Heeramandi Movie Review: HEERAMANDI is the grandest show to come out of India

Heeramandi Movie Review: HEERAMANDI is the grandest show to come out of India

Heeramandi Review {3.0/5} & Review Rating

Star Cast: Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Segal Mehta, Sanjeeda Sheikh, Taha Shah

Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Synopsis:
HEERAMANDI is the story of the lives of courtesans. The year is 1945. In Lahore, the best courtesans reside in an area named Heeramandi. The biggest residence of these nautch girls is Shahi Mahal, run by Mallikajaan (Manisha Koirala). She stays here with her daughters Bibbo (Aditi Rao Hydari) and Alamzeb (Sharmin Segal Mehta), sister Waheeda (Sanjeeda Sheikh), Waheeda’s daughter Shama (Pratibha Ranta) and helpers Saima (Shruti Sharma), Phatto (Jayati Bhatia) and Satto (Nivedita Bhargava). While Mallikajaan is in a relationship with Nawab Zulfikar (Shekhar Suman), Bibbo and Nawab Wali Mohammed (Fardeen Khan) are a couple. Mallikajaan wishes Alamzeb to make her debut dance performance in front of their elite audience. But Alamzeb doesn’t want to be a ‘tawaif’; instead, she desires to be a poet. Mallikajaan doesn’t approve of it. One day, Alamzeb bumps into Tajdar Baloch (Taha Shah), Oxford-return son of a Nawab, Ashfaq Baloch (Ujjwal Chopra), and sparks fly between them. The ‘tawaifs’ are forbidden to fall in love but Alamzeb takes the plunge. Meanwhile, Mallikajaan gets the shock of her life as Fardeedan (Sonakshi Sinha), daughter of the former’s sister Rehana, returns from nowhere and buys the mansion opposite Shahi Mahal. She’s in Heeramandi to destroy Mallikajaan and to settle past dues. She decides to use Alamzeb and her love for Tajdar to her advantage. What happens next forms the rest of the series.

Heeramandi Story Review:
Moin Beg’s original story is fascinating, especially the world in which it is set and how characters pay a heavy price for the wrongdoings of others. Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Vibhu Puri’s screenplay, however, is a mixed bag. While a few scenes are imaginative and very well thought out, some scenes are dragging and don’t make the desired impact. Also, a few developments are convenient and even laughable. Divya Nidhi and Vibhu Puri’s dialogues (additional dialogues by Mitakshra Mukesh Kumar, Snejil Mehra, Abbhiruchi Rupal Rishi and Ashhna Srrivastava) are very sharp and hard-hitting.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s direction is okay. As expected, he mounts the show on an ambitious scale. The grandeur is unprecedented and his genius trademark stamp is visible from start to finish. Though it’s a show about courtesans, there’s no obscenity or skin show. It is also a rare web series where not a single character mouths expletives, though there was a lot of scope for it. A few scenes that stand out are Mallikajaan refusing Cartwright’s (Jason Shah) invitation without saying a single word, Mallikajaan teaching Zorawar (Adhyayan Suman) a lesson, Fareedan’s entry, Fareedan’s flop dance debut, Fareedan clicking pictures etc. The love story between Alamzeb and Tajdar is sweet.

On the flipside, HEERAMANDI gives a déjà vu of the Vidya Balan-starrer BEGUM JAAN [2017], which is also about similar characters and set in the late 40s. There are too many silly developments. For instance, it is bewildering that Zulfikar handed over a crucial file to Mallikajaan; ideally, he should have destroyed it. Similarly, Fareedan keeping the file next to her when Mallikajaan walks in is also very convenient. The show is interesting until it’s about Mallikajaan vs Fareedan. But once the freedom struggle track takes centre stage, the show loses its sheen. Again, the unconvincing moments continue in this track as well. Hamid (Anuj Sharma) kills two officers without fear but in the very next scene, he’s hesitant to kill two more officers. His comrade Rizwan is forced to give up his life. It’s clear Rizwan’s death is added for an effect but it could have been better handled. The Nawabs are there for the heck of it after a point. Even the Phuphi (Anju Mahendru) angle is not properly explained.

The biggest problem, however, with HEERAMANDI, is it’s extremely slow. It has 8 episodes or in other words, more than 7 hours long. It requires a lot of patience to sit through it, especially for those who prefer to binge-watch.

Heeramandi Performances:
The performances are first-rate. Manisha Koirala rocks the show and plays the lead role with panache. She brings the required poise and elegance nicely and this is easily one of her best performances. Sonakshi Sinha, too, gives a performance that will stand out in her filmography. There’s a lot of anger in Fareedan and she brings it out effortlessly. Her one-take performance in ‘Tilasmi Bahein’ is clapworthy. Aditi Rao Hydari gets a bit overshadowed but nevertheless, gives her best foot forward. Sharmin Segal Mehta proves that she has improved as a performer. However, she could do better in emotional scenes. Her dance skills also need to be polished. Taha Shah gets a lot of screen time and is a revelation. Richa Chadha (Lajjo) is damn good and one wishes she had more screen time. Sanjeeda Sheikh is memorable. Indresh Malik (Ustaad ji) is entertaining and it’s interesting to see how he is the one who would deliver the bad news to the characters. Jayati Bhatia, Nivedita Bhargava and Shruti Sharma lend able support. Shekhar Suman is fine but is hardly there. Fardeen Khan is wasted though it’s a pleasure to have him back. Adhyayan Suman also has limited screen time but stands out due to the marriage sequence. Rajat Kaul (Iqbal; Saima’s lover) does well but his character is forgotten after a point. Farida Jalal (Qudisa) is adorable. Ujjwal Chopra, Jason Shah, Mark Bennington (Henderson), Rohit Pichauri (Balraj) and Anuj Sharma are decent. Nasir Khan (Chaudhary), Anju Mahendru and Pratibha Ranta don’t have much to do.

Heeramandi music and other technical aspects:
Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s music is soulful but won’t have a huge shelf life. ‘Tilasmi Bahein’ is the best of the lot followed by ‘Masoom Dil Hai Mera’, ‘Saiyaa Hat Jao’, ‘Phool Gendwa Na Maaro’ and ‘Sakal Ban’. ”Ik Baar Dekh Lijiye’, ‘Azadi’, ‘Najariya Ki Maari’ and ‘Chaudvin Shab Ko Kahan’ fail to register. Benedict Taylor and Naren Chandavarkar’s background score, however, is exhilarating. Kruti Mahesh’s choreography is well-researched and impressive.

Sudeep Chatterjee, Mahesh Limaye, Huentsang Mohapatra and Ragul Herian Dharuman’s cinematography is neat and classy. Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray’s production design is out of the world and adds to the impact. Rimple Narula and Harpreet Narula’s costumes and jewellery are very appealing and beautiful. Vikram Dahiya’s action is a bit gory. FutureWorks’ VFX is appropriate. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s editing is slow and could have been faster.

Heeramandi Conclusion:
On the whole, HEERAMANDI is the grandest show to come out of India and is laced with fine performances and some riveting dramatic scenes. However, it is unconvincing in places and is too lengthy. Nevertheless, due to the hype, casting and visual appeal, it is expected to fetch huge viewership.

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#Heeramandi #Movie #Review #HEERAMANDI #grandest #show #India

Pastor Announces To Church His Wife Died By Suicide – But Her Family Wants FULL Investigation After Discovery Of Body – Perez Hilton

Post By Entertainment

[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]

At first this might seem like a man sharing the worst news he could have gotten with his community. But every new detail makes this story so much sketchier…

John-Paul Miller is a pastor at the Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He shocked his flock last Sunday, April 28 by announcing the death of his estranged second wife, Mica Miller. He said, apparently pretty matter-of-factly:

“I got a call late last night, my wife has passed away. It was self-induced and it was up in North Carolina.”

He then gave everyone details about her memorial service and told them not to talk about the announcement anymore within the church. Weird. Also weird? He was exceptionally quick to label his ex’s shockingly sudden death a suicide. He even added that “she wasn’t well mentally”:

“Y’all pray for me and my kids and everybody. You all knew she wasn’t well mentally and she needed medicine that was hard to get to her. I’m sure there will be more details to come, but keep her family in your prayers.”

Unlike all his other sermons, this one isn’t available to watch on the Solid Rock YouTube page anymore — but it’s the internet, and someone got a copy anyway. See for yourself (below):

He also spoke to local outlet WPDE, telling them the same — just really talking surprisingly candidly about her suicide, and her past struggles with it:

“She had struggled with suicide before. Each time we would help her through it and take her to the doctor, and we got through it and everything was fine. She even gave a few testimonies here at church that we have on video. She battled suicide but God took care of her and got her through it.”

He also told the outlet:

“She was probably the greatest wife anyone could ask for. She was incredibly affirming. We spent every night together for hours just talking and talking and talking.”

Awful news… except… Right now the public only has his word this was a suicide. Robeson County Sheriff’s Office Major Damien McLean would only tell the local ABC affiliate that there was an investigation into the death of the 30-year-old, saying:

“Officers are in the process of gathering information from people in South and North Carolina as part of their investigation into how Miller died.”

No official cause of death has been released.

Local NC outlet The Robesonian was the first to report any actual details of Mica’s April 27 death, saying she was found with a gunshot wound to the head at Lumber River State Park in Lumberton (about an hour and a half north of Myrtle Beach). But they’ve since taken down their article! Everyone else was citing them for those deets. Why did they take that down? Did the cops tell them it’s too soon?

Meanwhile here you have this Pastor just telling anyone who will listen how his wife definitely died by suicide. If police weren’t sure yet, wouldn’t you think a spouse would want to wait and be 100% sure, too?? Why would a husband be so forthcoming about such a personal matter anyway? Seems a little odd, right?

Odder still? In all his talk about spending every night together talking with Mica, he didn’t mention she’d filed for divorce from him just weeks earlier. Yeah. Clearly their marriage was not as lovey-dovey as he makes out. And she has zero photos of him left on her Facebook, apparently having deleted everything before March. And yet he was the one who wrote her obituary. An obituary with lines about what a good wife she was to him:

“She truly served Jesus and her husband with all of her heart. She would praise her husband after every church service telling him he was the best preacher in the world (even if it wasn’t true). She also told him he was the funniest preacher in the world (even though that wasn’t true either).”

Man, this guy really made her obit all about himself. Ugh. This all just seems so sus to us! No wonder her loved ones are asking for a full investigation! Her friend Kenn Young told WPDE:

“This has to be at least looked into deeply. There’s got to be some accountability here.”

He made a point of saying “it’s not just as simple as mental health issues.” So what the heck is he talking about??

Well, Mica herself started referring to “abuse” in posts made shortly before her death. In fact, there are ONLY posts from shortly before her death. As mentioned, she seems to have wiped everything before mid-March! But around that time she posted a video in which she talks about “going through abuse and hurt.” She also talks about “leaving a dangerous situation”:

See that hashtag? #AbuseAwareness? Something was going on! She also posted just three weeks before her death:

“When terrible terrible TERRIBLE things happen to you… (yall know what I’m talking about 😉 RPF: resting peace face #stillblessed #Godisgood”

She wrote that she was “still blessed”? And at peace? Hmm.

And in her own post announcing Mica’s death, her sister made sure to mention she “did not deserve the abuse she endured.” Whoa.

That leads us to what we’ve seen on social media that we can’t verify. We’ve seen several women claiming to be former members of the Solid Rock church and friends of Mica personally who are accusing her ex — the pastor — of grooming, of stalking, of physical and mental abuse. We can’t verify any of it, obviously, but it’s shocking stuff. And if we were the cops investigating the case, we definitely would be reaching out to talk to these people. Read for yourself HERE and HERE and HERE if you want to dig deeper. But remember to keep a healthy sense of skepticism as these allegations have not been vetted.

We just hope the truth is found — and Mica gets all the justice she deserves.

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, help is available. Consider contacting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, by calling, texting, or chatting, or go to 988lifeline.org.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.

[Image via Solid Rock Church/YouTube/Mica Miller/Facebook.]

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#Pastor #Announces #Church #Wife #Died #Suicide #Family #FULL #Investigation #Discovery #Body #Perez #Hilton

Kristi Noem Tries To Make Story Better By Insisting She Didn’t Kill A ‘Puppy’… Just A Very Young Dog… – Perez Hilton

Post By Entertainment

Well, she’s still trying. The question is… are even Republicans out there buying this crap??

It’s looking more and more likely by the day Kristi Noem will go down in history not as a footnote Vice Presidential contender but instead for one of the biggest own goals in the history of US politics. An excerpt surfaced a few days ago from the South Dakota governor’s memoir, No Going Back: The blahblahblah, in which she wrote about how she killed her puppy. Yes, really. If you haven’t heard the story…

In short, she tried to train poor 14-month-old Cricket to help her hunt but found it difficult. She was just too rambunctious and playful for the governor’s skills — as Noem put it, she “hated that dog.” Charming. But then Noem made the mistake of taking the pup to a nearby chicken farm, and naturally all hell broke loose. Cricket did what puppies trained to go bite birds did and ran around chomping as many chickens as it could. Noem says she made the difficult decision to immediately execute the puppy herself. You know, to show she’s a strong, no-nonsense politician. She added that while she was at it — “it” being the slaughter of animals she didn’t like — she decided to go grab a stinky goat that was annoying her and shoot it, too. (Anything to make the red mist clear away, we guess? We don’t know, we never understood that logic.) Anyway, that’s when, she writes, her daughter was dropped off by the schoolbus and asked:

“Hey, where’s cricket?”

At first she doubled down, though we noticed she did tweak the story a bit, painting Cricket as having bitten a bunch of people, too — something you’d think she would have mentioned in the first place.

And she’s keeping that same strategy going. She’s making it look like she’s standing firm… while also scrambling to reframe the story with different details until people think she was justified.

Take her interview with Sean Hannity from Wednesday night. OK, so once again we’re talking about the story she told in her own book. But as she’s seeing the political fallout, she’s still going to the Donald Trump playbook and declaring everything is “fake news.” LOLz! It’s kind of remarkable to watch, tbh. Or at least it would be, if Fox News had the guts to put her interview online! LOLz! Apparently they didn’t think it went very well either, because we can’t find the damn thing anywhere! But here’s the lowlights…

“Well, Sean, you know how the fake news works. They leave out some or most of the facts of a story, they put the worst spin on it, and that’s what happened in this case.”

Ha! We haven’t seen anything about this story we could even call “spin.” The woman said she shot a pointer puppy in the head, one she “hated” and was angry with. No one was in danger, she could have brought the dog to a family or shelter that could give it the patience it needed. She killed it instead. It’s not spin, it’s the natural reaction all the sane people have to this nonsense story.

So seriously, WTF does Kristi say is a “lie” by the lamestream media, considering she wrote the damn story herself? She says:

“The truth of this story is that this was a working dog, and it was not a puppy.”

A “working dog.” Uh huh. Not that we don’t still think it would be shocking and sadistic to personally kill a fully grown dog, but let’s examine that claim. She gave the age of the dog in her own book! 14 months. A wirehair pointer ages from a puppy to a full-grown dog somewhere between one and two years. So statistically this IS a puppy. Obviously, it could have been a very young full-sized dog. But a hunting dog expert from Noem’s own state of South Dakota has said a dog won’t fully mature until 2 years old and won’t be a good hunting dog until 3-4 years. So calling it a “working dog” is a hell of a stretch.

Also, like humans, growing to adulthood isn’t an overnight process. Even a dog that’s reached full size hasn’t necessarily reached full maturity. And this one clearly hadn’t, just by the governor’s own description! This sounds like a puppy to every dog owner who reads the story!

Next, Noem paints a new portrait of little Cricket — as a bloodthirsty monster!

“It was a dog that was extremely dangerous; it had come to us from a family who had found her way too aggressive. We were her second chance. And the day she was put down was the day she massacred livestock that were part of our neighbors’… She attacked me. And it was a hard decision.”

Love how she keeps saying “livestock” to make it sound like Cricket was a chupacabra. It killed a handful of chickens. Who’s spinning now, Kristi? BTW, every dog owner we’ve asked agrees an owner who let a dog she knew to be untrained loose around a bunch of chickens only has herself to blame! As for the “attacked me” line? Noem did not say she ever got bit in her original story. She said the dog turned as if to bite her. That’s hardly an attack.

Finally she went with the whole argument that from the moment the dog had tasted blood, it was too late:

“Farmers and ranchers, they expect it. They know that once an animal like this starts killing, and starts killing just because they enjoy it, that is a very dangerous animal.”

Serious question: if this dog was being trained to hunt, to run after small birds… How was it not doing a version of the thing it was being trained to do? We all agree the dog was not trained well, that fact isn’t in dispute. Noem mentioned she tried a shock collar, she didn’t go into much more detail. Though it doesn’t sound like she had the dog too long if her family was its second home.

Frankly, it still kind of just sounds in her original story like she just got fed up — very quickly — with trying to train a dog that wasn’t easy. She wrote that she “hated” Cricket. Pretending she’s the kid at the end of Old Yeller now, making a “hard decision,” well… we don’t think anyone is buying into any of these modified versions of the story. Or, as they say on the ranch… that dog won’t hunt.

You can see Noem try to defend herself thanks to a local Dakota news network covering it (below):

[Image via Dakota News Now/Fox News/YouTube.]

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#Kristi #Noem #Story #Insisting #Didnt #Kill #Puppy #Young #Dog #Perez #Hilton

First Day First Show | Reviews of ‘Heeramandi’ and ‘The Fall Guy’

Post By Entertainment English cinema, First Day First Show, Hindi cinema, Radu Jude, The Fall Guy

(This article forms a part of the First Day First Show newsletter that brings you the latest and best from the world of movies and entertainment. Subscribe now)

Around Tinsel Town

Rajinkanth’s ‘Coolie’ makers in trouble as Ilaiyaraaja issues legal notice

Ace composer Ilaiyaraaja issued a legal notice to Sun Pictures over the allegedly illegal use of the song ‘Vaa Vaa Pakkam Vaa’ from the 1983 film ‘Thanga Magan’ in their upcoming Rajinikanth-starrer ‘Coolie’. The notice states the use of the song as an intentional breach of the composer’s rights. It demands Sun Pictures to either obtain consent from Ilaiyaraaja or to remove the track from ‘Coolie’.

Bollywood

‘Harry Potter’ star Tom Felton boards Hansal Mehta’s ‘Gandhi’ series

Sidhant Gupta, Chirag Vohra and Rajendra Chawla starring in ‘Freedom at Midnight’

New York Indian Film Festival to celebrate Shabana Azmi’s 50 years in cinema

‘Panchayat’ season three to come out on Prime Video on May 28

Ajay Devgn, Tabu’s ‘Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha’ gets new release date

‘Khel Khel Mein’, fronted by Akshay Kumar and Taapsee Pannu, sets release date

‘Bade Miyan Chote Miyan’, ‘Maidaan’ box office debacle impacts exhibition sector

Aftab Shivdasani joins Akshay Kumar in ‘Welcome to the Jungle’

Akshay Oberoi boards ‘Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari’

Hollywood

Aaron Sorkin working on new Facebook movie tied to January 6 riots

Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein hospitalised

‘All Of Us Strangers’ director Andrew Haigh to helm Leonardo da Vinci biopic

Anthony Hopkins to play composer George Frideric Handel in ‘The King of Covent Garden’

Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder set to reteam for chess drama ‘Checkmate’

Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks to star in Prime Video’s ‘The Better Sister’ series

Kristen Stewart, Oscar Isaac head vampire thriller, ‘Flesh of the Gods’

‘Now You See Me 3’ adds Rosamund Pike to cast

Wagner Moura set to lead political thriller ‘The Secret Agent’

Alexander Payne directing documentary about ‘finest film professor in the world’

Dan Schneider sues ‘Quiet On Set’ producers over defamation allegations amid child sex abuse controversy

Carla Gugino to play Hollywood icon Vivien Leigh in biopic ‘The Florist’

‘Scooby-Doo’ live-action series in development at Netflix

Gerard Butler’s ‘Greenland’ sequel begins filming

Regional Cinema

‘Kalki 2898 AD’, starring Prabhas, gets release date

Allu Arjun returns with swag in first single from ‘Pushpa 2’

‘Baahubali: Crown of Blood’ series to release on May 17

Anupama Parameswaran’s film with ‘Cinema Bandi’ director titled ‘Paradha’

Malayalam blockbuster ‘Manjummel Boys’ locks streaming date on Disney+ Hotstar

It’s a wrap for Keerthy Suresh’s ‘Revolver Rita’

Vijay Kumar’s ‘Election with ‘Seththumaan’ director gets a release date

Arun Vijay’s ‘Retta Thala’ goes on floors

Puneeth Rajkumar’s ‘Anjani Putra’ set for re-release

Fahadh Faasil and Kalyani Priyadarshan’s ‘Odum Kuthira Chadum Kuthira’ goes on floors

World Cinema

2024 Cannes competition jury revealed: Lily Gladstone, Eva Green join Greta Gerwig

Messi, the dog in ‘Anatomy of a Fall’, is getting a show

Korean horror blockbuster ‘Exhuma’ to hit Indian screens

‘The Boy & the Heron’ gets an official release date in India

Francis Ford Coppola releases first still of Cannes-bound ‘Megalopolis’

New K-dramas to watch in May: ‘The Atypical Family’, ‘Uncle Samsik’, ‘Crash’

‘Talk To Me’ directors tap Sally Hawkins for new horror ‘Bring Her Back’

‘Asterix and Obelix’ live-action adventure greenlit by Studiocanal

New ‘Evil Dead’ movie in the works from Francis Galluppi

Trailers

Epic first look at Mufasa prequel story in ‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ trailer

Kate Winslet plays World War II photographer Lee Miller in ‘Lee’ trailer

Jake Gyllenhaal leads Apple TV’s crime-thriller in ‘Presumed Innocent’ teaser

Benedict Cumberbatch is a puppeteer father in ‘Eric’ trailer

Kavin is a star in the making in director Elan’s sophomore effort, ‘Star’

Tovino Thomas plays an “insensitive, self-occupied” Malayalam superstar in ‘Nadikar’ trailer

A heartwarming slice-of-life drama in ‘Kurangu Pedal’ trailer

Netflix promises gripping biopic on Formula One legend in ‘Senna’ teaser

Pawan Kalyan is a saviour of the oppressed in ‘Hari Hara Veera Mallu’ Part 1 teaser

Essential reading

1) Radu Jude, actor Ilinca Manolache discuss ‘Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of the World’

>> The Romanian director and his star Ilinca Manolache talk us through Romania’s submission at the 96th Oscars

2) Santosh Sivan on receiving this year’s Pierre Angénieux Tribute at Cannes Film Festival

>> The cinematographer-filmmaker says his connection to India trumps any desire to shift base to Hollywood

3) Sundar C on ‘Aranmanai 4’: ‘Commercial filmmakers should be prepared for negative reviews’

>> The veteran director and reluctant actor discusses the horror-comedy genre and more

4) Explained: What led a New York court to overturn Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction?

>> A New York appeals court has ordered a new trial in the landmark case. What are the implications of the ruling?

5) Director Dijo Jose Antony on his new political satire ‘Malayalee from India’

>> How Nivin’s character Gopi’s worldview changes when he is forced to step out of his village

6) Explained: The delay behind star-driven Kannada films

>> Theatre owners and fans are frustrated about the prolonged absence of Kannada stars

7) The craft and claustrophobia of Atul Sabharwal’s ‘Berlin’

>> Director Atul Sabharwal and team discuss their moody spy thriller set in the intelligence circles of Delhi

8) Meet Hemant Chaturvedi, who quit Bollywood to document old cinema halls across India

>> The former Bollywood cinematographer’s journey of documenting single-screens across the country

9) What are the behavioural patterns of fans of Tamil movie stars on social media?

>> The digital expressions of fans have illuminated a compelling dialogue between film and politics

10) Director Kamalakannan talks about making Sivakarthikeyan-backed ‘Kurangu Pedal’

>> How the filmmaker’s childhood fascination with bicycles led to this tender feature

11) WaConne AniFest 2.0 unveils anime VTubing avatars voiced by Indian voice actors

>> The iconic Indian voices behind ‘Doraemon’, ‘Shin Chan’ and ‘Ben 10’ convened at an anime event in Delhi

What to watch

1) Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Heeramandi’ is a dazzling soap opera

Read the full review here

2) Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt shine in sweet ‘The Fall Guy’

Read the full review here

3) Tamannaah anchors the best film of the franchise in ‘Aranmanai 4’

Read the full review here

4) An incisive X-ray of the news business in ‘The Broken News’ Season 2

Read the full review here

5) Hari attempts to reinvent himself in outdated Vishal-starrer ‘Rathnam’

Read the full review here

6) ‘Dead Boy Detectives’, a new ‘Sandman’ spin-off, is boundless fun

Read the full review here

7) Subtlety in short supply in Nivin Pauly’s ‘Malayalee from India’

Read the full review here

8) Anne Hathaway elevates ‘The Idea of You’

Read the full review here

9) David Dastamalchian steals the spotlight in ‘Late Night with the Devil’

Read the full review here

10) Gripping Black horror sequel ‘Them: The Scare’ needed more thrills

Read the full review here

11) Tovino Thomas stars in a flatly-written ‘Nadikar’

Read the full review here

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#Day #Show #Reviews #Heeramandi #Fall #Guy

Influencer publishing is having a big moment with social media celebrities writing books

Post By Entertainment social media influencers authors publishing self help books fan following masoom minawala miss malini ankur warikoo

Last month, Penguin India, the largest English language books publisher in the subcontinent, threw a party in Mumbai. An impressive affair by all accounts — a five-star hotel as the venue, stars and recognisable faces in the crowd, and enough food, drinks and conversation to satisfy even the hardest-to-please guests. “We had Durjoy Datta dancing, Ankur Warikoo doing some creative stunts with the attendees, and tote bags, books and other merchandise as party favours,” says Pallavi Narayan, head of communications and brand partnerships at Penguin Random House India.

Other headliners that evening included actor and author Neena Gupta, radio jockey Stutee Ghosh, and sexual health educator Tanaya Narendra aka Dr. Cuterus. Penguin Palooza is what they called the event, designed to celebrate the “book influencer” — someone who has carved out a space for themselves online, doing book reviews, author interviews and other literary content. Their followers could even be a modest 5,000, a far cry from the millions a fashion or food influencer attracts. Over the last few years, Indian publishers have taken a cue from their counterparts in the West as they increasingly consult social media influencers to create a buzz around the latest releases. But what we are now seeing are influencers trying out the role of author themselves and often creating bestsellers. According to entrepreneur Ankur Warikoo, famous for his YouTube videos on personal finance — his most popular video (4.4 million views) is on “how to pay a 25-year loan in just 10 years” — when he first decided to pen a book, “I was writing for an audience that doesn’t read or has never read.”

Actor and author Neena Gupta with book influencers at last month’s Penguin Palooza.

Sexual health educator Tanaya Narendra at last month’s Penguin Palooza.

Last month, style blogger and fashion entrepreneur Masoom Minawala launched her first book, She’ll Never Make It (Juggernaut Books). Minawala has a following of 1.3 million on Instagram. On April 14, she put up the first post about her book on her Instagram account — the cover blurred, and a heartfelt note about what she called her “biggest project”. The next day, she revealed the cover of the book and announced its release. The same day, the book hit No.1 on Amazon in the overall books category, with over 800 orders placed in a single day.

Fashion entrepreneur Masoom Minawala at an event promoting her book ‘She’ll Never Make It’.
| Photo Credit:
Instagram.com

In March, entertainment content creator Malini Agarwal aka Miss Malini launched her second book, Under the Influence (HarperCollins India), with a star-studded party in Mumbai. Agarwal was early on the influencer front. “I was always this face on the scene of Bollywood that used to document it as a creator before the word ‘influencer’ was coined,” she says.

Since the release of her book, Agarwal has embarked on a pan-India book tour, with both free and ticketed events that involve a show, workshop or curated interaction. While ticketed events are “a regular format abroad”, the trend is catching on here as well, especially with authors who are celebrity influencers, says Shabnam Srivastava, general manager-marketing at HarperCollins India. “Because their book launches have an added dimension in terms of the extra activities, they become almost a cultural event, which necessitates a pre-registration or ticketed entry.”

Entertainment content creator Malini Agarwal aka Miss Malini at the launch of her book ‘Under the Influence’.

In Agarwal’s case, her ticketed book launch included a chance to collaborate with her — the golden ticket sought by budding creators and influencers to boost their own following.

Addressing non-readers

Both Minawala and Agarwal, and other influencer-authors before them, have brought us books that are an extension of their online personalities. Warikoo’s books address the idea of self-improvement and financial management in different ways. “In Minawala’s case, it is her own story, probably the first time that a story like this has been told with absolutely brutal honesty,” says Juggernaut’s editor-in-chief Parth Mehrotra.

Agarwal uses her journey to success as a way to connect with and inspire up-and-coming content creators. In fact, the books penned by most of these social media influencers could be clubbed in the self-help category. For instance, Warikoo, who has over 10 million followers across YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, is the bestselling author of Do Epic Shit (2021) and Get Epic Shit Done (2022). He says that he knew he was “not writing for the quintessential reader. I was writing for an audience that has the attention span of a goldfish, and is used to reading vertically and not horizontally.”

Entrepreneur Ankur Warikoo interacts with influencers at last month’s Penguin Palooza.

As a result, he says, several people come up to him to confirm that his is the “first book they have ever completed”. Warikoo’s latest, Make Epic Money, which released this January, has followed the success of his earlier books, selling more than 100,000-plus copies within just 40 days of release.

Today, the idea of the “influencer” is an interesting one, and comprises both people who have begun their careers online — engaging audiences with entertaining content — and those who are domain experts with full-time careers outside of social media. The latter would include doctors such as Siddhant Bhargava or a historian like Manu Pillai. There are books being written by both sets of people. About penning her second book, Agarwal says, “I thought of who the book is for and what relevance it will have. Who is going to pick up this book?”

“People who either adore me and want to know more things about me, which might be a limited number, but also those who want to become creators themselves, which is 46 million-plus, right? I had to then ask myself, ‘Is what I’m saying relevant to them in some way?’”

But what really motivates influencers to become published authors? “A book is a long-lasting thing, it’s more permanent. It’s not something on your feed that will disappear. People still look at books as something that gives you authentic information,” says Poulomi Chatterjee, publisher, HarperCollins India. “Books make you sound intellectual. Anyone who has written a book can very much say, I’m in the league of authors,” says Agarwal, adding that it’s not easy to get a book published by a traditional outfit.

Partnering with the book influencer

For book influencers, churning out content daily can be stressful and labour intensive. And while publishers might not pay for promotions, higher follower count can convert to brand partnerships and collaborations outside of publishing. A book influencer who racks up thousands of followers becomes a potential avenue of marketing for brands other than books looking to find a ready audience that they might not have reached otherwise. Shreya Punj, who worked in publishing and now runs The Editor Recommends, a page that makes publishing accessible for aspiring authors and has over 25,000 followers, says “Once the account hit 10k, I was approached by content creator platform TagMango. They wanted me to conduct workshops.” And, Punj says, the smaller number for followers for book and publishing influencers might not be a bad thing at all. “Now, brands prefer accounts with the kind of audience that can purchase their products. Hence the move towards niche accounts with high engagement rates.”

Profit and loss

Traditionally, India has had a pretty conservative understanding of books, readers, and what book promotions mean. It’s not uncommon for both readers and publishing houses to be heard using terms such as “commercial” and “literary” books — which is not just a way to talk about sales numbers, but also content and sometimes, even quality. “People never equated social media creators or someone on the Internet as worthy of being able to write a book, because the belief always was that social media creators were a little frivolous,” says Agarwal. Resh Susan, who has run her blog and Instagram page titled ‘The Book Satchel’ since 2015, and has a following of 54,000 on Instagram, adds: “Some authors and readers look at book content creators and think they are not serious readers. That reviews should be long pieces, and not mere captions.”

But as with every good conversation, this one has been growing too, changing to adapt not just to external factors such as trends and tastes, but also to internal examinations and enquiries. And with this change, publishers have found a whole new pool to fish in, and have begun to turn to the Internet and social media to find out what people, especially the younger demographics, want to read about. And who understands young people better than the influencers who have made it their business to capture the attention of millions of such people. “I think the sweet spot is having something interesting and compelling and thought-provoking to say, but to say it in the simplest way possible, so that you’re democratising your ideas instead of gatekeeping them. That is what works on social media,” says sexuality educator Leeza Mangaldas, who wrote The Sex Book (HarperCollins India) in 2022. For Mangaldas, the big question is: “how do you compete with a smartphone?”

Of course, publishing is a mixed bag, full of hits and misses. “If you actually look under the hood, a lot of social media influencer books, the second and third titles have not worked as much as their first. Which will indicate that you are fundamentally signing on someone who is a storyteller in a short form. When it comes to a book, it works in some cases, doesn’t work in others,” says Anish Chandy, literary agent and founder at Labyrinth Literary Agency. While the sales might be higher than usual in the case of an influencer’s book, it still doesn’t mean profit for the publisher. “Whether publishers are turning a profit on these books, that is going to be a function of what the publisher is paying to acquire the book, and eventually how much the book sells.” But Chandy adds that profit or loss, what definitely works is that “the publisher’s biggest headache” — having the book discovered by an audience — is taken care of. And for that “the publishers are willing to pay a premium”.

That social media stars come with a dedicated following is certainly a big part of things, including the book’s success. “The big advantage that a Minawala or a Warikoo enjoys is that they are not reliant on traditional media for publicity. They have a direct channel of communication. That is their power. And their power is in the millions,” says Juggernaut’s Mehrotra. Just the two biggest English-language publishers in the country, Penguin Random House India and HarperCollins India, publish 300 and 250 new titles, respectively, every year. Chandy says that with over 10,000 registered publishers, and a massive self-publishing machinery, it’s nearly impossible to arrive at a number when it comes to English language books published in India today. To stand out in this market, the ability to have a direct channel of communication with millions of potential readers is nothing short of priceless, not just for the authors, but for their publishers too.

And more and more, publishers are beginning to adapt to new ways of telling a story. They don’t just have to think outside of traditional ideas when it comes to books by influencers, but also traditional narratives and formats. “Sometimes, we use the format they have already been using on their social media pages and other places. Like in sexuality educator Leeza Mangaldas’ case, we used a Q&A format for her 2022 book, The Sex Book, which mimicked the format she uses in her content online,” says Chatterjee of HarperCollins India.

The impact influencers have made on the economy, on brands and on people’s minds is irrefutable. “When there’s no denying that someone has made a mark, then everything opens up for them,” Agarwal says, adding that by that logic, it’s not surprising that the doors of publishing have opened up for them too.

While Chandy says that social media might be more important when it comes to certain genres and categories, such as self-help, compared to, say, literary fiction, one thing is certain. “The day of the author just writing a book and sending it out to the publisher, and having no presence or putting in no effort to market or publicise the book is over.”

A view from the other side

T.C.A. Raghavan, author and former diplomat, whose fourth book, Circles of Freedom (Juggernaut Books), has just released, says that the proliferation of social media for book marketing has made a difference because “the traditional ways of buying books are under stress. The number of bookshops is much less than it used to be. Space in newspapers about new books and reviews is also crunched. And so social media certainly creates an impact. If you’re not on it, and your publisher is not good at it, then it is a handicap”. Raghavan adds that for his books, approximately 70% of the promotion is still via traditional channels. That’s not to say that he doesn’t want to utilise social media. “I think everyone wants to have younger readers. Regardless of the platform, you get an opportunity, you make use of it.”

The larger landscape may not be as altered as it seems, he says. “My gut sense is that social media creates awareness about the book and the author, and more people come to know about your book releasing relatively quickly than they would have in the old days. But not all of that translates into sales,” he insists, adding, “I’d like to think that books are commodities which sell slowly. In the end, if you aggregate sales over a long term, everything evens out, even the enormous immediate impact of social media. I would like to think then that it depends on the quality of the book and not the profile of the author — offline or on social media.”

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The Broken News S2 Review: Does Not Fluff Its Lines, A Few Stray Blips Notwithstanding

Post By Entertainment The Broken News 2, The Broken News 2 review

A still from The Broken News 2. (courtesy: iamsonalibendre)

Ruminations on the ethics of news journalism follow a freewheeling yet tortuous path in Season 2 of The Broken News as professional principles and personal prejudices collide in a deleterious and bruising battle for supremacy between two television channels.

The eight-episode Zee5 series, fronted by Sonali Bendre, Jaideep Ahlawat and Shriya Pilgaonkar, explores the labyrinths of an all-out war of agendas and belief systems and presents an engaging tale of a clutch of journalists who labour to sift fact from falsehood, sach (truth) from sansani (sensationalism), and public interest from propaganda.

Set in the capital city of a large state where an opposition leader (Sandesh Kulkarni) mounts a political campaign against the chief minister (Srikant Yadav), the show, adapted from a BBC One series, centres on two leading national news channels who take sides and continually snipe at each other, reflecting the bitterness of the clash of ideologies unfolding in the larger arena on the ground.

The Broken News S2, executed with consistent competence and awareness of the times, is a tale of political crimes, a newsroom drama and a revenge saga that builds its plot around events that have been in the news in the real world of late.

It is strewn with references to data theft, troll armies, electoral bonds, a mass suicide, an app-based moneylending racket, the death of a social media influencer, a midday meal scam, the mysterious demise of a geologist, an attempted cover-up of a water contamination case and, inevitably, the big industry seeking to control the flow of news and the exercise of political power.

Is that way too much to handle in a single season of a series? It perhaps is. The Broken News S2 is at times undermined a touch by the fact that it has to resort to hurried board strokes. That apart, a degree of confusion creeps in when it adopts simplistic methods to draw of battle lines between opposing worldviews.

If that does not major damage to the overall outcome it is because the script ensures that there is just enough happening in the narrative at a pace that rules out the possibility of the momentary snags sticking out and slowing down the show.

In the follow-up to the Vinay Waikul-directed 2022 newsroom drama series, writer Sambit Mishra falls back on newsy titbits to rustle up an intriguing story that touches upon pertinent themes with the seriousness that they merit. Not that all of it hits home with equal force, but parts of The Broken News Season 2 do strike a chord and provoke thought.

Aided by strong and steady performances from the lead actors and the supporting cast (Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Faisal Rashid, Taaruk Raina, Indraneil Sengupta and two key news additions, Geetika Vidya Ohlyan and Akshay Oberoi), the show wends its way through a series of events that elicit divergent responses from two news channels run by two individuals whose approaches to journalism are diametrically opposite.

Jostling for power, pelf and position, the journos vent their feelings and beliefs in edit meetings and on prime time shows. Season 1 had ended with Radha Bhargava (Pilgaonkar) of Awaaz Bharati, a channel headed by Amina Qureshi (Bendre), being jailed after Dipankar Sanyal (Ahlawat), editor-in chief of Josh 24/7 network, brands her an “anti-national”.

Halfway through the opening episode of Season 2, Radha gets bail. She plunges right back into her ongoing tussle with Dipankar, who, on his part, does not budge an inch from his pursuit of eyeballs. Terms like ‘virtue signalling’ and ‘confirmation bias’ are heard as the journalists debate each other.

Radha, young, uncompromising and wedded to a cause, seeks to harness of power of truth as a means to settling scores her bete noire, the man responsible for her stint in prison where she has slighted and tortured for more than a month.

In the process of trying to right the wrongs done to her, Radha appears to blur the line that separates the journalist and the activist in her. It is a tightrope walk. There is a price to pay as Radha opens up several fronts and plunges headlong into the complexities of a multiplicity of stories.

In her own newsroom, Radha has to contend with her mentor and friend, Amina, an old school journalist who swears by objectivity. Those who speak the truth, Amina says, are often isolated. She accuses Radha of allowing her anger to come in the way of her journalism.

Outside of their newsroom stands the towering and pro-establishment Dipankar, who brings a third way of looking at the business of news. TRPs mean the world to him. A self-styled voice of the nation, he signs off his news shows with “Yeh sawaal hai desh ka“.

Rehana Ahmed (Ohlyan), who moves from reporting on Bollywood stars to chasing hardcore news and anchoring shows, represents another face of journalism. From an underprivileged background, work is a daily grind and a necessity. “Deshbhakt marne tak” are the words that she rounds off her shows with.

A single mother struggling to get ahead in life and ensure that her son secures admission in a quality school, Rehana frequently displeases her boss at Josh 24/7 with her impulsive ways. She is taken to task but she carries on regardless.

And then there is Ranjit “Ronnie” Sabharwal (Oberoi), who takes over as the business head of Awaaz Bharati as a representative of a tech giant that is readying itself to roll out thousands of EVs in India. News as an assembly line commodity meant to be bought and consumed like any other product in the market – that supposition represents one of the principal strands of the saga.

As was the case in Season 1, the newsroom showdowns and shenanigans in S2 are held together by the performances. While Sonali Bendre and Jaideep Ahlawat deliver pitch-perfect interpretations of two different kinds of reporters, the real star of Season 2 is Shriya Pilgaonkar. She traverses an entire gamut of mercurial emotions with impressive conviction.

Geetika Vidya Ohlyan, playing a conflicted and often embattled reporter, sways between the highs and lows of the character’s arc without missing a beat. Akshay Oberoi as the suave corporate honcho running a news operation captures, with a keen sense of the issues at play, the contradictions and challenges that the man faces.

A few stray blips notwithstanding, The Broken News S2 does not fluff its lines.

Cast:

Sonali Bendre, Jaideep Ahlawat and Shriya Pilgaonkar

Director:

Vinay Waikul

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Check out these Indian artists showcasing their work at World Art Dubai 2024

Post By Entertainment World Art Dubai, World Art Dubai 10th edition, World Art Dubai 2024, World Art Dubai 2024 Amrish Malvankar, World Art Dubai 2024 dates, World Art Dubai 2024 Dhiraj Khandelwal, World Art Dubai 2024 Niyati Parekh, World Art Dubai 2024 Ruth Dhanaraj, World Art Dubai 2024 The Hindu MetroPlus

The tenth edition of World Art Dubai will take place from May 2 to 5 and will feature over 4,000 works of art from around the world. As many as 400 galleries and artists from 60-plus countries are participating in this edition of the art festival which has been held regularly since 2014 with the exception of 2020, when it was held digitally due to the pandemic.

The Hindu MetroPlus talks to three of the many artists from India who are showcasing their work at World Art Dubai this year:

Art and architecture: Amrish Malvankar

“Lines, symmetries and even the asymmetries reflect an architectural influence in my work,” says Bengaluru-based artist Amrish Malvankar. “My art is more a composition of colours as opposed to form. As I am not a professionally trained artist, my abstracts come from my background of graphic design and architecture.”

Artist Amrish Malvankar
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Despite there being artists from his father’s side of the family, Amrish says there was a big break for two generations as it was not a viable career option. “I also enjoyed architecture so I enrolled at Sir JJ College in Mumbai as it had both streams. Once I turned professional, art became a hobby,” he says, talking from his home in the outskirts of Bengaluru.

While work was stressing him out, Amrish says his wife, Tarunjeet, thought his art was exhibition-worthy. With her encouragement he held his first show where he sold 35 of the 42 canvases he had displayed. “That was the boost I needed and I’ve been a full time artist since 2009.”

World Art will see around 17 of Amrish’s works on display. “After a break of almost 10 years, I am back to creating figurative work with my added experience of abstracts,” says the artist, known for his large canvases. “The smallest of my works are four by four, though I do have two feet by two feet ones. For this event, seven of my works are large artworks — four feet by six feet, three by six and four by eight feet.”

Amrish works with acrylics for the most part as they allow for “layering of colours in a short amount of time,” as well other media such as coal and oil.

Follow @amrishmalvankar on Instagram for more details of his work.

Travel diaries: Niyati Parekh

For aerospace engineer Niyati Parekh from Gujarat, a passion for art trumped anything else in terms of a career. “Even while I was in college, I would craft handmade products and after graduation I began working with interior design,” says Niyati, talking from her home in Rajkot.

Artist Niyati Parekh
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The self-taught artist prefers mixed media to work with. “I use textures, wood, tiles, clay and canvas to create wall art. However, in Rajkot, there aren’t too many opportunities to exhibit and mixed media is not well received here. When I explored other avenues in cities such as Mumbai, galleries were quite happy with my work, so I kept at it.”

A few years ago when Niyati and her husband were in Dubai for a property expo as part of their interior design business, they attended a World Art exhibition. “We felt it was a great opportunity to showcase my work and we met with their representative who procures art from India and felt my work suited their profile.”

Niyati will be displaying around 17 of her works at World Art, all of which were created exclusively for this show. “Most of my works for this show are small in scale with the largest being about four by four. Each piece was done in a period of six to eight months.”

The wonderful places she sees on her travels inspire her, says the artist. “Whenever we go some place and I like the overall ambience, I enjoy converting them into miniature works of art. The places you see in my art are locales I have visited at some point and have been influenced from my original journey.”

A wall art miniature by artist Niyati Parekh
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

“For instance, when we were visiting Udaipur in Rajasthan, we came upon this street from which you could get a complete view of the palace. It was quite lovely, so I thought I could recreate it as a miniature,” she says.

Apart from wall art Niyati works with installations too, but will not be displaying any of them at this edition of World Art.

Check out @shadesandstylesdesignstudio on Instagram for more examples of her work.

Fascination with faces: Dhiraj Khandelwal

Dhiraj Khandelwal’s family tells him he could capture faces even as a toddler. “Apparently, when I was around three years old, I saw a picture of Amitabh Bachchan in a magazine and sketched a pretty good likeness of the actor. I don’t remember this incident; I doubt I even knew who he was then, but my mother, sister and others attest to this incident,” says Dhiraj.

Colours of Love by artist Dhiraj Khandelwal
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Despite his apparent talent, life as an artist was never on the cards for Dhiraj, as “it was more of a hobby and not a real career option”. He enrolled at the International Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi and eventually landed a job in an advertising agency where he could put some of his creativity to work.

Originally from Jodhpur, Dhiraj relocated to Jaipur after his marriage and for a short while worked on creating cover designs for books, before getting into building construction. “In 2014, I could no longer hold back the urge to paint full time and I finally heeded the call of art,” he says, adding how it took his family some time to adjust to his lifestyle change.

Dhiraj Khandelwal
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

“There is always one person in a group who stands out — man or woman. Their face, gestures and postures fascinate you and though we may not show it outwardly, we are captivated by them,” says the self-taught artist whose preferred medium is oil paint.

Of course, he adds, Indian women are among the most beautiful, consistently winning titles on the world stage. “It is not just their pretty faces; their struggles and challenges are also reflected in the face of a woman, making them interesting subjects,” he says over phone from Jaipur.

Dhiraj who has been following World Art on social media since 2017, is thrilled to be exhibiting 12 of his works with them this year. “I am constantly creating irrespective of sales or exhibitions. As soon as one canvas is done I start on the next,” he says, adding that he handpicked these pieces from his collection to showcase them in Dubai.

Follow Dhiraj on Instagram @artist_dhirajkhandelwal to see his work

Muntazir by artist Dhiraj Khandelwal
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

MP07 KA 1881 by artist Dhiraj Khandelwal
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

A wall art miniature by artist Niyati Parekh
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Energy by artist Amrish Malvankar
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Serenity 2 by artist Amrish Malvankar
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

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Small Movies, Big Profits: Sydney Sweeney And Glen Powell’s Rom-Com, Horror Hits Among Overachievers In Deadline’s 2023 Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament

Post By Entertainment

Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster tournament is back. While studios during Covid wildly embraced the theatrical day-and-date model when cinemas were closed, they soon realized there’s nothing more profitable than a theatrical release and the downstreams that come with it. If anything, theatrical is the advertisement for a movie’s longevity in subsequent home entertainment windows. Entering the conversation in 2023 were the streamers, such as Apple, who have also realized the necessity of theatrical to eventize their movies. The financial data pulled together here for Deadline’s Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament is culled by seasoned and trusted sources.

THE FILM

Anyone But You
Sony/Columbia Pictures
Net Profit: $103M

Sony development executive Maia Eyre brought this Will Gluck-Ilana Wolpert project into the studio. Mix in the genius, sizzling-hot pairing of Euphoria star Sydney Sweeney and Top Gun: Maverick‘s Glen Powell and you get a long holiday honeymoon for Sony in this romantic comedy revival. Although streaming has vacuumed up the genre, Sony believed that date movies still exist. Anyone But You opened under the radar over the four-day Christmas weekend to $8 million and yielded over a 10x multiple at the domestic box office with $88M-plus, and $219M worldwide. Sony pulled a page out of its Spider-Man: No Way Home playbook and had Sweeney and Powell do their interviews and social media stunts together, highlighting their chemistry and bantering. Sweeney’s social reach at the time of the pic’s opening was near 17M. Marketing costs were low on this at $65M global given the big push on digital and social, particularly TikTok, where the following pieces took off: the duo’s lip sync of Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten” (a near 28M views) and “The Dirtiest Pick-Up Lines” bit (near 25M). Pic’s pay-one is through Sony’s rich Netflix deal.

THE BOX SCORE

THE FILM

Insidious: The Red Door
Sony/Blumhouse/Stage 6 Films
Net Profit: $92M

Despite bumps in the road during the production of this horror fifthquel, Sony Motion Picture Group chairman and CEO Tom Rothman remained adamant that Insidious: The Red Door stick to its post-July 4 weekend release date, sandwiched between Disney/Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. Red Door surprised, upsetting Indiana Jones‘ second weekend for the No. 1 spot with $33M stateside, that latter film deflated from bad word of mouth out of its Cannes premiere. Red Door also scored the second-best start for the franchise after Insidious: Chapter 2 ($40.2M). While Film District and Focus Features handled previous Insidious releases at the box office, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group always had North American rights since buying the first title out of TIFF Midnight Madness in 2010 for less than $1M. James Wan, who directed the first two Insidious movies, pitched the idea for Red Door to Blumhouse back in 2018 to keep the franchise alive with a further string involving the Lamberts’ son Dalton, who starred in Insidious 1, 2 and 4. The idea was to bring the entire original cast back together including Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins, Insidious architect Leigh Whannell and Lin Shaye. Wilson was able to pull off that feat and assemble the cast, with the Aquaman actor making his directorial debut here. Sony co-president Josh Greenstein built a campaign that included the gimmick “What’s Behind the Red Door?,” an outdoor stunt in various cities that went viral thanks to social media influencers.

THE BOX SCORE

THE FILM

The Nun II
New Line/Atomic Monster
Net Profit: $85M

This is evidence of how the power of a brand works at the box office through thick and thin. While several movies shifted out of the fall and late August due to the actors strike with performers unable to promote, New Line kept the sequel to its highest-grossing Conjuring movie, The Nun ($366M), on the calendar. People went, with the sequel about a demon-deflecting nun opening to $32.6M in the post-Labor Day Warner Bros frame for hot horror pics and legging out to $86.3M stateside and $269.5M global. The pic’s director Michael Chaves, after being discovered by New Line execs Walter Hamada and Dave Neustadter and assigned to helm 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona (Small Movie, Big Profits title from that year’s Most Valuable Blockbuster Tournament), was invited to take the reins here.

THE BOX SCORE

THE FILM

Scream VI
Spyglass/Dimension/Paramount
Net Profit: $60M

After rebooting the Scream franchise in 2022 ($81.6M domestic, $137.7M global) with stars from the original franchise plus new ones, and genre filmmakers Radio Silence in the directors chair(s), a sequel was quickly ordered. What sent this one to another stratosphere was the halo effect of its star Jenna Ortega, who was coming off of Netflix’s most watched series ever, Wednesday. The stabbing action saw her and Scream 2022’s star Melissa Barrera head to NYC for the first time in the franchise. Fans loved it enough at a B+, the same high grade as the previous Scream and still a best for the franchise. Big turnout by Latino and Hispanic moviegoers at 38% delivered the biggest opening for the Dimension series at $44.4M domestic, which yielded $108.2M domestic, and $169M worldwide, the second highest-grossing Scream movie ever after the 1996 original. Spyglass is rebooting this movie again for part 7, with the exit of Ortega and the firing of Barrera due to her online Gaza War remarks. The original franchise scribe Kevin Williamson will direct, with series OGs Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox in talks.

THE BOX SCORE

THE FILM

Evil Dead Rise
New Line
Net Profit: $46M

What happens when you take exciting movies and pivot them from streaming to theaters? You make money. This New Line reboot of the Sam Raimi franchise was destined to go to HBO Max, ordered up during the Jason Kilar-WarnerMedia era when they were pumping millions into original films for the service. Warner Bros Discovery boss David Zaslav has the studio shift away from that strategy (for the most part — yes there are exceptions of the reverse, i.e., New Line’s Stephen King movie Salem’s Lot transitioning from theaters to Max), with Evil Dead Rise being one of those titles. Warner Bros distribution and marketing execs noticed how the trailer for Evil Dead Rise electrified at CineEurope and opted to give the movie a domestic release; first firing it up out of SXSW. The pic got a B CinemaScore, higher than the 2013 reboot of Evil Dead which landed a C+. Every horror movie had a marketing hook that resonates and is creepy, re: the masked guy in The Black Phone or the wicked smiling people in Smile. Here it’s the evil mom, and the trailer where she’s trapped in the elevator. Evil Dead Rise opened to a solid $24.5M stateside in the face of a marketplace that was still being dominated by Super Mario Bros in its third weekend. Final take was $67.2M domestic and $147M worldwide.

THE BOX SCORE

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#Small #Movies #Big #Profits #Sydney #Sweeney #Glen #Powells #RomCom #Horror #Hits #Among #Overachievers #Deadlines #Valuable #Blockbuster #Tournament

Unsung Auteurs: James William Guercio | FilmInk

Post By Entertainment

You know a man has led a wholly fascinating life when making one of the most effective and unusual films of the 1970s is merely one minor element of his career, rather than its bright shining light. James William Guercio has led such a wide-ranging, unconventional life that his place in that rare pantheon of filmmakers who have only directed one film seems strangely fitting. And though there is a very obvious argument for the fact that making only one film should instantly preclude a director from being named an auteur, one viewing of James William Guercio’s 1973 near unclassifiable police drama Electra Glide In Blue is enough to support the claim that this behind-the-camera one-off nevertheless had a true authorial voice unlike any other. Guercio’s other high-profile achievements and sole directorial credit, however, have meant that voice has been sorely under-celebrated.

Born in 1945 in Chicago to parents outside the music industry, James William Guercio’s first love was for music, and he began work as a session musician and songwriter in the 1960s after moving to Los Angeles. Guercio played on several recordings (and was for a brief time in Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention), and wrote Chad & Jeremy’s 1966 Top 30 pop hit “Distant Shores”, before finding his greatest success as the manager and producer for mega-selling soft-rock titans Chicago. Though he drove them to extraordinary levels of fame and recognition, Guercio’s relationship with Chicago ended acrimoniously when it was revealed that he’d been pocketing 51% of their profits, which made him a very wealthy man indeed. Guercio also played with and managed The Beach Boys in the 1970s; helped craft hits for Blood, Sweat & Tears; and in the late 1970s founded Caribou Ranch, a recording studio in Colorado that played host to the likes of Waylon Jennings, Rod Stewart, Billy Joel, Supertramp and The Eagles’ Joe Walsh.

James William Guercio with Beach Boy Dennis Wilson

After a major fire ended Caribou Ranch in 1985, Guercio diversified with the purchase of a professional American soccer team (which didn’t fare so well), and then moved into a range of ventures including cattle ranching, property development, oil and gas exploration, drilling, and production, particularly of coalbed methane wells. He also purchased the Country Music Television cable channel, which he later sold at a profit. In the midst of all this, James William Guercio also directed a film. So, how did that happen exactly? Well, David Picker, the boss of studio United Artists, was a fan of Guercio’s and his work in the music industry, and he simply asked him if he’d like to direct a film. It was that simple? In the post-Easy Rider early 1970s, every studio was looking for the next hipster director and the next low-budget hipster hit, and David Picker obviously liked his chances with Guercio. While the offer didn’t yield an Easy Rider-level hit, it did produce the fascinating Electra Glide In Blue.

Inspired by the tragic highway death of a lone motorcycle cop, the 1973 drama was penned by Robert Boris and Rupert Hitzig, with masterful cinematography by gifted shooter Conrad Hall (Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, American Beauty, Fat City, In Cold Blood, Cool Hand Luke and many more), and a fantastic musical score by Guercio himself. Electra Glide In Blue stars a never-better Robert Blake (who would much later, of course, be embroiled in a tragic scandal after being convicted of murdering his wife) as John Wintergreen, a motorcycle cop who longs to be promoted into the homicide division. While spending his long days rousting hippies and engaging in other acts of uselessness with his hyped-up, affably sinister, and basically corrupt pal Zipper (the excellent Billy Green Bush), the diminutive Wintergreen (“Did you know I’m the exact same height as Alan Ladd?” is one of his pick-up lines) dreams of doing a job where he’s “paid to think” instead of riding up and down the highway all day. It’s a mild existential crisis played out against a stunning tableaux of desert mountains and endless roads that seem to stretch on forever into nothingness, creating the kind of poetic visual metaphor most directors wouldn’t even be able to conjure in their heads.

A scene from Electra Glide In Blue

When the naïve and ever-eager Wintergreen stumbles into a suicide case soon revealed to be a murder, his tenacity and commitment catch the eye of Harve Poole (the mighty Mitchell Ryan, a prolific, old-school character actor of singular skill and gravitas), a cigar-chomping, Stetson-wearing homicide detective with a very, very keen sense of his own importance and crime-busting abilities. Working as Poole’s driver, Wintergreen soon learns that his new boss isn’t exactly all he’s cracked up to be, and the diminutive cop’s own highly-primed sense of righteousness quickly gets him in trouble with his colleagues. Back in uniform and back on his bike (the Electra Glide of the title), John Wintergreen is placed back on that sad, long road to nowhere.

Strange in tone, beautifully performed, poetically composed, visually arresting, bold and compelling in its themes, and totally original, Electra Glide In Blue is so impressive that any viewer who sees it couldn’t possibly help but sadly rue the fact that Guercio never made another film. He was fired after three days’ work on the 1980 western Tom Horn by leading man and producer Steve McQueen (what a collaboration that could have been!), and produced Hal Ashby’s 1980 comedy Second-Hand Hearts (again with Robert Blake), but that – very disappointingly – was indeed that. One of the all-time great one-and-done directors, the potential for future greatness in James William Guercio’s first and final film is staggering.

If you liked this story, check out our features on other unsung auteurs James Goldstone, Daniel Nettheim, Goran Stolevski, Jared & Jerusha Hess, William Richert, Michael Jenkins, Robert M. Young, Robert Thom, Graeme Clifford, Frank Howson, Oliver Hermanus, Jennings Lang, Matthew Saville, Sophie Hyde, John Curran, Jesse Peretz, Anthony Hayes, Stuart Blumberg, Stewart Copeland, Harriet Frank Jr & Irving Ravetch, Angelo Pizzo, John & Joyce Corrington, Robert Dillon, Irene Kamp, Albert Maltz, Nancy Dowd, Barry Michael Cooper, Gladys Hill, Walon Green, Eleanor Bergstein, William W. Norton, Helen Childress, Bill Lancaster, Lucinda Coxon, Ernest Tidyman, Shauna Cross, Troy Kennedy Martin, Kelly Marcel, Alan Sharp, Leslie Dixon, Jeremy Podeswa, Ferd & Beverly Sebastian, Anthony Page, Julie Gavras, Ted Post, Sarah Jacobson, Anton Corbijn, Gillian Robespierre, Brandon Cronenberg, Laszlo Nemes, Ayelat Menahemi, Ivan Tors, Amanda King & Fabio Cavadini, Cathy Henkel, Colin Higgins, Paul McGuigan, Rose Bosch, Dan Gilroy, Tanya Wexler, Clio Barnard, Robert Aldrich, Maya Forbes, Steven Kastrissios, Talya Lavie, Michael Rowe, Rebecca Cremona, Stephen Hopkins, Tony Bill, Sarah Gavron, Martin Davidson, Fran Rubel Kuzui, Elliot Silverstein, Liz Garbus, Victor Fleming, Barbara Peeters, Robert Benton, Lynn Shelton, Tom Gries, Randa Haines, Leslie H. Martinson, Nancy Kelly, Paul Newman, Brett Haley, Lynne Ramsay, Vernon Zimmerman, Lisa Cholodenko, Robert Greenwald, Phyllida Lloyd, Milton Katselas, Karyn Kusama, Seijun Suzuki, Albert Pyun, Cherie Nowlan, Steve Binder, Jack Cardiff, Anne Fletcher ,Bobcat Goldthwait, Donna Deitch, Frank Pierson, Ann Turner, Jerry Schatzberg, Antonia Bird, Jack Smight, Marielle Heller, James Glickenhaus, Euzhan Palcy, Bill L. Norton, Larysa Kondracki, Mel Stuart, Nanette Burstein, George Armitage, Mary Lambert, James Foley, Lewis John Carlino, Debra Granik, Taylor Sheridan, Laurie Collyer, Jay Roach, Barbara Kopple, John D. Hancock, Sara Colangelo, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Joyce Chopra, Mike Newell, Gina Prince-Bythewood, John Lee Hancock, Allison Anders, Daniel Petrie Sr., Katt Shea, Frank Perry, Amy Holden Jones, Stuart Rosenberg, Penelope Spheeris, Charles B. Pierce, Tamra Davis, Norman Taurog, Jennifer Lee, Paul Wendkos, Marisa Silver, John Mackenzie, Ida Lupino, John V. Soto, Martha Coolidge, Peter Hyams, Tim Hunter, Stephanie Rothman, Betty Thomas, John Flynn, Lizzie Borden, Lionel Jeffries, Lexi Alexander, Alkinos Tsilimidos, Stewart Raffill, Lamont Johnson, Maggie Greenwald and Tamara Jenkins.

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Yes, Jerry Seinfeld Dated A 17-Year-Old While He Was A 38-Year-Old TV Star – Perez Hilton

Post By Entertainment

Reminder: no one wants to be the main character of the internet for a week, not even the literal main character from a beloved sitcom.

Jerry Seinfeld has turned into a major trending topic this week for a rather inane statement about why there aren’t as many sitcoms anymore. Despite being a part of the industry and seeing firsthand the real reasons, he decided like a lot of older white guys it must be bEcAuSe wOkE. He complained on the New Yorker podcast on Sunday:

“It used to be you would go home at the end of the day, most people would go, ‘Oh, Cheers is on. Oh, M.A.S.H. is on, oh, Mary Tyler Moore is on.’ … You just expected, there’ll be some funny stuff we can watch on TV tonight. Well, guess what? Where is it? This is the result of the extreme left and PC crap, and people worrying so much about offending other people.”

OK, first we just have to do a speedrun through how silly this statement is. The era he’s talking about where everyone was watching the same sitcoms no longer even existed by the time he was on TV. It’s constantly changing. There were, back then, only three channels. Of course sitcoms represent a much smaller percentage of real estate when there are a gazillion options to choose from on hundreds of channels and streaming platforms. We doubt there actually are even less — there’s just so much other stuff available! Add to that people getting worn out on the format during the golden age of TV. Compared to brilliant dramas like The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Game Of Thrones, etc, sitcoms tend to look a little hokey. Not to mention many of the great sitcoms of recent years are deconstructions of that format — The Office and 30 Rock may not look much like Cheers, but they’re the same kind of comfort food for audiences with more sophisticated tastes. Also, you can still watch all those old sitcoms on streaming! Just sayin’!

As far as things which push the envelope not being able to survive? There are several prominent counterexamples of huge hits that completely pull the rug out from such vapid logic. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Rick & Morty and Veep are frankly edgier than anything he ever did on his own show. Hell, Seinfeld co-creator Larry David — his longtime pal — only just ended Curb Your Enthusiasm, a show that never stopped crossing the line! Literally every part of what Jerry said here is nonsense, and the only people nodding their heads are idiots who just love getting their daily pellet of anti-woke.

But we’re not here to talk about Seinfeld yelling at clouds. We want to talk about the unintended consequence of it. That is to say, the internet responding the way it so often does when they’re annoyed with someone: digging. And it didn’t take long at all to remind everyone of the scandal Jerry escaped relatively unscathed back in the day — and attempt to sort of cancel him in retrospect.

Whether it was annoyed folks on the left hitting back or not, we saw a LOT of responses digging up the time Jerry was maybe the biggest star on TV… and used that cache to date a high school girl.

Yes, it’s a true story.

Jerry met Shoshanna Lonstein in Central Park in 1993. The story goes he spotted her and kind of followed her around before striking up a conversation and getting her number. He was 38 years old at the time. She was 17. Soon after, they made their red carpet debut as Seinfeld started showing off his teen GF. The new couple quickly made headlines, but at the time most mainstream coverage — like People magazine for instance — quickly accepted it, just talking about it like a hot new couple and not something totally inappropriate. Yes, really! The cover profile’s subheading was, no joke, “When Jerry Seinfeld fell for 17-year-old Shoshanna Lonstein, cynics snickered. No more.” And they gave Jerry the platform to tell it from his side. Naturally, he gave them the old “age is just a number” defense, saying:

“Shoshanna is a person, not an age. She is extremely bright. She’s funny, sharp, very alert. We just get along. You can hear the click.”

He also said this was more comfortable than dating multiple girls at once as he’d been doing — he told the mag:

“You go out with one girl and the other sees you with her in the paper. That was uncomfortable. Now I’m not doing anything I’m uncomfortable with. My interest in her is very proper.”

But the outlet also noted that she was still living with her parents despite having turned 18 and being legal. The whole article is a wild relic of a different time. For some reason the fact the multimillionaire kept dating her PAST being 17 somehow justified the age she was when he got her number. Like imagine if James Franco had started dating that one girl he flirted with, and People was like, well, people say she’s mature for her age… You can read their entire 1994 cover story celebrating the couple HERE.

BTW, we say 17 because it’s a matter of record that’s how old she was when they met, and — we will remind you — he got her number. He swears they didn’t start dating until she was 18 (and he was 39)… but his explanation of what they were doing before her 18th birthday never sounded like it wasn’t dating! Even Howard Stern thought this was sketchy as hell and said so to his face, teasing him during an interview on his radio show has having waited in the park with “a candy bar on a string.” Jerry defended the relationship, saying:

“I didn’t realize she was so young. This is the only girl I ever went out with who was that young. I wasn’t dating her. We just went to a restaurant, and that was it.”

They weren’t dating, they were just going out! They went to a restaurant, how is that not a date? OW! Sorry, our eyes just rolled so hard, we strained something.

By all accounts, the two dated for four years. We also know they broke up in 1997. When she was 21. You can do your own math. She went on to be a successful designer… after finishing college, of course.

Anyway, we hadn’t thought about that icky story in years! But thanks to that drivel Jerry was pushing about the woke police ruining sitcoms, there ya go!

[Image via Vallenilla/Tina Paul/WENN.]

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#Jerry #Seinfeld #Dated #17YearOld #38YearOld #Star #Perez #Hilton

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Category: Entertainment