Lata Mangeshkar (1929–2022), legendary Indian playback singer

We've barely been able to digest what happened in episode one of the new season of Outlander and already the trailer for episode two has dropped.

Naman Ramachandran Madhuri Dixit, one of the brightest and most enduring Bollywood stars, is basking in the success of her streaming acting debut, Netflix’s “The Fame Game.”The series bowed Feb. 25 and is among the top 10 Netflix shows in Mauritius, Bahrain, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Sri Lanka and the U.A.E.In the series created by Sri Rao, and directed by Bejoy Nambiar and Karishma Kohli, Dixit plays top Bollywood star Anamika Anand, who at the height of her fame, disappears without a trace.

EXCLUSIVE: Yash Raj Films, a key production house and distributor in India, has named Akshaye Widhani to the new role of Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaRishi Malhotra has been tapped to lead Luminary as the subscription audio platform’s new CEO. In his new role, Malhotra, the founder and former CEO of the Indian online music streaming service JioSaavn, will reposition the company around a few key areas of content, bolstering Luminary’s sports, music and comedy programming.Malhotra replaces Simon Sutton, the former HBO president who joined the company two and a half years ago.

Richard Kuipers Folklore, feminism and film noir come together in Pushpendra Singh’s meticulously crafted fourth feature “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs.” Set in the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region in Northwest India, this moody fable about an unhappy young bride plotting her escape from tradition and patriarchy is a gripping character study that stutters slightly in the latter stages before producing a magical finale that no-one will forget in a hurry. Singh’s beautifully shot film has traveled extensively on the festival circuit and picked up awards at Hong Kong and Jeonju since debuting at Berlin in 2020.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Kanaa,” an Indian-produced film from 2018 which tells the story of an aspiring woman cricketer and delves into issues of race and gender equality, will get a theatrical release in mainland China on March 18, 2022, according to Chinese state media. It is only the second Tamil-language film to be released in China in recent years, after “2.0” in 2019.

A collective of filmmakers in India have banded together to protest the cancellation of this year’s Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI), addressing their concerns to chairperson Priyanka Chopra.

Naman Ramachandran Fifteen prominent Indian independent filmmakers have issued an open letter to the Mumbai Film Festival, appealing to festival chair Priyanka Chopra Jonas to lay on physical screenings at the canceled – but partially online – event.The letter is signed by several filmmakers whose films premiered at A-list festivals, including Aditya Vikram Sengupta (“Once Upon A Time In Calcutta,” Venice), Gurvinder Singh (“Adh Chanani Raat,” Rotterdam), Irfana Majumdar (“Shankar’s Fairies,” Locarno), Natesh Hegde (“Pedro,” Busan/London), Nithin Lukose (“Paka,” Toronto), Payal Kapadia and Ranabir Das (“A Night of Knowing Nothing,” Cannes) and Rahul Jain (“Invisible Demons,” Cannes).The physical edition of the festival was called off earlier this month, “due to a multitude of challenges brought upon by the continuing pandemic,” per a statement from the festival. “At this point, we do not know when, what form and shape the festival will take in the future,” the statement from the festival, run by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image popularly known as MAMI, added.

Warner Music India has announced a partnership with Indian pop star Armaan Malik which will see the major and the musician sign artists via his Always Music Global label. That venture will also release some of Malik’s own music, specifically his Hindi non-film music.The two companies say the partnership will seek to further their “shared vision to fuel the burgeoning music scene of India” and to “release, market and position Hindi pop music across the world”.Says Malik: “I’m humbled and honoured to embark on a new chapter of my career with this unique collaboration between my label Always Music Global and Warner Music India.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNetflix has set a mid-year release date for “Thar,” a revenge thriller film starring and produced by Anil Kapoor.Marking the feature directorial debut of screenwriter Raj Singh Chaudhary, the 1980s-set film follows the story of a man who moves to a big town to seek a job and to avenge his past.Alongside Kapoor (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol”), the film also stars Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Satish Kaushik.The screenplay is credited to Chaudhury, with dialog by Chaudhary and Anurag Kashyap. Cinematography is by Shreya Dev Dube and music direction by Ajay Jayanthi.“The genre itself – a noir thriller set in Rajasthan that pays tribute to the genre of the classic Western is a first for Indian cinema and audiences.

Alokesh Lahiri aka Bappi Lahiri, the popular Indian singer, composer and record producer, has died at the age of 69.

Naman Ramachandran Amazon Prime Video India has revealed Hindi, Tamil and Telugu-language versions of hit series “Modern Love.”Based on the weekly The New York Times column of the same name, the U.S. version of “Modern Love” was developed by John Carney (“Once,” “Sing Street”), who also directed several episodes over its two seasons in 2019 and 2021.

Naman Ramachandran Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. rights to writer-director Ajitpal Singh’s debut feature, “Fire in the Mountains,” which premiered in the World Dramatic Competition of the Sundance Film Festival in 2021.A powerful feminist tale set in a tourist homestay in the Himalayan foothills of northern India, the film centers around a woman (Vinamrata Rai), the sole breadwinner of the household, who scrimps and saves for her son’s medical treatment, while her alcoholic husband believes that an expensive shamanic ritual is the answer to all their woes.The film is produced by Alan McAlex and Ajai Rai of prolific Indian arthouse producers Jar Pictures alongside Mauli Singh and Amit Mehta.

EXCLUSIVE: Honorary Academy Award winner Wes Studi (The Last of The Mohicans, Hostiles) and SAG Award, NAACP Image Award and Golden Globe nominee Adam Beach (Smoke Signals, The Power of the Dog) have signed on to star in the thriller American/Indian from writer-director Peter Curtis Pardini.

James Murdoch and Uday Shankar, formerly CEO of Star India and president of Walt Disney Asia Pacific, have formed Bodhi Tree, a new outfit backed by the Qatar Investment Authority.

Naman Ramachandran James Murdoch and Uday Shankar have formed Bodhi Tree, an investment platform financially supported by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) designed to invest in media and consumer technology opportunities in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on India. Murdoch set up Lupa Systems as a private holding company in 2019 following his departure as CEO of 21st Century Fox, Sky plc, and Star. He subsequently quit as a director of News Corp.

Associated Press, the 92-year-old was hospitalised with the virus on January 11, where she was put on a ventilator. She was taken off life support as her condition improved, however, she deteriorated again on the weekend.As CNN reports, her doctor, Dr. Pratit Samdani, told reporters outside Breach Candy Hospital where she’d been treated: “Lata Di died at 8:12 a.m.

Lata Mangeshkar, the singing voice behind many Bollywood actresses, died Sunday at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, India. She was 92 and the cause was complications of Covid-19, said Pratit Samdani, a doctor at the hospital, according to Indian news outlets.

Lata Mangeshkar, a legendary Indian singer with a prolific, groundbreaking catalog and a voice recognized by more than a billion people in South Asia, has died. She was 92. The iconic singer died Sunday morning of multiple organ failure at Breach Candy hospital in Mumbai, her physician, Dr.

Shalini Dore Features News EditorIndian singer and Bollywood icon Lata Mangeshkar died Feb. 6 in Mumbai, India.