Producer Siddharth Roy Kapur on India’s Box Office Boom and ‘Oppenheimer’ Outdoing ‘Barbie’: It’s a ‘Holy Grail of Pure Cinema’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran “Punjab ’95,” a potentially incendiary drama that was due to premiere as a gala presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival, has been removed from the lineup. The film is “a compelling story based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra,” per producer RSVP and the festival described the film as telling the story of Khalra “uncovering murderous corruption during Punjab’s period of insurgency” in social media posts. Any mention of the film has disappeared from the festival website.

TIFF today revealed their Centerpiece programme lineup which includes the Cannes Film Festival-winning Wim Wenders movie, Perfect Days. The festival also revealed another couple of star-driven world premieres that being Paramount’s Finestkind starring Jenna Ortega, Ben Foster and Tommy Lee Jones as well as 20th Century Studios/Hulu’s Awkwafina, Sandra Oh and Will Ferrell comedy, Quiz Lady.

The Indian mega-merger between Sony’s TV operations in India and Zee Entertainment has been given the greenlight, paving the way for a $10B TV partnership.

Naman Ramachandran Eminent filmmaker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan is in post-production on “Phule,” about the pioneers of women’s education in India. Jyotirao Govindrao Phule and his wife Savitribai were social reformers known for their efforts against India’s endemic caste system. Phule’s first school for girls was founded in Pune, western India, in 1848.

Naman Ramachandran “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” ruled the U.K. and Ireland box office for the third consecutive weekend with a combined £13.4 million ($17 million), per numbers from Comscore. Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” topped the charts again with £7.9 million and now has a total of £67.5 million.

Naman Ramachandran Niv Art Movies, producer of Rotterdam winner “Sexy Durga,” and Little Lamb Films, the outfit behind Tallin, Santa Barbara and Edinburgh film “The Cloud and the Man,” have teamed for Locarno title “Whispers of Fire & Water.” An exclusive clip from the film has been provided to Variety. Lubdhak Chatterjee, who has previous shorts and documentaries to his credit, makes his fiction feature debut with the film. The narrative revolves around an audio installation artist who visits the coal mines of eastern India, an area plagued by depleting natural resources where fire burns constantly.

Russell Brand now has only good things to say about ex-wife Katy Perry, but he describes the time they were together as a combination of good things and bad things.

Marta Balaga Producer Marianne Slot will continue her successful collaboration with Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson, following 2018 “Woman at War” with TV show “The Danish Woman” and upcoming feature film “Normal Men.” “It’s a comedy, as you can imagine. Benedikt Erlingsson and a feminist producer – that’s a good combination,” she laughs, recalling their previous film about an environmental activist going rogue. “’Woman at War’ was so joyful to make.

Naman Ramachandran Stewart Copeland, founder and drummer of The Police, is teaming with Indian musician Ricky Kej on “Police – Beyond Borders” where the legendary rock band’s classic songs are recreated in global languages. The songs include “Every Breath You Take,” “Roxanne” and “Message in a Bottle.” Reinterpretations are in the Kannada, Zulu, Mandarin, Armenian, Pashto, Urdu and Hindi languages, among others. The album follows Copeland’s “Police Deranged for Orchestra” BMG album, released in June, where the band’s hit tracks, arranged for full orchestra, are revisited.

Princess Kate and Prince William revealed they are big fans of spicy Indian-style curries during a visit to a popular Indian restaurant earlier this year.

Having first appeared on our screens back in 1983, Trudie Goodwin became a familiar face to viewers up and down the country as she starred in The Bill. Taking the role of Sergeant June Ackland, 71 year old Trudie appeared in the police drama for over three decades and was the show’s longest-running character before she stepped back from the programme in 2007. Speaking to the Mirror in 2005 ahead of her exit, the actress explained that despite her decision to leave the show, she’d had a “brilliant” time on The Bill.

Naman Ramachandran Prolific Indian content studio Applause Entertainment, led by Sameer Nair, and acclaimed filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane’s Andolan Films are teaming to produce two politically-charged series. “Black Warrant” is based on the bestselling book “Black Warrant: Confessions Of A Tihar Jailer,” by prison officer Sunil Gupta and Sunetra Choudhury, a journalist with vast experience of chronicling India’s prison system.

Florence Pugh’s Oppenheimer sex scene is getting a digital enhancement in certain screenings across the world.

“Oppenheimer” is director Christopher Nolan’s first R-rated film in over 20 years due to its sexual content, nudity and explicit language. And one scene featuring a topless Florence Pugh has offended religious and government officials alike in India and the Middle East, who have taken action to censor the shot since the film’s global release.Pugh, 27, plays Jean Tatlock, a brilliant psychiatrist and communist who falls for physicist J.

A TV documentary titled Barbie Uncovered and an adaptation of Homer’s classic The Odyssey starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche are among the titles to receive cash during the latest round of U.K. Global Screen Fund awards.

Notting Hill Carnival 2023 has started – as the event reveals plans to celebrate 50 years since sound systems were introduced.50 years ago, Trinidadian Leslie “Teacher” Palmer MBE invited the first ever sound systems and the first official Mas bands to the event. With ‘Mas’ being short for masquerade, the bands brought costumes, masks and other art elements that were popular at carnivals across the globe.

Oppenheimer in which Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh’s characters read a sacred Hindu text in bed has sparked controversy and reports of censorship in India.The scene in question sees J. Robert Oppenheimer (Murphy) recite a verse from Hindu scripture The Bhagavad Gita to lover Jean Tatlock (Pugh) during intercourse.In a letter addressed to director Christopher Nolan shared on Twitter, India’s Information Commissioner and Save Culture Save India Foundation founder Uday Mahurkar described the scene as a “scathing attack on Hinduism”.Posted to Twitter on Saturday (July 22), the letter reads: “As per social media reports, a scene in the movie shows a woman makes a man read Bhagwad Geeta aloud while getting over him and doing sexual intercourse.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter An intimate moment in Christopher Nolan’s dark historical drama “Oppenheimer” has been censored in several countries outside the U.S., including India. The altered scene takes place as Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who led the development of the atomic bomb, sits naked across from Florence Pugh’s Jean Tatlock, a Communist Party member with whom he had a torrid affair. In the unedited version of the film, Pugh is topless as she converses with Murphy’s character in a hotel room. But in the sequence that plays in Indian and Middle Eastern movie theaters, her body is covered with a computer-generated black dress.

The King and Queen, as well as other senior members of the Royal Family including the Prince and Princess of Wales, are said to be readying themselves for two years of worldwide tours in a bid "to keep Commonwealth intact", in a "soft democracy" blitz. While it is understood that the monarch will prioritise visits to key nations such as Australia, New Zealand and a number of Commonwealth realms in the Caribbean, there are a number of countries that will also be high on the agenda such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Naman Ramachandran A new stage adaptation of ancient Indian epic “Mahabharata” is set to make its U.K. premiere at London’s Barbican Theatre this fall. The retelling of the revered text, which follows a devastating family feud and explores profound philosophical and spiritual ideas, is from Canada’s Why Not Theatre and had its world premiere at The Shaw Festival Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada in March. The production is presented in two parts and narrated by a storyteller (Miriam Fernandes). “Karma” (part 1), is the origin story of the rival Pandava and Kaurava clans. In “Dharma” (part 2), a great battle destroys the planet and the survivors are left behind to rebuild.