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Around Tinsel Town
>> Grammys 2024 | Taylor Swift creates history, fusion band Shakti wins Global Music Album
The 66th Annual Grammy Awards was held in Los Angeles, United States, on Monday. The event saw singer Taylor Swift create history by becoming the first artisy to win Album of the Year four times. Pop singer Miley Cyrus won the award for Record of the Year while ‘The Moment’, by fusion band Shakti — featuring John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, vocalist Shankar Mahadevan, percussionist V Selvaganesh and violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan — won the Global Music Album.
Here are a few highlights from the event:
> Here’s the complete list of winners
> Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick rule at Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy gala
> Victoria Monét, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus stun on the wild-and-wacky red carpet
> Phoebe Bridgers and boygenius win big while SZA and ‘Barbie’ also earn early trophies
> Shankar Mahadevan, Zakir Hussain’s group Shakti wins Best Global Music Album award
> Shankar Mahadevan returns home to warm welcome, says ‘dreams do come true’
> Rapper Killer Mike taken away in handcuffs after winning three Grammy Awards
Bollywood
Varun Dhawan’s ‘VD18’, presented by Atlee, titled ‘Baby John’
Alia Bhatt boards Richie Mehta’s ‘Poacher’ series as executive producer
‘Murder Mubarak’ gets a premiere date on Netflix
John Abraham, Sharvari-starrer ‘Vedaa’ gets a release date
Esha Deol, husband Bharat Takhtani announce separation
Rajesh Khanna’s ‘Bawarchi’ to be remade, Anushree Mehta to helm the film
Prime Video’s ‘Love Storiyaan’ to showcase the love stories of six real-life couples
Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment and Baweja Studios reunite for action adventure film
Varun Grover to make theatrical debut as director with ‘All India Rank’
Ahaan Panday to make acting debut with director Mohit Suri’s young love story
Yami Gautam, Aditya Dhar expecting their first child
Hollywood
Carl Weathers, who played Apollo Creed in ‘Rocky,’ dies at 76
“I’ve got ideas for six and seven”: James Cameron on ‘Avatar’ sequels
Celine Song’s next is ‘The Materialists’; Pedro Pascal, Chris Evans and Dakota Johnson in talks to star
Denzel Washington, Spike Lee reuniting for remake of Akira Kurosawa’s ‘Hight and Low’
Oscars announces new award for casting directors
David Leitch in talks to direct new ‘Jurassic World’ film
Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell to star in ‘A Big Bold Beautiful Journey’
Marvel’s ‘Wonder Man’ crewmember dies in accident on set
‘Suits’ spinoff ‘Suits: LA’ lands pilot order at NBC
Actor Gina Carano sues Lucasfilm and Disney over her firing from ‘The Mandalorian’
Disney announces ‘Moana 2’; first look and release date out
Mike Tyson to play himself in new superhero film ‘Bunny Man’
Christian Bale breaks ground on foster homes he’s fought for 16 years to see built
Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ concert film heads to Disney+; to include ‘Cardigan’ and four unseen songs
Regional cinema
Vijay Devarakonda’s ‘Family Star’ to clash with ‘Devara: Part 1,’ starring Jr. NTR
‘Karataka Damanaka’ to take on ‘Ranganayaka’ at the box office on March 8
Nivin Pauly announces ‘Action Hero Biju 2’
Trisha joins the cast of Chiranjeevi-Vassishta’s ‘Vishwambhara’
SJ Suryah joins Vikram’s ‘Chiyaan 62’
Pawan Kalyan’s ‘OG’ gets a release date
First look of Dulquer Salmaan’s ‘Lucky Baskhar’ out
Anurag Kashyap roped in as villain for Aashiq Abu’s next
Aishwarya Lekshmi, Sharaf U Dheen to star in fantasy comedy ‘Hello Mummy’
Tovino Thomas, Soubin Shahir’s ‘Nadikar’ gets a release date
Actor Vishal clarifies on his political entry, hints at future possibility
World cinema
‘The White Lotus’ drops Milos Bikovic amid Ukraine controversy
Trailers
Rajinikanth bats for communal harmony in trailer of Vishnu Vishal, Vikranth’s sports drama ‘Lal Salaam’
Trailer of Manikandan’s ‘Lover’ shows how possessiveness shatters a troubled paradise
‘Siren’ trailer shows Jayam Ravi take on Keerthy Suresh in a riveting thriller
Adah Sharma is an IPS officer at war against Naxals in the teaser of ‘Bastar-The Naxal Story’
‘Manhunt’ promises a thrilling aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination
Essential reading
1) ‘Love is a tricky thing’: Shahid Kapoor on ‘Teri Baaton Main Aisa Uljha Jiya’
>> An actors who has successfully broken the image trap, Shahid says it’s the actor in him who makes him the star he is
2) Bhumi Pednekar on ‘Bhakshak’ and being a dependable performer for women-centric films
>> The actor opens up on her career, the after-effects of ‘Thank You For Coming,’ honing her comic skills, and more
3) Kriti Sanon on playing a humanoid in ‘Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya’
>> The actor also speaks about the changing idea of romance and and her foray into production
4) Jiiva on playing Y S Jagan in ‘Yatra 2’: Mammootty sir’s advice eased my pressure
>> He speaks about playing the incumbent Andhra Pradesh CM and why the biopic will be along the lines of ‘The Godfather’ series
5) Vishnu Vishal on ‘Lal Salaam’ and why he isn’t worried about the opening-day collections of this film
>> He speaks about what convinced him to do the political sports drama, which has rekindled his romance with cricket
6) Tovino Thomas on his role as a cop in ‘Anweshippin Kandethum’ and his upcoming film ‘Nadikar’
>> The Malayalam actor talks about debutant Darwin Kuriakose’s crime thriller, and David Padikkal’s film on a superstar
7) Karthik Gattamneni interview: ‘Eagle’ is in the ‘Rashomon’-meets-‘Vikram’ narrative style
>> The director also talks about his journey as a writer, cinematographer, editor and filmmaker
8) Aditi Rao Hydari on independent music: ‘If my voice is auto-tuned, I feel like I’ve cheated’
>> Aditi, who will be seen in ‘Heeramandi’ and ‘Lioness’, speaks about her avatar as a singer in the Tamil indie track, ‘Please Purinjukko’
9) Malayalam film ‘Premalu’ has all the tropes and conventions of the rom-com genre: Girish AD
>> Girish says the college-going audience is non-judgemental and does not care if a film has big names
10) From page to screen: film adaptations that surpassed their source material
A dive into the world of films adapted from novels and how screen adaptations have surpassed their book source
11) Actor Vijay’s journey | The road from campus to cinema, and political plunge
The Vijay at college and the star he became over the last three decades seem different personalities
12) Kannada cinema cinematographer BS Basavaraj on being awarded the Nandi Lifetime achievement award
>> A prodigy of VK Murthy, Basavaraj speaks about the achievement as he takes a trip down memory lane
13) Curtains down on South India’s first cinema — Delite Theatre in Coimbatore; demolition begins
>> Delite Theatre was established in 1914 by Samikannu Vincent and his brothers
14) New series ‘Love Storiyaan’ features six real couples from social media initiative India Love Project
>> Premiering on Valentine’s Day, the Amazon Prime series includes couples across religion, caste, ethnicity and gender divides
15) Venkat Bharadwaj’s latest romantic drama ‘Naguvina Hoogale Mele’ is inspired by a real incident
>> The award-winning director says the film is a clean family entertainer set in natural locales
What to watch
1) Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White are riveting in grimly glorious sports biopic ‘The Iron Claw’
2) ‘Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya’ is a social experiment with the heart of a sitcom
3) Bhumi Pednekar powers a well-intentioned ‘Bhakshak’ that is caught between text and subtext
4) ‘Premalu’ is a youthful drama from Girish AD, with fresh, humorous treatment of a run-of-the-mill story
5) Tovino Thomas headlines a gripping investigating thriller ‘Anveshippin Kandethum’, that’s slow in parts
6) The emotional drama works better than the politics in ‘Yatra 2’
7) The action is fine, but the writing needed to be smarter in ‘Eagle’
8) ‘Ondu Sarala Prema Kathe’ is a sluggish return to form for director Suni
9) ‘Juni’ is a decent film on dissociative personality disorder that needed better execution
10) Taika Waititi’s ‘Next Goal Wins’ is a lazy look at the dreams of American Samoa football team
11) ‘Orion and the Dark’ is a simple, dreamy animated adventure deepened by Charlie Kauffman’s writing
12) Spying on a marriage story is fun, but there’s room for improvement in ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’
13) A couple’s marriage and our patience get tested in the genre-bending mess that is ‘Devil’
14) Web series ‘Miss Perfect’ is a cheerful slice-of-life drama that rides on a wafer thin storyline
