Festive flair
With the festival season arriving early this year, we see summer styles blending into winter colours and cuts
Brocade lined, velvet embedded; dori worked, replete with zardozi, crystal, swarovski and gotta patti work, the festive collection (read Karva Chauth and Diwali) has made use of fabrics, which are translucent and light weight, but heavily worked. From simple cuts to modern silhouettes, the Indian sensibility is beautifully maintained in all that we saw for the festive ensemble.

Fit for a man
Well, the festive season is not for women alone, our men too need something to dress in. A quick look around the city shops and what we found were plain kurta-pyjamas in silk and cotton, sherwanis and smart achkan-style kurta. 

Picks & piques
Sweetly engaging
An appreciable first-time effort, Ayan Mukherji’s Wake Up Sid is an eminently likeable, light romance. There’s very little substance to it but the amiable treatment and believable performances make it ever so endearing! The beauty of the movie or the lack of it, lies in the casting. Sid, short for Siddharth is played by Ranbir Kapoor who comes into this role with very little baggage, considering he hasn’t had much of a run at the BO with his earlier movies and so does not really have the legitimacy to curry favour as a star.

Manic nonsense!
David Dhawan is back on the grind, churning out yet another of his tried and tested formula film with his favourite hero Govinda, together espousing the vulgarity and decadence of a perverted and uninventive mindset.

Rock Star

These boys have a day out at the Rock Garden.Lifestyle photo:Parvesh Chauhan

Mysha meri jaan
Apart from movies, Rani’s niece keeps her busy
Celebrities are known for their indulgences apart from their packed schedules. But what keeps actor Rani Mukerji busy other than her professional commitments is her niece Mysha. 

Power failure
This summer seems endless. It started in March and is still raging. I am getting so desperate that I am on the verge of denouncing Chandigarh as my chosen home. And now, we are beset with rotational power cuts.

The big picture
The latest product to enter the market, from Acer's bandwagon is a 23" wide TFT LCD monitor. The H5 series, from Acer, featuring an ultra-high contrast ratio of up to 100000:1 (ACM).

Colour & Shine
Get a burst of radiant and sparkling color this season while keeping your lips moisturised and nails super polished with Avon's much awaited Simply Pretty Colorbliss Sparkles Collection comprising the Avon Simply Pretty Color Bliss Lipstick and Nail Enamel. Designed to make you feel like a million bucks and exude youthful looks, the Simply Pretty Color Bliss Lipstick is infused with the goodness of Vitamin E, aloe extracts and jojoba oil that keeps your lips soft and supple all day long adding a hint of glitter to them.

Akshara apart
In the city, we find some commonality, some contrast between TV actor Hina Khan's real and reel persona
There isn't much of a difference between the on-screen and off-screen personalities. Akshara is family oriented and so is Hina Khan. Akshara gives her best to make things works out just as Hina would, for any given situation. The actor, Hina Khan, and her character, Akshara, are just the mirror image, with same attitude and demeanour, "And this makes it easy for me to understand the character, emote and act well," says Hina Khan, aka Akshara of Ye Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, who was in the city to be a part of a Tanishq event. And the jewellery she likes is, " Very traditional. I like jewellery that's oxidized and has the antique look."

Made for music
In the city, classical vocalist Sanjukta Ghosh talks about melody and more… 
Born and raised in a musical family; reverberating with drone of tanpura, soulful strains of contemplative music and soothing rhythmic beats, the Kolkata based classical vocalist Sanjukta Ghosh regards music as a dynamic progressive phenomenon that grows with the evolution of life.Initiated into music by her vocalist mother Anima Sengupta, she learnt music for 18 years from Ustad Munawar Ali Khan the disciple son of legendary Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saheb. 

Bouquet of bedwear
Pronounced as po-pur-ree, Maspar, brings in the gentle fragrance of distant flowers in its new collection, the Potporri- a sheer medley of warmth, aroma and passion combined with festive colours and touched with vivid botanical motives especially for your homes this Diwali.

Star trek It was a star-studded event everywhere, as various Bollywood actors made their presence felt at movie premieres and music launches

Red riding hood:Lara Dutta attends the Do Knot Disturb' movie premiere in Mumbai AFP PHOTO,Kat call: Actor Katrina Kaif poses while attending the soundtrack launch for Bollywood movie Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani in Mumbai. Plum in purple: Actor Sofia chaudhari (L) and Sushmita Sen attend the Do Knot Disturb movie premiere in Mumbai.

Touch wood!
From recycled furniture by jail inmates to temple decorations, this exhibition had wide variety
Haven't we had enough of the fests, exhibition, lifestyle fairs? It's festival and wedding season and going by the parking chaos…err…queues, but the tricity still has room for more. Anyways, this one's called Oktober fest and since something's better than nothing, the more the merrier! Ok, so this one was all about designer wear, jewellery, lifestyle products, home décor, furnishing, etc etc. Let's get exploring.

Nawabi nazakat
The Taj, Chandigarh brings you from the kitchens of the nawabs of Awadh vegetarian and non-vegetarian delights. Handed over with traditional 'nazakat' by the Shahi Khansamas at Dera, the Indian specialty restaurant the

Apparel and more
Aarti, Naini and Aarshi Gupta (three sisters from the city), have launched Soh-Koh Clothing Inc, a new multi-designer fashion retail store in Sector 26. With an array of designer collection from across the country here you can pick Neeta Bhargava, Falguni and Shane Peacock's designs or Deepti Toor, Paromita Banerjee or Nachikaet Barve's latest collection.

Fashion forward
ITC’s Wills Lifestyle announces the launch of their Autumn-Winter 2009 Collection. 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 fashion accessories for both men and women.Wills Lifestyle is proud to celebrate the noble game of Polo and high life associated with it.

Colour your world
This Diwali make your dream come true with Dulux and get set to win a flat, Maruti Dzire cars, LCD TV’s, A.C.’s, laptops, music systems and a range of other exciting prizes. This festive season Dulux has announced a mega consumer promotion ‘Colour your World’. The promotion, which is already on, gives consumers an opportunity to indulge themselves and stay in a festive mood till a very long time. Every participant wins an assured prize along with the opportunity to win any of the exciting prizes.

Fit for winters
Oswal Knit India Ltd., manufacturers of reputed brans like “Pringle of Scotland” and “Casablanca” are now introducing a premium Italian brand—Gadoni’ in the Indian Market. Under a JV agreement with Gadoni of Italy, Oswal knit India ltd. The company will market the complete range of garments under Gadoni brand. The Gadoni range of knitwears, being made from finest woolen worsted yarns (sourced from 150 years old world class Italian manufacturer) will be available from the coming winter season. 

For a flawless skin
Say hello to flawless, glowing skin everyday and everywhere. Garnier presents Garnier Skin Natural Daily moisturizer in an easy-to-use on-the-move pack. Now stay beautiful on the Go!!!Enriched with pure lemon essence and Vitamin C that help to clarify and smoothen your skin, this is a scientifically tested product and also gives you the benefit of SPF 15.

Seize the Pitt
I want to kidnap Brad Pitt, says Dia Mirza
Actor Dia Mirza is a huge fan of Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt and the actor, who plays the character of femme fatale in Acid Factory says she would love to kidnap Pitt if given a chance.

Clay craft The annual Leepakshi exhibition at Lajpat Rai Bhavan has an assortment of fabrics, home décor items and hand-crafted stuff.

Green with envy: Great to look, these pieces can make your garden look more green.Mud magic: Adorn your home with these clay pieces. Light up your world: This Ganesha diya stand makes for perfect lighting piece.Photos: Parvesh Chauhan

  Big chance
Shamita Shetty, Poonam Dhillon in Big Boss 3
Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty found international fame with the UK based show Big Brother and now younger sister Shamita Shetty is stepping into the world of reality TV with Big Boss.The third season of the popular show will be high on glamour with Shetty's housemates being yesteryear's beauty Poonam Dhillon and item girl Sherlyn Chopra. The show, which airs from October 4 on Colors, has already grabbed headlines by roping in none other than superstar Amitabh Bachchan to play 'pop philosopher'.

Jab we never met
We did not meet Julia Roberts, says Sharmila Tagore 
Actor Sharmila Tagore is furious over media reports that her family, including Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, met Hollywood star Julia Roberts, who is staying at their ancestral palace in Haryana.Roberts is in India to shoot for her upcoming movie Eat, Pray, Love at an Ashram in Pataudi. The Oscar-winning actor is staying with her three children at the Pataudi Palace, which has been converted to a heritage hotel.

What the cards say today...