Toronto Regular Rima Das on Platform Selection ‘Tora’s Husband’: ‘Love Is Important for Me’

Finding her way. Deepti Vempati revealed how she really feels about Kyle Abrams finding love so soon after their split.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief U.S distributor Samuel Goldwyn Films president Peter Goldwyn has weighed in on the backlash to India’s selection of its competitor for this year’s best international film race at the Oscars, calling candidate “The Last Film Show,” which it will release in North America, “a really strong contender.” Directed by Pan Nalin (“Samsara,” “Valley of Flowers”), the Gujarati-language film is the story of a nine-year old boy pursuing his dreams in cinema. It debuted at the Tribeca Festival in 2021 and has since played fests in Palms Springs, Seattle and Mill Valley. “Last Film Show” will have its commercial release in Gujarat, India on Oct. 14, 2022, giving it the necessary qualifying theatrical run in its home territory.

Naman Ramachandran San Diego’s The Old Globe has announced an extension of Aditya Chopra’s “Come Fall in Love – The DDLJ Musical” due to popular demand. The Broadway-bound production has been extended for one week and will now play through Oct. 23, 2022. Chopra’s U.S. stage musical reimagining of his immensely popular 1995 Bollywood film “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,” commonly abbreviated to DDLJ, addresses the need for cultural unification in a divided world. Shoba Narayan plays Simran, a young Indian American woman whose future is set via an arranged marriage back in India to a family friend. But when she convinces her strict father that she should spend a summer of freedom and fun in Europe, she falls for the charming Rog (Austin Colby), and her plans go out the window.

Four-time Oscar nominee Saorise Ronan is set join the ensemble of Steve McQueen’s next film Blitz from Apple Original Films. McQueen will write, direct and produce the film, which tells the stories of Londoners during the Blitz of World War II. It is set to begin filming later this year.

Clayton Davis Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages are Davis’ assessment of the current standings of the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any film or performance. Like any organization or body that votes, each individual category is fluid and subject to change. Predictions are updated every Thursday. LAST UPDATED: Sept. 20, 2022 CATEGORY COMMENTARY: A large wave of official submissions have been announced with some expected and a few surprising choices. Some early favorites are already out of the running after not being chosen by their respective countries. Pan Nalin’s “Last Film Show” will represent India instead of the global box office smash “RRR” from S.S. Rajamouli, while Monica Stan and George Chiper’s “Immaculate” will define Romania in the race instead of Cristian Mungiu’s “R.M.N.” The Telluride and TIFF hit “Godland” from Hlynur Pálmason was also passed over for “Beautiful Beings” from Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson

Pan Nalin’s Last Film Show, produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur, Nalin, Dheer Momaya and Mark Duale, has been selected as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature Oscar race.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winning film “Triangle of Sadness” has been sold by Coproduction Office to major distributors around the world. “Triangle of Sadness,” which was acquired by Neon for North America at the Cannes Film Festival, just had its North American premiere at Toronto and is playing at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Coproduction Office has now sold the movie worldwide to major distributors. Recent deals have been closed with Stay Golden (China), Edko (Hong Kong), Impact (India), Gaga (Japan), Green Narae (South Korea), Catchplay (Taiwan), TBA Studios (Philippines), Sun (Latin America), Frontrow (Middle East), Forefont (South Africa) and Les Films 26 (French-speaking Africa). 

Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Sept. 8, aged 96, after ruling for 70 years, is being accorded a state funeral on Monday at Westminster Abbey. International dignitaries attending alongside the British royal family include President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden and all of the heads of the Commonwealth including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Indian President Droupadi Murmu and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Joining them will be President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska and the presidents of Austria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy and Poland, among other representatives.

Shalini Dore Features News Editor As with so many western films, Bollywood has taken a beloved smash and turned it into a stage musical. Aditya Chopra’s “Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge” opened in 1995 and is still playing in a theater in Mumbai, India, still popular thanks to toe-tapping songs that grabbed audiences from the start and a charismatic lead pair (Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol). The film seems to have created a built-in audience for the stage version, “Come Fall in Love,” now playing its Old Globe premiere in San Diego on its way to Broadway. The opening overture (the film’s composers are replaced here by duo Vishal-Sheykhar) includes snippets of the Hindi hit. Moving the story from cold and gray London to cold and gray Boston, the tuner opens on Baldev (Irvine Iqbal) who runs a small shop catering to racists and jerks, seemingly. He is saving up money for a venture he and his partner have set up in India called Maharaja Tours.

Naman Ramachandran For Shoba Narayan, the Indian American lead of Aditya Chopra’s “Come Fall In Love – The DDLJ Musical,” the Broadway-bound production is a dream come true. Chopra’s U.S. stage musical reimagining of his immensely popular 1995 Bollywood film “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge,” commonly abbreviated to DDLJ, addresses the need for cultural unification in a divided world. Narayan plays Simran, a young Indian-American woman whose future is set via an arranged marriage back in India to a family friend. But when she convinces her strict father that she should spend a summer of freedom and fun in Europe, she falls for the charming Rog (Austin Colby), and her plans go out the window.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Iran’s Asghar Farhadi, who directed the Oscar winners “A Separation” and “The Salesman,” U.S. producer Christine Vachon, whose credits includes Oscar winner “Boys Don’t Cry,” and Oscar nominees “Far from Heaven” and “Carol,” and Romania’s Alexander Nanau, the director of the Oscar nominated “Collective,” are among the jury members at the 18th edition of the Zurich Film Festival, which takes place from Sept. 22 to Oct. 2.  Farhadi will head the jury for the International Feature Film Competition. He is joined by the U.K.’s Clio Barnard, who directed the BAFTA nominated “The Arbor,” “The Selfish Giant” and “Ali & Ava”; L.A.-based Brazilian Daniel Dreifuss, a producer on the Oscar nominated “No” and “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Germany’s Oscar entry; Swiss/Italian screenwriter and director Petra Volpe, whose credits include Tribeca prizewinner “The Divine Order”; and  Sweden’s Peter “Piodor” Gustafsson, the producer of Ali Abbassi’s “Border,” which won the main award in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.

Streaming platform and burgeoning theatrical distributor Mubi is at the Toronto Film Festival this year with Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave, which marks one of its costliest acquisitions to date.

If you’re only ever able to take one big international trip – we can’t recommend India enough!!! This trip from December of 2011 had so much specialness to fill our lifetime with memories!

Naman Ramachandran The Toronto Intl. Film Festival [TIFF] this year offers up three independent films from that have the potential to be commercial hits and a lecture from an Indian filmmaker whose work is box office gold. Gala presentation, feature debutant Shubham Yogi’s “Kacchey Limbu,” a coming-of-age sibling drama with the game of cricket as a backdrop, has billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Studios backing it. “Tora’s Husband,” a family drama set in small-town eastern India is competing in the festival’s Platform section and is by Toronto regular Rima Das, who has tasted box office success with “Village Rockstars.” Actor and director Nandita Das’ “Zwigato” is about the gig economy in India, focusing on the food delivery industry. It stars Indian television superstar Kapil Sharma and is produced by Applause Entertainment, a prolific content producer for streamers, which is planning to enter the theatrical release space imminently. And, S.S. Rajamouli, known for his “Baahubali” franchise and “RRR,” one of 2022’s biggest Indian box office successes, will deliver a lecture that covers among other things, the notion of art versus commerce.

Mindy Kaling doesn’t need a man!!