BOLLYWOOD STARS SHINE BRIGHTLY
Deepika Padukone, who made her Bollywood debut with “Om Shanti Om” (2007), has topped IMDb’s list of the top 100 most viewed Indian stars of the last decade. Shah Rukh Khan, her co-star in that and several other films, is in second place. The list is determined by the page views of the 250 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Alia Bhatt place third and fourth on the list while the late Irrfan Khan is in fifth position, Aamir Khan in sixth, the late Sushant Singh Rajput in seventh and Salman Khan in eighth.
Notably, most of the stars in the top 20 are from the Hindi-language Bollywood, while the highest placed actors from India’s southern film industries are all women – Samantha Ruth Prabhu at 13, followed by Tamannaah Bhatia at 16 and Nayanthara at 18. The highest placed male actors from the southern industries are Prabhas, Dhanush and Ram Charan, who occupy positions 29-31.
Padukone, who made her Hollywood debut in 2017 with “xXx: Return of Xander Cage,” said: “IMDb stands as a beacon of credibility, reflecting the true pulse of people’s passion, interests, and preferences. This recognition is truly humbling and inspires me to continue connecting with and reciprocating the love I receive from audiences, both on and off screen, with authenticity and purpose.”
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The actor will next be seen in “Kalki 2898 AD,” releasing June 27,and “Singham Again”later this year.
THREE-FILM DEAL
India’s Bhanushali Studios Limited‘s Vinod Bhanushali has signed a three-film deal with Suparn S. Varma after their successful partnership on “Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai” that they produced together. Under the terms of the deal, Varma will direct one film and serve as creative producer on the other two.
FADE OUT
Demi Moore-, Margaret Qualley- and Dennis Quaid-starring “The Substance” has been set as the closing night film of the upcoming Sydney Film Festival (June 5-16).
Directed by Coralie Fargeat, the film premiered this month in Cannes. There it won the best screenplay award. The film is a blood-splattered and satirical body horror that follows Moore as a fading celebrity who turns to a black-market drug that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.
