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Game Won
Though online gaming in India is still in a nascent stage, going by the trend set by the launch of the Ra. One game, it has an audience waiting to expand, writes
Mehak Uppal
The
central idea of Ra.One’s
story is how a father specially creates a video game to connect to his
young son. Perhaps to show how much belief he had in the concept, Shah
Rukh Khan actually launched a video game to entice his young audience
into watching his latest movie. Looking at the response, the strategy
seems to have worked well. "Ra.One
Genesis", the video game, was released across all platforms like
the website, iPad, Android, Facebook etc, that,
too, free of cost. It is said to have broken records by becoming
the most downloaded game and reached the no.1 position on the iTunes
store within 24 hours of its release. A special version of the game is
also slated to be launched for DTH subscribers.
Shah Rukh Khan specially launched a video game as a marketing ploy to entice the young audience into watching his latest movie.
Photo: PTI
Barking dogs attract leopards
Vishal Gulati
The
elusive, shy leopard avoids
humans but has a special affinity for dogs. The reason? The dog is an
easy prey and the feline relishes its meat. This is the reason why the
wildcat is increasingly straying into human habitation. It is enticed by
the barking of canines. This was the finding of a
year-long study conducted by Himachal Pradesh’s Wildlife Department on
a fully grown female leopard that was tracked with the help of a radio
collar in a forest near Shimla.
Reviving a tradition
The demand for traditional art like phulkari has grown manifold, writes Swati Rai
Mother’s
love or family heirloom, creative outlet or a tool for self-empowerment
— these are some of the hues of the creative embroidery of Punjab,
phulkari. The main characteristic of phulkari embroidery
is the use of darn stitch. The base material for the embroidery is
traditionally hand-spun, natural dyed khadi. Imported floss silk
yarn from Afganistan or China was used after local dyeing with organic
vegetable dyes.
Good old Coffee House
Indian Coffee House is a place where people meet and discuss everything under the sun. Though modern coffee cafes have sprung up, the common man prefers this joint because here the prices of filter coffee and eatables are reasonable, says
MJ Raju
It
was in September 1936 — 75
years ago — that the first Indian Coffee House, started by the Indian
Coffee Board, opened`A0at Churchgate in Mumbai. Since then this
institution has had many ups and downs. Much like the coffee houses of
Europe, Indian Coffee House quickly became a rendezvous for the
intellectual and the dilettante alike.
From pig to plate
The Hungary sausage festival is the biggest eating and drinking event in eastern and central Europe — a
food-focussed flipside to Germany’s beery Oktoberfest, writes
Michael Roddy
The annual Bekescsaba
Festival is the place to taste and find out secrets of Hungary’s spicy
kolbasz sausages, but strict vegetarians and a few others might
want to steer clear. From butchering a pig, complete with blowtorch for
searing the bristles, to grinding the meat, mixing it with spices and
squeezing it into long, filmy sausage casings that fit just so over the
nozzle of a purpose-built stuffing machine, pig to plate is on display
with little left to the imagination.
Making music with guns
A Colombian musician has gifted his ‘gun-guitar’ to Gandhi museum in New Delhi, writes
Madhusree Chatterjee
When
guns become roses, it makes music. Colombian rock musician Cesar Lopez,
who is in the country to perform at the ongoing Delhi International Arts
Festival, sings songs of peace with his gun-guitar — an AK-47 modified
into a six-string electric guitar to symbolise the healing power of
music.
Queen’s bloomers for £10,000
A
pair
of ample bloomers, once worn by Queen Victoria of Britain, have sold for
under £ 10,000 at an auction in Edinburgh. An anonymous buyer
purchased the white silk undergarments that went for £ 9,375,
including a buyer’s premium of 25 per cent. The bloomers were expected
to fetch £
3,000, the reserve price put on them by auction house Lyon
& Turnbull.
Singing act
The trend of filmstars lending their voices to a host of musical numbers in movies has been catching up fast among the new breed of actors, writes
Shama Rana
Songs
and dance numbers are an
integral part of Hindi commercial cinema. In this scenario, the actor
singing his own lines proves to be a bonanza for his fans. The of actors
today are just not content with running around trees or flexing their
muscles and driving the villains away. They want their share in the
musical potpourri as well.
Don 2 is back
Sreya Basu catches up with Farhan Akhtar, who has once again donned the director’s
mantle for Don 2: The King is Back
Tell us something about Don
2.
I really don’t know what
to say about the film as that way I will be giving out the whole story.
It has been fun, challenging yet satisfying journey so far to make this
movie. I was guilty of saying that I won’t probably make a sequel of Don,
but my obsession with the character got the better of me. With amazing
help and support and almost a sharing of vision with Ritesh (Sidhwani,
producer) and Shah Rukh and rest of the team, I could not help but make Don
2.
FRUIT FACTS
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