Bollywood

86 days ago

759 views

Farhan Akhtar to Play Pandit Ravi Shankar in Sam Mendes' Beatles Film Series; Check Full Cast Details

BY SACNILK

Farhan Akhtar is set to make his Hollywood feature film debut in Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes' ambitious four-part biopic of the legendary band, The Beatles. According to a report by Variety, the versatile Indian actor, filmmaker, and singer has been cast to portray the legendary Indian classical musician and Bharat Ratna awardee, Pandit Ravi Shankar. New casting announced for The Beatles - A Four-Film Cinematic Event, directed by Sam Mendes.Farhan Akhtar will star as Ravi ShankarLucy Boynton will star as Jane AsherMorfydd Clark will star as Cynthia (Powell) LennonHarry Lawtey will star as Stuart SutcliffeIn cinemas… pic.twitter.com/Ls0IH5NOGs— The Beatles (@thebeatles) February 12, 2026 Pandit Ravi Shankar shared a deep musical and spiritual bond with The Beatles, particularly George Harrison, and played a crucial role in introducing Indian classical music to the Western world during the 1960s and 70s. Sony Pictures confirmed the development on Thursday, unveiling a star-studded ensemble cast for this biographical musical drama. While Farhan Akhtar was previously seen in a guest role in the Marvel series Ms. Marvel (2022), this project marks his first major appearance in a global cinematic event of this scale. Directed by Sam Mendes, known for masterpieces like Skyfall and 1917, the project is designed as a unique four-film series. Each installment will tell the story of the band from the perspective of a different member—Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The films aim to challenge traditional biopic formats by showing how the four distinct viewpoints converged to create the most iconic band in history. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({})   The ensemble cast announced alongside Akhtar includes Saoirse Ronan, James Norton, Lucy Boynton , and Anna Sawai . The lineup also features Morfydd Clark , Harry Lawtey , and Aimee Lou Wood . Mendes expressed his honor in narrating the story of the greatest rock band of all time, emphasizing his excitement to explore a new style of theatrical storytelling. The screenplay for the series is being penned by a talented writing team including Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan, and Jack Thorne. Produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment in collaboration with Neal Street Productions and Apple Corps, all four films are expected to wrap filming by the end of 2026. Given the extensive post-production required for a musical event of this magnitude, this quartet of movies is positioned as one of the most anticipated theatrical releases of the late 2020s.

Tollywood

396 days ago

12.6K views

NTRNeel: Jr. NTR's 'Dragon' With Prashanth Neel To Get A New Release Date

BY SACNILK

Hyderabad, April 9 - Superstar Jr. NTR and director Prashanth Neel's maiden collaboration, tentatively titled Dragon, is all set to get a new release date. The film, produced by Mythri Movie Makers and NTR Arts, is currently in production, and the makers are set to release a big update on April 9. ## NTR-Neel/Dragon was announced a long time back, and the makers confirmed last year that it would hit the big screens during the Sankranthi festival in 2026. However, according to the latest Telugu media report, the hugely anticipated action drama will be delayed to the summer of 2026. ## It is said that Dragon will now hit the big screens on April 9, 2026, in multiple languages, and the official announcement for the same is expected to be made on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. Currently, there is no other Indian film slated for this date. ## Recently, producer Ravi Shankar said that Dragon is a unique script that hasn't been seen in Indian cinema before. He also said that it will be released in international languages and showed confidence in the movie's box office performance. It is a period action drama, set in the 1960s in Calcutta.## Stay tuned...

Tollywood

1823 days ago

2.5K views

Allu Arjun Starrer Pushpa To Have A Two-Part Release, Confirms The Producer

BY SACNILK

Hyderabad, May 13, 2021: From the last couple of weeks, there has been a buzz that Allu Arjun starrer upcoming mega budgeted film, Pushpa will release in two parts. Now, confirming the buzz, one of the producers of the film, Ravi Shankar said that it will indeed release in two parts with the second will release in 2022. ## According to producer Ravi, the decision to bring the movie in two parts was taken months back in November last year as the movie has a lot of spans that couldn't be narrated in just one part. Currently, the shoot of Pushpa has been put on hold due to the lockdown in the state. However, the producer confirmed that the first part has already been wrapped up, only a song and a couple of scenes are left to be canned for the first part. ## It is being said that the second part will be a continuation of the first one. Fahadh Faasil, who marks his Telugu debut with Pushpa, will reportadly make his entry during the climax of the first part. The makers have also ensured that the first part will be released by October or November this year, and the second will be released in quick succession in the first quarter of 2022. ## "So far we have finished 10 percent of Pushpa's second part. We are adding another song to the story as it has been split into two parts, the additional song is an item number. But we haven't yet decided on which heroine the song has to be shot", states the producer according to Spotboye.com. ## Directed by Sukumar, the second part promises to be on a different level compared to the first one, and it will be shot in some exotic locations that will be a visual feast. The movie also stars Rashmika Mandanna as the female lead. ## Pushpa is produced by Naveen Yerneni and Y. Ravi Shankar of Mythri Movie Makers in association with Muttamsetty Media. The music of the film is composed by Devi Sri Prasad, famously known as Rockstar DSP. It will release in Telugu along with dubbed versions in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, and Kannada languages. ## Stay tuned...

Bollywood

2200 days ago

2.4K views

Rishi very cultured, well-behaved since childhood: veteran film-maker Krishnamurthi

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 30 (IANS) Few may have vivid, early memories of Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor - who passed away today - as the prominent Krishnamurthi family in the Indian film industry.## The pater-familias, A. Krishnamurthi, 91, remembers how decades ago, the young Rishi -- fondly known as 'Chintu' -- would visit his father's or uncles' film sets and even played with him joyfully there.## "He was always a very well-behaved, cultured child... Even his future wife and the little child actor Neetu Singh used to play in my lap. Years later, when they got married our family relations became even stronger," A. Krishnamurthi told IANS.## The incidents he referred to were around the film "Nazrana" (1961) in which he was the production executive and interacted closely with the film's cast of big names like Raj Kapoor, Vyjanthimala, Usha Kiran, Gemini Ganesan (father of the diva, Rekha Ganesan), when the 9-year old Rishi would often drop in on the sets.## Neetu was a bubbly, lovable 5-year old child actress in Venus Pictures' superhit musical film, "Suraj" (1966) with Rajendra Kumar, Vyjanthimala, Mumtaz, Ajit, and Johnny Walker.## "Neetu started working as a child artiste with Suraj's Years later, she and Rishi married and the entire industry was genuinely happy with their Jodi'. Our long family relations with the 'Kapoor khandan' since the mid-1940s were further cemented," reminisced A. Krishnamurthi.## At 18, when Rishi Kapoor was to make his Bollywood grand debut with "Bobby", Raj Kapoor was hunting for a suitable playback voice' for his son, though there were singing stalwarts like Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Mukesh.## "Luckily, through some friends, I came to know of a young but very talented boy, Shailendra Singh and recommended him to Laxmikant-Pyarelal. After he was approved by the music-director duo and the Kapoors, Rishi called up to express his gratitude for giving him a voice' and the film industry a new singer," A. Krishnamurthi said.## As Shailendra Singh sang many songs for Rishi Kapoor, the latter apparently repaid the debt to A. Krishnamurthi by readily agreeing to break his rule and work in a key role for his son K. Ravi Shankar's maiden directorial venture, "Sindoor" (1987), under the family's banner, Tina Film International (TFI).## "I was virtually scared of even approaching Rishia Very hesitantly, I mentioned to my father that I needed him for that key role in the film which had his uncle Shashi Kapoor and Jeetendra, besides Jaya Prada, Govinda, and Neelam Kothari. When my father reluctantly broached the topic with Rishi, he promptly agreed, but on one condition - he would not charge any fees! Such was his magnanimity and down-to-earth character, and he gave a memorable performance," K. Ravi Shankar told IANS.## Later, he broke another rule for the director whom he admired a lot. "He enacted the lead in my second film 'Gharana' (1989) and one day graciously came for an early 6 am shoot - coinciding with the sunrise - probably the second time in his career, at Hyderabad,a recalls K. Ravi Shankar of that morning.## K. Ravi Shankar said coming from a big family of film-makers, Rishi Kapoor was always aware of producers' problems and pressures working on limited budgets, he never threw tantrums or indulged in 'star nakhras', avoided any exorbitant demands, remained punctual and professional.## "Once, during the Gharana' 3-week long schedule in Hyderabad, he called a production assistant and asked him to book a suite, arrange air tickets and pick his family from the airport to the five-star hotel. The worried production assistant informed me and I gave him the go-ahead That evening, Rishi came looking for me and I assured him that I had cleared it. But he said only on the condition that 'he would pay entirely for his family trip' without any arguments That were his greatness," said K. Ravi Shankar.## In 1990, he made it a point to especially flying down to Chennai for K. Ravi Shankar's wedding with Jayashree and posed for family pictures along with A. Krishnamurthi and his wife Mathuram.## TFI Executive Producer Ramya Iyer recalled how from childhood the Krishnamurthi's and Kapoors would bond at various festivals or family occasions.## "During the annual Ganeshotsav, celebrated with great enthusiasm by the Kapoors, Rishi would personally call up and invite my dad (A. Krishnamurthi), and when we went he was there to receive us at the gate without fail, and escort us inside. He was a highly cultured and humble person, respected elders, and on sets would interact with everyone right down to the spot-boys," Ramya Iyer told IANS.## TFI's producer K. Ramji, who runs his own company Tina Films Enterprises (TFE), recalled how he was once surprised to see the glittering singer-dancer costume from the mega-hit Subhash Ghai film, "Karz" (1980), starring Rishi Kapoor, Tina Munim-Ambani, Simi Garewal, and others, at Rishi Kapoor's home.## "He mentioned that he had liked it so much after the 'Om Shanti Om' number that he decided to preserve ita Four decades after the film release, the costume hangs to this day at his home-office, though he is gone now," said K. Ramji softly.## Stay tuned...

Bollywood

2253 days ago

786 views

Anoushka Shankar: Uncomfortable to see rights taken away from musicians

BY SACNILK

ew Delhi, March 8 (IANS) Grammy-nominated sitarist, composer and producer Anoushka Shankar feels film and television companies want musicians to sign their rights away, which is a 'greedy and unjust' practice. ## Asked what change does she want to see in the music industry, Anoushka told IANS: "It's uncomfortable to see more and more rights taken away from musicians. If musicians compose for film or TV for example, they should own their own intellectual property, but more and more film and television companies want musicians to sign those rights away. It's greedy and unjust." ## When it comes to gender equality in the world of music, the daughter of the late globally-renowned sitar exponent Ravi Shankar said: "I don't think gender equality is 'sweeping in' anywhere. I think it's being fought for, by tooth and nail." ## The mother of two channels her inner thoughts and her emotions through her music. "Traces of You" was about intense joy, pain and sadness, and her album "Land Of Gold", released in April 2016, was written in response to the refugee crisis. Her latest album "Love Letters", a compilation of songs written across 2018-2019, documents a time of profound flux for the artist: health issues, heartbreak, domestic upheaval. ## Despite spending so long in the industry, Anoushka still has to fight many creative challenges. ## "To continue to make music from a truthful inner place, to find the way to go in and hear that voice in a noisy world. And also, to keep my career in balance with my more important role as a mother," she said when asked about her biggest creative challenges. ## Earlier this year, Anoushka performed in India as part of her worldwide tour of her latest album "Love Letters". The tour, presented by Alchemist Marketing Solutions, marked her homecoming to the Indian sub-continent after more than two years. ## For more and the latest news about Bollywood, stay tuned to us.