ENTERTAINMENT

The month of February ended on a high for the Indian film industry. The last Friday of the month saw three major releases in theatres. The Hindi belt was overwhelmed with the response that Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi got in theatres while south Indian films Valimai and Bheemla Nayak also had a good weekend at the box office.

Starring Alia Bhatt in the titular role, Gangubai Kathiawadi made a big opening collection - it earned $1.3 million on the first day of the release on Friday, February 25. The collections for the film saw significant rise over the next two days and it has now collected $5.1 million over the first weekend in India alone.

Bhatt plays a young girl who was sold to a Mumbai brothel in the 60s and went on to become one of the strongest woman in the region during her lifetime. The film is based on former investigative journalist Hussain Zaidi’s book Mafia Queens of Mumbai that came out in 2011. Ajay Devgn essays an important role in the film that stars Shantanu Maheshwari opposite Bhatt.

Ram Gopal Varma’s most controversial film “Dangerous: Khatra”, made on the first lesbian love story in India, is finally ready to hit the theaters on 8th April 2022.

The film was waiting to be cleared by the censor board for its bold subject and female homosexual love story and then the film was passed by the censor board with an ‘A’ certificate.

Ram Gopal Varma has expressed happiness by sharing the release date on the poster of the film through Twitter. In a recent interview, Ram Gopal Varma said that “we didn’t expect much of “Khatra: Dangerous” to pass through the censors as it is a love story between two women, but gay after the abrogation of Section 377. The relationship has been legalized. I am very happy when the first Indian lesbian film gets an A certificate, I would be very disappointed if it does not get an A certificate”.

Ayyappanum Koshiyum, about two lead characters who lock horns over an incident and how their egos take them on a wild trip, is not an easy film to remake. It’s a dialogue-heavy film that purely worked due to the terrific performances of its lead actors – Biju Menon and Prithviraj Sukumaran. Bheemla Nayak, on the other hand, is an excessively commercialised remake of Ayyappanum Koshiyum, that fails to recreate the magic of the original but still works in its own ways, thanks to Pawan Kalyan’s machismo and Rana Daggubati’s impressive performance. (Also read: Valimai review: Terrific action in Ajith Kumar film supersedes predictable story)

Valimai has hit the theatres. Ajith and H Vinoth's action thriller also stars Kartikeya and Huma Qureshi. The film is produced by Boney Kapoor. It was supposed to come out on Sankranti but the pandemic pushed it a little further. The highlight are the breathtaking action sequences that involve a bike chase between Ajith Kumar and Kartikeya. There is a lot of appreciation coming in for Kartikeya Gummakonda as Satan. The mass audience feels he made the perfect slick villain. Even Huma Qureshi is being loved by one and all. They feel the movie's action sequences are of an international standard.

Stars who played in both 'Game of Thrones' and Marvel movies

Did you know that a lot of actors and actresses from 'Game of Thrones' were also superheroes in Marvel movies? Have a look at the following stars and see if you recognize them all.

Natalie Dormer, an English actress who has appeared in an impressive assortment of films and T.V. series such as 'Elementary', 'Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels' and of course, 'Game Of Thrones'. But before becoming a household name in the cult series, she played Private Lorraine in 'Captain America: The First Avenger'.

Kit Harington, appearing in a few lesser known films during his time as the legendary Jon Snow, but nothing compared to landing a role in the 2021 Marvel blockbuster 'The Eternals'.