16092024-LSTC-01.qxd 9/15/2024 11:42 PM Page 1 c m y b DEEPIKA PADUKONE DISCHARGED Deepika Padukone, who has welcomed a baby girl with her actor-husband Ranveer Singh, has been discharged from hospital. A video of the actress leaving the premises of the HN Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre, in the Girgaon area of Mumbai on Sunday, has made its way to the Internet. TRIBUNE Spiritual! Actor Sidharth Malhotra has said festivals take him back to his childhood. He added that his grandmother had a big influence in his spiritual journey. CHANDIGARH | MONDAY | 16 SEPTEMBER 2024 GADAR 2 Sheetal & Yamini Verma Nostalgia has been Bollywood’s favourite formula to make an instant connect with audiences. But there’s another shortcut to fuse some of the old feelings in a fresh narrative – cast veteran actors as parallel leads! Lately, this practice of onscreen reunion of senior Bollywood actors is gathering steam. We have witnessed Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt featuring in AP Dhillon’s song Old Money. Recently, the golden 90s of Bollywood was back with Ghudchadi, as we saw Raveena Tandon romancing Sanjay Dutt on screen. The same way, Jackie Shroff and Neelam Kothari reunited for T-Series song Tu after three decades. Be it the much-hyped kiss scene between veterans Shabana Azmi and Dharmendra in Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani (2023) or Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel reuniting for Gadar 2, a sequel launched after 22 years… here’s a look at trend. That 70s show The silver-haired actresses Shabana Azmi and Zeenat Aman are awaiting the release of their recent collaboration, Bun Tikki. The latter made quite a splash with her Instagram debut at 71! As she landed herself endorsements and modeling assignments, Zeenat was ready to roll once again. She signed a movie last year, which is coproduced by fashion designer Manish Malhotra. But it would be interesting to see two veteran actresses re-sharing screen space after a gap of more than 40 years. Despite being most-sought-after artistes of the 80s , the two worked in very few projects together, such as Ishk Ishk Ishk (1974) and Ashanti (1982). When netizens watched Azmi (73) and Dharmendra (88) not only sharing screen space but kissing in the film Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, they went ecstatic! Karan Johar’s comeback movie as director, although it was a love story of the titular characters played by Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt, the plot was heavily dependent on their respective grandparents’ incomplete love story. While Dharmendra played a Punjabi, Kanwal, grandfa- Old is ROCKY AUR RANI KII PREM KAHAANI gold GHUDCHADI The latest trend of onscreen reunion of senior Bollywood actors is becoming quite a hit formula, as these films are going down well with audiences. Read on… ther of Rocky, Azmi essayed a music-loving Bengali, Jamini Chatterjee, grandmother of Rani. Their fiery chemistry takes one back to the lover boy era of 1960s. The two even romanced on the classic song Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar from Hum Dono (1961). With these actors getting accolades for their performances, it may very well be said that ‘seventies is the new twenties’! MAST MEIN REHNE KA KHICHDI 2: MISSION PAANTHUKISTAN Middle path OTT film Mast Mein Rehne Ka depicts the unique chemistry between two oldies, Kamath and Parkash Kaur. The two veterans, Jackie Shroff and Neena Gupta, with their Madrasi-Punjabi banter in the film, weave a world far from the gloss, glitter and gore, right in Mumbai. The heartfelt story about a lessertalked subject ‘loneliness in old-age’ struck a chord with many. Watching Danny Denzongpa in the 2022 film Uunchai was refreshing too. In fact, the storyline was a fresh one too with veterans actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Anupam Kher. Directed by Sooraj Bar- VikrantParmar Music sure runs in their family. While renowned singer Kumar Sanu has given many timeless hits, his daughter Shannon K has now collaborated with him for a song titled 9 to 5. They talk about the experience and how the world of music has changed over the years. But first, it’s the collaboration. “The song is about the loop that everybody is stuck in their daily lives. My younger sister Anabelle wrote and composed it. I think dad was a perfect fit to sing this song, since we wanted to include not just people from the West but also from India. He injected a little bit of Hindi into the song and we made him croon some lines in English too. Overall, more of a family creation,” says Shannon. Kumar Sanu must be a proud dad indeed, but says there were not a lot of similarities between them. He says, “While singing there are expressions that are similar, but her tonal quality and accent is different. I keep giving her tips to bring in variety and variation. She is a very good singer and a brilliant actress as well, but I keep on guiding her whenever possible.” BUN TIKKI jatya, the film won Best Direction Award at the 70th National Film Awards. Sequel saga When Gadar 2 was announced, fans eagerly awaited the reunion of Sakeena and Tara, played by Ameesha Patel and Sunny Deol, respectively. Seeing them romance to the tunes of Udd Jaa Kaale Kaava, flooded people with emotion. The duo pulled audiences to the theatre halls and shattered records despite the post-Covid effect. While overall film business faced a deficit, Gadar 2 garnered Rs 691.08 crore in worldwide gross collections. Similarly, Khichdi 2: Mission Paanthukistan, a movie released in 2023, brought the iconic characters of popular TV show Khichdi togeth- er, including Supriya Pathak,Rajeev Mehta, Anang Desai, Vandana Pathak, Kirti Kulhari and Jamnadas Majethia. However, unlike Gadar 2, this one couldn’t pull off the magic of the first outing — Khichdi: The Movie (2010). Again, people have big expectations from cult characters, Raju, Shyam and Baburao aka Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal, respectively. The actors will be reprising their roles for the threequel of classic comedy Hera Pheri (2000). Hera Pheri 3 is expected to go on floors soon — it’s been 18 years since the franchise’s last outing. Kumar Sanu and his daughter Shannon K, who have collaborated for a song titled 9 to 5, believe that in the ever-evolving music industry one needs to keep learning Collaborating with such a big name like Kumar Sanu would have been a tough task, so was Shannon nervous? “Usually, I am the one who is nervous whenever it comes to collaborating with dad or just in general having him around the room when I am recording, but this time around it was different — dad was the one who was a little nervous, as we told him that he would sing in English too,” says Shannon. Comparisons are bound to arise and also the pressure of being the daughter of such a famous singer must be immense, but Shannon says, “I lived in London and that’s where I got all my music training from. From there, I went to the US. It was more of a natural decision from me to sing in the West. I did come back to my roots and wanted to sing in Hindi too. The pressure was not so much in the beginning but later it grew on me, largely due to social media. I think all the artistes have pressure and some sort of responsibility upon their shoulders, as we represent the Indian culture.” Truly inspired by her dad, Shannon c m y b Like father, like daughter says her favourite song by him is Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaye from the Bollywood film Jurm. “I grew up listening to my dad’s music. He was my first guru and I remember when I was about three years old, I would beg my dad to take me down to his recording sessions as I would enjoy the whole experience.” Regarding the current state of music, Kumar Sanu believes, “There have been a lot of changes in singing. The voice preference of the past is not there anymore, instead we have a sound preference. Emphasis is placed on different types of beats. But this generation is struggling to build their identities; to establish an identity one has to be versatile and not stick to a type. The idea is to keep learning and evolving.” Regarding their upcoming projects, she says, “We have loads coming up. Some of them are also in Hindi, so I am very excited for all my fans out there. Get ready to hear me in Hindi once again. We are planning to create this beautiful father and daughter track. We’ll be collaborating very soon.” Looking forward!