09012021-LSTL-01.qxd 1/9/2021 12:06 AM Page 1 c m y b TRIBUNE First jab Actress Shilpa Shirodkar took to her social media handle to announce that she had been vaccinated against Covid-19 in the UAE. LUDHIANA | SATURDAY | 9 JANUARY 2021 White House under attack! A salon visit gone wrong Did Priyanka Chopra break Covid lockdown rules in UK? Gurnaaz Kaur & Sheetal T Reports of Priyanka Chopra and her mother Madhu Chopra breaking the lockdown rules in London were doing rounds on internet on Friday. The two were seen at a salon, apparently breaking the British capital’s strict new Covid-19 lockdown rules issued by the UK government. The salon is owned by the celebrity hairstylist Josh Wood. As per reports, Priyanka entered the salon just before 5 pm on Thursday. Half an hour later, police officers were seen arriving at the venue to ask them to leave the salon. As soon as the news broke, Josh Wood issued a statement through his salon’s official Twitter page, saying, “Following government guidelines, Priyanka’s hair was coloured for the purpose of the film she is currently shooting in London. The salon was opened privately and everyone involved has been tested and followed both the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sports guidelines, as well as film production regulations. The paperwork legally permitting Priyanka and Josh to be there was provided to the authorities who were satisfied by it.” In this action-thriller film directed by Ric Roman Waugh, we see Gerard Butler playing the Secret Service agent Mike Banning, who is framed for the failed assassination attempt of US President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman). He evades the FBI and his own agency to locate the real threat that’s lurking on the White House and prove his innocence. It is the third installment in Has Fallen series. Kapil Sharma alleges he was duped of ~5.7 crore ‘Why am I being tortured?’ Kangana Ranaut appears before Mumbai police Kangana Ranaut, who was summoned by the Mumbai police in regards to a sedition case, appeared before the Bandra police on Friday. She was accompanied by her sister Rangoli Chandel and her advocate. The Mumbai police had sent notices thrice, asking both the sisters to appear for recording their statements in the said case. Last year in October, a complaint was lodged against them for allegedly “trying to create hatred and communal tension” through their posts on social media. Meanwhile, before reaching police station, Kangana posted a video on Twitter saying that she is being unfairly targeted for daring to speak her mind. She captioned the video as, “Why am I being mentally, emotionally and now physically tortured? I need answers from this nation... I stood for you it’s time you stand for me...” RANGOLI CHANDEL & KANGANA RANAUT HE Capitol Hill saw a terrible attack as a pro-Trump mob clashed with Capitol police during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 US presidential election results. Five died and several got injured at the heart of American democracy in what is being termed as one of the worst security breaches in the US history. Though not on Capitol Hill, we have seen similar scenarios being recreated in cinema where the White House has come under attack. Here are some of those titles that will intrigue you as they show apocalyptic devastation of the president’s mansion or its residents. IDIOCRACY They staged it before! What is gaining prominence on social networking apps is an animation show, Simpsons. From 1996 episode, The Day The Violence Died to an episode that aired just before November election which hinted at civil war panning out as a reality in 2021, it had seen it all. FALLEN FROM GRACE! Angel Has Fallen (2019) So much for vanity! In 2017, Kapil Sharma had ordered for a customised vanity van and had paid ~5.7 crore to car designer Dilip Chhabria. But the van was never delivered. Kapil filed a formal complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) in September 2020. Now, on January 7, Kapil was summoned by the Crime Branch of the Mumbai police to record his statement. The siege at Capitol Hill was no less than thrillers that Hollywood has churned out . If you have missed any, here's a list of movies that will take you right there—the hotbed of conspiracies WHITE HOUSE DOWN TRACING THE TRAITOR G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013) A military science-fiction film directed by Jon M Chu, G.I. Joe Retaliation is based on Hasbro’s G.I. Joe toy, comic and media franchise and is second in the G.I. Joe film series. Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis are not only fighting their enemy Cobra but also a threat from within. There is an doppelganger in the White House and ‘the greatest American Heroes’ are being framed as traitor. DOWN & OUT White House Down (2013) In director Roland DESIGNATED SURVIVOR Emmerich’s world from Olympus Has Fallen, the Oval House barely got time to rebuild from the Olympus Has Fallen when director Roland Emmerich’s apocalyptic devastation befell on it again in this one. Starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal and others, it shows a massive terrorist attack on the White House. ANTI-INTELLECTUAL STANCE Idiocracy (2006) A science-fiction comedy by Mike Judge shows a world that woke up 500 years post a hibernation experiment. In it, the human race is being run by anti-intellectuals, including the US president who was once a porn star. The look he Who among us especially those living through 1970s and 1980s have not faced bureaucratic hurdles while getting our official papers made? So, when a man declared dead in papers tries to prove he is alive, it can only take ages, 19 years to be exact. Well, that in nutshell is the story of Kaagaz based on a real person Lal Bihari Mritak. Only as this biographical tale takes off, much appears dated and not just the fact that the story begins somewhere in 1977. Certainly with Pankaj Tripathi playing the lead character, the histrionics department is in safe hands. Tripathi, being the capable actor he is, does put heart and soul into his part of this bandmaster whose zeal to prove that he is alive and kicking knows no bounds. At the root of the problem are greedy relatives who have usurped his land. And this is where a part of the problem lies. But for Tripathi the casting of other actors is on weak ground. Even Mita Vashisht as politician Asharfi Devi does not count for much. Sure the director Satish Kaushik makes his presence felt as a lawyer and even turns sutradhar to take us through the events in the life of Lal Bihari Mritak, Bharat Lal, in the film. But the drama that makes this Mritak contest elections, kidnap a child and even take out his funeral procession don’t create enough dramatic tension in the film. Thus what could have been a biting satire on the way our inefficient and corrupt system works soon begins to ring dreary if not hollow. Without a doubt, the story here needs to be told, but in its cinematic adaptation does not pack enough punch. The sting and zing reverberate only occasionally. c m y b Film: Kaagaz Director: Satish Kaushik Cast: PankajTripathi, M. MonalGajjar, MitaVashisht, Satish Kaushik, Amar Upadhyay, Dr Shadan Ahmed, Prakash Bajpi, Brijendra Kala Rating:  As viewers we have a natural affinity towards stories of underdogs. Here though our sympathies do lie with the lead protagonist, we don’t quite feel for him as strongly as we ought to, even when he is beaten up by his adversaries and treated rather cruelly by the government officials. In the final game we Hollywood star George Clooney has condemned the Capitol Hill siege, saying that the name of Donald Trump will now always be associated with insurrection. During an episode of KCRW’s The Business weekly podcast, Clooney opened up about the attack by supporters of Donald Trump. “It’s devastating to watch the people’s house being desecrated in that way,” he said. The actor continued, “But it is also a tremendous overreach in a way—everybody kept waiting for, what’s the one thing, the straw that breaks the camel’s back and it just seemed like that line just kept getting moved and moved and moved and outrage didn’t even matter anymore, even to the point of calling the Secretary of State in Georgia and pressuring him. None of that seemed to matter. This mattered.” “This puts Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. Ivanka — all of them — into the dustbin of history. That name will now forever be associated with insurrection,” he added. The actor then referenced how former White House Chief of Staff General Kelly said recently that if he was in the cabinet he would have voted for the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.—IANS QUITE EXPLOSIVE Designated Survivor (web series) Straight from its pilot episode, this ABC’s TV drama was later converted to a Netflix series with Season 3 directly aired on the digital giant. It opens to an explosion at Capitol building, killing the president and everyone in succession on The State of The Union, it leaves the secretary of Housing and Urban Development as the designated survivor who is sworn in as the new president. Despite a significant subject and a stellar act by Pankaj Tripathi, Kaagaz does not go beyond simplistic retelling of an otherwise inspirational tale NET, FLICKS AND MORE George Clooney on the Capitol Hill siege gives to the White House is another trait to discuss. It stars Luke Wilson and Maya Rudolph. So much like a deadweight! Nonika Singh ‘Trump goes into ‘dustbin of history’ know he will come up trumps but before the film reaches it logical and expected finale, your attention wavers. Tripathi tries his best to carry the narrative on his strong shoulders. But that clearly is not enough to keep you hooked. The film with its heart in the right place may have worked on paper but in its execution it gets lost, just as the proof Lal Bihari Mritak is looking for to substantiate his very much alive status. Rather, the last few seconds of the film that depict the real person and his mission of bringing the ‘dead’ to life are more inspiring than the entire film put together. Streaming on Zee5, watch it only for Tripathi. On cinematic parameters the film falters more than it scores and turns out to be rather simplistic retelling of the story of the man who took on the system and had the gumption to work towards his endeavour through a span of 19 years. Even today, through Mritak Sangh, Uttar Pradesh Association of Dead People, he helps out others sailing in the same boat. An uplifting example indeed, only the film does not match up the highs of his reality. AMAL & GEORGE CLOONEY Wedding over work Priyanshu Painyuli moves out of Chhorii Priyanshu Painyuli, who was recently seen in Mirzapur 2, is currently busy juggling multiple projects. The actor is shooting for Rashmi Rocket, a sports drama with Taapsee Pannu and directed by Akarsh Khurana. He will soon start prep for his next, Pippa, with Ishaan Khattar and Mrunal Thakur. The actor was also to be a part of the Nushrratt Bharuccha-starrer Chhorii. Now, we hear that despite having tried to work out the dates, Priyanshu had to drop out and he is no longer part of Chhorii. A source says, “Priyanshu was excited about trying a new genre. However, the dates of Rashmi Rocket and his wedding were clashing and hence he had to let go off the project.”