A woman walks by a day care centre in the neighbourhood where the Netflix film ‘Roma’, with 10 Oscar nominations, was filmed in Mexico City

THE TIMES OF INDIA (January 28, 2019)

The success of ‘Roma’, which garnered 10 Oscar nominations this week, has made a star out of one of the movie’s key protagonists: the Mexico City neighbourhood that gave it its name.

Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron, who sumptuously shot it in black and white, the movie is set in the 1970s in the Mexico City neighbourhood where he grew up, La Roma — today a magnet for filmbuff tourists seeking the modern-day, full-colour version.

The neighbourhood Cuaron depicts as an upper-middle-class bastion of spacious art-deco houses and fancy chrome-clad cars fell on hard times when it was devastated by a 1985 earthquake that killed more than 10,000 people in Mexico City. But its central location and leafy streets helped bring it back, and today it is a hipster paradise of trendy bars, cafes, restaurants and shops.

One of those streets in particular has drawn an unprecedented flow of tourists since ‘Roma’ came out, according to residents: Tepeji street, where Cuaron grew up and meticulously recreated his boyhood home for the film. Outside number 22 Tepeji, a newly installed metal plaque informs visitors: “This is where ‘Roma’ was filmed, 2016-2017.”

“We loved the movie. It captivated us from the first moment. We decided to come see the house in person,” said Esteban Alvarez, 27, a musician from Costa Rica who was making the pilgrimage with his girlfriend. They have joined a stream of tourists hunting for locations where the highly autobiographical film was shot.

There is even a guidebook for people trying to retrace the film’s steps, while Conde Nast published an article this week to help tourists find “Mexico City Airbnbs that Could Have Been in ‘Roma.’” ‘Roma’ is an intimate portrait of the two women who raised Cuaron: his nanny, played by breakout star Yalitza Aparicio, and his mother, played by Marina de Tavira — both up for Oscars.

Will host a party in Mumbai for Vin Diesel after her Hollywood debut’s UK premiere
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 8, 2017)

Fresh from a week-long getaway with boyfriend, Ranveer Singh, Deepika and her Bajirao Mastani co-star, Priyanka Chopra, were on back-to-back flights out of India on January 2. While PeeCee landed in New York to kick off the second schedule of her TV series, Quantico, Deepika headed to Los Angeles for the promotion of her upcoming Hollywood debut, the Vin Diesel-starrer, xXx: Return of Xander Cage.

A day before her birthday on January 5, she headed to Mexico City with the other two leading ladies, Nina Dobrev and Ruby Rose, and director D J Caruso. After all-day media interactions and right before the premiere of the film, the xXx family came together with a large cake and balloons to ring in Deepika’s 31st birthday. Even though it was still January 4 there, they knew wishes had already started pouring in from back home, from friends and even “Padmapati” Shahid Kapoor.

Caruso compared the birthday girl to two Hollywood yesteryear greats, saying, “You embody Lana Turner with the grace of Audrey Hepburn and you can kick some a** too!” Deepika described her screen avatar, Serena Unger, as “independent, smart, always observing and learning” and added that what draws Xander to her is that “she is like him”.

A big birthday dinner has been planned for Friday evening. On January 9, the cast and crew will take off to London for the UK premiere, and are also expected to briefly travel through Europe. They fly out to Mumbai on January 12 for a glitzy Indian premiere of the film. Deepika will be hosting a starry all-nighter on January 13 for her international friends as well, and plans to show Vin around Mumbai personally.
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MID-DAY (January 7, 2016)

American filmmaker D J Caruso, who has helmed Deepika Padukone’s Hollywood debut XXX: Return of Xander Cage took to social networking platform Twitter on Tuesday to reveal that the team was set to host a birthday dinner for the actress on Wednesday. “We have a birthday dinner set up for tomorrow,” Caruso wrote on the platform, while responding to a fan’s query on the team’s plan.

Deepika, who turned 31 yesterday, also received wishes form her Bajirao Mastani co-star Priyanka Chopra. “Happy birthday @deepikapadukone may this year bring you lots of love and happiness.. I wish you the best for # XXX Can’t wait to watch it (sic),” PeeCee wrote.

Dippy is currently on a promotional tour in Mexico with the cast and crew of XXX.