From the Indian movies making waves on the festival circuit to the news that Manoj Bajpayee-starrer 'The Family Man' was trending around the world, catch-up with these five stories from the entertainment industry you need to know before the month is over.
'Pagglait' creators to collaborate on three more films
Following the success of ‘Pagglait’, its writer/director, Umesh Bist, and producers Sikhya Entertainment and Balaji Telefilms have entered an agreement to make three more films together. ‘Pagglait’ premiered on Netflix earlier this year and featured Sanya Malhotra in the lead as a widow who is surprisingly unaffected by her husband’s death. The dark comedy is the first co-production between Guneet Monga's Sikhya and Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji. On the partnership, Bist told Firstpost, "As a filmmaker, all you want is a collaborative ecosystem where the team puts all their might in doing the best for the movie and I am glad I found this in Sikhya and Balaji."
YouTube docu-series 'Creators for Change' featuring Prajakta Koli wins a Daytime Emmy
YouTube's Original documentary series ‘Creators for Change’ recently bagged the prize for Outstanding Daytime Non-Fiction Special at the 48th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards announced on June 25. The documentary featured popular Indian YouTuber, Prajakta Koli (best known on the internet as @mostlysane) and two other prominent YouTube creators—Liza Koshy and Thembe Mahlaba—in conversation with the former FLOTUS, Michelle Obama.
Titled ‘Why 98 Million Adolescent Girls Aren’t in School’, the documentary highlights the many hurdles young girls in India, Vietnam and Namibia have to overcome in pursuit of education. On winning the award, Koli said in a statement, "So grateful to Mrs Obama for letting me be a part of this wonderful project...What a feeling."
Manoj Bajpayee-starrer 'The Family Man' trended as the 4th most popular show globally
Ranking just beneath big hits like ‘Loki’, ‘Sweet Tooth’ and ‘Mare of Easttown’, producers Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK's show ‘The Family Man’ came in fourth on IMDB's list of 'Most Popular TV Shows Worldwide' after season two premiered on Amazon Prime on July 4. The show, starring Manoj Bajpayee in the lead, beat out popular TV shows like 'Friends', 'Breaking Bad' and 'Game of Thrones' to secure its spot.
Another feather in the cap of the show's creators, the trailer of the hotly-anticipated second season of 'The Family Man' (that released in June earlier this year) racked up over 50 million views on YouTube. Which begs the question: is season three in the offing? While Bajpayee said it is at least two years away, Raj & DK confirmed "We are behind this time."
Pan Nalin's ‘Last Film Show’ wins the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival
Indian-origin filmmaker Pan Nalin’s ‘Last Film Show’ ('Chhello Show') was the runner-up of the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival where it also had its world premiere. Produced by Dheer Moya of Jugaad Motion Pictures, the Mumbai-based boutique production house behind Prateek Kuhad’s ‘cold/mess’ music video and indie movie ‘Teen Aur Adha’, the film follows the life of a nine year-old-boy who falls in love with the world of cinema. Partly autobiographical (for Pan Nalin), the film is set in Saurashtra, Gujarat and explores the time when India's cinemas bore witness to the transition from celluloid to digital films. Pan Nalin on July 14 took to Instagram to share that Samuel Goldwyn Films had acquired all US distribution rights to 'Last Film Show' that is represented internationally by Orange Studio.
Highlights reel: India at the 74th Festival de Cannes
Director Payal Kapadia’s ‘A Night Of Knowing Nothing’ is the Film and Television Institute (FTII) alum's second film to be screened at Cannes. She made her debut at the film festival in 2017 with a short film titled 'Afternoon Clouds', the only Indian film to compete at Cannes that year. 'A Night Of Knowing Nothing’ was screened as part of part of the Directors' Fortnight section at the 74th Festival de Cannes in July, and won the prestigious Oeil d'Or award for 'Best Documentary'. The film's logline reads - “L, a university student in India, writes letters to her estranged lover, while he is away. Through these letters, we get a glimpse into the drastic changes taking place around her. Merging reality with fiction, dreams, memories, fantasies and anxieties, an amorphous narrative unfolds.”An Indo-French production, the film also received backing from Sundance Institute Documentary Fund Grantees.
Marking director Rahul Jain’s Cannes debut, a 70-minute-long documentary on the terrible impact of climate change called 'Invisible Demons' premiered in the 'Cinema for Climate Program' at the Festival de Cannes on July 12. Speaking to Times of India, the filmmaker said he felt "physically compelled"to make the film after a 2016 visit to his hometown—and one of the world's most polluted cities—New Delhi. The filmmaker said he fell extremely sick on this trip because of the city's dangerously-poor air quality, and was forced to take precautions to safeguard himself. This motivated him to document New Delhi's abysmal climate health in a film that was co-financed by well-known, LA-based production company, Participant. On his decision to focus the impact of climate change within Delhi's geographical boundaries, Rahul said, "If the film...is focused on one city...in the news for being the most polluted spot on earth, and also my hometown, it just felt like the right limit or structure to pursue." 'Invisible Demons' was produced by Toinen Katse and Ma.Ja.De. Film Produktions, with the support of FFF-MDM-YLE-AVEK.
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