Movies

RJ-turned-actor Malishka Mendonsa, who essays the role of Indian political activist and poet Sarojini Naidu in the web series ‘Freedom at Midnight’, speaks exclusively to mid-day.com about embarking on a journey of prosthetics, and a mammoth amount of history lessons to ace the character of The Nightingale of India in the Nikkhil Advani directorial.  Malishka Mendonsa played Sarojini Naidu as a child Malishka recalls that when she was offered this role, she went back to her notes and reminisced about playing Sarojini Naidu as a child. “I dressed up as her for a freedom fighter meet. That particular kind of hair, that bindi, the saree. I loved her anyway. I probably read a few of her poems. First of all, we haven`t seen her being represented at all in any of the historicals that we`ve see...

Wendy Williams‘ health appears to be in steep decline, with her guardian claiming the former TV host is “permanently incapacitated” following her diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia and frontotemporal dementia. In a court filing from earlier this month, and viewed by several publications, lawyers for Williams’ court-appointed guardian, Sabrina Morrissey, said the 60-year-old “has become cognitively impaired, permanently disabled, and incapacitated” from dementia.Morrissey argues that Williams did not “have the capacity to consent to being filmed” for Lifetime’s contentious Where is Wendy Williams? docuseries, which was released earlier this year.The docuseries explored Williams’ health challenges, life after The Wendy Williams Show and her guardianship, and has descended into an ongoi...

Drake alleged in a court filing Monday that Universal Music Group falsely pumped up the popularity on Spotify and other streaming services of Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us, a song that viciously attacked Drake amid a bitter feud between the two hip-hop superstars. The petition in a New York court by the rapper’s company Frozen Moments LLC demands the preservation and divulgence of information that might be evidence in a potential lawsuit against UMG, which is the distributor for the record labels of both Drake and Lamar. 0:45 Drake announces tour, opening night coincides with rival Kendrick Lamar’s Superbowl performance In allegations that UMG ...

Among the contributing factors behind the success of the Prime Video show Bandish Bandits was its intricately designed music, crafted by composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. However, for the upcoming second season that will release on December 13, a bevy of musicians take on the reins from the trio to serve as the musical backbone of the 17-song series. Two among them, however, will carry the legacy of the original trio ahead owing to their connection with Shankar Mahadevan. The ace composer’s son, Siddharth, and nephew Souumil Shringarpure have crafted two of the songs, with the latter also continuing his work as the show’s background score composer.  “We [repeatedly listened] to the music of season one because it was clearly iconic when one considers the way it was received by people. The onl...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Pop music singer Katy Perry has already announced dates for two legs of her upcoming “Lifetimes” tour and on Monday she used a recognizable Canadian sparkling water brand in a video posted to social media to reveal she will be coming to the Great White North this summer. “OK guys, what leg of the tour do you think we’re going to announce next?” the American musician asked in a video posted to Perry’s X account.The singer, who appeared to be lying on a kitchen counter, then pulled at a bottle of Clearly Canadian water and put it in view of her camera.“Clearly Canadian — the Canadian leg is coming up.”Perry’s website shows she is scheduled to perform in seven Canadian cities in late July and...

Even after 20 years in the television industry, writer-director Sidharth Sengupta often feels like he doesn’t know enough about the craft. This feeling of humility, he says, pushes him to do better. The result? In 2021, he delivered a sleeper hit in Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein. Three years on, he has returned with the second season of the Tahir Raj Bhasin, Shweta Tripathi and Aanchal Singgh-led web series. In a chat with mid-day, Sengupta discusses why it took him three years to craft the next season, and how he maintains objectivity in his writing. Edited excerpts from the interview. Why did it take you three years to return with the second season of Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein?The second season was a little more difficult to write. I wrote various versions, but was not happy. I was ashamed tha...

Descrease article font size Increase article font size Ben Mulroney has arrived on Canadian airwaves with his own show. On Monday, Corus Entertainment announced the launch of The Ben Mulroney Show, a brand-new talk program set to drive thought-provoking conversations across Canada.Debuting Nov.25 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. on 640 Toronto, the nationally syndicated show features Mulroney, who, with the help of listeners, will offer commentary, discussion and in-depth interviews on Canada’s most pressing current events. 5:16 Brian Mulroney’s eldest son Ben opens up about his family’s grief ...

Barely a week after the grand announcement of his directorial debut, Aryan Khan has stepped on the campus of Whistling Woods International to shoot the final leg of his series, tentatively titled Stardom. Sources say that the first-time director has a seven-day schedule lined up in the film institute located in Goregaon, after which the unit will move to another venue for a brief period before calling it a wrap.  The show is led by Mona Singh and Lakshya. A source reveals, “On Sunday, Aryan kicked off the patch schedule, in which he will largely take some location shots and can some scenes. While Mona and the leading man were not required on Sunday, they are expected to join the shoot later this week. After the Goregaon shoot, the team will head to an office in Worli where they will film ...

My home office sometimes looks as if a Category 5 hurricane swept through. There are piles of magazines, teetering towers of books, records and CDs that have so far evaded being filed, and dozens of sticky notes and scraps of paper featuring near-illegible scribbles signifying… something. There are also special folders on three different computers filled with bits cut and pasted from websites, newsletters and social media. This organization catastrophe is the result of 11 months of reading, researching, surfing, scrolling and otherwise sourcing out material for all my music writing, radio shows, podcasts and whatever other assignments fall in my lap. Whenever I run across something that I think might be useful, I squirrel it away somehow, eventually finding a home for the factoid somewhere...

Actor Tusshar Kapoor, who can be seen in the series ‘10 June Ki Raat’, has opened up about his status as a single parent, and societal pressure. The actor landed in Chandigarh for the ongoing edition of the Chandigarh Literary Festival, and spoke with IANS. Talking about being in Chandigarh, the actor said, “It was a very good experience. Our session with Sohail Muathar, my agent, was very good. We talked about my book ‘Bachelor Dad’. I have come to Chandigarh after 12 years. I am enjoying it a lot. The ambience is beautiful. The weather is pleasant. I am going back tomorrow. It’s a trip that’s worth it”. Talking about the pressure from the society of being a single parent, he told IANS, “There have been different families in our religion for centuries. It is not that there is only one ...