Indian Government Orders Inspection of Eros International’s Accounts After Damning Report by Regulators

Naman Ramachandran The combined performances of Rajinikanth’s “Jailer,” Sunny Deol’s “Gadar 2,” Akshay Kumar’s “OMG 2” and Chiranjeevi’s “Bhola Shankar” have set a new all-time theatrical gross box office record for the Indian cinema industry. Numbers released by the Multiplex Association of India and the Producers Guild of India reveal that the Aug. 11-13 weekend was the busiest weekend post re-opening after pandemic shut downs with 21 million admissions, which is also the highest combined admissions record in the last 10 years.

Jailer, the Tamil-language action thriller with one of India’s most enduring stars, blasted off to circa $2.56 million on 450 screens, hitting the top ten at the box office this weekend, according to Comscore.

Follow OK! on Threads here: https://www.threads.net/@ok_mag Trudie Goodwin who played Sergeant June Ackland on The Bill has been spotted on a walk near her home. For many, she became a familiar face on our screens as she took the role of Sergeant June Ackland in the police drama for over three decades. She was the show's longest-running character before she stepped back from the programme in 2007.The Bill was axed in 2010 and the decision came as a "shock" to Trudie, as it had been on our screens since 1983.

The Indian human rights activist drama, Punjab ’95, has been pulled from this year’s TIFF lineup, Deadline has confirmed. We hear this was a decision made by the filmmakers, not the festival.

Naman Ramachandran “Punjab ’95,” a potentially incendiary drama that was due to premiere as a gala presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival, has been removed from the lineup. The film is “a compelling story based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra,” per producer RSVP and the festival described the film as telling the story of Khalra “uncovering murderous corruption during Punjab’s period of insurgency” in social media posts. Any mention of the film has disappeared from the festival website.

When Rajinikanth appeared on screen, the theater stopped the movie for a minute as fans danced and cheered, rejoicing in his return after a period of two years. Popular movie stars are treated like gods in India, often worshipped like deities by their fans. Rajinikanth is one of Asia’s highest-paid actors, known for his superhero stunts. He enjoys a devoted fan base that cuts across generations and even continents. His films have broken box-office records in India and in countries like Malaysia and the United Kingdom, both of which have large Tamil-speaking p

The mystical and the industrial cross paths in this haunting debut from India, screening at this year’s Locarno Film Festival in the event’s parallel competition for first and second movies. It begins in an almost documentary style, showing the harsh, eerie beauty of Jharia, a once-proud mining community that’s now an apocalyptic ruin of a city, where toxic waste is dumped 24/7 and noxious fires burn just as endlessly. Midway through, however, Lubdhak Chatterjee’s film begins to change direction, as its passive hero becomes attuned to the natural mysteries lurking in the adjacent woods.  

Naman Ramachandran Stewart Copeland, founder and drummer of The Police, is teaming with Indian musician Ricky Kej on “Police – Beyond Borders” where the legendary rock band’s classic songs are recreated in global languages. The songs include “Every Breath You Take,” “Roxanne” and “Message in a Bottle.” Reinterpretations are in the Kannada, Zulu, Mandarin, Armenian, Pashto, Urdu and Hindi languages, among others. The album follows Copeland’s “Police Deranged for Orchestra” BMG album, released in June, where the band’s hit tracks, arranged for full orchestra, are revisited.

Mark Owen - singing star and member of chart-topping boyband Take That - is understood to have been left in grief this week following the loss of one of his beloved family members. His wife of 23 years, energy coach Emma Owen, took to Instagram on Friday to share the news that their much-loved pet kitten has passed away and later revealed that the death has caused her to suffer an "existential crisis".

Prince William, 41, stunned royal fans as he handed out veggie burgers in a new video posted by Sorted Food, an online cooking community, on Sunday.The burgers were made of ingredients awarded with The Earthshot Prize, an initiative launched by Prince William in 2020, which “searches for extraordinary solutions to the world’s greatest environmental challenges.”In the video, the future monarch can be seen making and handing out the burgers — potato-based spicy “meat” flavored with garlic, ginger and chili complete with pickled vegetables served in a bun — from a food truck parked in London along with the chefs of the Sorted Food channel.In one scene, Prince William, in a light-blue button-down shirt, turns around from the truck’s grill to serve some surprised fans the burger, telling them, “Coming right up!”The four patrons looked at each other when they saw the future King of England, their mouths agape.“I was shell-shocked,” one of the customers admitted to the camera. “Like, I froze.”Another added, “Of all the things I was expecting, it was not that.”One diner said he wondered if he was “dreaming.” He continued to tell each of the customers about the Earthshot Prize and detailed how exactly the burgers were made that day.

Since launching on Netflix on July 15, Indian crime drama Kohrra has shot to the top of the streamer’s Indian rankings and had critics, audiences and industry figures including Karan Johar raving about the show.

Naman Ramachandran Indian police procedural noir “Kohrra” (“Fog”) is the latest hit for streaming service Netflix. The six-episode Punjabi- and Hindi-language drama bowed July 15 atop the Netflix India chart, where it remains in pole position for a second week. It also placed highly in the streamer’s top 10 charts across much of South Asia and the Middle East. In the show, when a bridegroom from the U.K. is found dead days before his wedding, two cops must unravel the troubling case as turbulence unfolds in their own lives. The cast is led by Suvinder Vicky, known for Cannes title “The Fourth Direction” and who Venice festival title “Milestone,” and Barun Sobti (London festival title “You Are My Sunday,” JioCinema chart topper “Asur”).

The King and Queen, as well as other senior members of the Royal Family including the Prince and Princess of Wales, are said to be readying themselves for two years of worldwide tours in a bid "to keep Commonwealth intact", in a "soft democracy" blitz. While it is understood that the monarch will prioritise visits to key nations such as Australia, New Zealand and a number of Commonwealth realms in the Caribbean, there are a number of countries that will also be high on the agenda such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Naman Ramachandran A new stage adaptation of ancient Indian epic “Mahabharata” is set to make its U.K. premiere at London’s Barbican Theatre this fall. The retelling of the revered text, which follows a devastating family feud and explores profound philosophical and spiritual ideas, is from Canada’s Why Not Theatre and had its world premiere at The Shaw Festival Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada in March. The production is presented in two parts and narrated by a storyteller (Miriam Fernandes). “Karma” (part 1), is the origin story of the rival Pandava and Kaurava clans. In “Dharma” (part 2), a great battle destroys the planet and the survivors are left behind to rebuild.

Barb-enheimer experience this past weekend, when an Indian cinema accidentally played Barbie subtitled during an Oppenheimer screening.Over the weekend (July 22), Twitter user @sapunintended shared that a “friend of my cousin posted on [Instagram] that a cinema played Oppenheimer with Barbie subtitles”.

As the home of the Curry Mile, Manchester has long been known for its wide choice of Indian and South Asian restaurants. While the not-quite-a-mile strip of restaurants on Rusholme’s Wilmslow Road now tends towards more Middle Eastern cuisine, there are still plenty of gems to be found there like Mughli and Sanam - the oldest on the whole stretch.

Refresh for more …The first Indian film, Project K, to make its grand debut in Hall H made a lot of noise –a lot — today with a grand musical number that rivaled Amazon Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings orchestra and choral last year.

Chris Hemsworth is protective of his children.

Korean content accounted for 50% of SVOD viewership and 42% of freemium viewership across Asia in the first half of 2023, according to a report released by Media Partners Asia (MPA). 

Indian singer Harrdy Sandhu prophesizes that Punjabi music will take over the world (if it hasn’t already).