Ektaa Kapoor Reveals Slate for Financially Responsible Balaji Telefilms: ‘I Want to Cater to the Masses’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Amid deep concerns about the risks posed by artificial intelligence, the Biden administration has lined up commitments from seven tech companies — including OpenAI, Google and Meta — to abide by safety, security and trust principles in developing AI. Reps from seven “leading AI companies” — Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI — are scheduled to attend an event Friday at the White House to announce that the Biden-Harris administration has secured voluntary commitments from the companies to “help move toward safe, secure, and transparent development of AI technology,” according to the White House.

Chris Hemsworth is protective of his children.

Naman Ramachandran “The Lady of Heaven,” “The Batman,” and “The Kashmir Files” were the most complained about films in the U.K. in 2022, the British Board of Film Classification’s (BBFC) annual report reveals. “The Lady of Heaven,” which the BBFC describes as “a drama concerning the life of Fatima, a daughter of the prophet Muhammad,” topped the list with 1,573 complaints “from people who felt that the film was blasphemous and historically inaccurate.” The film was pulled from some U.K. cinemas upon release due to these concerns. “Sometimes, we also receive complaints which do not relate directly to BBFC classifications, but instead reflect people’s wider objections to a certain film,” the BBFC said in its annual report. “Filmmakers are free to explore historical or controversial themes and events within their films. Our role is to ensure that we classify the content appropriately based on our guidelines, in order to protect children and other vulnerable groups from potential harm and to empower consumers to make informed viewing decisions.”

Rana Daggubati, the South Indian star of global hit film “Baahubali,” is poised to make a superhero-sized impact at San Diego Comic-Con. His Spirit Media company will unveil film, TV and comic-book projects with a variety of partners. Prime among these is movie project “Hiranyakashyap,” being developed by Spirit Media and set to be directed by Travikram. The picture is inspired by Amar Chitra Katha’s comics of the mythological figure, the powerful demon Hiranyakashyap, and his plan to achieve vengeance by destroying Lord Indira’s kingdom. In the series space, Spirit Media has pacted with streamer SonyLIV on historical epic action-drama “Lords of the Deccan.” Based on the novel of the same title, the show takes audiences back in time to witness the birth of the Chalukyas, a dynasty that shaped southern India for centuries.

Naman Ramachandran After the success of the Indian version of “The Night Manager,” The Ink Factory is planning further Indian adaptations of John le Carré novels. Produced by The Ink Factory and Banijay Asia, the Hindi-language series created and directed by Sandeep Modi and headlined by Anil Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur, emerged as the most watched series ever across all Hotstar specials on Indian streamer Disney+ Hotstar. One of the most renowned writers in the espionage genre, le Carré, who died in 2020, left behind a legacy of 25 novels, managed by The Ink Factory. They have spawned numerous adaptations, including an English-language “The Night Manager” from BBC/AMC in 2016.

EXCLUSIVE: The UK has a new South Asian-focused film talk show.

Viki Townend had seen her weight gradually creep up over the years - and when she saw 15 stone flash up on her scales vowed to make a change. And a chance meeting with a Love Island star at the Trafford Centre has seen Viki get into the best shape of her life after a five stone total weight loss.

Naman Ramachandran Kajol, one of India’s best-loved actors, stars in Disney+ Hotstar series “The Trial – Pyaar, Kaanoon, Dhokha,” the Indian adaptation of CBS series “The Good Wife.” The courtroom drama sees Kajol star as Noyonika Sengupta, a housewife who is forced to return to work as a lawyer after her husband’s public scandal puts him behind bars. Produced by Banijay Asia and Ajay Devgn FFilms, “The Trial” is directed by Suparn S. Varma (“Rana Naidu”). Kajol is a huge fan of “The Good Wife.” “I loved the characters, I love the whole show, I binge watched it,” Kajol told Variety. Noyonika is the Alicia role that Julianna Margulies played in the original.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief

They are the symbols of a town moving from an industrial past to a vibrant new future.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Kino Lorber has picked up North American rights to Pham Thien An’s debut feature “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell.” The Vietnamese drama appeared in Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight section and was winner of the Camera d’Or. The company plans a theatrical release as well as a digital and home video releases on all major platforms after the film makes multiple stops on the international film festival circuit. “The sudden death of his sister-in-law brings unexpected responsibilities to Thien (Le Phong Vu), who is reluctantly tasked with bringing his five-year-old nephew Dao to their countryside hometown. On the road, Thien is drawn into a search for his long missing older brother, haunted and spurred forward by a series of sublime dreams that reignite suppressed memories, forbidden desires, and specters of his own youth. What began as a journey home becomes a pilgrimage marked by visual splendor and mystical overtones, a quest for understanding and certainty in a Vietnam that seems unable to provide any clear answers. As Thien battles with his own existential question of what is worth living for, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell interrogates the persistence and complexity of faith, not only in the spiritual but in the delicate beauty of earthly existence,” said Kino Lorber by way of a long synopsis.

Tom Cruise has no intention of slowing down.

Naman Ramachandran “Dangal” filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari’s “Bawaal,” starring Varun Dhawan (“Bhediya”) and Jahnvi Kapoor (“Mili”), has unveiled a teaser and confirmed its direct-to-digital global premiere date on Amazon’s Prime Video. Varun Dhawan plays Ajay Dixit, a school teacher in Lucknow, idolized by his students, and admired by everyone in town and Janhvi Kapoor as Nisha, a bright and beautiful girl, whose only hope is to find her one true love. But love is never easy and it has to passage through a war of its own. The film is shot in India and multiple international locations. The film is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala’s banner Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment in collaboration with Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Nitesh Tiwari’s Earthsky Pictures.

Naman Ramachandran Renowned filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (“Bandit Queen,” “Elizabeth”) has revealed the theme for the sequel to his 1983 directorial debut “Masoom.” Written by Gulzar (Oscar-winner for “Slumdog Millionaire” song “Jai Ho”), “Masoom” was an adaptation of Erich Segal’s 1980 novel “Man, Woman and Child.” It followed a happily married couple and their two daughters whose lives are disrupted with the arrival of a boy who is the man’s son from an earlier affair. The cast included Naseeruddin Shah (“Taj: Divided by Blood”), Shabana Azmi (“Halo”), Jugal Hansraj (“NRI Wives”), Supriya Pathak (“Tabbar”), Saeed Jaffrey (“The Man Who Would Be King”) and Urmila Matondkar (“Rangeela”).

Naman Ramachandran Losing streaming rights to the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament has been a blessing in disguise for Indian market leader Disney+ Hotstar, an Ampere Analysis study reveals. Disney won broadcasting rights but ceded streaming rights to rival JioCinema, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani. Ampere estimates that this “saved the company a figure just short of twice its entire streaming revenue from the past five years.” Despite recent subscriber declines, Disney+ Hotstar still leads the market and holds a 29% streaming market share, Ampere said. As of the first quarter of 2023, Disney+ Hotstar had some 50 million subscriptions, far higher than other global SVODs in India including Amazon Prime Video (12.4 million) and Netflix (6.2 million). However, that compares with some 61 million subscribers in October 2022.

Indiana Jones has been entertaining audiences for four decades, and the fifth movie is keeping up the tradition. In the past, Indiana Jones has worked toward stopping the Nazis in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," found himself on a dangerous adventure in India in "Temple of Doom," working against the Nazis to find the Holy Grail in "Last Crusade," and racing against the Soviets in search for a hidden artifact with his long-lost son in Peru in "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." The newest movie, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," follows the famous architect on a journey with his goddaughter, Helena Shaw, played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, on their way to find a dial that is said to hold the powers of changing history.

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor has spoken out against the gender pay gap that exists in the industry, in which male Bollywood stars are typically paid much more than their female counterparts. Kapoor was speaking at the Creative Industries and Cultural Economy Summit at London’s Nehru Centre as part of India Global Forum’s U.K.-India Week on Wednesday. She was in conversation with Amish Tripathi, minister (culture and education), Indian High Commission and director Nehru Centre, who is also a bestselling author. Kapoor said that while Bollywood is changing, the change isn’t quick enough. “The gender pay gap is humongous. And I don’t think that will be narrowing very soon, unfortunately, but the roles are getting meatier for sure,” Kapoor said, adding that her contemporaries like Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone have pursued films where they could play the central character.

Prime Video has announced a slate of upcoming releases for its India service ahead of Prime Day 2023 (July 15-16 in India), including horror series Adhura and a Telugu adaptation of hit YA drama Hostel Days. 

Naman Ramachandran A decade after scoring a major hit with “Raanjhanaa,” Indian director-producer Aanand L. Rai is returning to its universe with “Tere Ishk Mein.” “Raanjhanaa,” an intense Hindu-Muslim romantic drama, was the Hindi-language debut of Tamil cinema star Dhanush and featured chartbusting music by Oscar-, BAFTA-, Grammy- and Golden Globe-winner A.R. Rahman. While keeping the plot under wraps, Rai told Variety, “When we were working on the ‘Tere Ishk Mein’ script, we realized that we are catching on to the same aggression. And in terms of genre, it’s falling in that genre of tragedy and I said, it’s actually belonging to that world. They’re not similar stories, but they have a similar heartbeat. We were getting the same feeling what we were getting when we were working on ‘Raanjhanaa.’ I said, let’s start belonging to that world.”

Eric Nam has announced his massive 66-date ‘House on a Hill’ world tour for 2023 and 2024.Eric Nam will kick off his ‘House on a Hill’ world tour with a 39-date trek across the US and Canada that will run form September to the middle of November. It will feature concerts in over 20 states, as well as four shows in Canada.The Latin American leg of the ‘House on a Hill’ world tour will take place in the latter half of November.