23062022-LSTC-01.qxd 6/22/2022 11:04 PM Page 1 c m y b TRIBUNE Injury scare Life Kannada actor Diganth Manchale was injured during a vacation in Goa. The 37-year-old actor suffered injuries to his spinal cord while attempting a backflip. He was airlifted to a hospital in Bengaluru. TMS CHANDIGARH | THURSDAY | 23 JUNE 2022 Living with pride Sheetal “If Harry Potter taught us anything, it’s that no one should live in a closet” –JK Rowling S A song to remember Diljit Dosanjh pays emotional tribute to Moosewala during live concert Singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh dedicated his concert in Vancouver to late Punjabi singer Siddhu Moosewala with music and words. Diljit shared a clip from the concert on Instagram, where he performed a special segment for Moosewala. A text on the back screen of the stage read: “This show is dedicated to our brothers”. He then started singing, he dedicated the song to the late rapper. The lyrics were: “Moosewala naam dilan ute likheya, bhai khasa jor lag ju mituan vaaste” (Moosewala’s name has been written on heart, and it would not be easy to erase).” A sea of people were seen cheering for Diljit as he mentioned Moosewala’s name. He captioned the video: “One Love.” Moosewala was brutally murdered in broad daylight on May 29. — IANS Short movie on Moosewala Fans have been paying tributes to Sidhu Moosewala ever since his cold-bloodied murder and one such fan is Jhalli Anjali-fame Aditya Aggarwal. The actor has now decided to make a short movie on the legendary singer’s life and journey. Aditya says, “I have been a great fan of Sidhu sir. His journey has always inspired me a lot and it gives me motivation to work harder towards achieving my goals. I always wanted to meet, him but God had some other plans for him. I know he’s in a much better place now.” He adds, “Auditions for the short movie have already started. We will produce it soon. It will just be a small tribute from my side to a legend.” — TMS Covert lanes Director Hansal Mehta is back with an untold story of R&AW Bringing out the master sleuths and their untold heroics, SonyLIV is set to stream an exclusive series helmed by Hansal Mehta. It is based on RK Yadav’s book Mission R&AW. The series will trace the journey and exploits of Rameshwar Nath Kao, the first Chief of R&AW, in the wake of escalating turmoil with the country’s neighbours. It will also showcase covert intelligence operations and how several of these strategies have shaped the geopolitics of our region. Hansal Mehta says, “As a storyteller, my endeavour has always been to bring alive stories, and explore ordinary people and their extraordinary actions. These are the men who have cemented our political and military history. Rameshwar Nath Kao was known to be a genius, about whom very little is known.” —TMS O, we celebrate the coming-out stories of LGBTQIA+ members in June—called the Pride month. We talk to LGBTQIA+ members from different walks of life as well as artistes from the film industry to know their opinion on whether Indian films and series made in the past few years are giving the right representation to the community. They also share whether the Indian content is furthering the cause of LGBT community as compared with that abroad. With open arms WINDS OF CHANGE June is dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ community as Pride month. Here’s a look at whether they have been given adequate representation on screen If Bollywood has taken LGBTQIA+ community's representation seriously with films like Badhaai Do, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui and Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, OTT has time and again normalised these characters through web series, as the characters are well etched over the INTIMACY numerous seasons and episodes. Made In Heaven, Sex Education, Riverdale and the latest being Spanish series Intimidad, known world over as Intimacy, are all series that have normalised the terminologies of LGBTQIA+ community. These have also given an honest representation to people and their sexual preferences, rather than treating it as a trivial detail in the script. Intimacy, a thought-provoking series, has brought in a fresh perspective where it throws light on what should be public and what private. It also talks about same-sex relationship in one of the lead character's story. After all, being gay or lesbian is a choice and it should not be anybody's business to accept or reject the fact. Another gay make-up artiste, Coco Ballucci, who hails from Kolkata, has found a second home in Punjab while working in Pollywood industry. “I have been accepted by the industry with open arms and never in my profession I was targeted or made fun for being gay,” beams Coco. Mozez talks about the evolution of gay, lesbian and transgender characters on screen, “I think Indian films and web series have become way more inclusive than ever before. There has definitely been a huge shift in LGBTQ representation and for the better. I feel we achieved this with my own show Human. In series like Made in Heaven and films like Badhaai Do the LGBTQ themes have been handled beautifully.” Competition in community City scape India’s first transgender model and actress, Nikkiey Chawla also thinks the representation of gay, lesbian and transgender characters has increased, “Rewinding back to 15 years, we have seen just Bobby Darling in films and she had got only funny characters to portray, which wasn’t representing us LGBTQ members in good light. But in last five years, lots of characters are representing our stories. Be it as a lead or supporting actors, but these are well written parts with in-depth study. A lot of roles have been offered to me and my brothers and sisters from the community, for film Kaalakaandi, web series Made in Heaven’s Season 2 and upcoming Netflix series Rana Naidu, which is a good sign for the community.” Tricity’s LGBT activist and transwoman, Dhananjay Chauhan shares, “By and large, I believe documentaries have been able to do more justice to LGBTQIA+ community. About actors portraying LGBTQIA+ characters, I believe it’s better to let real ones act on screen. While films like Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui were able to create a stir, others like Laxmii again pull us down, so it’s hard to comment. Also, I believe a lot of stuff has been made on gay, lesbians and transwoman but there is nothing on transman yet.” A docu-drama, Admitted, made on Dhananjay’s life, has won the award for Best Documentary Film in the Mumbai International Film Festival, 2022. MADE IN HEAVEN Pain beyond imagination Mature & real Mozez Singh, director of the series Human, talks about educating the masses on the meaning of ‘tolerance’. He shares, “Without practising tolerance the world will become a dark and bitter place. To tolerate each other, no matter what our sexual preferences are, to live and let live is the only way forward for humanity.” While he faces no challenges in the film industry because of being a LGBTQ member, Mirzapur actress Shweta Tripathi Sharma believes more than filmmakers bringing scripts with LGBTQIA+ characters, it has more to do with us as a society and as an audience. “The sooner we start to accept people for who they are and what they are, the sooner we start appreciating people and stories being made on them. One cannot imagine the pain of being born in a body which they don’t relate to.” BADHAAI DO SHUBH MANGAL ZYADA SAAVDHAN CHANDIGARH KARE AASHIQUI JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ CELEBRATES ‘PRIDE YOGA DAY’ Jacqueline Fernandez celebrated ‘International Yoga Day’ as ‘Pride Yoga Day’ on June 21. The actress was spotted at Mumbai’s R-City Mall where an event was put up by her NGO, YOLO Foundation. The ‘Pride Yoga Day’ was aimed at supporting the LGBTQIA+ community and promote their social inclusion, while raising awareness about the value of yoga, positivity and their overall holistic wellness. Hosted by comedian and writer Madhvendra Singh, the event began with a panel discussion. Jacqueline then conducted a Yoga session, followed by a stand-up act by Madhvendra Singh. After this, the floor was open for an open mic wherein members of the LGBTQIA+ community shared their life stories. Deepika meets Rami, Yasmine Shaking a leg Deepika Padukone attended an event in Spain on Tuesday (June 21). Yasmine Sabri and Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek were also a part of the event. A picture of the actress with them has gone viral. Deepika Padukone is seen dressed in an ivory white gown with layers of frill on it. The gown has a plunging neckline. She tied her hair in a bun and wore a diamond necklace. She stood next to Rami Malek, who wore a black suit and paired it with black shoes. Next to him stood Yasmine Sabri, who looked gorgeous in a red gown. Big B joins the Nach Punjaabban bandwagon Amitabh Bachchan stunned actors Varun Dhawan and Maniesh Paul as he joined the viral Nach Punjaabban trend on social media. Amitabh shared a picture on Instagram, where he is seen dressed in a purple track suit and a black sweatband. He is seen doing the hook step from the song, which is featured in the forthcoming film Jug Jugg Jeeyo. “Nach panjaban nach panjabnan nach panjaban nach,” he captioned it. Varun took to the comments’ section and wrote: “Sir (with several heart emojis).” — IANS YASMINE SABRI, RAMI MALEK AND DEEPIKA PADUKONE c m y b