|
|
A brand
called Ekta
From the queen of soaps to a
producer of cutting-edge Bollywood entertainers, the temperamental
Balaji Telefilms boss has come a long way indeed
Saibal Chatterjee
Ekta
Kapoor has reason to be upbeat. Today, she is more than just a
television czarina. Her production company, Balaji Telefilms, which
was in danger of running aground about three years ago amid a severe
financial crisis, is now not only back in the pink of health, it is
also breaking fresh ground and winning new friends. The feisty
36-year-old lady’s metamorphosis may be a work in progress —
Kapoor is still evolving as a woman and a professional — but she and
her production company have certainly come a long way from the days
when her K-brand of never-ending serials dominated the Balaji menu.
Why
do bats tuck in their wings?
By
flexing their wings inward to their bodies on the upstroke,
bats use only 65 per cent of the inertial energy they would expend if
they kept their wings fully outstretched, according to a new research.
The study suggests that they use their flexibility to compensate for
that mass. Unlike insects, bats have heavy, muscular wings with
hand-like bendable joints. Whether people are building a flying
machine or nature is evolving one, there is pressure to optimise
efficiency.
Switch
off the screen, honey!
TV, cellphone, laptop...one
of these is on through the day in front of every person today. Is the
'screen' the newest threat to a happy marriage?
Vimla Patil
Who
would have imagined that the super-gifts of technology —
which have transformed the world's business and financial as well as
social scenarios — could put tremendous negative pressure on the
man-woman relationship? "Unfortunately, this is so," says
Mridul Choksi, a senior counsellor, "A significant number of
couples come to me for advice on how to 'remove' the 'screen' from
obstructing their relationship." The "screen", be it of
the computer, the phone or the television, has acquired an ugly avatar
and is literally hiding one partner from the other or family members
from each other.
Gateway
Cochin
Cochin has a lot more on
offer besides its rich Portuguese, Dutch and British heritage
Lalit Mohan
Cochin
or Kochi, if you like, is the gateway to central Kerala, but
has enough of history to justify a short stay here before proceeding
further. In 1503, the Portuguese built what is the oldest European
church in India in Cochin. Initially, it was just a wooden structure
dedicated to St Bartholomew. It was rebuilt in 1516 using some bricks
and mortar and this time it honoured St Anthony. When Vasco da Gama
died in 1524 he was buried here, but 14 years later they dug his body
out and took it back to Portugal. The gravestone still marks the place
where he was interred.
An
ace up his sleeve
Yuki Bhambri is being seen by
many as India’s future tennis hope
Subodh Samuel
When
he was a kid one of the places he looked forward to visiting
was Chandigarh. He would accompany his tennis player sisters Ankita
and Sanaa to the city whenever they went there to play the ITF
circuit. "What he loved was boating at the Sukhna Lake,"
reminisces sister Ankita.
Fatty
acids can fight cancer spread
Omega-3 agents have anti-metastatic
actions that can block the path of cancer tumours
Omega-3
agents could potentially block the path of primary cancer tumours,
preventing more advanced cancers, according to researchers.
I
completely believe in love
Shahid Kapoor will once again
team up with Priyanka Chopra in Kunal Kohli's romantic drama Teri
Meri Kahaani. The actor will be seen in three different roles as
the film is set over three different time periods
Sreya Basu
Your last release (Mausam)
was a love story and your next release (Teri Meri Kahaani) will
also be of the same genre. How much faith do you have in love?
I completely believe in love
and this is the second love story that I am doing back-to-back . So
obviously, I have a lot of faith in love. I think love is the most
beautiful thing in the world. It makes the world go round.
Decaying
legacy
The highest film-producing
country does not have a single complete print of its first silent or
talkie feature. In the centennial year of Indian cinema, film heritage
preservation remains a distant dream
Rahul Sahgal
2113 AD. At the bicentennial
celebrations of Indian cinema, a proud poster publicises —
"Special retrospective: screening of a two-hour montage of all
the surviving clips from the films of Yash Chopra — a 20th century
film director". Far-fetched as the plot of a twilight zone
episode may seem, but given our abysmal national history of film
heritage preservation, it could well be a potential reality.
|
