News

Mumbai, Feb 15 (Ians) Love being in the air, we all having had our share of Valentine’s Day, it is the perfect time to delve deeper into the numerous aspects of love, creatively at that.

And who can be better that Karan Johar with his Dharmatic Productions team giving us a cute collection of stories (‘storiyaan’) suffused with the different flavours of six romantic liaisons from different parts of the country.

Released on Amazon Prime Video, ‘Love Storiyaan’ has endearing tales of unusual love blossoming in small and metropolitan cities, involving ordinary people — well, mostly. Dedicated to everyone who has ever loved, lost and was bold enough to fall in love again, the episodes feature inspired stories from Priya Ramani, Niloufer Venkatraman and Samar Halarnkar’s popular Instagram handle #IndiaLoveProject.

An anthology of six short films, this is as diverse as it can get. The construct is deliberately an attempt...

Netflix India emerged as a big winner at the Filmfare Ott Awards 2023 last evening, bagging 26 awards and reaffirming its position as a leading platform for quality content. Its diverse slate of series and films garnered widespread acclaim, with many of its productions being recognized for their compelling storytelling, stellar performances, and exceptional direction.

The series winner list includes “Best Series” for Scoop, “Best Series Critics” for Trial By Fire, “Best Director Critics” for Randeep Jha (Kohrra), “Best Actor Series” for Suvinder Vicky (Kohrra) and Rajshri Deshpande (Trial By Fire), “Best Actor Series Critics” for Karishma Tanna (Scoop), “Best Supporting Actor” for Barun Sobti (Kohrra) and Tillotama Shome (Delhi Crime S2).

The films’ winner list has “Best Film Critics” for Konkona Sen Sharma (Lust Stories) And Vasan Bala (Monica O My Darling), “Best Actor Film Critics” for Rajkummar Rao (Monica O My Darling) and Sanya Malhotra (Kathal), “Best Actor- Web Original...

Netflix India emerged as a big winner at the Filmfare Ott Awards 2023 last evening, bagging 26 awards and reaffirming its position as a leading platform for quality content. Its diverse slate of series and films garnered widespread acclaim, with many of its productions being recognized for their compelling storytelling, stellar performances, and exceptional direction.

The series winner list includes “Best Series” for Scoop, “Best Series Critics” for Trial By Fire, “Best Director Critics” for Randeep Jha (Kohrra), “Best Actor Series” for Suvinder Vicky (Kohrra) and Rajshri Deshpande (Trial By Fire), “Best Actor Series Critics” for Karishma Tanna (Scoop), “Best Supporting Actor” for Barun Sobti (Kohrra) and Tillotama Shome (Delhi Crime S2).

The films’ winner list has “Best Film Critics” for Konkona Sen Sharma (Lust Stories) And Vasan Bala (Monica O My Darling), “Best Actor Film Critics” for Rajkummar Rao (Monica O My Darling) and Sanya Malhotra (Kathal), “Best Actor- Web Original...

In every show we watch lately, regardless of the genre, there are plenty of characters that come across as gray, which means we cannot seem to decide if we like the person or not. But there are times when there are inherently good characters, and what makes them respectable is the way the person in the show is structured by the writers. Mrunmayee Lagoo, Hansal Mehta, and Mirat Trivedi gave us Imran Siddiqui through Scoop, who was the epitome of a good person. Creator and director Hansal Mehta showcased Imran in the hope that there would be people who would pick up some of the strength he showed and take the path of righteousness, but was it easy for Imran to do that?

The show begins with Imran Siddiqui being showcased as a friend and mentor to Jagruti Pathak, who has been working under him for years and has grown...

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta’s debut series titled ‘Scoop’ is all set to drop on Netflix on June 2.

Produced by Matchbox Shots, season one of the series is inspired by real events and Jigna Vora’s book, ‘Behind Bars in Byculla: My Days in Prison’, serving as the show’s maiden installment.

Created by Hansal Mehta and Mrunmayee Lagoo Waikul, the first season will track crime journalist Jagruti Pathak, played by Karishma Tanna who in pursuit of a career-defining story is caught between the powerful nexus of the police, the underworld, and the media, and is charged with the murder of a fellow-journalist.

Written by Mrunmayee Lagoo Waikul and Mirat Trivedi, the human drama features a talented ensemble including Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Harman Baweja with Prosenjit Chatterjee.

With ambition getting the best of an enterprising journalist, audiences can expect high stakes as Jagruti races to break the most significant headline of her career.

Devasish Makhija was born in Kolkata and studied economics at St. Xavier’s College before embarking on a career in advertising. His first film work was as an assistant on Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday, and as writer for the director’s Doga. He is also a published author. His films include Absent (2016), Taandav (2016) and Ajji (2017).

On the occasion of his latest film, Bhonsle, having its world premiere at Busan International Film Festival, we speak with him about the film and the festival, Manoj Bajpayee, his future projects and many other topics.

Once more, a film of yours premiered in Busan. How do you feel about that and how do you think Biff has shaped your career?

I always saw my films as ‘Indian’ before Busan Biff happened to me last year with ‘Ajji’. ‘Ajji’ was celebrated as an ‘Asian’ film more than an Indian one, and this opened me up to the contemporary cinema,...

The ongoing struggle with violence against women is at the heart of the low-key but quietly affecting drama, ajii (or Granny), in competition at Biff’s New Currents section. Director Devashish Makhija refers to his spare sophomore effort, following 2013’s Oonga, as an Indian spin on a Korean revenge thriller, and in some ways it is, but Makhija and co-writer Mirat Trivedi have more on their minds that gloriously gory stabbings and ultra-brutal beatings. Assured and oddly dispassionate, but not unsympathetic, ajji is a sure bet for both broad spectrum and niche festivals, and could find art house audiences around the...

A still from Maryan

The 38th Cleveland International Film Festival will screen Amit Kumar’s Monsoon Shootout, Bharatbala’s Maryan and Shubhashish Bhutiyani’s Kush. In addition, Shahzeb Kohari and Mirat Trivedi’s short film Life Calling and Arpita Kumar’s My Dear Americans will also be screened at the festival.

Cleveland International Film Festival will take place from March 19-30, 2014 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

Kush, Life Calling and My Dear Americans will be screened in the Shorts Programme of the festival. Kush, based on the Sikhs riots of 1984, won the Orizzonti award for Best Short Film at Venice Film Festival and was long-listed for the Oscars. Read Shubhashish Bhutiani’s interview here. The Taste is not the Same (USA) by Kavita Pillay, about an Indian-American couple in the Us, will also be screened in the same section.

Bharatbala’s Tamil-language film Maryan, featuring Tamil stars Dhanush and Parvathy, is...