Platform of life

Sukant Deepak captures the burst of activity at the Ambala cantonment railway station. He takes a look at not only travellers but those who’ve stood here as witnesses for ages

The surrealistic lighting is inviting. There is something strangely mesmerising about the Ambala cantonment railway station that is hard to miss, harder to pin point. Alone, abandoned and on two feet, the moment you step on the platform, a sea of faces invite—some as dark as the night, some remotely ancient—under the moon. It is a place where sages and prostitutes bear the same destiny. The number of birds that used to flock this place may have decreased significantly, but some still find their way here. Some predatory, some haven seeking.

As the way of life fast forwards to something called a new age, look back across your shoulder on platform number 1 and stupefying fumes of opium hold you in awe. Strike a conversation with railway officials and don’t ask them the usual questions—number of trains crossing this junction, etc. Start a conversation about birds or that neurotic who has such deep eyes that you almost drown in them—the officials are bound to look at you from head to toe (and it doesn’t help if you’re always shabbily dressed). The officials dismiss you; good.

There’s a sudden burst of activity, not of travellers but those who’ve stood here as witnesses for ages. You instinctively approach a group of ‘scavengers’. Dusk engulfs. The group sitting closely throws curious glances. One of them admits that he’s been around for 10 years now.

Why’s he wearing a blanket when it’s so hot? I never get the answer. Maybe some things are best left unsaid.

Opium fumes have started ruling the air. Wanted to see some antiques—old signal brass torches, a burst of flashback, find none. Everything is like a fractured collage.

There’s this old toothless woman. She’s eating, is she dying, is she singing?

The platform turns black. The scavenger offers opium. My cigarettes have finished. There’s misery all around. Cliched story.

There have been many NGOs here, they listen very attentively, just listen.

Someone asks for alms. You feel happy for who you are, with no threat to your life other than the cigarettes you smoke.

On the drive back home, you telephone a woman. But she says she’s busy, has to board a train. She’s on her way to the railway station…

Remains of the day

Sit with him for some time and it’s hard not to be transported to a distant age. Kulwant Singh, 84, was the stationmaster at the Ambala cantonment railway station. Settled in Ambala cantonment, one of the oldest living former stationmasters remembers, “That time is indefinable. I joined the Railways in 1924, when the British were at the helm of affairs. There were better laws and the whole effort was to improve even the smallest of things. As for now, do I need to say anything?” He smiles. “You know I still remember small details from that era. Those brass lamps, machines fully controlled by humans, there was something striking about that. Now, the Guard’s kerosene lamp has given way to swanky torches. But I think, there’s nothing as permanent as change.” Kulwant Singh is back into the time when he used to don the Station Master’s uniform. A certain pride came naturally. A certain smile was always there.

These are the few of my favourite films…
Anandita Gupta

Did you know that there are many who celebrated Divali minus the diyas (lamps), snugly tucked in some cozy recliner of Fun Republic? Giving them company were heaped caramel popcorns, frothy, chilled Pepsi and a betel leaf-chewing Shahrukh Khan, crooning the immortal Benarasi song, Khaike Paan Banaraswala.

And no sooner had movie buffs sat through this Rs 40 crore stylish update of the 1978 classic, Don, than Bollywood lined up at least five remakes of cult classics—Umrao Jaan, Sholay, Sahib, Biwi Aur Ghulam and Arth.

So at a time when Bollywood is remaking a slew of classic Hindi movies, packaging old blockbusters with modern trimmings, we ask city cine lovers what are the classics they’d like to see remade?

Royal grandeur

Nostalgia inspires myriad emotions across yesteryear movie lovers as they talk about their favourite classic. Prof A.R. Chhabra, an ardent movie lover, beams, Mughal-e-Azam is perhaps the most definitive version of the Salim-Anarkali legend. For this costliest Hindi film of the 1960s, tailors from Delhi stitched the costumes, Hyderabad goldsmiths made jewellery, Kolhapur craftsmen the crowns, Rajasthani ironsmiths fabricated the shields, and swords, etc and the Surat karigars did exquisite embroidery.

So it will be a treat if someone lavishly remakes this film."

And what difference would he like in the movie? "I’ll watch the remade Mughal-e-Azam as many times as I wish to, without having to bunk college," laughs the professor, who recalls what a taboo it was then for youngsters to watch movies.

A masterpiece

Says 68-year-old Harbilas Rai, settled in Chandigarh since 1959, "The 1960s saw many movies that were masterpieces—Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje, Mere Mehboob, Kagaz Ke Phool. But a movie like R.K. Narayan’s Guide, above all, immortalised by director Vijay Anand’s bold, unconventional strokes, deserves a remake. The movie was one of the earliest efforts in Indian cinema to actually show its two leading characters as frail human beings."

Masala mar ke

Radhika Sharma from Mohali laments, "I feel Frahan Akthar should have remade Amar Akbar Anthony— a typical Manmohan Desai masala film, it had apt ingredients like action, drama, comedy and tragedy.

The film’s highlight was the character of Anthony Gonsalves played by Amitabh Bachchan. It would have been amazing to see Shahrukh or Salman `A0play this lovable character.

Deprived of creativity

Prof Rana Nayar, who teaches at the Department of English Literature, Panjab University, believes that the remake fever shows a dearth of ideas among our present filmmakers. " I believe the classics are being reduced to mere farcical mimicry through this re-make culture. But yes, I’ve always loved Mother India for its wonderful portrayal of rural India, and would not mind seeing its remade version.

Well, time and tide may have passed. But these classics remain. Whether remade or not, they’ll nonetheless remain deeply etched in the memories of cinema buffs.

Desi Dancing

It is desi songs with angrezi beats that’s swaying the youngsters rhythmically, says Saurabh Malik

Trance, techno, house and classic rock are out of rhythm for the partying crowd. In dancing spirit, so many of the youngsters prefer to swing musically to the reverberating beats of old Bollywood numbers! The ones whipped nicely and properly with young thumping beats! In discotheques and even nightclubs across the city!

Right fellows, you have guessed it correctly. Desi songs with aangrezi beats are swaying the youngsters like never before. If you are having doubts about the swinging reality, just boogie down the rhythmic road of existence meandering its way to a disc.

The din of remixed Hindi movie songs, booming out of high-wattage speakers, has discordantly drowned the melody of booming English numbers oh-so-hot in the discos until recently.

In fact, you will find teenyboppers rejoicing the party of life with the in-house and the guest disc jockeys spinning tracks to produce some cool funky music pulled out of the memories’ recycle bin.

“In Chandigarh, the latest versions of Mera Piya Paye Rangoon and Aap Jaise Koi nowadays set the mood for the evenings in the clubs and nightspot, instead of Deep Purple’s Smoke on the Water or Britney Spears’ Hit Me Baby One More Time, says undergrad-cum-party hopper Arunima Malhotra. “Things have changed indeed!”

Pushing back her highlighted tresses, she says: “Those songs, now out of tune in the discotheques, have an emotionally evocative vocal quality. The passion in the voice succeeds in inspiring a depth of emotion whether you understand the lyrics or not. Though the lyrics of the old Hindi numbers are simply fantastic, the new beats take away the charm from the songs. You can gyrate to the tunes, but that’s all”.

Standing behind the console with his dexterous fingers on the stops and pedals, disc jockey with “Silk Lounge” Rohit only agrees. Flashing an empathetic smile, he says: “Most DJs in the city are not playing quality music. They are only concerned about getting the crowd grooving in no time. No matter what your party style is, they try to offer you something by playing the remix versions of commercial cinema music. If in the process they feed you with the melodies music channels blare throughout the day, they are just not bothered about it.”

The reason behind the inharmonious reality is not very hard to see. “Just 20 per cent of the party crowd understands and appreciates music. And they come to joints like the Silk Lounge for cutting foot loose to the tunes of electronic, trance or house music,” says Rohit. “Others simply believe in celebrating an occasion called life by swinging to the music they can comprehend. Most of them are students staying as paying guests or young executives in banks. For them, the clubs play the remix versions of commercial music”. Off-note, indeed! 

Warm up your interiors

Many a times a great fireplace has been built which blandly stares back in the face of the homeowners, crying out to be decorated. Just as the fireplaces can warm your heart and make you snug like a rub in a bug, decorating its’ mantle pieces is known to give headaches to many.

Regardless of whether your fireplace has been made in solid wood, marble, granite, onyx or using natural stone with all their natural charm of beautiful grains, getting the proportions of items right can be tricky. Consider the size and style of the fireplace, the height to the ceiling above, size of the room and its decor. Decide whether to accentuate the height of a tall room or the replace itself. Good mantel design is just a focused use of the design basics of balance and proportion.

Gather up the items you deem mantel-worthy. Play with placement before you do anything permanent like hanging pictures or mirrors. The most common approach is use a large single item. Mirrors, large art pieces, and wreaths are good choices for single-item mantel decorating. The sense of calm and order this conveys can visually quiet a room because there is just one thing trying to draw one's attention.

Default-mode for formal area mantel display is symmetrical. Center one item on or above the mantel, and flank it with a series of identical items on either side -- vases, Staffordshire-style dog figurines, candlesticks etc. This arrangement results in equal balance and mirror image matching of each half.

Successful basic asymmetrical arrangements have good balance, yet each side is not a mirror image of the other, especially in casual settings. That means the items on each side of the center are different, yet are close to being equally weighted, either physically or visually. For example, place a medium sized mirror frame in the left half of the mantle piece flanked with some candles. Balance this out by placing a wider rather than taller flower arrangement on the right half of the mantle piece.

Items swirling around a central point define a radial arrangement. If you have a nice collection of blue pottery collectors’ plates, then put the largest one in the middle and flank it with odd sized ones around it in a symmetrical format, on the wall above the mantle piece. You may even create a family cluster if the mantle piece is in your family lounge, lobby or even your master bedroom.

Fireplaces in contemporary rooms sometimes have little or no mantel. Problem with whisper-thin mantels is that just about anything you put on them looks too heavy. So the wisest choice is to focus attention on the space above by creating a strong point of interest. A large, single artpiece or mirror works well in these situations.

In a tall room, choose an item that goes far enough up the wall to keep the area by the ceiling looking bare. Tall mirrors don't cause one to focus too much on the top portion. Angled rooms can make a room visually lean one way. Again, the solution lies in holding the visual center with a large piece over the fireplace.

To remake your fireplace in the country-European style, look to blue and white tiles, a key element in establishing an old-world mood. Fill the mantle piece by creating an eclectic collection only in country style rooms. For a cozy space, firelight and candles should be the only sources of light, making for a very romantic, softly lit area. A distinctive beehive-shaped fireplace in a corner plays up the soft curves of the room's style.

With winter knocking at your doorstep and design ideas for creating a charming mantle piece in your kitty, would you consider introducing a practically beautiful design element of fireplace in your home?

Courtsey: A.P. Singh Besten & Co

Bid for a cause
Gayatri Rajwade

Can anything starry be complete without a snazzy pulse on style? Never mind the tepid alliteration, but Sony Television’s recent finale of its dance blitzkrieg Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa not only brought oodles of attention to the amazing transformation (once again!) of an unlikely dancer Mona Singh into a gracefully manoeuvring gazelle on stage (so much so that she won the competition), but it also focussed attention on the one aspect that television never fails to influence—fashion!

The glittering dresses, the sweeping skirts, the elegant gowns and even the gaudy body-suits donned by the men have been the cynosure of minute attention.

But wait; do not pick up your scissors and spools of thread just yet to emulate all those sequinned wonders, just bid for the originals themselves!

Sounds unbelievable?

After the show’s enthusiastic response, Sony Entertainment Television has decided to auction some of the flamboyant attire worn by the stars on the show. The proceeds of the auction will go to the ‘Akanksha Foundation’, a non-profit organisation that works with underprivileged children.

For a description of the clothes (read, what you covet!) log onto http://www.msnspecials.in/jhalakdikhhlajaa/ where Mona Singh and Shveta Salve’s cool ‘threads’ from the grand finale are up for offer as is one worn by Shilpa Shetty.

With 11 celebrity outfits in all going on the bidding docks (including some worn by the men too!), all you need do is use your mobile phones to SMS BID at 2525.The menu that opens will lead you onto further instructions to bid for what you would like to own.

Designed by some of the most la-di-dah designers like Neeta Lulla, Asgar Ally, Sabia, Anil Cherian, Lakshman and even Rocky S, they are your ticket to being a dancing star yourself, never mind the two left feet, as the show has revealed!

The auction closes on Monday, November 6 so bid away—it is all for a worthy cause.

Event is the THING

The new market mantra is not just to attract customers but to involve and entertain them too, says Nirupama Dutt

A young girl sitting across tarot reader Gargi Arora wants to know if she should appear for an examination. “Yes, the time is good. Success will be with you.” An anxious old woman asks if the time is ready for her daughter’s wedding. Gargi replies, “No, wait a few years more and let the girl get strong enough in her mind to take the responsibility of marriage.”

This very interesting fortune-telling session is happening amidst designer wear for kids, Monte Carlo sweaters and embellished salwar-kameez ensembles. Date cake and coffee are doing the rounds. Now what could the connection be? It is event time at the high-end garments store of Meena Bazaar. From a small little shop in City’s Sector 17, it is one of the upgraded stores with a branch at Manimajra too. And the credit for the makeover of the store goes to the young entrepreneurs Manish and Rajnish Jain who have not only extended their inherited business but added style to it.

It is the Manimajra outlet that organises events not just to attract customers but to involve and entertain them too. It is a marketing strategy and a good one at that, masterminded by Manish’s better half, Pooja Jain. “Weekend time we organise these events and it helps us to know our customers better and good and strong ties are formed. In fact last Christmas, we surprised our young customers by going all the way to their homes to deliver gifts and children were thrilled.” How did they pick out the kids to be gifted? “Oh! We just went to the homes of young kids who had come shopping with their parents in the days preceding Christmas,” says Pooja.

These events are announced in papers a couple of days before but one wants to know if people do turn up specially for these events? “Of course, we have people specially coming and on Children’s Day last year we organised an essay-writing competition and as many as 40 kids came to take part in it,” says Pooja. Manish adds, “Most touching was the turnout on Mother’s Day when children drew portraits of the mothers.”

So this is new-age marketing done with élan and days of a sugary cup of tea or a thanda offered by jewellers and cloth merchants when they are sure that the customers are going to loosen their purse strings well and proper.

Culturally yours

Acclaimed theatre artiste and social activist M. K. Raina is in town to work with the children of Vivek High School for a production called Jasma Odan, reports Parbina Rashid

It’s difficult to say who was enjoying the exercise more–M.K. Raina immersed in the sound of dholak and nagaras or the cast of 45 children hungry to lap up the director’s notes. So for once, your instinctive journalistic nature to hurry up things has to take a backseat as he, with so much command, asks you to sit and enjoy the song.

Interview? “You will get all the information about me on the Internet and anyway I am not much of a media person,” comes the straightforward answer. We made up our mind to do a Google search on this National School of Drama alumnus who has been a freelance theatre artiste and film person, working all over India, in many languages and many traditional forms. But the lure to talk to him in person gets the better of us and we agree to wait till he is free. Mercifully, the wait is not painfully long and soon we find ourselves face to face in a small room of Vivek High School with the veteran artiste.

Do you enjoy working with children? We ask him trying to engage him in conversation. “I generally work with under-privileged children. But in that case, play is more of a tool of education, confidence building and a kind of therapy than pure art.” This is the second time he has worked with schoolchildren in an organised set-up.

For Vivek High’s Founder’s Week celebrations, Raina has selected a folklore based on the lives of the tribes of Kathiwar, Gujarat, called Jasma Odan.

“As a nation we do not know each other.” As we try hard to grasp the meaning, he explains, “We take for granted that we know our country, our people, but the fact is that the people of Kashmir know nothing about Kerala or a person from Rajasthan is clueless about a Manipuri.”

So Raina, as a cultural crusader, is trying to bridge the gulf. “If you want to know about a place then taste their cuisine, try out their handicraft. That’s why I selected this play, so that children become a bit aware and sensitive towards other cultures and traditions,” he explains.

Is he particular about choosing his subject matter? “Anything that moves me,” comes the reply. Neither is he particular about set designs or forms. “The text decides everything, right from set designing to the form. In this particular production, you will not see much designing as human forms are used extensively.”

The critics as ‘rich with contemporary meaning and significance’ have described Raina’s style, which is a blend of rural and urban theatre across the country. Recipient of honours like Sanskrit Samman, Sahitya Kala Parishad Award, Sangeet Natak Akademi award and many more, he has given Indian theatre memorable productions like Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein, Karmawali, Lower Depths, and Andha Yug among others.

Did Bollywood ever beckon? “I am unfit for Bollywood,” his shrug says it all. “But then I like being part of the movement called parallel cinema,” he adds after a second thought. Who would not be if one’s name were associated with films like Tamas, Ek Rukh Hua Faisla, Titli, Genesis and Tarang, both in the capacity of an actor and director?

Even Punjabi theatre has been enriched by his experience. Raina gave three productions—Pari Kokh, Karmawali and Mowaze along with our own theatre person Kamal Tewari. “Yes I am not unfamiliar with Punjabi theatre,” he says.

But he does not share our enthusiasm about theatre in Chandigarh. “Where is theatre in Chandigarh? There is theatre in Amritsar, in Punjab, but in Chandigarh?” A bit of a letdown that. But maybe we do need to face such criticism once in while. 

Lost and found

On the 13day of the last month when our colleague Anuradha Shukla got the news of the passing away of one of the very talented theatre veterans Balraj Pandit (Panditji), we had trouble finding his picture. One recalled all the times we had written on him in the distant past but no pictures were to be found. A telephone call to Kamal Tewari and after sharing the grief, he too wondered about a picture for the memorial meeting by the Chandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi. “I had many of his pictures but in shifting home much has been lost and misplaced.” I recalled that Diwan Manna had clicked some very good pictures of his but Diwan these days is found more in Paris and less in Chandigarh. So Kamal did manage a small picture, as did we for the report. But one found oneself musing about all that had been lost and the little that had been found. And just now when one was clearing the drawer to go on a bit of leave to get rid of a womb and related paraphernalia, there one found Balraj Pandit’s picture, the one clicked by Diwan for an article on Punjabi theatre done for The Week many years ago by Vijaya Pushkarna.

… zamane yaad aaye

The power of the image is such that it can recreate a lost era and so it was with this picture. One was hearing the funny dialogues of Lok Udasi and Panchwan Sawaar told by a tipsy Panditji. One hears again the magical voice of Kamal Tewari singing Panditji’s lyrics: Sone de rang di kudhi, Chandi de rang di kudhi… Kamal also used to love singing the ghazal: Kaisi kaisi chand umeedein chand fasaane yaad aaye, Tum yaad aaye aur tumhare saath zamane yaad aaye. And so one is back with the zamanas. Truly, to Kamal went the credit of introducing the best of theatre and the best of music to many in the city. After having worked with Panditji in the Punjab Repertory, he brought him to direct Zanane Dant ka Aspatal for his Natakwala group. As far as theatre music goes, the track record of Kamal is unparalleled. One sees this man who is all music on the big screen more often these days but one looks forward to one of his grand musicals. Maybe if not this year, then the next.

MK magic

MK Raina is in town again and this time Jasma Odhan for Vivek High School. Raina has cast his magic many times on the city stage. And one recalls his Parai Kukh, an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle by poets Amitoj and Amarjit Chandan. Kamal had blossomed as a music director and lead singer in the play: Akh da taara jigar da tota, Ve chukl ke sipahi reh gaye ni jinde meriye. Later the two went onto revive the magic in a stage adaptation of Zakir’s Karmanwali weaving harmony of Sufi music in troubled times. One came across this black and white picture of MK of yore in that same drawer and a little bird flying around town tells me that this hero of Avtar Kaul’s 27 Down still looks just as good!

Pass word Kumar Vikal

In troubled times one gathers one’s friends around one and asks them to become a dam around one to save one from flowing away. This perhaps is what one has done this time in Hopscotch as well as showing gratitude well in time where it must be shown. And the image of a dam is taken from a line of the famous poem of the best poet the city ever saw. The poem was called Dukhi Dinon Mein and the poet was Kumar Vikal, who still lives as a password of an e-mail account I share with my colleagues. Shared because he and the others who figure in this testament shared with us their talent and genius. For individual e-mail accounts let lovers be the password. For togetherness it is sharing that seems to be lost in these times of ‘individual identity’ and the blasphemous ‘intellectual property.’ Intellect, knowledge, talent and even genius grow manifold when shared. Thus the philosophy of lost and found: lose more and you will find much more.

— Nirupama Dutt

Umrao Jaan revisited

After LoC, J. P. Dutta is ready to take the centrestage again with his magnum opus and first female-oriented, non-action, musical film Umrao Jaan.  Dutta deals with an emotional subject in this film. The audience already knows Ameeran’s story in the film, which is a remake of Muzaffar Ali’s Umrao Jaan (1981). Rekha got the National Award for her outstanding performance in the earlier film and left an indelible mark of her histrionics.

Dutta’s Umrao Jaan is a much-awaited film based on Mirza Mohammed Haadi Ruswa’s famous Urdu novel Umra-O-Jaan-e-Ada. The film has two of the brightest stars, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, in the lead. Rai plays Rekha’s role in the remade version. The film opens today at Piccadily, Chandigarh, Fun Republic, Manimajra and Suraj, Panchkula.

Shabana Azmi plays the crucial role of Khanum. Sunil Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Divya Dutta and Puru Raaj Kumar also star in this film. O.P. Dutta has written the film. Javed Akhtar has penned the lyrics and Anu Malik has composed the music.

J.P. Dutta and his star protégés are hoping to click with the audience. Not surprisingly, Umrao Jaan is a film most cinegoers are waiting to watch. It remains to be seen whether the movie would make box-office history.

— D.P.

FILM & FASHION
Murdoch — the devil?

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch doesn’t need to wonder what singer George Michael thinks about him, especially after the latter labelled him ‘the devil’.

The 43-year-old former Wham! singer blasted the media baron on British TV show ‘George Michael - I’m Your Man: A South Bank Special’ and insisted that he had been right in his 20-year-old belief that Murdoch was really the devil incarnate, and that it was his connection with the dark forces that led to him controlling a large percentage of the world’s media.

“I think Murdoch is the devil and has been for 20 years. The only dignity is in autonomy. I was so right about Murdoch. Twenty years later we have a media dictator,” Contactmusic quoted him, as saying.

Michael also believes that it is Murdoch’s influence that has seen a slump in his musical success.

Julia in trouble

Oscar winning actress Julia Roberts has invited the anger of animal rights groups by posing for photographs with chained monkeys in Morocco recently.

Julia reportedly raised this controversy when she took time out of filming Charlie Wildon’s film War in Marrakech, and went for a tour of the city.

According to Contactmusic, she could not contain her desire to have snaps with Barbary monkeys in the city’s famed Djemaa El Fna.

Animal rights groups and respected travel guides such as Lonely Planet always ask tourists not to pay for posing with the macaques, who have been removed from their natural habitat in the nearby Atlas Mountains, and are kept in chains all day.

Tyra’s new avatar

While she’s already an established actor, fashion designer and talk show host, it appears the next career that Tyra Banks should possibly try her hands at is - singing.

Banks tried to prove she can bust a rhyme on her talk show, when she performed a ‘rap’ to famous rapper-actor Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges that she wrote when she was 13.

With lyrics like ‘I’m 5’ 9”, I look so fine, yes all my fellas are so divine’ and “If you and I meet you will not stand, get on your knees and kiss Ty’s hand”, it seems with a little homework Banks could also add one more item to her list of accomplishments.

Luda, however, was supportive, as he told Banks, “you coulda had a career in rap... Bonnie and Clyde all day,” reports TMZ.com.

Keeny G. best golfer

Looks like Saxophonist Kenny G. now has more to brag about than just his world-class horn-playing, as he has now been voted the best golfer among music-makers, according to Golf Digest’s ranking of the ‘’Top 100 in Music.’’ Kenny G, whose real name is Kenneth Gorelick, has a handicap of +0.6, and beat off competition from country singer Vince Gill.

Fellow country stars Marty Roe and Steve Azar are third and fourth followed by drummer Adrian Young of the band No Doubt.

Other big names on the list include George Strait, Glen Campbell, Toby Keith and Willie Nelson. Anne Murray is the highest ranked woman, coming in ahead of Dixie Chicks swinger Natalie Maines, reports Contactmusic. Top 25 musical golfers:

1. Kenny G.

2. Vince Gill 3. Marty Roe 4. Steve Azar 5. Adrian Young 6. Rudy Gatlin 7. Larry Gatlin 8. Steve Gatlin 9. Josh Kelley 10. Paul Brown 11. Lloyd Cole 11. Alice Cooper 11. Dan Tyminski 14. Alan White 15. Darius Rucker 15. Jason Scheff 15. Justin Timberlake 18. Mac Davis 18. Huey Lewis 20. Dweezil Zappa 21. Glen Campbell 22. Robby Krieger 23. Engelbert Humperdinck 23. Will Pugh 25. George Strait

Kevin likes fatherhood

Pop singer Britney Spears’ hubby Kevin Federline insists he was not planning on falling in love when he met his current wife Britney Spears, because he was expecting his second child with ex-girlfriend Shar Jackson.

Spears and Federline met at a Hollywood nightclub in April 2004 and immediately became a couple while Moesha actress Jackson was six months pregnant.

“I’m not going to say that I planned on falling in love with my wife when my ex-girlfriend was pregnant,” he was quoted by Contactmusic, as saying.

The 28-year-old says falling in love with Spears was unexpected, but being a young father was always part of the plan.

“I knew for sure that I’d have one or two children by now. I didn’t think I’d have four children, but I love being a young dad with a big family,” he added.

‘Bishni’ reincarnate

POSING PRETTY: Gick Grewal