Power-puff girls
Super models, Dipannita Sharma and Indrani Das Gupta give an insight into the glam world
Let the pessimists cling on to their bygone era's agenda, "Stop discrimination against women" or even to their present concern, "Be wary of casting couch", while we be all positive. Helping us in the cause is Dipannita Sharma, an actor and a model, in the city on Sunday to walk the ramp for a Classic Jewellery fashion show put up by Talwarsons-22, who defiantly claims, "Women rule the fashion industry. Female models are in demand for fashion shows all round the year." Ten years in the industry, and she sees negatives fading out, "Casting couch exists the least in our world. There is work for every model and unlike other industries; we have no competition from men. We don't need to beg for work, in fact we chose what we wish too." Still not convinced with the real power-puff girl's assertion? Count the number of married and successful models in the industry.

Dipannita Sharma. Photo by S. Chandan

Call for celebration
Mobile caller tunes complete five years in Punjab
The day Michael Jackson died, umpteen mobile phone users selected his songs from his popular albums for caller tunes as a tribute to the legend. When the nerd-looking Shah Rukh Khan of RNBDJ (Rab Ney Bana Di Jodi) drove his scooter through the labyrinth of Amirtsar lanes, singing Holley Holley, people immediately pressed their mobile buttons to secure the song as their caller tune. Same was the case when Badshah Khan declared that 11 mulkoon ki police couldn't catch him in Don, people made sure the 'legendary dialogue' was their signature tune. The RBT (ring back tones) has indeed have come a long way, from religious songs to regional, filmi, non-filmi, dialogues...heading for name tunes. Technology doesn't wait for anyone. Next is what!

Light and shadow: The busy Sector 17 Plazza takes a different hue as the sun sets. Lifestyle photo: S. Chandan

Playing along
Actor, director, playwright, make-up artiste, Parvesh Sethi takes Shahid Nadeem's classic play Bullah to foreign shores
Only a few thespians from the region have elicited a warm adulation of theatre lovers abroad for their creative excellence. Ranking ahead is our city-based veteran thespian Parvesh Sethi, who has been frequently invited by art lovers in Canada for performance, direction and imparting training to amateur Punjabi artistes there. Armed with an experience of over five decades, gifted Sethi is undeniably, the complete artiste, as per the connoisseurs' testimony. He has been maintaining his tradition of excellence in acting, direction, make up and playwriting in theatre and cinema with equal proficiency.

Spice up
Bride in blue
Over the years, the bridal look has also changed, along with changing times and changing fashion trends. A few decades ago, red was the bride's colour. But today, there has been a lot of experimentation with different colours. Apart from shades of red, to magenta and pink, ordinary colours are also being used for the bride's dress - like sea green, turquoise blue (feroza), lavender (pinkish mauve), strawberry, fushcia, rust, copper, purple and so on. Two colour combinations are also popular. The prediction is that colours like purple, sheer gold, peacock blue may be the new trend in bridal wear colours, used with contrasting colours, like purple and pink, gold and rich green and so on. Lehenga cholis are more popular for weddings. Brides are also going for fashionable salwar-kurta, with short and richly embellished kurtas.

Bollywood’s bad boy
Two Hollywood movies, a British venture and an Indo-French collaboration Gulshan Grover has his hands full with serious-themed international projects. But the Bollywood bad man insists he hasn't bid adieu to Hindi films, specially the villainous roles. "I haven't quit taking such roles (of villain). I gained my popularity, stardom, success, love and adulation by fans by doing villain roles here," Gulshan told. "When I played a villain, I knew I was creating a brand. And today I am in a position where my capability of doing other roles is not doubted because of that," he added.

Thinking differently
Bollywood director Rajkumar Hirani showed his witty side on his birthday and said 'idiots' when expanded means 'I do it on my terms', talking about his much-awaited film 3 idiots ."Idiots think unconventionally and they listen to their heart while taking a decision. 'Idiots' means 'I do it on my terms'," Hirani told. 3 idiots is about three engineering students played by Sharman Joshi, Aamir Khan and R. Madhavan and their experiences on the campus. The director revealed that whatever is shown in the film, most of it was taken from his college days and that viewers can easily identify with it.

Big B to be at IFFI
Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, conspicuous by his absence at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) ever since it was shifted here six years ago, will be invited as chief guest or guest of honour next year or the year after that, the organisers said on Sunday. During the event's curtain raiser press conference held at IFFI venue, Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat tried to evade repeated queries from journalists on why the superstar was not invited to the festival editions held in the Capital.

Sacch yet again
Controversial reality game show Sacch Ka Saamna is set to return to the small screen with a second season. However, the show's host has not yet been decided, said an official. The first season that ended Sep 18 was hosted by actor Rajeev Khandelwal. "The show did well and it will have a season two. But we haven't yet decided on when to air it or who will be the host - all those things haven't been addressed," Anupam Vasudev, executive vice-president, marketing and communication, STAR India, told. "It (the show) is not (planned) in the near future," he added.

Information exchange
On a special invitation from the London International Conference of Educators, Mitul Dikshit, director, Dikshant International School, attended and presented a paper on 'Thinking School': Putting Learning back into Education at the London International Conference on Education. The LICE promotes collaborative excellence between academicians and professionals from Education. The aim of LICE is to provide an opportunity for academicians and professionals from various educational fields with cross-disciplinary interests to bridge the knowledge gap, promote research esteem and the evolution of pedagogy.

BODY wise
Combat stress
Stress and tension are normal reactions to events that threaten us. Such threats come from accidents, financial troubles and job as well as personal problems. Throughout the day when we experience stress, our bodies automatically react in ways that prepare us to either face the problem or run from the situation. In cases of extreme danger, this physical response is helpful. However, a prolonged state of such agitation can cause physical damage to every part of the body.

Fat chance
Losing weight is not just about running on treadmills or cycling. Read on…
Work on the treadmill, cross trainer, cycle and then shift to recumbent bikes, are the usual instructions of a usual trainer to anybody who wants to lose weight. If only the easy instructions and stamina to work on the treadmill helped, losing weight wouldn't have found any mention here too. But it's not as usual a deal for the trainer and the trainee and someone who wants to lose weight, something that was emphasised upon during the health fest organised by Elemention Health Club on Sunday.

Weighty issue
Attention ladies, if you want a perfect figure, quit smoking as a new study claims that women can control their weight better by shunning cigarettes. Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, found women who quit smoking while receiving treatment were better able to shed their flab. The finding disproves current clinical guidelines that trying to diet and quit smoking at the same time will sabotage efforts to ditch cigarettes.

Bar no bar
Spanish research appearing to show that very heavy drinking can reduce men's risk of heart disease has come under fire from scientists who say the study is flawed and should not encourage anyone to drink more. The controversial study found that men who drank moderate, high and very high levels of alcohol had a lower risk of coronary heart disease. Many previous studies have suggested that moderate drinking -- usually defined as a drink or two per day -- can be a healthy habit, particularly when it comes to heart disease risk.

In the fitness OF THINGS
Size zero controversy
Misinterpretation
There is a lot of clamouring going on about the size zero concept. But not many people know what it exactly means. It has been projected in a wrong manner by our celebrities. Young girls are just blindly following the trend without knowing the fact that it can hamper their metabolic process. They are eating sparingly just to get that size zero effect. But size zero doesn't mean to be skimpy, bony or having chicken-like figure. Size zero means having an hour-glass figure, with healthy limbs and overall light weight.

Best bet
Veteran filmmaker Basu Chatterjee, famous for evergreen hits like Chhoti Si Baat and Rajnigandha , finds Rani Mukherjee and Kajol the best among the current lot of Bollywood actors. "Rani is good, and so is Kajol. Katrina? No, not really," said Chatterjee. The director, whose last Hindi film was Gudgudee in 1997, is currently working on a Bengali film Trishonku.

Gul’s first love story
Former Miss India turned actress Gul Panag is excited about her upcoming film Fatso, which she says is her first love story. " Fatso is my first love story, I have never done a proper love story before. We wanted to name it A Rectangular Love Story as it involves three men in love with one woman," said Panag.

Theen ka dum
Tata Motors unveiled its all-new 'Tata 407 Pickup' and the new offerings from the Ace Platform - 'Tata Super Ace' and 'Tata Ace EX'. The introduction of these new products- Tata 407 Pickup, Tata Super Ace and Tata EX are all set to vitalise the sub-one-tonne to 3 tonne segment with more payload options and greater power for the changing demands of its customers.

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