Cause bound

STARS AT LARGE!
A host of Bollywood stars hit the city on Saturday for the friendship hockey match. Jasmine Singh catches up...
Just when we thought everything was going well. Just when we thought this is just the right start and just when we saw things moving in the right direction, television channels flashed the news of the Indian hockey team demanding as much as Rs 5 crore to play a charity match against Bollywood and TV celebrities on Feburary 20 in Chandigarh.Never mind, every good deed is met with initial hiccups. But, like Suniel Shetty says, the good deed must go on. Walking out of the Chandigarh airport, the actor in salt and pepper beard sees no reason to raise a hue and cry. 

Celeb fan club

Power punch
Howzzzat! Cricket and glamour, oh yes, we've seen, heard and known this combo for long now. But hockey and glamour is something new and exciting. And watchable too! Forget the controversy; take a look at the fleet of television stars who landed in Chandigarh for the friendship match. Do they know how to play hockey? Immaterial. They are just here to support a cause, which they are doing to the hilt. And guess what, each one of them has had or still has a fascination for a particular sport. We find out what?

Here come the Boxy Boys: A long list of television stars, including Zulfi Syed, Jatin Grewal (above), Shawar Ali, Manav Gohil, Varun, Jai Bhanushali, among others, landed in Chandigarh for the friendship match.

Home stretch
Main jat yamla pagla deewana…Dharmendra danced and we enjoyed every bit of it! Hoping to recreate the same magic, Samir Karnik brings the three Deols — Dharmendra, Sunny and Bobby — together. And this is precisely what brings Sunny Deol to the city on Saturday."I am here for the shooting of Yamla Pagla Deewana," he smiles. A grown beard, some extra muscles adding to the mass weight. Reminds us of Gadar. "I can't say much about the movie. In Apne we made the audiences cry, but in this flick we would make them laugh," says Sunny Deol.Three Deols together in a frame, but who calls the shots? Laughs Sunny, "When dad is there he calls the shot obviously. It is great fun working together after Apne."

Dual take
Director Kabir Sadanand and actor Anjana Sukhani are in the city to promote their flick Tum Milo Toh Sahi
Let this debate get over once and for all: Nana Patekar isn't impossible to work with. You've got to believe when a young director, Kabir Sadanand, and a young actor, Anjana Sukhani, claim: "All he demands is sincerity and passion for film-making and everything else falls in place."Anjana explains further with a little diplomacy, "On the sets of the film an actor is not known by his seniority, only the character matters. Nana sahab was always improvising on his and our acting." After all words in praise of Nana were exhausated, others actors of the Kabir's second film Tum Milo Toh Sahi got their fair share of praise too. "You don't get the opportunity to work with the likes of Dimple Kapadia, Suniel Shetty, Vidya Malwade and Rehaan Khan daily," adds Kabir, who was in the city on Saturday along with Anjana to promote the film.

Visual treat
Sixteen artists from four different cities showcase their works
Animal forms, human forms, landscape, dramatic representations, aesthetic experiences…exhibition of paintings, sculptures and photographs by Visual Languages is an out- and-out group endeavour. Here's bringing the works of sixteen artists from four different cities.There're clouds, ladders, chairs, birds in myriad canvases, all subject to the thought process. A series of two canvases depict two chairs, one in barbed wire and the other with a severed human head on it. 

Old world charm!
Taj Khazana offers conventional crafts and handlooms from across the country
Part museum, part boutique store, Taj Khazana is here for the first time with its trunk show that showcases traditional crafts and handlooms from across the country.An exhibition-cum-sale at Shopping Arcade in Taj-17 has all things forgotten; dying art forms, miniature paintings to silver artifacts, designer wear to exquisite weaves from master craftsmen, objet d'art to carpets to jewellery and handbags!

A step in time
The hockey World Cup in India brings hope, cheer and much to look forward to. Experts from the region share their views…
Eighteen years on, its finally payback time. Time to come out of the shadows and claim the lost identity. The hockey World Cup indeed comes with hopes, hoopla and the highs that were so missing!And this time round we have big sponsors; the required glamour with names like Priyanka Chopra, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Virender Sehwag, Suniel Shetty, Govinda lending support, and a new motto - Phir Dil Do Hockey Ko.

Sporty star
Divya Dutta was in the city to promote her team for the second season of T-10 gully cricket
Pretty, petite, pleasing…the kudi from Punjab Divya Dutta, proud owner of 'Ludhiana Gullies', was in the city to unveil the specially designed jerseys for her cricket team. Glad to be associated with T-10, she shared notes on the game and her career."T-10 is an excellent platform for budding cricketers. It connects them to viewers nationwide on DD. Who knows this opportunity might make them the stars of tomorrow," shares Divya. T-10 'gully' cricket is in its second season and Divya's team has already reached the semifinals. "It's going to be Dutt versus Dutta," says Divya in regard to the competition from Sanjay Dutt's team Sirsa Gullies."Although I have immense regard for Sanjay Dutt, in cricket we'll give them a tough fight. Last season, Ludhiana Gullies was runners up and this season we want to be on the top.

What the cards say today...