Desi power at the Met Gala, ‘The New Avengers’ & upcoming releases to watch

Need a refresher on all the pop culture and entertainment headlines you might have missed this week? We have all the celebrity and movie news, plus a list of all the upcoming new films and shows to check out.

Indian presence at the Met Gala

Indian stars showed up in full force at the 2025 Met Gala, be it actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, and Kiara Advani, designers like Manish Malhotra and Sabyasachi, or popstar Diljit Dosanjh. Even fashion patrons like Mona Patel, Isha Ambani, and Natasha Poonawalla turned heads at the event.

However, there were some naysayers who questioned the increased Indian presence at the event. Replying to a post on Instagram, Jahnvi Kapoor shut them down, saying: “It was high time. Our artisans and designers are the best in the world, they deserve the spotlight on a global stage like the Met. As do our icons shouldn't we be happy we're finally getting our due instead of salty about how seeing our own people on this platform is making it seem a little less aspirational? Might I say our garments were amongst the most spectacular. Amusing how we're being almost classist towards ourselves, clearly colonial trauma hasn't left us. For decades the work of our artisans has been exported from our country and put on global platforms without credit, for decades they have borrowed our fabrics, our embroidery, our textiles, our Jewelery and presented it as a creation of which they are the rightful owners. I'm glad our people are finally getting the chance to represent so much of our work and heritage. If anything, the sense of pride I felt seeing our artists and garments at the Met made whole affair seem even more magical.”

The debate on SRK not being recognised at the Met Gala

Desi fans were pretty taken aback when some reporters failed to recognise Shah Rukh at the Met Gala. While it could have been an honest case of the Western media not being familiar with Indian celebrities, the counter-argument to that was that SRK is a veritable global celebrity with 30+ years of cinema to his credit. To add to that, the question of whether interviewers should do more research on whom they’re talking to, was raised. Of course, this also led to the question of why Bollywood doesn’t get the acknowledgment it deserves in the West, despite being such a huge industry with such a large audience.

The Diljit Dosanjh necklace saga

While Diljit Dosanjh’s look for the Met Gala was a regal interpretation of the evening’s theme, it was mired in controversy, albeit for no fault of Diljit’s. There was an uproar among desi internet users when it was revealed that Diljit was not loaned the Maharaja Of Patiala, Sir Bhupinder Singh’s, famous Cartier necklace for the Met. Fans pointed out how YouTuber Emma Chamberlain had worn a portion of the Maharaja’s necklace-- the choker-- at the Met Gala previously.

Given how Diljit’s entire look was inspired by the Maharaja, and was a proclamation of his pride in his Punjabi heritage, Diljit had to ultimately make do without the necklace, but wore a similar piece by Golecha, and some other jewellery from Cartier to complement it.

Martin Scorsese to executive produce Ishaan Khatter’s Dharma film

While validation from the West isn’t the be-all, end-all for Indian movies, it was indeed a huge deal that Hollywood director Martin Scorsese came on board as one of the producers of the upcoming Ishaan Khatter and Janhvi Kapoor film, ‘Homebound.’ While Martin is a co-executive producer for the Neeraj Ghaywan-directed movie, it has been produced by Adar Poonawalla and Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, and will reportedly premiere at the Cannes film festival.

The first look of Aamir Khan’s ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’

As far as upcoming movie announcements, the first look of Aamir Khan’s ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’ was out this week, revealing that the film is coming on June 20. Starring Genelia Deshmukh, Aamir, and ten debutant actors, the tagline of the movie read, “Sabka apna apna normal.”

Marvel’s new chapter: ‘Thunderbolts*’, a.k.a ‘The New Avengers’

In terms of international films, there was a major overhaul in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) this week, leading to a new Marvel era.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Spoiler alert for those who haven’t watched ‘Thunderbolts’, but Marvel has rebranded the film ‘The New Avengers.’ The cast unveiled this by ripping the film’s poster to reveal the new title. Within the film, too, the team of antiheroes are named ‘The New Avengers’, explaining why there was an asterisk at the end of ‘Thunderbolts*’ in the first place.

Upcoming OTT and theatre releases

If you want to know which new releases to check out this weekend, we have some good recommendations.

‘The Royals’

For those craving a swoon-worthy romance to watch, the glamourous Netflix series ‘The Royals’, will be streaming from May 9. The show has a star-studded ensemble cast including Zeenat Aman, Sakshi Tanwar, Nora Fatehi, Lisa Mishra, Chunky Panday, Dino Morea, Milind Soman, and more. The main leads in it, though, are Ishaan Khatter-- who plays a high-flying royal-- and Bhumi Pednekar, a self-made entrepreneur. Ishaan’s legacy is at stake when Bhumi swoops in to help his family, leading to sparks between the two.

‘Nonnas’

Those who consider food their love language would probably enjoy the Susan Sarandon and Vince Vaughn film, ‘Nonnas.’ Streaming on Netflix from May 9, this is an adorable and heartfelt comedy about a man who starts a restaurant that serves food made by Italian grandmas.

‘Gram Chikitsalay’

Finally, if you’ve been missing ‘Panchayat’, the makers of the show have created ‘Gram Chikitsalay’ to fill the void. It will be streaming on Amazon Prime Video from May 9, and stars Vinay Pathak, Amol Parashar, and Akansha Ranjan Kapoor. The show is about a doctor who tries to run a healthcare centre in a remote village, and the unexpected roadblocks he faces.