World
Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed’s ‘Barzakh’ Unveils Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)
![Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed’s ‘Barzakh’ Unveils Trailer (EXCLUSIVE)](https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Fawad-Khan-Sanam-Saeed-Barzakh.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1)
Series “Barzakh,” starring top Pakistani actors Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed, has unveiled a trailer.
Set in the Hunza Valley, “Barzakh” centers on a 76-year-old man who surprises his estranged children and grandchildren by announcing his engagement to the ghost of his first love. This revelation triggers a series of emotional confrontations as the family gathers, unsure how to respond to the situation.
The trailer suggests that “Barzakh” will explore themes of interconnectedness and enduring love, weaving local folklore into its storyline. The series poses the question: “When all has withered, will love endure?”
The six-episode series is produced by Waqas Hassan and Shailja Kejriwal for Zindagi, the Indian subcontinent focused programming block on streamer ZEE5 Global. It is helmed by critically acclaimed director Asim Abbasi who also directed Zindagi’s first Pakistani original “Churails” and the feature film “Cake,” which was Pakistan’s entry for the 2019 Oscars.
Khan said: “After having seen ‘Cake,’ when I was approached for ‘Barzakh,’ I jumped at the opportunity. Asim’s work sets him apart as a very unique director whose emphasis is on character development in a way that is contemporary. Also, I’ve always wanted to attempt something out of the ordinary and ‘Barzakh’ is nothing ordinary. It’s downright experimental and I love it.”
“Asim and Shailja are a power combo. They’ve tuned into each other’s sensibilities and aesthetics. That makes the process all the more easier,” Khan added. “As a producer, how Waqas brought the story to life is nothing short of extraordinary, and his dedication to the craft is deeply inspiring.”
The series reunites Khan and Saeed for the first time since their hit show “Zindagi Gulzar Hai” (2012). “Working with Sanam after all these years is still a comfort zone. I enjoyed it and I believe in her skills. It always makes my job easy. I hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed the process of making it,” Khan said.
Saeed added: “Being part of ‘Barzakh’ has been an immensely rewarding experience for me. The show’s premise, which explores themes of family, love, loss, and the afterlife, fascinated me from the start. As an actor, I’m constantly seeking roles that challenge me and offer a fresh perspective on storytelling. ‘Barzakh’ does just that, presenting a narrative that transcends conventional boundaries and delves into the realms of the mystical and the unknown.”
“From the minute Asim narrated the story to me, I instantly knew that I had to be a part of this project. Asim has always been a person who tries to explore the unexplored, and this is why I have always been
his fan,” Saeed said. “What excites me the most about this is reuniting with a stellar actor like Fawad and sharing the screen with Salman Shahid, Sajid Hasan and the other Fawad [M. Fawad Khan] who I’ve worked closely with in theater. Shailja as a producer has been an absolute dream to work with as always. Now, with the global release of ‘Barzakh,’ I cannot wait to take the viewers into the world of nowhere.”
Following its well-received premiere at Series Mania in France, “Barzakh” will stream worldwide on Zindagi’s YouTube channel and ZEE5 Global from July 19.
Watch the trailer here:
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World
Christopher Reeve’s Son Will Reeve to Appear in James Gunn’s ‘Superman’
![Christopher Reeve’s Son Will Reeve to Appear in James Gunn’s ‘Superman’](https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/will-reeve.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1)
James Gunn‘s “Superman” is celebrating both the legacy of the Man of Steel and the actor who originated him on the big screen with a special cameo.
The late Christopher Reeve experienced his greatest commercial success playing Superman and his alter ego Clark Kent in the first four Superman movies. Now, his youngest son, journalist and ABC News correspondent Will Reeve, will make a cameo playing a TV reporter in the upcoming DC Studios movie.
The project is currently filming in Cleveland, Ohio, where local reporters (via Cleveland.com) captured all the behind-the-scenes action, including Reeve’s appearance on set during a major scene. David Corenswet stars as Superman in the character’s latest revival, written and directed by Gunn, the co-head of Warner Bros.-owned DC Studios. The film arrives in theaters on July 11, 2025.
Will Reeve and his older siblings Matthew and Alexandra have had the superhero front of mind lately thanks to Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui’s documentary “Super/Man,” which chronicles their late father’s life and career. The Reeve children appear in the documentary as it explores the actor’s rise to Hollywood icon status and the near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down. (Reeve died in 2004.) Following its buzzy Sundance Film Festival premiere, “Super/Man” finalized a deal to sell to Warner Bros. Discovery for roughly $15 million.
“The majority of my memories of my dad involve him after the accident because I was not yet three years old when he was injured,” Will Reeve told Variety at the festival. “So to see his entire life leading up until that time laid out so poetically and cinematically and authentically by our wonderful directors has been a real gift for me.”
In that interview, the Reeve children were also asked about their thoughts on Christopher Reeve’s appearance in last year’s Warner Bros. comic book tentpole “The Flash,” in which his iteration of Superman (recreated by CGI) is spotted by Ezra Miller’s Flash out in the multiverse. None of them had watched “The Flash” and they did not have involvement in that cameo. But, Will Reeve’s appearance in the upcoming “Superman” marks a step forward in the synergistic relationship between the family and the studio as all things Superman trend up, up and away.
The documentary will hit the big screen this fall, playing in select theaters on Sept. 21 followed by an encore presentation on Christopher Reeve’s birthday, Sept. 25. DC Studios is collaborating with Fathom Events on the theatrical release.
DC Studios did not return request for comment on Reeve’s cameo.
World
Death toll climbs to 116 in religious gathering stampede in India
![Death toll climbs to 116 in religious gathering stampede in India](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/07/STAMPEDE.jpg)
Thousands of people at a religious gathering in India rushed to leave a makeshift tent, setting off a stampede Tuesday that killed more than 100 and left scores injured, officials said.
It was not immediately clear what triggered the panic following an event with a Hindu guru known locally as Bhole Baba. Local news reports cited authorities who said heat and suffocation in the tent could have been a factor. Video of the aftermath showed the structure appeared to have collapsed.
At least 116 people died, most of them women and children, said Prashant Kumar, the director-general of police in northern India’s state of Uttar Pradesh, where the stampede occurred.
AT LEAST 60 DEAD AFTER STAMPEDE AT RELIGIOUS GATHERING IN NORTHERN INDIA
More than 80 others were injured and admitted to hospitals, senior police officer Shalabh Mathur said.
“People started falling one upon another, one upon another. Those who were crushed died. People there pulled them out,” witness Shakuntala Devi told the Press Trust of India news agency.
Relatives wailed in distress as bodies of the dead, placed on stretchers and covered in white sheets, lined the grounds of a local hospital. A bus that arrived there carried more victims, whose bodies were lying on the seats inside.
Deadly stampedes are relatively common around Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with shoddy infrastructure and few safety measures.
Police officer Rajesh Singh said there was likely overcrowding at the event in a village in Hathras district about 220 miles southwest of the state capital, Lucknow.
People mourn next to the bodies of their relatives outside the Sikandrarao hospital in Hathras district about 217 miles southwest of Lucknow, India, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. A stampede among thousands of people at a religious gathering in northern India killed at least 60 and left scores injured, officials said Tuesday, adding that many women and children were among the dead and the toll could rise. (AP Photo)
Initial reports said organizers had permission to host about 5,000 people, but more than 15,000 came for the event by the Hindu preacher, who used to be a police officer in the state before he left his job to give religious sermons. He has led other such gatherings over the last two decades.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences to the families of the dead and said the federal government was working with state authorities to ensure the injured received help.
Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, called the stampede “heart-wrenching” in a post on X. He said authorities were investigating.
“Look what happened and how many people have lost their lives. Will anyone be accountable?” Rajesh Kumar Jha, a member of parliament, told reporters. He said the stampede was a failure by the state and federal governments to manage large crowds, adding that “people will keep on dying” if authorities do not take safety protocols seriously enough.
In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in central Madhya Pradesh state trampled each other amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 were crushed to death or died in the river.
In 2011, more than 100 Hindu devotees died in a crush at a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.
World
Judge delays Trump’s sentencing in hush money case until September
![Judge delays Trump’s sentencing in hush money case until September](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/AFP__20240531__34UF4BG__v1__HighRes__UsPoliticsJusticeTrumpTrialCourtElection-1719947364.jpg?resize=1920%2C1440)
Trump became the first former US president convicted of felony charges and was originally set to be sentenced next week.
The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money case has granted a request to delay the former United States president’s sentencing until at least September.
The decision on Tuesday follows a ruling by the US Supreme Court that ordered broad criminal immunity for presidents in their official acts.
Trump’s legal team had cited the top court’s decision in a letter to Judge Juan Merchan requesting the delay in the sentencing, which was originally scheduled on July 11.
The lawyers representing Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, told Merchan they needed time to build their case that Trump’s conviction on 34 felony charges of falsifying business documents to cover up hush money payments made to an adult actress should be overturned in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Before Merchan’s decision, prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office said Trump’s argument was “without merit” but agreed to delay the sentencing.
Merchan said the sentencing would be delayed until at least September 18, less than two months before the November 8 elections.
Prosecutors had argued that Trump falsified business records to cover up his former lawyer Michael Cohen’s $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence on an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.
They directly connected the payments to a wider scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election.
In their letter to Merchan, Trump’s lawyers argued that during the trial, prosecutors had presented evidence involving Trump’s official acts as president, including social media posts he made and conversations he had while in the White House.
That evidence should have been protected under presidential immunity, the lawyers said, per the Supreme Court’s Monday ruling.
The ruling from the majority of six justices on the nine-member bench said presidents have “absolute immunity” from criminal liability for any acts within their “core constitutional powers”. Evidence related to those official acts also may not be presented at a trial, the majority opinion said.
However, the ruling, which was assailed by the court’s three liberal justices, said presidents could still be prosecuted for acts outside those powers. The exact delineations remain unclear.
In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor warned the decision opened the door to “nightmare scenarios”, including possible immunity for assassinating a political rival.
“In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law,” she wrote.
Political implications
The Supreme Court ruling bodes well for Trump, who faces three additional criminal trials.
It is expected to be the most bedeviling to the legal argument at the heart of a federal case related to Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results after his loss to President Joe Biden.
It could also have implications for a state trial in Georgia related to efforts to pressure officials to change the 2020 vote count as well as a second federal trial related to Trump allegedly hiding and hoarding classified White House documents at his Florida estate.
The New York trial, however, was the only trial expected to finish before the election. While the initial guilty verdict did not show a major shift in support for Trump, analysts have argued that a severe sentence could turn off some would-be Trump voters.
Merchan’s decision comes five days after Biden delivered a dismal performance in the first presidential debate against Trump, which has sent the Democrat’s campaign into damage control while bringing concerns over the 81-year-old’s age to the fore.
On Tuesday, a Reuters/Ipsos poll was released showing one in three Democrats think Biden should end his re-election bid after the debate performance. Still, the poll found no prominent elected Democrat would perform any better than Biden in a hypothetical matchup against Trump.
On Wednesday, Biden was reportedly set to meet with Democratic governors in an effort to allay their concerns.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre also said Biden would give his first post-debate interview to ABC News on Friday and would hold a news conference during a NATO conference next week.
She reiterated that Biden has no intention of dropping out of the race.
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