Telugu actress Bhoomi Shetty has joined the cast of Prasanth Varma's upcoming creation 

From the cosmic womb of creation awakens the most FEROCIOUS SUPERHERO of the universe! Introducing 

,"Varma wrote on X, along with a poster of Shetty in the role of Mahakali, with striking gold jewellery and red and black face paint. The actress was last seen in 

The film will be part of Varma's Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe, a legion of films that the filmmaker created, starting with hit Telugu mythological film 

PVCU will be overseeing several instalments in the future, one of which is 

. It was recently announced that the film will feature Kalyan Dasari as a superhero and SJ Suryah as the antagonist.

. He will be playing Asuraguru Shukracharya in the film. Varma recently made this announcement on X, along with a poster of the character. "

In the shadows of gods, rose the brightest flame of rebellion, Presenting The Enigmatic 

 as the eternal 'Asuraguru SHUKRACHARYA' from 

 and is being produced by RKD Studios, with Varma serving as creator and co-writer. 

 will have music by Smaran Sai and cinematography by Suresh Ragutu. Its additional casting details are yet to be revealed.

'Mahakali': Bhoomi Shetty Joins The Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe Film

 in conversation with Anushka Shah, founder of Civic Studios, for an evening that traced the emotional and cultural threads running through Chadha’s body of work. Speaking to a packed room, the 

. She reflected on how diasporic memory, identity, and the feeling of “carrying your parents with you” continue to shape her filmmaking. Chadha also revealed that her film’s contemporary Scrooge is inspired by a close friend from Uganda who arrived in the UK as a refugee — a reminder, she noted, of the lived histories that underlie her stories.

From there, the conversation broadened into the ways Civic Studios is supporting the film’s release in India, and how Chadha and Shah remain deeply connected to the creative circuits linking London and Mumbai.

What followed — as with so many gatherings at the club — was a natural extension of Soho House Mumbai’s commitment to nurturing a vibrant, collaborative film culture for its members.

At Soho House Mumbai, the members-only film programme is built on breadth, access, and thoughtful curation. Each month, members can explore around 30 distinctive titles across genres and formats — from the latest theatrical releases to world cinema, regional-language gems, documentaries, shorts, and festival favourites. Sundays bring family-friendly screenings, widening the circle of cinephiles who feel at home there.

A cornerstone of the programming is the monthly Film Club, which champions independent Indian cinema. Since launching in 2021, Film Club has brought pan-Indian indies to the fore, each screening followed by in-depth Q&As with filmmakers and crew — often flown in from across the country. Over the years, the club has featured titles such as 

 by Natesh Hegde (curated by Smriti Kiran for her Lightbox series), 

Located in the heart of Juhu, the House is naturally entwined with Bollywood’s creative community. Intimate conversations and surprise visits from industry names are woven into the fabric of the programme: Zoya Akhtar (

, Taapsee Pannu and Anubhav Sinha (for a preview of 

 in collaboration with member Ankur Pathak’s AK Talkies), and Vishal Bhardwaj (

) have all been part of the calendar. For the club’s fifth anniversary, a special series — 

 — culminated in a conversation with Anurag Kashyap and Kiran Rao, moderated by Rajeev Masand.

As a private members’ club, the screening room is free from the censorship restrictions that govern public cinemas, opening the door for exclusive access to unreleased and pre-release titles. Recent previews this year have included 

Television also plays a significant role in the programme. Members enjoy early access to series premieres, often followed by conversations with the creators. Highlights include 

Collaboration remains central to the spirit of the House. Member-led film properties frequently come to life through the programming: ALP — a celebration of short-form video spanning ads, shorts, music videos, and new media — was conceptualised by member Reema Maya and developed with the Soho House team. During Pride Month, 

, curated with Gaysi founder Sakshi Juneja, honours queer cinema. Documentary programming is strengthened through a partnership with Kriti Film Club. Additionally, the monthly “Member’s Pick” series invites a member to select and introduce a film that continues to inspire them.

All of this unfolds within a state-of-the-art screening room that rivals the best multiplexes in Mumbai. It’s a space designed for discovery especially for independent films that deserve the spotlight, and for a community that values thoughtful curation and shared experience.

At Soho House Mumbai, film is not just programming. It’s a culture built by its members.

Gurinder Chadha on Diaspora and 'Christmas Karma' — and the Film Culture That Soho House Is Building in Mumbai

was released on December 15, giving audiences a glimpse of the unpredictable, frenetic nature of the philosophical actioner. The film, co-starring Shiva Rajkumar, Upendra, and Raj B Shetty, revolves around an event that changes all their lives. "There's a day you're born and the day you die. Life is just a dash in between these two dates," we're told in the voiceover, as the tightly cut trailer then shows us these three pivotal characters whose lives are intertwined. While Raj B. Shetty appears to play an innocent civilian caught in a chaotic circus, Shiva Rajkumar and Upendra's roles seem to have a touch of surrealism. 

The film is written and directed by Arjun Janya and will be out in theatres on December 25. 

Produced by Ramesh Reddy under the Suraj Productions banner, it features Satya Hegde as the cinematographer. Upendra was last seen in the Telugu film 

, alongside Ram Pothineni, while Shiva Rajkumar was seen in 

 (2024). Raj B Shetty, on the other hand, comes fresh off the success of 

 in the wake of the film’s soaring success, Shetty opened up about the evolving landscape of Kannada cinema and the urgent need for homegrown films that the audience appreciates. “We need Kannada films that will pull people to the theatres,” he said, indicating that the industry hasn’t had the smoothest run this year.

He recalled the initial hesitation from distributors. “They told me clearly; don’t release it on the 25th, there are bigger films from other languages coming out. But I told them I’ll try. For me, the first week was a trial,” Shetty shared. “The first day we had 70 shows in Bangalore. Second day? 180. By the third day, we hit 340 shows. On Sunday, they started opening 6 PM shows because they just couldn’t accommodate any more demand. Now

 is one of the biggest films in Bengaluru.”

'45' Trailer: Shiva Rajkumar, Upendra, and Raj B Shetty In A Moralistic Action Drama

, being a parent to grown-up children comes with a particular kind of helplessness. Watching them stumble, he admits, is often harder than stepping in to fix things. “For parents, I think one of the hardest things is to watch your kids struggle. You want to say, ‘Forget it. I can fix this for you’,” he says. 

But over time, he has had to make peace with the fact that he can’t. “It’s been a process for me, understanding that I can’t fix everything. They need to have their own struggles and their own challenges.”

Asked how much he’s able to distance himself from 

 journeys, especially given how unforgiving the film industry can be, Khan is honest. “I can’t really distance myself,” he says. A line shared by a friend has stayed with him. “You can only be as happy as your least happy child,” he says. 

He speaks warmly about Sara’s life outside films, mentioning that she’s back at Columbia University and is currently in New York. “She’s in the library, she watched a good play yesterday. I’d love to encourage that side of life apart from the stress of movies.” Acting, he believes, should be approached as a craft, not a competition. “All too often, it becomes stressful and competitive,” he says, adding that it’s something he actively tries to guide his children away from.

With Ibrahim, Khan often talks about visibility. “I keep trying to say something about appearances,” he explains, noting how constant public exposure can dilute mystery. “It’s very old-school to say I should only see you on screen, but every time you go out, you’re recorded.” 

He also admits to something many parents quietly fear. “There’s this scary idea that it won’t be perfect for everyone. If every child has a good school, good college, good job, happy life, that would be a dream. But there might be some rocks in the road for some of them.”

Watch the full interview with Saif Ali Khan on our 

Saif Ali Khan on Parenting Sara and Ibrahim: 'You Can Only Be As Happy As Your Least Happy Child'

The beginning of the year was anything but easy for 

. A break-in at his home left the actor injured, placing him in a situation that could have permanently altered his life. Asked whether surviving a 

 fundamentally changed him as a person or an artist, Khan says, “No, not really. I think I’ve always been aware of some of these things.”

He draws a parallel to the questions he was asked during the pandemic. “People asked me during COVID, ‘Have you changed? Do you have a different outlook?’ And after this incident as well… no, not really. I can’t say I’ve had some kind of epiphany or that I now suddenly know what’s important,” he says.

What the experience did leave him with, however, is a sharper awareness of how close he came to lasting damage. “I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to have gotten away with it the way I did. It was very close,” he admits. The injury, he explains, narrowly missed his spinal cord. “There was a nick there, and that could have led to paralysis. I had lost feeling in my leg for a while.” That brief brush with immobility lingers. “The concept of being bedridden forever or being paralysed is frightening. It still frightens me,” he says.

Khan doesn’t frame the experience as a transformation, but as gratitude. “I’m appreciative that I’m healthy. That keeps me grateful,” he says, adding that the incident may have “accentuated it slightly” without revealing anything new to him. “I’ve always known every day is a blessing. I’ve always lived a certain way, knowing that it’s a privilege to even go through life the way we do.” 

Even ambition, he suggests, exists within that awareness. “My life itself, even though I have aspirations and sometimes fall short or achieve things, is still an incredible privilege. I’m massively lucky anyway,” he says.

With a smile, he adds, “I get the feeling that I have nine lives. Having said that, I might be gone tomorrow.”

Saif Ali Khan on Life After The Knife Attack: 'The Concept of Being Paralysed Still Frightens Me’

 has signed on to a new film that he admits he can’t fully talk about yet. “It’s a biopic and it’s Bengali, which is a bad clue because it sounds much more regional than it is. There will be a bit of a Bengali accent,” and adds that its something he’s looking forward to figuring out.

What excites him most isn’t the label, but the process. “I’m not doing anything for three months except figuring that out,” he says. For an actor who often juggles packed schedules, that kind of uninterrupted preparation feels rare. “I’m very excited to prep and really get into it. To understand why you’re saying what you’re saying. I just got the line, now I have to understand it,” he adds.

When asked about the last time he felt he truly put in that kind of work, he doesn’t single out a recent film. “I think I’ve worked hard on all of them. Whether it shows or whether it doesn’t,” he admits. Still, he admits that projects allowing deep preparation have been few and far between. “Maybe 

 was the last thing we prepped that way. That was a long time ago,” he says.

Over the years, Khan says his understanding of effort has shifted. “Sometimes I feel you can work too hard at the wrong thing,” he says. Long hours, travel, and exhaustion don’t always translate into meaningful work. “You spend ages, you bleed all your blood out, and it doesn’t go anywhere. It’s heartbreaking.”

What he values now is focus. “More concentrated work with sharp directors who don’t exhaust you. Nine to six, rock and roll, and you’ve done something amazing,” he says, That, for him, is real work. “You’ve sweated a bit, but it’s not wasted,” he adds.

Exclusive | Saif Ali Khan’s Next Is a Bengali-Rooted Biopic: ‘I’m Excited to Prep And Really Get Into It’

Move over superheroes and song-and-dance spectacles. In a refreshingly sinister turn, this year will perhaps be remembered as the year India swept its hair back, offered up her neck and said, “Fine, go on then — take a bite.”

Vampires have always been everywhere. But curiously, India has somehow remained a strangely reluctant host to bloodsuckers. We opened the door, peered out, shrugged and went back to watching family melodramas.

Sure, there were early attempts. In 1989, Bengal gave us 

, featuring Prosenjit Chatterjee and Moon Moon Sen, heavily reliant on earnest gazes and a very tired fog machine. A year later, the Ramsay Brothers graced us with 

, a B-grade sex-slave horror oddity where the vampire was named Nevla. Yes, mongoose. This one specialised in biting young women to spread his evil seed, because the Ramsays never met a metaphor they couldn’t make slightly uncomfortable.

And then… silence. Decades passed, during which Indian cinema flirted with the vampire myth the way filmy heroes flirt with heroines — lots of circling, very little commitment. A Malayalam film titled 

staggered onto screens in 2013. Bengal tried again with 

 in 2020. Then there was the Netflix show 

 in 2023, but none of these quite pierced the jugular of the zeitgeist. An awkward scratch rather than a seductive bite. India, it seemed, just didn’t have the neck for vampires.

 technically arrived last year, but its India release in early 2025 set the mood — a bit of German Expressionism and a lot of eyeliner. Then came 

, and overnight, the undead and the uncanny were once again coursing in the cultural bloodstream, strolling through trend pieces, and on X threads.

This is the moment when the Internet announces that vampire movies spike during recessions. Or that zombies flourish under Republican governments while vampires bloom under Democrats. These theories have charts. They have graphs. They have earnest young people explaining them in Reels. They are delightful and entirely useless when trying to understand why India, all at once, developed an appetite for the fang and the femme.

What is more helpful is to simply look at what has been happening on our screens. For the years since the Covid-19 pandemic, the theatrical space has been a sweaty, booming showcase of hypermasculinity. 

(all in 2023) showed that a certain kind of brawny cinema could flatten everything in its path. The trend picked up steam, and 

 followed in 2024. In that climate, anything stranger or led by women didn’t stand a chance — 

, for all its sleek action and ambition, was dead on arrival. 

Something shifted this year. A parallel movement slipped in. 

Rashmika Mandanna’s toothy theatrics in 

. Add to that Rukmini Vasanth’s occult charge in 

 — not a vampire film, but fluent in spell work — and suddenly you had a constellation of women who were more terrifying, more interesting, and more unapologetically feral than the bulky men on the marquee.

Squint at the rise of vampire films and you can almost see a cultural argument about who’s allowed to be monstrous now. As post-pandemic cinema doubled down on testosterone, the monstrous feminine crept in as aesthetic insurgency.

— but the scale is. These women refuse patriarchal legibility. They irritate, seduce, weaponise. The monster isn’t the point; the reclamation is. In 2025, monstrous women don’t soften. They stomp in, leave claw marks, and demand attention. Glorious.

Here’s taking a closer look at each one of them.

Apte’s Uma is the kind of woman your mother warned you about and your inner gremlin immediately roots for. 

 begins with the familiar tableau of an arranged marriage — nice girl, nice boy, nice suffocation — and twists it until something feral slithers out.

A tale about repressed sexuality, taboo longing, and all the desires we’ve spent decades training women to swallow politely. Uma simply wants to have sex with her husband; he doesn’t. Left alone, starved of connection, she becomes ripe for metamorphosis. The audience is invited to witness Uma’s hunger, her flesh-eating rebellion, and by the end, to become complicit in it.

 is technically a launching pad for a Malayalam superhero universe. The magic is in 

’s strange, shimmering presence as Chandra. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill “chosen one” plot. Dominic Arun (with co-writer Santhy Balachandran) fuses Kerala folklore with kickass action, giving Chandra a mythic energy that doesn’t become a cliché. Films of this scale often saddle their women with tragic-sacrifice arcs, but Chandra is power incarnate.

She is not here to prop up anyone else’s heroism. She’s flattening local goons in a parking lot fight that drains the testosterone out of the frame. Swathed in reds — hair, jacket, the electric glow that trails her — she becomes the film’s feminist antithesis to every mansplaining, posturing male around her. Chandra is part goddess, part avenger, part folklore. She’s the threat men never see coming until they’re on the floor.

is what happens when a big-budget mainstream entertainer flirts with vampire lore and then promptly fumbles it in favour of a mushy romantic arc. And yet, Mandanna as Tadaka does her best to sink her teeth into the role with wide-eyed abandon. The film itself has enough ideas to power three franchises but forgets to pursue any. Hidden inside its forest of cloaked vampires is a genuinely compelling conceit: vampirism as the short- hand for outsiders; the unwanted, the unseen, the communities pushed to the edges.

There’s an ambitious backstory too: these undead once tried to help humans, only to retreat after witnessing the brutality our species was capable of. Mandanna wraps Tadaka’s loneliness in her myth — an exile within an exiled people. Like Chandra and Uma, she strains against the limits of her world. The romance may be flimsy, but her choice still matters. Because this isn’t a B- grade horror sideshow; this is a Diwali-day mainstream release, a slot once reserved for the Khans. And here, at the centre of the spectacle, stands a woman reclaiming her agency, fangs and all. 

To read more exclusive stories from The Hollywood Reporter India's December 2025 print issue, pick up a copy of the magazine from your nearest book store or newspaper stand.

From 'Lokah' to 'Thamma,' Here's Why 2025 Was The Year of the Vampire On-Screen

Rob Reiner, director of beloved Hollywood classics such as 

When Harry Met Sally, This Is Spinal Tap 

, was found dead along with his wife Michele Singer Reiner in their Los Angeles home on December 14, in what law enforcement investigators are treating as an apparent homicide.

According to reports, the Los Angeles Fire Department were the first responders to the residence, where the bodies of Reiner, 78, and Michele, 68, were first discovered with fatal stab wounds.

A statement from the Reiner family read, "It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time."

Rob Reiner rose to fame in the 1970s with his portrayal of Mike “Meathead” Stivic on the acclaimed sitcom 

. He went on to become a celebrated filmmaker, directing beloved and wide-ranging films such as

 This Is Spinal Tap, Stand by Me, Misery, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally… 

. Reiner also co-founded Castle Rock Entertainment, which produced well-known films like 

The Shawshank Redemption, City Slickers, Lone Star 

Michele Singer Reiner, Rob's wife, was a photographer. The couple had been married since 1989, after meeting during the production of

. They are survived by their four children.

Several actors, former colleagues and public figures mourned Reiner's passing.

Condoling the death of the director and political activist, Former US President Barack Obama wrote on X, "Michelle and I are heartbroken by the tragic passing of Rob Reiner and his beloved wife, Michele. Rob’s achievements in film and television gave us some of our most cherished stories on screen. But beneath all of the stories he produced was a deep belief in the goodness of people—and a lifelong commitment to putting that belief into action. Together, he and his wife lived lives defined by purpose. They will be remembered for the values they championed and the countless people they inspired. We send our deepest condolences to all who loved them."

Hollywood Director Rob Reiner, Wife Found Dead in LA Home; Police Investigating 'Apparent Homicide'

Heterosexuals are really fraught. Their desires are mapped onto their gender privilege or lack thereof, so every act of penetrative sex can be framed as un-feminist, the man, literally, invading the woman, but because it is desire, and because the loins throb with a logic that the brain often cannot keep up with, this disjunction is left for the ‘political lesbians’ to debate and deal with. 

Writer-director Jeo Baby, who previously unmasked the gruelling and cumulative violence of heterosexual marriage in 

 and the tender dysfunction of queerness in a rabidly surveilled heterosexual world in 

, now wants to take a stab at open marriages. 

The problem is men, a man, really—Adarsh (Baby, himself), a graphic designer who works from home, fielding calls from clients, masturbating to his own erotic etchings. If as director Sanjay Leela Bhansali notes, the top shot is god’s view of the world, Baby’s god is a pervert. The first half of the film largely takes place through top shots of different beds in post coital hush. 

At first, Adarsh is masturbating. Then, Adarsh is in bed with a woman who, rambling and reluctant, brings up Maria (Divya Prabha), Adarsh’s wife. Maria knows about Adarsh’s affair, but the woman is unsure of how she will behave if they meet publicly. Adarsh swats her soft anxieties with his hard certainty. He seems to walk through the world knowing exactly what he wants—of himself, but as we grow to see, of others, too. 

The chronology is important here. Adarsh first pursued his affair. And then, he confronted his wife with it, opening up the marriage, because Adarsh, and perhaps, humans, but mostly men, and certainly this man is not made for monogamy. Maria concedes. Infidelity and open marriages are different, but here, the film tries to collapse these two. So far, so male. 

In the following scene, we see Maria in bed with Siddharth (Jitin Puthanchery), where his wife Farzana and his guilt is brought up. Farzana does not know about Siddharth’s affair. They have a child together, and their top shots are not post-coital, but with the child in between—this god is not a pervert, but a tender observer. 

The film turns on its head when Adarsh proposes a threesome with Maria and Siddharth. Maria, initially reluctant, agrees, but the image of his wife being eaten out by another man, not to mention Siddharth’s greater stamina, makes Adarsh spiral. The male instinct to thumb down competition kicks in. Siddharth’s exploits are not shown graphically or at all, framed through blurs or blocked foregrounds or brought up later in conversations—so many conversations, all sound and fury signifying nothing, to the point of verbal diarrhoea, the emotional riptide flattened out. The point is not Divya being pleasured; the point is Adarsh being ruined by this pleasure. Perhaps the top shot is the best visual language to give expression to this flat world, where there is no foreground—everything is distant, everything is background.

Obsessed with the aftermath of desire, the film forgets to stage desire itself, as though it is resolved. But it isn’t—to show the aftermath of desire, you must show what is at stake, the desire itself. The film wants to see Maria as a victim of Adarsh—literally, meaning principles—taking her side, without inhabiting her desire, because it is easier to apportion blame to him than to burn alongside her. Why does she stay with Adarsh after he cheats on her? Why is she drawn to him? 

I refuse to take a film seriously when it insists on how desire corrodes life, when it cannot or refuses to stage desire’s imbuing of life with pleasure, pleasure that upturns our received notions of self, dignity, and even desire. Desire is merely what is comprehended from conversations. 

turns desire into a man-ifesto, the way it turns feelings into words, because it is easier to poke at manifestos than fuller, realised lives. The film, though, breathes beautifully in the smaller details, the way Maria tries to retrieve a phone that is stuck between her and Adarsh as they are trying to cuddle, the small, charming idiosyncrasies of modern life; the way Adarsh keeps switching sides of the bed, unlike most people who prefer one side. 

Speak to anyone in open relationships and the one thing they will say is over-communicate. Every itch of the body needs to be accounted for, because it might grow into a scab that devours the body. In 

the over-communication is essentially Maria placating Adarsh—that she loves him, that he was the one who decided to open up the marriage, that then, she should not be held responsible for pursuing and feeling pleasure, and perhaps, (and this goes unsaid) greater pleasure from another man. These conversations, initially pointed, because recklessly repetitive, to a point of exhaustion. The circling around the same wound without really scrubbing it clean makes the film seem like it has run out of tricks. 

The running spine through the film is that our ideology never maps neatly into the practicalities of life. Heterosexual sex is precisely that—and it is an idea so banal, you wait for the film to toy with it, turning it around, and doing something besides merely stating it. 

Adarsh’s spiral, which is supposed to be the film’s clinching drama, is even visually manifested in a spiral staircase that Adarsh ascends in the climax—a juvenile metaphor, really, but a striking image—and becomes a series of petulant pouts. The film eventually flirting with the bizarre feels like a copout. If you have the courage to provoke, as a filmmaker, have the conviction to see it through.

Besides, the film is too short. Its runtime of over 70 minutes, includes the almost ten minute opening credits where everyone from the light boy to the focus puller to the apartment is credited. The lacking length is not a problem in and of itself, but it produces a grating sense that the film does not have much to say, except to state its provocation and scurry away, like a child ringing a bill, like a troll dropping a tweet, to recede into the dark, dark nothingness.

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, has reportedly wrapped up filming. The film's producer Vijay Moolan posted an update on Instagram, sharing pictures with the cast and crew of the film, including Madhavan, his wife Sarita, and Vinay. "

The film, directed by Krishnakumar Ramakumar, is aiming for a Summer 2026 release. 

, the much-anticipated biopic on visionary industrialist and inventor G.D. Naidu, R. Madhavan is seen in a striking transformation as Naidu. Often hailed as the “Edison of India” and “The Wealth Creator of Coimbatore,” G.D. Naidu’s groundbreaking contributions to science, technology, and public service left a mark on India’s industrial history. His enduring legacy continues to be celebrated — most notably with Tamil Nadu’s longest bridge bearing his name. The timing of the first look’s release on October 26 serves as a fitting homage to his pioneering spirit.

 marks the reunion of the National Award-winning teams behind 

, bringing together Varghese Moolan Pictures and Tricolour Films once again for another biopic. Madhavan will once again be seen portraying a real-life visionary. The film’s cast features an ensemble of actors, including Sathyaraj, Jayaram, Priyamani, Dushara Vijayan, Thambi Ramaiah, and Vinay Rai. Acclaimed composer Govind Vasantha will helm the historical drama's music.

Written and directed by Krishnakumar Ramakumar, 

 is being shot entirely in Coimbatore — Naidu’s birthplace — to authentically capture the textures and atmosphere of his era. The film is produced by Varghese Moolan and Vijay Moolan of Varghese Moolan Pictures, alongside R. Madhavan and Sarita Madhavan of Tricolour Films. Aravind Kamalanathan serves as Cinematographer and Creative Producer, with Muralidaran as Executive Producer. Madhavan was last seen in Hindi film 

, alongside Ranveer Singh and Akshaye Khanna

'GDN': R Madhavan's Biopic On GD Naidu Wraps Up Filming

Nearly a week after the verdict in the Kerala actor assault case, the actor at the centre of the proceedings has issued her first public statement, sharply criticising the conduct of the trial court and saying she had lost confidence in the process years before the judgment was delivered.

In a social media post, she said the verdict did not come as a surprise to her, describing it instead as the outcome of “years of pain, tears and emotional struggle”. “Not every citizen in this country is treated equally before the law,” she wrote, calling it a deeply painful realisation.

On December 8, the Principal District and Sessions Court in Ernakulam convicted six people for abducting and sexually assaulting the actor, while acquitting actor Dileep, who had been charged as the eighth accused and alleged to have masterminded the crime. The verdict was delivered by judge Honey M Varghese.

“This verdict may surprise many people, but it did not surprise me,” the actor wrote. She said she began to feel as early as 2020 that something was not right with the way the case was being handled. According to her, even the prosecution had flagged changes in the court’s approach, particularly in relation to one accused.

Although the case had initially been assigned to the current judge following a request for a woman judge, the years that followed, she said, were marked by what she described as hostility from the court towards both the prosecution and herself.

In a statement issued on December 14, she listed six reasons for losing faith in the trial court. Chief among them was the handling of key evidence. She said her fundamental rights were not protected, pointing to the memory card — described as the most crucial piece of evidence — being illegally accessed three times while it was in court custody. She also referred to the resignation of two public prosecutors from the case, both of whom, she said, cited a hostile court environment and concerns about bias. According to her, the prosecutors personally warned her not to expect justice from the court.

The actor said she repeatedly sought a proper investigation into the alleged tampering of the memory card but was not provided the investigation report until she pressed for it repeatedly. She added that her concerns deepened when the accused filed a petition requesting that the same judge continue to hear the case. She said she wrote to the President and the Prime Minister of India, outlining her concerns and seeking intervention. A request to conduct proceedings in open court, allowing the public and media to observe the hearings, was also denied, she said.

“Over the years, I approached the High Court and the Supreme Court multiple times, clearly stating that I did not trust this court,” she wrote. Every request to have the case moved away from the same judge was dismissed, she added.

Reflecting on the outcome, she said the verdict had reinforced her understanding of how strongly human judgement could shape decisions. At the same time, she noted that she did not believe all courts functioned in the same way.

She also used the statement to address what she described as false narratives circulating online about one of the convicted accused, clarifying that he was neither her employee nor someone she knew personally, and that she had met him only briefly years earlier during a film shoot. The statement concluded with a note of gratitude to those who stood by her, alongside a sharp response to continued online abuse, which she described as driven by paid narratives.

Kerala Actor’s First Post After Assault Case Verdict Questions Trial Court Process

After a list of superstar cameos and appearances, 

 is reportedly the latest to join the sets of 

, Balan is said to have been impressed with the script narrated to her. She is also said to be playing a character that is bold and charismatic. She was last seen in Ajith’s 

(2019) in Tamil. In Hindi, her last film was 

After initially announcing a release in June next year, the film appears to have pushed its new release date to August 14 of 2026, coinciding with the Independence Day Holiday weekend. Actors Mohanlal and Vinayakan are both said to appear in 

 is expected to join the film’s sets in Goa after December 20, in what is reportedly a short three-day stint. He played the role of Rajinikanth’s friend, a gangster named Mathew, in the film’s first part.

Similarly, actor Vinayakan, who played the dreaded bad guy Varman in the first film, said during a recent press event that he would feature in 

. It is unclear at the moment if he will be reprising the same character, in what perhaps might be a flashback portion (Varman dies during the climax of the first film).

 also featured much-hyped cameos by actors such as Shiva Rajkumar from Kannada cinema, Jackie Shroff from Hindi and Sunil from Telugu cinema. Meanwhile, 

has been re-released in theatres in a newly remastered 4K version, to mark the star's 

 and his 50 years in cinema. The film opened brightly across Tamil Nadu theatres, especially Chennai, where fans thronged to the screen to celebrate the Superstar's birthday. Wishing the actor on his 75th birthday, Sun Pictures recently released a video from the sets of 

Vidya Balan Joins Rajinikanth's 'Jailer 2': Reports

, as the Ranveer Singh-led film broke all existing records for a Hindi feature in its second weekend. The spy actioner faced capacity issues on Saturday and Sunday, when the film hit it out of the park with its sensational collections.

has grossed over ₹550 crores so far, while the film's India net collections are over ₹360 crore, according to the official collections.

put up historic figures in the second weekend, which saw the movie record huge jumps on its second Friday, Saturday and Sunday, where it netted ₹34 crore, ₹53 crore and nearly ₹58 crore, respectively.

which had netted ₹54 crore on its second Sunday in Hindi. According to 

clocked over ₹140 crore in its second weekend, higher than 

throughout the second weekend and is expected to record better trending throughout the week as well.

With its global gross, as well as domestic run in 10 days, 

has beaten one of the biggest Bollywood hits of the year,

which had minted ₹329 nett in India and over ₹560 crore worldwide.

, the historical drama ended its theatrical run with ₹601 crore India nett and a global gross of over ₹800 crore.

The film also stars Akshaye Khanna, R Madhavan, Arjun Rampal, Sanjay Dutt, Rakesh Bedi, and Sara Arjun, among others. The sequel to 

 is set to release on March 19 and will see a box-office clash with 

'Dhurandhar' Box-Office: Ranveer Singh's Film Grosses Over ₹550 Crore Globally, Breaks Record Set By 'Pushpa 2'

 will finally release in theatres after a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court dismissed appeals filed by the Catholic Congress and the Union government. The appeals challenged a single judge’s decision to set aside the A certification issued by the Central Board of Film Certification(CBFC) to the Shane Nigam film. The film's now reportedly set for a December release.

, the Catholic Congress contested that Haal had scenes showing forceful religious conversion. It also misrepresented interfaith relationships and portrayed the Thamarassery bishop as a supporter of such marriages, although his known stance is otherwise. An earlier report in The News Minute, the makers of the film had agreed to remove a scene involving characters eating a plate of beef biryani. The Kerala High Court on November 14 directed the makers to also approach the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) again to decide on the next steps for the film’s release. This report adds that the CBFC had originally mandated six cuts in the film while also restricting Haal to an Adults-only (A) certificate.

The film’s release has already been pushed twice, first to September 19 and then later to October 10. Among the scenes that were asked to be removed is one in which the characters of the film are said to be consuming beef biryani. The film, directed by Veera, also stars Sakshi Vaidya. 

, led by Shane Nigam, is said to be an interfaith love story between a Muslim boy and a Christian girl. The film’s producers approached the Kerala High Court against the CBFC. Apart from the scene involving beef, the CBFC objected to other scenes, including one in which a character wears a purdah to hide identity, a shot of characters wearing a rakhi, a scene where a character says ‘Dhwaja Pranamam’ (a greeting associated with the RSS), and a reference to ‘Ganapathi Vattam’.

Malayalam Film ‘Haal’ Gets Clean Chit To Release

In a statement protesting the verdict issued by the trial court last week, 

 posted a note on her social media handles, calling the judgment “incomplete”. Manju Warrier’s name was among the first that had been taken by actor Dileep after he was acquitted in the sensational assault case.

In this note, she writes, “I have utmost respect for the honourable court. But in this case, justice for the survivor is still incomplete. Only those who committed the crime have been punished. The mind that planned and enabled this heinous act, whoever that is, still walks free, and that is terrifying. Justice will be complete only when everyone behind this crime is held accountable. This is not just for one survivor. This is for every girl, every woman, every human being who deserves to walk with courage, heads held high, without fear in their workplaces, on the streets, and in life. With her. Then, now, and always,” she wrote.

Speaking to the media right after being acquitted in court, Dileep singled out his ex-wife and co-actor Manju Warrier, and said, “Truth has won. This case against me began with Manju (Warrier) saying that there was a criminal conspiracy behind the assault. But the real criminal conspiracy was the one that unfolded against me. A senior police officer, along with a team of 'criminal' officers, cooked up this case against me. The same officers used the prime accused and his other jail inmates to concoct a fake story against me. Then they started to take the help of certain corrupt media to spread these fake stories about me. This was done to destroy my career and my image in public.”

In the wide media coverage that followed, including drone cameras, there was footage from actor Dileep’s house, where one witnessed signs of a celebration at his home. The charges in this case included gang rape, conspiracy, outraging the modesty of a woman, wrongful confinement, use of criminal force, destruction of evidence, taking and distributing obscene images under Indian Penal Code Sections 120 A, 120 B, 109, 376, 342, 204, and 201.

Manju Warrier On Kerala Actor’s Assault Case: 'Justice Incomplete'

 has seen enough cycles in the industry to recognise when something fundamental is shifting. To him, the turbulence the industry is experiencing isn’t surprising, rather it was long overdue. “Whatever phenomenon is happening as far as our industry goes, whatever setback, whatever is moving forward, whatever is going back... it was bound to happen. Everybody could see it coming.”

What he finds interesting is not the disruption itself, but the scale of the change it might trigger. “It is going to create a seismic shift in how the audiences watch what they watch. What makers would want to make,” he says. Then he offers an image that captures exactly where he believes we are right now. “This is like a lull before the storm. We haven’t hit the storm yet. The storm could be good, it could be bad. But it will definitely change. It will definitely metamorphosise into something better. And I am hopeful of that. And it has always happened. If you look at the past, it has always happened like that,” he adds.

is looking inward. The actor, who has been receiving steady attention for 

, is quick to clarify that the show may feel like a debut to viewers, but it isn’t one for him. “People think that it is my first performance. Technically yes, you can call it a streaming series debut but it is my fifth piece of work.” 

But the sudden recognition comes with its own anxieties. “What am I scared of? Being a one-hit wonder. Being only good for this. How can I illustrate that I can do something radically different?” he admits.  Still, he feels something has shifted. “There has been a palpable change. I am still getting somewhat recognised randomly,” he says.

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