happens is that, you spend some time with the real person. Somewhere, I realized it’s a two-hour film, you have to have your own preparation away from the real guy, who is somebody who’s not even known to the world. And he’s achieved a feat in five years of continuous court hearings that is remarkable,” Bajpayee told Variety. “Instead of just creating or imitating a real person, let’s have the essence of him – the relentlessness and the courage and somebody who is stubborn about what he’s doing, completely focused, and he’s a good son, good father. I wanted to take all of it and make a character of my own and take a little bit of his physicality when I got to meet him before the shoot – I think it worked.”

Naman Ramachandran Indian Oscar winner Guneet Monga Kapoor’s Sikhya Entertainment and multihyphenate Karan Johar’s Dharmatic Entertainment have teamed for the first time to produce original series “Gyaarah Gyaarah” for streamer ZEE5. Directed by Umesh Bist (Sikhya-Balaji Motion Pictures-Netflix film “Pagglait”) and co-written by Puja Banerji and Sunjoy Shekhar, the series, described as being in the investigative fantasy drama genre, is set across three decades and timelines – 1990, 2001 and 2016 – and blends mysticism, science and mystery. The series will be produced by Monga Kapoor and Achin Jain for Sikhya and Johar and Apoorva Mehta for Dharmatic.

Naman Ramachandran Indian auteur Aribam Syam Sharma’s “Ishanou,” which screened at the Un Certain Regard strand at Cannes in 1991 is returning to the Croisette in a restored version. The Manipuri-language film is the only Indian film at the festival’s Cannes Classics section this year. “Ishanou” (“The Chosen One”), follows Tampha, a young woman with a loving husband and a small daughter, who leads a tranquil existence in the Manipur valley and is occupied with the mundane details of life. Suddenly she begins to behave in a strange manner, talking to flowers, becoming afflicted with dizzy spells and wandering out of the house in the dark of the night. The family tries to find a cure for her malady and finally realize that she does not have a sickness, but rather is responding to the call of a deity who has chosen her.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Richa Chadha and the U.K.’s William Moseley will headline the cast of India-U.K. co-production “Aaina.” The film, set between London and India, is a drama about the impact of the cycle of violence, both within cultures and on human beings in the form of PTSD. It marks the feature directorial debut of Markus Meedt, who previously directed several acclaimed shorts, including “Shelter” and “Anonymous” and episodes of mini-series “Let’s Get Macho.” Chadha starred in “Gangs of Wasseypur” and “Masaan,” both of which debuted at Cannes. She was most recently in Disney+ Hotstar series “The Great Indian Murder.” Moseley made a mark as a child actor in the Narnia franchise. He was one of the leads in “Land of Dreams,” which debuted at Venice, and was also in Indian film “Margarita With A Straw,” which had festival play at Toronto, Busan and London.

The Cannes Film Festival kicked off this year with opening-night movie Jeanne du Barry, with Deadline’s on the ground to watch all the key films. Here is a compilation of our reviews from the fest, which last year saw Ruben Östland’s Triangle of Sadness win the coveted Palme d’Or on its way to an Oscar Best Picture nomination.

Naman Ramachandran Indian multiplex chains PVR and Inox, which merged earlier this year, have launched a combined distribution arm PVR Inox Pictures, formerly PVR Pictures, “to increase investments in content acquisition to streamline high quality content for the Indian market, generate further opportunity for underrepresented storytellers and independent creators, and deliver a robust content slate to the Indian audience.” PVR Inox operates a network of 1689 cinema screens in 361 properties across 115 cities in India and Sri Lanka, and holds 43% share of multiplex screens in India. PVR Inox Pictures is the largest independent distributor of foreign language films and a prominent distributor of Indian films, in India.

JioCinema Premium has revealed an annual subscription plan of INR999 ($12.13) for Warner Bros. Discovery content. Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is behind Viacom18 and JioCinema. Warner Bros. Discovery and Viacom18 signed a multi-year agreement recently making JioCinema India’s new streaming home for HBO, Max Original and Warner Bros. content from May. The WBD content had previously been carried on the Disney-owned Star TV platform. But the deal with Star expired at the end of March.  Television series will premiere on JioCinema on the same day as the U.S. The deal includes current and future seasons of HBO’s “House of The Dragon,” “The Last of Us,” “Succession” and “The White Lotus,” and returning seasons of “True Detective: Night Country,” “Euphoria,” “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” and “Perry Mason.”

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Box office headlines have lately been dominated by Hollywood movies like Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which has become the first movie of the year to hit $1 billion, and Disney’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.” But a closer look at the global box office recovery indicates that Tinseltown does not have the field to itself. In fact, international films and markets — not the United States — are driving the current global box office recovery. In some territories, local-language titles are even dominant over Hollywood releases. And the overall scale of overseas ticket sales now dwarfs that of North America by more than two to one.

EXCLUSIVE: Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions has entered into a strategic content partnership with fellow Indian production house, Sikhya Entertainment, founded by Guneet Monga.