17062026-LSTC-01.qxd 6/17/2026 12:53 AM Page 1 c m y b KUNAL TO HOST REALITY SHOW Kunal Kemmu is set to debut as a host for the new reality series titled Alliance. The series is the first international adaptation of Talpa Studios’ globally acclaimed Dutch format, created by John de Mol, with the adaptation produced by Banijay Asia. TRIBUNE On board Life Anya Taylor-Joy has joined the cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, the upcoming fantasy epic from New Line and Warner Bros. The Golden Globe-winning actor and Emmy nominee will portray Seren. CHANDIGARH | WEDNESDAY | 17 JUNE 2026 Shape of a storyteller Nonika Singh “I ‘IT’S DISCOURAGING’ Shape of Momo is currently playing in cinemas across India and Nepal too. But the query whether the film has locked date with OTT, infuriates Tribeny Rai, “It is very discouraging for indie makers to be asked when the film would be available on OTT or YouTube?” Women should get to decide what is progressive enough and what is liberal enough. I should be able to say I am empowered enough. Not others. Yet, I think my film is as much about rebellion as endurance. The society I come from, change is ever so gentle. AM ready to be a difficult person, as long as I get to be who I am,” says filmmaker Tribeny Rai whose internationally acclaimed debut feature film Shape of Momo echoes similar sentiments. Coming from Sikkim, a region we consider far less patriarchal than North India, she insists that misogyny is ingrained in our social fabric, only the degree varies. Response to her film, which has won many international awards, including Taipei Film Commission Award and the Songwon Vision Award at Busan Film Festival, has been overwhelming, proving regional is universal and how a deeply personal story resonates with audiences. She reasons, “When you tell a story with honesty people automatically connect.” Compared to mainland India, North-East is certainly progressive. So, what was the trigger — an image or a memory? She smiles, “My whole life. When you come from a family of four daughters, are treated as second class citizens with people telling you how your parents really needed a son and you try to be a son your parents never had, everything flows organically.” It’s a great time for women to be telling their stories, says filmmaker Tribeny Rai, whose debut feature film Shape of Momo has generated significant buzz on the international festival circuit Interestingly, she began the film hoping to find an answer to the question plaguing her. But after making the film, she has more questions. To the query if women makers can balance the world better for women, she observes, “Women alone can’t empower women. You need empathetic men like my producer and cowriter Kislay. Still, it’s a great time for women to be telling their stories.” If lack of North-East’s representation in mainstream cine- ma perturbed her, so did the realisation as to how NorthEasterners are made to play simpletons, exotic creatures or shamans, basically second fiddle even when films are about them. But for this anomaly she quips, “You can’t blame your neighbours for not telling your story. We need to be heroes in our own stories.” With host of films from North-East, including Lakshmipriya Devi’s Boong and Rima Das’ Village Rockstars 2, breaking out in the interna- tional scene, she reminds us how filmmakers like renowned Assamese director Jahnu Barua have been making films for the longest time. But currently, they are creating a buzz with greater consistency and frequency. In future, she would like to focus on her region, and continue to champion women who need not always be righteous, can be flawed too, for she quips, “That’s what human beings are.” Indeed, there is a price to be paid for being non-conformist, but as she puts it, “The freedom it grants you is incomparable.” As a song in her film goes, ‘If you are a flower you see the world as a flower and if you are a thorn you see the world as a thorn,’ what does she think women are? She deems, “Women can be whoever they want to be.” So, to all those women out there, including her friend Payal Kapadia, also executive producer of her film along with Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, she gives a big shout-out. She shares, “Shape of Momo is not my journey alone but of hundreds of brave ones who have the gumption to be difficult, different, complex and dare to not fit in,” By the way unlike Bishnu of Shape of Momo, Tribeny can make perfect momos and a near perfect film too. Glimpse of Rudralokh Sonam Kapoor has delighted fans with a rare glimpse of her younger son, Rudralokh, in a series of candid photographs from her birthday celebrations. The actor, who turned 41 on June 9, shared a digital “birthday dump” on social media featuring moments from the celebration attended by her family members and close friends. WHAT’S HOT eat chandigarh NAWABI STYLE T HIS June, a royal culinary exchange unfolds at The Oberoi Sukhvilas Resort & Spa, Chandigarh, as the legendary flavours of Hyderabad’s celebrated Nizami Dastarkhwan arrive in town. The menu features iconic Patthar Ka Gosht, Chapa Vepudu, Shakarkand Palak Patta Chaat and Guthi Vankaya Kura. It’s on from June 24 till June 29. ludhiana S SUFI MEHFIL TUDIO MASTAANI is set to host a soulful evening on June 17 as singer Navy Virat brings his Sufi mehfil to the city. Beginning at 9 pm, the three-hour performance promises heartfelt vocals, acoustic tones, and poetry steeped in ishq and noor, creating an intimate and divine atmosphere for music lovers. laugh chandigarh SHAYARI & STORIES B ISTOCK play ADAL SHARMA’s Husband Material makes a stop at The Laugh Club: Chandigarh on June 20. Known for blending heartfelt shayari and relatable stories, Sharma brings his poetry to the spotlight with his brand new story, Teri Kahaani. The comedy and poetry solo show begins at 4pm with tickets priced at ~499. Before the inverter became a lifeline, homes in North India had their own tricks. Most of them still work Ananya Verma June in North India and the mercury has crossed 44 degrees in several cities this week. Inside most homes, the ceiling fan is running at full speed and doing half the job. Coolers are struggling with the dry heat. Power cuts are back. And, for a large number of households where a split AC is either unaffordable or simply not an option - the question is a practical one: how do you actually keep a home cooler without one? The answers, it turns out, have been around for a very long time. In the walls, the floor, the curtain at the window, and the roots of a grass that was cooling Indian rooms long before electricity arrived. Beat the heat the old way PAINT IT WHITE Every summer, your roof absorbs eight to 10 hours of direct sunlight. That heat travels downward. White paint interrupts this at the source. It reflects sunlight rather than absorbing it - a passive process that requires nothing from you after the first coat. The lighter the surface, the less heat crosses into your home. The roof matters most. Walls come second. Even a single coat makes a difference. HANG A WET KHUS CURTAIN Khus or vetiver grass has been c m y b hanging in Indian doorways and windows for centuries. It works through evaporative cooling. When a breeze moves through a wet khus curtain, the evaporating water pulls heat out of the air before it enters the room. The temperature of incoming air can drop by anywhere between five and fifteen degrees Celsius. They work best in hot, dry climates. CHOOSE THE RIGHT FLOOR Walk barefoot on Kota stone on a May afternoon and you’ll understand immediately. The fine-grained lime- stone quarried in Rajasthan stays cool as it absorbs heat slowly through the day and releases it gradually at night. Its microscopic pores allow a small but meaningful exchange of air, similar to how a clay pot keeps water cold. Marble behaves the same way. Both are better at staying cool than ceramic tiles, which heat up fast and hold it. If you’re renovating, this is the detail worth getting right. TOUCH OF GREEN Plants cool rooms through transpiration — they draw water from soil and release it as vapour through their leaves, which lowers the temperature of the air around them. The ones that do this best in Indian homes are not exotic. Aloe vera releases moisture steadily and needs almost no attention. The snake plant transpires efficiently and releases oxygen at night, making it worth keeping in a bedroom. Peace lily works well in shadier rooms. Areca palm is the most effective of the group at humidifying dry air and looks good doing it. KEEP THE SUN OUT This is the one that most people get backwards. Pulling thick curtains inside a room after sunlight has already entered does very little as the heat is already in. The point is to stop it at the glass. Heavy cotton curtains in white or off-white, bamboo chiks, or even old-fashioned jute blinds hung on the outside of a west-facing window block direct afternoon sun before it crosses into the room. None of these five things costs very much. None of them require power. And unlike most modern solutions, they don’t stop working when the grid does. The heat isn’t new. Neither are the answers.