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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.NEW DELHI: Actors long associated with iconic film roles are increasingly acquiring rights to older hits, betting that nostalgia-driven intellectual property can generate fresh value through remakes, sequels, streaming, licensing and franchise extensions in an overcrowded content market.Recently, actor Sanjay Dutt acquired the rights to his 1993 hit cthat he plans to reimagine along with Jio Studios and Aksha Kamboj’s Aspect Entertainment. In the past, stars like Shah Rukh Khan too have bought rights to older hits from original producers, reflecting a broader shift in how value is captured in the content economy.Khan has bought rights to older hits such as Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa and One 2 Ka 4 from original producers.For producers, selling rights can provide immediate liquidity, reduce risk and monetize legacy content that may otherwise remain underexploited.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Shortly before the 2024 election that would move him back into the White House, Donald Trump took a phone call on his plane from a secret supporter.Nicki Minaj was on the line, and she wanted Trump to know she was supporting his re-election, according to people familiar with the matter.Trump’s campaign managers, sensing an opportunity to score an endorsement from the rap world’s most popular female star, asked Minaj to take her support public. But Minaj—and her management team—said she needed to stay behind the scenes because taking a political stance posed a risk to her brand and businesses, some of these people said.Not anymore.Today, the 43-year-old best known for chart toppers like “Starships,” for leading an online army of mega-fans known as “Barbz” and for bringing a theatrical streak to contemporary hip hop has embraced a new status atop MAGA’s A-list.She has visited Trump in the Oval Office, spoken in support of administration priorities at the United Nations and encouraged her tens of millions of social-media followers to lobby their legislators on the White House’s behalf.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Health insurance protects against sudden and unforeseen hospitalization costs. Pregnancy, being a planned medical event in most cases, has traditionally remained outside the scope of standard health insurance.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.MUMBAI: India’s consumer durables makers have begun the current fiscal with cautious optimism, betting on a stronger summer and early demand recovery after a bruising FY26 marked by erratic weather, raw material inflation, supply-chain disruptions and weak operating leverage.“We remain cautiously optimistic about the prospects for FY27,” Nikhil Sohoni, chief financial officer, Blue Star Ltd, said during the company’s Q4 earnings call, while cautioning that rising input costs and volatile exchange rates would make managing margins challenging.Expectations of a stronger summer have lifted sentiment, helped by a weak FY26 base and demand strength in March–May. March was one of Voltas’s highest-ever sales months, while April and May also saw strong dealer-level sales.The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a harsher summer and below-normal monsoon amid emerging El Niño conditions.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.To my mind, there is one thing the US version of The Office did better than the BBC original, created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. This, I assure you, is a big deal because I worship at the altar of those flawlessly written British episodes.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.What do you do when a Bollywood power couple settles in at a table next to yours to eat tisrya (clams) and surmai fry? If you are someone who respects their privacy, you’d carry on with your meal, offer a polite smile if your eyes meet, and avoid turning the moment into a spectacle.What should have been a leisurely Sunday lunch with the family turned into an ordeal when a popular filmy couple walked into a seafood restaurant in Mumbai. Despite arriving before them and placing our orders promptly, our food, except for a couple of appetisers, never made it to the table.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Back in school, Gaurav Banerjee wrote some poetry, following in the footsteps of his father, a civil servant who was also a poet. He didn’t think it was anywhere close to what his father wrote nor good enough to be shown to anyone.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Among all the fashion labels worn by stars on the Met Gala red carpet Monday night, two brands seemed out of place: Gap and Zara.Kendall Jenner wore a flowing, Greek-inspired cotton gown by GapStudio, a premium line the company debuted last year. Bad Bunny wore a black custom tuxedo from Zara (and prosthetics that made him look elderly, seemingly a nod to the “aging bodies” section of the “Costume Art” exhibit the gala feted).

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The second week of a blockbuster trial between Elon Musk and Sam Altman kicks off Monday, with the future of OpenAI very much up for grabs.OpenAI President Greg Brockman is expected to testify Monday, the next star witness in a revolving cast of some of the most important leaders in AI.Over three days of testimony and cross-examination last week, Musk sought to make his case to nine jurors that he was manipulated by OpenAI and Altman into giving $38 million to a nonprofit, only for the startup to turn it into a for-profit venture.The Tesla and SpaceX owner is asking the court to remove Altman and Brockman from their leadership roles at OpenAI, damages of up to $180 billion to be paid out from OpenAI’s for-profit arm to its nonprofit parent, and an unwinding of the company’s recent conversion to a more traditional corporate governance structure.If even one of these remedies is granted, it could change the course of OpenAI and the rest of the artificial-intelligence industry with it.Musk’s attorneys have pointed to private journal entries written by Brockman, obtained as part of legal discovery, to support the argument that the OpenAI founders were secretly plotting about the company’s for-profit structure.“We’ve been thinking that maybe we should just flip to a for profit,” Brockman allegedly wrote in a private journal entry in 2017.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Mahesh Narayanan’s Patriot begins with a curious disclaimer: “This film is not against digitalization of India”. For any piece of popular entertainment in India today, it helps to be as vanilla and nonconfrontational as possible, and at least in southern India few things are more popular than a Malayalam film starring Mammootty and Mohanlal, and directed by Mahesh Narayanan.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.When France opens their World Cup campaign on 17 June against Senegal at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, they will do so as one of the firm favourites to lift the greatest prize in the game. Winners in 2018 and finalists in 2022, France will arrive on US soil brimming, as usual, with some of the finest players on the global stage right now.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Defence profligacy is a prerogative of rich, powerful nations. In 1983, the US embarked on its Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed Star Wars after a science-fiction film. Its bizarre cost-benefit equation led to it being binned within a decade.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Chinese artificial-intelligence startup DeepSeek is tapping external investors for the first time since it became a household name, looking to raise funds for research and development, people familiar with the matter said.In recent weeks, DeepSeek has held talks with potential investors, including Chinese technology giants Alibaba and Tencent, seeking to raise at least $300 million, the people said. The funds will be denominated in Chinese yuan, they said.Beijing-based venture-capital firm Shunwei Capital—backed by Lei Jun, founder of Chinese consumer-electronics maker Xiaomi—has also held talks with the AI startup, some of the people said.Preliminary discussions value the Chinese AI heavyweight at between $10 billion and $30 billion, the people said.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.As actor Allu Arjun steps into the cinema exhibition business, joining southern stars like Mohanlal and Mahesh Babu, industry experts say the move signals a growing trend of film celebrities extending their influence beyond the screen.The trend is beginning to surface in the north as well, with actor Ajay Devgn owning a multiplex chain. Such moves, experts say, can improve the industry’s engagement with stakeholders by placing a creative voice at the helm, bolster brand recall and enhance distribution through better coordination and sharper audience feedback loops.However, the core realities of exhibition—a capital-intensive model with unpredictable returns—remain firmly in place.“For actors, it makes strategic sense because it allows them to participate across the film value chain—content, distribution, and exhibition.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.The entry of Bollywood studios and music labels into regional languages isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be and comes with several business risks, according to experts. Such ventures over the past few years have typically led to budget inflation, higher regional star fees and costlier marketing for an audience that remains limited and niche.Success in these markets is culture-led and not driven by scale.

MUMBAI: With just hours to spare on Tuesday evening, Avenue Supermarts Ltd, the parent company of value retailer D-Mart, announced a flurry of store openings across the country, ending the financial year with 500 stores.On Tuesday alone, the company added 12 stores across its stronghold of Maharashtra and Gujarat, and in newer regions where it is trying to build a stronger presence, including Tamil Nadu and Odisha. D-Mart opened 47 stores in March, a sharp increase from the 40-50 stores it typically has added annually over the past five years, according to its investor presentation.The company opened 85 stores in FY26, the highest number added in a financial year.

social media attention.Recent examples include the wedding of Telugu movie stars Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna, followed by a campaign by wedding fashion brand Manyavar-Mohey starring them as brand ambassadors. Soon after, the actors announced a film titled Ranabali, scheduled for release this September.Industry experts say this wedding-marketing economy is here to stay and will help ‘power couples’ command even higher brand value after they are married.“Celebrity weddings today are more high-attention cultural IP waiting to be monetized.

Boong, a Manipuri film that became the first Indian movie to win in the Best Children’s and Family Film category at the BAFTA (British Academy Film Awards) recently, was re-released in cinemas earlier this month after its win but it found few takers. It made only around ₹1 crore, mirroring the struggle of films like All We Imagine as Light (filmed in Malayalam, Marathi and Hindi) earlier, that was nominated for the Palme d'Or and won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.For context, Boong was made at a cost of ₹8 crore.

Ram Lakhan have failed to take off, while Tiger vs Pathaan—a much-hyped spy film starring Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan—has been deemed unviable for now by Yash Raj Films.In contrast, Tamil cinema continues to mount such collaborations with tighter budgets and stronger studio backing, often anchored in compelling storytelling.Trade experts say such ensemble projects are a near-guarantee at the box office, as combined fan bases drive theatrical footfalls and ensure recovery through ancillary rights.“Financially, assembling two major Hindi film stars can dramatically inflate production economics before filming even begins. Actor remuneration in Bollywood is structured around either large upfront fees or profit participation models.

Where to watch: HBO Max or Amazon Prime VideoOne thing to know: Michael B. Jordan has appeared in all of director Ryan Coogler’s features, but in this saga of a Mississippi juke joint beset by vampires Jordan plays two characters: twins Smoke and Stack.Insider info: Miles Caton sung alongside the musician H.E.R.

The Beatles, the move underscores a long-standing reality: the Hollywood game remains fairly hard for Indian stars to crack.While the American entertainment industry appears inclusive and casts diverse faces, the resources and effort required to audition and secure a talent agency to represent them are beyond the reach of many Indian actors.“One reason may be simply lack of access. Another is that many actors are doing very well here; they have a strong run of films, they're surrounded by their people, they're celebrated, they're treated a certain way,” said Harikrishnan Pillai, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder, TheSmallBigIdea, a digital marketing agency.