27052022-LSTC-01.qxd 5/26/2022 11:19 PM Page 1 c m y b TRIBUNE Not true Life PHOTO: PTI Supermodel Kate Moss appeared at Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s $100 million defamation lawsuit via video link to deny rumours that her exboyfriend had pushed her down the stairs. —IANS CHANDIGARH | FRIDAY | 27 MAY 2022 Creativity redefined Mona Deepika Padukone looks like a queen in an elaborate gown Drama in her sleeves Deepika Padukone is at it again! On Wednesday, the actress made her yet another red carpet appearance at Cannes as she attended the premiere of the film Elvis. Deepika wore a dramatic gown and made heads turn. She exuded Game of Thrones vibes in the Louis Vuitton gown. Deepika shared photos of herself on Instagram rocking the black and golden gown with massive sleeves. The actress wore minimal jewellery. Her makeup was on point. Ranveer Singh, who never misses a chance to shower his wife with compliments, called her a ‘Queen’. Worth the wait! “S UCCESS is always under construction,” says writerdirector Farhad Samji, ecstatic at the positive response that Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is getting. The Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani-starrer has surely broken the pandemic-induced slumber and brought footfall back to cinemas. Having done some 45 films as a writer, many of them South Indian remakes, Farhad doesn’t see anything wrong in taking a hit story, embellishing it a little and presenting it with a fresh perspective. “Every director has their own vision as how to present a particular story. Rohit Shetty’s treatment of Singham (remake of Tamil film Singam) and Simmba (a remake of the 2015 Telugu film Temper) is very different,” says Farhad, who has written 12 films in about 12 years with Rohit Shetty. Starting as a lyricist, one half of the duo Sajid-Farhad, he took to writing films, and eventually directing films, which includes films like Entertainment and Housefull 3. Currently busy with Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali, Farhad insists whether a new story or an old hit, the challenge today is to hold the audience from scene to scene. “From five-day test match to oneday cricket to 20:20, we have seen the attention span go Remake is not a simple cut and paste job, taking a good story, and then embellishing it further is as challenging a task as writing a fresh story, says writerdirector Farhad Samji down in cricket. Similarly, in the world of entertainment we have seen from movie experience in cinema move to OTT with a remote in hand to 10 seconds Insta and TikTok videos. It becomes a challenge to keep the audience engaged in a two-and-half hour film.” Happy that his new story, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, is winning hearts, he asserts that old or new, to make something click, it has to be in tune with the times. “I wrote Judwaa 2, 20 years on, and film touched Rs 200 crore-mark in little more than two weeks. Many of the audience hadn’t even seen Judwaa.” However, in the times of OTT when the dubbed ver- sions of South Indian films are not just available, but also seen widely by the audience across the country, does it become more challenging? “Not really. The basic idea is to take a good story, add more characters, and scenes to make it more entertaining,” says the writer-director who added the character of Sonali Kulkarni in Singham, and changed the second half of Simmba. “The scene with angry women beating the rapists was the highlight of Simbaa.” A remake is not a simple cut and paste job, he insists. “Taking a good story, and then embellishing it further is as challenging a task as writing a fresh story. And, what’s wrong in doing that?” he asks. About 45 films to his credit, 20 of them crossing the 100 crore mark, he is happy that Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is also inching towards the prestigious club. Deriving inspiration from late Kader Khan, and his writing, it was the characterisation in his lyrics that made him jump to screen writing. “Listening to my songs like Munna Bhai title track that goes M Bole To Master Main Master/ B Bole To Bindaas Doctor/ B Bole To Be-Misaal Actor/ S Bole To S Bole To Shana Character, someone suggested that since I can weave a character so well within a song, I could write films,” says Farhad. Over three decades in industry, he hasn’t stopped even briefly. “I write every single day, day after day.” Happy to work with Bollywood giants like Rajkumar Hirani to Rohit Shetty he is also working with the top makers from South India as well. “Every day is a learning experience. I write every day, I learn every day.” However, despite all the success and recognition, Farhad has stayed grounded. “I am no more talented than the rest. There is no dearth of talented folks in our industry. “Yeh to uparwale ki timing hai ki maine itni hit filmen ki. And, it’s just the beginning, looking forward to many many more,” he signs off. ‘Dhanush is unique’ Joe Russo says he and his co-directing partnerbrother Anthony Russo are big fans of Indian actor Dhanush, who plays “one of the top assassins of the world” in their upcoming film The Gray Man. The filmmaker says the role is specifically written for the Indian star. The director also shared that there is a possibility that the actor will feature in the films of the potential franchise. Joe said on Twitter space session hours before the launch of the trailer: “Anthony and I are big Dhanush fans. We wrote this role specifically for him. He’s a sort of classic bada** character, who shows up to combat the hero and complicate the film. He’s a fun character. He’s unique.” “Dhanush has a great presence on camera and the character is almost mystical in a way. The intention is if audiences like this film, we expand out the storytelling from here, and this is a fascinating character to move forward in that world.” Details related to Dhanush’s character are still under wraps. The film also stars Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Rege-Jean Page, Jessica Henwick, Billy Bob Thornton and Wagner Moura.—IANS PHOTO: REUTERS MOVIE REVIEW It took years to find the right script for Tom Cruise to say yes to the sequel & now we know why Sheetal Never say never! So, thank god for director Joseph Kosinski, who convinced Tom Cruise for the Top Gun’ s sequel for it has ripped off the bandage. The pain would be real if we don’t get to see more of that air combat, and aerobatics in movies to come. It took years to flesh out the right script for Tom Cruise to say yes to the Director: Joseph Kosinski sequel and now we know Cast: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, why. The film is rooted in Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, emotion. Watch the previous Bashir Salahuddin, Jon one to interpret the silence Hamm, Charles Parnell, and ‘that look’ of Tom as he Monica Barbaro, Lewis embodies ‘Maverick’ at the Pullman, Danny Ramirez, Glen age of 59. Joseph has underPowell and Greg Tarzan Davis. stood what it is like to see a Rating: ★★★ capable officer age and transfer the responsibilities onto someone else’s shoulders. The piece of advice from old Val Kilmer as Iceman to Maverick— It’s time to let go— hits harder than it should. Just when you believe that he would let go, come the twists and turns one after the other taking you on a roller-coaster ride. For spoiler alert, it doesn’t end when you think it does. As for the other characters, Miles Teller as Goose’s son Rooster adds to the nostalgia quotient. And 36 years after, the Goose and Maverick song, Great Balls of Fire, has still got it. It won’t be wrong to say, the film shook our brain and rattled our nerves, ‘Goodness gracious, great balls of fire’. And when it comes to the younger Top Guns, who are apparently trained by the best, Maverick, the tension between Goose and Hangman, played by Glen Powell, is another call-back from the original. Only Glen is a mix of cold and bratty young Iceman and young Maverick, known for leaving the team in a limbo since he works better when alone. Just like Hangman and Maverick, the call signs of others too are self explanatory when it comes to their characters or should we say their flying pattern? The romance between Maverick and his old flame Penny Benjamin, played by Jennifer Connelly, is subtle, yet surreal. At no point it comes off as imposed on the script. The last 10 minutes will make you hang on the edge of your seat. The air combat, in technical terms ‘the dogfight’, is too real even in 2D. And for those who thought the first instalment of the franchise was prowar, then let us assure you it’s an out and out entertainer. Here the villains have no face nor the power to stop our unarmed heroes from stealing a plane from the enemy territory. If you still can’t make up your mind whether to watch it or not, follow Maverick’s orders, ‘Don’t think, just do it!’ Top Gun: Maverick Long live the King! Actor Austin Butler-starrer Elvis by Baz Luhrmann received the longest standing ovation so far at the Cannes Film Festival during its premiere. The film received an uproarious 12-minute standing ovation, the longest of this year’s festival so far. As the cheers went on and on, a tearyeyed Butler hugged an equally-emotional Priscilla Presley, who flew to the South of France to give her blessing for the movie about her late husband. The Warner Bros. musical drama had Cannes spontaneously erupting into applause as Butler recreated some of Presley’s greatest hits, including Jailhouse Rock, Blue Suede Shoes and Suspicious Minds. Elvis is one of the biggest titles to screen at Cannes.—IANS Elvis star Austin Butler thrusts hips at Cannes, gets 12-minute standing ovation B-town blings & how! Karan Johar’s birthday bash steals the Cannes limelight Extravaganza in Karan Johar’s life goes without saying and on May 25, the filmmaker had all the reasons to paint the tinsel town in his glittery colours as he celebrated his 50th birthday. Karan hosted a grand birthday bash at Yash Raj Studios in Mumbai. For his big day, KJo wore a shimmery green tux over a white shirt and black pants. He rounded off his look with oversized sunglasses. The bash had almost entire Bollywood come together under the same roof. From youngsters like Ananya Panday, Janhvi Kapoor, Shanaya Kapoor, Clockwise from top: Vicky Kaushal & Katrina Kaif, Kiara Advani & Varun Dhawan, Kiran Rao & Aamir Khan, Aishwarya & Abhishek Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan & Kareena Kapoor Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Malaika Arora and Karan Johar & Rani Mukerji c m y b Sara Ali Khan and others, to the 90’s gang of Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Madhuri Dixit, Raveena Tandon, Kajol, Juhi Chawla, Sonali Bendre and others, graced the occasion with their presence. Couples who walked the red carpet hand-in-hand included Vicky Kaushal & Katrina Kaif, Abhishek Bachchan & Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana &Tahira Kashyap, Shahid Kapoor & Mira Rajput, Saif Ali Khan & Kareen Kapoor Khan and Riteish Deshmukh & Genelia D’Souza, among others. Aamir Khan attended the event with ex-wife Kiran Rao, while Hrithik Roshan was seen with girlfriend Saba Azad. Kiara Advani made a stylish entry with Varun Dhawan. Ranbir Kapoor looked dapper in his retro styled ensemble as he posed with mother Neetu Kapoor. Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, Sidharth Malhotra, Kriti Sanon, Anushka Sharma, Malaika Arora, Parineeti Chopra, Vaani Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Tabu, Gauri Khan, Tiger Shroff, Shweta Bachchan were also seen at the bash. South actor Vijay Devarakonda and Rashmika Mandanna were also a part of this grand celebration!