Film Production
Production begins in Lithuania on ABC’s TV movie about the Pope
MUMBAI: Production has begin in Lithuania on the television movie Have No Fear The Life Of Pope John Paul II for US broadcaster ABC
The telefilm Will star Thomas Kretschman The Pianist as the Pope, As Well as Bruno Ganz and Joachim de Almeida.
In this dramatisation, viewers will see, for the first time, not only the spiritual leader’s remarkable public life on the world stage, but also the very intimate moments that epitomized his great humanity — his passions, regrets, frustrations, triumphs and sorrows. Born in 1920 in Wadowice, Poland, Karol “Lolek” Wojtyla was a bright, deeply faithful youth who loved theatre and school, but suffered the loss of his parents and only sibling before he reached adulthood.
During World War II, he saw the deportation of Jewish childhood friends, which had a lasting effect on him and shaped his views on Fascism and anti-Semitism. In defiance of the German occupation, he staged his own political plays while risking his life, secretly studying at seminary. He was ordained a priest in 1946, and his great intellect impressed his superiors; he was made a bishop in Poland at just 38 years old, the youngest bishop in the country.
Meanhwile Ganz’s character Cardinal Wyszynski the head of the Polish Church, was initially skeptical of this young intellectual, but the man who would become Pope proved to be Poland’s strongest ally in the fight against Communism and helped give rise to the Solidarity movement. Wojtyla worked hand-in-hand with the beloved Cardinal throughout his life.
Wojtyla’s ascendancy through the Church hierarchy was rapid. He participated in Vatican II, rising to Archbishop, then Cardinal. After the death of Pope John Paul I, who was only leader for 33 days, he was elected to become Pope, the first ever from Poland and the youngest appointed in over 100 years.
A man of great intellectual and physical vigor, he survived an assassination attempt and later met with his attacker in prison, pardoning the man. The Pope championed causes thought to be liberal and conservative — asking forgiveness for the Church’s missteps through history, while upholding the Church’s traditional stances on the right to life, homosexuality and the ordination of women.
Film Production
Priyanka Kaur Dhillon joins SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution
A seasoned content dealmaker with 16 years in digital and satellite media joins the Bengali entertainment powerhouse as it pushes into the pan-India music market
Mumbai: Priyanka Kaur Dhillon has made her move. The content acquisitions and commercials veteran, most recently commercial manager at Sony Pictures Networks India, has joined SVF Entertainment as lead for music distribution, stepping into one of the more interesting briefs in regional entertainment right now.
SVF is no ordinary regional label. Over 30 years it has built a formidable legacy in Bengali cinema and music, driven by culturally resonant storytelling and a catalogue that consistently punches above its weight. Its recent success with Chiraiya underlines the point. But the Kolkata-based powerhouse now has its sights firmly set beyond Bengal, most visibly through Legacy, a rap reality series produced in collaboration with hip-hop label Kalamkaar that signals a deliberate push into the pan-India music ecosystem.
Dhillon brings precisely the kind of muscle SVF needs for that expansion. At Sony Pictures Networks India, she led film acquisition and commercials and handled music licensing across the entire satellite network. Before that, she spent nearly 15 years at Hungama, rising to assistant general manager and leading strategic content licensing for the platform’s digital entertainment business, with a particular focus on international markets. Her label relationships span the full roster: Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Believe International, Tunecore, The Orchard and a clutch of smaller aggregators. She has negotiated and closed deals with Hollywood studios, Bollywood production houses and regional content players alike, building pricing models and deal structures off data analysis rather than instinct.
Announcing the appointment, Dhillon said she was “thrilled to begin this journey with an iconic Bengali music label and content powerhouse,” adding that SVF’s “constant drive to push boundaries” was what drew her to the role.
SVF has spent three decades proving that regional does not mean limited. With a sharp commercial operator now steering its music distribution, its bid to go national just got a good deal more serious.
