Latest Bollywood News Today Transcript at 11:30 AM on 22 May 2023
In our top story. Filmmakers Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap are currently in France at the 76th edition of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival 2023. Motwane and Kashyap, who walked the red carpet, struck a pose together before attending the premiere of director Martin Scorsese’s film Killers of the Flower Moon. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. Kashyap and Motwane are in Cannes for the film Kennedy. The Anurag Kashyap directorial has been selected for a Midnight screening at the film festival. Kennedy stars Sunny Leone, Rahul Bhat and Abhilash Thapliyal in pivotal roles. Recently, Motwane garnered appreciation for his latest release, the Prime Video series, Jubilee.
Anurag Kashyap is one of the most celebrated filmmakers in the history of Indian cinema. From the two-part Gangs of Wasseypur series, Black Friday and Dev D to Raman Raghav 2.0, his films played a key role in putting Indian cinema on the world map, despite the violent themes they portray. Kashyap’s latest directorial, Kennedy, is said to premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. In a recent interview with Film Companion, the 50-year-old filmmaker opened up about his relationship with violence. He shared – “I have a very complicated relationship with violence. If I see blood in real life, I faint. This is why in my films, the violence will be extreme as the audience’s imagination is so vivid.”
Kennedy actor Rahul Bhat has been in the limelight for a very long time. In a recent interview with indianexpress.com, the actor spoke about his journey. He shared – ” I have not struggled, I need to say this. It is perseverance. I could have gone on and on and fizzled out or I could say enough, I have other options. But I wanted to be an actor. I was lucky enough that I got into modelling. I also became Graviera Mr India. I started modelling for top brands and walking the ramp for top designers. Everything kind of came my way very quickly but I had no experience in acting. But, cinema somehow has kept me going.”
Moving on. It has now been over a fortnight since Sudipto Sen’s controversial film The Kerala Story hit the screens. The controversial film continues to generate discussions among the public and on social media. Now, renowned filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has come out in support of The Kerala Story while criticising Bollywood. The filmmaker wrote on Twitter – “We are so comfortable in telling lies to both others and ourselves that when someone goes ahead and shows the truth, we are shocked. That explains the death-like silence of Bollywood on the shattering SUCCESS of The Kerala Story.” The Sudipto Sen film has already emerged as the second biggest hit of the year.
Bollywood actor Sara Ali Khan, daughter of well-known stars Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh, maintains that all connections and relationships that she has forged in the Hindi film industry, she has done by herself. In a new interview, with Film Companion, she said – “Every relationship I have established in the film fraternity has been a very independent equation, which is very nice because I have never felt the pressure to follow through with my father’s friends or my mother’s friends.” Sara made her red carpet debut at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. Sharing her thoughts on her debut, Sara said, “It’s kind of a reality check. Suddenly you realise just how small a fish you are.”
Meanwhile, on Saturday, 20th May, the makers of the highly-anticipated film Adipurush unveiled its first song, titled ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Starring Prabhas, Kriti Sanon, and Saif Ali Khan, Adipurush has been making headlines for a while now, for its poor VFX, which caused a delay in its release. The film now debuts on June 23rd, with refined effects, which can be seen in the new music video. The song offers a glimpse into the film’s emotional moments and action scenes. From the majestic portrayal of Hanuman, who sets ablaze Raavan’s kingdom, to the historic sight of Ram and his mighty sena paving a path to Lanka across the ocean, the song effectively sets the tone for the epic film.
Manoj Bajpayee is one of the finest working artists in Indian cinema today. But there was a time when even someone of his calibre had thought about quitting the movie business and returning home after facing early rejection. Speaking on Rajat Sharma’s Aap Ki Adalat, the actor revealed that it was veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt who advised him to stay. Bajpayee shared – “Bhatt sahab gave me a lot of respect and motivated me. I don’t know what he saw in me. He said ‘Don’t go because you are the kind of actor, who is made for this city and cinema. The city will give you a lot. You can never imagine it in your wildest dreams.’ “
Lastly, Actor Sushmita Sen took a trip down memory lane and remembered the day she became the first Indian to win Miss Universe. She shared a photo from 29 years ago when she was just 18 years old, and recalled how the photographer reacted to her winning the crown. Taking to her Instagram handle, Sushmita wrote in the caption, “This picture is exactly 29 years old, shot by the epic man & photographer Prabuddha Dasgupta. In the rawness of this picture, he beautifully captured an 18-year-old me. With a smile he said, you realise you’re the first Miss Universe I’ve ever shot…I proudly added it’s actually INDIA’s first ever Miss Universe.”