Biopics

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Monday directed film director Gowtham Vasudev Menon, who helmed the bilingual biopic on the late J Jayalalitha to file his response to a plea filed by the late Chief Minister's niece, Deepa Jayakumar against the movie. When the Original Application in the civil suit by Deepa Jayakumar came up, Justice Senthil Kumar Ramamoorthy directed Menon to file the counter and posted the matter to December 11. Deepa, who submitted that she was a legal heir of the late AIADMK supremo, has sought to restrain the filmmakers from going ahead with their project without her consent. The matter pertains to the announcement made by film makers A L Vijay, Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Gowtham Vasudev Menon to produce a film on the biography of late Jayalalitha. While Gowtham Menon's web series is titled Queen, AL Vijay's movie is titled Thalaivi in Tamil and Jaya in Hindi. Deepa has contended that the filmmakers did not have any legal right to produce the movie on the life and … [Read more...] about Jaya biopics under trouble after Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa files plea

Actress/Filmmaker Terri J. Vaughn, Recording Artist Debra Cox and Café Mocha's YoYo Co-Host ed an evening of Atlanta's Black Hollywood Finest to pay tribute to NAACP Theater Award Actress Vanessa Bell Calloway, Atlanta Media Legend Karyn Greer, Motivational Guru Sheri Riley, NCNW Atlanta Founder/Leader Diane Larche' and More ATLANTA---In the spirit of giving, Café Mocha Radio closed out its outstanding 2019 Salute Her Awards five-city tour by blessing others. In lieu of selling tickets for its final 2019 ceremony in Atlanta December 6 at the Riverside Epicenter (135 Riverside Pkwy, Austell, GA 30168), they asked guests to bless others by bringing a toy or a $25 gift card for entry, which will be donated to area shelters at The Nicholas House, Hosea House and Atlanta Children's Shelter. "This year has been such a blessing and we just wanted to share our good fortune with others," says Sheila Eldridge, Café Mocha Radio and Salute Her Awards founder. "The amazing women we … [Read more...] about Cafe Mocha Radio Salute Her Awards Honors Vanessa Bell Calloway

Richard Eyre recalls a conversation he had before the opening of his Carmen at the New York Met: "After the dress rehearsal, I ran into a member of the chorus, who was saying how nice it was to work with a director who knew what he wanted, and how to get it. I was flattered and said how much I'd enjoyed it too. Then she said, quite seriously: 'We normally give directors about two minutes.'" Eyre delights in such deflationary punchlines. Barely a day goes by in the collected diaries of his decade running the National Theatre, ruefully entitled National Service, without a joke at the expense either of himself, the theatre profession, politics, or all three. In one entry, Eyre, on the way back from an awards ceremony in Bucharest, is brought crashing back to earth at Heathrow airport. The police draw him aside, remove a vintage edition of Dickens from his bag, and in a scene which resembles a cross between Solzhenitsyn and Monty Python, solemnly inspect it for drugs. "What's this?" they … [Read more...] about A life in theatre: Richard Eyre

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced on Monday the list of nominees for the upcoming Golden Globes that signals the start of the awards’ season and also sets the ball rolling for possible nominees and winners at the Academy Awards. While the Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver starrer ‘Marriage Story’ led the way, the nominations list was dominated by movie stories about ‘white men’ and the significant lack of diversity, representation of colour and even overlooking the work by female directors didn’t go unnoticed. Taking to social media, many expressed their disappointment and anger over the exclusion of women who have been considered top contenders in the category — including Greta Gerwig, Lulu Wang, Lorene Scafaria and Marielle Heller. In the movie race, stories about and by women like including ‘Harriet’, ‘Little Women’, ‘Bombshell’ and ‘Hustlers’ were omitted from the major races … [Read more...] about Golden Globes nominations: Female directors snubbed yet again, netizens irked

Lyca Productions founder A Subaskaran was recently awarded with an honorary doctorate by AIMST University in Malaysia and its ceremony was held in Chennai. Speaking at the event director Mani Ratnam said that he intends to direct a film based on the life of Subaskaran. After Mani Ratnam's speech, AR Murugadoss also added that Subaskaran's life is full of interesting things and could make for a good biopic. If Mani Ratnam decides to direct the first part then he would call the shots for the sequel. Going by the keen interest of the two ace filmmakers, we can soon expect a biopic of Subaskaran. AR Murugadoss has worked on films like 'Kaththi' and 'Darbar' while Mani Ratnam has called the shots for 'Chekka Chivantha Vaanam' bankrolled by Subaskaran's Lyca Productions. … [Read more...] about AR Murugadoss and Mani Ratnam planning to direct the same story?

Myanmar's civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi was due at the United Nations' International Court of Justice in the Hague on Tuesday, defending against accusations of genocide. The Nobel peace laureate leads a delegation to defend against claims it tried to exterminate minority Rohingya Muslims in a 2017 military crackdown. Aung, once hailed as a human rights icon, was summoned to the Netherlands after the West African, muslim-majority state of Gambia launched a case against the country for breaching breaching the 1948 Genocide Convention. Acting on behalf of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Gambia will ask the court for emergency measures to stop Myanmar's "ongoing genocidal actions." "The genocidal acts committed during these operations were intended to destroy the Rohingya as a group, in whole or in part, by the use of mass murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence," Gambia said in its submission to the court. Her arrival at the court and the subsequent three-day … [Read more...] about Aung San Suu Kyi in the Hague for Rohingya genocide showdown