Kerala YouTuber Santhosh Varkey, aka Arattannan, arrested for alleged sexist remarks on woman actor

Santhosh Varkey, popularly known as Arattannan The Kochi City police have arrested Santhosh Varkey, popularly known as Arattannan, a Kerala YouTuber and social media figure known for his rather over-the-top comments on films. He was taken into custody by the Ernakulam Town North police. According to initial reports, non-bailable charges have been invoked against him … Read more

‘The Last of Us’, ‘Logout’ and ‘Khauf’ deliver chills and thrills

Pedro Pascal in The Last of Us | Photo Credit: Special arrangement Three thrillers, three kinds of fear — from post-apocalyptic grief to digital dread and real-world horror, this week’s picks remind us that escape isn’t always comforting. Sometimes, it’s confronting. Whether it’s the infected, the haunted, or the hyper-online — each story hits a nerve, … Read more

Rima Kallingal on winning the best actor award at the Kerala Film Critics Awards, acting in an Anjali Menon film and being a dancer

Gratitude. Rima Kallingal sums it up with one word when I ask her what she is feeling. Winning the Kerala Film Critics Awards for the Best Actor, praise for her Sree Kanya in the segment Backstage, directed by Anjali Menon, part of the coming of age anthology Yuva Sapno Ka Safar and the astounding response … Read more

‘Sarangapani Jathakam’ movie review: Mohanakrishna Indraganti and Priyadarshi’s film is laughter therapy

Roopa Koduvayur, Priyadarshi in the film | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Oscar Wilde’s semi-comic tale Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime, published in 1891, follows an aristocrat’s absurd efforts to commit a murder before marrying his fiancée — purely because a palm reader foretells it as his destiny. Writer-director Mohanakrishna Indraganti reimagines this premise within the framework … Read more

‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ to release a week early in India; here’s the new release date

Tom Cruise | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Ethan Hunt will be meeting us earlier than expected! Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is all set to hit theatres soon, and Indian fans of the franchise have another reason to rejoice. The Tom Cruise starrer is hitting Indian theatres 6 days ahead of schedule. With the … Read more

‘Jewel Thief – The Heist Begins’ movie review: Saif Ali Khan struggles in a generic, juvenile thriller

Saif Ali Khan in ‘Jewel Thief’ | Photo Credit: MANAS GODARA With the OTT platforms investing more energy and intensity into the long form, feature films are languishing like one-day cricket. Rehan (Saif Ali Khan), a rakish thief, is hired by Rajan Aulakh (Jaideep Ahlawat), a criminal in the garb of an art collector, to … Read more

Drug threat: Kerala Police to hold closed-door talks with Malayalam film industry stakeholders

Illustration: Satheesh Vellinezhi The Kerala Police will convene a meeting of film producers, actors and distributors in Kochi on Saturday (April 26, 2025) to address the allegedly pervasive use of narcotic drugs in the entertainment industry.  Manoj Abraham, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, told The Hindu that synthetic drug abuse plagued … Read more

Aamir Khan skips ‘Andaz Apna Apna’ screening after Pahalgam attack, says he was ‘badly affected’

FILE: Bollywood actor in New Delhi, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. | Photo Credit: Manvender Vashist Lav The heinous terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir that left 26 people dead and several injured has shaken all of India, and many entertainment shows, concerts, and film events have been cancelled. Now, on Thursday (April 24), … Read more

Phule’s mission is incomplete, says director Ananth Mahadevan on his biopic on social reformer Jyotiba Phule

“It’s an urgent film to make,” says Ananth Mahadevan amid an intense conversation on his upcoming biopic of the social reformer Jyotiba Phule. As an actor, Ananth often plays a mild-mannered man, but as a filmmaker, his choice of subjects is anything but soft. From Gour Hari Dastan to Mee Sindhutai Sapkal, he has raised many pressing issues through … Read more

All bark no bite: The toothless critiques of Hollywood’s anti-capitalist media

Overcoming the one-inch tall barrier that most vernacular language films get buried under, Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite took home four Oscars at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020, including Best Picture, becoming the first non-English film to do so. The lockdowns that followed soon after restricted the masses to the four walls of their houses as they … Read more

Phule’s mission is incomplete, says director Ananth Mahadevan on his biopic on social reformer Jyotiba Phule

“It’s an urgent film to make,” says Ananth Mahadevan amid an intense conversation on his upcoming biopic of the social reformer Jyotiba Phule. As an actor, Ananth often plays a mild-mannered man, but as a filmmaker, his choice of subjects is anything but soft. From Gour Hari Dastan to Mee Sindhutai Sapkal, he has raised many pressing issues through … Read more

‘Andor’: Understanding the politics of sexual violence in ‘Star Wars’ and its backlash from fans

A curious phenomenon has always plagued the Star Wars fandom. It’s this frustrating reverence for rebellion and the fantasy of resistance neatly repackaged for family-friendly consumption without the stomach for reality. But in the third episode of Andor’s second season, showrunner Tony Gilroy commits an act more transgressive than anything we’ve witnessed so far from … Read more

‘Gangers’ movie review: Vadivelu almost saves Sundar C’s low-stakes heist comedy

A still from ‘Gangers’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Two clips from recent promotional interviews went viral for the most ironic reasons. A Telugu producer asserted that there’s no nepotism in their film industry, and closer home, Sundar C, while promoting his movie Gangers, said his films never have double-meaning dialogues or suggestive sequences. Of … Read more

Watch: Is Andaz Apna Apna still relevant? | FOMO Fix

Watch: Is Andaz Apna Apna still relevant? | FOMO Fix Film critics and buddies Raja Sen and Sudhish Kamath take a nostalgic deep-dive into Andaz Apna Apna, the cult comedy classic re-releasing in cinemas this week. From crime master Gogo’s chaos to Salman’s scene-stealing comic timing, they debate whether the film still works today — or if it’s just a … Read more

‘Firefly’ movie review: Vamshi’s debut is a visually experimental character study of a man fighting grief

Vamshi in ‘Firefly’. | Photo Credit: Anand Audio/YouTube How long does it take for us to overcome grief? The most sensible answer, perhaps, is that grief isn’t the same for everyone. For Vicky (Vamshi), in Firefly, the tragedy of losing his loved ones puts him through phases of denial, anger, depression, and acceptance. Vicky returns to Mysuru … Read more

Hyderabad’s Annapurna Studios, celebrating its 50th year, to introduce motion capture facility soon

Virtual Production Stage at Annapurna Studios | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement Tucked away at Annapurna Studios Annexe, Hyderabad, is the ANR Sound & Vision unit, a post-production facility that enables filmmakers to get a holistic picture of the final output before a film is released in theatres. This unit, with a Virtual Production Stage and … Read more

Nagarjuna Akkineni: My father envisioned Annapurna Studios as a space where dreams turn into reality

Inside the expansive Annapurna Studios and its Annexe in Hyderabad, film units are busy shooting feature films, television shows, and web series across its 12 floors and backlots. Elsewhere, teams are at work in post-production, shaping content for final release. Meanwhile, students at the Annapurna College of Film and Media are learning the fundamentals of … Read more

Fawad Khan’s ‘Abir Gulaal’ faces further fallout after Pahalgam attack as songs pulled from YouTube

Vaani Kapoor and Fawad Khan in a still from ‘Abir Gulaal’ | Photo Credit: A Richer Lens Entertainment The upcoming Indo-Pak collaboration Abir Gulaal has been caught in the political crossfire following the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, which left 26 people dead. Just weeks before its scheduled May 9 release, the film starring … Read more

‘Heads of State’ trailer: Priyanka Chopra Jonas is an MI6 agent in this globetrotting adventure

A still from ‘Heads of State’ trailer. | Photo Credit: Prime Video Actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas is essaying the role of an MI6 agent, Noel Bisset, in Prime Video’s upcoming action-adventure Heads of State alongside actors John Cena and Idris Elba. Produced by Peter Safran and John Rickard, and directed by Ilya Naishuller, the film … Read more

‘Predator: Badlands’ trailer: Elle Fanning forms an unlikely alliance with Yautja outcast

A still from ‘Predator: Badlands’ | Photo Credit: 20th Century Studios The Predator franchise is taking a bold turn with its latest chapter, Predator: Badlands, and the first teaser trailer hints at an unexpected partnership at the heart of the story. Elle Fanning stars as Thia, a survivor who forms a fragile alliance with a … Read more

‘Conclave’ streaming explodes after Pope Francis’ death, viewership jumps 283% to 7 million minutes

A still from ‘Conclave’ | Photo Credit: Focus Features In the wake of Pope Francis’ passing on April 21, viewers flocked to streaming platforms to watch Conclave, the 2024 drama centered on the secretive process of selecting a new pope. According to data from Luminate, the film saw a staggering 283% surge in viewership, jumping … Read more

Harvey Weinstein’s #MeToo rape retrial opens with added allegations from a former model

Harvey Weinstein’s #MeToo retrial opened Wednesday, giving a new jury a fresh look at familiar rape and sexual assault allegations — plus a newly added claim from a former model. For the first time, prosecutors publicly identified Kaja Sokola and detailed her account of what unfolded between her and the Oscar-winning movie producer in the … Read more

Watch: Nushrratt Bharuccha interview: Beyond Punchlines: On Power, Purpose & Punchnama

Nushrratt Bharuccha interview: Beyond Punchlines: On Power, Purpose & Punchnama | Video Credit: Sudhish Kamath Nushrratt Bharuccha gets real about the road from Love Sex Aur Dhokha to Chhori 2, navigating judgment, typecasting, and identity in an industry that loves a punchline.  In this rare, unfiltered conversation, we talk about the evolving gender politics in her roles and our movies, … Read more