15112024-LSTL-01.qxd 11/14/2024 7:56 PM Page 1 c m y b LADY GAGA IN NETFLIX SERIES Superstar Lady Gaga is set to join the cast of Netflix’s hit series Wednesday for its highly anticipated second season. The Oscar and Grammy-winning artiste will have a role in the forthcoming season, currently in production in Ireland. Details of her character remain under wraps. Mona E VERYTHING in life happens for a reason. Actor Sidhant Gupta strongly believes in the dictum. Seen in Nikhil Advani’s Freedom at Midnight, Sidhant was an avid sportsperson in his younger days. He played three sports — cricket, swimming and basketball, representing his state, Jammu & Kashmir, and was on his way to becoming a pilot when he got a foothold in entertainment industry. After numerous modeling assignments, it was the show Tashan-e-Ishq (2015-2016) that earned him widespread recognition. Films Bhoomi and Operation Romeo to his credit, his last web series, Jubilee, saw him play Jay Khanna. In a span of 10 years, he has seamlessly transitioned between different mediums. As he was looking for something challenging post Jubilee, his ‘nose’ landed him the iconic role of Jawaharlal Nehru! He jokes, “Nikhil (Advani) sir looked at my nose and was like ‘oh’. And next, I was wondering if I could pull off the role.” Considering this is his life’s greatest role, Sidhant understands the responsibility that comes with it. “When you play a real character, you want to reach as close to the person as you possibly can,” he avers. Considering the script his Bible, he stayed away from the book Freedom at Midnight that the show takes inspiration from. Instead, he read Nehru. “Thankfully, he had written plenty of books himself and that helped a lot in understanding the person he was.” Exploring recent history, the story of India’s freedom, the series had a couple of revelations that shocked Sidhant. “It was just very enlightening while it was also painful and brutal — the country was being divided by the British. It’s very important where we come from. Everyone needs to know it.” Freedom at Midnight is made on a megabudget, but Sidhant insists there were no easy or fun parts to it. “It’s a painful story, but a significant story that was to be told.” He is equally vociferous about the show’s creator and director Nikhil Advani. Calling him a gift to the industry, Sidhant says, “The way he’s told the story is like as if you are sitting on rocket taking off. The show would further cement his credibility as a filmmaker.” In his life’s most challenging role thus far, Sidhant finds the Midnight Speech to be the tricky one. “Nehru’s Midnight Speech is celebrated throughout the globe, even until today, for all the right reasons. It somehow covered entire history of where we are coming from. It was very emotional to recreate that.” When not acting, Sidhant loves to write. Very much a project-a-time kind of a person, he does complete justice before embarking on his next project. Playing Jinnah Veteran actor Arif Zakaria was in for a surprise when he received a call from Advani’s office about the show. Having read the book Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, he was curious to TRIBUNE Hollywood star Zendaya shared that she feels ‘extra safe’ when she works alongside her boyfriend and star Tom Holland. “It’s actually strangely comfortable…” she said. LUDHIANA | FRIDAY | 15 NOVEMBER 2024 know on how they would turn such a big tome into a show. In the next meeting, he was finalised for the role of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and thus started the journey to what he calls ‘one of his most memorable roles’. Combing through the footage, speeches and literature available, Zakaria trained under a dialect coach in Urdu. Jinnah, an elite lawyer, largely spoke English, and Zakaria in order to take on that mantle went through the whole look, make-up, body language and mannerism process. Most daring of it all was to pick up smoking. “I had to smoke a cigar for the role and it was very hard to start smoking since I have been a non-smoker,” he shares. Thankfully, it wasn’t that hard to quit post the shooting got over! Zakaria enjoyed teaming up with Advani. He is as inspired, as jealous of his craft! “Advani is always a step ahead. As an actor one thinks I have read the scene, I am prepared for it but he always has something new to add to it.” Zakaria mentions how Advani has spent years on the subject, writing and honing each character.” A very intense role, Zakaria enjoyed shooting through Punjab and Rajasthan. “Some projects leave an imprint on you, Freedom at Midnight is one of them.” Over three decades in the industry, he’s been part of iconic projects, right from 1947: SIDHANT GUPTA History revisited Earth to Raazi. Ask him about his memorable roles and he mentions people rather projects. “Ours is one profession where people meet, bonds are formed; you break apart to come together again.” He fondly remembers Kalpana Lajmi, who launched him in Darmiyaan: In Between. Amongst projects he talks of Raazi and Nanak Shah Fakir. “The film based on the life of Baba Nanak was very inspiring,” shares Zakaria, who is a narrator in this one. Zakaria recently did his first Punjabi film titled Mastaney. “I love Punjab — its people, food and culture. Mastaney, directed by Sharan Art, was one good project. I believe film chal bhi gayi.” A couple of shows and films on the anvil, Zakaria is looking forward to the response to Freedom at Midnight, which streams on Sony LIV from today. the ARIF ZAKARIA ON THE SAME LINES at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, on which the show Freedom at Midnight is based, has also been adapted into a fictional drama film Viceroy’s House (2017) by Gurinder Chadha. ■Richard Attenborough’s directorial Gandhi (1982), brings forth the journey of Gandhi, leading the Indian revolt against the British rule through his philosophy of non-violent protest. ■Kamal Haasan-directorial Hey Ram (2000) depicts India’s Partition and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. ■ Partition 1987 is Ken McMullen-directorial which sees Partition from the eyes of the inmates in an asylum. ■Jinnah (1998) is Pakistani–British biographical film, which follows the life of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It has Christopher Lee in the titular role GANDHI screen! India’s official entry to the Oscars 2025, Laapataa Ladies, now rechristened as Lost Ladies, is a ‘very important’ film that talks about women’s freedoms and agency, financial independence, ‘ability to imagine your own futures’ and more, its producers Kiran Rao and Aamir Khan said. “When I heard the story, it really felt very personal to me because I’ve seen so many women who have not had the agency, the choice that I’ve had in my life to do as I please,” Rao said at a special screening of Lost Ladies in New York. “It felt like an amazing story to be able to talk about women’s freedom, financial independence, ability to As Nikhil Advani’s series Freedom at Midnight streams from today, its lead actors Sidhant Gupta and Arif Zakaria, who play Nehru and Jinnah, respectively, say how they faced the challenges that came with the script ■Freedom Ladies who rocked KIRAN RAO Extra safe imagine your own future, which is a luxury for most women in very traditional societies,” she added. Rao, the film’s director, said the movie gave her the chance to use a ‘comedy of errors’ to actually examine deeply entrenched patriarchy. Rao, Khan and Jio Studios’ president — Chairman’s Office, Media and Entertainment — Jyoti Deshpande are currently travelling across the US, headlining special screenings and interacting with audiences about their movie. The film has been pro- c m y b HEY RAM JINNAH Laapataa Ladies talks about women’s freedom and agency, say producers Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao duced by Aamir Khan Productions, Kindling Pictures and Jio Studios. After screenings and discussions in New York, the team is now in Los Angeles as the Oscars Shortlists will be announced on December 17 and the nominations on January 17. The 97th Oscars will take place on March 2, 2025. Speaking at the special screening hosted by fashion designer Prabal Gurung in downtown Manhattan, Khan AAMIR KHAN recalled that he ‘just loved the script’ when he first read. “The script touched me. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It was very entertaining. It was also saying such important things,” he said. Khan, whose movie Lagaan was nominated for the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category in 2002, expressed hope that Lost Ladies connects with the audience in a ‘deep way, in a way that really makes you feel fulfilled, nice and warm inside, and affects you. And so far, I think people have liked it, and they have connected rather deeply with the film’. He added, “Each film has its own journey and each film has its own voice. As filmmakers, it’s our film till the day it’s released and then it belongs to the audience.” Rao said the film was made to ‘spark conversations’. “I hope it continues to do that. I hope it makes people be kind to one another, to go out and give all the women in their lives a big hug, to hold each other up, to support each other,” she said. The movie follows the story of two brides, named Phool and Jaya, who accidentally get swapped during a train journey. It stars Nitanshi Goel and Pratibha Ranta in the lead roles. It also stars Sparsh Shrivastava, Ravi Kishan, Chhaya Kadam, Rachna Gupta and Geeta Aggarwal Sharma. — PTI