Tag: WEB SERIES

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Bollywood Films Lite Blogs

Prime Video’s Power-packed Lineup

The forthcoming lineup also includes a new movie titled ‘Be Happy’, led by Abhishek Bachchan. Helmed by Remo D’Souza, it also stars Nora Fatehi, Nasser, Inayat Verma, and Johny Lever…reports Asian Lite News

From the announcement of season 2 of ‘Paatal Lok’, and ‘Mirzapur 3’ to the return of ‘Bandish Bandits’, there are close to 70 series and movies scheduled to premiere on Prime Video over the next two years. Another interesting project announced by the streaming platform is Boman Irani’s ‘The Mehta Boys’, which is his directorial debut. It features Boman Irani and Avinash Tiwary in lead roles. They are joined by Shreya Chaudhary in a pivotal role.

The forthcoming lineup also includes a new movie titled ‘Be Happy’, led by Abhishek Bachchan. Helmed by Remo D’Souza, it also stars Nora Fatehi, Nasser, Inayat Verma, and Johny Lever. The list features 40 original series and movies, and 29 films that will stream on the platform, all across Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu languages.

The streamer is releasing a web series, including the highly awaited Indian version of the Russo brothers’ Citadel Universe, ‘Citadel: Honey Bunny’, starring Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu and directed by Raj and DK, Karan Johar-backed ‘Daring Partners’, Siddharth Roy Kapur’s ‘Matka King’ starring Vijay Varma. New seasons of older franchises such as ‘Mirzapur’, ‘Panchayat’ and ‘Suzhal- The Vortex’ will be the other attractions. The original films that will be released on the platform include ‘Subedaar’, starring Anil Kapoor, and ‘Chhorii 2’, a sequel to the horror thriller that also launched on the service.
Theatrical films including Shahid Kapoor’s ‘Ashwatthama- The Saga Continues’, Tiger Shroff’s ‘Baaghi 4’, Kartik Aaryan’s ‘Chandu Champion’, and Ranveer Singh’s ‘Don 3’ will be available on Prime Video. Take a look at the slate

Baaghi 4

Produced under the banner of Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, Tiger Shroff’s ‘Baaghi 4’ will be available on Amazon Prime Video. The film will feature Tiger Shroff in the lead role.

Call Me Bae

Ananya Panday’s debut web series, ‘Call Me Bae’, was also announced. It also stars Vir Das, Gurfateh Pirzada, Varun Sood, Vihaan Samat, Muskkkaan Jaferi, Niharika Lyra Dutt, Lisa Mishra and Mini Mathur.

Be Happy

Remo D’Souza’s next directorial venture, ‘Be Happy’ stars Abhishek Bachchan in the lead role. ‘Be Happy’, produced by Lizelle Remo D’Souza, is centred on a father’s unrelenting drive to satisfy his daughter’s dreams and experience genuine joy. D’Souza, Tushar Hiranandani, Kanishka Singh Deo, and Chirag Garg collaborated on the script. Along with Bachchan, the film’s ensemble cast includes Nora Fatehi, Nasser, Inayat Verma, and Johnny Lever.

Paatal Lok Season 2

Jaideep Ahlawat starrer ‘Paatal Lok Season 2’ is also announced. The show stars Ishwak Singh, Tillotama Shome, Jahnu Barua, Gul Panag, Nagesh Kukunoor, Anurag Arora. Sharing the first look from season 2, Prime Video wrote, “Two seemingly disconnected cases get Hathiram and Ansari to work together again, sending them down the track of a nebulous conspiracy.”

Bandish Bandits Season 2

Returning with promises of more musical magic and the nuanced romance between Tamanna and Radhe is the charming world of Bandish Bandits. It features Ritwik Bhowmik, Shreya Chaudhry, Sheeba Chadha, Divya Dutta, Atul Kulkarni, Rajesh Tailang, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Rohan Gurbaxani, Yashaswini Dayama, Aaliyah Qureshi, and Saurabh Nayyar.

Subedaar

Subedaar Arjun Singh (Anil Kapoor) navigates the difficulties of civilian life while navigating a tough relationship with his daughter and social unrest in this adrenaline-fueled, high-octane thriller. Once a national defender, he now has to fight domestic enemies to protect his family and house. With Anil Kapoor in the title character, Suresh Triveni is the director and Prajwal Chandrashekar and he co-wrote the screenplay.

Daldal

In the film, Bhumi Pednekar portrays Rita Ferreira, the recently appointed DCP of Mumbai, who must contend with a ruthless serial murderer. The remaining cast members of the project, which is helmed by Amrit Raj Gupta, have not yet been revealed.

Chhorii 2

With the release of her critically acclaimed horror film Chhorii 2, Nushrratt Bharuccha will once more work her magic on the screens. It is helmed by Vishal Furia and stars Soha Ali Khan.

Stree 2

Prime Video finally bagged ‘Stree 2’ starring Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkumar Rao and more. Directed by Amar Kaushik, the film will also star Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee, and Aparshakti Khuranna.

Housefull 5

The next instalment of comedy franchise films, ‘Housefull 5’ will be available post-theatrical release. The film is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and directed by Tarun Mansukhani. Prime Video dropped the official poster and announced the release date by captioning it, “Introducing Housefull 5 with five times the laughter, madness, and confusion. #Housefull5 available post-theatrical release.”
The other titles unveiled at the event are Panchayat 3, Mirzapur 3, The Family Man 3, Singham Again and more. Prime Video also unveiled many regional titles like Surya’s Kanguva, Ghaati, Om Bheem Bush, Game Changer, Thammudu and more. Other highlights are Siddharth Roy Kapur and Nagraj Manjule’s ‘Matka King’, starring Vijay Varma, who plays a Mumbai cotton merchant who ensures that gambling doesn’t remain confined only to the elite by inventing ‘matka’. The following new releases look promising, Nikkhil Advani’s adaptation of Sanjeev Sanyal’s book, ‘The Revolutionaries’, which is based on the lives and sacrifices of our freedom fighters, Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, and Ayesha Sood’s ‘In Transit’, a documentary series that explores the lives of trans and non-binary people, ‘Daring Partners’, starring Tamannaah Bhatia, Diana Penty, and Javed Jaffrey, and Uorfi Javed’s unscripted show, ‘Follow Karlo Yaar’. (ANI)

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Films Kerala Lite Blogs

‘Kerala Crime Files’: Trailer hints at a high octane drama

Citing Paatal Lok and Delhi Crime as the main inspiration for coming up with this dark thriller, Ashiq Aimar is sure to stir up an exciting watching experience never ever seen on the Malayalam screen…reports Asian Lite News

Come June 23 2023 and the long wait for Kerala’s first thriller web series would be answered with the release of ‘Kerala Crime Files’ streaming on Disney+Hotstar.

Written by Ashiq Aimar and directed by Ahammed Khabeer, the trailer of the web series has been the talk of town and the buzz of excitement in the air has been on the surge.

With the modern Malayali audience who are well acquainted with binge watching web series and movies on platforms like Disney+Hotstar, Netflix and Amazon Prime, the announcement of this project comes with high expectations.

In an interview with the New Indian express, Ashiq Aimar narrates the pressure to deliver a quality screen experience with an equally important script that would keep the audience hooked to their seats and be mind-blowing simultaneously.

When asked about the choice of casting for the project, he says that it was a deliberate attempt to drop the big names in order to ‘avoid the predictability factor’. “Normally, when a big star is playing the investigator, people immediately assume they’ll easily catch the killer. But when you cast someone who doesn’t have the burden of a superstar persona, you get to make them look like ordinary human beings”, The New Indian Express quoted Ashiq Aimar as saying.

“When you cast someone who doesn’t have the burden of a superstar persona, you get to make them look like ordinary human beings”– Ashiq Aimar

This was a prerequisite for roles of the police officers who would appear as ordinary human beings who were bound to err in their line of duty, without which they would not do justice to the expertly crafted characters. By choosing many people’s favourites, the casting is crucial as their performance would add layers to complexity of the series.

Speaking of the format of episodic narration, he finds it quite liberating, for the space of an episode could crafted with more detailing, leading to a sound building up of the escalating suspense and intensity of unpredictable twists.

With 6 episodes running 30 minutes each, the story follows the investigation carried out by Aju Varghese and Lal in the lead roles following the murder of a prostitute along with probing into ‘the lives of the cops, their struggles, and problems in the police system and bureaucracy’. 

Citing Paatal Lok and Delhi Crime as the main inspiration for coming up with this dark thriller, he is sure to stir up an exciting watching experience never ever seen on the Malayalam screen.

The trailer of this venture oozes with a gripping, dark, gore plot and promises the audience nothing short of a classic, masterpiece in the genre of a crime investigation thriller.

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Bollywood Films

Highly-anticipated web series for month-end

The epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ books, and promises to take the viewers back to an era in which kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin with unlikely heroes being tested…reports Asian Lite News

The world of OTT is churning new content at lightning speed. Each passing day, a new web series or film is being announced or dropping on one OTT platform or the other.

As August nears its end, Lets take a look at some of the highly-anticipated web series that are premiering in the coming days on different platforms.

Maharani 2: August 25 (SonyLIV)

The first to land on the OTT platform is the second season of the Huma Qureshi-starrer political drama ‘Maharani’. The multi-season drama tells a fictional story, but is inspired by the political upheaval in Bihar in the 1990s when the then Chief Minister Lalu Prasad made his homemaker wife Rabri Devi his successor.

The second season of the show, which sees Huma playing the lead character of Rani Bharti, will see Bheema Bharti (played by Sohum Shah) stepping out of jail, and clashing with his wife Rani in pursuit of power.

Criminal Justice 3: August 26 (Disney+ Hotstar)

‘Criminal Justice’ is one of the most loved Indian shows in the OTT space. The upcoming season will see Pankaj Tripathi reprising his role as advocate Madhav Mishra facing the toughest case of his career. He will be squaring off in the courtroom with assistant public prosecutor Lekha, played by Shweta Basu Prasad.

Delhi Crime 2: August 26 (Netflix)

Third on the list is the second season of the hugely popular cop drama ‘Delhi Crime’. The first season of the Richie Mehta-directed series told the story of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape which shook the conscience of the nation and led the Parliament to pass the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 (Nirbhaya Act), which bolstered the provisions of the Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act, and Code of Criminal Procedure with regard to sexual offences.

The first season of the show had bagged the Emmy Award for Best Drama Series. The Season 2 of the show, which highlights the killings perpetrated by Delhi’s notorious ‘kachchha-banyan’ gang, features the formidable Shefali Shah, Rasika Dugal, Rajesh Tailang, Adil Hussain, Anurag Arora, Yashaswini Dayama, Sidharth Bhardwaj, Gopal Dutt, Denzil Smith, Tillotama Shome, Jatin Goswami, Vyom Yadav and Ankit Sharma.

Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives Season 2: September 2 (Netflix)

The show, which is said to be inspired by the hit international series ‘The Real Housewives’, takes into account the personal and professional lives of Neelam Kothari, Maheep Kapoor, Bhavna Pandey and Seema Khan, wives of Bollywood actors Samir Soni, Sanjay Kapoor, Chunky Panday and Sohail Khan, respectively.

Lord Of The Rings: Rings Of Power – September 2 (Prime Video)

The final show marking the list is the series adaptation of the legendary trilogy ‘Lord Of The Rings’. Titled ‘Lord Of The Rings: Rings Of Power’, the series brings to screen the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-Earth’s history.

The epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ books, and promises to take the viewers back to an era in which kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin with unlikely heroes being tested.

One of the greatest villains, which came out of Tolkien’s ink, will threaten to cover all the world in darkness. The starcast of the series was recently in Mumbai where they soaked in the colours of the city which is known for its heritage and hustle culture. ‘Lord Of The Rings: Rings Of Power’ will release in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, with new episodes dropping in every week.

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Bollywood Films Lite Blogs

Best shows for this weekend

A period biographical drama based on the life of late Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, Queen has a lifetime performance by Ramya Krishnan…reports N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe

The rise of OTT has added an altogether new paradigm to the cinema experience. Gone are the days when home entertainment meant sporadic comedy or horror shows and daily soaps. There is no dearth of the entertainment at home now, and to make the choice easier, IANSlife has compiled a list of the best shows currently streaming on MX Player.

Raktanchal

Set in the backdrop of 1980s Purvanchal, Raktanchal is a crime drama directed by Ritam Srivastav where mafia war and politics go hand in hand. Starring Kranti Sambhav of MS Dhoni The Untold Story fame and Nikitin Dheer, who was last seen in Sooryavanshi, along with Ashish Vidyarthi, Mahie Gill and Vikram Kochar, among others, Raktanchal has two seasons wherein the tussle keeps getting more fearsome. And this time, it’s not about conspiracy, but politics.

Bhaukaal

Mohit Raina, the Mahadev of Indian television, plays an upright senior police official in this series, inspired by a real event during the service period of IPS Navniet Sekera in Uttar Pradesh.

When he gets transferred to the infamous region, several attempts are made to overshadow his commitment to the betterment of society. However, he leads the force from the front and emerges a winner against the evils of society. Directed by Jatin Waghle, the cast of the series includes Abhimanyu Singh, Bidita Bag, Rashmi Rajput and Siddhanth Kapoor, among others.

Detective Boomrah

A renowned detective named Boomrah and his partner Sam come across a case where a man mysteriously appeared in a locked room and jumped from the roof to go missing midair.

When they visit Ropam Haveli, a heritage hotel property in Rajasthan, they come across unprecedented events and a hotel staff who makes Boomrah enter another era. The series directed by actor-director Sudhanshu Rai also includes in the cast Chaipatti fame Abhishek Sonpaliya, Shobhit Sujay, and Priyanka Sarkar along with Raghav Jhingran, Manisha Sharma and Garima Rai.

Aashram

Touted as the comeback of 1990s Bollywood heartthrob Bobby Deol, Aashram has brought the actor a lot of critical appreciation along with the mass appeal. Based on the happenings at an Aashram of a Guru Ji, who is revered by common people as well as the bigwigs of the region, the series shows how many are conned in the name of belief.

The series has interesting side plots running to keep you entertained throughout the three seasons. The series also stars Tridha Choudhury, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Anupriya Goenka and Darshan Kumar, among others, and has been directed by Prakash Jha.

Queen

A period biographical drama based on the life of late Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa, Queen has a lifetime performance by Ramya Krishnan.

The series follows the journey of Jayalalithaa as an actor’s daughter and a brilliant student who is compelled to enter films to earn livelihood for the family. She breaks down when denied admission at a school but eventually emerges to be one of the country’s most powerful politicians. The series also stars Anikha Surendran, Vamsi Krishna and Indrajit Sukumaran, among others.

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Bollywood Films Lite Blogs

‘The Tourist’: Engaging drama with unique approach

The series is the journey of this man trying to figure out who he is and why he is in this situation…reports Troy Rebeiro

Series: ‘The Tourist’ (Streaming on Lionsgate Play); Duration: 57 minutes per episode (Six Episodes)
Directors: Chris Sweeney, Daniel Nettheim, Cast: Jamie Dornan, Danielle Macdonald, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Damon Herriman, Alex Dimitriades, Olafur Darri Olafsson, Danny Adcock, Kamil Ellis, Damien Strouthos, Greg Larsen, Victoria Harlabidou, Alex Andreas (Rating: ***1/2)

At the very onset, be warned that you would need some patience to watch this stylishly mounted slow burn ‘Hero’s Journey’.

With a fascinating set of characters in a quirky situation in the wilderness of Australia’s threatening landscape, ‘The Tourist’ has all the trappings of an engaging drama that is unique in its approach.

This six-episode series begins with a man driving off into the scenic countryside after fuelling his car. We do not know who he is or where he is going. A truck on the road moving at a menacing speed closes up to him, threatening to crash into him, and it does crash into the car after a long-detoured chase.

The man in the car lands in the hospital with amnesia, but after another blatant attempt on his life, he wonders, “why would someone want me dead?”

The series is the journey of this man trying to figure out who he is and why he is in this situation.

Jamie Dornan plays the man, an Irish Tourist stranded in Australia with no memory and on the run. With his easy and sincere charm, and ruthless disposition of a lost man trying to find his identity, he brings plenty of intensity to the role. He is aptly supported by Danielle MacDonald, as the probationary police constable Helen Chambers, who is involved with the situation. As his “only friend,” she is pretty charming and engaging. Her character brings out the warm human element in the otherwise cold narrative.

Olafur Darri Olafsson as the intimidating mercenary Billy along with Shalom Brune-Franklin as the opportunist who changes her identity depending on the situation, Damon Herriman as the rogue Agent Lachlan Rogers, and Alex Demitriaates as the extremely wealthy and powerful Artist with nefarious International Business interests; are all interesting foil characters who deliver solid performances.

Similarly, Greg Larson as Helen’s older, demanding boyfriend Ethan Crumb, succeeds in portraying the most irritating character in the series.

The plot moving at an uneven pace may appear undramatic at first, but gradually you would notice the crafty twists and contrasting cliff-hanger moments between comedy, suggested romance, and some dark evil deeds of what human beings are capable of. The first four episode moves coherently. The fifth episode takes the stoner route after the hero accidentally over-doses himself with LSD, bringing on snatches of disjointed memory recall. And the last episode smoothly wraps up the narrative in the most unexpected ways.

The series is beautifully shot by cinematographers Ben Wheeler and Geoffrey Hall. Their wide-angle lens captures the emotions of the characters, the heat, and the bleak nature of the terrain stunningly.

Overall, the series is intriguing and engaging.

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