Indian Broadcasting Bill Consultation Process Will Be ‘Fair and Independent’ Says Country’s Top Regulator

Two Indian films Salaar Part 1 – Ceasefire and Dunki buoyed the North American box office on a relatively quiet holiday weekend as Searchlight Pictures’ All Of Us Strangers had a solid per-screen openings and Poor Things a nice expansion.

Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire saw $2.5 million in Thursday previews as the Telugu action thriller opens in about 800 locations in North America. Bollywood Superstar Shah Ruhk Kan toplines drama Dunki, his third film of the year after Pathaan and Jawan, both in the top ten of India’s highest-grossing films.

Laura Anderson and Gary Lucy have once again sparked reconciliation rumours as they appeared to enjoy a festive date night in Glasgow.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “Wonka” enjoyed a barnstorming second weekend at the U.K. and Ireland box office with £6.3 million ($8.09 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. After two weekends at the top, the Timothée Chalamet starrer now has a mighty total of £18.4 million.

Naman Ramachandran Four BBC India staff members have quit and formed a new entity, Collective Newsroom, in order to comply with India’s strict foreign direct investment (FDI) in media rules. The Indian government’s cap on FDI investment in digital news outfits is 26%. BBC World Service India is 99% owned by the BBC.

EXCLUSIVE: South Indian stars Adivi Sesh and Shruti Haasan will head the cast of an as-yet-untitled pan-Indian action drama that is being produced by leading Telugu production house Annapurna Studios. 

Naman Ramachandran A brace of films exploring important subjects are in contention from India in the best live action short film category at the 96th Academy Awards. Reema Maya’s “Nocturnal Burger,” an investigation of child abuse at a dysfunctional police station in Mumbai, had its world premiere at Sundance. It has since traveled to more than 50 film festivals globally and won 34 awards including the Oscar-qualifying Golden Chair for best international short at KortfilmFestivalen, Norway.

Naman Ramachandran The Singapore Film Commission (SFC) celebrated its 25th anniversary during the 34th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) with a lavish party attended by the great and the good of the industry. Though the local box office for Singaporean films has yet to regain its pre-pandemic heights, they are doing well internationally with 2023 alone seeing selections at all the top festivals, including Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Locarno, Busan and San Sebastian.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Thailand’s broadcast and streaming group Mono Next and Korea’s Studio Genie have struck a deal to collaborate on content creation and distribution. Production of a Thai remake of a Korean series is on the cards, but has not been finalized. The memorandum was announced on stage at the Asia Television Forum in Singapore on Wednesday, with streaming unit Mono Streaming signing on behalf of the Thai group.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China’s Linmon Media celebrated its tenth anniversary this week by unveiling 16 new shows for its 2024 production and release slate. The roster included seven Chinese period drama series, five contemporary shows and two more being made in Thailand. “We are not just a producer, we are a studio,” Zhou Yuan, co-founder and EVP of Linmon, told Variety on the sidelines of the company’s predominantly English-language presentation at the Asia Television Forum & Market in Singapore.

Nick Holdsworth At the closing ceremony of the 3rd edition of the Red Sea Film Festival Thursday, which took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in front of an audience that included Hollywood stars Nicolas Cage, Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry, Jason Statham and Adrien Brody, the Golden Yusr for best film and a $100,000 cash prize went to Pakistani-Canadian horror film “In Flames,” directed by Zarrar Kahn. The director said that the indie movie was shot for “just $300,000 — the size of a Red Sea Fund production grant.” He urged “everyone who gets a grant to go make a movie, because this was made for nothing.” The Silver Yusr prize for best feature film went to Tarsem Singh for “Dear Jassi.” The film, an India/Canada/U.S.

In a village in the Indian state of Jharkhand, Ranjit and his wife Jiganti keep vigil at night over their home, a simple dwelling with packed-earth floors. If they don’t, anything could happen: Their neighbors have threatened to kill the couple and their children.

Naman Ramachandran Action comedy film “Baby Hero” was launched at Singapore’s Asia TV Forum and Market on Thursday. The film is a co-production between Singapore’s Hong Pictures and Bangkok-based Hollywood (Thailand). Principal photography will commence in the first quarter of 2024 with a view to releasing the film in 2025.

Naman Ramachandran Singapore’s Refinery Media has launched a global co-production fund that will allocate up to 50% of production budgets for projects exploring the use of virtual production in films, series and unscripted shows. The fund was revealed at Singapore’s Asia TV Forum and Market. “Asia’s Next Top Model,” “SupermodelMe Revolution” and “The Century Egg” are among Refinery’s previous credits.

Chinese streaming giant iQiyi has hailed the integration of artificial intelligence into its development and pitching processes.

Naman Ramachandran Sandeep Vanga Reddy’s blood-soaked Bollywood epic “Animal,” starring Ranbir Kapoor, emerged as the No. 1 film globally with $42.1 million, according to data published by ComScore. “Animal” released across 38 global territories.

Three very different movies, original, with arthouse cred and in theaters for weeks, are drawing audiences showing welcome depth and breadth in the specialty market as awards season kicks off. Nicolas Cage’s nerdy character sees his life collapse when he randomly starts appearing in people’s dreamsas Dream Scenario has a solid expansion, Saltburn is attracting young crowds on the coasts, The Holdovers drawing elusive older demos to theaters.

Dennis Harvey Film Critic A movie directed by the berserk “Muppet Show” character known as Animal couldn’t be any more unruly than Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s new film of that title. This sporadically fun but exhausting hot mess provides 202 minutes of hyperventilating overkill for star Ranbir Kapoor as a tycoon’s favorite son whose anger-management (as well as daddy) issues are off the charts.

Mark Shelmerdine, the veteran producer who revived London Films as an indie powerhouse and played a pivotal role in the development of the international TV distribution market, died October 26 in Santa Barbara surrounded by his family. He was 78.

It's December, which means the festive season is officially upon us. If you're on the hunt for some new Christmas films to watch, then Netflix has you sorted.