A BAFTA-winning Indian film kicked off the second edition of Australia's National Indian Film Festival with a red-carpet premiere in Geelong.
NIFFA's opening night and festival scope
BOONG, a BAFTA-winning Indian film, launched the festival.
Geelong's Mayor hosted the red-carpet premiere event.
NIFFA runs from March 18 through July 5 this year.
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth are all on tour.
Regional reach beyond the big cities
Broken Hill and Alice Springs get screenings as well.
Diverse programming spans galas and industry panel discussions.
Metropolitan and outback audiences both get festival access.
Anupam Kher's lifetime-achievement honor
Anupam Kher receives the International Indian Cinema Icon Award.
His credits...
A first-time director treating his debut like a child he has to release into the world is the energy behind Ken Karunas's emotional sendoff for Youth.
Karunas's emotional attachment to Youth
Ken Karunas directed Youth as his feature-film debut.
Letting go of the project felt genuinely painful for him.
Every frame holds personal meaning from his journey.
He described the film as his own little baby.
How cinema shaped his life at 24
Cinema became his singular obsession since childhood.
Everything else gradually took a backseat to filmmaking.
Tough days broke him, but the craft rebuilt him.
Staying committed through doubt kept his dream alive.
His message to audiences before Thursday's release
Karunas built every scene with audience...
A casual on-set conversation apparently snowballed into Robert Pattinson landing a role in Dune: Part 3 after Zendaya hinted she could make introductions.
How Pattinson says he got the gig
Robert Pattinson asked Zendaya about Dune while filming The Drama.
Zendaya joked she knew somebody who could help.
Months later, an unexpected call came through for him.
Pattinson genuinely suspects she pulled some strings for it.
Pattinson on playing Scytale
His character Scytale defies a simple good-or-bad label.
Even Pattinson himself doesn't know which side Scytale picks.
He called the look for it absolutely extraordinary.
Moral ambiguity is what makes the role compelling.
Denis Villeneuve's vision for Part 3
Denis Villeneuve set the story...
A launch-day tech glitch knocked the Malayalam and Kannada versions of Dhurandhar offline while the Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu prints rolled out on schedule.
Language delays and ticket options
Aditya Dhar confirmed that Malayalam and Kannada shows got pushed.
Thursday morning is the rescheduled start for both versions.
Hindi shows kicked off from 5 pm as planned.
Tamil and Telugu screenings began from 9 pm onward.
Refund and alternative viewing choices
Ticketholders can grab a refund for delayed shows.
Watching the Hindi version with subtitles is another option.
Dhar's note apologized for the inconvenience to fans.
Unforeseen technical difficulties caused the entire holdup.
Dhar's spoiler-free request to viewers
He urged audiences...
A T20 World Cup winner geeking out over sports scenes on a film set just gave the Peddi crew a massive confidence boost before its April 30 release.
Tilak Varma's visit to the Peddi set
Tilak Varma stopped by and met Ram Charan personally.
Buchi Babu Sana posted a video of the meetup.
Varma caught sports sequences and came away impressed.
Charan gifted him an autographed Peddi bat.
Varma's reaction hyped up the team
Emotional weight in the sequences struck Varma deeply.
His response reinforced the crew's faith in authenticity.
Both celebrities addressed the entire unit together.
Varma spoke to the gathering in Telugu.
Peddi's cast and crew lineup
Ram Charan leads, with Janhvi Kapoor as his co-star.
Shiva Rajkumar, Jagapathi Babu...
A three-year-old Kannada shoot just boomeranged into a full-blown controversy after the Hindi dub surfaced with lyrics Nora Fatehi never approved.
Fatehi's explanation of the timeline
Nora Fatehi filmed the song three years ago.
Kannada was the original language for the track.
Sanjay Dutt's involvement sold her on the project.
She relied on filmmakers for lyric translations on set.
Her issues with the makers' decisions
Fatehi never approved the Hindi-dubbed lyrical version.
Unflattering photos got used without her sign-off.
An AI-generated image of her and Dutt appeared.
She flagged backlash concerns directly to the director.
Why she stayed quiet at the launch
Respecting the media and filmmakers kept her composed.
Internally, she...
A cheque-bounce conviction just handed Rajpal Yadav one final shot at settling his debt before the court loses patience entirely.
Yadav's courtroom defense on Wednesday
Rajpal Yadav admitted to taking the loan in court.
He claimed Rs 22 crore went into the film.
Property papers worth Rs 28 crore were brought as proof.
Yadav argued he already served jail time for it.
Where the money stands right now
Murli Projects Pvt Ltd filed the original complaint.
Payments totaling Rs 4.25 crore have been made already.
A fresh demand draft of Rs 25 lakh dropped today.
His interim bail expires on March 18.
The court's final warning to the actor
Judges told Yadav this is absolutely his last chance.
Returning the full amount ends the entire case...
A Maharashtrian New Year celebration is pulling heartfelt nostalgia out of two TV actors ahead of Thursday's Gudi Padwa festivities.
Shilpa Shinde's Gudi Padwa memories
Shilpa Shinde plays Angoori Bhabi on Bhabiji Ghar Par Hai 2.
Colorful Gudis outside every home defined her childhood.
Her mom's puran poli and shrikhand set the mood.
She still keeps it simple with family and rituals.
Amitabh Ghanekar's festival traditions
Amitabh Ghanekar portrays Panoti Mama on Gharwali Pedwali.
Hoisting the Gudi symbolized victory and good fortune.
His mother whipped up a grand festive food spread.
Rangolis and new outfits completed the neighborhood vibe.
Ghanekar's plans for this year
Celebrating with family stays the top priority.
He wants to...
A lonely-housewife role is dragging Pavitra Punia straight into a crime-thriller lane she has never explored before.
Punia's new character in Zung
Pavitra Punia plays Kaveri on Hungama OTT's Zung.
Kaveri is a housewife stuck in a loveless marriage.
Her escape attempt spirals into crime and manipulation.
Punia called it the most unique role she has tackled.
How she prepped for the part
Bingeing thriller films helped her nail the intensity.
Every episode packs twists that keep viewers guessing.
Unpredictability was the vibe she chased for Kaveri.
Cast and release details
Sandeep Anand, Aabhas Mehta, and Zohaiib Asshraf co-star.
Zung dropped on the platform on Wednesday.
Punia recently got engaged to Jaskomal Singh offscreen.
