Our filmmakers are getting more and more business savvy and Ajay Devgan is proving a sharp businessman. Panorama Studios International LTD has acquired the remake rights of the Malayalam language Drishyam 1 and Drishyam 2 in all non-Indian languages and foreign languages including English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and excluding Filipino, Sinhala and Indonesian.  

In the meantime, Yash Raj Films’ Pathaan, directed by Siddharth Anand is more than steady in the second week and its collections at the domestic and overseas box office totals to 888 crore grosses worldwide! Pathaan collected 5.95 crore nett in India (Hindi – 5.75 crore, All Dubbed versions – 0.20 crore). So, in two weeks, the film has recorded $41.02 million in the overseas territories alone, while nett collection in India stands at 458.90 crore (Hindi – 442.50 crore, Dubbed – 16.40 crore)! The total worldwide gross is an incredible 888 crore (India gross: 551 crores, overseas: 337 crore)! This makes Pathaan now the highest grossing Hindi film worldwide in the history of Hindi cinema and also the highest grossing film of YRF’s Spy Universe!

After Ajay Devgan introduced Deepak Dobriyal and Gajraj Rao as the villains of his forthcoming film Bholaa, suddenly the focus shifted to other villains in other films like

Nawab Shah, well known in Hindi and other language films for his negative roles. He plays an underworld in his forthcoming Underworld Ka Kabzaa just as Kota Srinivasa Rao plays Arkeshwara.

Clearly the face of the villain has changed over the decades. He is no more the same man playing different characters on the contrary it is always a different actor playing different characters. So, there is Sunny Hinduja after Family Man Season 2 playing the main villain in Shehzaada and Vijay Sethupathi matching Shah Rukh Khan in Jawan. There is more, the next big bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Kang the Conquerer. And Jonathon Majors will be headlining the role of Kang and the audience will witness a massive face-off between Paul Rudd and Jonathon Majors.

Trust Saif Khan to always pick the right subject on the OTT platform. The Bridge by Endemol Shine India, a Banijay company, and Black Knight Films, announcing their Hindi edition with Saif Ali Khan, who will also jointly produce the project under the Black Knight Films banner. The Bridge is a present-day crime thriller exploring the tensions between two neighbouring countries, which has now been adapted in 7 territories India being the eighth. 

Clearly The Bridge has a universal appeal and caters to a global audience that is used to living in a world of borders. The show opens with a dead body discovered on a border that is shared by two countries – while half the body lies in one country, the other half falls in the other land and that opens an investigation that involves the police forces and the detectives from both the countries. The title and poster add to the intrigue.

Valentine’s Day has come and gone but love is in the air. YR Films have released Romantics a four-part documentary on the making of YR Films. How sad that only one part is on Yash Chopra and three parts about Aditya Chopra. Also, many significant artists who contributed to the banner are missing like Mumtaz, Raakhee, Sharmila Tagore, Waheeda Rehman, Rekha to name a few.  None of the old lyricists or cinematographers feature in the film either. Missed Javed Akhtar though Salim Khan is there but not for long. Salman, Aamir, Amitabh Bachchan appears for a very short while.

Pan India has released a romantic number ‘Naiyo Ladga…’, sung by Kamaal Khan and Palak Muchhal and shot in exotic locations of Leh and Ladakh featuring Pooja Hegde and Salman Khan from Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. Directed by Farhad Samji the film also stars Shehnaaz Gill and Bhumika Chawla and Vijender Singh. There is a third picture and though it is not exactly a Valentine presentation, it is interesting because it is of a very candid Aamir Khan dressed in a mundu sharing a joke with South superstar Prithvi Sukumaran. Is this an indication of a joint collaboration?

Sony BBC Earth has launched a special anthology titled The Wild Affair. The anthology is airing The Mating Game in five different ecosystems on six continents, The Mating Game investigates the various methods that animals employ to locate a partner. It gives a complete inside look at what it takes to win in the animal mating game. Some animals like to groove and entice the potential partners. The channel is also premiering Ancient Invisible Cities where historians and archaeologists explore some of the world’s oldest cities in search of secret chambers and artifacts.

January-February are months of celebrations, both for cinema and for literature and now there is an addition to the long list. Aniverse & Visual Arts Foundation (AVAF) launches India’s First International Animation, VFX, XR, Gaming & Comics Festival, an important move to include contribution of technology in our cinema.

The festival will be held in Mumbai and graced by masters in the field like Kireet Khurana, Director AVAF, Mickeal Mari, CEO Agency Festival and Veronique Encrenaz, Director MIFA.

Sometimes, a picture can change your perception. When Ajay Devgan’s office first released the promotion trailer of their next production Bholaa I had made up my mind on the subject but in the subsequent weeks, when the production house released more working stills images the negative characters cleverly captioned as Bholaa ke shaitaan I changed my mind on the content. I mean who would have imagined the common man image actor/ Gajraj Rao  as the evil Devraj Subramanium. Well Ajay Devgan did and I am waiting for more surprises.

When director Gauri Shinde featured international actors in her film English Vinglish, little did she imagine, that one day, her 100 plus crore Indian film that marked Sridevi’s return to the silver screen after a 15-year hiatus, would one day, set the cash registers ringing outside India. 

More than a decade later, English Vinglish releases in 6000 theatres on the Chinese mainland. It is not easy to gain a foothold in the competitive Chinese movie market, the second largest in the world and what is praise worthy is that it is a woman-oriented film. If only Sridevi were there to see all this!

The name Binodini continues to fascinate artistes of all generations. After Rabindranth Tagore introduced her to us in Chokher Bali, now Ram Kamal Mukherjee is determined to unravel the mystery of the 19th century theatre artist, Binodini Dasi in his new film Binodiini Ekti Natir Upakhyan. The film celebrate 150 years of Bengali Theatre and Rukmini Maitra signed to play Binodini Dasi, has been painstakingly preparing for the part for some time now.  

Rukmini is engaged in extensive workshops with Sudipta Chakraborty and has enrolled with Pt. Birju Maharaj’s disciple Shouvik for Kathak lessons. Veteran actor Kaushik Ganguly is signed to play Girish Chandra Ghosh, who mentored Binodini and is often ignored in the documentation while Rahul Bose will play  the charismatic Ranga Babu, the quintessential hero.

Written by Priyanka Poddar, Soumik Halder is signed as the cinematographer and art director Tanmaay Chakraborty to recreate the bygone era. The perfect team is in place and the mood is right. What needs to be seen is if Binodini will rise to her own magic?

Successful pairs in early films are common stories of show business. Dilip Kumar- Vyajantimala, Shammi Kapoor- Asha Parekh, Rajesh Khanna- Sharmila Tagore, Amitabh- Rekha, Govinda- Neelam, Shah Rukh Khan- Kajol featured in a number of films together and with time, the pair lost its magic and faded away. One pair that continues to retain its magic and deliver substantial films decade after decade is Ajay Devgan and Tabu.

The pair first came together in Vijaypath and since then, they have continued to cross milestones of their careers together. The latest being Drishyam and Drishyam 2 and now another acclaimed director, Neeraj Pandey (A Wednesday, Special 26 and M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story) is geared up to repeat their magic in his sixth directorial venture Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha! A musical romance drama, the film will span twenty years of their relationship and music composed by the celebrated MM Kreem.