Entertainment

Bobby Deol and Chandan Roy Sanyal have gone from being tight friends to arch rivals, not in real life but as their characters—Nirala Baba and Bhopa Swami, respectively—in Prakash Jha’s series Aashram. While Deol’s character has ended with the recently released second part of the third season, Sanyal says that the story may take his character forward if there is another instalment. When he read the script, Sanyal found it interesting but never expected it to grow so much. He shares, “The last season has become the best [edition] for the people. [Initially], I was not sure that the show would become what it has become today; it has a cult following. I knew that it was a great story and script, and it was being directed by Prakash Jha and had Bobby Deol.” With season three catching the atten...

If he can visualise the story, he does it. That’s how actor Arunoday Singh decides to say yes to a project, and that is what happened when he was offered director Chandan Arora’s upcoming show, Kanneda. “I could picture the story and see the characters. I then decided that I needed to be a part of the narrative. The story needed to be told,” he asserts. Also starring Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, the JioHotstar series revolves around a Punjabi immigrant  in Canada who is rebuilding life after escaping the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Kanneda holds a unique place in Singh’s 15-year career. Reason: His co-stars. “I have worked with a lot of lovely people, but this cast was special. Everyone is someone you want to bring your best to,” he says. Reflecting on his journey, Singh says that even though he has see...

Norma Desmond hit on something in the 1950 movie Sunset Boulevard. A silent film stars whose career had been decimated by talking pictures, she refused to change with the times. “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small,” she said. Fast-forward to today and that quote could be applied to the concept of mainstream music. We still have stars, but the mainstream got small.Let’s start by defining “mainstream.” These are the ideas, trends, attitudes and activities considered normal, known far and wide, and something in which virtually everyone partakes on some level. Put another way, if the average person knows about something in society, culture or politics, it is part of the mainstream and binds everyone together with common knowledge and attitudes.Before 2000, mainstream attitude dominated...

How do you raise the stakes after success? By biting into an even more sumptuous world. With Khakee: The Bengal Chapter, the standalone sequel to Neeraj Pandey’s Khakee: The Bihar Chapter, that is the attempt. The series explores the crime-infested landscape of early 2000s Bengal, with an IPS officer tearing through a web of political power and law enforcement roadblocks. This crime drama boasts an ensemble cast led by Jeet, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Saswata Chatterjee, and Parambrata Chatterjee.  Jeet as IPS Arjun Maitra and director Debatma Mandal While Pandey continues as the showrunner, directorial responsibilities are shared by Debatma Mandal and Tushar Kanti Ray. The series is set to stream in both Hindi and Bengali, making it Netflix’s first dual-language Indian crime show. Mandal tel...

Filmmaker Ram Madhvani’s tendency to favour music that is spiritual, philosophical, and traditional isn’t new. Celebrated for deftly crafting the Sushmita Sen-led Aarya (2020), and Sonam Kapoor’s Neerja (2016), Madhvani points out that both projects employed spiritual works that the Indian audience was familiar with, a development that, he believes, was crucial in grabbing their attention. Evidently then, the National Award-winning filmmaker’s decision to continue the tradition with The Waking of a Nation was only fitting. Taaruk Raina plays a young lawyer who aims to uncover a conspiracy  Touted as a tale based on true events, the Sony Liv show that airs on March 7 features actor Taaruk Raina as Kantilal Sahni, a young lawyer who attempts to uncover the truth behind the British conspira...

Justin Bieber posted a vulnerable message about his self-worth and imposter syndrome in a statement on social media. The 31-year-old pop singer penned the message Thursday on his Instagram Stories to his 250 million followers, sharing that he has doubted himself.“People told me my whole life ‘wow Justin u deserve that’ and I personally have always felt unworthy,” he wrote. “Like I was a fraud.“Like when people told me I deserve something, it made me feel sneaky, like damn if they only knew my thoughts. How judgmental I am, how selfish I really am, they wouldn’t be saying this.“I say all this to say. If you feel sneaky welcome to the club. I definitely feel unequipped and unqualified most days.” A screenshot of Justin Bieber’s Instagram Stories. ...

Signing Rakt Bramhand, creator duo Raj-DK’s ambitious fantasy series, was self-admittedly an easy decision for Ali Fazal. But everything that followed has been demanding. The actor has been undergoing rigorous prep since the Netflix show rolled last September. Even now, as the shoot of the Aditya Roy Kapur, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Wamiqa Gabbi-starrer has been halted till April, Fazal says he is continuing his prep that includes weight training, diction coaching, and learning Indian martial arts. Ali Fazal alternates between weight training and CrossFit workouts “From the first day, I knew that this show would require intense physical and mental preparation,” he says of the fantasy series about warring empires. “I have been spending nearly six to seven hours a day prepping—whether it’s ...

Kolkata turned into a filmy playground as the makers of Khakee: The Bengal Chapter launched the trailer on March 5. A showreel is aired on the big screen, serving as the answer to our questions. Kolkata is known as much for its art and culture as it is for its cinema and writing mavericks. But, the city is also deeply entrenched in politics. Call it a spectacle and fan service rolled into one, but this unveiling gave us a sense of what the show holds—the messiness of the city’s political underbelly. The anticipation in the air at the Royal Turf Club overlooking the Kolkata Maidaan was palpable. In the last century, the same maidaan has been witness to political rallies of every notable leader and party. The stage crackled with energy, and then, like a carefully choreographed play, the cast...

Actor-director Ben Stiller recalled how Former President of the United States Barack Obama, turned down the voice role in Ben Stiller`s directorial series `Severance` season 2. "I didn`t ask him in person, I knew someone who knew his lawyer and his lawyer said I can relay the request if you write an email," said Stiller on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, reported Deadline. He approached him for a voice role in the second season of the Apple TV+ series. "I wrote an email to him saying like, `Hey we have this show,` whatever. And like two days later, I get an email back from President Barack Obama." In his reply, Stiller shared that Obama told him he was a "big fan of the show" and was awaiting the second season. However, the former President of the United States turned down the offer saying, "I don`...

The only suspect ever charged in the killing of rapper Tupac Shakur is speaking out for the first time, insisting that he is “innocent.” In a jailhouse interview with ABC News, Duane “Keffe D” Davis said he should be at home watching his grandchildren grow up instead of waiting to stand trial in the notorious Las Vegas murder of Shakur.Davis has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Shakur’s death, who was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1996.“I’m innocent,” Davis said in an hour-long meeting at the Clark County Detention Center. “I did not do it. They don’t have nothing. And they know they don’t have nothing.”“They can’t even place me out here. They don’t have no gun, no car, no Keffe D, no nothing,” he added. Story continues below advertisement “I ai...