Seventeen’s ‘Face the Sun’ album sets record, sells 2 mn copies in a week

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Seoul, June 4 K-pop boy group Seventeen’s fourth full-length album has sold more than 2 million copies in the first week of its release, a record for all albums released this year, the group’s agency said on Friday.

‘Face the Sun’ has sold 2,067,769 units since it hit music stores a week ago, Pledis Entertainment said, citing data from Hanteo Chart, a local album sales tracker. It was the most first-week sales of all albums released this year to date, reports Yonhap News Agency, quoting Pledis.

The album had widely been expected to become a big hit, as it sold 1.75 million copies on the day of its release, well over the group’s personal first-week sales record set with its ninth EP, ‘Attacca’.

‘Face the Sun’ has become the band’s sixth album to have sold more than 1 million copies with its third full-length album, ‘An Ode’, being the first one upon its release in September 2019.

“BTS and Seventeen are the only artists in K-pop history to have scored more than 1 million copies on the first day of releasing an album and more than 2 million copies in a week,” Pledis said in a release.

‘Face the Sun’, which portrays the band’s hope to become an existing presence as essential as the sun in the world, consists of nine group songs without solo or unit numbers.

Debuting in May 2015, Seventeen has become one of the top K-pop groups with hit songs such as ‘Very Nice’, ‘Pretty U’, ‘Oh My!’ and ‘To You’. The 13-piece group is set to hold its third world tour starting on June 25-26 in Seoul.

‘9 Hours’: Taraka Ratna headlines bank heist thriller set in the ’80s

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Hyderabad, June 4 The series titled ‘9 Hours’, which is now streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, is based on a fictional story written by Malladi Venkata Krishna Murthy in the 1980s.

The series’ story is also set in the ’80s.

The story begins with the introduction of a jail breakout. Three inmates of Hyderabad’s Central Jail not only break out from the jail but also try to rob a large sum of money from a bank branch.

When targeted by the police, with no other option, the robbers try to take advantage of the situation by threatening to kill the bank’s hostages if the police engage in action. The cops (led by Taraka Ratna’s character) are on edge as a result of this.

Taraka Ratna’s character, an irritable cop, enters the scene and attempts to control the situation. The basic plot of the show revolves around how he will save everyone.

Coming to roles and performances in ‘9 Hours’, everyone appears to be very involved. The series has no particular hero, heroine, or antagonist.

Thanks to showrunner Krish Jagarlamudi, the casting proves to be capable. The series spans a wide range of performances, from expected (Taraka Ratna, Vinod Kumar, and Banerjee as cops) to unexpected (Ajay and Madhu Shalini have compelling character arcs), from supporting (Preethi Asrani, Ankith Koyya, Sameer, and Raj Madiraju) to cliched (Ravi Varma, Jwala Koti).

The setting, production design, star cast, and visuals are all very realistic and add to the show’s overall appeal.

Overall, ‘9 Hours’ is a suspenseful hostage drama with a few tense moments. The viewing experience for viewers improves as well-known actors play key roles. This web series ends as a passable watch this weekend if you ignore the lengthy runtime.

 

June 5 pre-release event to herald Sai, Rana-starrer ‘Virata Parvam’ rollout

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Hyderabad, June 4 ‘Virata Parvam’, starring Sai Pallavi and Rana Daggubati, is set to hit theatres. The filmmakers are now working hard to promote the film ahead of its release.

The most recent information received from the film team is that a pre-release event will be held in Kurnool on June 5, with some notable guests.

Sai Pallavi and Rana Daggubati play a fascinating love couple caught in the midst of a revolution.

‘Virata Parvam’, directed by Venu Udugula, will be released on the 17 of this month. The release of a few promotional posters and a couple of songs from the film has piqued Telugu fans’ interest.

Priyamani, Nandita Das, Nivetha Pethuraj, Priyamani, Eshwari Rao, Ravi Anand, Naveen Chandra, Zareena Wahab, and others have played pivotal roles in this film.

Produced by Suresh Babu and Sudhakar Cherukuri under Suresh Productions and Sri Lakshmi Venkateswara Cinemas banners, the movie has Suresh Bobbili’s music.

India reports 3,962 fresh Covid cases, 26 deaths

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New Delhi, June 4 India on Saturday reported a marginal decline of 3,962 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours, against the 4,041 infections registered the previous day, the Union Health Ministry said.

In the same period, the country reported 26 new Covid fatalities, taking the nationwide death toll to 5,24,677.

The active caseload of the country also increased to 22,416 cases, accounting for 0.05 percent of the country’s total positive cases.

The recovery of 2,697 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,26,25,454. Consequently, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.73 percent.

While the daily positivity rate slightly dropped to 0.89 percent, the weekly positivity rate stood at 0.77 percent.

Also in the same period, a total of 4,45,814 tests were conducted across the country, increasing the overall tally to over 85.22 crores.

As of Saturday morning, India’s Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 193.96 crores, achieved via 2,47,05,065 sessions.

Over 3.43 crore adolescents have been administered a first dose of Covid-19 jab since the beginning of the vaccination drive for this age bracket.

Shoojit Sircar’s ‘Sardar Udham’ leads with 3 technical awards on IIFA Day One

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Abu Dhabi, June 4 IIFA 2022 took on an electrifying note on Thursday night with a star-spangled concert featuring some of the best musical talents of the country and a fashion parade curated by Falguni and Shane Peacock, rounded off by the announcement of the first series of nine technical awards.

The concert, hosted by Farah Khan with Aparshakti Khurana, saw a power-packed performance by Devi Sri Prasad, the man behind the music of ‘Pushpa: The Rise’ and ‘KGF 2’, followed by virtuoso performances by Guru Randhawa, Honey Singh, Tanishq Bagchi, Neha Kakkar, Asees Kaur, Ash King, and Zahrah S. Khan.

The fashion show saw Jacqueline Fernandez and Ananya Panday dazzle on the ramp, even as the host of the IIFA Awards night, Salman Khan, chilled out with Sara Ali Khan and Dhvani Bhanushali in the audience.

The much-anticipated high point of the evening, though, was the announcement of nine technical awards, three of which went to Shoojit Sircar’s ‘Sardar Udham’ (for best cinematography, Avik Mukhopadhayay; editing, Chandrashekhar Prajapati; and VFX).

Aanand L. Rai’s ‘Atrangi Re’ got two awards (best choreography for the ‘Chaka Chak’ number, Vijay Ganguly; and background score, A.R. Rahman.

Vishnuvardhan’s Sidharth Malhotra-starrer ‘Shershaah’ got the award for best screenplay (Sandeep Shrivastava), Anubhav Sinha’s ‘Thappad’ for best dialogue (Anubhav Sinha and Mrunmayee Lagoo), Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’, featuring Ajay Devgn and Saif Ali Khan, for sound design (Lochan Kanvinde), and Kabir Khan’s World Cup cricket drama, ’83’, starring Ranveer Singh, for sound mixing (Ajay Kumar P.B. and Manik Batra).

Shoojit Sircar's 'Sardar Udham' leads with 3 technical awards on IIFA Day One Shoojit Sircar's 'Sardar Udham' leads with 3 technical awards on IIFA Day One Shoojit Sircar's 'Sardar Udham' leads with 3 technical awards on IIFA Day OneShoojit Sircar's 'Sardar Udham' leads with 3 technical awards on IIFA Day One

‘Noonugu Meesala’ Lyrical Song out from ‘Chor Bazaar’

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Chor Bazaar is a romantic action entertainer movie directed by George Reddy fame Jeevan Reddy. The movie casts Akash Puri playing the main lead role along with Subbaraju, Archana, and many others are seen in supporting roles

 

‘Porata Simham’ Lyric video out from VIKRAM

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movie makers of VIKRAM released Porata Simham Lyric video

 

‘VIRATA PARVAM’ Trailer Announcement Today At 4:05 PM

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Rana Dhaggubati’s upcoming movie ‘VIRATA PARVAM’ Trailer Announcement Today At 4:05 PM

 

'VIRATA PARVAM' Trailer Announcement Today At 4:05 PM

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s mother heaps praise on leading lady Saiee Manjrekar

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Hyderabad, June 3 Dhanalakshmi Unnikrishnan, mother of the late Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who watched the movie ‘Major’, lavished praises on Saiee Manjrekar, who played one of the lead roles in the biographical movie.

Dhanalakshmi said, “It was a character about which we were all very concerned, and Saiee handled it very well.”

“After the first screening, I was blown away by how well everything was depicted, and wow, the mix of emotion and love”, she added.

‘Major’ is a film based on Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who was martyred in Mumbai in 2008 during the 26/11 terrorist attacks.

The role of Major’s wife comes with a lot of responsibilities. As a result, Saiee’s role as his wife’s character, his childhood sweetheart, best friend, and bond, which one prays for after Major’s untimely death, is crucial.

Saiee’s performance in the film has supported and led, and she does so with the grace and panache of a seasoned performer.

Adivi Sesh depicts the life of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan in ‘Major’.

Upendra’s movie ‘UI’ gets official launch amid a swirl of celebs

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Hyderabad, June 3 Upendra’s new Kannada film titled ‘UI’ was launched on Friday at Bhandemahakali Temple in Gavipura Guttahalli, Bengaluru.

On Friday morning, Upendra’s upcoming directorial ‘UI’, was launched, at a formal pooja event. The event’s chief guest was actor Shivarajkumar, who was joined by Kiccha Sudeep, Duniya Vijay, Dhananjaya, and Vasishta Simha.

A poster for the upcoming film was also released, featuring a concept design that teases the mysterious crux of ‘UI.’ The presence of a horse-like animal with other caricatures in the poster, it piques interest in the story.

With the film ‘UI,’ Upendra returns to directing after a seven-year hiatus. His most recent film ‘Uppi 2’ was released in 2015.

The regular filming for the film will begin soon. Co-produced by Lahari Films and Venus Entertainers. The cast and crew will be revealed soon.

‘UI’- Upendra.