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India Today
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Black, White and Gray: The uncomfortable fiction of this highly rated crime series
Imagine this: you're cosied up on your couch, popcorn in hand, ready for your usual true crime binge. You hit play on SonyLIV's latest show 'Black, White and Gray - Love Kills', and ten minutes in, you're convinced you're knee-deep in a Netflix-style crime documentary. There's moody narration, dim lighting, flashback cuts, and lovers with secrets - thicker than a plot twist in any ordinary crime drama. But here's the catch: it's not a documentary. Yes, 'Love Kills' is pure fiction. But it's crafted so realistically, it'll have you googling about its just say the creators of 'Love Kills' knew exactly what they were doing. The show is structured like a true-crime series, each episode presenting a new narrative of love gone dark - think 'Indian Matchmaking' meets 'Crime Patrol' with HBO aesthetics. But, instead of interviews with real people, we get flawless acting and dramatisations so tight, you feel like you're watching newly discovered footage of someone's spiralled real-life relationship, only with an expectation of a 'Based on true events' line to pop in Nagpur 2020, this six-episode binge-worthy series throws you headfirst into the mind of Daniel Gray - a UK-based filmmaker with a serious obsession with unearthing the secrets India has buried. And let's just say, his documentary style is instantly gripping. Like, cancel-all-your-other-plans kind of gripping!advertisement The story kicks off with Gray investigating a jaw-dropping case involving a 26-year-old man accused of killing four people - and not just anyone - the woman he claimed he loved, a police officer, a young boy, and a cab driver. At first glance, 'Black, White and Gray' might look like your typical true crime docu-thriller with the whole 'what happened, who did it, and why' formula. But, hold on to it, because this show flips the script real quick. By the end of episode one, you're not asking 'whodunnit,' you're asking, 'Wait, what did I just watch?'This isn't your standard plot-twist-for-clout type of deal. The story refuses to be neatly packed into good vs evil. It's murky, it's messy, and it thrives in the uncomfortable middle. Truth? Not so black and white - and that's the whole slick dramatised re-enactments, the show almost had me buying into the story as pure fact - and honestly, it did it with more conviction and cinematic flair than most. The documentary filmmaker doesn't just scratch the surface - he goes full detective, interviewing everyone even remotely tied to the case: the lead investigator, grieving families, the girl's best friend, a woman cop, the hired hitman, the eyewitnesses, the accused's parents, and finally, the accused once you feel you're settled with your version of truth, believe everything that is shown, carefully listen to each version of the story, extract your own information from it, and right there you also begin to question the reality of all of it. However, no matter how convincing it gets, it hits you hard when you realise it's a mockumentary (Yes!) rather than a true-crime documentary, making it feel like a personal that, right there, that's where 'Love Kills' separates itself from the crowd. It's not just another crime show - it's a deep dive into obsession, truth, and the very blurry line between storytelling and reality. It says, 'What if we made it all up but made it look TOO real?' And somehow, it's scarier. Because now you're not just fearing real-life creeps, you're scared of how believable fiction can be. It blurs the lines, and in doing so, mirrors how messy and complicated real relationships can feel.'Black, White and Grey - Love Kills' is a mind game. It lures you in with its true-crime coat, then punches you in the gut with emotional depth and masterful storytelling. It's fiction, yes, but it'll haunt you like a cold case you never solved.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Inter Milan and Barcelona produced a legendary semi-final – but where does it rank in Champions League history?
After a game that pushed emotions to extremes, an exhausted Simone Inzaghi became philosophical. 'Yes, we suffered,' the Inter Milan manager said, before hailing his side's jaw-dropping 7-6 aggregate win over Barcelona. 'But there is no final without a little suffering.' That's at least for anyone on the pitch, or those with an emotional connection to either club. For everyone else, such exertions just created full enjoyment; total spectacle; complete glory… an 'epic' as the Spanish newspapers proclaimed. This was just one of those matches - let alone the entire tie - that is so immersive it becomes a celebration of the pure game as it's played, no matter everything else around it. This is why football is the most popular sport in the world. 'Que locura' - 'what a madness' - a member of the Barcelona contingent could be seen mouthing after four hours of absorbing football. That's another way to sum it up. To take Inzaghi's point and turn it on its head, though, there's arguably no final that has gone to these extremes. Run through it now. How many truly great Champions League finals have there been over the last few years, or even this millennium? Arguably only 2005. As for great semi-finals, this is just the latest of a sensational series. There is a crude list of the 10 best in the Champions League era below, but they are heavily open to argument and it could have gone on even longer. Honourable mentions must go to Monaco v Chelsea 2003-04 and Dynamo Kyiv v Bayern Munich 1998-99, let alone Lionel Messi's masterclass against Bayern Munich in 2014-15. Champions League semi-finals Miguel Delaney ranks the greatest ties 10. Tottenham Hotspur 3-3 Ajax, 2018-19 9. Real Madrid 3-4 Juventus, 2002-03 8. Atletico 2-2 Bayern, 2015-16 7. Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona, 2008-09 6. Chelsea 3-2 Barcelona, 2011-12 5. Manchester United 4-3 Juventus, 1998-99 4. Liverpool 4-3 Barca, 2018-19 3. Inter 3-2 Barca, 2009-10 2. Manchester City 4-6 Real Madrid, 2021-22 1. Barca 6-7 Inter, 2024-25 It was said on these pages after the scarcely believable comebacks of 2018-19 that the Champions League at that level was like the best of high-quality prime time TV, with a cinematic quality that producers of that year's final Game of Thrones - or pretty much any prestige series would envy. And it was all unscripted. This is why figures like Todd Boehly see future Netflix-style platforms in football, amid constant attempts to try and engineer and perpetually recreate something that is organic and dependent on the build-up of stakes. Acerbi celebrates his stoppage time equaliser for Inter (Reuters) The very stakes are also important as to why the semi-finals are so epic. To continue the theme, it is like the penultimate episode of a series being more explosive than the finale. There is a rationale for that, amid the emotion of the teams and Inzaghi's philosophy. With a final, you're on the stage, so the stakes are felt all too keenly. It is why so many are gripped by tension for the first hour or so. With the semi-final, you're on the brink of the stage. It's almost there but it's not quite the same. There is less to lose. Even more importantly, there's often something to be made up. Second legs have invariably been the superior match because they are set up by the first, creating incentive. From there, as well as actual stadiums filled with fans rather than corporates, there's almost this emotional contagion that infuses the action. In some cases, as we saw in 2018-19, the chaos of one semi-final tie can directly influence the feeling of the next. Lamine Yamal responds to defeat against Inter (AP) Put short, teams feel they may as well just go for it. That could be seen in cancer survivor Francesco Acerbi's 93rd-minute equaliser. There was abandon, that was a contrast to the late angst that could be witnessed in the final minutes of the same team's last final appearance, in 2022-23. That rising crescendo also raises another point as to why this semi-final might have been the greatest ever, if you even want to go there. The truth is it's hard not to as you dwell on the drama. All of the semi-finals mentioned above were epics, with incredible moments and passages of play that each form fine arguments as to why they are up there as the greatest ever. There's Real Madrid's aura of invincibility against Manchester City, Anfield's atmosphere against Barcelona, Manchester United's defiance against Juventus, the sheer tension of two Chelsea v Barcelona semi-finals… Simone Inzaghi and his Inter Milan players pulled off a dramatic Champions League semi-final win over Barcelona in 2019 (AP) One of the many remarkable elements about this semi-final was that it just never let up. There were no lulls, no drop-offs. The closest you could say that it had to one was in the period between Dani Olmo's soaring header for 2-2 on the night and Raphinha's fine volley to make it 3-2 when Inter looked done, but that still involved heroic defending; the desperate moments when players are throwing everything into it. This had everything. It kept twisting and ratcheting up. Over the full three and a half hours, there were at least 10 dramatic shifts in momentum. Most of them were supreme goals, but not all. In scorelines alone, there was 2-0, 2-2, 3-2, an immediate 3-3, 2-0 again, 2-2, 2-3, the final equaliser and then that winner. And this wasn't just pure football drama, of the manner that would be enough to emotionally move you on its own. Like all of the best sporting drama, such spectacle was elevated by the grandest of storylines. Tottenham celebrate their gripping comeback against Ajax (AFP via Getty Images) There was a vintage clash of styles, the different make-ups of the squads, the resurgence of both clubs, journeymen enjoying their day against young talent creating careers, as distilled in the duel between the mercurial teenager Lamine Yamal against the show-stopping 36-year-old Yann Sommer and arguably even a morality tale in terms of the stories behind the scenes at both clubs. Not even Manchester City v Real Madrid 2022-23 quite went to these lengths. That tie only reached such a height at the end of the second leg. It's remarkable to think that Barcelona only led for six minutes over all that time, and three of those were injury time before Acerbi's equaliser. You could argue that they didn't deserve to win. But that absurd high line created so much high drama. Real Madrid celebrate scoring their third goal against Man City in 2022 (Getty Images) Hansi Flick got a lot wrong but one thing right. 'Tonight when they arrive home and look in the mirror, they can be very proud," he said of his team. If you were to have one absurd quibble amid something close to sporting perfection, it was that there was no final, final crescendo, that last big moment in extra-time. We'd already been spoiled with a stoppage-time equaliser… and then some. And that's kind of the point. Fernando Torres of Chelsea lays on the pitch celebrating with his teammates in 2012 (Getty Images) You can't lay this out like a script. It's spontaneous sport that can only organically evolve out of what has come before. And there is little like the elements involved in a Champions League semi-final. This may have surpassed them all. We didn't suffer. We just enjoyed.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Inter Milan and Barcelona produced a legendary semi-final – but where does it rank in Champions League history?
After a game that pushed emotions to extremes, an exhausted Simone Inzaghi became philosophical. 'Yes, we suffered,' the Inter Milan manager said, before hailing his side's jaw-dropping 7-6 aggregate win over Barcelona. 'But there is no final without a little suffering.' Advertisement That's at least for anyone on the pitch, or those with an emotional connection to either club. For everyone else, such exertions just created full enjoyment; total spectacle; complete glory… an 'epic' as the Spanish newspapers proclaimed. This was just one of those matches - let alone the entire tie - that is so immersive it becomes a celebration of the pure game as it's played, no matter everything else around it. This is why football is the most popular sport in the world. 'Que locura' - 'what a madness' - a member of the Barcelona contingent could be seen mouthing after four hours of absorbing football. That's another way to sum it up. To take Inzaghi's point and turn it on its head, though, there's arguably no final that has gone to these extremes. Run through it now. How many truly great Champions League finals have there been over the last few years, or even this millennium? Arguably only 2005. As for great semi-finals, this is just the latest of a sensational series. There is a crude list of the 10 best in the Champions League era below, but they are heavily open to argument and it could have gone on even longer. Honourable mentions must go to Monaco v Chelsea 2003-04 and Dynamo Kyiv v Bayern Munich 1998-99, let alone Lionel Messi's masterclass against Bayern Munich in 2014-15. Champions League semi-finals Miguel Delaney ranks the greatest ties 10. Tottenham Hotspur 3-3 Ajax, 2018-19 Advertisement 9. Real Madrid 3-4 Juventus, 2002-03 8. Atletico 2-2 Bayern, 2015-16 7. Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona, 2008-09 6. Chelsea 3-2 Barcelona, 2011-12 5. Manchester United 4-3 Juventus, 1998-99 4. Liverpool 4-3 Barca, 2018-19 3. Inter 3-2 Barca, 2009-10 2. Manchester City 4-6 Real Madrid, 2021-22 1. Barca 6-7 Inter, 2024-25 It was said on these pages after the scarcely believable comebacks of 2018-19 that the Champions League at that level was like the best of high-quality prime time TV, with a cinematic quality that producers of that year's final Game of Thrones - or pretty much any prestige series would envy. And it was all unscripted. This is why figures like Todd Boehly see future Netflix-style platforms in football, amid constant attempts to try and engineer and perpetually recreate something that is organic and dependent on the build-up of stakes. Acerbi celebrates his stoppage time equaliser for Inter (Reuters) The very stakes are also important as to why the semi-finals are so epic. To continue the theme, it is like the penultimate episode of a series being more explosive than the finale. Advertisement There is a rationale for that, amid the emotion of the teams and Inzaghi's philosophy. With a final, you're on the stage, so the stakes are felt all too keenly. It is why so many are gripped by tension for the first hour or so. With the semi-final, you're on the brink of the stage. It's almost there but it's not quite the same. There is less to lose. Even more importantly, there's often something to be made up. Second legs have invariably been the superior match because they are set up by the first, creating incentive. From there, as well as actual stadiums filled with fans rather than corporates, there's almost this emotional contagion that infuses the action. In some cases, as we saw in 2018-19, the chaos of one semi-final tie can directly influence the feeling of the next. Lamine Yamal responds to defeat against Inter (AP) Put short, teams feel they may as well just go for it. That could be seen in cancer survivor Francesco Acerbi's 93rd-minute equaliser. There was abandon, that was a contrast to the late angst that could be witnessed in the final minutes of the same team's last final appearance, in 2022-23. Advertisement That rising crescendo also raises another point as to why this semi-final might have been the greatest ever, if you even want to go there. The truth is it's hard not to as you dwell on the drama. All of the semi-finals mentioned above were epics, with incredible moments and passages of play that each form fine arguments as to why they are up there as the greatest ever. There's Real Madrid's aura of invincibility against Manchester City, Anfield's atmosphere against Barcelona, Manchester United's defiance against Juventus, the sheer tension of two Chelsea v Barcelona semi-finals… Simone Inzaghi and his Inter Milan players pulled off a dramatic Champions League semi-final win over Barcelona in 2019 (AP) One of the many remarkable elements about this semi-final was that it just never let up. There were no lulls, no drop-offs. The closest you could say that it had to one was in the period between Dani Olmo's soaring header for 2-2 on the night and Raphinha's fine volley to make it 3-2 when Inter looked done, but that still involved heroic defending; the desperate moments when players are throwing everything into it. Advertisement This had everything. It kept twisting and ratcheting up. Over the full three and a half hours, there were at least 10 dramatic shifts in momentum. Most of them were supreme goals, but not all. In scorelines alone, there was 2-0, 2-2, 3-2, an immediate 3-3, 2-0 again, 2-2, 2-3, the final equaliser and then that winner. And this wasn't just pure football drama, of the manner that would be enough to emotionally move you on its own. Like all of the best sporting drama, such spectacle was elevated by the grandest of storylines. Tottenham celebrate their gripping comeback against Ajax (AFP via Getty Images) There was a vintage clash of styles, the different make-ups of the squads, the resurgence of both clubs, journeymen enjoying their day against young talent creating careers, as distilled in the duel between the mercurial teenager Lamine Yamal against the show-stopping 36-year-old Yann Sommer and arguably even a morality tale in terms of the stories behind the scenes at both clubs. Advertisement Not even Manchester City v Real Madrid 2022-23 quite went to these lengths. That tie only reached such a height at the end of the second leg. It's remarkable to think that Barcelona only led for six minutes over all that time, and three of those were injury time before Acerbi's equaliser. You could argue that they didn't deserve to win. But that absurd high line created so much high drama. Real Madrid celebrate scoring their third goal against Man City in 2022 (Getty Images) Hansi Flick got a lot wrong but one thing right. 'Tonight when they arrive home and look in the mirror, they can be very proud," he said of his team. If you were to have one absurd quibble amid something close to sporting perfection, it was that there was no final, final crescendo, that last big moment in extra-time. We'd already been spoiled with a stoppage-time equaliser… and then some. Advertisement And that's kind of the point. Fernando Torres of Chelsea lays on the pitch celebrating with his teammates in 2012 (Getty Images) You can't lay this out like a script. It's spontaneous sport that can only organically evolve out of what has come before. And there is little like the elements involved in a Champions League semi-final. This may have surpassed them all. We didn't suffer. We just enjoyed.
Tom's Guide
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
'Andor' season 2's release schedule is killing the show — here's why it's a disaster
"Andor" season 2 is already over halfway done. In fact, by the time you're reading this, we will be 75% of the way through the final season of the acclaimed "Star Wars" show. So with the three-part series finale now just a week away, it's time for us to admit something very painful: The show's release schedule is killing the show. To be clear, I'm not saying the show is bad. While I don't think what I've seen so far has lived up to season 1, the new episodes have been "gripping" when the show is at its best and undeniably well-made at its worst. But with three hours of TV to watch each week, the show has avoided picking a weekly release schedule or dropping the entire season as a Netflix-style binge drop. Instead, it's somehow chosen a worse release strategy that requires you to get a babysitter, block out your calendar and come in late to work the next morning so you can consume three episodes between the hours of 9 p.m. ET and midnight. And it's making you do it four weeks in a row. 3-episode drops are worse than weekly releases or season-long binges (Image credit: Lucasfilm/Disney Plus) I've long been a proponent of the weekly release schedule for shows. It builds anticipation for the and therefore when the show ultimately reaches a satisfying climax, the intensity of that moment is so much greater. Unfortunately, with "Andor" season 2, I'm not anticipating what's coming next. Instead, at 9 p.m. ET every Tuesday, I'm instantly three episodes behind and dreading the next batch of episodes for fear they'll put me even further behind. If "Andor" season 2 had gone with a binge model, I could have at least broken up episodes over a few nights in a row or blocked out a weekend to watch it all. That would have had me at least anticipating the chance to finish the story all at once, and that would have been better than what this three-episode release schedule has given me. If the episodes were required to be released all at once for story reasons, I'd maybe be more forgiving. But while each trio of episodes takes place over a brief period, a year apart from the last, I frankly haven't seen a reason these couldn't have been doled out one at a time. The current slate of shows is burying 'Andor' If there was nothing else on TV or the best streaming services right now, maybe this would all be a moot point. If I were watching nothing else, I would have seven days to watch a mere three episodes. I'd be behind diehard fans and the internet, but I could keep pace with the show before the next three episodes arrive. The problem is that the current slate of shows is loaded . For me, there's "MobLand" and "The Last of Us" on Sundays, "Andor" (of course) on Tuesdays, "The Studio" on Wednesdays, "Hacks" on Thursdays and "Your Friends and Neighbors" on Fridays. That's not even accounting for network TV shows or any binge drops from Netflix. If you're watching even a few of these shows, suddenly the ability to fit "Andor" season 2 into your schedule becomes a lot harder. And you might be prioritizing those other shows instead, because they all come in a more accessible one-episode-a-week release cadence. Unfortunately, it's too late for "Andor" season 2, which I am now concerned will ultimately be forgotten by the end of the year. We're undeniably not talking about it more than "The Last of Us," another well-made show driven by a beloved IP on a popular streaming service, but one that opted for a weekly release schedule. Personally, more people have talked to me about "The Studio," an original 30-minute comedy series on Apple TV Plus and "MobLand," an hour-long British gangster drama on Paramount Plus. Respectfully to those shows, a "Star Wars" show from the guy who brought you Jason Bourne should be blowing both out of the water. I just hope Disney learns from this and never adopts this release schedule for a Disney Plus show ever again. Because it's been an unmitigated disaster and an unforced error for "Andor." Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips.
Telegraph
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
National Theatre makes diverse casting drive to appeal to global viewers
The new boss of the National Theatre will increase diverse casting in a bid to attract a global audience to its Netflix-style streaming platform. Indhu Rubasingham has announced her first season as artistic director, unveiling rap adaptations of Greek tragedy and a show involving Stormzy, the chart-topping UK rapper. The venue's first female and ethnic minority artistic director has also set out her 'international' priorities for the theatre. This includes expanding the global audience for National Theatre at Home, a £9.99 per month streaming service for productions that insiders hope to make into a 'Netflix for theatre'. The theatre, founded by Laurence Olivier in 1963, will seek to use the diversity of actors as part of this vision. Casting decisions will be made partly with a view to choosing actors who represent potential audiences in international markets, including India and Nigeria. Ms Rubasingham said that she would look at 'who is the big Nollywood [Nigerian film industry] star, who's the big Bollywood star that we could bring and work' that could 'open the door to new audiences, because they are seeing someone they really want to see'. The theatre will also look to work with writers and other creatives who can help to tell 'stories that cross continents' as part of plans to focus on 'international reach'. Ms Rubasingham said that she wants to 'bring the world to our stages, and take our stages to the world'. She added that she was interested in 'state-of-the-world plays, as opposed to state-of-the-nation plays'. 'New chapter' for theatre Her tenure features Hiran Abeysekera who will become the first non-white star to take on the title role in Hamlet and a rap adaptation of Euripides's ancient tragedy The Bacchae. The programme will feature The Story, a US drama about racial politics and media ethics, and Cloud 9, a work that comments on colonialism. There will also be an adaptation of Pride, a film about gay and lesbian activists who supported striking miners in 1984. International stars will also feature: Paul Mescal is to star in Death of a Salesman, while details of Stormzy's scheduled appearance in a show remain a closely guarded secret. Kate Varah, the National Theatre's executive director, has backed the ambitions to expand the theatre's streaming service, which was first launched in 2020. Speaking at London's South Bank, she said that the new chapter in the theatre's history would include reaching audiences 'not just in our country, but in 184 countries around the world'. She added: 'It's no longer just about what happens here on the South Bank, the National Theatre is now a global theatre with an audience of 28 million per year.' The specific sum generated by National Theatre at Home has not been made public, but the platform paid out £1 million in royalties to creatives in 2022. The focus on the potential revenue from the service comes amid tightening budgets, with the theatre highlighting a 52.5 per cent real-terms drop in its Arts Council funding since 2011. Hit productions are broadcast via the National Theatre Live scheme, which broadcasts live theatrical shows in cinemas and other venues. The scheme earned the theatre more than £10 million in 2023. The venue continues to attract top theatrical talent, including Aidan Turner and Lesley Manville, who will star in its upcoming production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. In 2023, Ms Rubasingham was chosen to become the seventh director of the National Theatre since its foundation. She also serves as its joint chief executive, alongside Ms Varah, in keeping with the theatre's dual leadership model. Ms Rubasingham previously led the Kiln Theatre in London, which was embroiled in a row during her tenure over the venue's refusal to host an event linked to Israel.
