02072026-LSTC-01.qxd 7/1/2026 7:57 PM Page 1 c m y b OTT RELEASE FOR MUSAFIR CAFE The makers of upcoming romantic drama Musafir Cafe, featuring actors Vikrant Massey, Vedika Pinto and Mahima Makwana, have announced its release date. The series is set to premiere on Netflix on July 24. CHAT UP TOXIC TEASER OUT Fans, who have been waiting for a long time for an update on Toxic: A Fairytale for Grown-Ups finally have one as the makers of the action thriller have unveiled a teaser, titled Ladies & Ladies. It gives audiences a fresh look at the women who play key roles in the upcoming film led by Yash. The one-minute-and-41-second video introduces Nayanthara, Kiara Advani, Tara Sutaria, Rukmini Vasanth, and Huma Qureshi in striking new avatars. BLAKE LIVELY SEEKS $8 MILLION Blake Lively has asked a judge to order Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios to pay nearly $8 million in legal fees and costs she says she spent defending herself against Baldoni’s defamation lawsuit. The latest update came just after a dismissed Baldoni’s $400 million defamation suit against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. NEHA DHUPIA SLAMS PAPARAZZI Neha Dhupia lost her cool at photographers during a Mumbai event on Tuesday evening, calling out what she described as the ‘disrespectful’ practice of taking intrusive ‘back shots’. At the event, the actor was seen directly confronting photographers, asking them to stop clicking such pictures. She said actors have repeatedly requested that such behaviour should end. WHAT’S HOT eat RISE OF MOCKTAILS! T amritsar HE café non-alcoholic beverage trend—driven by the ‘sober curious’ movement—is booming. Cafes are focusing on high-margin craft mocktails, botanicals, adaptogens, and functional energy drinks. Instead of standard lattes, menus feature zero-proof coffee mocktails, such as cold brew with fresh orange juice, or espresso with tonic, mango puree, and spices. Cafes like The Mocktails, Grab and Go in Ranjit Avenue, Krsko at Lawrance road offer colourful options like Mango Matcha, Fruit Mimosas and virgin drinks. play LIGHT & SOUND SHOW chandigarh shimla T HE Light and Sound show at Bantony Castle, near the Mall, has emerged as a mustwatch show as it offers a history lesson, through attractive lights and sound displayed at the historic castle. This 30minute-long show showcases the history of the historic town, which once served as the summer capital of the country. The show is held every evening, and can be enjoyed by people of all ages. laugh SHIV MOHAN LIVE S HIV MOHAN YADAV brings his comedy to city with special, Meaningless. Known for his desi humour and engaging storyline, Shiv brings his jokes to the Laugh Club sector 26 Chandigarh on July 4. TRIBUNE No change Life Urfi Javed strongly denied viral claims that she had converted to another religion and changed her name, calling out a content creator for spreading misinformation. LUDHIANA | THURSDAY | 2 JULY 2026 Justice, family and reinvention take the stand as Sunny Deol, Akshaye Khanna, Tillotama Shome & Dia Mirza bring Siddharth P Malhotra’s IKKA to Netflix Beauty with brains is a very offensive term. Why do people feel that if a girl is beautiful, she can’t also be intelligent? DIA MIRZA Sunny gets Varun Kaushik C OURTROOMS and press conferences have more in common than one might think. Both thrive on carefully chosen words, strategic silences, and the occasional objection disguised as a question. One delivers verdicts; the other, first impressions. On a rain-drenched Monday in Mumbai, as IKKA unveils its trailer, the two briefly become indistinguishable. The Siddharth P Malhotra directorial arrives with its own curiosities: Sunny Deol’s first streaming release, his reunion with Akshaye Khanna decades after Border, Tillotama Shome stepping into a more ‘commercial’ arena, and Dia Mirza embracing one of her most layered parts in years. At its centre is Arjun Mehra (Deol), an upright lawyer whose moral certainty begins to crumble when he is forced to defend Shauryamann Gaur (Khanna) in a high-profile attempted murder case. Shome plays the relentless public prosecutor Madhura Banerjee, while Mirza’s Avantika, Arjun’s wife, finds the courtroom spilling into her home. another tareekh ...this time on OTT A different Sunny For many, Sunny Deol in a courtroom still conjures a single image: “Tareekh pe tareekh…” — the booming declaration that has outlived the film it belonged to. IKKA seems intent on crossexamining that legacy. Malhotra speaks not of an invincible crusader but of a man who cries and questions himself. For an actor once synonymous with unshakeable machismo, watching him trade certainty for vulnerability feels quietly radical. “IKKA is not just a courtroom drama. It is a story about relationships, and the difficult choices life forces you to make,” Deol says. The missing defendant Khanna, meanwhile, remains conspicuously absent. Netflix fills the void with an audio message in which the actor jokes that appearing on stage might have caused a “zalzalaa”, ensuring the loudest entrance belongs to the man who never entered. Inside the dimly lit Marriott hall dressed to resemble cinematic decay — smoke machines working overtime beneath crimson and emerald lights — the most memo- Ranveer’s zombie thriller Pralay to go on floors Ananya Verma to build the film’s post-apocalyptic world from scratch. Mehta is writing the film alongside Vishal Kapoor, who previously worked on Lootere and Ranveer is said to be preparing a completely new look for the role. The cast is also coming together. Kalyani Priyadarshan is rumoured to be joining as the female lead, fresh off the success of Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra; if confirmed, the role would mark her Bollywood debut. Hansal Mehta, when asked about Pralay recently, called it uncharted territory for Indian cinema, “It’s the kind of film that India hasn’t made yet, the kind of film that India hasn’t seen before.” Coming off the success of Dhurandhar, Ranveer Singh is about to step into a territory no Bollywood star has fully explored: a zombie apocalypse Ranveer first teamed up with director Jai Mehta on the survival thriller Pralay last September. Nearly a year later, the film is finally moving toward production, with September 2026 being floated as the start date for the shoot, though a location hasn’t been locked in. Earlier, chatter had named Australia as a contender, but that remains unconfirmed for now. The budget is estimated at close to Rs 300 crore, putting Pralay among the costliest films of Ranveer’s career so far. Much of that cost is reportedly going into visual effects and an international crew, brought in c m y b rable moments come not from the fanfare, but from the people it belongs to. In praise of one another Within seconds of taking the stage, Shome is visibly emotional. “My beloved husband still can’t believe I’m in a film with Sunny Deol,” she laughs, before adding that Malhotra “treated me like a star”. Deol, in turn, admits he watches his completed films wondering what he could have done better — an unexpected echo of the artistic selfdoubt Shome wears so openly. Mirza proves generous, enthusiastically applauding every compliment directed at her co-stars before speaking of Avantika’s quiet courage. As a journalist calls out to her, Mirza instinctively breaks into an enthusiastic “Hi!”, momentarily shedding the pageant grace for something far more endearing as she looks around to find the voice. That lightness, however, quickly gives way to conviction elsewhere in the conversation. Complimented as “beauty with brains”, she gently but firmly pushes back. “Beauty with brains is a very offensive term,” she says. “Why do people feel that if a girl is beautiful, she can’t also be intelligent?” The perils of slapping Akshaye Khanna Elsewhere, she confesses to being terrified of audience reactions because she slaps Akshaye in the film. “I’m very scared,” she laughs. “They’ve even put it in the trailer!” Malhotra gleefully points out it was the first scene she shot with him, prompting Deol to tease: “Why are you so worried? You’re playing my wife.” Deol slips into Punjabi while recalling their reunion after many years, expressing delight that “he is flying high”, while Shome remembers failing to recognise his greeting on set because he happened to be — uncharacteristically — smiling. The opening statement has been made, but the gavel won’t fall until July 10. Until then, the evidence is limited to a trailer, a few well-placed jokes, an absent Akshaye Khanna, and a roomful of actors who seemed rather more interested in applauding one another than themselves. Priyadarshan to reunite with Akshay Director confirms fresh project backed by Tips, expected to go on floors by December Months after stepping away from Hera Pheri 3, filmmaker Priyadarshan is set to reunite with Akshay Kumar for a new comedy thriller, marking their ninth film together. Priyadarshan’s departure from Hera Pheri 3 was confirmed earlier by producer Firoz Nadiadwala, a development the director himself later verified. His next project will instead be an original comedy thriller with Akshay Kumar in the lead, with shooting likely to begin toward the close of the year. Confirming the development, Priyadarshan said, “My next film is with Akshay Kumar and Tips.” Priyadarshan, who has penned the story, described it as a blend of humour and suspense. He is said to be developing the screenplay. — TNS