BY SACNILK

New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) "Extraction" director, and popular Hollywood stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave feels cinema has space for either "super big-budget movies like superheroes" or smaller movies, saying that it doesn't leave much room for mid-budget action movies.## Talking about his upcoming Netflix action film, Hargrave told IANS: "It seems that there's not as much space in the cinemas for these kinds of mid-budget action movies. It seems that it's mostly the super big-budget superhero movies or the kind of the smaller stuff."## Hargrave is glad that his first movie will reach a wider audience through Netflix.## "Netflix has carved out space for itself for movies like these to exist, which I think is really great… Because there are a lot of great stories out there… These kinds of movies, now, have a place to be seen, be viewed and be enjoyed," he said.## With "Extraction", Hargrave is graduating from being Chris Evans' stunt double in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" for fight scenes and stunt coordinator in "Captain America: Civil War" to a feature director. Hargrave was an additional second unit director in "Avengers: Infinity War".## Hargrave continued: "I think that's a really great thing for audiences around the world. I'm happy that my first time directing (feature film) come out on a platform like Netflix where so many people can see this. It is a very unique experience and one that I'm looking forward to seeing how it all plays out when it comes out on April 24."## For his first film, Hargrave reunited with his "Avengers" family. He got "Thor" star Chris Hemsworth to lead the film, screenplay of which is done by Joe Russo. The film is produced by Russo Brothers (Joe and Anthony Russo), Mike Larocca, Chris Hemsworth, Eric Gitter, and Peter Schwerin.## Originally titled "Dhaka", the film also stars Indian actors Randeep Hooda, Pankaj Tripathi, Priyanshu Painyulli, and Rudraksha Jaiswal. It revolves around Tyler Rake (essayed by Hemsworth), a fearless, black market mercenary, who embarks on the most deadly extraction of his career when he is enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord. It has been shot extensively in India, along with other places around the world.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 16 (IANS) Actor Priyanshu Painyuli plays a Bangladeshi character in the upcoming digital film "Extraction", and he says the film's director Sam Hargrave did not want to take chances with the way his character spoke on the screen. A diction coach was hired for Priyanshu so that he got his Bangladeshi dialect right.## "The director, Sam Hargrave, was very particular that I speak in the local Bangladeshi language and look like one. So, I was given a dialogue coach from Dhaka named Raffael Ahsan when the preparation was on," Priyanshu said.## "To nail the part, I used to sit with Raffael every day for a few hours over video chat and the process continued over a couple of months. Also, the practice of learning languages comes from a Bollywood musical show I had previously been a part of. It traveled around the world and was called Taj Express, where I had spoken in the native languages of different countries like China, France, Russia and so on," he added.## For "Extraction", Priyanshu watched a couple of documentaries to see "behavioral patterns and demeanor".## "The dialogue coach was with me throughout the shoot. The prep and comfort that Sam and the crew gave me the confidence to play a role like this. I don't remember much of the Bangladeshi language except the lines I am speaking in the film but every learning comes to good use," he added.## Originally titled "Dhaka", the film also stars Indian actors Randeep Hooda, Pankaj Tripathi, and Rudraksha Jaiswal. It revolves around Tyler Rake (essayed by Chris Hemsworth), a fearless, black market mercenary, who embarks on the most deadly extraction of his career when he is enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord. Hemsworth shot for the Netflix film in India in 2018. In India, he shot in Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The film will release on Netflix on April 24.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 16 (IANS) India's first micro web series shot during the COVID-19 lockdown will be out soon. "Mardaani 2" actor Sunny Hinduja, who features in the series, says the project was challenging as well as fun to work on.## Titled "A Viral Wedding", the series had its pre-production, shooting and post-production work done entirely during the lockdown, with none of the individuals who are involved in the series stepping out of their homes.## The series is directed by Shreya Dhanwanthary, Sunny's co-star in the 2019 OTT show, "The Family Man". It tells the story of a social media influencer who refuses to cancel her wedding owing to the lockdown.## "We had our shares of fun on video and phone calls during the making where people were located in different states and cities. It also brought along shares of struggles with it. But I must admit it was harder than we anticipated, we had nobody to help us, no equipment, no setup, we had to become the lightmen, cinematographers, art directors, and everything," said Sunny, who is playing a primary part in the series," said Sunny.## "Taking care of the sound was another task, as people would be cooking so there were cooker whistles at random times, sometimes there were birds, crows making noise. But with all this, we still managed to complete the shoot in just a week. From start to finish everything was done during the lockdown period. It's a light-hearted attempt to make people smile during this time," he added.## On working with Shreya Dhanwanthary, he said: "When Shreya asked me, I said a yes without thinking. The idea in itself was so unique that it was difficult to say no. We even discussed various ideas about the character and worked together to come up with something real and very different from my own personality. But after reading the script which was penned in 24 hours, I was bewildered at how good it was."## "Even if it wasn't for the lockdown, I would have agreed to do it. The cast and crew are based in different cities and they are working at different timelines, knowing the kind of hard work put into it, feels like a humbling experience to be a part of a first-of-its-kind web series," added Sunny.## Besides Sunny and Shreya, the show also features Amol Parashar, Aishwarya Chaudhary, Aritro, Sharib Hashmi and Mohit Raina, among others.## The shoot is over and the team is giving final touches to a few episodes. The series is likely to come out later next week.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 15 (IANS) Jacqueline Fernandez's next release, the digital film "Mrs. Serial Killer", will be released on May 1.## "See you at the premiere on the 1st of May for 'Mrs. Serial Killer'," Jacqueline said in a video with co-star Manoj Bajpayee. The video was shared on the Instagram account of Netflix India, the OTT platform where the film will drop.## "Mrs. Serial Killer" is directed by Shirish Kunder and produced by his filmmaker wife Farah Khan. The thriller is about a wife, whose husband has been framed and imprisoned for serial murders. She needs to perform a murder exactly like the serial killer, to prove that her husband is innocent.## Manoj Bajpayee and Shirish Kunder earlier collaborated on the 2016 short film, psychological thriller "Kriti".## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 14 (IANS) Actor Lakshya Kochhar, who is playing an important role in the upcoming short film "Second Hand", says that the story of the film quite realistically shows a modern-day relationship.## Sharing insight into his character, Lakshya said: "The film explores the dichotomy in modern-day relationships through its turbulent journey, dotted with ups and downs. Till what level can you push yourself to make a relationship work? What role does your past play in being the best self in your current relationship? And how do people react when they have no options left in the relationship. Either all in or out?"## The short film is directed by Navjot Gulati and releases on the OTT platform ZEE5 on Wednesday.## Lakshya, who earlier appeared in the Akshay Kumar-starrer "Gold" said that in the upcoming film his character looks very "non-glamourous", and he stopped working out for a while to put on a few kilos to look the part.## He added: "To reach the psyche of the character, it was very important to browse through my own experiences. Insecurities come with love and hence the balance between being possessive and insecure is the thin thread we walk on, to make any relationship work. We live in a very complex world and too many interlinked dynamics are at play. Manoeuvring your relationship through this chaos and surviving the ride can be very challenging. So in that sense, I feel most people will relate to the film and draw something from it."## The short also features Abhishek Banerjee and Parul Gulati.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 14 (IANS) Actress Tisca Chopra has dedicated her role of Dr. Mira Anand in the series "Hostages" to first responders and caregivers amid the coronavirus outbreak in the country.## Tisca took to Instagram, where she shared a photograph of herself dressed in a doctor's gear.## "#DrMiraAnand in #Hostages on @starplus... From tonight at 10:30 pm. I humbly dedicate this role to all our first responders - doctors, nurses, hospital staff, delivery and logistics workers.. doing our little bit to entertain you, with our dream team: @madhoknikhil @sameern #sudhirmishra @ronitboseroy @d_eepak_dhar @segaldeepak @castingchhabra @aashimgulati @disneyplushotstar @applausesocial @banijayasia @starplus @surya_sharma_09 @malhaar_rathod," she captioned the image.## "Hostages", a crime thriller, is directed by Sudhir Mishra. It is an official adaptation of an Israeli series of the same name. It also stars Ronit Roy, Parvin Dabas, Aashim Gulati and Mohan Kapoor.## Amid lockdown, Tisca is using her time to hone her filmmaking skills. She has been taking online classes on how to direct feature films.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 14 (IANS) The Chris Hemsworth-starrer digital film "Extraction" casts Priyanshu Painyuli as a drug lord. The actor feels nailing the look of the character is important, because the way you dress up for a particular role can make you behave in a certain way.## For "Extraction", Priyanshu has tried nailing the gangster look with chunky gold jewelry, gold neck-pieces, armlets, and bracelets. He wore a lot of local fabrics including kurtas and silk shirts, which are characteristic of Bangladeshi locals. His attire comes in deep-hued monotones.## "I have always felt the way you dress up as a character makes you behave in a certain way. For me, mainly my shoes matter a lot, what footwear I use to walk or sit changes my body language a bit," Priyanshu said.## "When Sam (Hargreave), my director, asked me how I felt with my costume and look, I smiled and said I was really enjoying the gold, but I especially loved my shoes -- shiny, pointed with hard heels. They made a presence when I walked, at least to me," he added.## Originally titled "Dhaka", the film also stars Indian actors Randeep Hooda, Pankaj Tripathi, and Rudraksh Jaiswal. It revolves around Tyler Rake (essayed by Hemsworth), a fearless, black market mercenary, who embarks on the most deadly extraction of his career when he is enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord. Hemsworth shot for the Netflix film in India in 2018. In India, he shot in Ahmedabad and Mumbai.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

New Delhi, April 11 (IANS) One of contemporary Bollywood's most talented actors, Pankaj Tripathi, has been outstanding in almost all his roles. With the ongoing lockdown restricting viewers to their homes, we trained to focus on Pankaj's OTT performances, since these can be enjoyed within the confines of the living room.## His two notable acts in the world of web series have been Kaleen bhaiya in "Mirzapur" and Guruji in "Sacred Games". Both performances gained a major fan base. Personally, the actor finds it difficult to choose which among the two is his favorite .## "It would be like choosing between two children. Both characters are close to me, both have required a lot of hard work," Pankaj told IANS while cooking a meal amid the 21-day lockdown.## "Both of them have been very challenging. However, for Guruji, I had to research more as I have seen something like Kaleen bhaiya's life in my Purvanchal days. But I would not differentiate as both roles required a lot of hard work," he said.## "Mirzapur" follows the life of Akhandanand Tripathi, or Kaleen bhaiya, a mafia boss played by Pankaj, while in "Sacred Games" he plays the power-hungry spiritual leader "Guruji".## Currently, Pankaj, who is also a professional chef, is getting ample time to spend with his family due to the 21-day lockdown.## He reveals he has been "spending time cooking, and also with wife and kids".## Lately, he has been helping his wife Mridula in making a homemade mask and has also turned into a writer, penning all his thoughts.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 9 (IANS) Daily wage earners have been badly hit due to the COVID-19 lockdown, and Arunabh Kumar, founder of The Viral Fever (TVF), along with YouTubers like Bhuvan Bam and Prajakta Koli, has started an initiative called #CreatorsforWorkers to pitch in with help.## New media entrepreneurs like Gurpreet Singh, Founder of One Digital, and other content creators will help the workers during this lockdown period and the fight after.## Talking about this initiative and why he felt it was necessary to be done for the daily wage earners, Arunabh said: "Everyone is doing their best to help those in need by providing monetary help or donating medical help and other necessities to the underprivileged. After working with local groups to help these workers, I realized that the workers, who are lifelines of India, need to be made aware of the pandemic in a more effective fashion.## "While all of us are sharing the message in English and Hindi, it's not reaching to these workers in their own local or regional language, and a lot is lost in translation. We saw it necessary that the information needs to reach them in their local language and dialect. That's the insight that I along with my Creator Friends believe in and want to reach out to them using WhatsApp so that they understand the problem as over 70 crore Indians connected to workers are critical in fighting this war against corona and for that they need to have the information they can appreciate, which we have tried to spread amongst all," he added.## Bhuvan shared that it's an idea that can actually help the people who have no presence on social media. "Explaining to them the seriousness of the situation in their own language will hopefully make things better for their family and friends."## Prajakta said that the thousands of housemaids in Mumbai can understand the habits to fight corona in their local lingo much better and she believes the change has to begin at grassroots.## The initiative will include content creators who will shoot a video in their native language explaining all the instructions that need to be followed by everyone in this time of need.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, April 8 (IANS) Actor Manish Anand, who has appeared in the web series "Pushpavalli", is awaiting the release of his movie called "The Tenant" alongside actress Shamita Shetty. He says he portrayed a complex character that he enjoyed playing.## The film has been directed by Sushrut Jain, who is based in Los Angeles.## Talking about his role, Manish shared: "The character that I play is called Ajay. He is a complex character that I really enjoyed playing on the screen. He has got multiple shades."## "The film should be ready for a theatrical release soon. I urge everyone to take all the precautions and commit to all the protocols given by the government. We would have some great entertainment once this disease is dealt with," he said referring to COVID-19 due to which theatres are shut and most people are working from home.## Manish has signed up another movie for which he is learning Arabic online.## "It's an ensemble project. I absolutely love the concept. Unfortunately, I can't divulge the details. The world is going through a difficult time. We are in our homes and I am just finding the best way to kill time and also preparing for my next," he said.## "Arabic has been going good and it will prove very important for the movie. Hope we get over this pandemic soon," he added.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) Actress Anya Singh, who has worked on the big screen as well as the digital space, says that there is a lot more liberty for actors in web series as there is no censorship.## "I think one of the biggest differences between a web-show and a movie is that the audience gets a lot more time with the characters. So, creatively you can also spend a lot more time carving their graph or creatively. Since it's not censored really there's a lot more you can do for anyone be it the writers, directors or actors. There's a lot more liberty that's given to you creatively," Anya told IANS.## Anya, 27, made her Bollywood debut in 2017 with "Qaidi Band", which revolves around seven innocent undertrials who give a band performance in the prison to get into the good books of the authorities and secure their acquittal.## She then featured in web-series titled "Never Kiss Your Best Friend" along with Nakuul Mehta. The show is based on a book of the same name by Sumrit Shahi.## Anya says that in films, the audience doesn't get much time to spend with the characters.## "In a film, that's only for two hours or tow hours fifteen minutes the audience spends a lot lesser time with your characters. They remember you but in a show, they spend a lot more time they really relate to it or they get attached to it. I think that's one of the biggest differences," she added.## Stay tuned...

BY SACNILK

Mumbai, March 28 (IANS) Actress Lisa Ray says she thought Bani J was a shy person at the start of their shoot for a web series that casts them as a lesbian couple.## "I joined the show after some back and forth due to personal commitments. During our first reading together was when I met my co-star Bani," Lisa said.## "I went in and sat next to her, and she was like talking in this whisper and then looked at me and I was like, 'wow, this is a problem!' How are we going to do this? She was so shy," she added.## The two actresses appear in the series "Four More Shots Please!".## Bani, of course, has her line of defense. "I was just trying not to spook her so she wouldn't leave," she explains, on her guarded behavior with Lisa during that first reading session.## The second season of the series will launch on April 17 on Amazon Prime Video in India.## The story picks up from the previous season's cliffhanger ending, bringing back stories of four unapologetically flawed ladies who live, love, blunder and discover what it really takes to build everlasting friendships in Mumbai.## Produced by Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd, the show is created by Rangita Pritish Nandy.## For more and latest news about Digital Media, stay tuned with us.