Nitin Chandrakant Desai Dies: Bollywood Production Director Of Oscar-Nominated Film ‘Lagaan’ Was 57

Naman Ramachandran The work of pioneering Black British filmmaker Horace Ové will be celebrated this fall with a BFI Southbank retrospective season titled Power to the People: Horace Ové’s Radical Vision. A 4K restored version of “Pressure” (1976), the first full-length Black British film, which is an exploration of the concerns faced by emerging second-generation West Indians in Britain, will receive a joint restoration world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and the New York Film Festival on Oct. 11.

Naman Ramachandran Abhishek Bachchan (“Dasvi”) and Saiyami Kher (“Faadu”) headline “Ghoomer,” a cricket and disability-themed film from R. Balki (“Chup”). The film follows Anina (Kher), a young batting prodigy who loses her right hand in an accident.

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.

Alia Bhatt is one of India’s biggest stars, having starred in critically acclaimed Hindi movies like Highway, Udta Punjab, Gangubai Kathiawadi, and the Oscar-winning film RRR.

“I Am Sirat,” a collaboration between Sirat Taneja and Deepa Mehta is all set to have its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was entirely shot on cellphones and examines the duality of Sirat’s daily existence as a transgender woman living in New Delhi, India.

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 Eminent filmmaker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan is in post-production on “Phule,” about the pioneers of women’s education in India. Jyotirao Govindrao Phule and his wife Savitribai were social reformers known for their efforts against India’s endemic caste system. Phule’s first school for girls was founded in Pune, western India, in 1848.

Naman Ramachandran Indian filmmaker Dominic Sangma’s “Rapture” (“Rimdogittanga”) is the second in a trilogy of films based on his memories of village life that began with his debut feature “Ma’ama” (2018). The Garo-language film, which revolves around a 10-year-old boy who suffers from night blindness and for whom every night is terrifying when his village is gripped by the fear of child-kidnappers, originated from another memory of Sangma, who hails from Meghalaya in northeastern India.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Busan film festival’s Asian Project Market is set to welcome several of the region’s top auteurs either as producers or prospective directors at its next edition in October. APM organizers Thursday unveiled 30 projects to be presented during a four-day round of one-on-one meetings and pitching sessions. India’s Rima Das (“Tora’s Husband”) will pitch “Malti My Love.” Japan’s Fukada Koji (“Love Life,” “Harmonium”) will pitch “Nagi Notes.” Indonesia’s Makbul Mubarak (“Autobiography”) will pitch “Watch It Burn.” Among the successful producers adding their weight to APM contenders are: Patrick Mao Huang (“Moneyboys,” “Tiger Stripes”) selling Peter Ho’s project “Appetite for Desire”; Jeremy Chua (“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” “Autobiography”), pitching Rafael Manuel’s “Filipinana”; Ichiyama Shozo (“Ash Is Puirest White”) pitching Song Fang’s Japan-China collaboration “Full Moon”; Fran Borgia (“A Land Imagined,” “Tiger Stripes”) pitching Aakash Chhabra’s “I’ll Smile in September”; and Tan Chui Mui (“Barbarian Invasion”) pitching Jian Xiaoshuan’s “To Kill A Mongolian Horse.” The project market and the Asian Contents & Film Market are both scheduled to operate Oct.

Naman Ramachandran Nitin Chandrakant Desai, the Indian production designer best known for his work on the Oscar-nominated “Lagaan” (2001) and BAFTA-nominated “Devdas” (2002), was found dead Aug. 2 at his studio in Karjat, near Bollywood capital Mumbai. He was 57.

Naman Ramachandran Netflix has unveiled the first trailer for series “Guns & Gulaabs,” starring Dulquer Salmaan (“Chup”) and Rajkummar Rao (“Bheed”). The series is created by India-based filmmaking duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. – popularly known as Raj & DK – as part of a multi-year creative partnership with Netflix under their D2R Films banner.

Award-winning Bollywood director Nitin Desai has been found dead as police launch an enquiry into his death.

Naman Ramachandran The Indian parliament has passed the Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, which aims to curb piracy that causes losses of INR200 billion ($2.4 billion) to the film industry, according to government estimates. Those found guilty of film piracy by way of camcording in theaters or unauthorized copying and online transmission and exhibition of a pirated copy of any film will now face punishment of minimum three months imprisonment and a fine of $3,650, which can be extended up to three years imprisonment and fine up to 5% of the audited gross production cost.

Abu Dhabi-based outfit twofour54 has revealed ambitious plans to build a large-scale production studio by 2025.

Naman Ramachandran Season 2 of WWII drama “World on Fire” has proved to be another success for popular South Asian-Canadian actor Ahad Raza Mir. Created by Peter Bowker, Season 1 of the PBC Masterpiece production premiered on the BBC in 2019 and dealt with the war in Western Europe. In Season 2, the action shifts to the North African theater of war and one of the protagonists is Lieutenant Rajib Pal of the British Indian Army, played by Mir.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Starring “Bones and All’s” Taylor Russell, Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn, “Mother, Couch!” the feature debut of Sweden’s Niclas Larsson, features in a currently 11-title lineup of San Sebastian’s 2023 New Directors section, the most important sidebar at the highest-profile movie event in the Spanish-speaking world. Of just announced titles, also in the mix is “The Other Son,” Juan Sebastian Quebrada’s anticipated coming-of-age drama picked up by Film Factory. “Carefree Days,” the second feature from Chinese actor-director-screenwriter Liang Ming (“Wisdom Tooth”), will open New Directors.

Diljit Dosanjh and Arjun Rampal film, which is now titled “Punjab ’95,” will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

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.

Naman Ramachandran Indian actor Arshad Warsi stars in JioCinema series “Asur,” the second season of which is one of the most-watched Indian shows of the year. Set in the holy northern Indian city of Varanasi, the psychological thriller series with mythological elements stars Warsi and Barun Sobti as forensic expert investigators engaged in a cat-and-mouse-game with a serial killer. “Asur: Welcome to Your Dark Side” streamed on Voot in 2020. “Asur 2: The Rise of the Dark Side” moved over to sister streamer JioCinema and began streaming in June. Within three weeks of release, Season 2 amassed 30 million viewers and 3 billion minutes of watch time, per JioCinema data. The series also made it to IMDb’s top 50 shows worldwide.

Indian movie “Kalki 2898 AD” (working title “Project – K”) made a splash at the San Diego Comic-Con with the successful teaser and title release.