Shaurya Thapa

As he told David Letterman in 2019, Shah Rukh Khan boasts 3.5 billion fans across his home land, the wider Indian diaspora and even Greece, Switzerland, and Egypt. Such is the extraordinary levels of fame attained by India’s most famous actor. But who sits alongside Khan at the top of that very big, very lush tree? There are a whole host to choose from.  Even beyond the Hindi film industry, India boasts stars with a cult fanbase ranging from Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan in Tamil movies to Chiranjeevi and Nagarjuna in the Telugu film industry or even Mammootty and Mohanlal in the Malayalam language. While Bollywood is technically the term for Hindi productions, we are looking across all state borders and counting down the biggest actors in the country including the veterans mentioned above along with a new crop of rising stars. Recommended: 🇮🇳 The 100 best Bollywood movies of all-time🇬🇧 50 great British actors🌍 The 50 best foreign films of all-time

It costs a lot to be entertained these days. Just a few years ago ‘cord-cutting’ seemed like a life hack that’d save TV watchers a tonne of cash. Once the streaming revolution truly kicked in, though, the subscriptions piled up, and with recent price increases and crackdowns on password sharing – not to mention sheer overload of choice – it’s making some of us gaze at our old cable bills with wistful longing.   But what if we told you there was an easily accessible website out there with a trove of legitimately awesome movies available to stream 24/7, and entirely for free? It’s called YouTube. Yes, the site known primarily for instructional videos about how to install a new sink and use an air fryer is hiding an impressive library of classic cinema of the sort many other streamers don’t bother with – from silent era milestones to essential deep cuts. If you don’t mind sitting through a bunch of commercials, YouTube has a full channel of ad-supported modern films as well. But for true movie buffs looking to fill some knowledge gaps, check out the 35 flicks below – with links included. Recommended: 🎬 100 best movies of all time💣 The greatest thrillers ever made🤘 The best cult classic movies of all-time🌍 The 50 best foreign films of all-time

Second only by Shakespeare, Stephen King is the most adapted author of all time. With 60 movies and counting, King’s novels and short stories have terrified audiences for decades since Brian De Palma adapted his debut novel Carrie in 1976. But while King’s canon yielded memorable cinematic and TV horrors like It, Cujo, and Salem’s Lot, the Maine native also delved into profound human connections as seen in real-world dramas like Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption. This year alone marks the release of three highly-anticipated King adaptations: Longlegs director Osgood Perkins’s horror comedy The Monkey, the Tom Hiddleston-led sci-fi drama The Life of Chuck, and Edgar Wright’s upcoming The Running Man remake starring Glen Powell. From misty monsters to haunted hotel rooms, we glimpse through the best of Stephen King adaptations. And while it might draw the scorn of ‘the King of Horror’, this list also includes some cinematic classics that he notoriously hated himself.   😱 The best horror movies of 2025 (so far). 👹 The 100 horror films ever made.

It’s an age-old question: what is the greatest movie trilogy, and what makes a trilogy movie great? In truth, they come in all shapes and sizes from the three act structure of The Lord of the Rings, the original Star Wars movies and Hiroshi Inagaki’s masterful The Samurai Trilogy. to the looser thematic links of Edgar Wright’s Cornetto trilogy or Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns. East Asian and Scandinavian cinema has given us loosely connected ‘spiritual’ trilogies, with Joachim Trier exploring Norwegian urban youth in his Oslo trilogy, Park Chan-wook helming blood-soaked Korean revenge sagas with the Vengeance trilogy. Some trilogies have futzed up the landing in their final entries. Alien, The Terminator, X-Men and Spider-Man all miss out on this list on the back of their wobbly final chapters. But the overall cultural impact of some trilogies is such that we can be willing to forgive the odd one out. So The Godfather and The Dark Knight, no matter how polarising their final instalments are. From poetic romances to swashbuckling adventures, this list will take you through the best movie trilogies. RECOMMENDED:  📽️ The 100 greatest movies of all time📺 The greatest TV and streaming series ever made

Every summer brings us a new superhero movie, muscular and flexing for your wallet. This time around it’s ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’, a sure-to-be-snarky, sweary and irreverent middle ground between mainstream MCU fare and the satirical edge of ‘The Boys’. But before you flinch, drop that attitude: several of these blockbusters have been excellent action movies, redeeming Hollywood's most profitable genre as opportunities for sophistication, sarcasm and panache. We love the best superhero movies because they help us to dream big. Here are the 20 best examples – tie on your cape and dive in.

If Zach Cregger explored the dingy basements of a Airbnb in Barbarian, he’s going bigger with his follow-up effort Weapons. His new horror movie has US filmmaker rustling up the sleepy suburban town of Maybrook, a gloomy Pennsylvanian locale that feels like it belongs in a Stephen King novel. Weapons starts off on one such gloomy night in Newport, more specifically at 2.17 am in the night when 17 elementary schoolers step out of their house, their arms stretched out, transfixed by an invisible power of sorts.  What happens next is a town crumbling into chaos. The school turn into a hunting ground for the missing children’s teacher (Julia Garner). The liquor store attracts all sorts of eerie visitors. And a particular gas station hosts a blood-oozing, eye-popping altercation that is crowd-pleasing shlock at its finest.  The burning question is: what happened to those children at 2.17 am? Once you know the answers, the question remains: is Maybrook, Pennsylvania real? Photograph: Warner Bros. PicturesJulia Garner in ‘Weapons’ Where did they film Weapons? It turns out that Maybrook is actually Atlanta, Georgia. Cregger’s brief to production designer Tom Hammock was to create ‘a small New Eastern town’. For inspiration, Hammock studied the communities outside cities like Philadelphia, Cleveland and Cincinnati. The production designer, who worked on Ti West’s stylish gonzo horror X and the ultra-maximalist Godzilla x Kong films, stuck closer to reality with this one. ‘[Zach] wan

From black-and-white silent films and series to regional adaptations, French thrillers, and a Jim Caviezel noughties hit, Alexandre Dumas’s 1844 classic The Count of Monte Cristo makes for evergreen source material for film and TV.   Now, The Hunger Games star Sam Claflin puts his own charming spin on the vengeance-seeking prisoner Edmond Dantes in a new eight-episode miniseries that faithfully recreates the tumultuous years of early 19th-century France.  True to Dumas’ novel, the TV adaptation promises political conspiracies, personal vendettas, and sprawling locations from palatial French ballrooms to grim island fortresses. Photograph: Mediawan What is The Count of Monte Cristo about? The French-Italian production stars Claflin as Dantes, a man wrongfully imprisoned for treason. The site of his unlawful incarceration is the Château d’If, a wave-carved island off the coast of Marseilles. It’s in the claustrophobic confines of this prison where Edmond silently plans his next move. Cut off from civilisation and his ladylove for fifteen years, Edmond returns a changed man, chancing upon some hidden treasure and taking on a new identity. His complicated schemes of revenge and manipulation lead to some delectable period drama. With Danish Oscar-winner Bille August (Pelle the Conqueror, 1998’s Les Misérables) delivering his flair for grand historical narratives, the series resurrects Dumas’s all-time classic with meticulous production design and gripping performances.  Photogr

A adolescente de cara séria interpretada por Jenna Ortega está de regresso à Netflix. A tão aguardada segunda temporada de Wednesday estreia neste 6 de Agosto – uma quarta-feira, claro. A excêntrica família Addams continua presente, assim como os colegas de escola que põem à prova a paciência de Wednesday. Também estão de volta membros essenciais da equipa, como o realizador Tim Burton e o compositor Danny Elfman. E sim, a mãozinha Thing continua a rastejar por ali. Photograph: Jonathan Hession/Netflix © 2025 A segunda temporada do spin-off da Família Addams traz novas caras, como Steve Buscemi e Thandiwe Newton, mas há uma grande mudança que talvez passe despercebida. A estética continua a parecer saída de uma pintura gótica, mas, nos bastidores, o cenário de fundo é completamente diferente. A segunda temporada de Wednesday trocou a Roménia pela Irlanda Embora a história se passe no estado americano de Vermont, a primeira temporada foi gravada na Roménia, entre castelos e florestas que ajudaram a criar um cenário sombrio, cheio de feitiçaria, lobisomens e uniformes às riscas. Sendo a terra de Drácula, fazia todo o sentido servir de pano de fundo à série. Para a segunda temporada, no entanto, a produção mudou-se para a Irlanda. A história continua centrada na Nevermore Academy, uma escola para marginais e freaks, mas conta agora com o cenário verdejante da Ilha Esmeralda como pano de fundo. Para os criadores da série, Alfred Gough e Miles Millar, filmar na Irlanda foi quase

Jenna Ortega’s solemn-faced teen rebel Wednesday Addams is back on Netflix this week, with the long-awaited second season of Wednesday finally starts streaming from August 6 (a Wednesday, of course). Wednesday’s eccentrically charming family and her patience-testing classmates are still there, though, along with returning crew like director Tim Burton and composer Danny Elfman. Everyone’s favourite crawly hand Thing, too. The second run of the Addams Family spin-off comes with new additions, including Steve Buscemi and Thandiwe Newton, but there’s another major change you might not notice. Season 2 still looks like it’s conjured out of a Gothic painting, but behind the scenes, the backdrop is wildly different. Wednesday season 2 has swapped Romania for Ireland Set in Vermont, the Netflix fantasy adventure series utilised the castles and forests of Romania in its first season to build a murky world full of dark spells, werewolves, and pinstriped school uniforms. The country that birthed Dracula made so much sense as Wednesday’s filming location. However, for Season 2, Wednesday moved from Romania to Ireland. The storyline is still mostly set around Nevermore Academy, a school for outcasts and freaks, but the Emerald Isle offers a new backdrop you might not even notice. Bernard Walsh/Netflix |Jenna Ortega as Wednesday in Wednesday. For show runners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, moving to Ireland was sort of a homecoming. The duo previously shot a good chunk of their martial

This summer, Netflix is in the mood for transatlantic love. First, there was the Lena Dunham series Too Much, which follows a New Yorker seeking love in London. Now the streamer offers more romcom catnip, this time with an Oxford Blues-meets-Sabrina flavour. Fans a trip to the City of Spires, from the town’s literature-rich universities, libraries, and even a fast food shop or two. Photograph: Courtesy of Netflix / ©2024 Netflix What is My Oxford Year about? Based on Julia Whelan’s novel of the same name, My Oxford Year is a new romance with an old-school flair, the kind of love story that is built on flirting over Tennyson and crying over Sylvia Plath. Sofia Carson stars as ambitious American Anna, a self-made girl who is already smart enough for a Goldman Sachs job waiting for her. But because banking isn’t as romantic as poetry, the romcom ships Anna off to the dreaming spires of Oxford, where signs up for year studying literature. Once there, she crosses paths with the extravagantly wealthy Jamie (Corey Mylchreest), a charming local who also happens to be her professor (don’t worry, he’s a twentysomething professor). Photograph: Courtesy of Netflix / ©2024 Netflix Where was My Oxford Year filmed? It doesn’t take an Oxford-level genius to guess the film’s main setting. As Anna and Jamie’s love blossoms, audiences embark on a scenic journey through Oxford’s hallways and libraries with some brief detours to Windsor, London and beyond. For Londoner Mylchreest, My Oxford Y

FrightFest has been a regular staple for UK horror fans since the ’90s. The horror and fantasy film festival returns this year between August 21-25. For five days, London’s Odeon Luxe Leicester Square and Odeon Luxe West End will be screening films like Macon Blair’s The Toxic Avenger reboot, starring Peter Dinklage, satires on AI and influencer culture, along with a documentary on the ever-controversial A Serbian Film. The festival opens with the UK premiere of The Home, a psychological horror from the twisted mind of The Purge franchise creator James DeMonaco. SNL mainstay Pete Davidson defies typecast as Max, a rebellious youth who finds himself working at a retirement home. Some sinister secrets and some spine-chilling geezers are to be expected. For the closing film, the focus shifts to Gen Z with sure-t0-be-depraved social media riff Influencers. A sequel to the 2022 Shudder hit Influencer, the thriller finds Canadian actress Cassandra Naud reprising her role as CW, a shadowy Tom Ripley-like figure who targets influencers. The Toxic Avenger, also on the line-up, is the much-awaited reboot of the 1984 Troma classic of the same name. Much like its campy source material, it’ll be heavy on the splatter, with Dinklage as the unsanitary superhero of the title. Directed Macon Blair, star of cracking B-movie thrillers like Green Room and Blue Ruin, The Toxic Avenger premiered at 2023’s Fantastic Fest, but has faced numerous delays with distribution. At FrightFest, UK genre fans

It has been 29 years since Adam Sandler had a spit-spewing, high-decibel outburst at a golfer or two, or even a toy clown. But now ‘the Sandman’ is back as Happy Gilmore in an unexpected Netflix sequel to his 1996 hit. Sporting a scruffy beard and now with a family of his own, Happy is all grown up – until he isn’t, as he steps out of retirement and returns to the golf turf. There are unexpected new additions to the ensemble, like Bad Bunny and Eminem, as Happy Gilmore 2 takes us on a trip across burger shops, delis, and, of course, country clubs. But don’t expect any uptight gentlemanly play here as Sandler’s brash man-child returns to the game in oversized jerseys, a hockey stick putter, and a vocabulary coarser than a sand trap full of sailors. Photograph: Courtesy of NetflixAdam Sandler as Happy Gilmore in ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ Where was Happy Gilmore 2 filmed? While the first Happy Gilmore was shot entirely in British Columbia in Canada, the sequel makes its way to the United States. Most of the principal photography took place in New Jersey in September 2024. To make filming easier, Sandler and his family even moved to New Jersey last fall. The state boasts enough green pastures for the film’s ragtag bunch of golfers to wreak havoc at. Photograph: Courtesy of NetflixJulie Bowen as Virginia Venit in ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ Montclair Golf Club, New Jersey One of the oldest American golf courses, the Montclair Golf Club in Verona, New Jersey, plays a pivotal role in Happy Gilmor

In BBC’ss Sherlock, Mark Gatiss played the titular detective’s influential older brother, Mycroft Holmes. In the new period thriller Bookish, Gatiss portrays a protagonist cut from the same cloth as Sherlock, albeit with a more supportive approach to the authorities. Gatiss is Gabriel Book, an unconventional second-hand bookseller who uses his antiquarian collection to help police solve crimes. Bookish is a return to form for the Emmy winner, who also serves as co-writer alongside broadcaster Matthew Sweet. Recreating London in 1946, Bookish serves as a delightful throwback to detective mysteries of the era while touching upon the perils of post-war Britain. Read on to discover how the detective thriller’s world came to life. And if you have Gabriel Book's smarts, you'll spot that most of the filming locations were surprisingly not even in London. Photograph: UKTV/Kevin BakerArchangel Lane was filmed in the Belgian town of Namur Namur, Belgium The heart and soul of Bookish lies in London, but the production team subtly recreated the city's post-war bleakness overseas. Most of the series was filmed in Belgium in 2024, with additional photography taking place in the UK. Namur, a city located in southern Belgium, features prominently in Bookish as the location where street sets for Archangel Lane were built. This fictional London lane is where Gabriel Book runs his second-hand bookstore, which also doubles as a base of operations for Book's investigative activities. Gare de B

A body falls from a cliff at Yosemite National Park. Could it be a mountain climbing accident or a wild coyote attack? Or does a deeper conspiracy brew in the California park’s forests? Eric Bana’s special agent Kyle Turner gets to the case in Untamed, Netflix’s six-episode miniseries created by Mark L Smith. This isn’t the Oscar-nominated screenwriter’s first figurative trek through the American wilderness. Smith’s previous credits include Leonardo DiCaprio survival drama The Revenant and this year’s brutal Netflix western American Primeval. Photograph: Ricardo Hubbs/Netflix| Eric Bana as Kyle Turner, Sam Neill as Paul Souter in Untamed With Untamed, Smith trades his period settings for a more modern timeline, but the tension remains the same. Fans of slow-burning mysteries like Mare of Easttown and True Detective will be hooked on Agent Turner approaching closer to the truth, oozing style with his greyed beard and horseback riding skills. But if you’re wondering where Untamed was actually filmed, a few surprises await. Was Untamed actually filmed at Yosemite National Park? Surprisingly not. Set almost entirely in Yosemite, Eric Bana’s brooding cop Kyle Turner describes the California wilderness as ‘the size of Rhode Island’ with ‘five separate highway entrances’. But none of the national park actually features in Untamed. Instead, the show’s crew set up camp mostly in Canada to film the series – and specifically the province of British Columbia. The Canadian province’s va

From scorching ‘mini-heatwaves’ to the occasional drizzles, weather in the UK can be truly unpredictable. But meteorological skepticism hasn’t stopped outdoor cinema from popping up this part of the world. Londoners have their TikTok-ified Rooftop Film Club but plenty of other UK sites are also being turned into al fresco film screening venues. On the list? Country houses, cathedral gardens, and even a graveyard. So, it’s no surprise that three UK entries make it to Time Out’s list of the 30 most beautiful outdoor cinemas in the world. While the top spots are bagged by an open-air venue overlooking the Sydney Opera House, a Los Angeles cemetery and Cannes’s beachfront, a Cumbrian castle comes in at 14th. The Adventure Cinema sets up shop every summer at the Lowther Castle in Cumbria. In fact, this 19th century Cumbrian country house is a sham castle, but filmgoers have little to nitpick when they can lounge in the 130-acre garden area and tap their feet to open-air screenings of Mamma Mia, Dirty Dancing and a Greatest Showman sing-a-long. Given the Lowther’s Gothic silhouette and sprawling greenery, one can hope the venue goes on to host the upcoming Downton Abbey movie, a Tim Burton Halloween, or a Merchant Ivory season. In fact, this year, the Adventure Cinema also plans to tour across more castles, estates, and National Trust locations with the current season set to include over 200 screenings until September 21.  Photograph: MoonflicksMoonflicks at Chester Cathedral Als

TV’s favourite tragicomedy is back with kitchen shouting matches, tear-jerking drama, and some unexpected needle drops. Much like its previous outings, The Bear season 4 has been cooking up some eclectic mixes with tinges of sad dad rock, film soundtracks, and even some Beethoven.  Attentive fans will also be glad to see some returning sounds from previous seasons. We are talking Taylor Swift, R.E.M, and the guitar riffs of Refused’s New Noise, a track that has become synonymous with The Bear.  The Emmy-winning series continues the journey of talented but tragic chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) as he and his staff chaotically manage to keep their Chicago restaurant running in business.  While the fancy food presented in The Bear might be hard to prepare at home, you can still sit back and listen to the show’s diverse playlists.  What kind of music does The Bear season 4 use?  Season 4 continues The Bear’s classic rock tendencies with Led Zeppelin’s That’s The Way underscoring the opening episode, a bittersweet interaction between Carmy and his late brother Mikey.  The rest of the season is peppered with tracks by The Who, Lou Reed, Paul Simon, Eddie Vedder. Just in time around the much-awaited Oasis reunion tour this July, the Manchester band’s B-side single Stay Young also plays over the closing credits of episode 6.  A recurring theme in multiple episodes is I’ve Got You, the Sonny and Cher duet that features prominently in the Bill Murray time travel comedy Groundh

After filming neon-streaked light cycle races in Tron: Legacy and high-altitude dogfights in Top Gun: Maverick, director Joseph Kosinski brings the summer blockbuster to the Formula One circuit. Officially licensed by Formula 1, the Brad Pitt-led F1: The Movie one-ups previous motorsport films with unparalleled access to real-life racing seasons, immersive first-person camerawork from modified cars, and cameos by champion drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Pitt steers aerodynamic beasts as Sonny Hayes, a yesteryear driver hired as a last-ditch option by FI team APX GP, an outfit much closer to bankruptcy than titles. Meanwhile, Londoner Damson Idris plays Pitt’s impetuous, insecure young teammate Joshua Pearce. Photograph: Scott Garfield / Warner Bros. Pictures / Apple Original FilmsDamson Idris as Joshua Pearce in ‘F1: The Movie’ Together, the veteran and the rookie trot across the globe’s flashiest Grade 1 circuits, with occasional pitstops for a pint at the pub and a post-race party at a Las Vegas club. This is how and where they pulled it all off. Where were the races of F1: The Movie filmed? The racing scenes were all shot at actual tracks, from trial laps at Silverstone Circuit in the UK to a final nail-biter at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Photograph: Scott Garfield / Warner Bros. Pictures / Apple Original FilmsShea Whigham at Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway, Florida Brad Pitt’s Sonny Hayes is introduced in a non