Latest Bollywood News Today Transcript at 11:30 AM on 17 May 2023
In our top story: The Tamil Nadu government has told the Supreme Court that the makers of the controversial film, ‘The Kerala Story‘ have made deliberately misleading statements that the government has imposed a ‘shadow ban’ on the movie, however, theatres stopped screening the film due to poor audience response. An affidavit filed by Tamil Nadu said, “The exhibitors have themselves stopped the screening due to the poor response and the government cannot do anything to increase the audience patronage for the said film, except to provide security to the cinema theatres. The State deployed more police forces in every multiplex so that cinema goers can watch the movie without any law and order issues.”
Meanwhile, The Sudipto Sen directorial, ‘The Kerala Story’ has been getting a good run in the theatres ever since its release. The film has already earned Rs 147.04 cr domestically. The Kerala Story is based on the alleged radicalisation of Kerala women by Islamic fundamentalists. The film has been made tax-free in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. But it was banned in West Bengal by the state CM Mamata Banerjee. Speaking to News18, about the controversy surrounding the film, lead actor Adah Sharma shared – “The film is doing even better now than it was before. They cannot call it propaganda because people from abroad are also saying that such things exist.”
On Monday, 15th May, Amitabh Bachchan took a bike ride from a stranger to reach his movie set location on time, and Anushka Sharma ditched her car and opted for a bike ride to dodge a roadblock. After their pictures went viral on social media, netizens observed how in both cases, neither the actors nor the drivers were wearing helmets. Now, Mumbai Police has said it will take action against the two stars. The Mumbai Police tweeted – “We have shared this with the traffic branch.” All bikers are required to wear helmets while riding their bikes in Mumbai. Last year, the Mumbai Traffic Police had stated that they will take action against helmetless pillion riders as well.
Moving on. Actors Sara Ali Khan, Esha Gupta and Manushi Chhillar graced the red carpet on the opening day of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday, 16th May. The 76th edition of the prestigious film festival kicked off with the premiere of the period drama Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp. While Sara wore an Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla golden embroidered lehenga, Esha looked stunning in a Nicolas Jebran couture gown. Manushi, meanwhile, chose a white gown by Fovari. Before entering the screening of Jeanne du Barry, Sara Ali Khan interacted with Brut and said, “I am a bit nervous. I have always aspired to be here. I can’t believe I am here today.”
The makers of Adipurush did some major damage control with the trailer of the film, which showed that the Prabhas-starrer had been reworked after the trolling and criticism its teaser received. The VFX is better than what was seen in the teaser. Now, with just one month to go before the theatrical release, the makers have released a new poster for the film. In the poster, Prabhas is seen wielding his bow and standing on top of Bajrang played by Devdatta Nage. The image is from the epic war in Lanka. Directed by Om Raut, the film also stars Kriti Sanon, Saif Ali Khan, Sunny Singh and Vatsal Sheth.
Meanwhile, Priyanka Chopra Jonas is on a world domination spree. However, she said that at one point she wanted to quit because she was tired of the rejection. The actor told Grazia in a new interview, “There were so many times I wanted to quit. I felt dismissed and patronised on set like people didn’t believe I could do my job. I had taken such a big risk leaving my career in India and that was a concern. I felt like I had bitten off more than I can chew.” In a first for any actor, Priyanka will be appearing on the cover of 12 editions of the magazine across the globe further highlighting her global superstardom.
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap reflected on the critical and commercial failure of his 2015 gangster film Bombay Velvet, which completes eight years of release this week. He said that he learnt a lot after watching his close collaborator Vikramaditya Motwane’s recent Prime Video series Jubilee. Speaking to The Times of India, Kashyap said that Motwane achieved ‘more with less’ in the 10-episode drama, set only a few years before the events shown in Bombay Velvet. Had his budget been restrained, Kashyap said, he would’ve made a better film. Kashyap also defended his decision to cast Karan Johar as the flamboyant filmmaker in Bombay Velvet, and said, “He didn’t let me down, I let him down.”
Lastly, “Kennedy” is darker than what Anurag Kashyap explored in “Ugly”, says actor Rahul Bhat who believes his role of a cop-turned-assassin is the director’s version of an “angry middle-aged man”. Bhat told PTI in an interview – “There was once a time when Salim-Javed gave us the angry young man in Deewaar. And this is Anurag’s version.” The upcoming noirish thriller follows the titular character working for a corrupt police force with scores to settle. It marks Kashyap and Bhatt’s third collaboration. With “Kennedy”, Kashyap is returning to the Cannes Film Festival where he previously presented “Raman Raghav 2.0”, “Bombay Talkies” and the two-part gangster drama “Gangs of Wasseypur”.
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