14012021-LSTL-01.qxd 1/13/2021 11:34 PM Page 1 c m y b TRIBUNE Chills & thrills Richa Chadha and Rohit Roy are teaming up for a new web series titled Candy. Set in a boarding school, the series will be out on Voot Select. It promises to be full of action and thrill. LUDHIANA | THURSDAY | 14 JANUARY 2021 Private & pr tected? VIRAT KOHLI AND ANUSHKA SHARMA WhatsApp’s changed privacy policy has sent netizens into a frenzy the world over, simultaneously fuelling the rise of Signal and Telegram as alternatives Anushka, Virat make a special request to paparazzi Mona Star kids are always a favourite with social media users as well as paparazzi. Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan’s son, Taimur Ali Khan, is one such example. And now, all eyes are on Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli’s little angel. While fans have been waiting to have a glimpse of the baby, Virat and Anushka issued a special note to paparazzi on Wednesday. In the note, the new parents mentioned that they would ensure that the paparazzi get the content that they need. However, they urged them to not carry any photo of their newborn baby girl. The note read, “Thank you for all the love that you have given us for all these years. We are happy to celebrate this momentous occasion with you. As parents, we have a simple request to make to you. We want to protect the privacy of our child and we need your help and support.While, we will always ensure that you get all the content you need featuring us, we would request you to kindly not take or carry any content that has our child. We know that you will understand where we are coming from and we thank you for the same.” U Direct to home TheGirlOnTheTrain toreleaseonOTT PARINEETI CHOPRA Parineeti Chopra-starrer The Girl On The Train is set for an OTT release. The film will be out on Netflix on February 26. Announcing the release date, Netflix dropped the teaser of the film on Wednesday. Directed by Bard of Blood’s Ribhu Dasgupta, the film is the official Hindi adaptation of the 2016 Hollywood film by the same name starring Emily Blunt. The Girl On the Train follows the life of Mira Kapoor, a divorcee, who fixates on the lives of a perfect couple from afar, during her daily train journey. In the teaser, Parineeti can be seen travelling across various parts of London as well as on the train. The film also stars Aditi Rao Hydari, Kirti Kulhari and Avinash Tiwary. Gurnaaz Kaur Her first Tamil film Petta was with Rajinikath and in her next, again a Tamil film titled Master; she is seen opposite Thalapathy Vijay. But that’s not the only reason why Malavika Mohanan is looking forward to the film. “Master is seeing a pan-India release and since the lockdown this is the first big release that we are witnessing in the industry. Plus it is releasing in five languages.” Comparing Master with a Salman Khan film or a movie ika Mohanan, or actress Malav t her Tamil F ou who is excited ab Hindi s film Master and it from one version, transition er is a language to anoth natural process directed by Rohit Shetty, she says,“This one is an experience like a Dabangg or a Singham; it has some really good action sequences, a strong storyline, romance, drama, fun and amazing songs.” Good going Having predominantly worked in Malayalam films, Malavika has also appeared in Tamil, Hindi and Kannada movies. Her debut in 2013 SAMEER SANDHU was with Pattam Pole (Malayalam), opposite Dulquer Salmaan. Her breakthrough film was Majid Majidi’s Beyond the Clouds (Hindi) in 2017. In Kannada, she did Naanu Mattu Varalakshmi. This transition from one language to another is a natural process for her. “I am a complete Mumbai girl, but my parents are Malayalee so I speak Malayalam fluently and I am rooted to my culture. My parents have created a mini-Kerala at home. I’ve grown up watch- ster stroke Ma SE SIGNAL’... Tweets Elon Musk and the world listens to its richest! Couple it with WhatsApp announcing changes in privacy policy and netizens are looking for safer as well as secure chatting alternatives. Actor Nitish Gupta, currently seen in Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, says, “Well, it is a reality that today probably Google knows way more about you than any of your family members.” However, Nitish has not yet accepted WhatsApp’s change of private policy. “Like anyone else, I too have used WhatsApp so far as I knew that the messages were encrypted. Now with the change in policy, I would rather have clarity before I continue using it. Meanwhile, I am trying my hands at Telegram, which offers better protection and privacy,” he adds. Telegram platform, which stands today at 500 million ing a lot of Malayalam cinema and I am familiar with Tamil films.” Happy to be where she is in life, she adds, “I would love to work with Zoya Akhtar, who I think is making some really interesting films. I also want to act with Ranbir Kapoor, who is a fantastic actor. At the same time I would love to work with Mani Ratanam, who is primarily doing Tamil films or AR Rahman, who in the recent times has been doing more work in Tamil.” In 2021, Malavika has three big films — in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi — lined up. Fashion & beauty tips With 1.9-M followers on social media, Malavika is looked up for her fashion choices as much as for her take on social issues. Her style mantras are: No compromise on comfort: I can’t imagine the time when fashion was corsets or heels. Thankfully, athleisure has become a trend so it is cool to wear sneakers or track pants. Stick to your individuality: Don’t do something only because it is a trend. Back in the day, everybody had a different style. Sadhana was known for her haircut, Rekha for her Kanjiwaram saris and Simi Grewal for her pearls. Everyone was so different. Today, it has become an industry where we are wearing the same clothes, looking the same. I wish there was more focus on style that defines who you are. Say no to chemicals: I am someone who sticks to a lot ISTOCK Matter of privacy active users, garnered 25 million in last three days alone while Signal has amassed 525 million users to date! Not that WhatsApp is taking the whole paradigm shift lying down. On Wednesday they issued full front page advertisements and articles committing assured privacy. While this chat service maintains that its only business messages that can be read for marketing purposes, the policy remains the same regarding chats with family and friends. Actress Prreit Kamal, who is due to shoot Fer Mamla Gadbad Hai shortly, has always been wary of privacy policies of different social media platforms. “I am old-school still; I would rather call than chat incessantly over varied platforms.” While her WhatsApp use has been limited to her cousins in Canada largely, she has been more of an iMes- of my mom’s Ayurvedic home remedies. Being a Malayalee, most of our beauty solutions are from the kitchen; we do not resort to chemicals for every little problem. Glued to OTT The actress can’t get enough of world cinema on various digital platforms and her three most-liked series are: ■ Marvelous Mrs Maisel ■ Normal People ■ Watchmen Hindi version The Hindi version of the movie has been named Vijay The Master. Twitter has even released a special emoji for the film and it has been trending since. my virtual world. I stick to IMessages for personal exchange and Instagram for connecting with fans.” Being cautious ❝ I AM OLD-SCHOOL STILL; I WOULD RATHER CALL THAN CHAT INCESSANTLY OVER VARIED PLATFORMS PRREIT KAMAL, ACTRESS sage person. “By subscribing to social media, we have been subject to marketing depending on what we post or like. The Sushant Singh case and WhatsApp chats that were made public further made one take notice. During the lockdown, I tried trimming There are others who have turned more cautious. Sameer Sandhu, music producer, The Collective Projekt, says, “I had watched the documentary The Great Hack and The Social Dilemma, which enlightened me about the dark side of social media. I have just become more conscious about what I share on social media apps.” Sandhu downloaded Signal two days ago. “One cannot strengthen one piece of the chain and leave others unguarded,” says tech expert Joseph Jude, CTO, Net Solutions. He emphasises that it’s time to rethink privacy all over. Jude lists points to keep in mind while rethinking privacy: ■ Security is closely related to privacy, but they are not the same. Privacy is about who has your personal information; security is about how well it is protected. ■ Whatsapp and Facebook, as services, are secure; but do they respect our privacy? Do they manipulate our data or share our data with other parties that we don’t know? ■ We can’t openly publish our photos; tag our names etc on Facebook, Instagram, and then worry only about our chats being shared with others! We invite such behaviour from companies. ■ In this respect, Signal is secure and respects our privacy. Since we can audit its code, and no one has found any privacy concerns in the code, we can say it maintains privacy of the chats. However, if we create groups in Signal and openly share our personal information, then, of course, we compromise our privacy there. ‘I had the game wrong’ … reads Sushant’s handwritten note posted by his sister Shweta Singh Kirti has shared a note written by her brother, the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, where he admitted he got the game wrong after spending 30 years of his life. Shweta took to Twitter and Instagram to share the note. “Written by Bhai...the thought so profound #ForeverSushant,” she wrote late on Tuesday while sharing the note. The note penned by Sushant read: “I think I spent 30 years of my life, the first 30, trying to become something. I want- ed to become good at things; I wanted to become good at tennis and school & grades. And everything I viewed in that perspective, I am not okay the way I am but if I got good at things... I realised I had the game wrong, because the game was always to find out what I already was!” The late actor’s California-based sister Shweta keeps posting about her brother and sharing throwback videos. Sushant was found dead on June 14 in his Mumbai flat. Many theories and conspiracies emerged after his demise leading to an ongoing CBI investigation into his death. — IANS Master opens to packed halls Master, starring Tamil superstars Thalapathy Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi, could well be on its way to create a record at the box-office despite opening amid the pandemic and being leaked on torrent websites hours before its release. Fans of the two actors started crowding at theatres since early morning on Wednesday for the opening show of the film, which has released on the big screen. Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Master also features Malavika Mohanan, Arjun Das, Andrea Jeremiah and Shanthanu Bhagyaraj in pivotal roles. The makers have also planned to release the film dubbed in Hindi on January 14 in cinemas across North India. — IANS c m y b Creating a furore BBC docuseries Death In Bollywoodsparks controversy BBC has released a three-part investigative docuseries on Jiah Khan’s death. Titled Death In Bollywood, the show, which was out in UK on January 11 and will soon be launched in India, has sparked a controversy. It has raised questions on Jiah’s suicide and the case is being compared to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. The docuseries throws JIAH KHAN light on details of the case, questions the investigation done by Mumbai Police, shows Jiah’s mother’s struggle for justice, unanswered questions and also features Sooraj Pancholi. It has left many netizens upset as #JusticeForJiahKhan took over Twitter on Wednesday. One user wrote, “I am truly shocked that #SoorajPancholi and #adityapancholi agreed to be interviewed for #DeathInBollywood because they do not come out of it well.” While another user wrote, “Watching #Deathinbollywood! My god!!So crazy how this case is mirroring sushant’s case!”