Lionsgate Play Aims to Double Asian Presence by End of 2022, Reveals Southeast Asian Focus (EXCLUSIVE)

Happy Friday International Insiders. Here is your final dose of the biggest international headlines and analysis of 2021 before we take a break until Jan 6. Thanks so much for your support this year and we hope you have a lovely Xmas and New Year. Oh and, as ever, to get this sent to your inbox every Friday, sign up here.

Naman Ramachandran SPOILER ALERT for those who have not seen the film “Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui.”Bollywood A-lister Ayushmann Khurrana headlines the cast of transgender-themed romance “Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui,” which is currently on release worldwide.Across Indian cinema as a whole, trans characters have been portrayed sensitively as leads of films like “Daayra” (1996) “Tamanna” (1998), “Just Another Love Story” (2010), “Nanu Avanalla Avalu” (2015), “Njan Marykutty” (2018) and “Super Deluxe”

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti faced a relatively brisk confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday for his nomination as U.S. ambassador to India, and responded to one question over allegations that he was aware that one of his top advisers engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment but did not take action to stop it.

Refresh for more info: The Film Independent Spirit Awards announced their 37th nominations today in a pre-taped reel on YouTube from Beanie Feldstein, Regina Hall and Naomi Watts.

Best Feature A Chiara C’mon C’mon Lost Daughter The Novice ZolaBest Male Lead Clifton Collins Jr., “Jockey” Frankie Faison, “Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain” Michael Greyeyes, “Wild Indian” Udo Kier, “Swan Song” Simon Rex, “Red Rocket”Best Female Lead Isabelle Fuhrman, “The Novice” Brittany S.

Not again! Steve Harvey narrowly avoided another beauty pageant catastrophe at the 2021 Miss Universe competition.

No, Steve Harvey won’t get fooled again.

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Ishan Shukla has started the motion capture of his debut animated feature “Schirkoa” in Angoulême, France.The film tells the story of a bored office worker, who may have accidentally sparked a revolution in a bizarre dystopian world, Schirkoa, where citizens live with paper bags on their heads to dissolve political, cultural and religious differences.It is based on Shukla’s 2016 short film of the same name that travelled to more than 120 film festivals and

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood film “Vikram Vedha,” starring Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan, has wrapped its first shooting schedule in Abu Dhabi and commenced the second one in Lucknow, India.The film, which also stars Radhika Apte in a pivotal role, is a remake of 2017 Tamil-language hit “Vikram Vedha,” directed by writer-directors Pushkar and Gayatri and starring R. Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi.Pushkar and Gayatri are also helming the Hindi-language Bollywood adaptation.

Naman Ramachandran The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is honoring the centenary of cinema giant Satyajit Ray with a major two-part retrospective.May 2, 2021 was the birth centenary of Ray, the Indian master who won an honorary Oscar in 1992, shortly before his death, and remains the country’s best known filmmaker internationally.The first part of the retrospective, which is currently on and will continue till Dec. 29, focuses on the early part of Ray’s career from 1955 – 1969.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSpread over two nights of virtual ceremonies, the Asian Academy Creative Awards handed out 38 prizes to Asian-made TV and streaming content.Best Actor in a Leading Role Lee Je-hoon in “Move to Heaven” (Korea) Page One Films / No 3 Pictures/ NetflixBest Actor in a Supporting Role Lee Do-hyun in “Sweet Home” (Korea) Studio Dragon /Studio N / NetflixBest Actress in a Leading Role Konkona Sen Sharma in “Ajeeb Daastaans: Geeli Pucchi” (India) Dharmatic / NetflixBest

Naman Ramachandran The Indian arm of Sony is planning to produce local content that has the potential to travel globally.Speaking at Singapore’s Asia TV Forum and Market on Friday, Vivek Krishnani, MD at Sony Pictures Entertainment Films India, said: “We are strongly focusing on creating Indian IPs, which can crossover into the mainstream and therefore, to that extent, some of the content that we’re creating for certain OTT [streaming] platforms, does have the ability to appeal to audiences,

stars Jenny and Sumit are living their best married lives. ET's Melicia Johnson spoke with the newlyweds after the couple tied the knot in India on the season 3 finale of, and they talked about how their marriage is going four months in and the decision to not tell his parents that they got married.Jenny and Sumit have been together for nine years and have faced serious ups and downs during their journey.

Naman Ramachandran The first production from YRF Entertainment, India’s Yash Raj Films’ streaming business, is “The Railway Men,” a tribute to the unsung heroes of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy.A cloud of toxic gas escaped from an American pesticide plant, in 1984, in the central Indian city of Bhopal. It killed and injured thousands of people.

There are many familiar faces in the cast of Queen of the Universe!

Binky Felstead welcomed her second child, son Wolfie, with husband Max Darnton back in June. And in a new interview with OK! the former Made in Chelsea star, who also is mum to four year old daughter India, told us that after her recent pregnancy, her fitness goal is to fit into her old clothes again.

Binky Felstead is now a mumma of two to five-month-old Wolfie and four year old daughter India - who she shares with ex Joshua ‘JP’ Patterson - and she says her husband Max Darnton has been brilliant with the new baby. Just months into settling in as a family of four, Binky has now shared her plans of how many more children she would like in the future with her new husband.

Naman Ramachandran Prithviraj Sukumaran, one of the top stars of India’s Malayalam-language film industry, will direct and play the lead of an as-yet-untitled series on Rajan Pillai, popularly known as the “Biscuit Baron.”The Hindi-language streaming series will be produced by Yoodlee Films, the film production arm of Indian music giant Saregama, which has acquired the rights to the story from Pillai’s wife Nina.Born in Kerala, India, in 1947, Pillai was based in Singapore by the mid-1970s,

Naman Ramachandran Konidela Ram Charan Teja, popularly known as Ram Charan, one of the biggest stars of India’s Telugu-language film industry, is in the privileged position of working with three giants.Ram Charan is the son of megastar Chiranjeevi and is sharing screen space with him in Koratala Siva’s “Acharya,” due a Feb. 4, 2022 release.