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Just in: Dhanush Sues Nayanthara and Her Husband

Nov 27, 2024 · 6:24 PM Blog

Actor Dhanush has initiated legal proceedings against Nayanthara, alleging the unauthorized use of stills from the film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in her documentary, Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. Dhanush filed a civil suit in the Madras High Court against both Nayanthara and her husband, filmmaker Vignesh Shivan.

According to reports, Dhanush’s production company, Wunderbar Films Private Limited, has named Nayanthara, Vignesh, and their production house, Rowdy Pictures Private Limited, in the suit and accused them of using visuals from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan without permission.

While Nayanthara played the female lead in the film, Dhanush was the producer.

In addition to this, Dhanush’s company has sought the Madras High Court’s approval to file a lawsuit against Los Gatos Production Services India LLP, an entity through which Netflix manages its content investments in India.

The court has granted permission to proceed with the suit, noting that a significant portion of the dispute arises within the High Court’s jurisdiction in Chennai.

Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan are expected to respond to the legal notice soon at the next hearing.

Earlier this month, Nayanthara wrote a long letter to Dhanush, calling him out for sending a legal notice over the documentary Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale. The actor sent her a legal notice and demanded Rs 10 crore as she used the footage of their 2015 film Naanum Rowdy Dhaan in the documentary. She lashed out at Dhanush for denying her the permission to use the footage.

She questioned Dhanush’s alleged ‘vengeance’ against her and wrote in her letter, “The release of my Netflix documentary has been much awaited by not just me but so many of my fans and well wishers. It took a whole team of collaborators and film friends to pull together the project through all the difficulties that were thrown at us. The vengeance that you have been festering against the film, my partner and I, doesn’t just affect us but the people who have given their effort and time towards this project. This Netflix Documentary about me, my life, my love and marriage includes clips of many of my industry well-wishers who have graciously contributed and memories from multiple films, but sadly does not include the most special and important film, Naanum Rowdy Dhaan.”

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Exclusive: Sarah Zac Burgess talk about Cruel Intentions India and more

Nov 27, 2024 · 6:24 PM Blog

The 1999 cult classic Cruel Intentions has been reimagined in a new reboot series, starring Sarah Catherine Hook and Zac Burgess as the iconic manipulative sibling duo at the heart of the story. In an exclusive conversation with Filmfare, Sarah, who admitted being a huge fan of the original, expressed how much of an honour it was to step into the role originally played by Sarah Michelle Gellar.

“I was such a huge fan of the original film. It was truly an honour to get to step into these shoes. And fortunately, we had amazing showrunners, Sarah Goodman and Phoebe Fisher, who let us come in, bring our fresh take and voices to the roles and encouraged us to have our own creative liberties with it. It really made it a lot of fun for us.”

Zac continued, “It was definitely somewhat intimidating stepping into such a huge production with obviously a big cult following. But as Sarah just said, everyone was incredibly supportive. We had such a wonderful creative team and we were able to express new ideas and feel free.

The original film and the reboot are set in two different eras with different audience base. Asked what the audience can expect, Zac opined, “It’s sort of set in a bit of a timeless place. It’s an area where there’s no rules whatsoever. Everyone’s sort of pushing the boundaries.” To which Sarah added, “I like the timeless present – it is such a good way of putting it. And what I love as a fan of both Dangerous Liaisons and Cruel Intentions, they plucked beautiful orchestral instrumental pieces throughout the show to make it feel have this classical element to it. That really, I feel like elevates the story a lot and also gives a nod to the original tales.”

Sarah also spoke about her complex and manipulative character and said that there is no way to prepare for such a character other than to just let oneself go in the moment and build trust with co-stars.

“I feel like once we were just thrown into it and I mean, just this is just how it is for acting in general. You don’t really know until you get there on the day and you have the conversations with the showrunners, the directors, your co-star. Honestly, I think it’s such a group effort to create that kind of tone and environment. You can’t really prepare for that other than just let yourself go in the moment and build trust with your scene partners and feel comfortable and safe, which we did. We had intimacy coordinating sessions and we felt good just kind of going all in together.

Asked whether they have watched Indian films and are open to working in this industry, an excited Sarah was quick to respond with, “One of my favourite films is Slumdog Millionaire. I will always go back to that one. I’d love to go to India. Why not?

While Zac could not remember the name of the recent Indian film he watched, he recalled that it felt incredibly confronting. “I actually can’t remember the film I watched recently, but it was incredibly confronting. I had to pause it every now and then because there was a lot happening. But if I got the opportunity to come to India and work, I would absolutely take it,” concluded Zac.

Cruel Intentions also stars Savannah Lee Smith, John Harlan Kim, Khobe Clarke and Sean Patrick Thomas among others. It is streaming on Prime Video now.

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“Won’t Be A Rubber Stamp For Congress”: Trinamool Signals INDIA Bloc Rift

Nov 27, 2024 · 6:24 PM Blog

Signalling a rift in the INDIA bloc after the Congress’ mega defeats in the Maharashtra and Haryana elections, the Trinamool Congress has said it will not be a rubber stamp for its ally’s decisions. Differing with the Congress’ push for a discussion in Parliament on alleged corruption, the Mamata Banerjee-led party has said it wants the House to function so that it can raise the issues of the people of West Bengal.

Sources in the Trinamool Congress (TMC) said the stand has been endorsed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has emphasised that the Congress is not an electoral ally of the party despite both being members of the INDIA alliance, and the TMC does not have to accept “unilateral decisions” taken by the Congress.

The Congress and the TMC had contested the Lok Sabha elections and the recent bypolls in West Bengal separately. The Trinamool Congress won all six seats in the bypoll and 29 of 40 constituencies in the Lok Sabha elections, bettering its 2019 tally despite a big effort being put into the state by the BJP.

A TMC leader said that the party does want to discuss corruption – one of the issues because of which both Houses of Parliament have been adjourned since Monday – but doesn’t want it to overshadow the issues of the people of West Bengal.

“West Bengal has been deprived of funds, there has been a rise in prices across the country, and we are pushing for a law for speedier justice for women who are raped. These are some of the issues that we want to raise. For this, we need Parliament to function,” said the leader.

Rumblings Under The Surface

Despite being members of the INDIA Alliance at the Centre, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress have had an uneasy relationship and there was also speculation about the regional party pulling out of the opposition grouping ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. While the cracks had been papered over with statements by Mamata Banerjee and the top leadership of the Congress, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi, they have reappeared several times since then.

After the Congress’ unexpected defeat in Haryana in October, the Trinamool Congress lost no time in hitting out at its ally, accusing it of “arrogance” and not accommodating regional parties in states where it sees itself as strong.

“This attitude leads to electoral losses – ‘if we feel we’re winning, we will not accommodate regional party but, in states where we’re down, regional parties must accommodate us.’ Arrogance, entitlement, & looking down on regional parties is a recipe for disaster,” Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale had said.

The TMC twisted the knife following the rout of the Congress-Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)-NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) alliance in Maharashtra last week and its MP Kalyan Banerjee called for Mamata Banerjee to be named the head of the INDIA coalition

“For the last three or four years what have they done? In the INDIA alliance, who is the leader? Nobody has been chosen as a leader, as a face of the opposition. Now it has to be done. The Congress has failed, that mich is established. Congress leaders tried in Haryana, they failed. (In) Maharashtra, they have failed. It is not that only Congress has lost, it is that we all, in INDIA alliance, who have lost. We reposed our faith in Congress but it could not achieve the result,” Mr Banerjee told NDTV on Monday.

“You see, the byelections happened. Everyone criticised Mamata Banerjee, but we won six out of six seats in Bengal. We won by a margin of 1 lakh. People reposed confidence in Mamata Banerjee. The people of Bengal and people all over India love Mamata Banerjee. Why? Because of her fighting character,” he added.

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