26102024-LSTL-01.qxd 10/25/2024 8:18 PM Page 1 c m y b BRANDON ON BOARD Brandon Sklenar is set to star alongside Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried in the upcoming psychological thriller The Housemaid, directed by Paul Feig. Sklenar, who recently appeared opposite Blake Lively in It Ends With Us, a global boxoffice hit, will play the role of Andrew, a wealthy husband in the film. TRIBUNE Life Retirement Bollywood star Liam Neeson is likely to retire from the action genre by 2025. “I am 72 — it has to stop at some stage,” said The Taken star. LUDHIANA | SATURDAY | 26 OCTOBER 2024 Proud of his roots Mona From a trucker to a model for military equipment props, to an actor in Punjab as well as Los Angeles, Jag Singh’s journey is stuff dreams are made of! Born as Jagjit Singh Bajwa, in Gurdaspur district, Jag moved to the United States post his high school. Opting for trucking as a profession to begin with, the man with dreams hankered for more. After completing his Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) certification, with a career as a firefighter or a police officer in mind, he still pursued theatre in America. Jag’s first break came as a military equipment model. Some independent movies in the Bay Area, more advertisements, Jag landed roles in Punjabi films. Dakuan Da Munda, Rang Punjab, Rocky Mental and Medal to his credit, Jag, in his fifth, shared screen space with Babbu Maan, who is playing the lead antagonist in Sucha Soorma. “I have done theatre. Narration was one of my first jobs. I did plenty of independent films in San Francisco and Los Angeles,” Jag says. His big break came as in the voice in popular video game Call of Duty (COD) A Modern Warfare. “I have become a significant character, Gustavo Gus Rodriguez, in COD.” Sucha Soorma has brought much attention Jag’s way. “It was a pleasure working with legendary Babbu Maan in Sucha Soorma. He’s such a jolly person and phenomenal person as well as artiste,” he says. “We had a great time and we truly looked like friends in the film. We have become friends off the camera as well,” he added. Being an Indian is very challenging in Los Angeles acting circles, even more so for Jag. “My portfolio doesn’t match with the typical Indian characters they’re looking for. All Punjabi actor Jag Singh wants to use the experience he has gained in Hollywood projects to take the Punjabi film industry to the next level the Northern Indians were really different, the South Indians even more so. So, I get calls to play a Spanish or Italian characters generally.” His first Hollywood project he plays an American CIA operative. The project details are still under wraps. “It’s again a Spanish operative that I get to play.” Jag is amazed at the very friendly, family environment in Punjab vis-à-vis the professional setup in LA. “Sets in Punjabi industry are like a bunch of friends or family members coming together. We are a new industry and by those standards we’re doing pretty great.” But it’s not here that Jag wants to rest. Growing up watching Hollywood movies, he was a huge fan of James Bond series, Western movies – Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Mel Gibson starrers. Even in India, Jag follows Amir Khan and Amitoj Maan, actors who turned directors. “All these great directors who were actors first are my inspiration. Clint Eastwood was an actor and then he became a director. Mel Gibson was an actor and then became one of greatest directors.” Jag dreams of Punjabi cinema to be on par with Hollywood. “All that I’m learning in Hollywood; whatever I have seen and experienced, I want to use that and take the Punjabi film industry to the next level.” Grey or white ...bring it on Vikrant Parmar A gullible lover boy in Love, Sitara; a grey character in Honeymoon Photographer — Rajeev Siddhartha is portraying diverse characters on screen, and loving it He is slowly, but surely climbing the ladder of success. Rajeev Siddhartha, who began his career in 2007 with the film Dil Dosti, has created a mark with the murder mystery series Honeymoon Photographer, as also the Netflix film Love, Sitara. Essaying the role of Rihen in the six-episode series in the former, an intricate web of deceit and quest for truth, he says, “When I first read the script of Honeymoon Photographer, I was interested in my role because of the complex nature of the character. He had grey shades and I thought it would be fun to play such a character filled with angst. I enjoyed essaying the part, as once one of the actors said he was scared of me, which I thought was a very good compliment — it meant I was totally in the zone as the character.” Having essayed the role of one of the antagonists in Anil Kapoor’s 24, Rajeev has also starred in Jolly LLB. He has been a part of many a web series, including Four More Shots Please!, Hundred, Aashram, Marzi and the Netflix original film Upstarts. He believes each role presents a different challenge. “I always wanted to be an actor, that kind of actor who can play a range of characters. When I got an opportunity in Honeymoon Photographer, I was really excited. I love murder mysteries, I like thrillers,” he beams. In the film Love, Sitara, Rajeev plays a chef, a role for which he trained hard for oneand-a-half months at the Farzi Cafe in Mum- bai. “Since there are cooking and plating shots in the film, it was necessary to undergo the training. It was a joy living this character,” he says. His views on what differentiate theatre, films, television series and web series is as clear as water, as he believes all mediums require honesty in acting. “Theatre gives you more time to prepare and because you have to reach out to the whole auditorium, you have to project your voice. Otherwise, you have to be honest in all the mediums for a good performance,” he shares. As for the pressure of audience expectations, especially when stepping into a new and different role, he keeps it simple, “Do everything with utmost honesty and then surrender the rest to the audience. If there is sincerity, honesty and passion in what you do, you are bound to succeed. I used to take a lot of stress earlier in life, but now I realise there’s no point in getting nervous about expectations. I have done my best, the team has done their best and hopefully the audience will like it. So, I’m just grateful for every opportunity.” What about his biggest inspirations in life? “Balraj Sahni, Naseeruddin Shah and Irrfan Khan. Witnessing their work, I always feel inspired and motivated to give my best.” To the young actors out there, “Never quit. You have to be mentally very strong and persevere. More than talent, more than everything, it’s just determination, which I would say that every actor, every person who wants to become an actor, should have in abundance.” Makes sense! The Bishnoi community burns effigies of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan and Salim Khan The Bishnoi community on Friday burnt the effigy of Bollywood actor Salman Khan and his father-film director Salim Khan, expressing resentment against the latter’s statement that his son was ‘innocent’ in the blackbuck poaching case. Though the actor has been acquitted in the case, the Bishnoi community wants him to apologise for poaching a blackbuck. Recently, Salim Khan said that his son had not hunted the blackbuck. Several people from the community participated in the protest staged in Jodhpur. They gathered at different places on the occasion of Bishnoi Dharma Sthapana Diwas. The community members said that if Salman Khan did not hunt the blackbuck, then why lawyers from Delhi, Mumbai and Jodhpur were called to fight his case? They protested against Salman Khan and warned that if the actor did not apologise, a movement would be launched by Sanatan Hindu Samaj. Bishnoi community said that Salman Khan’s father claimed that his son did not hunt the blackbuck, so why did he come here? “We are Bishnois, we do not defame anyone just like that. When the case was registered 26 years ago, many dignitaries including the then MLA of the Bishnoi community were present. Salim Khan cannot mislead people by giving false statements. The entire community was hurt by Salim Khan’s statement,” they said. — IANS Up in arms Singing sensation Bhumi Pednekar channels her inner singer at a Singaporean karaoke club Bhumi Pednekar recently treated fans to a glimpse of her whirlwind adventures from the past 10 days. She shared a carousel of photos and videos capturing highlights from her travels, embracing everything from singing Bollywood hits at a karaoke club in Singapore to getting her ears pierced in London. On Friday, Bhumi took to Instagram to share these moments. She captioned the post, “From singing Bollywood songs in a Singaporean karaoke club to getting my ears pierced in London, I covered a very large spectrum in the last 10 days.” — IANS c m y b