CHANDIGARH INDEX


Stars shine down
The muhurat shot of Nishchey Kar Apni Jeet Karoon saw a galaxy of actors in the city 
Tulip Joshi
Tulip Joshi
Some are stars and some are actors. And it's raining stars these days - some big, some small. This Wednesday we saw the cast and crew of Nishchey Kar Apni Jeet Karoon in the city for their muhurat shot. Present there were director Puneet Isarr, lead protagonist Gulzar Chahal, lead female actor- Brooke Johnston and our own gossamer beauty Tulip Joshi. Brooke Johnston
Brooke Johnston — Photos by S. Chandan

Munda Punjabi
Gulzar Chahl, apna munda from Patiala, plays the lead in the movie. Though this is his first feature film as a protagonist, he had earlier played a cameo in Jag Jiyundya De Mele and has also produced the movie along with Harbhajan Mann. More to his credit, our man is a sportsperson and has played the junior world cup cricket in 1996. A Nahar and Puneet Moviez Pvt Ltd production, this film would also see the company's corporate foray into Bollywood. A Rs 50 crore project, this movie would see a worldwide release. 
Photo by S. Chandan

Injured foot forward
Actress Eva Longoria’s dress is adjusted by a publicist on the red carpet of the 66th annual Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, California recently. 

While other stars tried to put their best foot forward for the Golden Globe Awards on January 11, Eva Longoria Parker had to hobble up the red carpet, because she badly sprained her ankle. The Desperate Housewives’ star got injured at one of hubby Tony Parker’s basketball games.The pretty lady had to wear an ankle brace under her stunning red Reem Acra gown for the event. “It hurt, like, two or three days after and now I can’t walk,” she said —ANI
Photo: Reuters

Titanic crush
Teen starlet Miley Cyrus feels that she’s destined to be Leonardo DiCaprio’s wife. The Hannah Montana star admitted to having a crush on the Titanic star after she spotted the actor at the Golden Globe Awards on January 11. “I saw my husband, Leonardo DiCaprio. I didn’t meet him,” she was quoted. However, Cyrus said that DiCaprio is oblivious of her feelings. “He doesn’t know I’m his wife but I will be one day,” she said. —ANI

Knotty thoughts 
Here’s some good news for Renee Zellweger’s male fans: the beauty has declared that she’s open to marrying again. The Bridget Jones’ Diary star annulled her four month marriage with Kenny Chesney in 2005.However, the 39-year-old actress, who has been previously linked to Jim Carrey and George Clooney, hasn’t ruled out marrying again. “I never say never about anything because I look back on my own personal history and it shocks me,” Zellweger said in a recent interview.She added: “If I would ever have said, ‘Oh, for sure this is going to be in my future,’ most of my experiences would not have been on my list. So I don’t even bother thinking about it, because I’ve learned that there’s no anticipating that stuff.” —ANI

Technologically challenged 
Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore showed off her pierced tongue at the Golden Globes red carpet recently. The 33-year-old actress was seen sporting a stud in the tongue as she walked down the red carpet. “I got it done about six months ago,” she said. While the whole world is under the spell of technological advancement, the Charlie’s Angel’s star insists that a thing as simple as text messaging freaks her out. In an interview to a magazine, she admitted that even texting makes her crazy. “I’m at the bottom rung of technology - even text messaging freaks me out,” she said. —ANI

Green with envy
American actor Megan Fox has publicly blasted her fiancé American actor Brian Austin Green for not escorting her to the Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills. Fox, who was among the presenters, had arrived at the event minus Green causing a lot of speculation.“He doesn’t wanna be here. He doesn’t want to be my date. He’s a man, he has an ego,” she was quoted as saying. On further questioning, Fox replied that the actor was probably at home, making music. “I don’t think he cares (about the Golden Globes),” she added. —ANI

Director’s cut
Puneet Isarr is all perked up about his latest directorial venture
Known for his robust body and fondly remembered as Duryodhan, Puneet Isarr is the man who has donned the director’s cap for movie Nishchey Kar Apni Jeet Karoon. Well, this is his fourth project as a director and he says, “ I am into direction since 1995. I have made tele-serials like Hindustani and Jai Mata ki and my first directorial debut was Garv—Pride and honour that starred Salman Khan and Shilpa Shetty.”

Photo by S. Chandan

Sand and sensibilities
Shakuntala Panwar from Udaipur prefers Rajasthani folk over kathak 
Folk music and dance are two integral part of any musical culture which reflect one’s heritage and life styles,” believes Nritya Shiromani Pandit Shakuntala Panwar. The noted kathak and folk dancer guru Shakuntala had the rare privilege of being honoured by five former Presidents of India from time to time besides the Shah of Iran and President of Indonesia. Shakuntala with her troupe ‘Shaakuntalam’ has made Rajasthani folk dances popular in 36 countries and all regions in India.

Photo by S. Chandan

Strauss’ centenarian
On the centenary of Claude Lévi-Strauss, known as ‘astronomer of the human constellations’ whose work had radical influenced Western thinking, Alliance Française in association with the French Embassy is organising a lecture in Punjab University. The lecture is by Vincent Debaene, assistant professor of French, Columbia University, New York on the anthropologist’s works’ relevance today.

Grab your garb
ITC’s Wills Lifestyle presents a new range exquisite collection for this winter season. The nationwide chain of specialty stores offers a complete fashion wardrobe comprising Wills Signature Designer wear, Wills Classic formal wear, Wills Sport relaxed wear, Wills Clublife evening wear and complementing fashion accessories for both men and women. Men’s collection includes Avner sweaters with stunning pattern and vibrant styling, Gerard sweaters with stylish mock neck. The kenway tweed jacket with premium Italian wool comes with a stylish appeal.

Head start

A model displays a creation by Gianni Castelli at the Hong Kong Fashion Week for
A model displays a creation by Gianni Castelli at the Hong Kong Fashion Week for 
Fall/Winter 2009 on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Writeback
The Tribune (Lifestyle January 11) had a heart-warming photograph of a group of a-day- old-Emu chicks. Their eyes so trusting of the world they behold! Then followed the long and chilling text of how these “Avian Guests” will first be fattened and then slaughtered. Guests indeed! Of course, anyone is entitled to any commercial enterprise of his/her choosing but there is no need for the downright charade to even suggest that a breeder-cum-consigner of birds to the abattoirs at heart, “a lover of birds.” Why make a mockery of those sublime human qualities of the heart called love and compassion?
Lt General(Retd), Baljit Singh, Chandigarh.

Beauty and the beast
Opposites attract but an appearance mix-match can sometimes become a mismatch
WE have seen couples marrying outside their caste, race and religion, couples that find it hard to bear the pressures of discrimination. But to break the monotony of some age-old traditional biases, more contemporary ones have surfaced. Well, say about marrying outside your looks. Marriage as the union of two souls and well…two people belonging to different categories in matters of physical beauty.

I vow to…
The desire for companionship makes people enter matrimony yet again. Over 50 per cent people remarry with a desire to start a family
A recent survey undertaken by the leading remarriage portal -Secondshaadi.com revealed various reasons for remarriages in India. The poll revealed that the maximum people decide to remarry to start a family (53 per cent). The second most accepted reason for remarriage is a yearning for 'companionship' as reported by 38 per cent of the members. The results were obtained from an online poll conducted amongst 1000 members of Secondshaadi.com. The poll consisted of two sections: my reasons for remarrying and my reasons for divorce.

Write to renee

No arguments please!
Love hurts, they say. Loved ones mean the world to us, but it's with them only that we end up arguing. Having different views on some issue, we try aggressively to persuade the other to buy our point of view without giving a thought to his or her perspective. Ever found yourself fretting over an argument that could have avoided had you been little considerate. Once it's over, only then realising things that could have been left unsaid or those that were never meant to be said.Worry not, we have a handy list to avoid the avoidable:

True love stays on forever
If you thought true love was something just restricted to movies and soaps, then here's a piece of information: brain scans have revealed that couples can respond with as much passion after 20 years as most people exhibit only in the first flush of love. Shakespeare once said that "Love is an ever-fixed mark / That looks on tempests and is never shaken". Now, it seems, he was telling the truth, at least that's what researchers at Stony Brook University in New York think.

Neck-in-neck

A flock of geese compete with one another on a sunny afternoon at Sukhna Lake.
A flock of geese compete with one another on a sunny afternoon at Sukhna Lake. Photo: S. Chandan