Page 825 - Entertainment Culture

Dehradun International Film Festival back with fourth edition

The fourth edition of Dehradun International Film Festival (DIFF) will be held from September 21-23 at Silver City, Rajpur Road.

Amrapali to play 'ageless woman' in TV show

Actress Amrapali Gupta says she is excited to play an ageless woman in the horror show "Kaun Hai".

Indie music is coming back: Harshdeep Kaur

Singer Harshdeep Kaur says there was a time when independent music vanished from the Indian music industry, but it is now making a comeback.

'A Star is Born' to open at Tokyo Film Festival

Actors Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga starrer "A Star is Born" will premiere at the 31st edition of Tokyo International Film Festival.

Sooni Taraporevaala to direct Siddharth Roy Kapur's 'Ballet Boys' movie

Siddharth Roy Kapur is set to back film "Ballet Boys", the real-life story of two slum boys from Mumbai who take on international ballet. The film will be helmed by acclaimed director Sooni Taraporevala, who earlier made a VR documentary on the subject for Anand Gandhi's Memesys Lab. The movie traces back the journey of Amiruddin Shah and Manish Chauhan, their Israeli-American mentor Yehuda Maor and their families, who triumphed over their circumstances by making their way to prestigious global ballet institutes like London's Royal Ballet Academy and the Oregon Ballet Theatre. Taraporevaala said she is looking forward to narrate the "emotionally driven" story of the boys with Kapur. The director-producer duo reunite after "The Namesake", which was co-produced by UTV Motion Pictures. "I have always admired Sid's filmography and his drive to tell stories that matter. I hope this collaboration will successfully bring to light the incredible and emotionally driven journey of the boys and .

Want to be at my best in film with Hrithik: Tiger Shroff

Actor Tiger Shroff, who is gearing up for his forthcoming Yash Raj Films untitled project, says that he wants to be at his best to lock horns with his onscreen idol Hrithik Roshan in the film.

Richa Chadha, Pankaj Tripathi to star in 'Panga'

Actors Richa Chadha and Pankaj Tripathi, who had earlier wooed the audience with their performances in "Fukrey" and "Fukrey Returns", will be seen together on screen again -- in Ashwini Iyer Tiwari's directorial "Panga".

We need to work more to achieve diversity: Demian Bichir

Mexican-American actor Demian Bichir, best known for his performances in "A Better Life" and "The Hateful Eight", believes there is a lot to be done to achieve real diversity in cinema. In the last two years, debate around representation and gender equality has intensified and Bichir feels it was much needed. "We still have to work towards diversity in every sense. I don't think we are there when it comes to equality, protecting and representing minorities. "The world is a very vast place with so many nationalities and cultures. We have to make more films that represent women, Latins, African-Americans and other communities. It is the time for that. We need more Chinese films, more Indian and Latin-American films," he told PTI in an interview over phone. The 55-year-old actor was last seen in the Corin Hardy-directed horror film "The Nun", which is a part of "The Conjuring" universe, a franchise that is very popular in India. Asked whether he had ever visited the country, Bichir said .

Andrew Garfield dating Susie Abromeit

"Hacksaw Ridge" star Andrew Garfield is reportedly in a relationship with actor Susie Abromeit. The couple was snapped sharing a kiss on a beach in California last week, US Weekly reported. The onlookers also saw Garfield and "Jessica Jones" actor enjoying a romantic meal at Malibu's Inn of the Seventh Ray last Friday. A source, who saw the couple at dinner, said, "She had a certain level of glamour." The onlooker did not witness "too much interaction" between them, both 35. On Sunday, they enjoyed a "fun day" with friends at Disneyland. While Garfield previously dated Emma Stone, Abromeit has guarded her love life.

Mika fulfills 'life long dream' of Biba Singh

Singer Mika Singh, who collaborated with Indian-American singer Biba Singh for the just released Punjabi song "Nach baby", feels happy to work with Biba.

I direct films for myself: Manav Kaul

Actor Manav Kaul says he directs films, but not with the intention of selling them to producers or distributors. He makes them for himself.

Aatish Taseer's new book has Benares setting

When author Aatish Taseer first came to Benares he was 18, the Westernised child of an Indian journalist and a Pakistani politician raised among the intellectual and cultural elite of New Delhi. Nearly two decades later, Taseer leaves his life in Manhattan to go in search of the Brahmins, wanting to understand his own estrangement from India through their ties to tradition. And he comes out with "The Twice-Born - Life and Death on the Ganges", a deeply individual and acutely perceptive book revolving around questions of culture and politics that are going to define our future as a nation. "What have I tried to do here is to use the world of the Brahmins of Benares as a prism to capture the deeper tension of our culture wars. Not just in India, but all those places where town is pitted against country, heartland against coast, tradition against modernity, and where the quest for authenticity is tearing society apart," Taseer says. "I felt I needed the reduction in scale: that, ...

Halle Berry to make directorial debut with 'Bruised'

Actress Halle Berry is all set to step into director's shoes with the mixed martial arts film titled "Bruised".

This is the best era to be an actor in Bollywood: Ayushmann Khurrana

As someone who has made a career out of playing regular guy roles, Ayushmann Khurrana believes it is a great time to be an actor in Bollywood where the space to experiment has grown like never before. The actor, who has cemented his standing in the industry by featuring in middle-of-the-road films such as "Vicky Donor", "Dum Laga Ke Haisha" and "Bareilly Ki Barfi", says not playing safe has worked in his favour. "This is the best era to be an artiste in the industry. You get to explore a lot of things which were not possible earlier. Parallel films did not make money but in this day and age, content films are doing commercially great. The trend probably started with 'Vicky Donor'. "These films give confidence to not just actors but also directors, writers and producers. They know that one can put their money on such films. Actors get to experiment a lot because viewers seem to like that," he told PTI in an interview. Ayushmann says he is always looks to reinvent himself and his next, .

We have no shortage of fantastic female characters, says Marvel's Stephen Wacker

Fans and critics have voiced concerns over women's representation in superhero genre but Marvel comics universe has always had "fantastic" female characters, says Stephen Wacker, VP - Creative Development, Marvel. Wacker said these characters will soon make it to the big as well as the small screen and the process has already begun. As the former senior editor of Marvel Comics, Wacker supervised and developed an array of top selling titles including Ms Marvel and Captain Marvel, believes people have seen only a handful of characters from their universe on the big screen, and there is more to come. "For Marvel, female characters are not new. They have always been around. I believe we are the only company at which people have been looking at for the past decade. There have been a lot of Marvel superhero movies, but there hasn't been a lot of time yet. "Marvel has no shortage of fantastic female characters. And all these characters are going to come out. 'Captain Marvel' is a great step

Taika Waititi says Hollywood is running out of ideas

"Thor: Ragnarok" director Taika Waititi says Hollywood is running out of ideas, which he believes is a good thing. During a masterclass at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival, the 43-year-old filmmaker said due to the lack of ideas, the industry is looking up to other communities for newer stories, reported IndieWire. "We're in a really cool place right now: Hollywood is running out of ideas," Waititi said. "They are scrambling for ideas and stories, and where do they turn? Indigenous people, ethnic people, they turn to Korea, Japan, they turn to anywhere outside of America for films that they can remake for things that are outside of their comfort zone, because that's where the interesting stuff is," he added. Waititi also said the new and upcoming directors must stay true to their own vision of filmmaking. "If we just ride it, and just be true to our own vision and our own stories and our own voices and not conform to that, and not go like, 'oh, it's like 'What Happens ..

Lady Gaga says she still suffers from PTSD after her sexual assault incident

Singer and actor Lady Gaga has opened up about the effects of rape trauma, saying it took her "years" to come to terms with it. In an interview with Vogue, the "Poker Face" star, who has spoken about being raped at the age of 19 in the past, said she still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "No one else knew. It was almost like I tried to erase it from my brain. And when it finally came out, it was like a big, ugly monster. And you have to face the monster to heal," Gaga said. "For me, with my mental-health issues, half of the battle in the beginning was, I felt like I was lying to the world because I was feeling so much pain but nobody knew. So that's why I came out and said that I have PTSD, because I don't want to hide, any more than I already have to," she added. Describing the effects, Gaga said she feels "stunned" or "stunted" all the time and often starts crying when she has trouble in breathing. "You know that feeling when you're on a roller coaster and you're

Nagraj Manjule, 'Sairat' lead actors join MNS film workers' union

"Sairat" director Nagraj Manjule and the lead stars of his film, Rinku Rajguru and Aakash Thosar, have joined Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's film workers' union. The trio were present at the MNS Rajgad party office Tuesday and filled forms to join the Maharashtra Navnirman Chitrapat Karmachari Sena. President Amey Khopkar told PTI, "There are many actors who are being members of the chitrapat sena because they have trust in Raj sir's vision, what he wants to do for the film industry. We work for Hindi and the Marathi film industry and they appreciate and value that." Khopkar said over 200 people from the fraternity are members of the union including Irrfan Khan and Manjule. "If you face any problem while shooting, our people or even sometimes Raj sir helps them. Ours is the strongest cinema wing in the industry," he claimed.

Richa Chadha, Pankaj Tripathi board Ashwini Iyer Tiwari's 'Panga'

Actors Richa Chadda and Pankaj Tripathi have joined the cast of director Ashwini Iyer Tiwari's next "Panga". The two actor, who will be seen together in the upcoming biopic of South star Shakeela, join Kangana Ranaut, Neena Gupta and Jassie Gill in the project. The film, backed by Fox Star Studios, revolves around "a family who laughs, cries, dreams together and remains by your side to make your dream come true". Chadda took to Instagram to share the news of her casting and also posted her childhood photo with her family. "My Family means the world to me ...thanks @ashwinyiyertiwari and @foxstarhindi ... you guys made sure I have another family to call my own. Ready for some more #panga? #PangaStories" she wrote. The director welcomed the actor on the project and wrote on Twitter, "I admire her as an actor and as a human who has so much depth in her." "@RichaChadha Respect for who you are. Welcome to the #pangafamily lets together create new stories of love & of course take Panga .

I'm open to playing a strong negative character: Luv Sinha

After war drama "Paltan", actor Luv Sinha wants to challenge himself as an artiste and says he would like to explore darker and complex themes with his projects.