Have you heard? What India is watching

Kareena Kapoor Khan

Series and movies from India clocked over one billion views on Netflix in 2023, the streaming service said in its second engagement report. The report presented the streaming service's viewership data for the period of July to December 2023. From India, Sujoy Ghosh's Jaane Jaan, led by Kareena Kapoor Khan, was the most watched movie on Netflix, with 20.2 million views, followed by Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan with 16.2 million views and Vishal Bhardwaj's Khufiya with 12.1 million views. The other popular titles include OMG 2, and Lust Stories 2. From the series that were launched on Netflix, The Railway Men, starring Kay Kay Menon, R Madhavan, Babil Khan, and Divyenndu, turned out to be the top title.

When I was 17

Bigg Boss 17 winner Munawar Faruqui has taken a dig at the accused in the Pune car crash that led to the loss of two engineers' lives. Faruqui took to social media and wrote, "Woh Porsche kharid sakta hai, toh baaki cheezein bhi kharid hi li hongi." His post supposedly referenced the Juvenile Justice Board, which initially granted bail to him within 15 hours. This decision was met with intense public outrage. In another tweet, Faruqui wrote, "When I was 17, I had a Nokia 1100." His post was directed at the 17-year-old boy who was driving a Porsche under the influence of alcohol. He rammed into a bike, causing the death of two engineers.

Kapadia shines at Cannes

Payal Kapadia and the cast of her film, All We Imagine as Light, made a fashion splash and left quite an impression on international critics at the movie's world premiere at Cannes on Thursday. This is the first Indian movie in 30 years to qualify for the festival's competition section, which makes Kapadia a contender for the prestigious Palme d'Or.

The eight-minute standing ovation at the end of the film's screening was definitely among the longest of this edition of the film festival. Kapadia is in competition with European heavyweights such as Jacques Audiard and Yorgos Lanthimos, American auteurs David Cronenberg and Paul Schrader, and Asian visionary Jia Zhangke. The film left international critics impressed, with Peter Bradshaw praising it for its "freshness and emotional clarity" and comparing Kapadia's "fluent and absorbing" storytelling with that of Satyajit Ray.

A piece of history

Lyricist and poet Manoj Muntashir walked down memory lane to reveal an interesting piece of music history. He spoke about the connection between the songs, Tere liye and the 40-year-old classic Dil dhoondta hai. The tune for the Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta-starrer song Tere liye (Veer-Zaara) was crafted using the rejected melodies of Madan Mohan's Dil dhoondta hai, from the 1975 film Mausam, he said. Muntashir said the original composition by Mohan was appreciated by filmmaker Yash Chopra, who was his fan. "Decades later, while working on Veer-Zaara, Johar combined this tune with Javed Akhtar's exceptional lyrics. This was a historic moment in Hindi cinema, when maybe for the first time, a composer's music was used in his honour, highlighting Madan's continuing impact through Javed Akhtar sahab's magnificent words," he said.

Seeking blessings

Pic/Sameer Markande

A day ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, Parineeti Chopra and her husband and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha sought blessings at the Siddhivinayak Temple, in Mumbai. The couple was spotted in white outfits. They had tied the knot on September 24 last year in a private luxury hotel in Udaipur. Chopra was last seen in the offering, Amar Singh Chamkila, also starring Punjabi singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh.

Song and dance

The song Tu Juliet Jatt di, from the upcoming Punjabi movie Jatt & Juliet 3 has hit the airwaves. The music video of the track features Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh, alongside actor Neeru Bajwa. The music for the song has been composed by Bunny, and features vocals by Dosanjh. The love song has Indian elements fused with contemporary sonic motifs. "Releasing this song is a special moment for me. It is fun and full of heart, much like our movie. I'm sure fans will enjoy this track," said Dosanjh. This edition continues the saga of Fateh (Dosanjh) and Pooja (Bajwa).