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Fashion’s big nite
A black SUV sidles up to the curb and out climbs Freida Pinto in Chanel shades and a royal blue Moschino dress, with her makeup artist, the makeup artist’s assistant and her publicist in tow. It’s quite an entourage for the sleepy suburb of Artesia, home to Little India, where mom-and-pop restaurants mingle with sari shops, and the smell of curry floats out of open doors.
But what else would you expect from Pinto, 24, the Indian beauty whose first big-screen role, as Latika in Slumdog Millionaire, has turned her into an award-season sweetheart? In the past few months, the film has won nearly every award possible, and Pinto has been flying from one red carpet to the next — Dubai to Los Angeles, New York to London.
One place she hadn’t been yet was Little India. When she walks into Standard Sweets & Snacks, a casual South Indian snack bar, people barely look up from their lunches.
Nite picking: Freida Pinto is fitted in a turquoise and gold sari by Mala Malani in California.
Photo: Ricardo DeArataha/LAT
Recessionistas on red carpet
Around this time every
year, accessories designer Stuart Weitzman debuts a one-of-a-kind pair
of Oscar shoes festooned with $1 million worth of precious gems. It’s
a stunt he started in 2002, when "Mulholland Drive" actress
Laura Elena Harring pranced down the red carpet in diamond-encrusted
sandals. Since then, actress Regina King and singer Alison Krauss, among
others, have worn the high-profile Cinderella slipper, and the
ploy has always garnered lots of publicity.
Tu hi re
 Before A.R. Rahman
received three Academy Award nominations for his contributions to Slumdog
Millionaire Indian-infused techno soundtrack, he was known across
India as "the Mozart of Madras." He’s long been Bollywood’s
best-known composer, a household name for his love ballads, offbeat
world rhythms and patriotic pop hits that have sold more than 100
million albums, making him one of the world’s top-selling artists. But
for Rahman, Slumdog’s fluid soundtrack is the culmination of
his accomplishments. "The reason I love Slumdog
is because the music is all world cultures, all celebrating," he
said in an interview from Los Angeles, which his entire extended family
is visiting for Oscar night. "In India, I know people feel other
film scores (of mine) are closer to their hearts. But when you are doing
a film, it’s very important to make the film look like one full piece
of artwork. I think scoring Slumdog with every kind of music
possible, from Chinese to hip-hop to M.I.A. ... was really fresh ground
for me."
Oscars curse
When Hollywood stars hit the red carpet in hopes of snagging an Oscar, sometimes they should be careful what they wish for. An Academy Award can cap a career like that of director Martin Scorsese The Departed or put a veteran actor like Chris Cooper Adaptation on Hollywood’s map with greater access to better roles and higher salaries. But for others it can be a box-office curse. Past winners Nicole Kidman, Renee
Zellweger, Halle Berry, Adrien Brody and Cuba Gooding Jr. have not had a major hit in years, even though many are still sought after by Hollywood studios. Kidman won an Oscar for 2002’s The Hours, but has never headlined a big hit.
Spectacle slowdown
 The cultural and botanical fiesta of the city, the Rose festival has begun and so you expect nothing less than a full house, curious but admiring tourists, cultural panorama of folk artists from the country, the playful but wobbly camel rides and a dozen varieties of roses everywhere.
Colours of festival came out bright with these young girls walking through the roses.
Photo by Pradeep Tewari
A Sound art
The inaugration of the rose festival was no lees in grandeur and the royal sound was provided by the Joint clinic of five brass bands, from police and homeguards, that performed for the first time here. The joint clinic was conducted by Inspector Hari Prasad from Punjab police, Jallandhar. In another action-packed performance of the traditional Sikh martial arts, Satpal Singh Baggi, from Mohali and his students displayed their lethal skills. Wearing traditional attires, dumalla with shingaar, it was pure unadulterated dose of culture.
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With less roses in garden, make do with the ones on the wall
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Where’s the crowd? |
 Of brawn and brain
Gladrags came calling to the city for Megamodel and Manhunt
One thing Maureen Wadia so much wanted to do on the auditions of
Gladrags, Megamodel and Manhunt, 2009 was to jostle up contestants and scream at them, "Wake up to reality." But then, there is always a difference between what you wish to do and what you can do. So, all Maureen could do was regret this fact, "Wish I could do it but if not me then life will make them face reality." And that is what in fact bothers her, "I know life will be much harsher a teacher than me. I hope they learn lessons of life before it is too late," wishes Maureen who was in city on Friday to shortlist contenders for the event. Amen! We too made this earnest wish as one by one, young boys gave auditions.
Slum boys on red carpet
Two Mumbai slum kids set for fairytale journey to Oscars
They have never boarded a plane, lived in a pucca house or attended a proper school. But little Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail will still journey into a star-studded world as they attend the glitzy Oscars ceremony on Feburary 22.
The lives of these Mumbai slum children have taken a fairytale spin just like the story of Slumdog Millionaire, the film by director Danny Boyle that they famously star in and which has bagged 10 nominations at the 81st Academy Awards.On Thursday, they will fly off to walk the red carpet and rub shoulders with the who’s who of Hollywood at the Oscars.“I think we will win all the awards.
 Slumdog
to Pinki,
India’s the flavour
From a Mumbai tea boy’s journey to
fame and fortune in Slumdog Millionaire to a UP girl’s story of
overcoming the social stigma of a cleft-lip in Smile Pinki, stories
from India are the flavour of the Oscars this year. While the debate
continues whether Slumdog Millionaire should be considered an
Indian film or not, expectations are high over A R Rahman winning an
Oscar. The musician has earned three nominations under the Best Original
Score and Best Original Song for Jai Ho and O Saya.
Production crew members place an Oscar statue on a cart during preparations for the 81st annual Academy Awards in Los Angeles
REUTERS/Phil McCarten
Hathaway to perform
In the right direction
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