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The critically acclaimed crime thriller, Santosh, written and directed by award-winning British-Indian filmmaker, Sandhya Suri, will be releasing in UK cinemas on 21st March 2025, distributed by Vertigo Releasing and Civic Studios.

Starring Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar; and produced by Mike Goodridge (Love is Strange), James Bowsher (The Night), Balthazar de Ganay (The Summer House) and Alan McAlex (Masaan), the film has garnered unanimous international plaudit, with 14 award nominations and seven wins including a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer; British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) win for Best Screenplay; and recognition by the National Board of Review within the Top 10 Independent Films of the Year. The film also earned a nomination at Cannes Film Festival 2024 in the Un Certain Regard category; was nominated for the Sutherland Award for Best Film Feature at BFI London Film Festival; and was the UK’s official submission for...

In Deepa Mehta’s screen adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s epic novel Midnight’s Children, Darsheel Safary got his second chance in a row to play the lead actor for the second time in a row after Taare Zameen Par at the age of 15. In this exclusive interview, he speaks about the experience.

Darsheel, Midnight’s Children completes twelve years?

Midnight’s Children was an incredibly ambitious and unique project. Playing Saleem Sinai right after Taare Zameen Par was both exhilarating and challenging.

The two characters were completely different from one another?

Ishaan Awasthi was a deeply internalized character, but Saleem had an epic, almost mythical journey, growing up in a newly independent India, dealing with questions of identity, destiny, and personal transformation.

What was it like being directed by Deepa Mehta?

Deepa Ma’am is known for her bold and visionary storytelling. I feel she saw in me a certain rawness and...

After years of holding back Booker-winning author Salman Rushdie finally consented to let his dear friend Deepa Mehta film his most celebrated work Midnight’s Children. As the film turns 16 on February 1, we recall an interview with Mr Rushdie on the film.

How effectively and deeply has the film Midnight’s Children managed to convey the spirit and essence of your novel?

I’m happy that so many people who have seen the film have felt that it did justice to the original. Various Indian writers have seen it already, including Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, Suketu Mehta, and I’ve been much heartened by their approval.

Which of the actors in Midnight’s Children, in your opinion, have nailed their characters most effectively?

We are incredibly lucky in our cast. The performances throughout the film are outstanding, and it would be hard to pick out one or two names. But if you twist my arm,...

Did Daniel Radcliff stand in a line to meet Sachin Tendulkar? (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Here’s a plot twist for the books—Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter himself, once queued up like any regular cricket fan to meet Sachin Tendulkar. Yep, the Boy Who Lived turned into the fan who waited, all for an autograph from the Master Blaster.

The scene? Lord’s Cricket Ground, 2007. England and India were locked in a nail-biting Test match that ended in a draw. But for Radcliffe, the real win came after the game. He queued up, book in hand, just to meet Tendulkar. “My friends and I were thrilled to meet Sachin and get his autograph. I am a huge fan; he is truly a legend,” he later said. Turns out even wizards have heroes.

And don’t forget—Radcliffe is a cricket fanatic through and through. Back in the day, he dreamed of rocking the England jersey.

South Korean writer Han Kang, whose international breakthrough novel The Vegetarian was made into a film, has won the Nobel Prize in Literature 2024.

The Swedish Academy unveiled the honoree Thursday, lauding “her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”

Han’s 2007 novel The Vegetarian, her first novel to be translated into English, won the International Booker Prize in 2015. The story of Yeong-hye, a part-time graphic artist and homemaker, whose decision to stop eating meat leads to mental health struggles and problems in her familial life, was adapted as a feature film by Woo-Seong Lim and screened at Sundance in 2010.

The honor is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in 1895. The others are prizes in chemistry, physics and medicine, as well as the Nobel Peace Prize.

Han Kang is the first South Korean to win the literature Nobel.

Deepa Mehta is set to direct “Troilokya,” a thriller about an Indian woman known to be a serial killer. Production is through pan-Asian film company Through the Lens Entertainment and India’s Open Air Films.

The story, set in 19th century Calcutta during British rule, sees a female prostitute embark on an unheard of killing spree. For more than a decade, she is hunted down by detective Priyonath Mukhopadhyay. The screenplay, written by Juhi Chaturvedi (“Piku”), navigates through eccentric relationships fraught with lust, obsession, revenge and hatred.

Production is set for August and September with locations including India and Thailand. Though the Lens Entertainment is looking to appoint a distributor and aims for a theatrical release in India, with digital distribution in international territories.

“The challenge of depicting a serial murderess as a heroine is what intrigues me most about ‘Troilokya.’ ‘Is it possible to muster empathy for this child bride turned prostitute turned killer?...

Salman Rushdie hinted in February that he was working on a memoir about the stabbing attack last year that nearly killed him and left him blind in one eye. Now, the Booker Prize winner has announced that book will be called Knife and will be published by Penguin Random House on April 16, 2024.

Rushdie is best-known for novels such as Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses, some of which have been adapted for the screen. The author told the New Yorker earlier this year that the new book, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, was conceived as a sort-of sequel to his 2012 memoir, Joseph Anton.

At first, Rushdie resisted the idea, “because it felt almost like it was being forced on me—the attack demanded that I should write about the attack.” But, he said, he found a “microscopic” look at the event engrossing.

However, unlike the third-person voice he used in Joseph Anton,...

Actress Shahana Goswami, best known for her roles in films such as ‘Rock On!’, ‘Midnight’s Children’ and ‘Tu Hai Mera Sunday’, said that she has actively chosen roles which “challenge conventional narratives” to represent real women.

She said: “I have actively chosen roles that challenge conventional narratives, opting for characters that break away from cliches. I want to represent real women who one can relate to.”

In an industry where social connections and networking play a pivotal role, Goswami decided to let her acting do the talking instead.

The actress has not cared much for the traditional concept of networking, instead preferring to rely more on her acting prowess, emphasising that craft trumps everything else in the artistic industry.

Elaborating on the topic, Goswami said: “The measure of success lies in the quality of one’s work rather than the number of connections they have. Throughout my career, I have...

Writer Salman Rushdie has made a public speech, nine months after being stabbed and seriously injured onstage, warning that freedom of expression in the West is under its most severe threat in his lifetime.

Rushdie delivered a video message to the British Book Awards, where he was awarded the Freedom to Publish award on Monday evening. Organizers said the honour “acknowledges the determination of authors, publishers and booksellers who take a stand against intolerance, despite the ongoing threats they face.”

Rushdie, 75, looked thinner than before the attack and wore glasses with one tinted lens. He was blinded in his right eye and suffered nerve damage to his hand when he was attacked at a literary festival in New York state in August.

Read More: Author Salman Rushdie Attacked Before Lecture On New York Stage

His alleged assailant, Hadi Matar, has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault and attempted murder.

Mumbai, Feb 22 (Ians) Actor, writer and director Rahul Bose, who will be seen in the upcoming web series ‘Taj – Divided by Blood’, has shared what prompted him to take up the project and also briefed about his role in the series.

Rahul, who plays Mirza Muhammad Hakim, the third son of the Mughal Emperor Humayun, said: “I felt that the role was very well-edged. I thought that the big attraction was to act opposite Naseeruddin Shah, play his fundamentalist stepbrother and portray a conflicted relationship. I think these were the two main reasons that the role was well-edged.

“I had a very fruitful conversation with Ron Scalpello (director) in terms of his conceptualisation of the character and the way it was written.”

He also talked about his interest in Mughal history, saying: “I am well-versed as anybody else who read history in school, may be a little bit more than that.

Actor, writer and director Rahul Bose, who will be seen in the upcoming web series ‘Taj – Divided by Blood’, has shared what prompted him to take up the project and also briefed about his role in the series.

Rahul, who plays Mirza Muhammad Hakim, the third son of the Mughal Emperor Humayun, said: “I felt that the role was very well-edged. I thought that the big attraction was to act opposite Naseeruddin Shah, play his fundamentalist stepbrother and portray a conflicted relationship. I think these were the two main reasons that the role was well-edged.

“I had a very fruitful conversation with Ron Scalpello (director) in terms of his conceptualisation of the character and the way it was written.”

He also talked about his interest in Mughal history, saying: “I am well-versed as anybody else who read history in school, may be a little bit more than that. What’s...

Updated Monday: The Iranian government has denied any involvement in the attack on Salman Rushdie, according to the Associated Press.

Nasser Kanaani, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said in a briefing to journalists on Monday: “We, in the incident of the attack on Salman Rushdie in the U.S., do not consider that anyone deserves blame and accusations except him and his supporters. Nobody has right to accuse Iran in this regard.”

“By insulting the sacred matters of Islam and crossing the red lines of more than 1.5 billion Muslims and all followers of the divine religions, Salman Rushdie has exposed himself to the anger and rage of the people,” Kanaani added.

Updated Sunday: Booker Prize winning author Salman Rushdie remains in critical condition, but retains his feisty sense of humor, his son Zafar Rushdie said in a statement.

“Following the attack on Friday, my father remains in critical...

Padma Lakshmi is breathing a sigh of relief for ex-husband Salman Rushdie.

On Friday, the Midnight’s Children author was stabbed multiple times in an on-stage attack while speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York.

Read More: Salman Rushdie Stabbing Suspect Arrested On Attempted Murder Charge, Pleads Not Guilty

It was reported the next day that Rushdie had been taken off a ventilator and is in recovery, after suffering serious injuries.

Sunday morning on Twitter, the writer’s ex-wife, Padma Lakshmi, shared that she was “relieved” to learn Rushdie is “pulling through after Friday’s nightmare.”

Relieved @SalmanRushdie is pulling through after Friday’s nightmare. Worried and wordless, can finally exhale. Now hoping for swift healing.

— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) August 14, 2022

Lakshmi and Rushdie got married in 2004, after having lived together for several years. They filed for divorce in 2007.

New statement to NBC News from son of Salman Rushdie on his father’s condition.

Rushdie, who had to go underground for nearly a decade under heavy security and still remains quite controversial — as was evident from the row over his proposed video address at a prominent Indian literary festival a few years back — remains unbowed.

Like the equally intrepid author Taslima Nasreen, he has never shied away from attacking excesses, in the name of religion, politics, and ideology, especially when done by his own co-religionists.

"Midnight’s Children" was a not a very sympathetic look at India in its first few decades, as seen through the eyes of its singular protagonist who was born at the exact moment of the country’s freedom. His next book, "Shame" (1983), did the same for Pakistan, particularly in focussing on its crucial turning point in the end 1970s.

Here, Rushdie used magic realism to fashion an account of the tussle between a civilian ruler and an army general, which...

The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie was taken off a ventilator and able to talk Saturday, a day after he was stabbed as he prepared to give a lecture in upstate New York.

Rushdie remained hospitalized with serious injuries, but fellow author Aatish Taseer tweeted in the evening that he was “off the ventilator and talking (and joking).” Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, confirmed that information without offering further details.

Earlier in the day, the man accused of attacking him Friday at the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit education and retreat center, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges in what a prosecutor called a “preplanned” crime.

Read More: Salman Rushdie Stabbing Suspect Arrested On Attempted Murder Charge, Pleads Not Guilty

An attorney for Hadi Matar entered the plea on his behalf during an arraignment in western New York. The suspect appeared in court wearing a black and white...

Revered Indian actor Shabana Azmi, who plays the pivotal role of Admiral Margaret Parangosky in hugely anticipated mega-budget Paramount Plus series “Halo,” describes her experience on the show as “completely different.”

The series is based on Microsoft’s iconic video game “Halo,” a sprawling science fiction epic that involves multiple warring factions and far-flung alien species. Pablo Schreiber plays the central character Master Chief. Azmi’s Parangosky, second billed in the credits after Schreiber, has frequent interactions with Natascha McElhone’s Dr. Catherine Halsey.

“The interesting thing about Margaret is that she’s conflicted, because she is somebody who plays by the rules of the game. She is somebody who is used to giving orders and having those orders obeyed. And here she’s all but manipulated by the scientists to break the rules, because she keeps [hearing] that this will be good for humanity and she does unscrupulous things,” Azmi told Variety.

Propagate Behind Deepa Mehta-Directed ‘Burnt Sugar’

Ben Silverman’s Propagate Content is to produce Deepa Mehta’s adaptation of Avni Doshi’s novel Burnt Sugar, in a deal which was negotiated by Anna Soler-Pont at the Pontas Literary & Film Agency. Based on the story of a dysfunctional mother and daughter in Pune, the book has sold 150,000 copies and was submitted for prominent awards such as the Booker Prize. A London stage adaptation for 2023 is also in the works. Mehta, the Academy Award nominated Indian-Canadian filmmaker has helmed book adaptations previously such as Midnight’s Children and Funny Boy, and is known for trilogy Fire, Earth and Water. For TV, she directed the pilot for acclaimed Apple series Little America and Showtime’s upcoming Yellowjackets. “Depicting complicated human connections are what drive most of my projects and I look forward to delving into the complex, layered and at times surprisingly dark...

By Arundhuti Banerjee

Mumbai, May 23 (Ians) Actress Shahana Goswami feels web shows have ushered better quality of writing, which in turn creates scope for actors like her to prove their versatility.

In her latest show "The Last Hour", Shahana plays a police officer who, along with another male counterpart, sets out to unravel a murder mystery. Did she feel she was a strong female character in the otherwise male-dominated world of the story?

"I think when something is well written, there's a natural balance about the portrayal of each character in it. When I am saying balance, it means we do not need to highlight a character only because he is a male or a female character but giving substantial space for each of them. When it comes to my character in 'The Last Hour', where I play an investigating police officer, it was about the contribution of the character in the narrative.

By Arundhuti Banerjee

Mumbai, March 13 (Ians) Actress and sitarist Neha Mahajan played the sitar for the song "Mi Sangre" in Ricky Martin's album "Pausa", which has bagged a Grammy nomination this year. Neha feels lucky to be part of such a collaboration, more so because the song talks about world peace and inclusivity.

"I got a call from Ricky Martin's associates Mireille Bravo. I was offered to play the sitar part in the song, but before that I was sent an English translation of the song 'Mi Sangre', as it is originally in the Spanish language. Initially, I wondered if it was a prank call. But then after I crossed-checked I realised how big the opportunity was for me. I had a 'pinch-me' moment! We all have grown listening to and admiring Ricky Martin," Neha told Ians.

The song has been nominated in the Best Latin Pop or Urban...

Regarded as one of the highest literary prizes in the world, the Booker Prize is an annual award that recognizes the most talented fiction writers from the Commonwealth. Over the years, some of the Booker Prize-winning novels have also served as inspiration for memorable films, the latest cinematic adaptation being Netflix’s The White Tiger.

Related: 10 Films To Watch If You Liked The White Tiger

Some of the most acclaimed Booker winners like Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children couldn’t share the same fate but otherwise, these novels have yielded classics like Schindler’s List, and modern cult favorites like True History of the Kelly Gang and Life of Pi.

Exclusive: Wind of Change, the wild podcast that asks whether the CIA wrote the 1990 Scorpions hit song, is being adapted for television at Hulu.

Deadline understands that the streamer has landed the project, which is being developed by Alex Karpovsky, in a competitive situation.

The Patrick Radden Keefe-hosted podcast, which launched in May and became one of the buzziest audio series of the year, is produced by Pod Save America producer Crooked Media, Pineapple Street Studios, which produces podcasts such as The Clearing and The Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan Farrow, and Spotify.

It is being written and exec produced by Karpovsky, who starred in Amazon’s television adaptation of Homecoming and wrote and directed Oh Jerome, No — which was part of Fxx comedy Cake — and exec produced by Single Parent and Life in Pieces EP Jason Winer. 20th Television is the studio and is producing in association...

"Every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other..." Array has debuted the first official trailer for Funny Boy, the latest film from acclaimed Indo-Canadian filmmaker Deepa Mehta. This is premiering directly on Netflix in December, and has been chosen by Canada as their entry into the Best International Film category at the Academy Awards for 2020. Shot on location and set in Sri Lanka in the 1970s and 80s, the film explores Arjie's sexual awakening from a young boy to a teenager who falls in love with a male classmate at his school, just as political tensions escalate between the Sinhalese and Tamils in the years leading up to the 1983 uprisings. The indie film stars Arush Nand, Brandon Ingram, Nimmi Harasgama, Ali Kazmi, Agam Darshi, Seema Biswas, & Shivantha Wijesinha. It looks wonderful, and also heartbreaking, but still a ...

Acquired by Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing earlier this month, Deepa Mehta’s “Funny Boy,” an adaptation of Shyam Selvadurai’s 1994 novel of the same name, has been announced as Canada’s official selection for Best International Feature Film for the 2021 Academy Awards. Set for release on Netflix beginning Thursday, December 10, Array has premiered a first-look trailer for the film.

Shot on location in Colombo, Sri Lanka, “Funny Boy” centers on the “awakening of sexual identity by a young boy named Arjie. As political tensions escalate to a boiling point between the minority Tamils and the majority Sinhalese, a young boy comes of age in a society and family that doesn’t embrace difference outside of societal norms. The film chronicles Arjie’s struggle to find balance and self-love despite the absence of empathy and understanding.”

It’s a coming-of-age story about growing up in Sri Lanka during one of...

Deepa Mehta’s “Funny Boy” is heading to the CBC.

The Canadian public broadcaster, whose film division CBC Films funded the feature with Telefilm Canada, has lined up a Dec. 4 premiere. Based on the eponymous, best-selling novel by Shyam Selvadurai, the film follows a young boy’s sexual awakening in Sri Lanka during the turbulent Tamil-Sinhalese conflict leading up to the civil war. Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing picked up the film for distribution earlier this month.

“Funny Boy” will air on CBC on Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. and will be available to stream on the broadcaster’s VOD service CBC Gem. It will also receive a theatrical release in Canada, as well as select cities throughout the U.S. in December. As revealed exclusively by Variety, the film will premiere on Netflix in the U.S., U.K., New Zealand and Australia on Dec. 10.

Shot on location in Colombo,...

Deepa Mehta’s latest film, an adaptation of Shyam Selvadurai’s Sri Lanka-set coming-of-age novel “Funny Boy,” has been picked up by Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing, and will land on Netflix this December, Variety can reveal.

The Oscar-nominated “Earth” and “Midnight’s Children” director wrote the screenplay for the film alongside Selvadurai, whose debut 1994 novel is set in Sri Lanka during the 1970s and 1980s and was ground-breaking in its discussion of identity politics against the backdrop of escalating conflict between the island nation’s Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority.

Shot on location in Colombo, the film explores Tamil protagonist Arjie’s (Arush Nand/Brandon Ingram) sexual awakening from a young boy, deemed “funny” by disapproving family, to a teenager enamoured by a male classmate, just as political tensions escalate between the Sinhalese and Tamils in the years leading up to the 1983 uprisings — violence that led into a 26-year civil war.

“Harry Potter” writer J.K Rowling, “Handmaid’s Tale” author Margaret Atwood and “Midnight’s Children” writer Salman Rushdie are amongst 150 public figures to have signed a letter condemning the practice of ‘public shaming,’ or cancel culture as it is known popularly.

Cancel culture is a term used to describe individuals who have shared an unpopular opinion or have past behavior that’s deemed offensive, who are ‘canceled’ on social media. Rowling is one such example, due to her views on the trans community.

Atwood received considerable backlash in late 2016 after supporting an open letter calling on Canada’s University of British Columbia to provide its reasons for suspending and firing novelist and instructor Steven Galloway after sexual assault allegations emerged. Meanwhile, Rushdie’s 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses” has also drawn criticism over the years for its depiction of Islamic beliefs.

Other signatories of the letter include authors Martin Amis and Jeffrey Eugenides,...

In the beginning there is the swimming pool. A splashy symbol of the upper crust's affluence that is rapidly making the poor, poorer.

Deepa Mehta's disturbingly devastating dystopian drama begins with a happy family: mother, father, child splashing in the pool. Within the first five minutes, the mood swerves away from joy and Shalini, the protagonist whose journey we follow from episode to enrapturing episodes of acute pain and limited joy, finds herself alone in a clinical ashram that resembles the shelter home in Muzaffarpur where young girls simply disappeared when they didn't obey the elders' salacious orders.

Except, that there is no sex in this world of sterile religiosity and puerile purification. Emulating the Nazi model of a concentration camp, Mehta's futuristic world of emotionless totalitarianism is grim, joyless and utterly terrifying. Those women in dull crimson saris moving around zombie-like in a place of perverse purification run...

Netflix has found its showrunner for the upcoming series Midnight’s Children, as Indian filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has been tapped to fill the role on the series based on Salman Rushdie's 1981 magical realist novel. He also will executive produce the project.

Midnight's Children follows the life of Saleem Sinai, who was born on the stroke of midnight on Aug. 15, 1947, the same time as India's independence. His every act is mirrored and magnified in events that sway the course of the country's national affairs, with his health and well-being inextricably bound to that of his nation. Sinai'...

Netflix has unveiled the directors for its upcoming Indian original series Leila, including Deepa Mehta, who also serves as the creative executive producer for the show.

Mehta, known for her acclaimed trilogy Fire, Earth and Water in addition to the film adaptation of Salman Rushdie's book Midnight's Children, will be joined by Shankar Raman (Gurgaon) and Pawan Kumar (Lucia).

Urmi Juvekar, known for such Bollywood titles as Oye Lucky! Lucky! Lucky Oye! And Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, serves as Leila's showrunner.

Based on the book of the same name by Prayaag Akbar, Leila is a dystopian drama set in the near future and revolves around ...

Netflix has unveiled the directors for its upcoming Indian original series Leila, including Deepa Mehta, who also serves as the creative executive producer for the show.

Mehta, known for her acclaimed trilogy Fire, Earth and Water in addition to the film adaptation of Salman Rushdie's book Midnight's Children, will be joined by Shankar Raman (Gurgaon) and Pawan Kumar (Lucia).

Urmi Juvekar, known for such Bollywood titles as Oye Lucky! Lucky! Lucky Oye! And Detective Byomkesh Bakshy, serves as Leila's showrunner.

Based on the book of the same name by Prayaag Akbar, Leila is a dystopian drama set in the near future and revolves around ...

Salman Rushdie's 1981 novel Midnight's Children is getting the Netflix treatment.

The streaming giant will adapt the British Indian author's fictional book about India's transition from British colonialism to independence into a new television series. Midnight's Children is largely considered Rushdie's magnum opus (he was knighted in 2007 for services to literature), and the magical realist novel has won several awards since its publication, including the 1981 Booker Prize, the Best of the Booker twice — first in 1993 and again in 2008 — and the James Tait Memorial Prize. It was previously adapted as ...

Remember the cute 8-year-old dyslexic boy Ishaan Nandkishore Awasthi aka Darsheel Safary from Aamir Khan's superhit 2007 film Taare Zameen Par? Well the little one has now grown up to be a handsome teenager, and what's more, he will soon be coming on the big screen with his upcoming film Quickie, which is a teenage love story. The movie will be directed by Pradip Atluri and is being produced by producers Tony D'Souza, Amul Vikas Mohan and Nitin Upadhyaya. Taran Adarsh took to Twitter to share the teaser poster of Darsheel's upcoming film and the teenager is very excited to begin his second innings in Bollywood. And after looking at his recent picture, you just can't roll your eyes off his handsome looks. Sporting a spiked hairo and a goatee, Darsheel looked baffled, probably while figuring out a way to deal with the dilemmas of teenage life and understanding love...

Deepa Mehta - the Oscar nominated director of Water and Midnight's Children - takes a turn into very different territory with her upcoming Beeba Boys, an often violent look at crime within the Indian community on Canada's west coast.Deepa Mehta mixes guns, bhangra beats, bespoke suits, cocaine and betrayal in Beeba Boys: an adrenaline-charged Indo-Canadian gang war, and a violent clash of culture and crime. Gang leader Jeet Johar and his young, loyal, and often-brutal crew dress like peacocks, love attention and openly compete with an old-style Indo crime syndicate to take over the Vancouver drug and arms scene. Blood is spilled, hearts are broken and family bonds shattered as the Beeba Boys ("nice boys") do anything "to be seen and to be feared" in...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

UK TV ratings round-up - data supplied by Barb

Doctor Who fell to below 4 million viewers on BBC One last night, according to overnight data.

Facing competition from the Rugby World Cup on ITV (8.41 million/38.3%), 'The Witch's Familiar' appealed to an audience of 3.71 million (16.6%) from 7.45pm.

Strictly Come Dancing earlier averaged 7.66 million (39.7%) from 6.15pm.

Later on, The National Lottery: In It to Win It and Casualty were watched by 3.03 million (13.4%) and 3.8 million (17.4%) respectively.

On BBC Two, a Dad's Army repeat entertained 1.6 million (7.3%), and Midnight's Children logged 705k (3.2%) from 8.15pm.

Over on Channel 4, Paddy McGuinness's Celebrity Benchmark began with 546k (2.7%) in the 7pm hour, before Snow White and the Huntsman averaged 912k (4.1%).

Channel 5's Now That's Funny! amused 734k (3.2%) from 8pm, and Football League Tonight continued with 309k (1.4%).

As part of Tiff, New York-based Film Consultant Colin Brown, Managing Partner and Director of International Operations at MADSolutions, has been one of the guest speakers at the 10th anniversary edition of the International Financing Forum (Iff), the annual co-financing event that took place on September 13th.

Moderated by Matt Mueller, editor of Screen International, Colin discussed the art and science of film financing and project packaging in a staged discussion with Lianne Halfon, the celebrated producer who teamed up with actor-director John Malkovich and producer Russell Smith to create Mr. Mudd, the production company behind such films as "Ghost World," "Juno," "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower," "Labor Day" and "Young Adult." The event also has been attended by Film Analyst Alaa Karkouti, CEO of Mad Solutions.

"If cinema is in the business of manufacturing delight, then to what degree can that process be quantified? That is one of the key questions that we be examining at a time when data analytics is finally coming to film financing and project packaging in an attempt to assist - and accelerate - the process by which producers bring their ideas in front of receptive investors and industry gatekeepers," explained Colin. "We want to explore the degree to which technology really can solve some of the Catch 22 situations that producers find with regard to securing cast and financing."

Iff is a two-day event that includes one-on-one meetings, an industry panel discussion, roundtable meetings and producers' networking receptions. Selected international and Canadian producers are brought together with international sales agents, distributors, funders, agents and executive producers to do business in brokered meetings and benefit from exclusive networking opportunities. Now celebrating its 10th year, Iff has introduced hundreds of projects to the international marketplace with over 60 successfully financed to date, including Deepa Mehta's "Midnight's Children," Denis Villineuve's "Incendies," David Michôd's "Animal Kingdom," Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut "Coriolanus" and Haiffa Al-Mansour's "Wadjda," among many others.

In addition to his association with Mad, Colin is currently the Editorial Director of Slated, the pioneering film financing and networking website headquartered in Los Angeles. He also teaches at New York University, at both its renowned film school, the Tisch School of the Arts, and at the SternSchool of Business. He is a faculty board member of Nyu's Cinema Research Institute, an initiative designed to support and mentor innovative new business models for filmmaking.

During his career as a film and business journalist - most notably as the longstanding Editor-in-Chief of Screen International -Colin won numerous awards. As a film critic, he has served on the juries of numerous prestigious film festival juries including the Sundance Film Festival.

Tiger Shroff who's playing a Sikh super-hero in Remo D'Souza's The Flying Jat would have to be extremely cautious about the dos and don'ts. Sikh cultural and religious organizations are up in arms against Prabhu Dheva's Singh Is Bliing for Akshay Kumar's various stunts and antics, all done in a spirit of fun and games. Now in Deepa Mehta's Beeba Boys about a bunch of Punjabi gangsters there are situations involving Sikh characters that are bound to make the moral custodians of the Sikh community extremely unhappy. Says a source, "In Beeba Boys we see a Sikh character using his holy kirpan (knife) to slash and murder a victim. The shot was removed from the trailer. But the scene is very much there in the film. There is bound to be trouble in India for this." Deepa Mehta is no stranger to controversies. Her Fire about a...

[Editor's Note: This post is presented in partnership with Time Warner Cable Movies On Demand in support of Indie Film Month. Today's pick, "The D-Train," is available now On Demand.]  Giles Nuttgens, the British cinematographer best known for his collaborations with Deepa Mehta ("Fire," "Earth," "Water," "Midnight's Children") as well as Scott McGehee and David Siegel ("The Deep End," "Bee Season," "What Maisie Knew") had two indie films out in 2014, both of which debuted at last year's Sundance Film Festival: Stuart Murdoch's musical "God Help the Girl" and Jake Paltrow's dystopian "Young Ones." His latest project couldn't be more different. Written and directed by Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel, "The D-Train," which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, is a dark dramedy starring Jack Black and James Marsden. Read More: Jack Black...

A documentary about an artist colony in New Delhi is coming to online platforms tomorrow thanks to distributor Bond 360 Films. Twitch has been given an exclusive clip to share with you from the film. Witness some crazy good puppetry skills from puppeteer Puran Bhatt.Tomorrow We Disappear chronicles the last days of Kathputli, the mysterious hand-built artist colony featured in Salman Rushdie's iconic Midnight's Children. Hidden in the alleyways of New Delhi, a community of magicians, acrobats and puppeteers approach their looming eviction to make way for a modern skyscraper. Bound together by tradition and impending gentrification, this captivating film allows us to experience a culture's magic and wonder before it's gone.  Directed by Jimmy Goldblum and Adam Weber Tomorrow We Disappear will be available on...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Deepa Mehta, one of our country’s most celebrated and well-regarded filmmakers, steps into an entirely new genre in her latest cinematic venture, Beeba Boys. We never would’ve expected the director of Water and Midnight's Children to take up purchase in the crime genre, but we couldn’t be more excited to see Deepa directing well-dressed gunslingers making terrible life choices.

Beeba Boys follows Jeet Johar (Randeep Hooda), a guarded, ruthless gangster within the very real criminal underground populated by second- and third-generation Indian immigants on Canada’s west coast. As Jeet competes with rival gangs for an increasingly shrinking turf, the single father and dutiful son is forced to violently demand respect, ensuring the Beeba Boys’ continued survival in Vancouver.

Deepa Mehta’s Beeba Boys, which hits theatres October 16, also stars Waris Ahluwalia (The Darjeeling Limited, The Grand Budapest Hotel), Paul Gross (this year’s Hyena Road), Sarah Allen,...

Giles Nuttgens, the British cinematographer best known for his collaborations with Deepa Mehta ("Fire," "Earth," "Water," "Midnight's Children") as well as Scott McGehee and David Siegel ("The Deep End," "Bee Season," "What Maisie Knew") had two indie films out in 2014, both of which debuted at last year's Sundance Film Festival: Stuart Murdoch's musical "God Help the Girl" and Jake Paltrow's dystopian "Young Ones." His latest project couldn't be more different. Written and directed by Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel, "The D-Train," which premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, is a dark dramedy starring Jack Black and James Marsden. Read More: Jack Black and James Marsden Saved Their 'D-Train' Sex Scene for Last Indiewire talked to Nuttgens late last year about "God Help the Girl" and "Young Ones" and followed up with him again recently to discuss the...

Last year Kannada filmmaker Pawan Kumar made a huge splash in the Indian independent feature world by successfully crowdfunding his second feature film, Lucia. The film made a big impression on the international festival circuit, and is commonly recognized as one of the finest Indian films of 2013. Now, the film has been remade in Tamil for an even larger audience as Enakkul Oruvan, starring the now ubiquitous Siddharth (Jigarthanda, Ko, Rang De Basanti, Midnight's Children), the rare Indian film star who moves fluidly between regional cinemas with very little problem.Lucia was the story of an insomniac projectionist who, in his desperation to find rest, comes across a drug guaranteed to help him sleep. However, he very quickly realizes that the effects of the drug...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

The prolific Deepa Mehta has done it again! Made a film that is likely to provoke extreme responses. In the year 2000, Deepa Mehta had started Water in Varanasi which had to be stalled when religious fundamentalists objected to the film. Deepa's Fire and Midnight's Children were also controversial works of art. Now in the film titled Beeba Boys, Deepa has shot the life of the dreaded Indo-Canadian criminal Bindy Johal who was brutally gunned down in 1998. Bindy, a heroic legend among the Indians in Canada, is considered an extremely controversial figure. Hero for some, a sociopath for others, it would be interesting to see how Deepa Mehta has interpreted the character's dark and criminal life. Bindy's band of Punjabi bad boys has also been featured in the film. Randeep Hooda who plays Bindy Johal spent weeks studying Johal's life and crimes and why he was considered a criminal by many...

Our International Sales Agent (Isa) of the Day coverage is back again for this year's Cannes Film Festival. We will feature successful, upcoming, innovative and trailblazing agents from around the world, and cover the latest trends in sales and distribution. Beyond the numbers and deals, this segment will also share inspirational and unique stories of how these individuals have evolved and paved their way in the industry, and what they envision for the new waves in global cinema.

108 Media is a new sales company out of Toronto. Founder Abhi Rastogi sees it as "a force that opposes the standards of the film industry, redefining boundaries of what is possible and achievable." 108 Media recently acquired the worldwide sales rights for The Insect King by Priscilla Cameron and will begin selling the picture at the Cannes Film Festival. 108 is also excited to bring titles like He Never Died, which stars Henry Rollins as a punk rocker cannibal and Camera Trap, a wildlife thriller about a film crew that pursues local sightings of a rare wildcat in Nepal.

Abhi Rastogi shares some of his history, sales and more about 108's Cannes lineup:

How did you start 108 Media?

I started the company two years ago. We looked at how sales and distribution was done for the last seven or eight years, and we looked at bringing something different to the independent marketplace. And so we've tried to stick to a certain model where you can expect not so regular things.

We are doing theatrical releases in North America. We've released seven films theatrically in the last one and a half years--some of the most high profile films being Midnight's Children, based on Salman Rushdie's book, The We And The I, based on Michel Gondry. We also act as a foreign sales company, so we're very excited to introduce new projects and new voices to the international market.

What's your background?

Prior to this, I was a managing director of a company called Cinesavvy. We produced films like Frankie & Alice, starring Halle Berry; I was an executive producer on the film. Lionsgate released it last month. Prior to that, I was a distribution manager at Cinemavault, which is a Toronto based sales company.

What will 108 bring to Cannes?

We're bringing first footage from the film He Never Died, which stars Henry Rollins as a punk rocker and a cannibal who never died. This was a film that I was introduced to in September. And as a sales agent, you also get involved with packaging a lot; we were able to package the film right after Tiff in record time. We shot the film in November, so we're bringing it to Cannes.

Then we're brining this amazing, stunning chiller that was made in Nepal called Camera Trap, produced by the very high profile Steve Christian of Pinewood Pictures from the UK. It was shot all on location in Nepal last year. It's about a crew that goes to look for a snow leopard and finds something else. What's amazing is that the filmmakers have done a lot of nature related visuals. The film is stunning, visually captivating, and very realistic.

How are sales?

The sales are doing very well, because we're realistic about what the market can bare. We want to bring exciting projects, but at the same time, we are very careful of what we are requesting from our buyers and what's needed on their parts to support these films. It's more about collaboration for us. We tend to do a lot of business with the same buyers.

Some territories are more challenging than others, but that's the nature of our business. Spain is challenging--there are fewer buyers that are chasing after much higher profile content. That's because there are just not enough outlets for independent films to be released there. France has been a bit more challenging because of the home video markets collapsing there.

At the same time, we're doing very well in Asia through our Tokyo office. We tend to sell well across the board, including Germany, the UK and Italy.

More about 108 Media:

Cannes Lineup:

Camera Trap

Honour

Replace

He Never Died

Case of Kyoto, Case of Schuichi

The Time Being

Fugly

Fanie Fourie’s Lobola

Shame The Devil

The Rescuers

Tough Bond

Overview

108 is an agitator – a force that opposes the standards of the film industry, redefining boundaries of what is possible and achievable.

The media industry is not what it used to be, it is untraditional and media is consumed differently, in an ever changing and increasingly diversified forms of delivery and interaction. 108 Media is as unpredictable, leading edge and flexible as today's media demands – we’re targeted, we’re quick to execute, and we give the audience what they want, where they want it, and when they want it!

The Why is the easy part, because it is required of a media company to do so or be left behind like print media. The How is the interesting part. 108 Media measures social, blog and web traffic and consumer patterns to fully understand its consumers' dynamics, location and tendencies, thereby building effective and timely strategies to maximize media exposure and consumption efficiency. Further, 108 Media controls the pipelines of delivery, creating a truly vertically integrated next-generation media company fully capable to producing, marketing, and distributing media to all major Digital VOD, Broadband VOD and Paid Cable platforms.

We cut the old mantras of advertising and media delivery and enable a truly cross-promotional and cross platform digital experience.

This adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel, though often sluggish, is a valuable reminder of Britain's toxic post-imperial legacy

Some of Britain's notable "postcolonial" fiction has translated uneasily into cinema: Monica Ali's Brick Lane and Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children didn't entirely work as movies. Zadie Smith's White Teeth was adapted, with more success, as a television drama. Now comes the film of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 2006 novel Half of a Yellow Sun, about lives in Nigeria torn apart by the 1960s Biafran war: the attempt to create a secessionist state whose flag showed the top half of a hopeful rising (not setting) sun. Adapted and directed by Biyi Bandele, the film is well intentioned and certainly very well cast: Thandie Newton is the elegant intellectual Olanna and Chiwetel Ejiofor her husband, the conceited, bullish academic Odenigbo. Their tempestuous private lives are made even more tumultuous by the history being made around them.

This adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel, though often sluggish, is a valuable reminder of Britain's toxic post-imperial legacy

Some of Britain's notable "postcolonial" fiction has translated uneasily into cinema: Monica Ali's Brick Lane and Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children didn't entirely work as movies. Zadie Smith's White Teeth was adapted, with more success, as a television drama. Now comes the film of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 2006 novel Half of a Yellow Sun, about lives in Nigeria torn apart by the 1960s Biafran war: the attempt to create a secessionist state whose flag showed the top half of a hopeful rising (not setting) sun. Adapted and directed by Biyi Bandele, the film is well intentioned and certainly very well cast: Thandie Newton is the elegant intellectual Olanna and Chiwetel Ejiofor her husband, the conceited, bullish academic Odenigbo. Their tempestuous private lives are made even more tumultuous by the history being made around them.

Hanif Kureishi's muse has long been transgression: dazzling early success was followed by a sex-and-drugs phase, family falling-out and a lacerating novel about marital breakdown. Now, with The Last Word, has he finally pinned down who he really is?

The first time I met Hanif Kureishi it was the mid-80s, and we talked about writing fiction for Faber and Faber whose list I was directing. Kureishi came into my office like a rock star and I remember thinking that he did not seem in need of a career move. He was already riding high on the international success of his screenplay, My Beautiful Laundrette.

In fact, Kureishi was cannily pondering his next step. He was on the lookout for a means of self-expression that might sustain a way of life and over which he could have some control. Movies, he said, were chancy, a gold-rush business. There was...

Hyderabad, Nov 15: Actor Darsheel Safary, who made his cinematic debut with superstar Aamir Khan's "Taare Zameen Par", is certain that the latter's forthcoming movie "Dhoom 3" will be great.

"'Dhoom 3' will be awesome. He (Aamir) will play a villain for the first time. That's exciting. He looks good in the film," said Darsheel.

He believes he has become "less mischievous and more serious". The teenager has also acted in "Midnight's Children", "Zokkomon" and "Bumm Bumm Bole".

"I am still in touch with him. We speak on our birthdays. Even before boards he had called me up and said, 'Study hard and forget about.

New Delhi, June 27: People might think that singer Siddharth Mahadevan may be a new kid on the block, but the youngster feels comfortable in the industry, thanks to his musician father Shankar Mahadevan.

The 20-year-old composed music for a Marathi film and worked on a track in Deepa Mehta's movie "Midnight's Children". He feels his father's experience helped him get the right exposure.

"I've been around musicians and music since my childhood. So surely, it has made me more comfortable. It also helped me get the right kind of exposure and learn the right kind of things," Siddharth told Ians.

"So far everyone.

Midnight's Children is based on a novel by Salman Rushdie, who also narrated, wrote the screenplay and executive produced this film by Deepa Mehta. Canadian director Mehta is known for her emotional elements trilogy (Earth, Fire and Water) depicting the lives of women in her native India. This new film aspires to be epic in scope, and lacks the intimacy and depth of her earlier works.

The movie's title refers to the children who were born at the stroke of midnight on the date of partition in 1947, when Pakistan and India split. Because of their auspicious birthdate, these kids have powers which cannot be understood by others. The story is told by Saleem (played in the last hour by Satya Bhabha, New Girl) -- from the first meeting of his grandparents in 1917 Kashmir through India's 30th anniversary in 1977. 

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Hirokazu Kore-eda's baby-swap film is another good-natured domestic drama set in contemporary Japan, but it lacks the nuance and innovation of his earlier work

Hirokazu Kore-eda has returned to Cannes with another gentle and warm-hearted family drama in that classic Japanese manner that he has been gravitating towards in recent movies like Still Walking (2008) and I Wish (2011). It is a very decent piece of work, although not as distinctive as those two previous movies, not quite as finely observed and frankly a little schematic and formulaic, with life-lessons being learnt by the obvious people. It does however have charm and abundant human sympathy.

Like Father, Like Son is a "baby-swap" drama: go-getting salaryman Ryota (Masaharu Fukuyama) and his sleek wife Midori (Machiko Ono) live in a perfect modern house and have a little 6-year-old boy — their only child — whom they push hard educationally. Then the hospital sends the devastating...