Scripts & speeches Jasmine Singh Actor Kunickaa, in town to promote a TV show, sees her future in public life Interview a ‘television actor’? Well, she’ll have the same predictable answers to offer, we presumed. So, we threw at her a set of ratey rataaye questions. But, as soon as she started answering, we realised she was ‘different’. Her answers made a lot of sense. In fact, she sounds quite like a leader. Sure enough, she turns out to be one. We are talking about socio-political activist Kunickaa Sandanand Lall. Behind the façade of a television personality is a strong, secular, humane, individual, who wants to be a part of the new golden India. Kunickaa Sandanand Lall Return of Raza

Ramp robes to sofa spreads
Manpriya Khurana
After fashion designing for the ramp, Varun Bahl is turning to home decor
Ever wished your bedspreads could be designed by the guys who show their creativity on ramps? After all, everybody’s making good clothes while good designers are needed the most in the lifestyle accessories arena.

• Homes alone

OBJECT D’ART Squares in a whole Parbina Rashid More than scenic beauty, artists find the city bursting with inspiration The city wears much more than just the Le Corbusier tag. As put by Maja Weyermann, a Berlin-based artist, who visited the city last year and did a complete series on the city buildings, ‘Chandigarh has a European feel but at the same time is distinctively Indian’. Cityscape: Sanjay Kumar perceives the city through a window

CREATIVE ZONE
Passion unlimited
S.D. Sharma
Behind the success of this man are two names — his wife and Shiv Kumar Batalvi
What does it take one to be an academician, engineer, poet, short story writer, columnist and art critic? The answer is passion. And this is what Govardhan Gabbi has in abundance.

SIDE LANES
The Sudha effect
Joyshri Lobo
She is a diminutive woman, completely unselfconscious and very photogenic. She smiles all the time, talks to the audience with ease without histrionics and whatever she says is personal and for sharing. Her words are simple, sincere and from the depths of her being.

Chiraag Chilli The strawberry-shaped decorative lights are passé. They have been overtaken by the Chinese ones in varied shapes: chillies, plums, apples and what have you These trimmings for Divali decoration have been there since years. Bright and colourful, they actually render meaning to the festival of lights. And yet again, when we went around the city to check out the frills that people are buying to decorate their houses, decorative lights was the obvious choice.

— Photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Lighting up old lives As the festive magic begins, the inmates of Old Age Home-15 celebrated the festive glamour with Britannia. The elderly shared moments of joy by lighting diyas, creating colourful rangoli and singing melodies of yester years. The new 'Shubh Kaamnayein' festive range packs from Britannia were also gifted to them. Inmates of the Old Age Home-15 hold on to their Divali hampers Photo: Parvesh Chauhan

Festive face of gizmos
Apple has introduced a new range of iPods this festive season. With an all-new design, and an amazing set of new features, the world's most popular music player is now available in eight vibrant colours such as silver, purple, blue, green, orange, yellow, pink, and black. You can choose between Nano, Touch, Classic and Shuffle.

Crab this chance If you are fond of seafood, Virsa, the specialty restaurant of Hotel Intercontinental-Mohali, is the place to head for. It has whipped up an authentic seafood festival, starting Thursday. "We Punjabis are fond of seafood," says Sandeep Bhasin, general manager of the hotel. "We have selected the dishes with a lot of care. — Photo: Vicky Gharu

Daddy drool

Actor Shatrughan Sinha and wife Poonam come calling at the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai, where their daughter Sonakshi (left) walked the ramp on Wednesday. PTI photo

Doggies day out
Releasing in theatres worldwide on this Friday Roadside Romeo marks the foray of Yashraj Films in the genre of animation films in India. The film, which has been written and directed by Jugal Hansraj, also marks the entry of Walt Disney productions in India.

Movie merchandise
Disney Consumer Products is geared up to deliver an exceptional product range and content for the latest local offering—Roadside Romeo, apparels, accessories and footwear. The Roadside Romeo apparel collection includes smart T-shirts, skirts and jeans for both boys and girls.

KOFFEE BREAK
Heroes worship
Actor Vatsal Seth says he signed Heroes even without looking at the script
After Nanhe Jaisalmer, Vatsal Seth who debuted with Abbas-Mustan- directed Taarzan—The Wonder Car in 2004, is excited about his new film Heroes, which opens this Friday.

Right here right now Veteran actor Shabana Azmi says this is the best time to be in Bollywood as actors her age have the choicest roles on a platter From being sari-clad, teary-eyed melodramatic mothers to smart, strong and independent women - forty plus actresses are having a ball in Bollywood. Seasoned actress Shabana Azmi says this is the best time for women her age to be in Hindi films. “Earlier, there was hardly any visibility in Bollywood films for women over 40 years except for those cranky, motherly and grandmotherly roles.

Shabana Azmi

Ketan’s colours Ketan Mehta’s forthcoming bilingual film Rang Rasiya, and Colours of Passion in English, will be screened at the 52nd London Film Festival Director Ketan Mehta’s forthcoming bilingual film, Rang Rasiya, in Hindi, and Colours of Passion, in English, will be screened at the 52nd London Film Festival in Mumbai. There will be two screenings on October 25 and 30, according to Anand Mahendroo, who has produced the movie along with Deepa Mehta.

A still from Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya.

A slice of Europe
On Friday, the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage — Movies, Alliance Francaise is holding a special projection of a documentary of portraits by European artists at 11 am. The film that runs 45 minutes with English subtitles is a showcase of the various moments during the construction of Europe.