Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has outdone himself, with Tiger 3 scoring his biggest opening day ever, as well as a new record for the top-grossing Diwali Day in the history of Hindi cinema. From Yash Raj Films, the latest in producer Aditya Chopra’s YRF Spy Universe grossed an estimated 94 crore ($11.35M) globally this weekend,
India
Shah Rukh Khan has outdone himself. After a record-breaking run with Pathaan in January, the Indian superstar has hit new milestones with his latest, Jawan, which scored the biggest ever opening day worldwide for a Hindi film on Thursday at 129.6 crore ($15.5M). The Thursday debut was also the best ever in India for a
Led by Rajinikanth-starrer Jailer and Anil Sharma’s Gadar 2, box office in India reached record-breaking numbers this weekend. According to the Producers Guild of India and Multiplex Association of India, the August 11-13 frame was the busiest single weekend since the beginning of the pandemic. What’s more, across three days, ticket sales hit more than
Cinemas in New Delhi have been ordered shut from today after Covid cases surged to a four-month high on Monday. These measures fall under the Indian capital’s Graded Response Action Plan which triggered the so-called “yellow alert” level that came into effect today as positivity rates were over 0.5% for two consecutive days. The Multiplex
An LGBT+ Pride parade in India. (David Talukdar/NurPhoto via Getty Images) A man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing his own father to death for being in a same-sex relationship in Uttar Pradesh, India. The father, identified by the authorities as Reshpal, was found dead in a sugarcane field in the Khatuauli area of Muzaffarnagar
Alisha Patel, the first trans woman to be legally recognised by the Gujarat government (YouTube/India Times/ANI) A trans woman from Gujarat has become the first in the state to receive legal recognition of her gender identity through a new identity card system. Alisha Patel told The Times of India that having her womanhood recognised by the state
Transgender people in India wait for food handouts. (ARUN SANKAR/AFP/Getty) A 16-year-old girl has raised money to vaccinate 120 trans people against COVID-19 in India. Sia Sehgal, a student at a private international school outside Mumbai, raised 200,000 rupees (£1,933) for the Maharashtra District AIDS Control Society (MDACS) to buy Covishield vials. MDACS administered 120
Justice N Anand Venkatesh ordered himself to attend an LGBT+ education session with a psychologist. (YouTube/ MMBA Madurai Bench – Lawyers Chambers and Envato) A high court judge in India has ordered himself to undergo an education session with a psychologist on same-sex relationships before ruling on a case relating to a lesbian couple. The
Master, the highly-anticipated Tamil action thriller from director Lokesh Kanagaraj, has gotten off to a strong start at India’s box office and in other markets where it’s playing worldwide. Meanwhile, a Hindi remake of the Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi-starrer has today been set by Endemol Shine India, CINE1 Studios and 7 Screens. Hopes have been
The Pongal holiday is kicking off in southern India with the release of Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Master, the first major local picture to hit cinemas since the Covid crisis began. The Tamil action thriller stars Vijay (who’s also referred to at home as “Thalapathy” or “Commander”) and Vijay Sethupathi, and hopes are being pinned on it
Devika Akka was one of two trans woman elected in India. (Twitter) Two transgender women have won local elections in their villages in India in an incredible history-making moment. Both women were elected to the gram panchayat – a form of local government operating in villages in India – on Wednesday (30 December), Devika Akka, a
Trans people in India can now apply to have their gender identity legally recognised online through a new government portal. The portal, launched on Wednesday (25 November) by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MSJE), will allow trans people to have their gender identity certified by the district magistrate without visiting government offices. The
Cinemas in India will get a reprieve beginning October 15 when they are allowed to open outside containment zones. The Ministry of Home Affairs made the announcement late Wednesday, saying that restrictions will include 50% seating capacity. Further guidelines will be issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The move means movie theaters will
A police officer in Kolkata, India, has been arrested for harassing, molesting and using obscene language and gestures towards a transgender rights activist. According to The Times of India, inspector Abhishek Bhattacharya is facing the charges for targeting Ranjita Sinha, a well-known local activist who leads sensitivity training efforts on LGBT+ issues. The outlet reports that
Subramanian Swamy, the leader of India’s ruling party BJP, has declared that homosexuality is “a genetic flaw like having six fingers”. Swamy first made the comments in 2016 but retweeted them on Friday (June 26) as the country celebrated the historic repeal of Section 377, a regressive colonial-era law that criminalised homosexual sex. The senior
A gender-questioning teenager from India has died by suicide after their classmates ridiculed them for their feminine looks and suggested they were trans. The 16-year-old, who has not been named, lived in Uttar Pradesh, India, and said in a suicide note to their father that they had started to question their gender identity. “Papa, I’m
Screenwriter Apurva Asrani (right) with his partner Siddhant (Twitter/@Apurvasrani) Acclaimed Bollywood filmmaker Apurva Asrani has celebrated buying a house with his partner after being forced to hide their relationship for 15 years. Asrani is an award-winning filmmaker best known for Satya (1998), Shahid (2013), and the human rights biopic Aligarh (2016). His drama-comedy series Made in
A boundary-breaking Bollywood rom-com starring a same-sex couple has been banned from being screened in Kenya by the country’s film regulatory body. The Kenya Film Classification Board banned the film Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, which hit Indian theatres Friday to a consultation of five star reviews across the board. But in a statement to newsrooms, the board’s CEO Ezekiel Mutua