Smoke review: Like a Mahesh Bhatt thriller with an Apple-level budget and an MX Player vibe
Rohan Naahar is an assistant editor at Indian Express online. He covers pop-culture across formats and mediums. He is a 'Rotten Tomatoes-approved' critic and a member of the Film Critics Guild of India. He previously worked with the Hindustan Times, where he wrote hundreds of film and television reviews, produced videos, and interviewed the biggest names in Indian and international cinema. At the Express, he writes a column titled Post Credits Scene, and has hosted a podcast called Movie Police.
You can find him on X at @RohanNaahar, and write to him at rohan.naahar@indianexpress.com. He is also on LinkedIn and Instagram. ... Read More
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News18
2 hours ago
- News18
Veteran Actor Prem Chopra Praises Aamir Khan's Sitaare Zameen Par, Calls It 'Fantastic'
Last Updated: In a recent video message, Prem Chopra expressed his love for both the film and Aamir's choice Veteran actor Prem Chopra has praised Aamir Khan's latest film Sitaare Zameen Par and called it 'absolutely fantastic". He also lauded the superstar for his courage and creative vision. In a recent video message, Prem Chopra expressed his love for both the film and Aamir's choice to tackle such a unique subject. Taking to their Instagram stories, Aamir Khan Productions shared Prem Chopra's video, 'Aamir just saw Sitaare Zameen Par and I am so much proud of you. Absolutely fantastic. Nobody could have the guts to make a film like this. And the voice and the sound on Youtube is so superb. The whole thing we could see so clearly and understand it. … I wish all the best. Take care and god bless you Aamir. You are great guy." Days after Aamir Khan's latest film Sitaare Zameen Par was released on YouTube with a pay-per-view option, it was reported that Apple device users can access it only after paying Rs 179. However, Aamir Khan has now clarified that the issue is due to a glitch and that his team is working to resolve it on an immediate basis. While Aamir Khan is not on social media, his production house, Aamir Khan productions, recently took to its official X handle and clarified on the issue. 'Our sincere apologies. We just became aware that the cost to rent our film Sitaare Zameen Par is reflecting as ₹179 on Apple devices. We are trying to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding," it wrote. Aamir Khan has sparked a conversation around cinema affordability with the YouTube release of his much-anticipated film Sitaare Zameen Par. Recently, the actor-producer expressed concern over the rising cost of moviegoing and shared his vision to make films more accessible to the masses through his official YouTube channel. The investment in them was very high, so the prices of tickets and eatables also increased. Just like when you go to a five-star hotel, the same things that you'd get elsewhere for a much lower price cost a lot more there because it offers many more facilities and a five-star environment." He added, 'Similarly, multiplexes have now become quite elite. Unless you have a certain level of economic earnings, you simply can't afford to go there." Made under the banner of Aamir Khan Productions, Sitaare Zameen Par stars Aamir Khan and Genelia Deshmukh in lead roles, along with 10 rising stars. The lyrics are penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya and music is composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. The screenplay is written By Divy Nidhi Sharma. The film is produced by Aamir Khan and Aparna Purohit, with Ravi Bhagchandka as the producer. First Published: August 05, 2025, 15:38 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Indian Express
5 hours ago
- Indian Express
OpenAI's Sam Altman teases GPT-5 as ChatGPT platform nears 700 million active users
After months of wait, GPT-5 may have made its first public appearance. On Sunday, August 3, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted a screenshot on X showing an interaction with the highly anticipated large language model (LLM). The post showed Altman asking GPT-5, 'What is the most thought-provoking show about AI?' to which the model responded with high praise for the science fiction series 'Pantheon'. turns out yes! — Sam Altman (@sama) August 3, 2025 According to GPT-5, Pantheon is 'cerebral, emotional, and philosophically intense' and holds a '100% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes.' The animated series does have a 100 per cent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Similar words appear in the reviews of the show. One review calls it 'gripping, cerebral, remarkably high-concept.' GPT-5 is said to have a larger context window than its predecessors. As a result, it is capable of handling more agentic tasks and comes with multimodal capabilities. GPT-5 is also widely rumoured to be adept at coding. The upcoming launch of GPT-5 comes at a time when OpenAI is facing significant pressure from its competitors who have launched new iterations of AI models over the past few months such as Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro , XAI's Grok 4, and Anthropic's Claude Opus 4. However, ChatGPT continues to witness substantial growth with the AI chatbot platform on track to reach 700 million users this week, according to Nick Turley, a vice president at OpenAI and head of the ChatGPT app. This week, ChatGPT is on track to reach 700M weekly active users — up from 500M at the end of March and 4× since last year. Every day, people and teams are learning, creating, and solving harder problems. Big week ahead. Grateful to the team for making ChatGPT more useful and… — Nick Turley (@nickaturley) August 4, 2025 'Every day, people and teams are learning, creating, and solving harder problems. Big week ahead. Grateful to the team for making ChatGPT more useful and delivering on our mission so everyone can benefit from AI,' Turley said in a post on X. Its popularity surged in March this year after OpenAI integrated an image generation feature into ChatGPT that kicked off the viral Ghibli trend on social media. OpenAI chief operating officer Brad Lightcap stated that more than 130 million users generated over 700 million images after launching the image generation feature. Its active user base grew to 500 million that month. Furthermore, the number of ChatGPT subscribers has also increased. According to Lightcap, paying corporate customers on ChatGPT rose from 3 million in June to 5 million last week. ChatGPT users utilise the app more than 12 days each month on average, ranking second only to Google and X, according to data from SensorTower. It also found that users spent an average of 16 minutes per day on the AI chatbot app in the first half of 2025.
Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Sarzameen director opens up on Ibrahim's speech issue, reveals he got film because of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani
After his debut film Nadaaniyan, also starring Khushi Kapoor, failed to impress audiences, Saif Ali Khan's son Ibrahim Ali Khan returned to our screens with Sarzameen. Co-starring Kajol and Prithviraj Sukumaran, the film marks the directorial debut of Boman Irani's son and Student of the Year actor Kayoze Irani. This time, Ibrahim won hearts with his performance, playing a character with a speech impediment, who gets kidnapped by a terrorist group only to be rescued many years later, brainwashed. The speech impediment is something Ibrahim and his character had in common. Ibrahim Ali Khan In the past, Ibrahim Ali Khan has candidly spoken about his speech impediment and hearing issues, which were caused due to a severe case of jaundice he experienced shortly after birth. Talking about Ibrahim's speech issue and his character's stutter in a recent chat with Indian Express, director Kayoze Irani shared, 'The speech issue was there in the film before Ibrahim was even a part of it. But I wanted the relatability to be there. I brought it out of him. Because the character needed to be vulnerable. In the non-aggressive scenes, I definitely wanted him to be vulnerable. So we designed the scenes around Ibrahim.' The director also revealed how Ibrahim bagged Sarzameen, which was initially meant to mark his acting debut. Kayoze shared, 'With Ibrahim, I was on the set of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023). Ibrahim was an AD (Assistant Director). He was filling in for Ranveer Singh as they were setting up the shot. Karan sir and I both were sitting behind the monitor and we felt he's got a face for the camera. So we decided to launch him. We did an audition, readings, and a six-month workshop by Atul Mongia with him. That's how we brought him onboard.' Before Nadaaniyan and Sarzameen, netizens witnessed a glimpse of Ibrahim's acting talent in a behind the scenes clip from Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (2023), where he was hilariously rejected as a prom date by Alia Bhatt as they recreated a scene from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001). Up next, Ibrahim will be seen in a sports drama titled Diler.
