Bhatt...naturally
Mahesh Bhatt has always been in the news for one reason or the other. In the city, he was at his candid best
With prefixes like 'monster mouth', 'controversies' own child' to his name, we were expecting a generous amount of fireworks as we waited for filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt. And god, he did not disappoint! So, when a waiting journo asked him if he planned to join politics, his answer was spontaneous, "I prefer being a street dog rather than one with a leash. I have the liberty to bark whenever I feel like but once I wear the leash of a certain party, I would bark only when I am allowed to and that too would be tailor-made." With this comment he made our long wait at a local TV channel worth its while.
Photos: Vinay Malik

Chance encounter
He is the guy who introduced the great student leader Chandra Sekhar Prasad to Mahesh Bhatt and the latter introduced him to the tinsel town. He is Imran Zahid, who teaches journalism at Take One Institute of Mass Communication when he is not busy doing stage shows. And no, theatre had never been the stepping stone for this young man unlike many other Bollywood aspirants. So how did Chandu happen? "I met Mahesh Bhatt in Dubai. We got talking and he thought I had the looks of an actor," said Imran, who accompanied Bhatt on Wednesday. And yes, theatre had been a passion for Imran who worked with Arvind Gaur.

Imran Zahid

Punjabi beats
With an aim to take Punjabi culture to each and every corner of the world, acclaimed Punjabi filmmaker Manmohan Singh launched the music of his latest flick Ik Kudi Punjab Di at 92.7 BIG FM on Thursday. The cast and crew shared the theme of the flick with great zest. "We are at the brink of a revolution, as today's youth is set to banish the biggest blot on our society that, somehow, still treats a girl not at par with boys,' shares Manmohan Singh.
Jaspinder Cheema with Amrinder Gill. Photo: Vinay Malik

Master moves
Launching her dance academy at Gurukul Global School, Saroj Khan thinks the region will produce many stars
She chooses to stick to traditions, when her fraternity has undergone a western makeover. She is impressed more by the grace and elegance of classical nritya than the globally inspired versions of coordinated hotchpotch called dancing. She still believes in the dhak dhak school of dancing, (wait, she invented the dhak dhak school of dancing), something that Bollywood should be grateful to. If anything that Saroj Khan, aka Masterji of Bollywood, did apart from becoming an icon was to give meaning and grace!
Photo: Vinay Malik

Side Lanes
Primeval urges
The moss is a bright emerald green in spots and in others, lime coloured under the filtering sun. There are puddles from the morning rain. Any clear pool is uncontaminated and fit to drink. The brown and white rosette of a woody mushroom thrusts itself from the rotting vegetation at the base of a towering gum-tree. A life created out of the remains of many lives taken. A little further away, what appears to be a milk white coral from the Great Barrier Reef, turns out to be a spongy fungus. Land imitates the first primeval creatures that were created in the earliest broth of life, the sea. An icy wind blows off the Antarctic, via the Tasmanian Sea. Dhruv tells me it is called 'lazy wind' as it does not go around obstacles but penetrates them. It chills my bones and causes uncontrolled shivering.

Celebrating monsoon
After the scorching heat of the summer months, Tiyan or Teej is a welcome and much-awaited break for women of Punjab. The Teej was celebrated in the traditional spirit at Hotel Peninsula, Panchkula on Thursday. The function was organised by Swati Bansal, Charu Gupta and Sheetal Kapur. The function wore a complete festive look, with the guests attired in colourful and traditional dresses.

Live telecast

Beyond words
Lack of words need not mean lack of communication. Their signs and gestures might be a little difficult to comprehend, but the canvas and colours say it all. A special kind of art workshop is on and there is more than one reason for the proverbial pin-drop silence. At Government College of Art-10, Kamal Nain Bhan, an artist from Kashmir, is teaching them how to give the right tinge. While the teacher and the pupils are busy sharing tips on the half-done landscapes.
Photo: Manoj Mahajan