Sunday, July 23, 2000		Scene Stealers

EVERY one knows that Sushmita Sen won the coveted 1994 Miss Universe crown because she combined beauty with brains. She told the world that she was into writing poetry and even recited a few lines from her own composition to prove the point. She had also emphasised that she wanted to write -- she wanted to be a journalist! But a few months down the line in the bad, mad world of glamour, writing was put on the backburner. Instead, she sizzled on the silver screen and achieved a modicum of success. Her latest film Biwi No.1, in which she plays Biwi No 2, has been declared a hit.

But in between roles spread over five years and a traumatic relationship with director Vikram Bhatt, the urge to express herself continued to mount. According to the grapevine, Sush is currently writing a film script. It is all hush-hush right now but the beauty queen is herself very happy with the way it is turning out.

When we contacted her, she was in a great rush to leave for an overseas trip. "Things are turning out great. I have four films on hand with top directors like David Dhawan and Rama Naidu. I am also starring opposite Abhishek Bachchan." She was excited about her special appearance in Fiza, which has Karisma Kapoor in the lead. Besides, she has been chosen by an international brand to model their product.

"I have no time for men. I am totally involved in my profession," she clarified over the phone. "I am an emotional person and relate to people at that level. The clear-cut professional approach is not for me. I have my moods and strong likes and dislikes," she said in a straightforward manner. Well, whatever, here’s wishing her luck again.

Abhinav Bindra is our only hope for a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics. Just 17, Abhinav is under great pressure to perform well but this young man is totally focused on practising his sport, shooting, for eight to 10 hours a day. "My full concentration is on the Olympics.I have no time to even think," says the youngster matter-of-factly. "Rifle shooting is an individual sport. No one starts as a favourite. It can be anyone’s day. It is a very technical sport in which you have to persevere, keep your mental agility and compete not with others but with your last best score. I have no motivation problem,"says the shooter.

That he has no problem was in evidence when he recorded a score of 591 at the Junior World Championship at Hopes Pizen and won the silver medal. He missed the gold by a wafer-thin margin of .08 points. Abhinav is also a member of India’s senior squad. In fact, he represented India at the last Commonwealth Games. He was barely 15 then, and the youngest sportsman to have done so.

His parents have been very supportive right from the beginning. The have built him an air-conditioned range in the backyard of their house so that he can practice without interruption. Their advice to him: "You have to come out a winner. But if you don’t win, don’t look back, prepare for the future."

One bureaucrat who quit the IAS and took the plunge mid-career is R.K. Singh. His colleagues cautioned him against it, but Raj went ahead and took up a job in the private sector. His decision was spot on for today he is a name to reckon with in the electronic media.

A 1976-batch Haryana cadre officer, Singh was on deputation to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting when he realised that the media was the happening place. The satellite channels were in a nascent stage and they needed experienced administrators. Singh decided to switch channels-- he left Doordarshan and joined ESPN.

The decision to join ESPN was spurred by his love for sport (He is a keen golfer). Initially he was the only person to be employed by this sport channel. Over a period of time, he built his team and set up a countrywide network for the company. The channel also tied up with Star Sports and emerged as a major player.

After five years of selling sport, Singh joined Zee Telefilms. He has quickly climbed the Zee corporate ladder and is now the CEO of Zee English, Zee Movies, Zee Overseas and Zee Regional. Recently, he launched the second Zee channel in the USA. "The scope is wide and the work challenging," says a visibly happy bureaucrat- turned- media administrator.

— Belu Maheshwari