‘Alcarras’ wins Golden Bear, ‘Aaraattu’ review, Bappi Lahiri tributes

Singer-composer Bappi Lahiri passes away

‘Pitching Pyaar’ is Audible’s latest offering, starring actors Shreya Dhanwanthary and Veer Rajwant Singh

Tamannaah Bhatia to play a female bouncer in ‘Babli Bouncer’

Young adult dramedy series ‘Eternally Confused and Eager for Love’ to debut on Netflix in March

Sanjay Leela Bhansali on making ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’: We were never restricted

Kamal Amrohi’s grandson Bilal to make a fictional series based on ‘Pakeezah’

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Nupur Sanon to star in ‘Noorani Chehra’

R Madhavan’s ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’ to release theatrically on July 1

Hollywood

‘Stranger Things’ to end with fifth season on Netflix

‘Forrest Gump’ trio of Tom Hanks, Robert Zemeckis, Eric Roth to reunite for ‘Here’ adaptation

Keri Russell to lead Netflix political drama ‘The Diplomat’

Oscars 2022: Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes to host ceremony

Simu Liu set to join Margot Robbie’s ‘Barbie’ movie

Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist to headline Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Challengers’

Ivan Reitman, producer, ‘Ghostbusters’ director, dies at 75

Ben Affleck and Ana De Armas’ ‘Deep Water’ to premiere on Prime Video in March

Regional cinema

Actor Nagarjuna adopts 1,080 acres to set up urban park in Chengicherla

Remembering Bappi Lahiri’s Telugu cinema chartbusters

Prime Video will adapt “Modern Love” in three Indian languages: Hindi, Tamil and Telugu

‘Arabic Kuthu’: First single from Vijay’s ‘Beast’ released

New in streaming

New on Netflix: The second season of  Space Force, the reboot of  Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a three-part documentary on Kanye West, and more.

New on Amazon Prime: Relationship drama  Gehraiyaan, the fourth season of  Killing Eve, and more.

New on Disney+ Hotstar: Mini-series  Pam And Tommy, Steven Spielberg’s musical  West Side Story, etc.

The complete list of new arrivals on streaming platforms are linked further below in the newsletter.

Essential Reading

1) Anup Singh recounts Irrfan Khan’s last dance in new book ‘Irrfan: Dialogues with the Wind’

>> The filmmaker on reliving his memories working with the late actor, to realise his new book here

2) Past forward: Why filmmakers tap into nostalgia these days

>> From  Hridayam to  Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee, all about the new trend in town here

3) Bappi-da quits the dance floor

>> Why the composer will be remembered for his infectious music and endearing personality here

4) Magical realism meets teenage drama in ‘The Sky is Everywhere’

>> Director Josephine Decker and the cast delve into the making of a story that celebrates the messiness of being young, here

5) The elusive film stars: When Ajith served a dosa

>> How celebrities were much more accessible before social media and OTT platforms came along here

6) How Céline Sciamma made the perfect pandemic film

>> The celebrated French director talks about  Petite Maman here

7) Should a reality show judge aim to be a Simon Cowell or a Jennifer Lopez?

>> From American Idol to The Voice, a look at today’s modern-day reality show mentors here

What to watch

1) Tom Holland’s  Uncharted is a plastic video game affair

Read the full review here

2) An amateurish narration of an outdated story makes  Son of India an excruciating watch

Read the full review here

3) Netflix’s latest true-crime documentary  The Tinder Swindler is a lesson in vulnerability

Read the full review here

4) In  Moonfall, Roland Emmerich is in fine fettle with this story of the moon being an alien ship and under attack

Read the full review here

Review of the week

In Aaraattu, the obsession to recapture the spirit of the old Mohanlal films is also quite evident

Read the full review here