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Indo-Asian News Service or IANS is a private Indian news agency. The IANS was founded by Indian American publisher Gopal Raju as the India Abroad News Service. It was later renamed the Indo-Asian News Service. The IANS has its main offices located in Noida.

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Cate Blanchett To Star In Pedro Almodovar's Maiden English Feature
1614 days ago
Hollywood

Cate Blanchett To Star In Pedro Almodovar's Maiden English Feature

Los Angeles, Jan 8 (IANS) Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett will be starring in Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar's maiden English-language feature film, 'A Manual for Cleaning Women'.## The film is an adaptation of Lucia Berlin's short story collection of the same name, which includes 43 stories about women in multiple types of demanding jobs, reports variety.com.## It was confirmed to Variety exclusively that the project is in the early stages of development, with Blanchett's production company Dirty Films producing the feature for New Republic Pictures, in association with El Deseo.## Andrew Upton and Coco Francini are producing alongside Blanchett for Dirty Films. Brian Oliver and Bradley Fischer are producing for New Republic Pictures alongside Almodovar.## Blanchett is a revered actress who has won two Academy Awards, for 'The Aviator' in supporting actress and 'Blue Jasmine' in lead actress.## She's in the awards conversation again this year for delivering two powerhouse performances in Guillermo del Toro's 'Nightmare Alley' from Searchlight Pictures and Adam McKay's 'Don't Look Up' from Netflix, with other projects on the horizon.## In addition to 'Manual', she currently has three additional films that are expected to be released in 2022 -- Todd Field's 'TAR', Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson's 'Pinocchio' and Eli Roth's 'Borderland'.## Almodovar spoke with Variety for our 'Up Next' series in December about the project, saying he was writing the script in Spanish before translating it to English. An original screenplay Oscar winner for 'Talk to Her', he's dipped his toes into English-language filmmaking with his 2020 short film 'The Human Voice' starring Tilda Swinton.## It was one of the 15 films shortlisted for live-action short by the Oscars, but ultimately missed out on a nomination. This past year, he wrote and directed 'Parallel Mothers' for Sony Pictures Classics with Oscar-winner Penelope Cruz, who won the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival.## Stay tuned...

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'Turning Red' To Have A Direct Digital Release In March
1614 days ago
Digital Media

'Turning Red' To Have A Direct Digital Release In March

Los Angeles, Jan 8 (IANS) Pixar's upcoming film 'Turning Red' is skipping theatres and will have a direct digital debut exclusively on Disney Plus on March 11. The news was announced by Disney and it will be free for subscribers.## The family-friendly animated film follows 'Soul' and 'Luca' as fellow Pixar releases that went straight to the streaming platform during the Covid-19 pandemic.## The 'Toy Story' spinoff 'Lightyear', starring Chris Evans, is still slated to release in theatres on June 17, reports variety.com.## "Disney Plus subscribers around the world enthusiastically embraced Pixar's Academy Award-winning 'Soul' and the critically-acclaimed 'Luca' when they premiered exclusively on the service, and we look forward to bringing them Pixar's next incredible feature film 'Turning Red'," said Kareem Daniel, chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, in a statement.## "Given the delayed box office recovery, particularly for family films, flexibility remains at the core of our distribution decisions as we prioritize delivering the unparalleled content of The Walt Disney Company to audiences around the world".## 'Turning Red' follows Mei Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang), a confident, dorky 13-year-old who turns into a giant red panda when she gets overly excited, which is incredibly easy to do as an excitable youngster.## The voice cast includes Sandra Oh, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Ava Morse, Hyein Park, Orion Lee, Wang Ching Ho, Tristan Allerick Chen, and Addie Chandler.## Billish Eilish and Finneas O'Connell wrote original songs for the film, which will be performed by the fictional band 4*Town. O'Connell, Jordan Fisher, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo, and Grayson Villenueva play the band members.## Domee Shi, who created the adorable Pixar short 'Bao', directs the film, which is produced by Lindsey Collins. 'Turning Red' marks Shi's directorial debut and also the first Pixar movie to be solo directed by a woman.## Stay tuned...

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Chloe Zhao Blends Sci-Fi And Human Emotions, Says 'Eternals' Producer
1614 days ago
Hollywood

Chloe Zhao Blends Sci-Fi And Human Emotions, Says 'Eternals' Producer

Mumbai, Jan 7 (IANS) Nate Moore, the co-producer of the Marvel film 'Eternals' has stated that the film's director Chole Zhao has an equal finesse in portraying human emotions and heady science fiction.## He also shared that her craft rendered a distinctive voice to each character in the film.## Commenting on the same, Moore said: "Chloe is a rare filmmaker who is as adroit with finding real human moments as she is crafting and delivering heady science fiction. We were so excited to see her work with the 'Eternals' cast".## Lauding her craft, the producer said: "She captured those special moments that give the MCU films heart and believability, and allowed each of the ten 'Eternals' to have a distinct voice and presence.## "And she's not afraid to embrace offbeat humor at unexpected times, which informed the tone of the film. Her vision and passion for the project are unmatched".## Adding further he said: "The scope of the film would be daunting for most filmmakers, but Chloe's eye for detail combined with her enthusiasm for pushing the envelope visually has given 'Eternals' a palette all its own, both from a practical locations perspective and how the visual effects in the film are expressed".## 'Eternals' produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore, features an ensemble of talents including Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, and Kumail Nanjiani.## The superhero film is set to stream on Disney+ Hotstar from January 12A in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.## Stay tuned...

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Alia Bhatt 'Flexes' Beau Ranbir Kapoor's Photography Skills
1614 days ago
Bollywood

Alia Bhatt 'Flexes' Beau Ranbir Kapoor's Photography Skills

Mumbai, Jan 7 (IANS) Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt recently uploaded pictures clicked by her partner Ranbir Kapoor on social media.## It is the first time that the actress publicly addressed Ranbir as her 'boyfriend'.## Alia took to Instagram and shared a few pictures of herself from her year-end vacation with Ranbir at an undisclosed location. She wrote in the caption, "Casually flexing my boyfriend's photography skills".## While Ranbir's mother Neetu Kapoor and Alia's mom Soni Razdan commented with heart emojis under the pictures, Alia' 'Two States' co-star Arjun Kapoor put up a quirky comment saying, "#phirseuddchale".## Alia and Ranbir had jetted off to an undisclosed location to ring in the New Year amid the wilderness. In an earlier set of pictures shared by Alia on her Instagram, Ranbir too made an appearance in one of the images.## On the work front, Alia was supposed to be seen in S.S. Rajamouli's magnum opus 'RRR' alongside Telugu superstars Ram Charan and Jr NTR. However, the third wave of the pandemic has pushed the release of the film to a later, unannounced date.## Stay tuned...

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Ram Charan: I'm A Student Who Is Going Into A Rajamouli Film
1614 days ago
Tollywood

Ram Charan: I'm A Student Who Is Going Into A Rajamouli Film

Mumbai, Jan 7 (IANS) For Telugu superstar Ram Charan, walking into an S.S. Rajamouli film, is a learning curve where he becomes a student imbibing the creative energy of his director at every instance.## The actor, who has worked with Rajamouli in the 2009 hit 'Magadheera' and the upcoming film 'RRR', said, "I always say I am not an actor going into a Rajamouli film, I am a student who is going into a Rajamouli film. I am excited to see what I am going to learn in his movie or from him".## He adds that he went on sets with the sole intention of upping his game as an actor based on his learnings from the Director, "I have gone with a clean slate and have completely unlearned to completely grasp what he brings to us as actors".## However, he mentions that one should be able to gauge the scale and vision of Rajamouli, only then the process will be fulfilled.## He said, "Scope of work for the new things that he is going to make you see if you open your antennas and wait, there are so many things that I learnt from him which in return is going to help me 'for us' in the future".## 'RRR' directed by S.S. Rajamouli, which also stars Jr. NTR and Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt was supposed to get released on January 7 but the uptick in Covid cases across the country led to makers pushing its release to a later date.## Stay tuned...

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Korean Series 'The Silent Sea' Tops Non-English Shows On Netflix
1614 days ago
Digital Media

Korean Series 'The Silent Sea' Tops Non-English Shows On Netflix

Seoul, Jan 7 (IANS) South Korean sci-fi horror series 'The Silent Sea' was the most-viewed non-English TV show over the week from December 27 to January 2 on Netflix, the global video streaming service said.## The drama, according to Yonhap News Agency, topped Netflix's official weekly chart for non-English TV programmes with 47.8 million hours of viewing for the week, vastly outnumbering 'The Queen of Flow: Season 2' with 29.5 million hours and 'Money Heist: Part 5' with 26.3 million hours.## 'The Silent Sea' is ranked No. 10, just behind the Akshay Kumar-starrer 'Sooryavanshi', on Netflix in India. The Raveena Tandon-led series 'Aranyak' and the Malayalam superhero movie 'Minnal Murali' are in the top two positions.## 'Squid Game' and 'Money Heist' are at No. 6 and 7 in India.## For 'The Silent Sea', the week in review marked a remarkable increase in viewership, as it had placed third with 22.2 million hours in the previous week. The eight-part series premiered on December 24.## It is the third Korean-language series to have topped the Netflix chart for non-English TV shows, following the global sensation 'Squid Game' released in September and Yeon Sang-ho's fantasy horror 'Hellbound' in November.## Netflix said 'The Silent Sea' made the Top 10 in the category in 77 countries over the one-week period and topped the list in six nations, including South Korea and Thailand.## Starring Bae Doo-na and Gong Yoo, the latest Netflix original is set on the moon, where a special team is tasked with finding out the secrets of an abandoned research facility, Balhae Base.## Stay tuned...

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'Butter' From BTS Ranked Most Downloaded Song In The US
1614 days ago
Youtube

'Butter' From BTS Ranked Most Downloaded Song In The US

Seoul, Jan. Jan 7 (IANS) K-pop supergroup BTS has grabbed the honor of having the most-sold digital song of the year in the United States for the second time.## 'Butter' topped the charts in the country with 1.89 million downloads sold, according to an annual year-end report released by MRC Data and Billboard jointly on Thursday (US Time), Yonhap News Agency reported.## In 2020, the group's 'Dynamite' was the top seller with 1.26 million sold.## The summery disco-pop song was released in May as the group's second English-language song and stayed for 10 non-consecutive weeks atop the 'Billboard Hot 100' chart. Including 'Butter', only 40 songs have achieved the feat in Billboard history.## Coming in a distant second place in the year-end ranking was 'Fancy Like' by Walker Hayes, which sold 499,000 downloads. 'Butter' was the only song that sold more than 1 million downloads in the United States last year.## The South Korean group, in fact, showed a strong presence in the digital song sales category. It took four of the top 10 posts, with 'Permission to Dance' in third place with 404,000 downloads; 'Dynamite' in sixth with 308,000; and 'My Universe', a collaboration single with British rock band Coldplay, in seventh place with 287,000 downloads.## BTS also topped the top-selling physical album list with its fourth full-length album 'Map of the Soul: 7' in 2020, but failed to hit the list in the year gone by.## Stay tuned...

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Armaan Malik's New English Single 'You' Filmed In Paris
1614 days ago
Bollywood

Armaan Malik's New English Single 'You' Filmed In Paris

Mumbai, Jan 7 (IANS) Bollywood singer Armaan Malik's new song titled 'You' has hit the airwaves. The love number, which is Armaan's fourth English single, is set against the backdrop of Paris.## Calling it the most romantic song of his career, the singer has dedicated it to those who can't express love out of shyness.## Featuring Armaan and Emma Declercq, 'You' depicts blossoming young love in a world that seems cynical about the very emotion.## Talking about the song and its importance for him as an artist, Armaan shares: "It's exciting for me to bring 'You' to the listeners and I'm so fortunate to have fans, who were super thrilled way before its release. Music has been a creative release for me and my idea of love found expression through 'You'".## The singer implies that it's one of his most ambitious songs of his career.## "I can't wait to hear what the listeners think about one of the most ambitious and romantic songs of my career. Love has been a recurring theme in my music and I went all out for this one. I dedicate You to those reticent ones who can't put love in words".## Presented by Arista Records (Sony Music USA) and sung by Armaan Malik, 'You' is available on YouTube and across streaming platforms.## Stay tuned...

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Jimmy Sheirgill Puts Rumours About His Television Debut To Rest
1614 days ago
TV

Jimmy Sheirgill Puts Rumours About His Television Debut To Rest

Mumbai, Jan 7 (IANS) Actor Jimmy Sheirgill opens up about the reports going around about his television debut and says it is too early to reveal anything as nothing has been finalized from his end.## As per sources, 'Udaariyaan' producers, Sargun Mehta and Ravi Dubey are all set to come up with a new show, titled 'Swaran Mandir', which is going to be a family drama. It is about a couple who are abandoned by their young children at an old age.## The makers have approached well-known actor Aman Verma and later Jimmy for the show to play a lead role. But Jimmy has not signed any contract, and neither Aman said 'yes' for the show.## Jimmy told IANS that Sargun and Ravi just narrated the idea.## "I have done a Punjabi film, 'Jindua' many years back with Sargun, so I know both of them for quite a long time. They narrated an idea to me but beyond that, no contract has been signed yet. This is too early to say anything as things have not moved ahead. I don't know how this news came out. In fact, I am also shocked that without any confirmation, these reports are going around", he says.## On his interest in doing television shows, the actor adds: "I have been occupied with movies and web shows like 'Your Honor', so doing a television serial that too if it continues for years is not possible. Of course, if something interesting comes for a short span of time, I can think of being part of it".## Jimmy started his career with the movie, 'Maachis' and later did movies such as 'Mohabbatein', A'Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai', 'Munna Bhai M.B.B.S' and also ventured in web shows among which recent one is 'Your Honor'.## Stay tuned...

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Rooney Mara To Play Audrey Hepburn In Biopic
1615 days ago
Hollywood

Rooney Mara To Play Audrey Hepburn In Biopic

Los Angeles, Jan 7 (IANS) Actress Rooney Mara will be seen playing the iconic star Audrey Hephburn in an upcoming biopic, which is in the works at Apple.## Oscar-nominated "Call Me by Your Name" director Luca Guadagnino will be helming the project, with Mara producing and 'The Giver' co-writer Michael Mitnick penning the script, reports variety.com.## Though plot details are being kept under wraps, Hepburn is an acting legend celebrated for her performances in classics like 'Breakfast at Tiffany's', 'My Fair Lady', 'Wait Until Dark', 'Charade' and 'Sabrina'.## During her four-decade career, Hepburn achieved EGOT status, winning Emmy, Oscar, Tony, and Grammy awards, the last of which she received posthumously.## Mara has won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.## She is known for her works in films such as 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo', 'Lion', 'A Ghost Story' and 'Nightmare Alley' among many others.## Stay tuned...

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'Prince of Tollywood' Mahesh Babu Tests Positive For Covid-19
1615 days ago
Tollywood

'Prince of Tollywood' Mahesh Babu Tests Positive For Covid-19

Hyderabad, Jan 6 (IANS) Tollywood hero Mahesh Babu has tested positive to Covid-19 on his return from his Christmas-New Year vacation overseas. The actor took to his social media on Thursday to post an update about his health condition.## In his brief social media post, Mahesh Babu tweeted: "To all my fans and well-wishers: Despite taking all the necessary precautions, I've tested positive for Covid-19 with mild symptoms".## The 'Prince of Tollywood' added: "I've isolated myself at home and have been following medical guidance".## He also requested all those who had come in contact with him in the recent days to get tested. And he used the occasion to "urge everyone who has not taken their vaccination to do so immediately, as it reduces the risk of severe symptoms and hospitalization". In the end, he said he hoped to be back soon.## On the work front, Mahesh Babu, who's a multiple award-winning actor and philanthropist, was the last working on the post-production of his upcoming movie 'Sarkaru Vaari Paata'.## Stay tuned...

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Dharmendra Unveils 2022 Dadasaheb Phalke Film Fest And Awards
1615 days ago
Bollywood

Dharmendra Unveils 2022 Dadasaheb Phalke Film Fest And Awards

Mumbai, Jan 6 (IANS) Veteran Bollywood star and former MP Dharmendra took to his Instagram handle on Thursday to share the reel unveiling the invitation to the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2022.## In his caption, Dharmendra wrote: "Friends, with love to you all, I'm delighted to unveil the mesmerizing invitation to India's most prestigious awards ceremony, Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival Awards 2022, in affiliation with! incredible India and Zee5".## Outlining the history and relevance of the event, which will be held in Mumbai on February 20, Dharmendra said the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival (DPIFF) was first held in 2012 and had been "applauded" by the Prime Minister's Office and the ministries of Culture and Tourism.## He pointed out that the festival and awards carry forward the legacy of Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, "lovingly known as Dadasaheb Phalke, the Father of Indian Cinema".## He concluded by claiming that it was India's "only independent international film festival, with a mission to celebrate three broad segments of cinema and the work of aspiring, young, independent and professional filmmakers". The event will be streamed live on ZEE5 on February 20 from 7 p.m. onwards.## Stay tuned...

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