Poolside view
Missing till not so long ago, designer bikinis are slowly but surely becoming the latest fad 
A swarvoski embellished lehenga from JJ Vallaya, a Nehru jacket or 'bandh gala achkan' from Raghvenbdra Rathore, a saree with shades of retro from Pallavi Jaikishen, Ritu Beri's flowing tube gowns…if you are accustomed to the 'usual' from Indian fashion designers, consider this newfound segment - luxury swimwear - that almost every designer is keen to experiment with. So, here's a shift of swarvoski and precious stones from traditional attire to designer bikinis!


Models display creations by Jai & Parvesh

On a MUSICAL journey
There are social dramas, love stories; back-to-roots journeys, love stories; hard-hitting realities, love stories; comical quickies, love stories. This time it's a musical and, of course, a love story! Punjabi cinema is expanding and experimenting, better or worse notwithstanding. The latest on offer being Tere Ishq Nachaya, a musical love story. The basics being same, lush green fields, Punjabiyat, one girl, two boys, a love triangle, NRI locales, Kanwaljeet Singh, Deep Dhillon…but the difference is the tag of a 'musical'.
L-R: Dakssh Ajit, Mannat Singh and Gavie Chahal 

Divine call
He has been dating Bengali beauty Bipasha Basu for the past seven years and it looks like Bollywood heartthrob John Abraham is a 'Bong' at heart as he will be celebrating Durga Puja with his ladylove in her native Kolkata. The Dostana star will be savouring puchkas and visiting the pandals with Bipasha at Ballygunge, where she grew up. "Yes, I will be celebrating Durga Puja in Kolkata.

John Abraham and Bipasha Basu

Quite a sting
Actor Rhys Ifans, best known for his role as the quirky flat mate of Hugh Grant in Notting Hill, will play the bad guy in Spider Man reboot.

Friends, still
‘Friends star Courteney Cox has confirmed that she has separated from her husband of 11 years, actor David Arquette.The actors who first met on the sets of the film Scream in 1996, issued a joint statement announcing the "trial separation".And they confirmed that they have actually been separated for some time. Cox, 46, and Arquette, 39 have a six-year-old daughter Coco.Cox and Arquette said they hope the separation will help them "understand themselves and their relationship," and insisted they "still love each other deeply". 

Courteney Cox

Ready for a jig
Bollywood dancing diva Madhuri Dixit may soon be judging the dance moves of Deepika Padukone this December on a popular dance reality show. The producers of Jhalak Dikhla Jaa are in talks with the Madhuri and Deepika for the fourth season of the Sony TV show, a production house source said. Madhuri, who ruled Bollywood in the late 1980s and 1990s, left the limelight after her marriage in 1999.

Sister act
Spanish beauty Penelope Cruz's younger sister Monica will step into her shoes and corsets for the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean film as her elder sibling's burgeoning baby bump has started showing.In Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Penelope plays Angelica, a temptress in search of the Fountain of Youth, but she cannot do the stunts anymore.

Penelope & Monica Cruz

Dam(o)n it!
Hollywood heartthrob Matt Damon has bid goodbye to the hit Bourne franchise and will not be reprising his role as Jason Bourne in the next movie. Tony Gilroy, who will helm the fourth film in the action series has confirmed that the search is on for a new actor to step into Damon's shoes.


Matt Damon

Check mate
Singer-turned-fashion designer Victoria Beckham and husband soccer ace David Beckham have turned a matchmaker for model Kelly Brook.Victoria has asked soccer star husband David Beckham to find Brook, who split from rugby player Danny Cipriani in June. "Victoria knows how lucky she and David are. She'd hate to date, especially in Los Angeles, so she's offering some sisterly support to Kelly," said a source close to Victoria."They've met a few times but really bonded during a string of fashion shows. They share a very cheeky sense of humour and get on really well."Victoria saw Kelly and felt really bad for her being thrust back into the dating game. 

Uncommon wealth
Even as Indian players at the Commonwealth Games collect medals each day, some zestful souls in the city come up new things that would lift the morale of the players, whether it is through songs or daring acts. We catch up with Chandigarh/Ambala-based Hindi Rock band Drishtee, and Bhagga Dhaliwal of Patiala, who share their enthusiam with Team India.

(Left) Members of the Drishtee band (R) Bagga Dhaliwal

Music within
All genres of music, including folk and devotional, express the voice of the human soul through the medium of sound. And music has been an ibadat for us ever since our ancestor Ustad Mamman Singh made it our family legacy. We represent the seventh generation," say ghazal singers Ustad Ahmed Hussain and Ustad Mohammad Hussain Khan, who are in the city on the invitation of Haryana Cultural Affairs Department for a devotional concert at the ongoing Navratra fair.
Ahmed Hussain (in blue shirt) & Mohammad Hussain 

Walk & win
Blenders Pride Punjab International Fashion Week proved to be an apt platform for discovering new talent from across the world. Having interviewed & screened more than 150 aspiring models, at the end of the auditions only a handful of all participants were offered a chance to walk the ramp on the global stage. Organized at the BellaVista Hotel in Panchkula , the auditions gave a chance to creative, entertaining, knowledgeable and stunning faces to prove their talent. 

Glittery affair
In the litany of unnecessary trivia that crowd our minds, jewellery is one of them. And, with the rise in gold prices it's artificial or imitation jewellery that is scoring high. An exhibition, put up by Nirmal Mahesh Chand at Kidar's Gallery-7, has all that one wants in the name of jewellery. From chandelier earrings to ear studs, neckpieces, bangles, kadas and even payals, the five-day exhibition that opened on Monday, showcases some wonderful designs and elegant stuff.

Serves it right
HP has introduced its first HP ProLiant MicroServer designed to enable small companies to confidently grow their businesses while taking advantage of the reliability, performance and security of a server.

On a TRIP
There's something about the college trips; even a casual day out converts into a galaxy of memories, if the destinations are hackneyed, the reminiscences are not, and the pictures are perfect even if the places are not! A scan through the itineraries and Jaipur, Goa, Mumbai are still a staple; educational or not, excursion remains an inseparable part and the entire concept sacrosanct. So who all are headed where?

Too much to handle
Kids who feel like outcasts, are more likely than others to lash out in response to acute peer rejection, found researchers in The Netherlands. "It was inspired by the fact that we had these school shootings and wondered what the most important feature of these kids could be," said Albert Reijntjes of Utrecht University, who co-wrote the study with five other psychological scientists.

Crack the CAT
With the countdown to the CAT having begun, with almost every stream student an aspirant for a B-school, no wonder the colleges have started efforts just to attract the right crowd. To cater to the needs of the business school aspirants to interact with the B-schools, EduCorp, in association with GGDSD College, sector 32, brings a platform, MBA EXPO - Shake Hands with Opportunities.

Losing the marbles
A new UK study has revealed that traditional hobbies like collecting stamps and marbles are dying out because modern kids think they are boring. Today's youngsters listed watching TV, playing computer games or going on Facebook as their interests. They dismissed old favourites like train spotting, model making, jigsaw puzzles and collecting bottle tops as "for anoraks".