Hollywood
Movies Now & MN+ to simulcast ‘Gandhi’ on 30 January
MUMBAI: Times Network’s movie channels Movies Now and MN+ will simulcast – Gandhi – a biopic on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on 30 January, 2016 at 1 pm.
Directed and produced by Richard Attenborough and written by John Briley, the film features Ben Kingsley as Gandhi, Saeed Jaffrey playing the role of Sardar Patel, Alyque Padamsee as Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Roshan Seth as Jawaharlal Nehru. The 1982 biopic dramatises the life of Gandhi, the leader of India’s non-violent struggle for independence from the British, and also stars Amrish Puri as Khan, Candice Bergen as Margaret Bourke-White, John Gielgud as Lord Irwin and Martin Sheen as Walker, among others.
Gandhi has bagged eight Oscars along with 10 Golden Globe awards, and several top creative and technical awards from some of the most reputed guilds and associations across the world.
The movie will also have a repeat telecast on Movies Now at 11 pm on the same day.
Hollywood
Iger’s final act: Disney boss wraps up epic saga with a new captain at the helm
After 15 turbulent years, two stints in the c-suite, and billions spent on blockbuster acquisitions, Bob Iger is stepping away from the Magic Kingdom.
CALIFORNIA: The 75-year-old chief, hailed as one of the most transformative leaders in modern media, officially hands over to former parks chief Josh D’Amaro on 18 March. And this time, he’s getting the succession right.
Iger’s legacy glitters with big bets and epic wins: the $7.4bn Pixar buy, $4bn Marvel swoop, and the colossal $71bn 21st Century Fox deal. He dragged Disney into the streaming age, fought off activist investor Nelson Peltz, and saw off a political scrap with Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
But it hasn’t all been pixie dust. The forced return of Iger in 2022—after the short, shaky reign of successor Bob Chapek—tarnished an otherwise stellar run.
Now, D’Amaro takes the wheel with a streamlined leadership team and Disney firing on all cylinders. The firm’s streaming business is in the black, theme-park attendance is soaring, and five global films have hit $1billion at the box office in the past two years. Not bad for a firm that was on the ropes just months ago.
D’Amaro’s first move? A slick reorg under new president and chief creative officer Dana Walden, folding film, tv, streaming and gaming into one punchy unit. Sean Shoptaw, heading up the gaming division, now reports directly to Walden—bringing Fortnite and Epic Games collaborations closer to Disney’s creative heart.
Iger isn’t sailing off into the sunset just yet. He’ll keep busy with Angel City FC, the women’s football club he owns with his wife. And as Ann Mooney Murphy of Stevens Institute predicts: “A guy like that never truly retires.”
One era ends. Another begins. And the House of Mouse bets big on a future beyond the king.
