23022023-LSTC-01.qxd 2/22/2023 11:59 PM Page 1 c m y b TRIBUNE Alia Bhatt tags Mumbai police as media outlet invades privacy In sync Shriya Saran is elated to have Chinni Prakash as a choreographer for the R. Chandru film, Underworld Ka Kabzaa. Shriya is a trained Kathak dancer. CHANDIGARH | THURSDAY | 23 FEBRUARY 2023 Just ahint of makkaari! Sheetal L PUNJAB ANGLE IFE has been hectic for Ranbir Kapoor. He has just wrapped the shoot of Animal and kick-started the promotions of his Holi release, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar. But when we catch up with the actor in City Beautiful, he is in the mood to answer all the questions, with just a hint of makkaari. Coming to Punjab and not saying a sentence in Punjabi? Not done! So Ranbir obliges, “Bahut changalaggeya. Chandigarh is one of my favourite cities in India.” In fact he was shooting for his next in Patiala. He adds, “Punjab always imparts a wholesome and warm feeling that no other place in India does. I would love to be offered a well-written Punjabi character in near future.” Ranbir Kapoor in Chandigarh to promote Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar is at his charming best, handling each question with wit and dropping a couple of googlies The paparazzi culture has often been called out by celebrities in the West as well as in the Indian film industry. On February 21, the new mommy of B-town, Alia Bhatt, took to her Instagram stories to call out a media outlet and their photographers who I was in my were trying to zoom in on house having a the actress from the terperfect afternoon race of another building. sitting in my living room Furious, at the breach when I felt ‘something’ of privacy, Alia tagged the Mumbai police in her watching me… post asking them to take the offender to the task. She wrote in her post, “Are you kidding me? I was at my house having a perfect normal afternoon sitting in my living room when I felt something watching me…I looked up and saw two men on the terrace of my neighbouring building with a camera right on me! In what world is this okay and allowed? This is a gross invasion of someone’s privacy! There’s a line you just cannot cross and it’s safe to say all lines were crossed today! @MumbaiPolice.” Shot in Dhaka, Shimla and Sri Lanka, The Night Manager boasts of a gripping story and superb cinematography CRIME thriller is the most celebrated genre on OTT and joining the bandwagon is The Night Manager. Based on the British series, The Night Manager, which is adapted from the book by the same name. The author, John le Carré, is famous for his espionage novels. The show-runner Sandeep Modi brings out a slick and spectacular outing that marks the OTT debut for Aditya Roy Kapur. The story follows his character Shaan Sengupta, a night manager at a posh hotel in Dhaka. While helping a guest in trouble, Shaan unwitting- NET, FLICKS & MORE Series: The Night Manager Director: Sandeep Modi, Priyanka Ghose Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sobhita Dhulipala, Tillotama Shome, Saswata Chatterjee Rating:  ly becomes a part of an expose that involves well respected and well connected shipping tycoon Shailendra Rungta (Anil Kapoor). The story moves from Dhaka to snow-clad Shimla and then to the scenic beaches of Sri Lanka. Unlike most spy thrillers, this one is a straight story sans convoluted twists and turns. First things first – it is a brilliantly shot series and the production value is super high. It paints a lush, luxurious world inhabited by beautiful, fit and pretty folks. The cinematography by Benjamin Jasper and Anik Ram Verma offers some brilliant shots of luxurious properties spread across the world. The story is engaging that you can enjoy at a comfortable pace. There is no mindless gore or chases here. Anil Kapoor is an actor worth his name. Over the decades, not only he has maintained his looks, his grasp on the character has stayed strong. A seeming humanitarian, who generously contributes to aid for humanitarian crises, just beneath the veneer, he is the deadly merchant of death. Aditya Roy Kapur offers a fine performance. His PAST FORWARD sonality is different from that of real life. “In this film too, I am a ‘break-up artist’, a person who helps two parties break up amicably. But what is being shown in the film is manipulation and is just for the sake of entertainment. Having said that, it doesn’t mean the genre is easy to perform. I find well-written and articulated characters like in Sanju or Rockstar are much easier to perform. It’s my sixth romcom and yet it’s different from the previous ones. But I think after this I should retire from playing the romantic hero.” Quite well-managed Mona While Ranbir received a Dadasaheb Phalke International Award for his film Brahmastra, the actor is happier for her wife, Alia Bhatt’s win for Gangubai Kathiawadi. “Awards always make you happy and encourage you to perform better but I feel that the honour for Brahmastra wasn’t that great as compared to Alia’s work in Gangubai Kathiawadi. I would love to play characters like the one she I want privacy in played in the film.” personal life. But I will Remembering his do anything on screen. younger self in relationMeine pehli hi film ships, Ranbir says he (Saawariya) mein towel gira used to be possessive diya tha. Uske aage abhi but with age and maturity, he has become underkya bacha hai." standing and secure. The Rockstar says the character he plays in Animal is the most challenging character that he has played yet. PHOTO: NITIN MITTAL ‘All lines were crossed’ Well, Ranbir plays a character which is smart and intelligent and cunningly so, he would have us believe that it’s just his onscreen character. In this film, Ranbir is paired opposite Shraddha Kapoor for the first time and the fans are going gaga about their on-screen chemistry. It also marks the comeback of Shraddha after three years, who was last seen in Baaghi 3 in 2020. Talking of Shraddha, Ranbir is all praise and calls it a privilege to be working with such a hardworking and talented actress. “I knew her from childhood and our families have been close friends, but it is only with this film that we got to work together. For films like these (romantic-comedy), where you have to search within your personality, it’s a constant battle with your co-star and yourself. Aur tum chahte ho ki saamne se co-star koi googly fenke and that’s how it enhances each-other’s performance.” Ranbir also rubbishes the followers who have been calling standup comedian Anubhav Singh Bassi the ‘sasta Ranbir Kapoor’. He says, “In fact, he is the original. I have watched his videos and he has been great in the film.” About his image of a Casanova, which stuck with him after his outing Bachna Ae Haseeno, the actor feels sometimes the audience forgets that on-screen per- DOTING HUSBAND brooding past, being rather coerced into a deadly mission, working towards the game with steadfastness get amply reflected in his demeanour. While Sobhita Dhulipala as Rungta’s girlfriend K aka Kaveri gets ample screen space to show her oomph but that restricts her outing to majorly swimming shots and bare-dare scenes, of course artistically executed. The real hero, however, is Tillotama Shome as RAW agent Lipika Saikia Rao. Raw and real, whether she is biting her sandwich or buying fish in Sri Lanka, she holds the story together as a devoted agent not ready to give up in the face of challenges. Saswata Chatterjee as Rungta’s key aide BJ looks menacing. His queer character gets a show, but then he is the only one interested in sleeping around rather than focusing on their dirty business. While the story keeps you interested, it’s only twice or thrice that it really sets your heart racing. With just four episodes out now, the last few minutes give a glance of what awaits – some steamy scenes, more schemes and war shots, due in June. The Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh that it begins with only offers a nominal setting, it doesn’t delve into refugee crisis. Still with incongruities in screenplay that are rather difficult to overlook, it reflects a real world where war is a lucrative business, the current Russia-Ukraine crisis a testimony of current times where arms lobby reigns supreme. Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. c m y b LUV ALL THE WAY The Animal actor shares how he had approached Luv Ranjan after watching Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2. He says, “I usually don’t approach a person for collaboration. But after watching his film, I had made up mind. Luv and I discussed couple of ideas and one of them we locked also but it didn’t go on the floors. I feel dialogues are the strongest part in this film or any of Luv’s movies for that matter. It has that musical rhythm and he likes to keep monologues where you can neither breathe nor blink.” And if he given a chance to go back and redo his works, it’s Rajneeti where he believes his performance was not up to the mark for the an well-etched character. He says, “The same way, I believe I had performed well in Bombay Velvet but the film was a flop, so I didn’t get the credit. It’s all part of the job and actors struggle just like others. In our family, if some were successful, then many had failed too.” Ranbir wants to direct a film. He has also completed one script. “I want to try out different things. Our family has been in the film industry for more than 90 years. So, things were handed down to us, but I have never taken it for granted.” Of national pride Despite representing Germany at this year’s Academy Awards for best international feature, All Quiet on the Western Front writer-director Edward Berger doesn’t feel national pride for the country. “I don’t feel that because of the history,” Berger says. “I could never say I’m proud to be German. Those words don’t fit into our mouths, and rightly so. I would have a hard time thinking I would represent the country because I can’t speak for the entire country.” — IANS Subi Suresh passes away Popular Malayalam actress, television host and stageshow performer, Subi Suresh died at a private hospital in Kochi on Wednesday, family sources said. She was 41 and was reportedly under treatment for liver related ailments for some time. Known for her slapstick roles and spontaneous on-stage dialogue delivery, Suresh had a huge fan-following. Beginning her career as a mimicry artiste in the Cochin Kalabhavan troupe years ago, she gradually created a niche for herself in the maledominated comedy shows on stage and in television.— PTI Helen Mirren compares former Israeli PM Golda Meir to Queen Elizabeth I International stage... Actor Ram Charan is going to be on an international stage again. The actor is the only Indian star to be presenting at the Hollywood Critics Awards, which is going to be held in Beverly Hills, California. The RRR star is part of the list which includes names like Joseph and Gordon-Levitt. Playing on ‘maternal’ instinct Hollywood star Helen Mirren likens playing Golda Meir to portraying Queen Elizabeth I. The Oscar-winning actress takes on the role of the former Israeli Prime Minister in Golda and compared the politician’s ‘maternal’ instinct to that of the Tudor monarch, who she played in the 2005 TV miniseries Elizabeth I. “(Golda) was extraordinarily brave and her commitment to Israel was total. It was a bit like playing Elizabeth the first of England, in the sense (of) her commitment to her country and to her nation,” Helen, 77, told The Hollywood Reporter at the Berlin International Film Festival. —IANS