05022024-LSTC-01.qxd 2/4/2024 9:42 PM Page 1 c m y b TRIBUNE Nora Fatehi shares BTS video from the sets of her single, I’m Bossy Past tense Actress Tina Fey has revealed that she struggled with boys at school because she was a “nerd”. She said, “I was a total nerd. I was all big hair and turtle-neck sweaters.” LUDHIANA | MONDAY | 5 FEBRUARY 2024 Showing mirror to the world Nonika Singh N AYSAYERS might consider animation a kids' medium. But writer director Ishan Shukla whose film Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust won the NETPAC Award at International Film Festival at Rotterdam, dispels misconceptions associated with the fast evolving genre of animation. For one, his film was not part of the animation section, rather Rotterdam festival doesn't have any such classification. Hence, Schirkoa is and was seen as pure cinema and adjudged the best Asian feature film by a jury from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema. In fact, Schirkoa is a rather complex film which recreates what appears to be a futuristic dystopian ‘U can’t stop me’ We are being reduced to data and my film points at how fast we are losing humanity, says director Ishan Shukla, whose film Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust is creating a buzz in the festival circuit world. Ishan, however, views it as a mirror image of both the worlds we inhabit and we as a civilisation may be headed towards. Since his characters in the film wear bags and go by numbers, we wonder if they symbolise the death of individuality. He explains, “We are slowly being reduced to data. My film also points at how fast we are losing humanity.” Actress Nora Fatehi, who has come out with a single I’m Bossy, is unstoppable, going by her post on social media. Nora took to Instagram, where she shared a behind-the-scenes clip of her getting her hair and make-up done for the music video. It has her song playing in the background. For the caption, she wrote, “U can’t stop me.” The audio format for the track was dropped in December and the music video of the song dropped a week ago and features Nora, doing what she does best – energetic dance. The number has been choreographed by international choreographer Jojo Gomez, who has previously collaborated with the likes of Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, J Balvin and Backstreet Boys. On the acting front, Nora will be seen in Vidyut Jammwal-starrer Crakk - Jeethegaa Toh Jiyegaa! —IANS Nora Fatehi shares BTS video from the sets of her single, I'm Bossy Schirkoa, also a graphic novel, is a logical extension of what he would do in the backbenches of his classroom. For someone who has deft mastery over technology he writes with a pen on paper. “While writing you can imagine the impossible,” he says. The challenges of visualising what he has written come later and indeed there are quite a few. Funding is a major issue and often the gestation period runs into years. If his short film by the same name took four years in the making, the feature came about in five. His short film won many awards and did the entire festival circuit. After Rotterdam, Schirkoa will be screened Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers has let the cat out of the bag for former India captain Virat Kohli missing the first two Tests against England, by revealing that his onetime Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate and his wife actress Anushka Sharma are expecting their second child. “Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma (are) expecting their second child, so Virat Kohli is spending his time with his family,” AB De Villiers said PHOTOS: NITIN MITTAL Malayalam cinema star Dulquer Salmaan has announced his next film Lucky Baskhar, which celebrates 12 years of his journey in the film industry. The movie will be directed by Venky Atluri and backed by Sithara Entertainment in collaboration with Fortune Four Cinemas. Dulquer shared the first look and title of the film on X on Saturday. “Celebrating twelve years of my magical journey in Cinema, here’s presenting the first look of our very ambitious #LuckyBaskhar. #LuckyBaskharFirstLook. Story unfolds in Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil & Hindi at the theatres near you, soon!” the actor wrote in his post. Dulquer, son of Malayalam superstar Mammootty, made his debut with Second Show in 2012. He has since starred in films across Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi languages such as Ustad Hotel, O Kadhal Kanmani, Sita Ramam and Karwaan. The actor’s last big-screen release was the action drama King of Kotha. — PTI Ishan creates not one but two worlds, one of which is a free world. Ideally, he would like to dwell in one where there are no rules. But as a creator he can also see the cracks in both. In his assertion, of how unification becomes a ruse to impose uniformity, one can sense an echo of the current climate in the country. But he insists, “Schirkoa is not bound to a certain period. It’s not about India but world at large.” Incidentally, not just his film, his personal story too is interesting. He quit engineering during his third year as he saw no point in wasting time in acquiring a degree which would be “no more than a piece of paper”. Kohli-Anushka expecting second child Lucky day! Dulquer Salmaan announces new film, Lucky Baskhar I AM CREATING A PARALLEL WORLD, NOT PARALLEL COUNTRY. MY FILM IS ABOUT RISE AND FALL OF HUMANITY. at a film festival at Sweden. But then Schirkoa is a not a regular animation feature. Ishan has not only used actual actors (motion capture technology) in the film, as movies like James Cameron’s Avatar have done, but voices of who’s who of the entertainment industry. Shekhar Kapur, Anurag Kashyap, Piyush Mishra, Karan Johar and international names like Golshifteh Farahani; many bigwigs have lent their voices to the battery of characters. How did he manage to rope them all? It’s a long story. But the crux is that they all related to the idea. Support for animation too is forthcoming. Schirkoa for instance was supported by the NFDC and it was at its Film Bazaar that he found his French and German co-producers. No wonder, he is positive that the future of animation films is bright. In future, he is likely to make a movie that is not complete animation and might use it in parts. The subject that he has in his mind will have something to do with space. But as he has already proven with Schirkoa, rest assured it will not be a simple sci-fi. Simplistic might work for others, he looks at the world through absurdist lens for, "It simplifies core themes." And as he flips reality on its head and fantastical becomes the route for him, he takes viewers on a surreal journey with real and pressing concerns packed in. In Lies We Trust, goes the tagline of his film and he creates a beautiful one that is both visually compelling and intriguingly stimulating. Rhythm meets melody Sheetal On Saturday evening, happiness came in waves with musical notes written all over it as Alliance Française Chandigarh hosted an evening of Indian classical music by Mahendra Sharma (on tabla) and Manik Kohli (guitar) at its art gallery. The jugalbandi of tabla and notes of sitar coming from a Spanish guitar left the audience spellbound. The duet between the instruments started on a simple note but as the moment went by, it got complex, which Tabla player Mahendra Sharma and guitarist Manik Kohli weave magic with their jugalbandi engaged the audience on a higher level. The performance was supported by melodious singers in the audience as they recited Vande Mataram and Raghupati Ragahav in conclusion. Manik Kohli, a young lad from tricity, is the youngest Indian to have modified the Spanish guitar to play like sitar. He performed Raag Yaman along with jod, jhala and alaap followed by Raag Desh and ending the show Memorable moment Ruskin Bond extends best wishes to Jaideep Ahlawat for his film journey Imagine meeting the very mind behind all those wonderful storybooks that you read as a kid. Wouldn’t it feel surreal to finally meet the author of your favourite childhood books? Well, Jaideep Ahalwat felt the same when he met Ruskin Bond recently. Ahlawat had the pleasure of meeting the great author and he posted a picture with him. Jaideep also shared the photo of the beautiful message that Ruskin Bond signed for him on his personal copy of Collected Short Stories : Ruskin Bond. In his note, Ruskin bond wished him “Good wishes and good luck for all your future work in films and elsewhere”. — TNS c m y b with dhun on Raag Bhairavi. Accompanied by Mahendra Prasad Sharma on tabla, it was wonderful to see two generations bonding over creative endeavour. Prasad is a disciple of Pt Chhote Lal Mishra, who is a well-known tabla maestro of Banaras Gharana. As for Manik, he started training at the age of four with the blessing of his father Sanjeev Kohli, a renowned guitar player in tricity. in a video on his YouTube channel. Married on December 11, 2017, Virat and Anushka had their first child, daughter Vamika, on January 11, 2021. —IANS Tough competition Actor Sterling K Brown is unsure about winning at the Oscars after being nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category alongside Hollywood star Robert Downey Jr. While making an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, with fellow actors Dakota Johnson, Domhnall Gleeson and Colman Domingo, the This Is Us alum predicted the Academy Award would go to Oppenheimer’s Robert Downey Jr. Sterling K Brown predicts he will lose to Robert Downey Jr at the Oscars “There’s no losing yet. It will happen in its own due time,” Brown said. Although Brown cast doubt on his own win, he said that “Domingo will probably win” an Oscar as he’s nominated in the Best Actor category for his performance in Rustin. Norton and Domingo said that Brown could still win at the Academy Awards but Brown said he was “totally fine” losing to Downey Jr. “Robert Downey Jr.’s gonna win, and he’s incredibly deserving. He’s an incredible actor. Like, you should give him love,” he said. Apart from Downey Jr, Brown is also competing in the category with Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things, Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon and Ryan Gosling in Barbie. “The fact, that I get a chance to be nominated along with him and De Niro and Ryan Gosling and Ruffalo… I’m just happy to be in the room,” he added. —IANS ROBERT DOWNEY JR STERLING K BROWN