News

Indian cinema icon Sharmila Tagore embraces a challenging role in Suman Ghosh’s “The Ancient” (Puratawn), which has its India premiere at the Mami Mumbai Film Festival. The veteran actor portrays a woman grappling with memory loss in director Suman Ghosh’s Bengali-language drama.

In “The Ancient,” Ritika (Rituparna Sengupta) and her husband Rajeev (Indraneil Sengupta) return to her ancestral home in West Bengal to celebrate her mother’s (Tagore) 80th birthday. Upon arrival, Ritika discovers her mother’s cognitive decline, forcing her to confront a new reality. As Ritika grapples with this revelation, she embarks on a journey of acceptance, coming to terms with her mother’s irreversible condition.

Ghosh is a festival veteran with 2011’s “Nobel Thief,” 2012’s “Uncle Shyamal Turns off the Lights,” 2015’s “Peace Haven,” 2016’s “Mi Amor,” 2019’s “Aadhaar” and 2023’s “Scavenger of Dreams” all premiering at Busan and 2024 documentary “Parama: A Journey with Aparna Sen” at Rotterdam.

Just in time for Succession‘s end, let’s look at method acting. The Criterion Channel are highlighting the controversial practice in a 27-film series centered on Brando, Newman, Nicholson, and many other’s embodiment of “an intensely personal, internalized, and naturalistic approach to performance.” That series makes mention of Marilyn Monroe, who gets her own, 11-title highlight––the iconic commingling with deeper cuts.

Pride Month offers “Masc,” a consideration of “trans men, butch lesbians, and gender-nonconforming heroes” onscreen; the Michael Koresky-curated Queersighted returning with a study of the gay best friend; and the 20-film “LGBTQ+ Favorites.” Louis Garrel’s delightful The Innocent (about which I talked to him here), the director’s cut of Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation, and Stanley Kwan’s hugely underseen Lan Yu make streaming premieres, while Araki’s Totally F***ed Up and Mysterious Skin also get a run. Criterion Editions include Five Easy Pieces,...

Musical Theatre composer-lyricist Tanvi Rajgarhia, who is professionally known as ‘Jhansi’ has shot a Broadway-style music video titled ‘We Break Up Because Of Family Reasons’, which was released on Wednesday. Jhansi is the first Indian to be invited into ‘The Harvard of Broadway’ BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.

The video has been shot in collaboration with director Priyanka Banerjee, who is known for her multi-starrer short film ‘Devi’ starring Kajol, Shruti Haasan and Neha Dhupia.

The theatrical video was shot in Mumbai in one day.

Talking about her concept, Jhansi shared, “The meaning of this song and title is literally whatever the listener is bringing to the table with their life experience. The story of ‘Breaking Up because of Family Reasons’ applies to your life. Could be your own breakup, a relationship you never began because you knew your parents would object, or your friend crying on your shoulder...

Alexa Bliss appears at the WWE FYC Event. Pic credit: ©ImageCollect.com/Birdie Thompson/AdMedia

Lexi Kaufman Cabrera, best known as WWE’s Alexa Bliss, has held a variety of titles within professional wrestling, including multiple SmackDown and Raw Women’s Championship reigns.

However, she’s looking to add another title to her list of accomplishments as she continues to grow her popularity on social media: official TikToker.

On Sunday, WWE’s star known as The Goddess and Five Feet of Fury participated in a recent TikTok trend with a video she also uploaded to her official Instagram.

The quick video clip features Armani White’s catchy Billie Eilish song, with Alexa wearing a seriously casual look, featuring no makeup, her hair up and unstyled, and a sports bra along with baggy green sweatpants.

While holding a black hooded sweatshirt, she flashes a peace sign at the camera before bringing...

by Swapnil Azad

I walked into Calcutta’s Priya Cinema last Friday to watch “Pratidwandi” [The Adversary], Satyajit Ray’s film from 1970, expecting a roomful Ray-admirers who rushed to see Anik Dutta’s (deplorable) “Aparajito” earlier this year. And well, I was disappointed. There were just a handful of folks inside the auditorium, and I can’t tell how many of them watched the film seriously. Speaks volumes about the gradual cultural death of Calcutta which has been happening over the past decade. A few years ago, news of a Ray rerelease would’ve brought in masses who would liven up the theatre premises and its proximity, even if with flattery. Or maybe not, I’m too young to know.

on Amazon by clicking on the image below

Keeping aside my lamentations on the cultural fall of Calcutta, the experience was certainly worthwhile. The print screened was...

Devi will be back on Netflix this summer.

The streaming service announced over the weekend that Never Have I Ever will return for its third season on August 12.

"In Season 3 of the coming-of-age comedy Never Have I Ever, Indian American teenager Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) continues to deal with the everyday pressures of high school and drama at home, while also navigating new romantic relationships," the official logline teases.

Never Have I Ever is created by executive producer Mindy Kaling, with Lang Fisher serving as co-creator, executive producer, showrunner, and writer. Never Have I Ever is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and executive produced by 3 Arts Entertainment's Howard Klein and David Miner.

The series was officially picked up for a fourth -- and final -- season earlier this year, well ahead of its Season 3 bow.

“Hey Crickets, we’ve got some morning announcements for...

Joan Copeland, the younger sister of legendary playwright Arthur Miller whose decades-long Broadway career included performances in two of her brother’s plays, died Tuesday at age 99.

The actress, whose TV credits included multiple daytime soap operas and NBC’s “Law & Order,” passed away in her sleep in her Manhattan home, her son, Eric Kupchik, told The Hollywood Reporter. Kupchik did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

Copeland starred in Miller’s 1968 play “The Price” and later won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Rose Baum in Miller’s 1980 Depression-era play “The American Clock.” The music-loving character was inspired by their mother, Augusta.

“Arthur didn’t write the part for me, but it’s one of the few roles I didn’t have to audition for my brother,” she said in a 2012 interview. “I’ve had to audition for several of his plays,...

Joan Copeland, who graced both the stage and screen for decades as a Broadway star and soap opera actress, died the morning of Jan. 4 in her New York City home, Copeland’s family confirmed to Variety. She was 99.

Copeland’s career included performances on numerous daytime soap operas — including “Search for Tomorrow” (1967-72) “Love of Life” (1960-63), “The Edge of the Night” (1956) and “How to Survive a Marriage” (1974).

As one of the first members of The Actors Studio, she made her Broadway debut in 1948 as Nadine in “Sundown Beach.” Her other Broadway credits include “Detective Story,” (1950) “Coco,” (1969) and “45 Seconds From Broadway” (2001).

Copeland was the sister of playwright Arthur Miller, who died in 2005. She appeared in one of Miller’s plays, “The American Clock” (1980), a performance for which she earned a Drama Desk award.

“From the time I was a little girl I had the stage bug,” Copeland told The New...

Joan Copeland, an actress whose Broadway career began in the 1940s and would include acclaimed performances in a 1976 revival of Pal Joey and in the 1980 premiere of The America Clock, written by her brother, the playwright Arthur Miller, died today at her home in New York City. She was 99.

One of the original members of the renowned Actors Studio, Copeland also had numerous film credits and recurring roles on such daytime serials as Search for Tomorrow and One Life to Live. Copeland’s death was first reported by the Broadway World website.

Copeland made her Broadway debut in 1948’s Sundown Beach, following it up the next year in Detective Story. She also appeared in Not For Children (1951), Handful of Fire (1958), Tovarich (1963), Something More! (1964), The Price (1968), Coco (1969), Two By Two (1970), Checking Out (1976), and 45 Seconds From Broadway (2001).

She was nominated for Drama Desk Awards for Pal Joey (1976) and The American Clock (1981), winning for the latter.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is honoring the centenary of cinema giant Satyajit Ray with a major two-part retrospective.

May 2, 2021 was the birth centenary of Ray, the Indian master who won an honorary Oscar in 1992, shortly before his death, and remains the country’s best known filmmaker internationally.

The first part of the retrospective, which is currently on and will continue till Dec. 29, focuses on the early part of Ray’s career from 1955 – 1969. After a career as a graphic designer, Ray became a director in his early thirties with the ground breaking “Pather Panchali” (1955), which together with “Aparajito” and “Apur Sansar”, forms the phenomenal Apu Trilogy that follows the titular protagonist from childhood to adulthood.

The retrospective includes the Academy Film Archive’s landmark restoration of the Apu Trilogy from camera negatives nearly lost in a fire.

The December screenings at the Museum focus on Ray’s prolific and prodigious 1960s output,...

KollywoodOn the occasion of Vishal’s 44th birthday on August 29, the title and first look poster of his next film with director Thu Pa Saravanan was released.Tnm StaffMarking actor Vishal 44th birthday on August 29, the makers of his upcoming movie unveiled its title and first look poster, which was tentatively titled Vishal 31. Helmed by director Thu Pa Saravanan, the film has been titled Veerame Vaagai Soodum, while the Telugu version has been titled Saamanyudu. Touted to be an action entertainer, the poster features Vishal with a baseball bat. We also see several injured people in front of Vishal, indicating that Vishal’s character in the movie might have fought and defeated the injured goons. Sharing the title and poster, Vishal wrote, “Here We Go, Presenting the First Look & Title of #Vishal31 - #VeerameVaagaiSoodum (sic).” Here We Go, Presenting the First Look & Title of #Vishal31 - #VeerameVaagaiSoodum pic.twitter.

Indian Media Entertainment Network (Imen) has revealed a robust film and series slate that will keep it busy through 2023.

First up is action film, Nilesh Sahay’s “Squad,” introducing Rinzing Denzongpa, which was shot extensively in Belarus. When the six-year-old granddaughter of India’s leading scientist is kidnapped, India sends a crack team led by a man (Denzongpa) who must battle Ptsd and his own demons to save her.

Imen had entered into a first look deal with the Zee group in 2018 and “Squad” will bow on the global ZEE5 streaming platform in October during the Diwali holiday frame. Imen has devised a two-month long marketing plan along with a trailer launch that is designed as a post-pandemic mega event with the who’s who of the Indian film industry attending.

“Mad Max: Fury Road” stunt co-ordinator Keir Beck will turn director with Indo-Australian co-production “Riley,” set in the mines of Western Australia.

Production on Season 2 of Netflix’s hit series Bridgerton has been halted for the second time in a week after yet another staffer tested positive for Covid, according to our sister site Deadline.

Per reports, production will be paused for an indefinite time, as the streamer and Shondaland producers figure out how to continue amid the virus’ Delta variant, which is currently on the rise in the United Kingdom.

More from TVLineSex Education: Watch Otis, Maeve & Co. Promote Moordale in a Hilarious New Video Ahead of Season 3Virgin River Team Reacts to the Big Death of Season 3: 'It Was...

Coming off an especially top-dollar June announcement, the Criterion Collection has unveiled a similarly striking October lineup. Who’d have thought Adam Sandler would claim more titles than Apichatpong Weerasethakul?

So does he come to Criterion with Uncut Gems; meanwhile Humphrey Bogart and Ida Lupino are featured in Raoul Walsh’s High Sierra; Ratcatcher and Onibaba get much-needed upgrade; genre classic The Incredible Shrinking Man joins; as does one of Satyajit Ray’s greatest films, Devi.

Check out the cover art for each release below and full details here.

The post Adam Sandler, Humphrey Bogart, and Satyajit Ray Coming to Criterion in October first appeared on The Film Stage.

Since making her riveting entrance as the Number Six Cylon on Ronald D. Moore's rebooted Battlestar Galactica series in 2003, Tricia Helfer has made portraying powerful, complex, and capable women her trademark.

Whether as a high-powered lawyer, or a Texas Ranger, or a once-super-powered special agent, Helfer never fails to create characters with depth and nuance.

What is even more impressive is her ability to portray multiple versions of a character. For example, as Number Six on BSG, she played no fewer than five notable variants to her central "Caprica-Six" persona.

More recently, she has once again demonstrated her versatility by first playing Mom/Goddess and then the very mortal Charlotte on Lucifer and both Dracula and the pre-Dracula Olivia on Syfy's Van Helsing.

Speaking with TV Fanatic by phone from her home in Los Angeles, Helfer is circumspect about this pattern of multiple characters she has been called upon...

Joanne Linville, a character actress who had memorable guest-starring turns on episodes of Star Trek and The Twilight Zone in the 1960s, died Sunday in Los Angeles, CAA announced. She was 93.

Linville appeared on dozens of TV shows during her career, from Studio One, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The United States Steel Hour and Have Gun — Will Travel to Dr. Kildare, Route 66, Naked City, I Spy, Hawaii Five-o, Gunsmoke, Columbo and L.A. Law.

On the big screen, she worked in such films as The Goddess (1958) with Kim Stanley, Scorpio (1973) with Burt Lancaster and A Star Is Born (1976) with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.

Linville also played gossip columnist Hedda Hopper ...

Joanne Linville, a character actress who had memorable guest-starring turns on episodes of Star Trek and The Twilight Zone in the 1960s, died Sunday in Los Angeles, CAA announced. She was 93.

Linville appeared on dozens of TV shows during her career, from Studio One, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The United States Steel Hour and Have Gun — Will Travel to Dr. Kildare, Route 66, Naked City, I Spy, Hawaii Five-o, Gunsmoke, Columbo and L.A. Law.

On the big screen, she worked in such films as The Goddess (1958) with Kim Stanley, Scorpio (1973) with Burt Lancaster and A Star Is Born (1976) with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.

Linville also played gossip columnist Hedda Hopper ...

100 Years of Satyajit Ray: a tribute to The Apu Trilogy

May 2, 2021, saw the start of celebrations of the 100th birthday of the great Bengali filmmaker, Satyajit Ray. Ray’s films were probably amongst the earliest Indian films I’d seen, long before Bollywood would grab my attention. I love many of Ray’s films: Devi from 1960 (starring the sublime Sharmila Tagore) is a particular favourite, and is a commentary on religious devotion and fundamentalism, and, particular, on a system that both places women on pedestals as goddesses even as it removes their agency and represses them. Charulata (apparently the film Ray himself cited as his own favourite of all his films) is an exercise in subtle storytelling and gave us the irrepressible Amal, played by Soumitra Chatterjee, who literally stole my heart in so many films. But no Ray film touches my heart so completely as do the three films...

Starring the incredible Bhumi Pednekar, we have the gripping trailer of the upcoming Amazon Original conspiracy thriller Durgamati. The chilling thriller also sees a stellar ensemble cast including Arshad Warsi along with Mahie Gill, Jisshu Sengupta and Karan Kapadia in prominent roles.

Durgamati is set to premiere this December 11th on Amazon Prime and is written and directed by Ashok, produced by Vikram Malhotra and presented by Akshay Kumar under the Cape of Good Films banner, along with Bhushan Kumar under the T-Series Banner.

In the film, Bhumi Pednekar will be seen in a unique role of a Government Officer who becomes the target of a sinister conspiracy.

“I’m super excited about my upcoming film Durgamati and it’s an honour to play the lead in this conspiracy thriller. Being an ardent fan of spine-chilling thrillers myself, I was delighted to be a part of such a gripping story,...

A partnership between toy manufacturer Mattel and DC Comics, will see the new 8-issue limited miniseries, "He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse", written by Tim Seeley and illustrated by Dan Fraga, Richard Friend, with covers by Inhyuk Lee, available November 20, 2019, in support of the upcoming Columbia Pictures/Mattel Films, rebooted 3D, live-action "Masters of The Universe" feature:

"The scourge of 'Anti-Eternia' is unleashed on the 'Multiverse' bent on destruction. Each version of Eternia has fallen in the wake of devastation. Now it's up to a rag-tag team of surviving 'He-Men' from across the 'Multiverse' to stem the tide, but to do so they'll have to recruit the one man in existence that might help them win: 'Prince Keldor', the man who would be 'Skeletor'..."

Filmation's original "He-Man: Masters Of The Universe" (1983) cartoon series, created to sell Mattel toys, was inspired by author Robert E. Howard's "Conan The Barbarian", airing 130 syndicated episodes,...

There is a most beautiful moment in Apur Sansar (“The World of Apu”) where Apu (Soumitra Chatterjee) stands looking at a sunset. When the camera focuses on him, however, we can see the moonrise over his shoulder. It can’t help but make me think of that famous and oft-quoted phrase of Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa:

“The quiet but deep observation, understanding and love of the human race, which are characteristic of all his films, have impressed me greatly. … I feel that he is a “giant” of the movie industry. Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon.”

This is especially true of the final film in the Apu Trilogy, Apur Sansar. In it, Ray gives us an adult Apu – alone in the world after the death of his mother, leaving his studies because he no longer can afford them,...

O Pagador de Promessas

Written and directed by Anselmo Duarte

Brazil, 1962

Looking back, there were some stiff competition for the top prize at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival. Among the entrants were films by great directors like Sidney Lumet, Otto Preminger, and Robert Bresson. There were great, now canonical works such as Antonioni’s L’Eclisse, Buñuel’s The Exterminating Angel, and Agnès Varda’s Cleo From 5 to 7 – movies still watched and loved by cinephiles today. However, none of these films won the Palme d’Or of 1962, as it was instead awarded to O Pagador de Promessas, a Brazilian film based on a stage play of the same title. O Pagador de Promessas would go on to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, providing Oscar representation for the first time for not only Brazil but the entire South American continent. Despite the film’s accolades...

O Pagador de Promessas

Written and directed by Anselmo Duarte

Brazil, 1962

Looking back, there were some stiff competition for the top prize at the 1962 Cannes Film Festival. Among the entrants were films by great directors like Sidney Lumet, Otto Preminger, and Robert Bresson. There were great, now canonical works such as Antonioni’s L’Eclisse, Buñuel’s The Exterminating Angel, and Agnès Varda’s Cleo From 5 to 7 – movies still watched and loved by cinephiles today. However, none of these films won the Palme d’Or of 1962, as it was instead awarded to O Pagador de Promessas, a Brazilian film based on a stage play of the same title. O Pagador de Promessas would go on to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, providing Oscar representation for the first time for not only Brazil but the entire South American continent. Despite the film’s accolades...

From its opening montage of a young rustic girl watching her callous husband bring home another wife, to the dying moments when the woman, now in her twilight years, is taken away to the relative comfort of her foster-son’s home as the festivities of Durga Puja break out on the streets of Kolkata… Amar Prem is a glorious homage to that favourite Bollywood archetype: the golden-hearted prostitute.

That Sharmila Tagore plays the woman whom men of all ages gravitate to in pursuit of some heavy duty nurturing is a very happy situation for the screenplay. In the film a 7-year old boy and a 30-plus man both desire the same kind of emotional attention from her.This prostitute is not about sex. She is about soul. Sharmila brings to this timeless adaptation of Bibhutibushan Bandhopaddhyay’s story, a kind of simpering beauty that levitates the lyricism of the tragic...

Above: 1979 Hungarian poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, UK/USA, 1968); Designer: unknown.

When I started the Movie Poster of the Day Tumblr almost two years ago to augment my weekly poster essays here, I thought I might well run out of great posters to post daily after a year or so. But the deeper I dig the more gems I seem to unearth and the more popular the site seems to become (nearly a quarter of a million followers to date).

I’ve been posting these Best Of round-ups every six months (see parts one, two and three) but I’ve found so much good stuff lately that I feel the urge to do these four times a year instead of twice. As usual I’m using the very unscientific method of number of likes and reblogs to judge a poster’s popularity, but it does tend to...

BFI London is about to begin a two month long Satyajit Ray season. Starting on the 14th of August 2013, Dr Manishita Dass of Royal Holloway will host an introductory talk that will not only discuss Ray’s films but ‘explore the lesser-known links between his filmmaking and his career as a writer and a commercial artist’ (BFI).

Born in 1921, Calcutta, Ray is regarded as one of the most prolific film makers of the world. He achieved numerous awards, including the Bharat Ratna , the highest civilian award from the Indian Government, an honorary doctorate by Oxford University and 32 National Film Awards by the Government of India. His very first film Pather Panchali alone won 11 international awards.

Part one of the season will screen some of Ray’s spectacular films such as Pather Panchali, Aparajito and Devi. To find out more on the schedule please visit:

https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/Online...

The British Film Institute (BFI) is hosting a special two-month Satyajit Ray season, the first of which will be held in August. Ray’s films will be screened throughout the month in London, in association with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Ray received an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement-just before his death in Calcutta-in 1992.

The films to be screened as part of Ray season in August are Pather Panchali, Aparajito, Mahanagar, Jalsaghar, Apur Sansar, Devi, Teen Kanya, Charulata, Kanchenjungha, Nayak, Kapurush, Chiriakhana, Abhijan and Parash Pathar.

Two documentaries directed by Ray– commemorating writer, artist and composer Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray’s father Sukumar Ray will also be screened.

A Masterclass will be conducted on Pather Panchali by filmmaker and teacher Mamoun Hassan, who headed the BFI in 1970s.

As reported earlier, BFI will also release Ray’s Mahanagar to mark the 50th anniversary of the film.

Google is celebrating Satyajit Ray’s 92nd birth anniversary with a special doodle depicting the famous train scene from Pather Panchali, his most famous debut film from the Apu Trilogy. The film won an award for the Best Human Document at the Cannes film festival in 1956.

A restored version of Ray’s Charulata will screen in Cannes Classics section this year.

Ray, the most critically acclaimed Indian filmmaker, was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 1992 “For his rare mastery of the art of motion pictures and for his profound humanitarian outlook, which has had an indelible influence on filmmakers and audiences throughout the world”.

Several of his films screened at Cannes, Berlin and Venice film festivals. Some of his well known films are Pather Panchali, Charulata, Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Agantuk, Aparajito, Devi and Nayak.

On the other side of my content filled posts for Sound on Sight, I manage a semi-popular Tumblr blog called Obscure and Offbeat Cinema. There is virtually no written content and the vast majority of what I present are screenshots taken from films that I’m watching or planning to watch. Though a popular film will sneak in now and then, the focus remains on films that are off the beaten path. With over 3000 images posted in 2012, I thought it would be interesting to single out my favourite shots seen for the first time this year and share them with you. This link is quite obviously unique to my own cinematic experience of 2012, as well as my own personal quirks and aesthetic obsessions, so you might not agree with all of the choices. I also warn, this list may not be Safe for Work and in the case of objectionable...

Sharmila Tagore has been honoured with a Doctorate of Arts from Edinburgh Napier University, UK for her contributions towards Indian cinema. The 67 year old veteran actress has the distinction of being a household name both in Hindi and Bengali cinema, a rare achievement which not many have managed to secure. Ms Tagore was awarded with her doctorate on 25 October 2012 in the presence of around 1000 students during the university’s autumn graduation ceremonies. She expressed her gratitude to the university for being presented with this prestigious award in a public statement. “It is indeed a privilege to be conferred an Honorary Degree by Edinburgh Napier University. It recognizes the significant influence of Indian Cinema on the global cultural arena and the small role that I have played in its history. As we celebrate a hundred years of Indian Cinema, this is both a happy and humbling moment.”

Edinburgh Napier University has...

The best of the best from India’s movie industry, national and regional, gathered in New Delhi for the 59th National Film Awards. While it was regional cinema that dominated this years award function there was one familiar person that took to the stand to receive an award. None other than Bollywood’s 2011 super queen Vidya Balan.

Dressed in a rose pink sari, something which has become a signature look at award ceremonies, along with with a simple hair style, Vidya took to the stage to accept the best actress trophy for her role in The Dirty Picture. While it seems Vidya has been collecting all the awards for The Dirty Picture, others in the production team were awarded for their work. Customer designer Niharika Khan and make-up artist Vikram Gaekwad also picked up awards for their part in transforming Vidya into item queen Silk.

The best feature film award...

The prestigious Kennedy Center in Washington DC is hosting a three-week long "Maximum India" festival ending March 20, showcasing Indian-focused events involving dance, music, theater, literature, film, exhibitions, and cuisine, and can cost up to $100 each for a single event. Prominent festival participants include Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Dilip Basu, Shyam Benegal, Nandita Das, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Hariharan, Zakir Hussain, Girish Karnad, Shankar Mahadevan, Deepa Mehta, Ketan Mehta, Rajan and Sajan Misra, Ashis Nandy, DJ Rekha, Salman Rushdie, Nayantara Sahgal, Sharmila Tagore, etc. Special menus are being prepared by 12 master chefs brought from the four corners of India for the entire period of the festival. One session with Chef Hemant Oberoi, Executive Grand Chef of Mumbai's Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, costs $100. It is also offering a Bhangra Class with DJ Rekha, celebratory dance of the snake charmers, brass band music and sari exhibition. About India, Center announcement says: It colors life...

Vikramaditya Motwane’s “Udaan”, the film that made it to Un Certain Regard at Cannes International Film festival after seven years has been the talk of the town lately. With Udaan, Indian cinema’s seven year long jinxed relationship with the premier film festival has come to an end. Murali Nair’s Arimpara was the last film to have made it to Un Certain Regard, the section that carries the second most prestigious award, in the year 2003. Prior to that, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas was presented as a special screening out of competition at the festival in 2002.

Come to think of it, India and Cannes have had a cordial relationship right from the start. 1946, the year one of the oldest film festivals began at Cannes, Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar was screened as a Feature film in competition. Neecha Nagar was a pioneering effort in realistic Indian cinema and...

Navroze Contractor has been the cinematographer for many pathbreaking and award winning feature films. ‘Duvidha’ directed by Mani Kaul, ‘22nd June 1897’, ‘Limited Manuski’ and ‘Devi Ahilya Bai’ directed by Nachiket Patwardhan, ‘Percy’ directed by Pervez Merwanji, ‘Love In the Time of Malaria’ directed by Sanjiv Shah, and ‘Devarkadu’ directed by Pattabhi Rama Reddy being a few of them. He also shot ‘Frames’, directed by Chetan Shah, the first feature film in India to be shot on High Definition format.

He has also contributed to the documentary scene world wide, as his name is attached with films like ‘Balad of Pabu’ by George Luneau , ‘Dreams of the Dragon’s Children,’ shot entirely in China, by Pierre Hoffmann, ‘Are You Listening’ by Martha Stewart, and the ‘Last House in Bombay ‘ by Luke Jennings. His major Indian films are ‘All in the Family’ by Ketan Mehta, ‘What Has happened to This City’, ‘Something...

Parvez Sharma’s A Jihad for Love The Ten Commandments: Most Important Religion Films of All Time The first film on the Film Snobbery list not featuring Judeo-Christian issues is, at #14, Satyajit Ray’s Devi (1960), which deals with "the tragic implications of religious obsession in this dark drama of a man who believes his young daughter is an incarnation of a Hindu goddess." Among the few "other religion" films on the list are Parvez Sharma’s A Jihad for Love (2007), about the obstacles gays face in Islamic countries; Kon Ichikawa’s anti-war drama The Burmese Harp (1955), in which a World War II Japanese soldier adopts the lifestyle of a Buddhist monk (we should have more such soldiers in real [...]...