03092026-LSTL-01.qxd 9/2/2026 7:24 PM Page 1 c m y b ORRY IN KHATRON KE KHILADI Orhan Awatramani, known has Orry, has revealed that he signed up for Khatron Ke Khiladi 15 without telling his parents. In a note shared alongside a reel of his stunt highlights on Instagram, he addressed host Rohit Shetty directly, "I came to this show completely alone. I didn't even tell my parents.” TRIBUNE Birthday girl Life Zendaya marked her 30th birthday with a childhood photo and a message of gratitude for her fans, continuing her tradition of sharing a throwback image to celebrate the occasion. LUDHIANA | THURSDAY | 3 SEPTEMBER 2026 Actress Swara Bhasker clarifies Padmaavat remarks after social media backlash... AnshitaMehra A comment about Padmaavat, a jauhar sequence and the question of a woman’s right to survive has once again put Swara Bhasker at the centre of a social media debate. The actress has now clarified remarks she made at a recent Delhi event after a clip from her conversation began circulating online, with some social media users claiming she had called Rani Padmaavati and the women who committed jauhar “cowards”. Swara, however, said that was not what she meant. In a video shared on X on Tuesday, Swara explained that the comments were made during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” talk at the India International Centre on August 31. She was asked about the open letter she wrote to filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali after watching Padmaavat in 2018. “A clip of mine has been going viral on social media,” she said, explaining that her comments had been “completely mistranslated”. “Let me make it absolutely clear, I did not say that Rani Padmaavati or the other women in the palace were cowards,” she said. Her objection, she explained, was rooted in how such portrayals could be received by survivors of sexual violence. Speaking from the imagined perspective of a rape survivor, Swara questioned A woman’s purity more valuable than her life? whether films should convey the idea that a woman’s purity or honour is more valuable than her life. “This is the reali- WHAT’S HOT learn chandigarh BLESS AND CREATE C REATE your own eco-friendly Ganesha idol at this hands-on workshop that brings home the blessings of Lord Ganesha the sustainable way. Using natural clay and skin-friendly, eco-conscious paints in the traditional idolmaking style, it is a meaningful and mindful addition to the festive season — perfect for families and eco-conscious devotees alike. At Olive Cafe and Bar, Chandigarh. It starts from September 6 and concludes on September 27. chandigarh play HOMECOMING D IABLO, Chandigarh welcomes Akhil Sachdeva for an evening where every melody carries a memory — the Homecoming India Tour is a celebration of love, longing and the quiet, familiar connection between an artist and his audience, featuring the songs that soundtracked countless love stories. At Diablo, Sector 29. It is on September 11 at 9 pm. laugh chandigarh PRAVIT LIVE T HE Laugh Club, Chandigarh is hosting Delhibased comedian Pravit Arora for a solo standup show, packed with his own bits plus a healthy dose of crowd work — check his YouTube if you need proof of the masti. The Laugh Club, Chandigarh. It’s on 12 September at 8 pm. ty in our country. Should we make films that convey the message that a woman’s purity is more valuable than her life?” she asked. She further questioned whether a survivor should ever be made to feel that she would have been better off dead than alive after an assault. “Should we tell a rape survivor that it would have been better if she had died, and that surviving was a bad thing?” she said. The comments come nearly eight years after Swara’s open letter to Bhansali sparked its own conversation around Padmaavat. At the time, she criticised what she saw as the glorification of jauhar and questioned the message the film’s portrayal could send to women who survive sexual violence. At the Delhi event, she revisited the scene featuring Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, in which hundreds of Rajput women enter the flames. For Swara, the sequence raised questions about whether women who survive sexual violence could be made to feel that they had somehow failed to protect their honour by choosing to live. One particular shot involving a pregnant woman, she recalled, had left her especially disturbed. “There was like one shot that made me so mad. I was like, ‘ Chhee!’ There is a close-up of a pregnant woman’s belly and she’s going...” she said, questioning the implication that a female foetus should not be born because she could one day face sexual violence. Swara also brought up the Nirbhaya case, saying the young woman should be remembered not only for the violence she endured but also for the will to live she displayed. The actress said society should never underestimate a woman’s desire to survive. With the issue once again spilling onto social media, Swara also pushed back against the criticism, writing on X, “Gonna say it again… it is wild that so many women and men are triggered by the idea that rape survivors have the right to life after the horrible crime committed on them.” She also addressed the familiar perception that she is quick to react publicly, pointing out that she had not written her open letter immediately after watching Padmaavat. She said she waited five days before putting her thoughts on paper. For Swara, the debate, she maintained, was never about calling Padmaavati or the women depicted in the historical episode “cowards”. Her criticism was directed at what she believes the portrayal could communicate about women, sexual violence and the value placed on a survivor’s life. Kanishka Puri’s photographs examine ideas of care, power, knowledge & resistance Akhil Kumar For three years, Chandigarh-born artist Kanishka Puri has been looking closely at the relationship between femininity and the natural world. The result is a body of 27 photographs that brings together women, landscapes, plants and animals to examine ideas of care, power, knowledge and resistance. Titled The Wild The Tender, the exhibition draws from her encounters with women whose lives and labour are closely bound to nature. Among them are female lifeguards who read the changing moods of the sea, women farmers with an intimate understanding of soil, seeds and native plants, and forest protectors who care for both the land and communities dependent on it. Their relationship with nature, the artist observes, is not distant or merely visual. It is embodied knowledge, often inherited through generations and shaped by practices of observation, care, protection and survival. The photographs bring these relationships together through recurring motifs of flora, fauna, bodies and landscapes. At the heart of the work is a questioning of how both women and nature have historically been framed as objects to be observed, controlled, possessed or overlooked. Rather than romanticising either the female body or the natural landscape, Kanishka presents both as dynamic and powerful forces, capable of resistance, adaptation and transformation. The photographs challenge familiar ideas of femininity associated primarily with motherhood, domesticity and nurture, while also asking whether care itself can be understood Tender, yet powerful as a form of power. “I have photographed along the Arabian Sea in Goa, India’s first female lifeguards embodying the tension. I was associated with The Turtle Walker documen- c m y b tary when I was doing my internship there. The work of women in these coastlines is very significant as it requires courage and ability to respond to an environment that is constantly shift- ing,” says Kanishka. The women in the series emerge not merely as caretakers but as custodians of knowledge and active participants in sustaining the environment around them. They negotiate unpredictable landscapes, understand their rhythms and respond to changes that cannot always be controlled. These questions acquire added urgency against the backdrop of the climate crisis. For Kanishka, the human desire to control nature is closely linked to larger systems of power i.e., systems that decide who has the authority to extract, possess, control and speak. One of the experiences that shaped the work came during Kanishka’s travels along the coast of Hawaii, where she encountered vast landscapes and the smoke rising from a lava bed. Although the volcano did not erupt that week, the anticipation of what might be unfolding beneath the surface became a reminder of nature’s own rhythm. The land, she realised, does not operate according to human urgency. It demands attention and patience, and perhaps, above all, respect. In bringing together the wild and the tender, Kanishka’s work ultimately asks viewers to reconsider relationships that are often taken for granted between women and nature, care and power, vulnerability and strength. The exhibition does not offer easy answers. Instead, it invites a slower way of looking, one that recognises knowledge in lived experience and power in the ability to observe, adapt and endure. The exhibition will conclude today at Punjab Kala Bhawan, Sector 16, Chandigarh. The actor distributes blankets & food supplies among those affected by Nepal's devastating floods Sonu Sood reaches Kathmandu Ananya Verma Sonu Sood has arrived in Kathmandu with blankets and food supplies for those affected by Nepal’s devastating floods, with his Sood Charity Foundation team already on the ground assessing what more is needed. “We just want to be with the people who are in need and will try to bring their lives back,” he said. He acknowledged the logistical challenges of sending aid across the border but was clear about his team’s commitment. “We will make sure that not only this month but in the coming months also, the relief keeps coming,” he said. Sood had promised to make the trip within hours of the floods striking on August 26, writing on X — “Nepal, you are not alone. We are coming with food, shelter and the strength to help you rebuild.” The scale of the disaster continues to grow. Rescue operations are ongoing in several districts including Rasuwa and Nuwakot. Several other celebrities, including Manisha Koirala, Anupam Kher, Vir Das, Dia Mirza and Aditi Rao Hydari have also expressed solidarity with those affected. Another controversy! Niti Taylor is facing backlash after remarks she made during an interview about women being drawn to dominant and aggressive men went viral, with many accusing her of normalising unhealthy relationship dynamics. Speaking about her show Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan and her on-screen pairing with Parth Samthaan, Taylor said, “Every girl is a Nandini. A girl doesn’t want a sweet guy. They always want a little dominating, a little harsh. They all like bad boys because we like it when they shout a little or take charge, when they show their love in a somewhat crazy way. What would we even do with someone who is just sweet?”— TNS Niti Taylor faces backlash over remarks on women liking ‘dominant’ and ‘aggressive’ men