City Mumbai Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Brooke Satchwell shot to fame as schoolgirl Anne Wilkinson when she first appeared on Neighbours in 1996. During her time on the Australian soap, she had an on-off romance with hunk Billy Kennedy, and their romance proved popular with fans. However, Brooke announced she’d be leaving Ramsey Street in 1999, and her last scenes were shown in April 2000.

Naman Ramachandran U.K. broadcaster ITV has signed a deal with UEFA to become the new home of England men’s soccer qualifying games. All European qualifiers, UEFA Nations League ties and friendlies between major tournaments will be shown on ITV from September 2024 through to June 2028.

Naman Ramachandran “Baahubali” star Rana Daggubati who also serves as a board member of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, has revealed plans to engage with South Asian independent filmmakers at this year’s edition. The festival, which was hitherto focused on discovering Indian films and filmmakers, has pivoted to becoming one that spotlights South Asian talent, meaning films from India’s neighbors will also be showcased. Daggubati is uniquely placed to foster the burgeoning independent cinema scene via several companies that he is involved in.

Naman Ramachandran The birth centenary of Indian cinema icon Dev Anand will be celebrated with restored versions of some of his classics receiving a theatrical release across the country. Known as one of the triumvirate of superstars who ruled Hindi-language cinema in the 1950s and ’60s (along with the late Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar) Anand made such hits as “Guide,” “Hare Rama Hare Krishna” and “Prem Pujari.” The birth centenary of Anand, who died in 2011, is on Sept. 26.

Naman Ramachandran Filmmakers Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti (Berlin title “Gully Boy”) are basking in the success of their Prime Video series “Dahaad” and season 2 of “Made in Heaven.” “Made in Heaven” revolves around the lives of two wedding planners in Delhi. Each episode sees traditional and modern values clashing with secrets being exposed. The first season bowed in 2019 and earned an International Emmy best actor nomination for Arjun Mathur for playing out and proud wedding planner Karan Mehra.

Naman Ramachandran Prime Video India has set a global premiere date for crime thriller series “Bambai Meri Jaan,” produced by Excel Media and Entertainment’s Ritesh Sidhwani, Kassim Jagmagia and Farhan Akhtar. Created by Rensil D’Silva (“Dial 100”) and Shujaat Saudagar (“The Underbug”) and directed by Saudagar, the Amazon original 10-episode series is based on a story by S. Hussain Zaidi (“Lahore Confidential”).

Cidsin Indian Bistro in Pitlochry is building on its storming success at the Scottish Asian Food Awards and offering an extended menu.

Lucasfilm is closing its Singapore visual effects and animation studio after nearly two decades, potentially leading to around 300 layoffs.

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.

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.

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

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and Sony’s TV operations in India has finally been given a green light – nearly two years after the deal was first announced. The merged entity’s estimated value is some $10 billion.

Nitin Chandrakant Desai, the prominent Bollywood production designer of the Oscar-nominated music sports drama Lagaan, has died aged 57.

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.

‘Colin From Accounts’ Bags Trio Of Wins At Logies

EXCLUSIVE: Dune and Oppenheimer VFX firm DNEG is making dozens of layoffs in its London HQ.

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.

With summer in full swing, Mancunians are looking for delicious ways to entertain themselves and that's where Zouk Restaurant can confidently join the conversation.

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”).

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 Sony Music-owned music distribution company AWAL has launched in India and South Asia, following the acquisition of OKListen, a digital music platform for independent artists and record labels. Based in Mumbai and supported by Sony Music India, AWAL will offer independent artists in the region a range of services including global marketing, creative, synch and brand partnerships, radio promotion and distribution as well as access to real-time music analytics. Vijay Basrur, who founded OKListen in 2012 as India’s first homegrown digital distribution service, has been appointed head of India and South Asia, AWAL, reporting into Lonny Olinick, CEO of AWAL and Vinit Thakkar, managing director, Sony Music India.

EXCLUSIVE: Rain has brought in talent/lit manager and producer Barney Slobodin. He will start in July. Slobodin joins Rain from Cavalry Media, where he helped launch a management division.

from Loewe’s autumn/winter 2023 collection, she's all about muted tones on the red carpet right now. And J.Law’s latest looks are in keeping with this theme: she just wore two all-white looks in one day.At the New York premiere of her latest rom-com, , the actor wore an ivory off-the-shoulder dress from Dior’s pre-fall 2023 collection, which showed in Mumbai earlier this year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Mother of all Lies, a docu-drama film that probes the secrets of Morocco’s 1981 Bread Riots, was Sunday named the best picture at the Sydney Film Festival. The jury, headed by Anurag Kashyap, called the Asmae El Moudir-directed film “audacious, cutting-edge and courageous.” It presented the A$60,000 ($41,100) cash prize film ahead at the State Theatre ahead of the Australian premiere screening of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” The film, which uses doll-like figurines, recently premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, where it earned the section’s best director prize. “Juxtaposing evidence from barely existent public materials with private family memory, this film reconstructs the history of the state, the family and the individual, in three distinct levels,” said the jury of Kashyap, actor Mia Wasikowska (Australia), film curator and journalist Dorothee Wenner (Germany), writer and director Larissa Behrendt (Australia) and filmmaker Visakesa Chandrasekaram (Australia – Sri Lanka).

AniMela, India’s first-ever international festival for animation, VFX, XR, gaming and comics (AVGC-XR), has revealed dates for its inaugural edition in 2024. The festival is backed by India’s Aniverse and Visual Arts Foundation (AVAF) in partnership with Annecy Festival, France. AVAF is a not-for-profit organization founded by Kireet Khurana, Archana Trasy, Anne Doshi, Neha Jain and Tehzeeb Khurana to promote animation and other visual arts in India. The inaugural edition will take place Jan. 18-21, 2024 in Mumbai. AniMela has also confirmed leading leading South Asian player Hungama as the event’s digital media partner. Hungama offers content in more than 20 South Asian and international languages and boasts some 87 million music and video monthly streaming users.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Rajshri Deshpande, star of Rotterdam winner “Sexy Durga” and hit Netflix series “Trial by Fire,” headlines “Privacy,” the first teaser for which has been unveiled. The film will have its world premiere at Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan). “Privacy” is a voyeuristic social thriller set in and around the slums of Mumbai. It follows Roopali (Deshpande), who works at the Mumbai surveillance command and control center as an operator. While being ambitious, she constantly fights her own guilt and resists her dark past. Things start to get complicated when Roopali ignores protocol and begins to investigate a robbery and murder that takes place on her watch. The film takes the neo-noir approach to explore themes of mental health, voyeurism and access to information.

Naman Ramachandran India’s Rajshri Deshpande, star of Rotterdam winner “Sexy Durga” and hit Netflix series “Trial by Fire,” headlines “Privacy,” the first teaser for which has been unveiled. The film will have its world premiere at Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan). “Privacy” is a voyeuristic social thriller set in and around the slums of Mumbai. It follows Roopali (Deshpande), who works at the Mumbai surveillance command and control center as an operator. While being ambitious, she constantly fights her own guilt and resists her dark past. Things start to get complicated when Roopali ignores protocol and begins to investigate a robbery and murder that takes place on her watch. The film takes the neo-noir approach to explore themes of mental health, voyeurism and access to information.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Women Talking,” which won Sarah Polley an Oscar for best adapted screenplay, was this weekend named best narrative feature at the Bali International Film Festival (aka the Balinale).Ashen Nadeem’s “Crows Are White” won the feature documentary prize and “The Tone Wheels,” by Yuda Kurniawan, was named winner of the Gary L Hayes Award for Indonesian Filmmaker. The festival jury called “The Tone Wheels” “an outstanding endeavor that transported us into the backstreets of Jakarta on a captivating musical journey.” The film depicts a busking village where dreams flourish, despite the scarcity of resources and equipment.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments and surprises throughout “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” now playing in theaters. For months, the directors of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” had been working exhaustively on a critical sequence that launches the movie’s second act. For the first time in his life, the animated film’s hero — Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a.k.a. the Spider-Man of Earth-1610 — enters a different dimension: Earth-50101, a.k.a. Mumbattan, a dazzling amalgamation of New York City and Mumbai. Within minutes, Miles and his BFF from 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), encounter that world’s Spider-Man, Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), an Indian teenager who received his powers not via spider bite, but through magic. The sequence launches them all through the vertiginously vertical metropolis, as they frantically try to stop the film’s villain, the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), from using Mumbattan’s supercollider to increase his dimension-hopping abilities.

Jason Isaacs was born June 6th, 1963 in Liverpool to a very close Jewish family. Even while studying law, Jason found himself more drawn to acting and was constantly performing in theater. He then trained at London's Central School of Speech and Drama and immediately began landing roles.