Heavenly bodies, shining in Star Plus serials, are twinkling in the city like never before. As apni kudi Ashima Bhalla and two other rising stars descend here for broadening the horizons of their serials, Saurabh Malik catches up with the luminaries The entire world’s a stage for her. And the many parts she plays in her real life are reflected naturally in the versatility of her reel-life characters.Ask her, and the young doe-eyed gal from the city, Ashima Bhalla, says she tries to be as natural as possible in front of the arc-lights. And that’s the secret of her dazzling success. A poor(ey) show You try reaching out for the ‘stars’ with your feet on the ground. But as the small screen celebrities make you wait outside their hotel room even after fixing an appointment, you get the impression that they are nothing less than leading lights of Bollywood.Right, meeting them is as tough as catching a falling star — that’s exactly how you feel as ‘Kasturi’ Shubhangi Atre Poorey has her grub in the room, while you shift your weight from one leg to another in the corridor.

Oh-so-hot Shah Rukh Khan’s lover boy role in DDLJ impresses him. And that’s the kind of character Karan Patel, aka Robbie Sabharwal, likes to slip into after moving out of the small screen. But until then, the young heartthrob of tele fans is happy playing the part Ekta of Balaji Telefilms has chosen for him.                         Destiny’s child Outgoing, confident and talented. From homework to working on-set for long hours, these kids in glam world do it all Parbina Rashid Is it hard to be a child? Well almost! Specially when you are four-year-old and have to convince the grown ups that it is classical that you want to dance rather than learning western that your parents have chosen for you. And above all, to prove yourself right. Or, for a ten-year-old to go against the trend to assert that kathak is her destiny!But we have our strong-willed brigade who knows what they want and how to go about it. Like for instance Namrata Singh.

First Day First Show

• Naqaab
• Harry Potter...

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Campus comes to life
Saurabh Malik
Fellows, it’s the complete resurgence of campus life. With the classes yet to commence and admissions to most courses almost over, it’s time for the students to enjoy some cool lessons in pleasure and to bring the campus alive with their lively laughter.If you still haven’t witnessed the action, sneak peak into MCM DAV College or any other institute. You’ll see freshness, still not staled by academic heat and other pressures, on the blooming visages of youngsters.

Wide Angle

Six members of SAAHAS scale the height of the Himalayas and return with an armful of pictures Parbina Rashid Do not scoff it off as yet another exhibition on Leh-Ladakh. We know— you all are too familiar with Khandung La Pass or Pengong Tso Lake or Deepak Taal. Thanks to numerous adventurous souls who like to explore the rough mountain terrain and capture it all in their Nikons. It may or may not have too great an artistic value, but according to V.S. Kundu, president of Spiritual, Artistic And Humanitarian Adventure Society, it is an exhibition to relive the memory of a 16-day expedition that started on June 12 for six nature lovers.

Paris returns sans shoes
Socialite Paris Hilton was spotted returning home without her shoes at 5 in the morning after a night of excessive partying. The former jailbird had been to a party at the Sunset Tower Hotel and looked weary after a night of festivity However, the hotel heiress’ representative said that Hilton was exhausted after visiting San Francisco for presenting her new jeans line to Macy’s.

• Stalker-trouble for Britney

Coming out of shadows
Seems like Deepa Mehta’s ‘Water’ has inspired telle-ville as well. A social issue like widow remarriage, after setting the silver screen on fire, has now been captured by Sahara One’s Solhah Singaar. The serial captures the saga of Meerra— a window, who’d fought against social prejudice to get her own widowed mother Alaknanda remarried.

MATKA CHOWK
Flower Follies
Sreedhara Bhasin
We— the Sukhna lake regulars— enjoy the pond of water lilies at the end of the jogging trail. It makes our city beautiful. However, I felt uneasy to see some enthusiastic bravehearts wading into the water and plucking out a few luscious blooms this morning. One can argue that one or two plucked lilies will not be missed in a lake full of them. But, do we really want to start the ‘un-Chandigarh’ trend of plucking flowers?

On the dance floor Saurabh Malik Afternoon party fever is once again going up in the city. And catching the swinging infection are college and varsity students out to chill in sultry weather. Guys, just in case you are wondering why the teenyboppers are practically gluing themselves to the dance floor in afternoons when it is so sticky outside, ask Jeet Brar. The choreographer-turned-event manager will tell you all about it. “After over three months of break, college and varsity life is getting back in full swing.If you still haven’t seen the crowd cutting footloose to the thumping beats of reverberating music during these “hot” parties, just drive down in the afternoon to one of the burning-with-excitement youth joints. You will find youngsters dancing their way to delight as in-house and guest disc jockeys spin the tracks, delightfully and dexterously.

HAYWIRE Perils of not being Potter-struck  Chetna Keer Banerjee “I’d like to order a copy of….” The countenance of the girl at the bookstore puckered into a knowing smile. A grin born of self-assurance at having a finger on the readers’ pulse.“You’d like to book the new Harry Potter.” It was more a statement than a poser. “Err…no.’ The stuttered response I delivered bordered on the apologetic. Such was the impact produced by the northward darting of the salesgirl’s eyebrow. Must be batty if she isn’t potty about Potter, her penetrating gaze seemed to indicate.It’s another matter that JKR’s loss was other fiction’s gain, as I reeled off the names of authors who’re seasoned surely, though not the toast of the season. But when booklovers the world over are waiting with baited breath for the grand finale of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, to not share the Potter mania is to be like the Wizard of Odd.

• Health tip of the day