‘Amar Singh Chamkila’ Director Imtiaz Ali on Bringing the Indian Music Icon’s Life to Netflix With A.R. Rahman, Diljit Dosanjh (EXCLUSIVE)

Naman Ramachandran Animation studio Toonz Media Group has unveiled an eclectic slate for the Cannes Film Market. Drawing stories from popular Indian ancient fables and retelling them with a contemporary flavor, “Return of the Jungle” is set in present-day India and revolves around a group of classmates from junior school who must outwit the biggest, meanest bully in the school. A cool and loveable grandpa by their side peps the fourth graders with inspiring stories from the jungle.

EXCLUSIVE: RJ Malishka, Rajesh Kumar and KC Shankar are the latest Indian stars to board SonyLIV‘s political drama series Freedom at Midnight.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “The Substance,” Coralie Fargeat’s buzzy horror movie starring Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore, has sold to one of France’s biggest distributors, Metropolitan FilmExport, ahead of its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. The Match Factory is handling international sales on the female-powered movie, and MUBI just acquired the rights in North America, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Latin America and Benelux, where they will release the film theatrically this year. MUBI has also acquired the movie for Turkey and India.

EXCLUSIVE: Freida Pinto and her Freeboard Films Entertainment label have boarded Kiranmala & the Kingdom Beyond, the animated kids TV show we first told you about earlier this year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Tarsem Singh’s tale of forbidden romance “Dear Jassi” has been set as the opening title of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. The event, which runs June 27-30, will showcase seven feature films, a new industry section and a female-centric collection of South Asian short films.

Naman Ramachandran Indian actor Ali Fazal has joined the cast of Mani Ratnam‘s “Thug Life,” starring Kamal Haasan. The cast also includes Trisha Krishnan, Dulquer Salmaan, Jayam Ravi, Silambarasan Rajendar, Joju George, Gautham Kartik and Aishwarya Lekshmi. The film, which hails from the gangster genre, is written by Ratnam and Haasan and produced by Raaj Kamal Films International, Madras Talkies and Red Giant Movies.

The Chromatica Ball special is coming, after all!

Mubi has acquired worldwide rights for French director Coralie Fargeat’s English-language body horror movie The Substance ahead of its world premiere in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival this month.

Alex Ritman Mubi has kicked off its 2024 Cannes Film Festival early and in style, acquiring worldwide rights to one of the buzziest films set to premiere in competition. The arthouse distributor, production banner and streamer has landed Coralie Fargeat’s body horror “The Substance,” starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Denis Quaid, picking up all rights for North America, U.K., Ireland, Germany, Austria, Latin America and Benelux, where it will release theatrically this year. Mubi has also acquired the rights for Turkey and India.

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films making noise in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. So we’re going to do the hard work for you.

Naman Ramachandran Back in 2019, on a visit to Los Angeles, celebrated Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali stopped in at the offices of Netflix. In his informal five-minute meeting with CEO Ted Sarandos, Bhansali pitched an idea — it would be an opulent tale of warring courtesans set amid India’s struggle for independence. Sarandos greenlit the project on the spot.

EXCLUSIVE: SonyLIV’s ambitious Indian independence drama Freedom at Midnight has added British cast.

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood A-list actor Kareena Kapoor Khan has been appointed national ambassador for India by humanitarian organization UNICEF. UNICEF has been operating in India for 75 years and Kapoor Khan has been serving as the org’s celebrity advocate since 2014.

Naman Ramachandran The Royal Shakespeare Company‘s theater adaptation of “The Buddha of Suburbia” had hard acts to follow, coming after an acclaimed novel and TV series. Hanif Kureishi‘s Whitbread Award-winning 1990 novel is one of the seminal works of British literature.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Taking over a family business can be overwhelming, but for Karan Johar, it’s been anything but. It’s been more than 25 years since Johar took over Dharma Prods. founded by his father, Yash.

Naman Ramachandran “Harry Potter” star Tom Felton is currently filming the series “Gandhi,” where he plays Josiah Oldfield, the future Mahatma’s friend in London. Part of the series, produced by Sameer Nair for India’s Applause Entertainment and directed by Hansal Mehta, follows the young Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi when he was in London to study law and missing vegetarian food.

EXCLUSIVE: Harry Potter star Tom Felton has boarded Gandhi, the Hansal Mehta-directed streaming series about the iconic Indian nonviolent resistance leader from Applause Entertainment.

Naman Ramachandran Indian streamer SonyLIV has unveiled the cast and a first look for its magnum opus series “Freedom at Midnight.” Based on the 1975 non-fiction book by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, the political drama delves into India’s independence movement, weaving together untold tales and critical moments from the era when the country’s then British colonial rulers partitioned the country into India and Pakistan. Sidhant Gupta (Prime Video series “Jubilee”) plays Jawaharlal Nehru, who became the first Prime Minister of independent India, Chirag Vohra (SonyLIV series “Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story”) Mahatma Gandhi and Rajendra Chawla (Netflix film “Looop Lapeta”) Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who became the first deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India.

“I’ve felt that being called ‘niche’ is a compliment, actually,” Monkey Man star Sobhita Dhulipala tells Deadline.

Naman Ramachandran Indian producer Prerna Arora is including intimacy coordination clauses in actors’ legal agreements. Arora, known for acclaimed films “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha” and “Pari” is believed to be one of the first Indian producers to do so.