18082024-LSTC-01.qxd 8/17/2024 11:28 PM Page 1 c m y b HALLE TEASES CATWOMAN RETURN Actress Halle Berry has dropped a hint about her potential return to the role of Catwoman. Halle, who donned the feline suit in the 2004 film, expressed her willingness to revisit the character. On Jimmy Fallon’s show, when asked about the prospect of reprising her role, Berry said, “Maybe, if I could direct it.” TRIBUNE Awarded Life Actor Kartik Aaryan, who was recently seen in Chandu Champion, won the Best Actor honour at the 15th edition of Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM). CHANDIGARH | SUNDAY | 18 AUGUST 2024 Darna mana hai! Stree 2 Preeti Thakur W HEN monsters start cracking jokes, you know you’re in for a ghoulish giggle fest! Horror comedies sure seem to be a rage in Bollywood. With Stree 2 breaking the opening day record of Fighter at the box-office on Independence Day, we look at some other films in the genre that the audiences loved. The opening day net collection of Stree 2 was Rs 64.80 crore, which is the most any film has made this year. It’s also the highest opening for a Bollywood sequel. The first part, Stree, which was released in 2018, was made at a budget of Rs 23-25 crore. A sleeper hit, it changed the game for horror comedies forever! Opening at Rs 6 crore, within a week the collection touched Rs 60 crore and overall the film made a whopping Rs 180 crore! Starring Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Aparshakti Khurana, Pankaj Tripatji and Abhishek Banerjee, the sequel has them all reprising their roles. Starring Sharvari, Mona Singh and Abhay Verma, Munjya (2024), directed by Aditya Sarpotdar, made at a budget of Rs 30 crore, stunned with a worldwide collection of Rs 132.13 crore. It is part of a shared universe (Maddock Supernatural Universe), created by Dinesh Vijan, which also consists of the movies Stree (2018) and Bhediya (2022). The scares in the movie are real, but the laughs are out of this world! Roohi (2021), starring Rajkummar Rao, Jahnvi Kapoor and Varun Sharma, under the direction of Hardik Mehta, narrates the story of a ghost who abducts brides on their honeymoons. Seeing the protagonist turn from a demure damsel during the day to a terrifying monster at night makes the fare fantastic. Phone Bhoot (2022), directed by Gurmmeet Singh, rings in the laughs and keeps you on the line for a supernatural ride. It follows two bumbling ghostbusters, played by Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ishaan Khattar, who stumble upon the idea that’s literally out of the world — a hotline for spooky souls! With the help of a hauntingly beautiful ghost, played by Katrina Kaif, the three sail through the highs and lows of the start-up world. Under the direction of Anees Bazmee, starring Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani and Tabu, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022) is a mixture of chills With Stree 2 making a mark at the box-office, horror-comedies sure seem to be the flavour of the season. Here’s a look at some films in this genre that have made quite an impression and chuckles. Rooh Baba, played by the handsome Aaryan, delights one and all with his act. Horror becomes fun when there is an added zing of reality and Romanchan (2023), directed by Jithu Madhavan, is a perfect example. Romancham was the fifth highest grossing Malayalam film of 2023 and its Hindi remake Kapkapiii will release soon. Starring Soubin Shahir, Arjun Ashokan and Sajin Gopu, the plot revolves around seven friends and an unfortunate series of events following their encounter with an Ouija board. Aditya Sarpotdar-directed Kakuda (2024) is another film in the genre that impresses. Story of a cursed village, starring Sonakshi Sinha, Riteish Deshmukh and Saqib Saleem, Kakuda opens door to a classic blend of comedy suspense and horror, ensuring you’re always on your toes. Also, Tamil film Kaatteri (2022), starring Vaibhav Reddy, Sonam Bajwa, Aathmika and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, and directed by Deekay, tells the story of a gang of treasureseeking criminals and their journey in a hillside village filled with ghosts. Munjya Roohi Phone Bhoot ‘HORROR-COMEDIES ARE HERE TO STAY’ Stree was a big hit and Stree 2 is probably going to do four times the business! People love a mix of comedy and horror, and if the content is good there is nothing to stop that film from becoming a blockbuster. I think people are a little tired of just comedies, so horror-comedies seem to be a good alternative. Nobody ever complained about screaming inside cinema halls because of the thrills provided by horror, but if you add a tadka of comedy then it’s a deadly combination. — Komal Nahta, film trade analyst Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 Mona What would a perfect day mean for you? Would it still be perfect if everything stays the same…the second day…and third…and the seventh? This 124-minute drama starkly reminds one of Samuel Beckett’s famous play Waiting for Godot. If nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes in Godot; in Perfect Days, it’s the same routine, day after day. The film follows the life of a janitor, Hirayama (Koji Yakusho). His day is set just like a clock works. Waking at dawn to the sound of sweeping on the road, morning ablutions, spraying water on his prized saplings, taking a drink from the vending machine; work, followed by lunch under his tree ‘friend’. Dinner at the same place and back to sleep! Weekend is laundry day and time for the pub. Pretty nondescript, but this toilet cleaner in Tokyo honours his work as meditation. And this man reads Faulkner, listens to Rolling Stones. And he photographs komorebi Finding beauty in the routine PERFECT DAYS Director: Wim Wenders Cast: Koji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano, Aoi Yamada, Yumi Aso, Sayuri Ishikawa, Tomokazu Miura, Min Tanaka Rating: ★★★ — shimmering of light and shadows that is created by leaves swaying in the wind; and it only exists once, at that moment. Perfect Days is a Japanese-German collaboration. Written and directed by Wim Wenders, it bears his signature style. There is a playlike quality to this screen outing. The drama is set in Tokyo and has Koji Yakusho as the lead star. Yakusho comes with a theatre background and wide international experience. The film that opens with Tokyo’s skyline soon sifts through foliage and to our hero, Hirayama’s life. While for a non-theatre per- c m y b son seeing the repeat routine might be a forced one, fuelling the desire to change channels within the first 20 minutes, but yours truly bravely sits through it! The repetition is peppered only with a new song playing on Hiramaya’s car sound system each day! We hear The House of Rising Sun, Pale Blue Eyes, Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay, Walking Through The Sleepy Day, Brown Eyed Girl and Perfect Day. Yakusho gives a spectacular performance. Dressed in blue overalls, driving a blue van, a great worker but not a great a speaker, he says more with his expressions than words, which barely come to him. His body language, his character’s reverence for anyone and everyone — right from a drunk man to a lost child to a homeless person — all become one. In the last scene as he drives, he relives the myriad emotions, smiling through tears - the act sure is extraordinary! Other characters, though minor, add to his story — spunky niece Niko (Arisa Nakano), fun Mama (Sayuri Ishikawa) and bar girl Aya (Aoi Yamada). His assistant Takashi (Tokio Emoto) is an amusing presence too. The Japanese film, dubbed in English, is about the beauty of routine and in following it. To witness all that there is — Japan’s tallest building Skytree and the magnificent tree in the park. And to be open to embrace all that comes along — a runaway niece, fellow worker’s shenanigans, to play shadow tag with a dying man, one last time! Why would an intellectual leave his wealthy family and clean toilets, why wouldn’t everything stay the same or why love is not easy when you are broke… well, some questions are forever going to remain unanswered! (Streaming on MUBI) LADIES PURSES BAGS On Most of The Articles* A Japanese-German collaboration, Perfect Days, which revolves around the life of Hirayama, a janitor, has a play-like quality that makes it impressive Last 2 Days