Kiran Rao Talks Toronto Feminist Romp ‘Lost Ladies’: ‘We’re Taking Apart Patriarchy Without a War’

Naman Ramachandran A first clip has been unveiled for Tarsem Singh Dhandwar’s return to feature film direction, “Dear Jassi.” Dhandwar, the filmmaker previously known simply as Tarsem, returned to the big screen and to his roots with the film which had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, where it won the 2023 TIFF Platform Award in an unanimous decision. Written by Amit Rai (“OMG 2”) and based on the reporting of journalist Fabian Dawson, “Dear Jassi” is a modern-day tragedy inspired by the tragic true story of Jaswinder “Jassi” Kaur and Sukhwinder “Mithu” Singh Sidhu, told in a Punjabi folk style. In 1996 Punjab, India, Canadian-born Jassi (Pavia Sidhu) falls in love with Mithu (Yugam Sood), a rickshaw driver beneath her social status.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Director Clara Law (“The Goddess of 1967”) has been set as president of the jury which will discern this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards. She will be joined by Malaysia’s Yeo Yann Yann (“Ilo Ilo,” “Wet Season,” American Born Chinese”), German producer Anna Katchko (“Stepne,” “Happiness”), and Faisal Baltyuor, producer and CEO of Muvi Studios in Saudi Arabia. A separate jury for documentaries and animation will be headed by Taiwan-based Myanmar director Midi Z, India’s Rima Das and Japanese documentary maker Toda Hikaru. The APSAs will be presented at a ceremony in Gold Coast, Queensland on Nov.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Hansal Mehta has scored his second successive streaming hit of the year with SonyLIV series “Scam 2003 – The Telgi Story.” This follows his earlier success with Netflix show “Scoop.” Based on Sanjay Singh’s book “Telgi: A Reporter’s Diary,” “Scam 2003” is written by Kiran Yadnyopavit, Kedar Patankar and Karan Vyas. It follows the story of Abdul Karim Telgi, the mastermind behind a scam printing counterfeit stamp paper in India, which earned $3.8 billion. A stamp paper is a government-issued blank document with headers of varying financial values that are used to validate most business transactions in India.

As the glitz-and-glam of TIFF wrapped up in Toronto over the weekend, a special film titled “I Am Sirat” made its international debut.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix closed a $20 million deal on Hit Man, making the biggest deal at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and of the year for that matter. After the Richard Linklater-directed noir comic thriller debuted to raves at Venice, the film was expected to fetch the biggest deal of the fall festivals so far. Hit Man did not disappoint. Hit Man stars Top Gun Maverick’s Glen Powell and Adria Arjona (Andor) playing the most unlikely romantic partners, in performances that will boost each of their careers. Especially Powell, who co-wrote with Linklater what will be a major star turn for him. Netflix got US, UK, Australia/New Zealand, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, and Iceland. There is also a theatrical component to the deal, I’ve heard.

Despite fears for the future of film in the new, seemingly disposable digital era, there are still many auteurs holding on out there in the modern movie landscape. For example, there’s Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan and even Michael Bay (for, as director Tarsem said of the latter’s work, “You may not like it, but you know who made it”). But few directors are as instantly recognizable as Wes Anderson. Nothing happens by accident in a Wes Anderson movie: the camera moves are perfectly choreographed — sideways tracking shots are a specialty — and the sets don’t even begin to aim for realism. Clothes are tailored, hair and makeup is scrutinized all the way down to lipstick and nail polish, and music is key, creating a subtle, sometimes melancholy and always wholly effective emotional backdrop.

Naman Ramachandran Indian star Karthik Sivakumar, known by his screen name Karthi, is bullish about upcoming release “Japan,” his 25th film. The film is due to release in November during the Deepavali holiday frame in Tamil, Telugu and a few other languages.

EXCLUSIVE: Director Tarsem Singh thought of his own sainted mother as he tried to understand why a Canadian woman of Indian heritage would plot to have her daughter abducted then murdered. 

ET Canada’s Jed Tavernier recently caught up with Colombian singer Camilo, who discussed his recent collaboration with Punjabi singer-songwriter Diljit Dosanjh, the single “Palpita”.

Naman Ramachandran Toronto Film Festival gala presentation “Thank You for Coming” is that rarity – a Bollywood sex comedy that also serves as a patriarch-bashing women empowerment tale. Bhumi Pednekar stars as Kanika Kapoor, a Delhi food blogger and serial monogamist, who has spent her adult life seeking a satisfying love match, both emotionally and physically, but has never had an orgasm.

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan is riding the wave of his second blockbuster of the year, “Jawan.” The film released on Sept. 7 and has grossed $79.4 million worldwide, according to producer Red Chillies Entertainment, making it the third highest Indian grosser of the year after Khan’s own “Pathaan” and Sunny Deol’s “Gadar 2.” Khan’s bald look in “Jawan” has been one of the talking points of the film. Speaking on the newly launched Indian iteration of the “Icons Only” segment of Amazon’s IMDb, Khan said: “I chose the bald look out of laziness because then I didn’t have to wear two hours of makeup.

Ellise Shafer Prime Video’s upcoming crime thriller “Bambai Meri Jaan” tells an action-packed tale of good vs. evil in post-independence India — but at its core, the show is a story about family. Premiering Sept.

Naman Ramachandran Anand Patwardhan, the doyen of Indian documentary filmmaking, will premiere his new film, “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (“The World Is Family”) at the Toronto Film Festival. The film focuses on Patwardhan’s parents and close family members and juxtaposes Mahatma Gandhi and the history of India’s independence movement with contemporary times. “As my parents began to age, I began filming to preserve their memory for myself but had no intention to make a film as such.

Naman Ramachandran Tarsem Singh Dhandwar, the filmmaker previously known simply as Tarsem, is returning to the big screen and to his roots with “Dear Jassi,” which has its world premiere Toronto Film Festival Sept. 10. The new film is set in the 1990s and based on a real-life incident.

Naman Ramachandran Toronto Film Festival Midnight Madness world premiere “Kill” is a confluence of three stellar Indian talents. Producer Guneet Monga Kapoor is an Oscar winner for “The Elephant Whisperers”; fellow producer and filmmaker Karan Johar is a Bollywood A-lister who has just delivered massive hit “Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani”; and director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat is known for Netflix film “Long Live Brij Mohan” and Prime Video series “Rasbhari.” “Kill” belongs to the extreme action genre, a rarity in Indian cinema. Set entirely on an express train to New Delhi, the film follows Indian army commandos Amrit and Viresh, who are on a mission to rescue Amrit’s girlfriend Tulika.

EXCLUSIVE: Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much From The End Of The World, which has just been submitted as Romania’s official entry into the International Oscar race, has been picked up by Mubi for multiple key territories. 

Naman Ramachandran A mother’s quest for justice is the fulcrum around which Toronto Film Festival U.A.E. selection “Yellow Bus” revolves. Set in an unnamed Arabian Gulf country, “Yellow Bus” follows an Indian family that endures a tragedy when their daughter is neglected on a school bus in the sweltering desert heat.

Kathy A. McDonald Toronto’s multicultural dining scene is back in force. “You can have anything you want, from anywhere in the world, by a very talented chef, any night of the week,” says executive chef Kyle Rindinella of King St.

Wes Anderson has revealed that his next feature film project will be simpler in terms of its production scale and with a more compact cast, after his ensemble works The French Dispatch and Asteroid City.

Naman Ramachandran Indian content queen Ektaa R. Kapoor will receive the 2023 International Emmy Directorate Award. Balaji Telefilms, which was started by Kapoor and her parents Jeetendra Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor in 1994, is the single largest television content producer in South Asia.