Shababa Iqbal

There has been a sentiment amongst certain sections of people that superhero films, more specifically movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), are the “death of cinema”. Many think pieces have been written around this concept. I think there is an inclination from a lot of people to turn their nose up at popular entertainment, and I would like to challenge them to go watch a screening of “Spider-Man: No Way Home”. Watch the sheer joy this movie unfolds for an audience.

National Professor Rafiqul Islam, one of the most distinguished researchers on National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, passed away yesterday at the capital's Evercare Hospital. He was an educationalist, a scholar, writer, and cultural activist. The 87-year-old was the recipient of both Swadhinata Padak and Ekushey Padak, the highest civilian honours in the country. Numerous Nazrul Sangeet exponents fondly spoke about the National Professor with The Daily Star.

Popular actress Sabila Nur has been busy with quite a few tele-fictions, especially for the forthcoming Valentine’s Day. She was recently featured in Chorki’s first ever free mini-series, “Sugar Free”.

Featuring a talented bunch, namely Rajat Kapoor (Monty) Aahana Kumra (Amal) Ayush Mehra (Mehershaad) and Soni Razdan (Treasa), the remake has plenty of Indian celebrities playing fictionalised versions of themselves. But at the heart of it are the overworked, dedicated agents themselves who are constantly putting out multiple fires in their personal and professional lives.

Halloween is a good time for a TV marathon, featuring gripping and spooky tales. Netflix has some big handfuls of tricks and treats with a solid slate of movies and shows worth streaming to get in the spirit. It offers more than a few supernatural horror movies, and even titles on the lighter side. Marking Halloween today, here are some movies and shows you can watch on the platform.

Bollywood stars have found themselves on the wrong side of the law on many instances throughout the years.

For me, 2006’s “Casino Royale” brought James Bond, the iconic British spy with an eye for the ladies, fast cars, and cool gadgets, firmly into the 21st century. Above all else, Daniel Craig’s first film as Bond was a tragic love story, as the spy met and fell for Vesper Lynd, a woman who showed herself to be very much his equal. Her eventual betrayal and death was the catalyst that transformed Bond into the cynical, hard-edged agent we know and love.

Marvel Studios’ latest superhero offering, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”, is the movie that brought me, masked up and sanitised, back to the theatres — and as a longtime Marvel fan, I am glad it did.

British-Bangladeshi writer, director, actor and playwright, Leesa Gazi has dedicated her career to presenting powerful stories told from a woman's perspective via theatre and film. Her documentary film, "Rising Silence", memorialising accounts of Birangona women of the 1971 Liberation War, won several accolades across the world, including Best Feature Documentary at Moondance International Film Festival (USA), Asian Media Award for Best Investigation 2019 (UK), Best Feature Documentary at the PSVI Film Competition by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK. Since 2017, Gazi started working with Global Survivors Network, SEMA, established by Nobel Laureate Dr Denis Mukegwege's Foundation. The first-ever International public address by two Birangona women of Bangladesh, Anoara Begum and Jabeda Khatun, was made possible by Gazi's efforts. Begum and Khatun joined fellow survivors in an international call at the Hague in 2018 for global reparations schemes to address the consequences of rape as a weapon of war. Gazi is currently working on the Collective Memory Group at SEMA. Recently, she spoke to The Daily Star about her upcoming film, “Baarir Naam Shahana - A House Named Shahana”, and more.

As the world woke up to the news of legendary actor Dilip Kumar passing away yesterday (July 7), an era in Bollywood came to a sudden end. In a career span of nearly six decades, the star gave several unforgettable movies and moments that have been forever etched in the minds of his fans.

Adnan Al Rajeev is a renowned name in the television industry, with numerous commercials and tele-fictions to his credit. His production house, Runout Films, is one of the major production companies in Bangladesh. The talented director is now gearing up for the release of his much-anticipated project, “YouTumor”.

“Mohanagar” depicts the events of a fateful night in a police station in Dhaka, where paths of criminals, an eminent industrialist, the general public, and members of the press, intertwine in the aftermath of a road accident, for a period of seven hours. The series, produced by Shopnoghuri Productions, features Mosharraf Karim as O C Harun, Zakia Bari Mamo as Shahana Huda, Shamol Mawla as Afnan Chowdhury, Mostafizur Noor Imran as Moloy Kumar, and Khairul Basar as Abir Hasan, among others.

I know it’s hard when you want to travel, but life, owing in no small part to COVID-19, has other plans. If you are anything like me, then you are probably avoiding spending too much time watching the news right now. One way I found to cope with these strange times is to escape into books, especially those that transport me to wonderful locations. Here are five such books to read if you miss travelling.

“Friends” was a show I watched with my grown-up cousins in the evenings on Star World. I was young – too young to watch Monica and Chandler kiss, or to understand what it actually meant when an enraged Rachel asks Ross about the girl at the copy machine, “how was she?” Yet, I learned to love the show before I even really watched it.

Marvel Studios released the first trailer of the much-anticipated “Eternals” recently, in which audiences saw a new band of superheroes. The introduction of these new characters is a keystone in the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Few artistes have been significant for as long as Bob Dylan. Throughout the years, he has remained one of rock music’s most influential and striking figures. Although his importance in the world of music can be talked about for days on end, we take a look at some of his most memorable songs, marking his 80th birthday.

Satyajit Ray, one of the world’s finest directors, producers, screenwriters, and authors, was born on May 2, 1921, in Kolkata. He died on April 23, 1992. This year marks his birth centenary.

Even though the 2021 Oscars were arranged in the midst of a pandemic, it had its silver linings. The ceremony marked a moment of real change, when it came to celebrating diversity.

We recently lost one of the most celebrated actors of the country with the demise of Sarah Begum Kabori. Born on July 19, 1950, she started acting in films from the age of thirteen, with the Subhash Dutta directorial, “Sutorang”.

Art galleries and event spaces are operating cautiously during the countrywide lockdown, with most of them postponing their public programmes and exhibitions.