22012023-LSTL-01.qxd 1/22/2023 12:02 AM Page 1 c m y b SOON, SEQUEL OF LAAL RANG Seven years have passed since Laal Rang’s release and now Randeep Hooda will be back as Shankar as the actor has announced its sequel. Laal Rang 2 marks the foray of the versatile actor as a producer along with Panchali Chakraverty and Yogesh Rahar. TMS TRIBUNE First take Life KANGANA RANAUT MORTGAGED HER PROPERTIES WHILE MAKING EMERGENCY Raveena Tandon’s 17-year-old daughter Rasha Thadani will be making her Bollywood debut in an actionadventure movie opposite Aaman Devgan, nephew of superstar Ajay Devgn. TMS LUDHIANA | SUNDAY | 22 JANUARY 2023 ‘It’s about them, not us’ He says, “If you are the only one in the room shouting for change, you are kind of lonely. At some point I became disheartened.” But with the arrival of OTT platforms, he anticipates a more democratic process of casting. Will the change rub on to Indian cinema or Bollywood? Well, he does not see a Delhi Crime or Trial by Fire happening in cinema. Nonika Singh I N the Netflix series Trial by Fire, they moved us to tears. As the biting and realistic series on Uphaar fire tragedy continues to capture the imagination of the viewers, trending among top 10 on Netflix, its lead actors Abhay Deol and Rajshri Deshpande have every reason to smile. FUTURE COURSE Abhay Deol and Rajshri Deshpande, who have aced the parts of real Krishnamoorthys in Trial by Fire, insist portraying the truth is a greater responsibilityas you don’t want to exploit it Shocking In fact, Abhay could sense the series’ success during its making alone. As he says, “I have been in the industry long enough to tell by the script. And here I could see the writing was right, director Prashant Nair knew what he wanted and when he cast Rajshri I knew everything was falling in place.” Add to it the fact that more recently people are taking to biopics and Abhay saw no reason why Trial by Fire, rooted in reality sans melodrama and a hard take on issues, would not hit the bull’s eye. Rajshri may not have fully understood the algorithm, the maths of movie-making but was happy as long as, “I was working with sensible and sensitive people who understand their craft.” Playing a real life character is a challenge. As Abhay puts it, “There is greater responsibility, when you are portraying the truth. You don’t want to exploit it since it’s not about you but them.” While not making the real Krishnamoorthys meet the reel revelation Actress Kangana Ranaut has wrapped up the acting schedule for Emergency. In a post on social media, she hinted about enemies who worked over time to stop her from making the film, and shared that she had to mortgage her properties while making it. Taking to Instagram, Kangana shared a string of BTS pictures from the sets of the film and shared a long note about her experience working on Emergency. The actress mentioned: “As I wrap Emergency as an actor today, a tremendously glorious phase of my life comes to its full completion... It may seem I sailed through it comfortably but the truth is far from it. From mortgaging all my properties, every single thing that I owned to being diagnosed with dengue during the first schedule and having to film it despite alarmingly low blood cell count, my character as an individual has been severely tested.” She added: “At the same time I want to share with you all that if you believe just working hard for your dreams or for what you want is enough, think again because that’s not true...You must work hard that’s given, even if you are worthy you will be tested beyond your limits and you mustn’t break. Hold on to yourself till you can ... You are fortunate if life spares you but you are blessed if it doesn’t.... If you break and shatter into pieces...Celebrate... Because it’s time for you to reborn...It’s a rebirth for me and I feel alive like never before...Thanks to my team...” The actress will be seen playing former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Emergency. The film, directed by Kangana, also stars Anupam Kher, Mahima Chaudhry, Vishak Nair, Satish Kaushik, Milind Soman and Shreyas Talpade. Kangana also has Sarwesh Mewara’s Tejas lined up, where she will be seen portraying the role of an Indian Air Force pilot. Her film The Incarnation: Sita is in the pipeline. — IANS couple was a I was a rebel directorial deciRAJSHRI DESHPANDE and rebellion got me Abhay sion and only is only Prashant can this far in the industry. glad. “Praise is always answer why But today you see a welcome and it’s always he chose to much better and calmer good to hear so especialdo so. ly from someone so estabStill Abhay version of me lished as him.” shares his ABHAY DEOL From popcorn entertaindirector’s logic, ment to its changing land“He just wanted us scape, Abhay, certainly the more to play a regular middle class family. It was not about prosthet- vocal of the two, has much to say. “I ics or accent, only acting. But he want- have never believed that our audied us to get the dynamics between the ence is only looking for escape. couple right.” After the show when Besides, I knew with technology they met Shekhar and Neelam Krish- changing we will soon have an audinamoorthy, they could see how ence exposed to international shows, and variety of thought and Prashant was spot on. will demand the same.” Indeed, WORD OF PRAISE Abhay has been part of content drivAs praise is flowing from all quarters, en cinema (Dev D, Shanghai) from including movie magnate Karan the word go. So why has it taken TriJohar calling the series, ‘a master- al by Fire for him to profess, “I am class in narrative and portrayals’, no longer an outcast.” ‘I just can’t do it’ Emilia Clarke on not watching House of the Dragon Emilia Clarke is not one of the tens of millions of viewers of HBO’s House of the Dragon. Why? “I just can’t do it. It’s so weird. It’s so strange.” Her breakthrough performance as Daenerys Targaryen on HBO’s Game of Thrones, in which she appeared for all eight seasons, helped Clarke become a household name. The prequel series House of the Dragon traces Daenerys’ ancestors, which for Clarke made the Lovely gift! Tahira Kashyap and Guneet Monga, who have earlier collaborated on a short film Pinni, which is a part of ‘Zindagi Inshorts’ on Netflix, have now announced their second film together. The film shall be produced under Guneet’s banner Sikhya Entertainment. Marking her fabulous 40th birthday (JanGUNEET MONGA uary 21), Tahira made this announcement: “Guneet is an incredible collaborator, a maverick in making special stories seen. I have immense respect for her in the way she trusts a director’s vision and lets the story fly. I Though I did watch Neelam’s interviews, I read the book Trial by Fire only after we wrapped up the series. In future there could be a solid demarcation line between OTT and theatrical releases or maybe not, but he insists, “Superstars are not going anywhere. And why should they, it’s such a cultural phenomenon.” Indeed, and lest we forget Abhay too is a star. Only with no starry tantrums, so vouches his co-star Rajshri. Precisely why she was at ease, not a wee bit awed or intimidated by his star status for he never threw his weight around. Abhay laughs and pipes in, “That is because Netflix didn’t have the budget for my entourage.” Jokes apart, Rajshree shares, “On the sets, he was Shekhar for me.” On the possible competiveness or rivalry between the actors playing equally powerful roles, Abhay’s line of defence is the eternal classic, “What I can bring to the table others can’t and vice versa. Healthy competition might be good, but I don’t like competing at all.” Rajshri believes, “We all are in an equal space.” Of course, the actor of Sacred Games, Manto, Angry Indian Goddesses and S Durga right now is in more than an equal space. Headlining a series…Is this her moment? And easily the more diffident of the two, she states, “I am very critical of my own work but I am content.” Trial by Fire…so what kind of a trial was it for actors? While it’s only human to be affected by something tragic and dramatic, working in the series has been anything but a trial. Rather, both are grateful for the opportunity that has come their way. And film aficionados equally beholden for their ace acts, making the series a must watch. Tahira Kashyap in a new film collaboration with Guneet Monga TAHIRA KASHYAP had the most beautiful experience while working on our short film. Our energies were so synced and I am elated that the vision we had is now becoming a reality, and we are coming together with a film that we both truly believe in.” Guneet Monga added, “Tahira is a really good writer with a deep understanding of human relationships. She is able to convey these intimate connections through her nuanced writing. As a production house, we were drawn to Pinni (short film) because of the subtext alongside a truly empowering story. Her view of this world and her understanding cuts across classes. Tahira’s approach and sensitivity is what I truly find fascinating. We are looking forward to collaborating with Tahira as a writer and director on her next feature, and we hope this is the start of many more features together.” show far too personal. “No! Can you forgive me?” Clarke said when asked about watching House of the Dragon. It’s too weird. I’m so happy it’s happening. I’m over the moon about all the awards... I just can’t do it. It’s so weird. It’s so strange. It’s kind of like someone saying, ‘You want to go to this school reunion that’s not your year? Want to go to that school reunion?’ That’s how it feels. I’m avoiding it.” Richie rich Sushmita Sen gets herself a car worth ~1.92 crore Actress and former beauty queen Sushmita Sen has gifted herself a luxury car worth a whopping Rs 1.92 crore. Taking to Instagram on Saturday, Sushmita shared a glimpse of her car. In the clip shared on the photo-sharing website, Sushmita unveiled the vehicle. She captioned the clip: “And the woman who loves to drive...Gifts herself this powerful beauty. Thank you @pardesiinderjit@mercedesbenzind @autohangar@theretreatmumbai for making this such a memorable moment! I love you guys! #duggadugga.” — IANS c m y b Clarke received nominations for three Critics’ Choice Awards and four Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Daenerys. In a similar vein, House of the Dragon has emerged as a frontrunner for accolades, most recently receiving a Golden Globe award for best drama. The premiere of the prequel series attracted the biggest audience in HBO history with 9.9 million people on the first night. — ANI What a bouquet! Singer Miley Cyrus’ Flowers has broken Spotify’s all-time one-week record with 100 million streams in a single week. The service announced Friday morning that, as of Thursday, Flowers had become the moststreamed song in a seven-day period in Spotify history. As of Friday morning, the latest update for Cyrus’ Flowers streams on the site showed that it had raked up 101,838,799 streams since coming out late in the day on January 12. On Thursday, it reached the 100 million point, faster than any other song ever has to date on Spotify. The giant results for Flowers on Spotify bode extremely well for the odds of ‘Flowers’ coming out on top of the Billboard Hot 100 when that chart’s top 10 is announced on Monday. — IANS Mary Kom inspires Anupam Kher Mary Kom unveiled the poster of upcoming film Shiv Shastri Balboa at an event in Mumbai recently. The film is an inspirational story of a common man with uncommon adventures. It stars Anupam Kher, Neena Gupta, Jugal Hansraj, Nargis Fakhri and Sharib Hashmi, amongst others. Anupam Kher and Mary Kom, both ardent admirers of each other, spoke of acting and boxing at the event. Mary taught Anupam a few moves that he religiously learnt and even sparred with Mary Kom in a mock match with a friendly ring! Said Anupam Kher, “I wanted the poster to be released by a national icon associated with sport, especially boxing. Mary Kom is so real and so warmhearted. She was generous with her praise. She is the pride of India. I always admired Mary Kom, but I am simply overwhelmed by her humility today.” — TMS …spars with him at Shiv Shastri Balboa poster launch