Author: Arabian Media staff
Last year, Berlin-based Slovakian writer-director and visual artist Paula Ďurinová screened her documentary debut, Lapilli, about rocks and the loss of loved ones, at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF). This year, she returns to its 59th edition with her sophomore doc Action Item, which the festival calls “an entirely different, yet equally sensitive film.” Sensibility is key as the doc is about burnout syndrome, treating it, as press materials highlight, as “a collective condition and a silenced crisis.” Ďurinová explores how exhaustion is not just lived but “constructed, shaped by the pressures of constant performance and control,” they also…
Benson Boone has landed his first No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, as his sophomore LP American Heart debuts at the summit this week. The chart-topping arrival follows the breakout success of Boone’s 2024 debut album Fireworks & Rollerblades, which peaked at No. 17 and spawned the long-running No. 1 hit “Beautiful Things.” That single remains a force on the ARIA Singles Chart, currently sitting at No. 8. Boone leads a trio of top-five debuts on this week’s albums chart. Sabrina Carpenter’s Short N’ Sweet holds strong at No. 2, while English alt-rocker Yungblud lands at No. 4 with…
IPO-bound Wakefit is inching toward profitability after narrowing its losses by about 9.7X in the year ended March 31, 2024. The omnichannel retailer of mattresses and furniture reported a loss of Rs 15.05 crore during this period, compared to Rs 145.68 crore in FY23. Additionally, the company reported a 21.9% rise in annual revenue, reaching Rs 986.35 crore compared to Rs 812.6 crore in the year-ago period, driven by rising sales across its product categories—mattresses, furniture, and furnishings. Despite the uptick in revenue and narrow losses, the Peak XV-backed company saw a 6.91% rise in expenses during the period, primarily…
In a major shakeup of the European television market, German broadcast giant RTL Group has signed a deal to acquire pay-TV group Sky Deutschland from Comcast. The deal includes a €150 million ($176 million) upfront payment plus a variable component of up to €377 million ($442 million), provided RTL‘s share price exceeds €41, which Comcast can trigger any time within five years. The agreement, announced by RTL parent Bertelsmann on Friday, is still subject to regulatory approval, but if it passes muster, it could mark a seismic shift in the European TV and streaming landscape. By combining Sky’s subscribers across…
There are some series that work so well as one-and-dones that it’s hard to imagine what could possibly be gained creatively from pressing onward with a second season. Sometimes, those seemingly unnecessary renewals nevertheless yield pleasant surprises: Barry got only darker and weirder as it went on, White Lotus successfully expanded itself into a globe-trotting anthology, and so on. Other times, however, that initial skepticism proves justified. The second round of Netflix’s South Korean sleeper hit Squid Game was a thudding step down from the first, rehashing most of the same themes and story beats at a slower pace with…
Fans around the world were ready for some big twists from the series finale of Netflix‘s smash-hit dystopian thriller Squid Game — but arguably no one saw this surprise coming (warning: spoilers ahead). In the final moments of the show’s last episode, the Squid Game universe suddenly gets a whole lot more global, when the camera jumps to California to find a character played by none other than two-time Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett on the streets of Los Angeles, recruiting potential American players to enter a U.S. version of the show’s eponymous death game. The brief moment provides an instant…
PhonePe has teamed up with HDFC Bank to launch a co-branded credit card, marking the fintech firm’s entry into the competitive credit card space. The move underscores both companies’ bet on the growing convergence of credit and UPI-based payments in India.The co-branded card, available in two variants—‘Ultimo’ and ‘UNO’—runs on the RuPay network and is designed to integrate directly with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). This allows users to make credit payments via UPI QR codes at millions of merchants, a feature enabled by regulatory and network upgrades that now allow UPI-credit linkages.The partnership brings together PhonePe’s digital payment user…
Mattress and furniture retailer Wakefit has filed its draft papers with markets regulator Sebi to list on the public exchanges. The offer comprises a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 468.2 crore and an offer for sale of up to 5.8 crore of equity shares. Peak XV-backed Wakefit joins a long list of startups that are eyeing to go public this year, including BlueStone and Prosus-backed Urban Company. Earlier this month, the company converted into a public entity. According to the draft red herring prospectus, Wakefit intends to use the funds to set up 111 new COCO-Regular stores and one…
Not far from where a replica of Jaws never stops snapping or the Jurassic Park ride always draws a long line at Universal‘s L.A. theme park, the filmmaker behind some of the other most iconic titles in Hollywood studio history — Steven Spielberg — found himself the main attraction Thursday night as a state-of-the-art theater on the adjacent studio lot was dedicated in his honor. “It’s not just a place that is founded on his extraordinary legacy but it is a place of future hopes and dreams of filmmakers, of storytellers who are you going to take this company into…
KATSEYE are ready to pull fans into their latest sonic universe. The six-member girl group unveiled their highly anticipated second EP, BEAUTIFUL CHAOS, on Friday (June 28), marking a bold evolution from the dreamy, melodic pop of their debut. Released via HYBE x Geffen Records, the project follows the viral success of lead single “Gnarly,” which hinted at the high-energy hyperpop and dance-infused direction that now defines the full EP. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The project arrives less than a year after the release of SIS (Soft Is Strong), which…