Latest news with #UnCertainRegard
News18
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Ishaan Khatter, Neliima Azeem Serve Mother-Son Goals. Bonus: Chandni Bainz
Last Updated: Ishaan Khatter escorted his mother Neliima Azeem to the venue. His rumoured girlfriend Chandni was also spotted at the event. Ishaan Khatter has had a busy month with Cannes 2025 and the release of his OTT series The Royals. The actor was spotted recently at the launch of sister-in-law Mira Kapoor's wellness centre Dhun in Mumbai. Ishaan attended the event with his rumoured girlfriend Chandni Bainz and mother Neliima Azeem. Holding his mother's hand, the actor escorted her to the venue while Chandni followed them. While en route to the event, Ishaan and his mother also engaged in a quick conversation. Acknowledging paparazzi, Ishaan also posed solo. He looked suave in grey formal pants and blazer with a dark T-shirt underneath. Chandni also made heads turn with her strapless asymmetrical dress. Beyond his on-screen prowess, Ishaan Khatter is a doting son to his mother Neliima Azeem. Earlier this year in a chat with Times Of India, the actor opened up on his bond with her, calling her a 'guiding light'. He said, 'My mother has always been the voice and the guiding light, and the constant presence that gently, and sometimes firmly, nudges me in the right direction. Beyond being my mother, she's my best friend — someone I can laugh with, lean on, and learn from every day. She never tried to impose her way of life on me, yet she instilled in me my deepest values. She's shown me that character matters above material things by example and also normalised being vulnerable and real with me. My mother has loved me beyond measure, and through it all." Fresh off the success of The Royals, Ishaan Khatter attended Cannes Film Festival 2025 earlier this month. His film Homebound was screened under the festival's prestigious Un Certain Regard section. Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan and produced by Karan Johar, the poignant drama also stars Janhvi Kapoor and Vishal Jethwa in the lead. It received a remarkable nine-minute standing ovation at Cannes. Meanwhile, Ishaan Khatter's The Royals has been renewed for season 2. The upcoming instalment will mark the return of Ishaan and Bhumi Pednekar as the lead pair. Zeenat Aman, Sakshi Tanwar, Nora Fatehi, Vihaan Samat, Dino Morea and Milind Soman are expected to return as well. First Published:
Hindustan Times
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Dharma Productions addresses abuse allegations against Homebound DoP: 'Our internal committee didn't receive complaints'
The cinematographer of Homebound, Pratik Shah, deleted his Instagram account after he was accused of abuse and inappropriate conduct. Now the makers of the film, Dharma Productions, has issued a statement addressing the matter. The statement clarified that the POSH committee of the production house 'didn't receive any complaints against him from any cast or crew' during the shoot of the film. (Also read: Homebound cinematographer Pratik Shah deletes Instagram amid abuse allegations; multiple women share stories) Dharma Productions stated in an official statement, 'At Dharma Productions, we have a zero tolerance policy against inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment towards any individual working with us in any capacity, and we treat sexual harassment cases very seriously." The statement further read, "Mr. Pratik Shah was a freelancer on the project Homebound and was working on it for a limited period. His engagement with us has been completed. During this limited period, our internal committee for POSH didn't receive any complaints against him from any cast or crew on our film Homebound.' On Friday, independent filmmaker Abhinav Singh shared a note of warning on his Instagram, asking his female friends to be wary of the cinematographer. He then wrote that numerous women reached out to him about the cinematographer sharing his predatory behaviour. Filmmaker-writer Srishti Riya Jain also posted a series of screenshots on her Instagram stories, adding that Pratik has 'been on the prowl since 4 years'. Pratik worked as a cinematographer on Homebound, the only Indian feature film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival this year at the Un Certain Regard section. It is produced by Karan Johar, Adar Poonawalla, Apoorva Mehta, and Somen Mishra. The co-producers include Marijke de Souza and Melita Toscan Du Plantier. The film, which stars Ishaan Khatter, Janhvi Kapoor and Vishal Jethwa, received a 9-minute-long standing ovation at Cannes.
Indian Express
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Homebound director Neeraj Ghaywan: ‘I'd been hiding for 35 years. When you masquerade, your confidence dies'
Neeraj Ghaywan's debut feature Masaan premiered in the Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015. Set in Banaras, it was a story of collisions, in which unruly modernity and hidebound tradition rubbed up against each other, showing us the pushes and pulls India has lived with for centuries. And giving us a filmmaker to watch out for. Ten years on, he returned to the Croisette with his second feature Homebound, which screened in the same section, the only Indian film to have been officially selected at the festival. The film, born out of a New York Times piece by journalist and writer Basharat Peer, cements the filmmaker's concerns — capturing the voice of the marginalised, speaking up for empathy and kindness and leaving us with a glimmer of hope. Neeraj Ghaywan spoke to The Indian Express a day after the Cannes premiere — attended by the cast and crew, including lead actors Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor, and producers Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta and Somen Mishra — which left the audience teary-eyed, garnering a nine-minute standing ovation. It was a free-flowing conversation on how Homebound came about, his own struggle with accepting his identity and how his 'coming out' has impacted his life. Excerpts: Masaan's reception here at Cannes was quite memorable. How did you feel about the way the audience responded to Homebound? There were so many wet eyes and you were wiping away tears yourself… I have seen the film a hundred times and even during the tech check I was dozing off, thinking I can't stand this film anymore, let's just get done with it. But once it started, so many visceral emotions welled up… like there's the making of a pukka ghar (belonging to the Dalit protagonist). When I was very young, we also had a kachcha khaprail wala ghar (house with clay-tiled roof). When we were building our house with cement, it was such a dream, all of us children would fight with my father, saying, 'Humein bhi daalna hai paani (we also want to help moisten the cement)'. When I saw this on screen, all those memories started coming back. I started tearing up and Karan (Johar) was sitting next to me and he also started tearing up. And I was like, who do I turn to, everyone is crying. It was overwhelming. Also Read | Cannes 2025: Neeraj Ghaywan's Homebound is a timely, trenchant testament to our times We don't even realise we put in our films so much of what we are, who we are. Also because I'm so much that person, my work and I are so fused together, maybe that's why I took 10 years to make another film. How did Homebound come about? When I first started reading Basharat's story, which Somen (Mishra) got me, it shook me, and I thought why don't I write a larger story. Across the world, all minorities, people of colour, ethnic, religious, sexual minorities, even migrants, are relegated to statistics. It takes away accountability and becomes empty rhetoric. What if we pick one person, see what all happens in that person's life, what did they eat, whom did they love, who did they leave behind, what made them go back, maybe there will be more empathy. I'm not coming from a place of anger. I don't want to villianise anyone. In fact, I feel people want to empathise with the 'other side', I want to hold their hand, I want to say, let's talk. Maybe we've gone too far, let's recalibrate. Empathy and kindness are what the world needs badly at this point. For a long time, you were not talking about your identity. Then at some point you embraced it and your being Dalit has become almost a badge of honour. What changed? How did you find the courage to come out? For 35 years, I had been hiding. When you masquerade, your confidence dies. Every step you take, you think someone's watching you. My eldest sister was getting married — it was a Buddhist wedding — and I didn't want to go, because my big fear was that I would be outed. And then, finally, when I did speak up and it made the papers, my domestic help said, 'Bhaiyya, aap ki photo aayi hai (Your photo is in the paper)'. It took me three days to find the courage to tell her. How did she respond? She said, 'Achcha dada, aap Jai Bhim waley ho, par usse koi fark nahin padta (You are part of the Jai Bhim community, but that doesn't make a difference)' because you take care of us so well. Then I called my driver, made chai for him, and told him as well. He went quiet for a bit, and said 'Hamaare ghar waley chooaa-chhoot maantey hain (my family practises discrimination) but it makes no difference to me'. Just imagine, speaking to my staff was difficult, it was super-duper difficult to talk to anyone else. My journey of becoming an Ambedkarite happened after that… I was like Chandan (the Dalit protagonist in the film), I was also hiding, but the more I read up, the clearer everything became. But I also have to say that the weight of it is insurmountable. To be the only self-acknowledged Dalit in all of Hindi cinema history is two things — one that you have immense responsibility and at the same time, I don't want to be bracketed. I want to be a filmmaker making various kinds of films. I come from Ray's school where politics can never supersede your narrative. If that happens you are a propagandist. Then you're not cinema, you're vox pop. What changed after the coming out? Because I came out, my entire extended family got outed. Like me, most of them were masquerading, in their workplaces, in government offices, in senior positions. My nieces told me they were not comfortable with how they were being perceived. One person said good for you, but tough for me. I'm still trying to navigate this, and coming into my own. I don't rue the fact that many people from my community want to practise Hinduism. It should be to each their own, as long as you practise humanity. My transformation happened through support from a lot of members of the community (Prakash Ambedkar, Suraj Yengde) and, of course, my close friends from within the filmmaking community. A post shared by Shubhra Gupta (@shubhragupta) You got a lot of flak for showing a very glittery Dalit wedding in the TV series Made In Heaven (Season 2, 2023). Are you compensating by showing a very simple one in Homebound? I'm glad you asked this question. The character in Made In Heaven was a very successful Dalit woman from Columbia University. It was a show about rich people. I wanted to shoot it with aplomb, so a Bvlgari ka mangalsutra wouldn't be out of place, okay? Also our production designer (Sally White) made it so stunning. It was a statement. Just because we are Dalit, why can't we have designer things? Aap ko jeans pehenne se dikkat hai, aap ko mooch ugaane se dikkat hai, aap ko ghodi chadne se dikkat hai, toh main aap ko dikhaaoonga ki yeh sab ho sakta hai. (You have a problem if we wear jeans, grow a moustache, or be carried on horseback for our weddings: I will show you that all of these can be done, and why not?) But in Homebound, I was also aware of the class I was showing. Sudha Bharti (the other Dalit protagonist in the film) ek railways ke chotey officer ki beti hai, toh uska setup bhi chota hi rahega (is the daughter of a junior railway office, so her setup is spartan). I was trying to represent Sudha's reality. How long did it take to add the layers of gender and class to the base story of Chandan Kumar and Mohammad Shoaib Ali, the Muslim-Dalit duo? It took me three years to write the screenplay. There's a lot of me in it, the masquerading, my own journey, acceptance. In my childhood (in Hyderabad), I had a great friend called Askar, and his biryani would be the best, and one Eid when it didn't come, I jumped over the terrace and starting gobbling it straight from the vessel, and when the family returned and saw me, I was so embarrassed. This is in the film. If there's one thing common to any community in the world, it is patriarchy. It is a unifier. Growing up, I was the son after three daughters, so I was pampered a lot. More than my father, it was my mother and grandmother. And when I became aware of it, I was so ashamed, and I wanted to call out myself. So there is Chandan's sister Vaishali (in the film) calling him out on his privilege. What made you choose Ishaan and Janhvi? Was there pressure from Dharma Productions to include stars? I had a cakewalk, you know. Here I am, making an indie-minded film with the biggest studio, with Karan Johar, with these stars, and Mr (Martin) Scorsese lending his name (to our film), and we are at Cannes. I'm vicariously living the dream of every independent filmmaker. I didn't set out to make a disruptive movie. The actual reason is that the people attached came with genuine passion and empathy, that's all what I wanted. I cannot attach to people who don't feel for the politics (shown in the film). The deeper truth is much more important because they have to feel the lived reality as I have done. If they don't, I would feel dishonest. We, as indie filmmakers, have a snooty bone about stars. Janhvi, I was sure about. We had been talking about making a biopic before this. I met her and told her I wanted her to audition, I'll train you, and workshop with you. She was going through a difficult time. For 10 days, we worked together. Initially, she would cry a lot, and slowly, I don't know how, it became therapy for her, and she became better through it. I spoke to her about privilege, and she read Annihilation of Caste, and went into a rabbit hole of understanding caste on her own. She started questioning a lot of things. She transformed through those days and came up with a terrific audition. I did a very long immersion with the boys (Ishaan and Vishal). I told them that you come from varied backgrounds but are privileged. The characters won't come to you, you have to go to the characters, you will have to leave yourselves behind, unless tum log teh tak nahin pahunchoge, woh sach camera mein dikh jayega, agar tum sach se avgat nahin ho paatey ho, toh uss character ko karne ke haqdaar nahin ho, tumhaara privilege nahin banta (until you reach the depths, the truth, you do not have the right to play that character, that is not your privilege). Also Read | Homebound at Cannes 2025: The real story behind Neeraj Ghaywan's sophomore directorial Like in Masaan, I had told Vicky (Kaushal, in his breakout debut role) that ki yaar, tumko Banarasiya banna padega, nahin toh unki tauheen hai (you will have to become Banarasiya, or you will demean the character you are playing). During the immersion exercise, we toured around north Indian villages, we went into homes, ate with families, lived through so many magical moments. It rewired them somehow, and you can see that in the film. Also I was aware that main Cannes mein dikhaoonga, aur phir Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, do-teen screen mil jayega, that's all. (I was aware that the film will be in Cannes and then in big cities in India in two or three screens, that's all). But is that the extent of our responsibility? If the people we are basing our film on, if they don't feel seen, what is even the point of us artistes? If the presence of stars gives me that extra edge then maybe the film will go to a Kanpur, a Lucknow or Bhopal. That is a win. But at the same time, I will never compromise on performance. In 10 years, do you see any difference in the perception of Indian cinema at Cannes? I have two words: Payal Kapadia. She has just exploded, she has broken the ceiling, she has made way for so many people to come in and I don't think we celebrate her enough. I think that's the biggest change that's happened. Personally, for me, it's a sort of homecoming. This is where it all started, and I'm homebound to where it started. Toh meri ek tarah se ghar waapsi hai!
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Kinky Romance ‘Pillion' Starring Alexander Skarsgard, Harry Melling Sells to Multiple Territories
Cornerstone has closed a slew of new territorial deals for Harry Lighton's Cannes official selection Pillion after the film sold to A24 for the U.S. market. The kinky romancer that launched at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section has been sold to Weltkino (Germany, Austria), iWonder (Italy), Praasens (Switzerland), MCF (the territory formerly known as Yugoslavia), Gutek (Poland), Lusomondo (Portugal), New Cinema (Israel) and Diamond for Latin America. More from The Hollywood Reporter BBC Studios Acquires Unscripted Production Company Mothership TV 'The Real Housewives of London,' NBCU Reality Streamer Hayu's First Original, Unveils Cast Andrew Tate and Brother Tristan Charged With 21 U.K. Crimes, Including Rape and Human Trafficking Described as a 'funny, filthy romance,' Pillion sees Skarsgard play Ray, an 'impossibly handsome leader of a bike gang' who takes on Colin (Melling), a weedy wallflower, to be his new submissive. Ray uproots Colin from his dreary suburban life and introduces him to a community of kinky, queer bikers. But as Colin dives deeper into Ray's world, he begins to question whether the life of a 24/7 submissive is really for him. Lighton, who makes his feature directorial debut with the film, won the Un Certain Regard Award for best screenplay in Cannes. After the festival's market, Cornerstone also sold Pillion to Transformers (Japan), Challan (South Korea) and Swallow Wings (Taiwan). Besides the A24 deal for the U.S., Picturehouse will release Pillion in the U.K. and September Film will handle the Benelux release. Lighton, BAFTA-nominated for his 2017 short Wren Boys, directed Pillion from his own script which is loosely inspired by Adam Mars-Jones' 2019 novel Box Hill. Element Pictures, a Fremantle company, produced Pillion with financing from BBC Film and the BFI in association with Fremantle, Picturehouse and September Film. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
‘Stop taking selfies': Karan Johar's kids Yash and Roohi hilariously troll his pout, tell him to get new wardrobe. Watch
Filmmaker Karan Johar celebrated his 53rd birthday on May 25. Several actors wished him through their Instagram Stories. However, Karan took to his Instagram account on Thursday to point out that his kids Yash and Roohi did not give him any gift on his special day, and asked them why in a new video. Hilariously, his kids went ahead and made fun of his selfie skills. (Also read: Emotional Neeraj Ghaywan hugs Karan Johar as Homebound gets 9-minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival) Karan pointed the camera at Yash and Roohi and said, 'It was my birthday and I got nothing from the both of you!' To this, Roohi pointed that she made a flower with coloured paper and said, 'I got you this!' Karan admitted it and said, 'Oh yes you made it so lovely, thank you Roohi!' Yash meanwhile added that he gave him hugs and kisses. A post shared by Karan Johar (@karanjohar) Karan asked them what he is going to get from them next year. To this, Yash said, 'I think you need new clothes and a new wardrobe!' Roohi added, 'We think you should stop taking selfies.' Yash had more to say. 'First, stop doing that face!' he concluded, imitating a pout that Karan does in his selfies. Karan sounded shocked at this and said toodles! In the caption, Karan wrote: 'Can you believe the in house trolls??????' Rasha Thadani, Aditi Rao Hydari, Mini Mathur, and Anaita Shroff Adajania commented on the post with laughing face emoticons. Karan was recently present at the Cannes Film Festival for the world premiere of his co-production Homebound at the Un Certain Regard section. The Neeraj Ghaywan film received a 9-minute long standing ovation. The film stars Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor. Karan welcomed his son Yash and daughter Roohi via surrogacy in February 2017. He named Yash after his father late Yash Johar, while Roohi is an anagram of his mother's name Hiroo.
