11092024-LSTC-01.qxd 9/10/2024 11:16 PM Page 1 c m y b VARUN VISITS LALBAUGCHA RAJA Varun Dhawan, along with the Baby John team, Atlee and Murad Khetani, embraced the festive spirit of Ganesh Chaturthi by visiting Mumbai’s Lalbaugcha Raja on Tuesday morning. Diljit dhamaka! TRIBUNE Up next Life Taapsee Pannu will be seen in the upcoming film Gandhari, directed by Joram filmmaker Devashish Makhija. For the film, Taapsee is once again joining hands with writer-producer Kanika Dhillon. CHANDIGARH | WEDNESDAY | 11 SEPTEMBER 2024 Under the watchful eyes Vinay Shukla, whose documentary While We Watched bagged the Peabody Award, says with his dry humour, journalist Ravish Kumar made for a great protagonist After stealing the hearts of million abroad with his Dil-Luminati Tour, global sensation Diljit Dosanjh will now be crooning his much-adored songs on his home turf. The actor posted information about the tickets on September 5 and the fans went crazy! His world domination is evident from another recent happening — his manager Sonali Singh being honoured by Billboard with the Global Manager of the Year award! However, the love and respect Dosanjh enjoys in his homeland and home state is beyond comparison. The pre-sale of the tickets opened on Tuesday afternoon at sharp 12 and by 12:44 pm, even the early birds were unable to get them! More than 1 lakh pre-sale tickets were sold in 15 minutes. For one, only HDFC Pixel card-holders got the opportunity to book 48 prior to general sales. Secondly, to book tickets closer to stage, Fan Pit (Rs 7,999), Gold (Rs 3,999) and Silver (Rs 1,999) are not everybody’s cup of tea! Not to forget these were just ‘early bird’ prices. After these tickets were sold in the initial 15 minutes, the Phase 1, Fan Pit shot up to Rs 9,999, Gold to 4,999 and Silver to 2,799. While Silver-Phase 2 (Rs 3,499) and GoldPhase 2 (Rs 5,999) are still available on Zomato Live only for HDFC Pixel cardholders, the common fans will get their opportunity on September 12 at sharp 1 pm. So, go seize the date of Diljit’s live performance in your city. In Diljit’s word, Punjabi aa gaye oye! — TNS Sheetal O NCE an ‘Insignificant Man’, Vinay Shukla has come a long way. His journey from being a cinema buff to becoming one of the leading men in documentarymaking is an inspiration for many. The recent one, While We Watched, received the Peabody Award in June, which revolves around renowned prime-time journalist Ravish Kumar fighting propaganda-driven misinformation and receiving death threats, as he continued to bring grassroots issues to the fore. It would be apt to say, ‘While We Watched, Vinay Shukla filmed’! Shukla, humbled by the award, says, “These are awards that for years were given to my favourite films and directors. So, personally I feel like an imposter to receive this honour. But also feel grateful to be receiving it for my team. It represents their hard work.” Recalling his journey as a director, Shukla recalls 2011 when his friend Khushboo Ranka wanted to cover the Jan Lokpal protest movement in India. As they together went with their cameras to document it, unlike billions of Indian citizens, they also didn’t know that it would transform into something big and also the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). His first documentary, An Insignificant Man, also went to festivals and his codirector Khushboo later became the producer of While We Watched. He says, “For most of the months that we shot, there was no audio. We got better sound system, learnt about software and editing. So, in other words, we learnt on the job and also established a core team while working on that project.” A self-taught director, Shukla says we have long moved past the times when learning in an institute was a necessity to become a filmmaker. “In today’s time, mics are not scarce but many have nothing to say. The same way, it’s tougher to decide, kehna kya hai (what to say through your films) than to study theory and practicality of direction. I was very privileged as a child to be exposed to world cinema, and fortunate further to have the right friends and community that helped me understand cinema in a better way.” Shukla’s film is available on Mubi and shown as part of Mubi Top 1000 and New Voices. A still from While We Watched About his favourite scene from While We Watched, he says is the opening shot where Ravish is strolling through the debris of one broken floor of NDTV office. Shukla has given more than two years of his life to While We Watched, and talking about the making of it recalls, “We had approached Ravish for the documentary and he obliged, but permissions were needed from his employers — NDTV. During the shoot, I had seen him work and learnt from him that ‘there’s beauty in detail’. He would write 10,000 words daily and did not believe in bulletpoint newsmaking.” Shukla jokes that many would ask why Ravish and not any other journalist, like Nidhi Razdan or Sreenivasan Jain, but he has realised that ‘English people love English people’! “In my mind, I see a great protagonist in Kumar. Also, his dry humour intensified the narrative. I wish I could add more of it into the documentary.” Shukla refuses to be put in a box as documentary filmmaker and shares how his first attempt at filmmakFor Shukla, life came a full ing was a fictional short circle when he received film, Bureaucracy praise from film director and Sonata (Raag Sarkari), screenwriter Singeetam Srinivasa in 2011. He is currentRao. “I had grown up watching Rao ly focused on prosir’ films — Apoorva Sagodharargal moting Shasn, (Appu Raja) and Pushpaka Vimana. So, which isn’t a film for him to call and say ‘I am moved and but a political had not seen anything like it’ was the best strategy board compliment I ever got. It’s great to hear a word of praise from people who inspired you.” game. FULL CIRCLE Rooted to the soil Filmmaker Rupinder Korpal, whose short film Mohabbat Di Mitti has been doing the rounds at festivals, wants to take the treasure of literature to the screen Mona MARK THE DATES DELHI OCTOBER 26 HYDERABAD NOVEMBER 15 AHMEDABAD NOVEMBER 17 LUCKNOW NOVEMBER 22 PUNE NOVEMBER 24 KOLKATA NOVEMBER 30 BANGALORE DECEMBER 6 INDORE DECEMBER 8 CHANDIGARH DECEMBER 14 GUWAHATI DECEMBER 29 Bringing the rich literary heritage into films is what theatre artiste and filmmaker Rupinder Korpal aspires for. His debut short film Mohabbat Di Mitti is based on Ram Saroop Ankhi’s book. The 21-minute film has been doing the rounds at festivals, has witnessed 35 official selections and won 20 awards so far! An elated Korpal says, “I considered many stories but on suggestion of our lead actor Sukhpal, we zeroed down on Mohabbat Di Mitti for it made the best possible bet for visual drama.” A Masters in Theatre and Television from Punjabi University, Patiala, Korpal has cast his theatre fellows Sukhpal Bajwa and Sandeep Kaur in the lead roles. The high of this project for them was a clay statue that was made by an artiste named Janak. “It’s a love story between a well-to-do girl and a notso-well-to-do boy. We needed a life-size statue of the female lead of our story and Janak delivered in one day.” The film has won multiple honours at Indie Shorts Film Festival, One Leaf International Film Festival, Bioscope Cine International Film Festival, Ma Boli International Punjabi Film Mela, among others. Festival circuit wasn’t a plan, but Korpal aims at a YouTube release. When some OTT players expressed interest in his film, he thought of taking it to festivals, a move that paid off. He has no plans to release it for the masses though. “It’s a slow film that needs patience. Theatre-goers might click with the tenor of our film, but it’s not for everybody. We have done some screenings and plan to hold a few for the discerning audience,” he says. Korpal clears that he is not making films for money. “I want to bring the treasure of our literature on to the screen and take it to non-readers.” For finances, he does photography, cinematography and shoots music videos. Already in pre-production of his next venture, he says, “It’s based on Gurbachan Singh Bhullar’s story Tori Di Vel.” It deals with young girl married to a much older man. “The pre-production of our film is complete and I can’t wait to take to take it to the floors,” says the writer-director, who intends to adapt the story to suit contemporary times. c m y b It’s a slow film that needs patience. Theatre-goers might click with the tenor but it’s not for everybody. We have done some screenings and plan to hold a few for the discerning audience. RUPINDER KORPAL