Much ado about Anandi
Curiosity, assumptions and suspense. Indian audience prepares as their Balika Vadhu grows up
The inspiration to write these 500 words came from the one-hour 'breaking news capsules' dedicated to the cause on almost every news channel. And the 'catastrophic' news - Anandi will be leaving soon! Rest all the adult characters, plotting, conspiracies, Kalyani Devi's venomous dialogues, Sumitra's unstoppable tears…everything else will be the same on Balika Vadhu, a soap on Colors.The serial is taking a five years leap and to choose the 'would be' Anandi, the channel has shortlisted three girls, Nivedita Tiwari, Ketaki Chitale and Pratyusha Banerjee, after auditions in various cities (nobody seems bothered about the grown up male lead Jagiya.

Cue in
Sports may be our favourite topic of discussion but not when talking career. Especially anything that doesn't spell CRICKET! But then the world doesn't end here. Unlike cricket, or even football and hockey, snooker is not a popular game but it is equally interesting.

Avneet Sidhu

Sreesanth

TALIS-matic
From wristbands, amulets, baubles to colours; days or even handkerchiefs, our charismatic sporting stars sure do believe in the power of talismans
Twitter buzzed with congratulatory notes. Actors Abhishek Bachchan, Shilpa Shetty and Ritesh Deshmukh cheered badminton star Saina Nehwal for her wondrous achievement at the Indonesian Open Super Series. Back home, her father Dr Harvir Singh shared that his daughter's Chinese rubber band brought all the good luck that she needed. 

Salt ‘n’ Pepper

Actors Angelina Jolie (L) and Chiwetel Ejiofor pose during the launch of their movie Salt in Cancun. — Reuters

Bon Appetit
Mango mayhem
There are rehris to the right and rehris to the left, laden with ripe yellow fruit that are a delight to behold! Its multiple mayhem of mango on the roadsides! The totapari, safeda and sindoori have been nudged out by the newcomers of the season. 

Music for milk!
Farmers have claimed that scenes from the William Shakespeare play The Merry Wives of Windsor boosted cow milk production by four per cent. Actors of local Changeling Theatre Company, performed the "entertaining" play for Friesian cows at the Pleasant Farm, near Maidstone, Kent."We selected scenes from the play we felt to be lyrical and relaxing," Rob Forknall, the group's artistic director said.

Another gimmick
Cyrus Sahukar wants to play a psychotic villain 
His acting repertoire contains a menagerie of characters, from the posh Semi Girebaal on TV to Randhir Gambhir from the upcoming film Aisha. But Cyrus Sahukar's ultimate ambition is to play a psychotic villain.

Well Red!
Bollywood actress Bhagyashree, who shot to fame with Salman Khan starrer Maine Pyar Kiya, says her upcoming flick Red Alert will explore various aspects of the Naxal movement and will be an eye-opener to the government.Red Alert is based on the true story of a farm labourer from Andhra who gets involved with a group of outlaws to fund the education of his children.


Bhagyashree

Problem no more
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan does not believe that his film Ready, which is being shot here, will face problem in South India during its release. South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce had given a boycott call, asking Bollywood stars not to attend the IIFA awards last month.But the actor, who is also the co-producer of the movie, said he opted for Lanka because it saved a lot of money and time for the producers.

Highs and lows
Hollywood actor Daniel Radcliffe says he has finally accepted his short stature and sometimes even cracks jokes at his size rather than feeling bitter.The Harry Potter star, who stands at five foot, five inches (1.6 metres), admits he used to worry his co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint would outgrow him onscreen, reports contactmusic.com.

(L-R) Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint

Meryl Streep to play Thatcher
Hollywood veteran Meryl Streep is reportedly in talks to play Britain's first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in a new biopic.The actress who holds the record for getting the most Academy Award nominations, is in negotiations to reunite with her Mamma Mia director Phyllida Lloyd for the film, said Hollywood Reporter online.

Art of filmmaking
Three times National award winning actor Mithun Chakraborty laments that very few producers and directors make art films these days."I act in potboilers both in Bollywood and Tollywood as very few producers and directors make art film like Mrigaya, which gave me my first National actor award," Chakraborty said at the premier of his latest Bengali film Shukno Lanka.


Australian actor Emma Brown and Mithun Chakraborty during the premier show of their new Bengali film Shukno Lanka in Kolkata. — PTI