14082025-LSTC-01.qxd 8/14/2025 12:13 AM Page 1 c m y b PARAM SUNDARI TRAILER LAUNCHED Mark your calendars as Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor are all set to leave you in awe with their crosscultural love story, Param Sundari, on August 29. On Tuesday, the film’s trailer was unveiled and in no time it became viral. From romance to comedy to action, the trailer has all elements. TRIBUNE Birthday girl Life Sara Ali Khan turned 30 on Tuesday. To mark her special day, she performed a puja at home. The Kedarnath star also posted a picture from the celebration. CHANDIGARH | THURSDAY | 14 AUGUST 2025 Aadhya’s of life vision she wants to be. “I’ve realised I love playing characters who are not entirely black or white,” she says. “Even Tanya — she’s sweet, but also selfish, intense, and unpredictable.” Gurnaaz I N Knock Knock… Kaun Hai? Aadhya Anand sheds softness of her earlier roles to step into something darker — a campus thriller where the lines between friendship, fear and identity constantly blur. As Tanya Arora, she plays a young woman navigating college crushes, chaotic murders, and her own unravelling. “This was a breath of fresh air,” she says, reflecting on the switch from girl-next-door roles to something far more intense. It’s a pattern you see across her growing filmography — a young actor who doesn’t just take roles, but grows through them. From Bombay Begums to Crushed, Aadhya’s journey is stitched with choice, courage, and a surprising amount of clarity for someone still in her teens. Stepping into the shadows Streaming on Amazon, Knock Knock is a whodunnit with heart, but also with shades of psychological. For Aadhya, it meant stretching herself emotionally and energetically. “This show was mentally exhausting in a way because there was a lot of crying, screaming, and yelling… there’s a scene where I’m just walking on the road and sobbing — for no reason,” she Aadhya Anand’s journey is stitched with choice, courage and a surprising amount of clarity for someone still in her teens recalls. “That scene has stayed with me because I genuinely felt like Tanya at that moment. I could not sleep that night.” Physically, too, it was a demanding role as she did her own stunts, and delivered chaos with conviction. “I had to be aggressive, run, fight — it brought out a side of me that I didn’t know existed,” she admits. And yet, amid the high-octane scenes and emotional spirals, she also found control. “With every project, I get to know myself better. This one taught me that I’m capable of much more than I think,” she adds. A life in layers Based in Singapore, Aadhya Between takes and truth moved to Mumbai when she was 15. A performer since childhood, she had been doing theatre and TV — but the real switch came with Bombay Begums, her breakout role as a conflicted schoolgirl dealing with sexuality, grief and rebellion. “I was just 16. I hadn’t studied acting, but I was feeling everything so deeply,” she says. “That’s when I realised, ‘I want to do this for real’.” That move — from feeling to craft — brought her to Mumbai, and eventually to Crushed, the romantic drama that cemented her popularity among Gen Z viewers. But with each role, Aadhya has been quietly recalibrating the kind of actor Aadhya is aware of her image, but not bound by it. The ‘cute girl’ tag, she admits, is both flattering and limiting. “But I also want to be intense,” she says . That push for reinvention is deliberate. She studies her performances, takes feedback seriously, and doesn’t believe in shortcuts. “If someone critiques me, I may feel bad momentarily, but it helps me grow.” Off set, she’s lowkey. “I love going to art cafés, watching films — and not just Bollywood, but world cinema,” she says. “And sometimes, I like doing nothing. It’s very therapeutic.” “I think being an outsider in the industry gives you a different perspective,” she says. “There’s no pressure to be perfect. I can fail, and it’s okay and quite freeing.” And while she’s not in a rush, she’s quite intentional in her choices. “I want to do characters that challenge me. Even if I’m playing someone soft, I want them to have some sharpness or mystery.” Forever 26 Creator Gaurav Shukla and director Sumit Purohit build a step-by-step case for why Indian spy agency needs to scuttle Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions SAARE JAHAN SE ACCHA: THE SILENT GUARDIANS Cast: Pratik Gandhi, Kritika Kamra, Rajat Kapoor, Tillotama Shome, Suhail Nayyar, Sunny Hinduja and Anup Soni Director: Sumit Purohit Rating: ★★★ Nonika Singh Only the other day Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir’s ‘nuclear sabre rattling’ made headlines. As he made no bones about how Pakistan would not desist from using nuclear bombs against India, it made us once again wonder about the severity of looming nuclear threat. On hindsight, could we have prevented the neighbouring nation from acquiring nuclear bombs? More significantly, did we really delay it? Yes, if we are to go by the two series Pratik, Sunny shine in a familiar story! which have dropped on OTT in a span of less than a week. While we are still digesting Salakaar, yet another series, Saare Jahan Se Accha… about foiling of Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions streams on Netflix. Two series on nearly the same idea is bound to set in fatigue and we prepare for more of the same. Yet, surprisingly, Saare Jahan Se Accha handles its material, both fictional and factual, in a far better fashion. Period is nearly the same — 1970s. Only in the Netflix six-episode drama, the Pakistan govt is in the hands Twenty years after Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt announced their breakup, and Pitt moved on with Mr & Mrs Smith co-star Angelina Jolie, the Friends alum reflected on the ‘love triangle’ era. “It was such juicy reading for people,” said the Morning Show actress in an interview. “If they didn’t have their soap operas, they had their tabloids. It’s a shame that it had to happen, but it happened,” she added. — ANI Looking ahead REVIEW Netflix: Aniston talks about ‘love triangle’ of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who famously said, ‘We will eat grass but will have our bomb’. Creator Gaurav Shukla and director Sumit Purohit do contexualise things and build a step-by-step case for why Indian spy agency needs to scuttle Pakistan’s nuclear ambitions. Shimla Agreement, R&AW’s formation in 1968; we are clued in to information which bears the stamp of veracity. Besides, where the series scores is, it does not show R&AW’s Pakistani counterpart ISI as an agency of bumbling idiots. The Pakistani agents, especially its head Murtaza, (Sunny Hinduja) are smart, shrewd, astute and often one step behind if not ahead of the Indian spies. Of course, for a series titled Saare Jahan Se… it’s obvious who will be the ultimate winner. Until the inevitable happens, it’s almost a war of equals. Both Pratik Gandhi as ace Indian spy Vishnu and Sunny Hinduja as Murtaza do justice to their respective nations in their reel parts and rise to the demand of their characters. Most actors are on even keel and Tillotama c m y b Shome may not get much to do, but as Vishnu’s disgruntled wife, she nails her part. Writers and creator whip up enough tension and spin a few emotive moments too. Double life of a spy comes with its own set of dilemmas. Competent Suhail Nayyar’s Rafiq urf Sukhbir’s character and act brings it out poignantly. Not that this espionage drama is perfect. Loopholes are aplenty. Why doesn’t Murtaza grill Pakistani traitor (Anup Soni) hard enough. Lovely Kritika Kamra’s Fatima, an upright Pakistani journalist’s involvement in the spy maze, too, is a bit of stretch. But where the series truly works is it does not make covert operations a one-man mission. Besides, in the high-stakes spy game, where we often are on tenterhooks, it does manage to convey the undying spirit of unsung heroes. Boney shares emotional post on Sridevi’s 62nd birth anniversary It has been seven years since the world lost Sridevi, but her legacy and charm are still alive in the hearts of her millions of fans. On her 62nd birth anniversary on August 13, family, friends, and admirers fondly remembered the legendary actress. Among those who shared heartfelt tributes was her husband, film producer Boney Kapoor. Posting a beautiful still of Sridevi from her film English Vinglish on Instagram, he expressed how she remains forever young in his heart. Calling her ‘26’ even today, he wrote, “Yes, you are not 62 today. You are 26. Happy birthday; we are still reliving all your happy birthdays.” He shared another post, where he reminisced about a birthday party from 1990. He recalled how, with a cheeky smile, he told Sridevi she was turning “26” even though she was actually 27 just to make her laugh. The caption of the post read, “In 1990, her birthday party in Chennai when I wished her happy 26th birthday while it was her 27th birthday to make her feel that she had gone younger & it was a compliment that with every passing day she was getting younger but she taught I was teasing her.” In a career spanning over five decades, Sridevi was honoured with several prestigious awards and was also given the Padma Shri. —ANI