S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Indian film musician, dead at 74 of COVID-19

Tom Grater International Film ReporterAfter a prolonged period of shutdown, cinemas in certain regions of India begin re-opening today.The famously cinema-hungry nation has been deprived of physical venues since March, when it entered a serious lockdown that continues today. India is currently recording the highest global daily rate of confirmed COVID cases and has more than 7.3 million in total.

coronavirus tally surpassed 7.3 million. The country is registering the highest number of daily cases globally, and is expected to become the pandemic’s worst-hit country in the coming weeks, surpassing the U.S.Nearly 10,000 theaters closed in mid-March following coronavirus restrictions.

Top Bollywood filmmakers and industry unions have filed a lawsuit against two popular TV news channels, asking them to refrain from "irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks against Bollywood and its members." The lawsuit, filed Monday, comes months after India’s freewheeling television news channels took on Bollywood, India's Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai, with a spree of allegations following the suspected suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June.

NEW DELHI -- Top Bollywood filmmakers and industry unions have filed a lawsuit against two popular TV news channels, asking them to refrain from "irresponsible, derogatory and defamatory remarks against Bollywood and its members."The lawsuit, filed Monday, comes months after India’s freewheeling television news channels took on Bollywood, India's Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai, with a spree of allegations following the suspected suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput in June.The

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas, the coronavirus quarantine has been a time of productivity and growth.

Small Axe anthology on the BBC have been revealed.Mangrove, the first of five original films, will premiere on BBC One and iPlayer on November 15.

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan will join Indian cinema stars Prabhas and Deepika Padukone in an as yet untitled film that will be one of the big ticket Indian films of 2022.It is being produced by Aswini Dutt’s Vyjayanthi Movies and will be released in time to commemorate the outfit’s 50th anniversary in 2022. Nag Ashwin (“Mahanati,” “Yevade Subramanyam”) will direct.“Welcome aboard @SrBachchan sir, it is our honor to have you.

Manori Ravindran International EditorBlumhouse Television is developing a seven-part Indian anthology series with executive producer Dina Dattani (“The Ashram,” “Brahman Naman”).Each feature-length episode will explore the themes and mythology set against the backdrop of local Indian festivals, with the project specifically targeting the Indian audience.The U.S.

Jake Kanter International TV EditorIt’s been more than six years in the making, but Steve McQueen’s anthology drama Small Axe finally has a date for when it will land on British TV screens.The BBC has announced that it will premiere the five-part series on November 15 on BBC One and iPlayer.

Even without yet having seen all five of the original films in Steve McQueen's riveting Small Axe anthology for Amazon and BBC, which surveys two decades of West Indian experience in London, it seems appropriate that the series concludes with a story of Black resistance embodied in the determination of one idealistic man.

NEW YORK -- In a movie year mostly lacking big, ambitious releases, Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology is an unqualified main event. While many other filmmakers are on hold, the “12 Years a Slave” director has raced to finish not one but five new films.The movies, spanning 1968 to 1985, are each individual stories about the West Indian community in London.

Indian summer could soon be shattered – by the first named storm of the season.Much of the country has recently basked in day-long sunshine, while nights have been notable for their plunging temperatures.But this quiet autumn weather may soon be replaced by 70mph winds swept in by Storm Aiden.The Met Office is tracking no fewer than three low pressure systems, expected to make landfall in the UK by Friday.Each one of them has the capacity to deepen before it arrives, which would produce

A West Indian proverb holds, “If you are the big tree, we are the small axe.” “Lovers Rock,” the first film made available of Steve McQueen’s Amazon miniseries “Small Axe,” first interpreted the saying as a metaphor for the joyous spirit in the Black British community. But his newest installment, “Mangrove” swings a different emphasis on the rebellious phrase.

Naman Ramachandran Singer S. P.

Naman Ramachandran Historical novel “Suheldev – The King Who Saved India,” by bestselling Indian author Amish Tripathi, who goes just by Amish as a pen name, will be adapted as a feature film.The film, set in the 11th century, when Turkic armies led by ruler Mahmud of Ghazni repeatedly invaded northern India, will follow Suheldev, an Indian king who fought the invaders.The book was published in June by Westland Publications and quickly joined the ranks of Amish’s bestsellers that includes the

Lovers Rock, one of the five films in Steve McQueen's Small Axe anthology drama series for the BBC/Amazon about London's West Indian Community, has been added to this year's BFI London Film Festival. The film —starring newcomer Amarah-Jae St Aubyn and BAFTA Rising Star winner Micheal Ward (Blue Story) —will be one of the few films given a physical-only screening at the BFI Southbank, which much of the festival moved online due to the ongoing pandemic.

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has denied sexual misconduct allegations levelled against him by actor Payal Ghosh.On Sept. 19 Ghosh tweeted: “@anuragkashyap72 has forced himself on me and extremely badly.

“If you are the big tree, we are the small axe,” this is the Jamaican proverb that has inspired filmmaker Steve McQueen‘s, “Small Axe,” a collection of five films inspired by real-life events about ordinary people showing courage, belief, and resilience to overcome injustice and achieve something transformative in their West Indian community.