Movies

Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed`s show `Barzakh` has come under controversy ever since the first episode was dropped on Youtuber. Now, the makers have shared an official statement announcing their decision to withdraw the show from YouTube Pakistan keeping in mind the sentiments of the public in the country.  The team of `Barzakh` took to Instagram on Tuesday to share an official statement about the show being withdrawn from YouTube. "We, at Zindagi and Team Barzakh, extend our heartfelt gratitude to our global audience for their unwavering support for Barzakh- a show that was curated to bring people together everywhere. But in light of the current public sentiment in Pakistan, we have made the decision to voluntarily withdraw Barzakh from YouTube Pakistan, effective August 9, 2024. This decis...

In Kanika Dhillon’s words, crocodiles star in a leading role alongside Taapsee Pannu, Vikrant Massey and Sunny Kaushal in Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba. Any Bollywood film lover can guess where the inspiration stems from. “I have been a Khoon Bhari Maang [1988] fan. I’ve always wanted to write a moment that would be a hat-tip to that film. The shot in the trailer, where a crocodile comes next to their boat, is personal,” smiles the writer-creator. Coming three years after Haseen Dillruba (2021), the romantic thriller follows the lives of Pannu’s Rani and Massey’s Rishu as another suitor enters the equation. Dhillon says the sequel is a pulpy offering, just like the first part. “I loved creating this world of Haseen Dillruba. The audience’s love was unprecedented. Taapsee was gung-ho [about t...

BarzakhOn: Zindagi YouTube Channel and ZEE5Dir: Asim AbbasiCast: Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed, Salman Shahid, Fawad M KhanRating: ***1/2 Why do we so often find ourselves drawn to dysfunctional family stories? Be it Shakun Batra’s Kapoor & Sons (2016), Christopher Storer’s The Bear (2022-2024), Coco Mellors’ new novel Blue Sisters, or Asim Abbasi’s sumptuous new offering Barzakh—why does losing yourself in the messiness of others’ family drama feel so soothing to us? I found myself answering this diabolical question while watching the fourth episode of Barzakh. Shehreyar (Fawad Khan) unexpectedly lashes out at his father at a family dinner and calls him an ‘asshole’. I had my answer right there—there is something cathartic about watching characters say things to their loved ones that you’v...

Less than a month after playing a menacing villain on the big screen in Karan Johar and Guneet Monga Kapoor’s Kill, Raghav Juyal is ready to present a stark departure on OTT with Umesh Bisht’s Gyaarah Gyaarah. The upcoming ZEE5 sci-fi thriller series features the actor-choreographer as a cop battling past traumas and deep-seated insecurities. Juyal is more than thrilled to showcase his range to the audience so soon after his previous role.  “When my mother watched Kill, she told Umesh sir, ‘Mujhe iss ladke ne kahin muh dikhane layak nahi chhoda.’ He replied, ‘You come after one month; I will correct his image.’ I feel blessed that within a month I have an entirely different character to showcase. This was more challenging than the [character] I played in Kill. This show will give me my re...

Actor Vijay Varma is all set to be seen headlining a gripping series `IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack`. The project, which also stars Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Arvind Swamy, Dia Mirza, Patralekhaa, Amrita Puri, Anupam Tripathi, Kumud Mishra and Manoj Pahwa, will be released on Netflix on August 29. On Saturday, the makers also unveiled the teaser. As per the makers, the "six-episode series thrusts you into the nerve-wracking reality faced by passengers and crew trapped at 30,000 feet. With every moment steeped in tension, the series follows a relentless team in India racing against time, deciphering the hijackers` ominous demands, and fighting against the odds to ensure the safe return of everyone on board." IC-814 was hijacked by five terrorists on December 24, 1999, ...

Shekhar Home Trailer Out: JioCinema announced that their new series, "Shekhar Home," starring Kay Kay Menon, will premiere on August 14. This detective drama, also featuring Ranvir Shorey, Rasika Dugal, and Kirti Kulhari, is directed by Rohan Sippy and Srijit Mukherjee. Inspired by the works of Arthur Conan Doyle, which are in the public domain, Menon plays the main character, Shekhar Home. The show takes place in the early 1990s in the quiet town of Lonpur, Bengal, highlighting a time when technology didn`t exist and people had to rely solely on their own intelligence. Kay Kay Menon plays Shekhar Home, an eccentric and brilliant character. He meets Jayvrat Sahni, a middle-aged bachelor played by Ranvir Shorey, who becomes an unexpected ally. Together, they set off on a journey to solve m...

Bollywood star Varun Dhawan was in his natural element at the special event organised for his upcoming spy action streaming show `Citadel Honey Bunny` on Thursday. Varun went all guns blazing on the stage while interacting with the media, it reached a point where his co-star Samantha Ruth Prabhu had to step in. Speaking to the media, Varun said he didn`t know that Samantha is the same actress who starred in the S.S. Rajamouli classic `Makkhi`. He told the media, "It was a surprise to me when I realised that Samantha is the same actress who was there in `Makkhi` (`Eega` in Telugu). I love that movie to the bits, I also loved the theme song of that film. There are various projects of hers, which I realised very later that she is the same artiste." Varun, who is known for his fluidity on ...

Kritika Kamra surely loves a game of chor-police. After playing a gangster in her recently released offering, Bambai Meri Jaan (2023), the actor now slips into the role of an upright cop in Umesh Bisht’s upcoming sci-fi thriller series, Gyaarah Gyaarah. Acknowledging this arc in her career’s trajectory, Kamra says, “It was an opportunity I jumped at. There are some tender moments in the show. Behind the police procedures, there is a human drama. The emotional lives of these characters are tough, and only someone like Umesh sir could have dealt with it so delicately.” Kamra, who made her television debut in 2007, is among the few artistes who have transitioned to the digital medium rather effortlessly. OTT has democratised the casting process, she agrees, enabling actors to showcase new sk...

The upcoming ZEE5 series `Gyaarah Gyaarah` boasts of a stellar ensemble cast including Raghav Juyal, Kritika Kamra and Dhairya Karwa. Produced by Guneet Monga and Karan Johar, Gyaarah Gyaarah tells the riveting tale of two police officers from different eras connected by a mysterious walkie-talkie and the butterfly effect it causes on the past and present. A senior detective Shaurya Anthwal, played by Dhairya Karwa, from the 1990s and a young police officer Yug Arya, portrayed by Raghav Juyal, find themselves linked by a perplexing communication tool that springs to life at 11:11 PM for a fleeting 60 seconds. At the center of this temporal whirlwind is a determined woman Vamika Rawat, played by Kritika Kamra, once mentored by the senior detective Shaurya Anthwal before he mysteriously disa...

If you ask industry insiders to recommend a studio for AI-related services in filmmaking, chances are they will name Gobo Studios. Run by filmmaker Hridaye A Nagpal, who co-directed Amazon Prime Video’s Rainbow Rishta, along with Nishant Tahilramani and Vishal Balsara, Gobo Studios is a creative studio for all practical purposes. Nagpal corrects us, “We are the future-proof creative studio.” In March 2022, Tahilramani told Nagpal about the Dall-E2 opening up to the common people. Dall-E is the art vertical of Open AI that also has patented Chat GPT. Little did they know that this development would, one day, help them set up their studio. Nagpal recalls, “I couldn’t bring myself to believe that text prompts can generate images. But I started playing with it. We had some written concepts an...