23052023-LSTL-01.qxd 5/22/2023 10:49 PM Page 1 c m y b TRIBUNE ADITYA SINGH RAJPUT FOUND DEAD Actor and model Aditya Singh Rajput was found dead in the bathroom of his home ion Mumbai on Monday afternoon. The 32-year-old actor was seen in shows like Cambala Investigation Agency, Splitsvilla- 9, Love, Ashiqui, Code Red, among others. IANS Jennifer Lawrence made Bread and Rosesafter feeling ‘helpless’ for Afghan women FILE PHOTO Cannes Film Festival. Other notable films on his works are, The Rachel Papers (1989), Dead Babies (2000), London Fields (2018) and Out of Blue (2018). While Rachel Papers was about a computer nerd who developed a methodical approach to seduce the girls he is interested in, Out of Blue was murder mystery based on his novel, Night Train. London Fields, on the other hand, was a neo-noir film starring Billy Bob Thornton as Samson Young, a terminally ill writer who has suffered from writer's block. — TNS REUTERS THE CAST AND CREW OF THE ZONE OF INTEREST Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence and her producing partner Justine Ciarrocchi touched down at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday to promote their label’s first-ever documentary feature Bread and Roses, a harrowing and emotional look at the lives of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. After two decades of American occupation, the nation fell once again to the insurgent group, which moved quickly to strip women of basic rights — simple things like the ability to work, appear in public without a male chaperone and receive an education. “It all just collapsed in a matter of days,” Jennifer Lawrence said. In the infancy of building their production company Excellent Cadaver, Lawrence and Ciarrocchi pursued Afghan filmmaker Sahra Mani (A Thousand Girls Like Me) to help capture the stories of the suppressed women on the ground. The finished film, which was received with tears at its world premiere on the Croisette, largely comprises video filmed by its three subjects. Crews could not safely enter Afghanistan, nor could Mani, who had been abroad working when the Taliban took over the country. Real to reel REUTERS The Zone of Interest, a film inspired by late novelist Martin Amis’ novel, received rapturous ovation at Cannes 2023 MARTIN AMIS Actress Mouni Roy is all set to make her debut at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. She said, “I cannot wait to showcase my passion for cinema at the global platform.” IANS LUDHIANA | TUESDAY | 23 MAY 2023 Rich legacy Novelist and screenwriter, Martin Amis passed away in Florida on Friday. He was 73. Amis was battling oesophagal cancer. Born to a famous novelist, Sir Kingsley ‘Lucky Jim’ Amis took in his father’s footsteps and wrote his first novel, The Rachel Papers (1973), which won him Somerset Maugham Award the following year. He is best known for his novels Money (1984) and London Fields (1989), and for the memoir, Experience (2000). While his father won the Booker prize in 1986 for his novel The Old Devils, Amis was twice listed for the Booker but never won; first for Time’s Arrow in 1991 which also got shortlisted and later in 2003 for Yellow Dog. Many filmmakers/producers adapted his novels into films. In fact, film based on his novel The Zone of Interest by the same name was screened in Cannes Film Festival in 2023, a day before his death. The Jonathan Glazer film, a Holocaust drama, received a rapturous ovation at the Cannes calling JENNIFER LAWRENCE AND JUSTINE CIARROCCHI “The director was given footage from women using their cell phones, there was one trusted camera person that was used occasionally,” Lawrence said. Ciarrocchi recalled the high stress of protecting Mani and the subjects from retaliation. “Sahra had been out of Kabul for about a month by the time it fell, she was in France. The great news now is that all of our protagonists are safely out of Afghanistan. We wanted to make sure that these women were safe and that we were being thoughtful, while also trying to shape a film. That was a wild set of responsibilities for us, and a very new experience,” said Ciarrocchi. “It makes me think about when I was little, how much I hated going to school. We take for granted that education is a way out for these women. Our subject had all of that stripped away and can’t even go outside without a chaperone. It’s a right to have as a human, to have something to do every day and be productive in society,” she said. Bread and Roses is currently for sale out of the Cannes film market. Lawrence and her partner are hopeful that the film will receive worldwide distribution, warning that its themes are more relevant than one would suspect in places like America. “There is not much separating us from these other countries,” said Lawrence. — IANS ALI FAZAL Global stage Indian actor Ali Fazal’s next Hollywood project, Kandahar, is set to release on over 2,000 screens in the US. Ali said, “I am very excited with this development. A release that wide in the US alone is massive, and being an action spy thriller, there is a wide audience for the film. With a wide release coupled with a major weekend in the US, I’m hoping for this to be a banger. The film has all the elements to be a complete entertainer.” Kandahar, which stars international actors like Gerard Butler, Travis Fimmel and Navid Negahban, is set to be released on May 26 in the US and eventually across the globe. — IANS From the memory bank ‘It’s never a hindrance’ We were both punctilious and punctual, says Zeenat Aman on working with Amitabh Bachchan Vidyut Jammwal on bouts of self-doubt Veteran actress Zeenat Aman has reminisced about working with megastar Amitabh Bachchan and said part of the reason they made a good onscreen jodi is their shared work ethic. Zeenat took to Instagram, where she talked about working with Amitabh in the 1981 film Laawaris, which also stars Amjad Khan. The story revolves around an orphan who stumbles over reality in search for his parents. The film became known for its song Mere Angene Mein Tumhara Kya Kaam Hai. The veteran actress shared a still from the film and wrote: “Laawaris was released 42 years ago on this day on 22nd May 1981. An old school masala blockbuster, it’s the story of a man born from an illicit relationship, and includes themes of love, betrayal, murder and reconciliation. This still is from the song kab ke bichhde hue hum aaj. I had been visiting a friend in London, and flew directly to Kashmir to make it in time for this shoot. Director Prakash Mehra had been keeping unwell, but his Vidyut Jammwal has carved a niche for himself by performing death-defying stunts in films. However, he admits that he doubts himself sometimes. “But it is never a hindrance. Every time I start something, it starts with self-doubt, and then I still go ahead and attempt it,” he says. He adds, “My first thought is that I need to invest some time in it. It starts with self-doubt, but the moment you surpass it, it becomes easy.” Talking about when he felt he’d made it, he says, “It’s an ever-growing process. I think I am still supposed to find Vidyut Jammwal because there’s a lot of work going on to find the perfect being. So, I feel I am very far away from it yet very close.” Now that he is a producer too, he believes that one needs to be very responsible when taking on both roles. Vidyut says, “When both things are excellent team of assistants stepped up.” Zeenat talked about shooting a song over two-three days “in some of the most stunning locations” she has ever been to. “Jumpsuits were a rage back then, and this purple set was just fabulous (and the reason I chose this picture.)” Going down memory lane on working with Big B, she added: “Amit ji and I have had such a long working relationship, and I think part of the reason that we made a good onscreen jodi is our shared work ethic. We were both punctilious and punctual, which anyone in the industry will agree is not quite as common amongst actors. I only ever recall him being late to sets once in all those years, and boy is that a story to tell.” —IANS in your hands, I promise you the whole responsibility is on you. At that point, you just figure out what you need to do and who you want to work with.” — IANS Kangana Ranaut has won the Best Actress Award for her movie Thalaivii at Osaka Tamil International Film Festival in Japan. The actress took to Instagram and expressed her gratitude for the recognition and honour given to her. She wrote in a social media post, “Thank you for this honour...Thalaivii is indeed a piece of my heart... many thanks for this acknowledgment.” Thalaivii is a 2021 biographical drama film based on the life of actor-turnedpolitician Jayalalithaa (played by Kangana Top performance c m y b Word of praise Fearless producers are making all the difference, says Anurag Kashayap Anurag Kashyap, whose thriller Kennedy is set to premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, believes that the current upswing in independent cinema in the subcontinent is being fuelled by fearless young producers. “It is a new crop of producers who have made all the difference. They have made it possible for a stream of remarkable independent films to be made,” he said. Kashyap credited filmmakers such as Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta, Gurinder Chadha and Shekhar Kapur for paving the way. Kangana Ranaut bags Best Actress Award for Thalaivii at Osaka Tamil International Film Festival in Japan Ranaut), her relationship with the illustrious MG Ramachandran (played by Arvind Swami), and her turbulent ascent to power as the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Kangana gave her best for the film and put in a lot of effort to make the character look real. In fact, she gained 20 kilograms in just six months for her role. Kangana will next be seen as an Air Force pilot in Tejas and as former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi in her directorial project titled Emergency. — ANI “Without what they achieved, we would not even attempt what we are making,” he said. Kashyap added, “The best of Iranian cinema that we saw came out at the most difficult times. Every time I lose hope, I go and look at those films. If they can do it, why can’t we? I genuinely think the best of our creativity comes out in adversity. In Flames is so much more than a moody horror film. It talks about society, pulls out everything, and shows it barenaked. That hits you so hard in the gut.” — PTI