Jio Platforms CFO on 5G Launch in India: ‘This Is Going to Transform Streaming as We Know it’

Manori Ravindran International Editor New York’s South Asian International Film Festival has appointed Chayan Sarkar as its new president. A filmmaker, entrepreneur and festival director, Sarkar is also the founder of the Indian International Film Festival of Queensland in Australia. He takes over from SAIFF founder Shilen Amin, who will step down as president, but will remain a member of the festival’s board of directors. Sarkar joins SAIFF as the festival enters its 19th year as a leading film festival in the U.S. for new cinema from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, and within the Indian diaspora. In recent years, SAIFF has become increasingly influential as a platform for South Asian cinema, both in the U.S. and internationally. Fourteen of India’s submissions for the international feature film Oscar have had their North American premieres at the festival.

Naman Ramachandran For the first time in its 37-year history, the SXSW festival in Austin will host South Asian House, an initiative to celebrate South Asians from India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Maldives as well as accomplished members of the diaspora. The initiative, scheduled for the first weekend of SXSW on March 11 and 12, 2023, will feature programming around film and television, dance and music, technology, business, fashion, comedy and climate change from a South Asian world view across plenaries, sessions, panel discussions, workshops, art exhibits, book launches and music concerts. It will take place in the 4th Street neighborhood of downtown Austin, near the Austin Convention Center event headquarters.

Cheryl Burke and Matthew Lawrence may just be headed to court next year — over a dog.

Justin Long has been cast as a series regular in Goosebumps, Disney+’s live-action series based on R.L. Stine’s bestselling books, Deadline has confirmed. The new version hails from Scholastic Entertainment, the media division of Scholastic, Neal H. Moritz, producer of the Goosebumps and Goosebumps 2 films, and Sony Pictures TV. 

Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia for months after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage, has officially been found guilty of drug possession and smuggling by a Russian court.On Aug. 4, the Phoenix Mercury player was sentenced to 9 years in prison and given a fine of 1 million rubles (approximately $16,500) after she was found guilty. Brittney has had an uphill battle trying to have her criminal case acquitted in a trial that experts said was unlikely to be fair and that Russian authorities are using her as a diplomatic bargaining chip amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.The Olympic gold medalist has played in Russia for the last seven winters, earning more than $1 million per season -- more than quadruple her WNBA salary, according to the Associated Press.

Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen have both reportedly hired divorce lawyers.

A trio of senior international execs are taking their new Asia content-focused company to Mipcom Cannes.

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.

White House officials worked to explain why President Joe Biden called out the name of a deceased congresswoman, as if she were still alive, at an event on hunger and nutrition on Thursday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Further media industry upheaval is on the cards, as the world exits from COVID and heads towards possible recession, warned financier and media advisor Joe Ravitch. “A lot of trends are now being reversed,” said Ravitch, partner and co-founder of Raine group. He was speaking at the APOS conference in Singapore, where U.S.-based Raine has recently opened a local office. Where the pandemic kept people indoors and online, since the loosening of health restrictions theatrical cinema, theme parks, concerts, gyms and in-person sport and music events have rebounded. People’s online behavior has also been altered.

Patti LaBelle is set to guest star in ABC’s “The Wonder Years.” The legendary singer will portray Bill Williams’ (Dulé Hill) mother, Shirley Williams, in a two-episode arc in the upcoming second season, which will premiere midseason and has yet to announce a release date.Shirley is also the church choir director. Known affectionately as “Mother Williams,” she is “as sweet as she can be but has another side to her when choir members don’t quite hit the right notes,” per her character description.A reimagined version of the ’80s Emmy-winning original series of the same name, “The Wonder Years” is a coming-of-age comedy that tells the story of the Black middle-class Williams family during the late 1960s in Montgomery, Alabama — all through the point of view of creative 12-year-old Dean.

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. 

Welcome to the Ton! Following Bridgerton’s initial success, Shonda Rhimes has invested in expanding the world of Julia Quinn’s novels beyond just the Bridgerton family — starting with Queen Charlotte.

Riley Dandy is a star on the rise you should know about!

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).

US President Joe Biden has taken a swipe at Liz Truss's economic plan ahead of their meeting in New York at the United Nations tomorrow.