News

Five Find Fresh Footing

The BBC, Moonage Pictures and Nicolas Winding Refn have begun production on a second season of “The Famous Five.” The 2 x 90′ instalment, created for television and executive produced by Refn and Matthew Read of Moonage, follows the success of the first series, which saw its premiere become Cbbc’s top-rated episode in 2023. The series, based on Enid Blyton‘s books, continues to follow the young protagonists’ adventures, now set against the backdrop of wartime.

The new season comprises two episodes: “Mystery at the Prospect Hotel,” directed by Asim Abbasi, and “Big Trouble on Billycock Hill,” helmed by Tom Vaughn. Both directors also serve as executive producers alongside Refn and Read.

Core cast members Diaana Babnicova, Elliott Rose, Kit Rakusen and Flora Jacoby Richardson reprise their roles, joined by Maria Pedraza, Amir Wilson and Jemima Rooper, who played George in the 1990s adaptation.

BBC Studios will handle international distribution,...

Indian indie producer Shiladitya Bora is set to begin production on “Bayaan,” a new drama featuring Huma Qureshi and Chandrachur Singh. The film, by writer-director Bikas Mishra (“Chauranga”), is slated to start shooting this month in Rajasthan.

Additional cast members include Sachin Khedekar (“Sita Ramam”), Avijit Dutt (“Piku”), Shampa Mandal, Priti Shukla, Vibhor Mayank and Aditi Kanchan Singh.

“Bayaan” is a co-production between Bora’s Platoon One Films, Madhu Sharma’s Summit Studios, and producers Kunal Kumar and Anshuman Singh. The project has received support from the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund and was developed at the LA Residency, part of Film Independent’s Global Media Makers program.

During his time at the residency, Mishra received mentorship from Craig Mazin (“Chernobyl”) and script advice from writer Jeff Stockwell and story editor Ruth Atkinson.

Set against the backdrop of the western Indian desert state of Rajasthan, “Bayaan,” which means evidence,...

After it was pulled at the last minute from Berlinale 2021, Chhatrapal Ninawe’s debut feature “Ghaath” (“Ambush”) will finally show at the festival in 2023.

The Marathi-language film, a slow-burn thriller set on the fringes of India’s jungles occupied by Maoist rebels and revolves around the tense interplay between guerrillas, civilians and the police, will have its world premiere at the Berlinale’s Panorama strand.

The project, then co-produced by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Studios and independent producer Manish Mundra’s Drishyam Films, was selected for the work-in-progress lab at India’s Film Bazaar 2020 where it won the Lab Award.

“Ghaath” was selected as one of the Panorama titles in 2021, but was then pulled. In a social media post, which has since been deleted, Ninawe wrote:

“On Feb 4, 2021, Jio Studios sent a legal restraining order to Berlinale, effectively asking them to drop the film from the selection. We sent frantic emails.

The movie “Chronicles of Hari” or “Harikatha Prasanga” ends with a note that says, “Based on real incidents that appear unreal/ Blended with unreal incidents that seem real” and that’s exactly where the brilliance of the director Ananya Kasaravalli lies. She did the most difficult job of portraying a serious social issue in a simpler manner, but still managed to stimulate our thoughts. “Chronicles of Hari” is undoubtedly one of the best Indian movies of recent time, with a smart storytelling approach, indulging modern thoughts of filmmaking in it. The movie is based on the short story “Harikatha Prasanga”, written by Gopalkrishna Pai.

“Chronicles of Hari” screened at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

The movie revolves around Hari, a male actor who plays female roles in the traditional Yakshagana theatre and the issues related to his sexual identity. As an actor of Yakshagana, Hari performs at night...

Starring: Parvin Dabas,Vansh Bhardwaj,Ashish Nair,Kudeep Ruhil

Directed by Parveen Dabas

Ekdum sahi hai, boss! As Anna Hazare – God bless his revolutionary soul – shifts from Tihar to Ramlila Maidan, our cinema has made a far more gradual movement from the ‘arty-unintelligible’ grammar of Mani Kaul to the ‘arty-accessible’ language of Parvin Dabas’ film.

This is the land of Shyam Benegal’s social inequalities where politicians pitch their self-interest higher than the good of the country.

Not every do-gooder is a Hazare. Sometime you just have to make do with a benign goon like Rajbir (Parvin Dabas) who breaks legs (shot on mobile phone) and extorts money for his surrogate-father (Sharat Saxena, in his usual excellent form). When Ranbir and his three socially-questionable friends set their hearts on saving their village farmers’ land from urban land-sharks you know this is the land of Sholay brought into the political consciousness...

Directed by Parvin Dabbas, Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bandhe stars Parvin Dabbas, Vansh Bhardwaj, Ashish Nair, Kuldeep Ruhil, Tena Desae, Kiran Juneja, Sharat Saxena, Yashpal Sharma, Anupam Kher, Neena Kulkarni, and Vipin Sharma. Set to release on August 19th, Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande is an exciting and entertaining blend of action, comedy and heartfelt emotion which hurtles along and against a landscape of both rural and urban India while boasting of some original and unique camerawork and a great soundtrack.

We showed you the trailer now read a bit more about the story and have a look at some posters and stills!

Synopsis

Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande is the story of a gang comprising of four friends-Rajbir (Parvin Dabas), Sexy (Vansh Bharadwaj), Ambani (Ashish Nayyar) and Doctor (Kuldip Ruhil) who are given a job which will give them enough money to make all their dreams come true, but to achieve the...