13052022-LSTL-01.qxd 5/12/2022 10:52 PM Page 1 c m y b TRIBUNE NIKITIN, KRATIKA ARE PARENTS NOW! Life Helly Shah is set for a Bollywood debut with the movie Kaya Palat. The poster will be unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival, which is scheduled from May 17 to 28. TMS LUDHIANA | FRIDAY | 13 MAY 2022 Screening harsh reality Sheetal B OLLYWOOD has been highlighting societal issues for long and raising awareness on sensitive issues. As Delhi High Court’s two-judge bench gave a split verdict on the demand to criminalise marital rape, here is a look at films and series that have highlighted the sensitive issue. Rani Mukerji’s debut movie Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat(1996), directed by Ashok Gaikwad, highlighted the social judgement to marry a victim to the rapist. Another film, Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence, starring Raveena Tandon, came out in 2001 and won her the National Award for Best Actress. Directed by Kalpana Lajmi, the film revolved around Durga Saikia (Raveena), who faces marital rape and violence at the hands of her husband (played by Sayaji Shinde). She escapes the horrors of her marriage with her child, but is brought back. Ultimately, she takes the matter into her hands and kills her husband. Priyanka Chopra’s 7 Khoon Maaf, a drama based on Susanna’s Seven Husbands by Ruskin Bond and directed by Vishal Bharadwaj, also involves a murder. Her third husband, played by Irrfan Khan, rapes her after marriage and she ends up killing him. ■ ■ ■ Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Nikitin Dheer and his wife Kratika Sengar have been blessed with a baby girl. The new parents welcomed their first child together on Thursday (May 12). As soon as the news broke, congratulatory wishes started pouring on social media. TMS Daman: A Victim of Marital Violence B-town calling As the Delhi High Court gives a split verdict on marital rape, we bring films and series that have highlighted the sensitive issue Bawandar (2000), which was based on the gang rape victim Bhanwari Devi’s struggle for justice. Nushrratt Bharucha also played a marital rape victim in 2013 film Akaash Vani. RECENT OFFERINGS The second installment of Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors, released in 2020, is an attempt to garner attention towards this issue. As Kriti Kulhari turns from a marital rape victim to a survivor, the drama moves to the courtroom and reflects the position of women in our social system. The idea of a perfect family is also questioned, as what meets the eye cannot always be the reality. TAKE A STAND seen a mature way, so ❝ I haven’t reallyseries marital rape being highlighted injudgment, it’s half a can’t refer to any or movie. On Delhi High Court’s win with one judge agreeing that marital rape is a crime. But it’s shocking to see the narrative that criminalising marital rape is a threat to marriage. One has to consider the seriousness of the issue. Men are scared that it will be used against them. But, I find that argument futile. Going by that, we should have no laws at all because so often someone uses the law in a wrong way. The law must stand against marital rape.❞ MADHUREETA ANAND, DIRECTOR FEMALE SUPPORT TRUE STORY Please Arrest Me, a documentary and more of a case study, won accolades at international festival. A campaign by RIT foundation, the six-minute-fortysecond video content shows how a man walks to a police station in Delhi to own up his crime of marital rape and is yet not arrested. Soon after the campaign, the foundation that made the documentary claimed women in India had started sharing their own stories privately with them. Official selection at Delhi Short Film Festival 2019, and Inter- national Film festival of Valencia, it won the Best Documentary award in One Screen Short Film Festival 2019. It is also ranked #16 for world’s most creatively awarded campaign in 2021 by World Advertising Research Centre. Provoked, a 2007 drama based on the life of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, also involves a wife who is forced to kill her abusive husband. Jagmohan Mundhra, an Indian-American, before directing Provoked had come out with films like Kamla (1984), based on flesh trade, and Women directors, like Alankrita Shrivastava and Leena Yadav, have taken upon themselves to capture this delicate subject in a brilliant manner. In Parched by Leena and Lipstick Under My Burkha by Alankrita, the directors have interwoven marital rape with other parallel female narratives, making it an allfemale multi-starrer cast. Konkona Sen Sharma’s character as Shireen Aslam portrays the horrors of an affectionless marriage. It doesn’t end at sexual abuse, but she is denied contraceptives and forced to undergo multiple abortions. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Parched Web war Disney+ adds 7.9 mn subscribers, as Netflix bleeds As Netflix loses paid subscribers amid slow growth, the Walt Disney Company has announced an increase of 7.9 million subscribers for Disney+, taking the total to 137.9 million, in the January-March period. Bob Chapek, CEO of The Walt Disney Company said the company is on track to reach 230 to 260 million subscribers by fiscal 2024. “Adding 7.9 million Disney+ subscribers in the quarter and total subscriptions across all our DTC offerings exceeding 205 million once again proved that we are in a league of our own,” Chapek said in a statement late on Wednesday. Across all of Disney’s streaming services (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+), total subscriptions exceeded 205 million. Hulu contributed 45.6 million subscriptions this quarter and ESPN+ added 1 million to reach 22.3 million subscribers. — IANS ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Lipstick Under My Burkha Provoked Akaash Vani ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ‘Bored of the monotony’ Actress Shilpa Shetty takes a break from social media Shilpa Shetty, who has always been quite active on social media, has taken a break from it. The actress enjoys a huge fan base and used to post inspirational videos on yoga, fitness, family as well as her day-to-day activities. On May 12, Shilpa took to both Instagram and Twitter to announce that she was taking a break from social media as she was ‘bored of the monotony’. Shilpa posted an all-black photo and wrote, “So bored of the monotony, everything looking the same… Going off social media till I find a new avatar.” — TMS Dark secrets Know Sanjay Dutt’s mantra of success Selma Blair talks about how alcohol was her ‘coping mechanism’ to survive childhood Actress Selma Blair is not shy of sharing her past with the world. While promoting her new book Mean Baby, the Hellboy actress opened up about finding comfort in alcohol from a very young age, spilling details how it became her ‘coping mechanism’ to survive a horrifying childhood. Speaking about her early years of drinking, the Legally Blonde actress admitted: “I don’t know if I would’ve survived childhood without alcohol. That’s why it’s such a problem for a lot of people. It really is a huge comfort, a huge relief in the beginning. Maybe even the first few years for me because I did start really young with that as a comfort, as my coping mechanism.” She recalled further, in the book that after her first sip of alcohol, she was hooked. Tough times Drinking aside, the actress additionally wrote about a traumatizing experience that happened during her college spring break trip. She divulged that she was raped “multiple times” after binge-drinking, but was unable to defend herself. “I have been raped, multiple times, because I was too drunk to say the words please. Stop.” Selma declared that other than her therapist, she had actually never told a soul about the rape incident. Yet, the actress felt it was important to talk about it in her memoir as it was a way to heal her trauma. The actress, who has been sober since 2016, dedicated Mean Baby to others who went through similar experience. “I wrote the book for my son and for people trying to find the deepest hole to crawl into until the pain passes,” she concluded. — IANS c m y b …Nobody cares about your story till you win, so win Sanjay Dutt, who is known for his charisma, has yet again impressed with his performance in KGF: Chapter 2. The actor’s ‘never give up’ attitude was seen when he was shooting for the blockbuster and he nailed the villainous character of Adheera with his stellar performance. The actor has now taken to his social media handle and shared a picture, where he is working out in the gym. He wrote: “Nobody cares about your story till you win, so win!” Meanwhile, Sanjay Dutt has some exciting projects coming up, such as the period drama Shamshera (with Ranbir Kapoor), Ghudchadi (with Raveena Tandon) and Prithiviraj, where he plays the blind uncle of Prithviraj Chauhan. — IANS Dhoni to produce a Tamil movie Former Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni is now venturing into film production, sources in the Tamil film industry said. Dhoni is set to produce a film with Nayanthara in the lead. Dhoni has already roped-in Sanjay, one of the closest aides of megastar Rajinikanth. Nayanthara’s would-be husband and director Vignesh Sivan is an ardent fan of Dhoni, and the possibility of the former Indian captain playing a cameo in the movie is not ruled out. The movie M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story was a superhit and did extremely well in Tamil Nadu, as Dhoni is a hit among the Tamil fans ever since he has been leading the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. — IANS Daddy darling Masaba Gupta shares glimpse of father Viv Richards’ 70th birthday celebration Fashion designer and actress Masaba Gupta took to Instagram on Wednesday (May 11) and shared a glimpse of her father Vivian Richards’ 70th birthday celebration. She posted some pictures and wrote that she rang-in her dad’s birthday in Antigua, Caribbean. Viv Richards turned 70 in March, but Masaba shared the pictures after two months. She captioned the post, “To celebrate dad’s 70th birthday in Antigua – a golf tournament (where he is happiest after the cricket field) for charity to raise money for healthcare workers in the region, who have worked tirelessly through the pandemic.” — TMS