22082025-LSTC-01.qxd 8/21/2025 7:29 PM Page 1 c m y b LUCKY ALI’S MUSICAL TOUR Lucky Ali has a tour lined up this winter. The singer is all set to kick-start his India tour from Delhi on November 2. He will also perform in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. The tour will be held under the banner, Re: Sound by Jet ALive. Tickets for Jaipur, Guwahati, Mumbai, and Pune will go live soon. TRIBUNE Emily returns Life Emily in Paris is returning with its fifth season. Netflix also shared first-look pictures that confirm Lily Collins’ character Emily will spend part of the season in Venice, Italy. LUDHIANA | FRIDAY | 22 AUGUST 2025 ARYAN KHAN FEELS ‘VERY NERVOUS’ DURING THE BA***DS OF BOLLYWOODEVENT; GIVES A SPECIAL SHOUTOUT TO SRK, GAURI KHAN ‘If I make a mistake, Papa is here’ T HE much-awaited preview video of Aryan Khan-directed The Ba***ds of Bollywood was unveiled on Wednesday. In a grand event held in Mumbai, the preview was launched by superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who brought his signature style and humour to the stage. The actor not only offered a sneak-peek into the making of the show, but also engaged in an interesting conversation with the team. Recalling his first conversation with his son, Aryan Khan, Shah Rukh said, “When Aryan told me that he wanted to make something on Bollywood, which is raw and edgy with madness, I was worried if he was planning to put Mannat’s CCTV footage on YouTube.” “He was actually getting something fresh, unique. It took me a little while to catch the tone of the show. But once I did, I was completely drawn in. I am really very happy about it, not just about the show but for the entire cast that comes for the show. It is the characters that breathe life into a story,” he added. Extending his heartfelt gratitude to the audiences for allowing him to entertain over the past three decades, the Jawan star welcomed his son to the stage. While admitting he was ‘very nervous’ for his first time on the stage, Aryan said, “I have been practising this speech for the past two days, and three nights. I have also made sure to put it in on the teleprompter and with small notes. And even if I make a mistake, Papa is here — backup. “The motive of this show is to bring a lot of entertainment to a lot of people. After four years of hard work, endless discussions, and thousands of takes, the show is finally ready,” he added. Aryan also extended his gratitude to the entire team of The Ba***ds of Bollywood, before inviting his mother, Gauri Khan, to the stage. “Thank you for producing the show and for producing me,” he playfully said. For the event, Aryan was dressed in a complete black ensemble, looking dapper in a matching suit as he perfectly coordinated with his parents. Prior to the preview unveiling, Shah Rukh Khan made sure to introduce the lead cast of the show, including Lakshya, Sahher Bambba, Manoj Pahwa, Mona Singh, Vijayant Kohli, Raghav Juyal, and Anya Singh, among others. Bobby Deol, who plays the character of superstar Ajay Talvar, also made a stunning appearance at the preview launch. The Animal star was full of praise for Aryan. He said, “I have seen Aryan when he was younger and then when he grew up. I felt there was something magical about him as if he was ready to conquer the world. He had that conviction when he narrated the story to me.” “Bohot hard. Aur bohot heart bhi,” the makers wrote, while sharing the preview on Instagram. It will be released on the OTT platform on September 18. —ANI SHAH RUKH KHAN, GAURI KHAN, ARYAN KHAN, SAHHER BAMBBA, MONA SINGH & BOBBY DEOL Gosht Beliram, a dish attributed to Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s cook, is pure delight — never mind my no-tomato rule SILVER SPOON Parbina Rashid In Assam, where I come from, the thumb rule for cooking meat is: no tomato with red meat. Cook it with whatever you like — potato, pumpkin, gourd — but no tomato. It took me a whole lot of patience to explain to my Punjabi husband and the extended family that adding potato to meat is not adulteration by any stretch of imagination. It’s a jugalbandi — of flavour and texture. They refused to buy it. As a compromise, I cut out the potato part, but stood my ground on the ‘no tomato’ rule. Not in my kitchen! So when I was told to try out Gosht Beliram by Vernika Awal, who has conceptualised the new-look Ikk Punjab restaurants for owners Deepika and Rajan Sethi, at a newly opened branch on Madhya Marg, I was a little apprehensive. That’s because all mutton dishes in Punjab taste the same, even if they come with different names – mutton curry, Mutton Rogan Josh (the Punjabi version of Kashmiri Rogan Josh). They all have tomato-based gravy. For the uninitiated, Gosht Beliram traces its origin to the royal kitchen of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, where Khansama Beliram, when asked to cook something different by the Maharaja himself, prepared a lamb dish with a rich gravy. Taken in by its flavour, texture, and taste that came from slow cooking, the Maharaja decided to name the mutton curry after his cook, and the dish came to be known as Gosht Beliram. “Has the recipe of Gosht At Ikk Punjab, we have tried to keep the recipe of Gosht Beliram as authentic as possible. Having said that, I think the original recipe has acquired a few modern twists here and there over its journey through the years. — VERNIKA AWAL ROYAL to the T Beliram been preserved in its original form or has it been getting makeovers over the years?” I asked Vernika, preparing the ground for my next question — whether tomatoes are generously used for this dish too. “We have tried to keep it as authentic as possible but even then I think the recipe has acquired a few modern twists here and there over the years,” she said. As I was getting nowhere, I tried again! “Do you think Khansama Beliram would have used tomatoes for this dish as in all likelihood, tomatoes, a foreign import, would be a rarity those days?” “True, tomatoes came to India about 300 years ago, but Punjabis did adapt to it pretty well. And since Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s reign falls in this period, I am sure his kitchen staff would have access to tomatoes,” she replied. Her answer titled me towards the other choice that I had — Kunna Gosht, a homely type dish cooked in a handi with watery gravy. More of my kind! This is a dish that comes from the Pakistan side of Punjab. In fact, Ikk Punjab, which started its journey seven years back from Delhi, and has c m y b recently added quite a few outlets in Delhi, Gurugram and Chandigarh in recent months, aims to showcase cuisines from both sides of Punjab in their authentic form. So, it has quite a few dishes from the ‘other’ Punjab — Chapli Kabab, Dohra Kabab, Sajji and, of course, Kunna Gosht, which is giving Gosht Beliram a stiff competition. “Kunna Gosht is popular but it lacks the oomph of Gosht Beliram,” Vernika injected this piece of information. For the obvious reason – Gosht Beliram originated in a royal kitchen and Kunna Gosht in a common man’s. So, Gosht Beliram it is, I thought to myself. And as if on a cue, a young boy placed a metal handi full of aromatic mutton and a khameri roti on the side. The aroma was enticing. The rich creamy gravy was dark brownish. The colour came from a generous amount of fried onions and dry-roasted crushed jeera. The mutton, which was marinated with a special garam masala for hours, before Chef Manoj Kumar slow cooked it, melted in the mouth. The khameri roti, which was fresh out of a clay oven, was the perfect companion. The tomato issue soon got relegated to the background, my regional biases forgotten as the symphony of khameri’s crunch and Beliram’s creaminess conquered my taste buds. Like it did to Maharaja Ranjit Singh centuries ago!