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Bollywood Animated
Now, we, movie buffs, were happy but not quite content, as we watched Cars, Finding Nemo, Shrek, Happy Feet and more. The telly dosage of cartoons too, though satisfactory, was not good enough, for we waited to catch a flick that was ours. And our fruitful wait seemed nearing its end with the popularity of Kunal Kohli’s animated characters Hum Tum, Shahrukh dubbing Hum Hain Lajawaab, the animated title song of Ta Ra…Priyanka Chopra promoting a beauty soap via an animated ad and more. It kick-started with Krishna and My Friend Ganesha and though these met a lukewarm response at the box office, they did send the animation film industry brewing. My Friend Ganesha even saw a live character act along an animated one. Soon, a Hanuman followed in 2005 and stole the hearts of the young and old alike. And, perhaps that explains this year’s wait for Hanuman Returns, a 2D animated feature with a lot of special effects. And, lest you think animation is limited to just mythological heroes, meet real heroes, rather a Romeo. Meet Roadside Romeo, a venture of Yash Raj Films with Walt Disney, it promises to be a typical Yash Raj entertainer with all the music, dance, song and romance. Written and directed by Jugal Hansraj, it is slated for a June 2008 release. And, as for real heroes, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Jaaved Jaffery will dub it. Talking of big banners and there is another name — Dharma Productions — that has jumped into the bandwagon. And needless to say, Karan Johar has roped in his fave trio — SRK, Rani and Kajol — behind the microphone. The mushy animated version of his Kuch Kuch Hota Hai titled Kuchi Kuchi Hota Hai will see animated dogs romance Bollywood style. This is something we surely can’t wait for. Now, Kajol’s animated kitty has more than just lending voice to Karan’s canines. She and hubby Ajay Devgan will be part of a 3D animation flick tilted Toonpur Ka Super Hero. The story of a reel-life hero who accidentally lands in a world of cartoons and transforms into a real-life hero, it will see Ajay play Toonpur. Other Bollywood honchos waking up to the trend include Adlabs and Pritish Nandy Communication (PNC). The former has already announced an animation with none other than Rajnikant in the lead. Also by the same group will be another flick called Ginny And Jonny. PNC is set to delight moviegoers with four animated versions of flicks such as Howrah Bridge, Amar Prem, Barsaat Ki Ek Raat and Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina. Now, that sounds like a great idea of reviving old classics. Also in the race are UTV’s Arjun, Alibaba and Dream Blanket. Well, isn’t this what we call an entertainment-packed year? So all you movie-lovers get ready for a colourful charged up treat! WAIT ‘n’ WATCH |
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Tasting spaghetti in December
Attribute it to global warming or depict it as a direct aftermath of youth’s warm enthusiasm bubbling deep inside the crowd! Spaghetti tops continue to be a rage amidst the teenyboppers even in December.
Any misgivings? Set off for the hotspots in the arcades across the city. If you have the time, and inclination, find yourself a nice warm spot in the café bars steaming with style in Sector 11 and even 35. Or else, go to the varsity and college campuses anytime during the day. You will find spaghetti tops exposing so many pretty lasses to the heat of fashion. Oh yes! Coziness is the last thing on their minds, as they leave the warm comfort of their houses to encounter the cold world outside. You may feel like zipping up your jacket to brace yourself up for the early morning coolness. But, be sure “it’s perfectly fine” with them as the November breeze fails to freeze the gusto in them. They continue to give the crowd the chills in their stunning tops. Evenings are no exceptions. Go to one of those dance parties organised every now and then in the discotheques and you will find spaghetti tops ruling popularity charts. And, if entry is a problem with you, drive down to a hot favourite hotel-cum-fast food joint in Sector 22. Spaghetti tops and ice creams form a nice combination — you will realise it in no time. Ask them, and they look at you as someone who just hasn’t warmed up to exercise fashion. Giving you a cold shoulder literally, they assert: “Initially it is a bit tough to go out in the open without wrapping yourself up in a sweater! But you gradually get used to it.” Well, if it is something you have to learn to take pleasure in, why go for it in the very first place, you wonder. But, it’s useless to ask the young undergrads. For, you know your query will be met with a cold stare. In any case, all of them make city-based fashion designer Anuradha Chawla say: “Tops with nice little spaghetti straps holding up the garment in winters were never so hot. Till last year, you had sleeveless tops in November, but spaghettis were not so popular.” Digging out a spaghetti top from her exclusive collection, she says: “They were pulled out of the closet for all those casually formal late night bashes, like the ones organised on the Christmas or the New Year’s Eve. But for colleges, it was shirts or suits with sleeves.” The young fashion designer knows what she is saying. For, she is daily selling four to five tops from her garment house in Sector 35. So all you girls in slack and sagging coats; shed those flabby feathers and fly in nice spaghetti tops. It is worth it! |
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STEP OUT
Goa is a favourite Christmas-New Year’s Eve holiday destination for lots of people in North India. For most, a trip to Goa means their first experience of the sea. So here’s a bit of information about snorkelling. It’s a simple adventure activity in the ocean that you can enjoy during your holiday. And it’s a safe family affair that children upwards of six can do (provided they know how to swim).
In the case of adults, it is not necessary to know how to swim if you want to go snorkelling! Let me explain. Young children who have not learnt to swim are uneasy in deep water and the mental fear can be overpowering. It is better not to push them into doing it because a phobia might set in, which will make it difficult for the child to learn swimming later. Adults are not subject to such extreme fear because they have more self-control and reasoning power. Adult non-swimmers or those who have learnt swimming but are yet to develop comfort in water can snorkel with life jackets or buoys. Most snorkelling trips are done through dive operators who combine a group of divers with a group of snorkellers and take them out to sea on the same boat. This is also more fun because you get a glimpse of the sport of diving (which I will discuss in a future column). Recreational divers go into the ocean to see marine life, shipwrecks, caves and so on. Diving requires training and reasonable physical fitness. Snorkelling is a leisurely activity in which you stay on the surface of the sea and don’t go underwater. You view the marine world and the various forms of life in it from the surface. To do this, you have to put on a snorkelling mask. The human eye cannot focus without air before it. The mask traps air before your eyes so that you can see in the water with your face submerged. (Without the mask, everything is blurred.) The mask has an L-shaped breathing tube or snorkel attached on one side. One end of the snorkel is clamped between your lips while the other end sticks out of the water above your head so that you can breathe without having to lift your face above the water. Like divers, snorkellers also wear fins on the feet to move through water with little effort. You will need only a few minutes to learn how to put on the mask-and-snorkel set, and the fins. You will be shown how to clean the visor of the mask (by spitting into it, rubbing and rinsing with seawater!) and how to hold the snorkel in the mouth with the lips forming a watertight seal. You must wet the fins with seawater before putting them on because dry rubber on dry skin can cause a rash. Goa is infamous for low visibility but when I snorkelled there, I could see several feet into the water especially near the coast of the island we were beside, because of the bright sunlight going into the water. During the boat ride out to the sea, you will be shown fish charts so that you can recognise the fish you see. The first time you see a fish in its natural home in the sea and recognise it, will be a moment you will never forget. It happened with me when I spotted a sergeant major (imaginatively named because it has black stripes on a bright yellow body). It flitted into a hollow in the rocks about four feet beneath me, quivered there for a moment and then darted into the darkness beyond a small underwater hill. That magical memory will stay with me forever! (This column appears fortnightly)
The writer has authored India’s first handbook of adventure sports and is available at
y.bey@excite.com
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Beautiful Spread
Organised by the city’s Municipal Corporation, this annual event has got bigger and better this year. It also has aquired a fresh look . There are Marigold horses and butterflies, figurines of Punjabi woman spinning the charkha, bouncey for the kids and information on the varieties of chrysanthemum. Talk numbers and they have gone up both in entries , 15,000 this year and number of varieties. Says XEN Horticulture Arun Kumar Kansal, “Compared to the 230 varieties last year, there are 240 this time, including three varieties procured from Japan by a passionate gardener, Virinder Sharma.” Sharma has won 22 awards this year and has been spending five yours everyday looking after his plants for the past 16 years. He says, “Growing chrysanthemum is a challenging job but I have a lot of passion for gardening.” He grows his plants in sandy soil and adds desi khad to it. Keen to know more. There are healthy inviting incurved snowballs, white spoons, magenta pompons, white Koreans, yellow spiders, golden Nikshi Sakia adding vibrancy to the sunny day. The entries displayed in increasing order of height and colour co-coordinated layers standing out on the plush green lawn, is a sight to watch. And as for spotting a healthy plant, all you got to do is look at the root of the pot, check the number of plants. A huge bloom out of a single plant indicates super health. And, well there is more than the clean whites, rich pinks and bright yellows at the show. Sunday will see a flower quiz and a cultural programme by the children of Gurukul School. Must Know An ancient Chinese city was named
Ju-Xian, meaning “chrysanthemum city”. The flower was introduced in Japan in the 8th century AD, and the Emperor adopted the flower as his official seal. There is a “Festival of Happiness” in Japan that celebrates the flower. In European countries like France or Poland and in Korea and Japan, white chrysanthemums are symbolic of death and are only used for funerals or on graves. In China, white chrysanthemums are symbolic of lamentation, while in some other countries, of honesty. In the United States, the flower is usually regarded as positive and cheerful. Chrysanthemum plants have been shown to reduce indoor air pollution by the NASA Clean Air study Yellow or white chrysanthemum flowers are boiled to make a sweet drink in some parts of Asia. The beverage known as “chrysanthemum tea” has many medicinal uses, including an aid in recovery from influenza. In Korea, a rice wine flavored with chrysanthemum flowers is called gukhwaju |
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Beauty Studio
A recent US research revealed that women spend only 20 seconds to wash their face. Considering how much time we spend on make-up and hair, 20 seconds do not do justice to the face. Your skin becomes even more dirty, thanks to airborne smog and long hours of cosmetics, which until recently wasn’t a problem. These products combine with sticky sebum secretions and form a waxy coating on the surface and a splash of water and 20 seconds with a cleanser just can’t penetrate this layer of oil-based debris. The debris remains on the skin, preventing moisturisers and other skin care products from seeping in and only dulls the skin’s appearance. This is what leads some to stripping their skin with scrubs and harsh astringents. While mineral oil, alcohol, lanolin is still bad news for skin, oil can play a key part in keeping skin squeaky clean. It works because they follow the basic law of attraction — they can attract and dissolve oily debris, so that when a cleanser is introduced later, the debris can be washed away. Look for cleansing products with plant-based oils, such as olive, rice bran and apricot kernel oils. How do I keep my oily skin clean? I sometimes have acne breakouts. I have been using products with witch hazel. Is it good for oily skin? Though oily skin feel clean and cool with menthol, camphor, peppermint, alcohol and witch hazel, these actually irritate the skin. They might give a temporary feeling of balanced skin only stimulate the oil glands to return to the natural state by producing oil. Steer clear of products with foaming action. Visit a dermatologist to determine the skin’s tolerance for cleansing ingredients. Return to nature and use products that are free of parabens and preservatives, synthetic additives, mineral oils or petroleum ingredients. Go for organic products that are earth and skin-friendly with no animal testing and are loaded with pure cold pressed oils. Benzyl peroxide and tricoloson are a must in face washes for acne-prone skin. Tricloson is mild enough and is the basic anti-bacterial, while benzoyl is stronger. It can burn and dry sensitive skin and also has bleaching power. Great to use after acne breakouts, they cleanse and disinfect penetrating into pores. The secret is to let them sit on the skin for 20-30 seconds when washing your face. Salicylic acid (2%) is much appreciated by acne-troubled skin. (This column appears fortnightly) Pammy Kaul is a UK-based beauty therapist. E-mail queries to lifestyletribune@gmail.com or write to The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh
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The best tussar silk from Bhagalpur, pashmina silk wool from J&K, banarsi silk and cottons from interiors of India, dyed and printed in herbal dyes that do not fade easily. That is what Kanchan Sharma brings. She virtually creates each piece — from weaving to designing to printing to stitching. The collection has suits, sarees, dupattas and dress materials in an interesting blend of traditional weaves and modern designs. Suits with jackets, mughal cuts, empire waists, yolks and pattis of banarsi silk dominate the readymade collection in silk, cotton and the newly introduced pashmina silk wool that is warm and shiny. The colour palette is dark, warm and wintry with reds, blues, blacks and browns. A different stroke is added to the suits with embroidered or kalamkari hand painted banarsi silk dupattas and the traditional banarsi gicha work that is subtly woven into the cloth for design or with badla work to add sparkle and glitter.
There are soft to feel, three-piece dress materials in the best tussar. And if you want dupattas, choose from brocade bordered colourful or or gilcha work dupattas. “Every piece is like my baby and I nurtures it with great love and passion. That is why I have the exhibition once in an year,” she says. These suits can be yours for Rs 1,000 to Rs 6,000. At # 34/9 Chandigarh, today |
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Frame of Life
Read Between The Lines, as Sanjay calls his solo show at Punjab Kala Bhavan-16, which was inaugurated on Friday, leaves us no doubts about what he is trying to convey through his 44 frames. Every shot is self-explanatory and above all, each frame carries the story behind the scene. Like the photograph of Gujjar herdsman Alam Ali. A puzzled Ali, trying to answer Sanjay’s question ‘where did you come from?’ captures his confusion in the lines of his face and the squint of his eyes — for a gypsy herdsmen, whose father and forefather have been grazing over the vast geographical spread of North India and Pakistan since millennia, one tends to forget the place of origin. Or, the picture of a child nestled between her parents on a cold wintry night at one at the Chandigarh Railway Station comes with a soul-searching question: “Can we ensure a minimum standard of decent living for each citizen? Can we uphold the self-respect of our fellow folk?” And going by the reality of Sanjay’s photographs, the answers are painful. They are others. Like the disoriented face of Sonia who has to wake up early to complete household chores before she walks 4 kms to her schools or the anguish on the face of a Oriya migrant labourer in the remote village of Chango in Himachal touch the heart. They are meant to. For Sanjay, heart comes first, followed by eyes and then the camera. So when you walk into the venue, feel the throb of life rather than viewing the images for the sake of composition or technicality, not just read the lines but read between the lines. That’s all Sanjay asks for. On till December 19
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Madge throws a tantrum!
MATERIAL girl Madonna has become the centre for another controversy as she allegedly dispersed a yoga class in order to use the room herself. However, the pop-queen’s representatives are baffled by the reports of her ordering the class at a New York gym to vacate the room, so she ‘could practice her moves alone’.
The 49-year-old singer was told to stop talking by an instructor at the Reebok Sports Club session. According to the New York Post, this prompted the unimpressed star to shout out, “I want you all to leave,” reports Contactmusic. When the 25 students and teacher abandoned the studio, Madge allegedly launched into a private routine and didn’t bother to stop even when another class turned up. However, the singer’s representative has laughed off these reports, insisting: “That sounds unlikely.” Celine ‘not anorexic’
Singer Celine Dion has slammed rumours that she is suffering from eating disorder anorexia The 39-year-old singer asserted that people are jealous of her slim figure “I am not anorexic. It pisses people off that I am thin and I don’t make any effort. I have been thin all my life, Contactmusic quoted the singer as saying. Dion said that her physique was due to genetics and it runs in her family. “Nobody in my family is overweight,” she added. The Canadian singer feels she has finally proved herself in the music industry, and is now singing purely for the fun.
— ANI
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A queen bed, a utility cabinet, a futon interspersed with coffee tables, entertainment racks and floating shelves — converts Art Folio-9 from an art gallery to a kind of furniture showroom. But then who’s complaining! After all, when they come from Fabindia’s exclusive factories, each piece is no less than object d’art.
The exhibition of furniture, which opened on Friday, showcased the latest range for bedroom, dining and living room, all in straight line and in sheesham or teak wood with lacquer or oil finish to impart a very contemporary, no-fuss look. There are durries and lamps to complement the look. The rugs and floor coverings are made of cotton, hand-spun wool and fabrics like jute, hemp, sisal and banana fibre. So if you are planning to bring some changes in your home decor, the exhibition is a place worth visiting. With Art Folio providing the backdrop with their paintings and Fabindia doing up the place with furniture, light and floor coverings, you get a fair idea of how to do up your place without having to go through good housekeeping magazines.
—TNS On today |
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Cool Stuff Say goodbye to flakes, itchiness, dryness, oiliness or irritation with New Era Head & Shoulders Look. The sleek new curvy bottle is available in eight variants — Smooth & Silky, Anti-hairfall, Silky Black, Cool Menthol, Thick & Long, Ocean Fresh, Natural Shine and Clean & Balanced. The products three-pronged approach of VitaZinc formula, protective hair conditioning agents and skin caring conditioning agents, soothes and nourishes the scalp. So, go ahead and look confident and beautiful. It is priced at Rs 199 for 400 ml, Rs 129 for 200 ml, Rs 64 for 90 ml and Rs 3 for a 7.5 ml sachet. Accessories Give your wedding wardrobe a European touch this season with the Laurent Collection. The Swiss designer Laurent Rufenacht has created a premium range of watches from Titan in inimitable European flair. International styling and superb craftsmanship, these pieces could be the men’s perfect accessory this winter wedding season. The range is targetted at men in the age group of 25-45 years. It explores the flavour of European design in its dials and straps. Each watch is armored in scratch resistant sapphire glass crystal. The collection priced between Rs 6500 and Rs 8500 is available in yellow metal, bimetal, steel and black metal finish. Fashion Functional and fashionable Nautica’s outerwear collection — Outerlite Jackets promises to be a perfect solution for times when it’s warm to wear a coat and cold to wear a sweater. Crafted out of Nautex’s micro-fleece fabrics they’ll meet the fashionistas demands across regions, temperatures and usage occasions. The versatile collection comes in a wide variety of fabrics, styles and fits from fleece, camouflage hoodies, lightweight zip-ups, bomber jackets and reversible jackets. Clean fits and streamline styling, each jacket features technical properties like wind proofing, cold resistance and thermal warmth, making it the ideal outerwear piece for an active lifestyle. Couples Only A gentle caress, a stolen embrace, a lifetime of romance and what could be better than symbolising the relation with platinum. Celebrate the togetherness with Orra’s Platinum Couples Collection. An exclusive range of ring for ‘his’ and ‘her’, crafted in platinum these are embellished with pure and certified Belgian diamonds. A celebration of twosome, it includes eternity and semi-eternity rings, classic plain platinum bands, solitaire and three stone rings. Each pair has been put together by international award winning designers at Orra’s global design centers in New York, Antwerp, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Mumbai and designed to suit Indian sensibilities. —TNS
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Loved SRK as Baldev Pal aka Mr. Incredible? Smiled at the sweet talk between Hum Tum? Shook a leg with the bear family in Ta Ra Rum Pum? Waited eagerly for Hanuman to return? Hmm ... And yet all this left you asking for more? Well, if it did, then Bollywood in 2008 is just what you’ll love, for the animation-packed year comes with promises to delight not just kids, but mommie-daddy and grandpa-granny too. Be it voice, characters, designs, techniques, locale, storyboard or audience, it’s all going to be up by a notch. Here’s a glimpse of animation flicks that await you.
Chrysanthemum, the Pride of Chandigarh and over 240 varieties of the flower that blooms only for 15 days during winters gaily welcome us at the Annual Chrysanthemum Show, city’s much sought after event. Moving a couple of steps ahead, the sea of people, including school children, common men to enthusiasts, and the festivity at the Terrace Garden-33 speaks of the event’s popularity, the numerous avid flower lovers and their painstaking efforts to grow this delicate plant.
MODERN life is rife with irony. We go to lengths to keep our breath fresh, use deodorants to keep the body smelling sweet and fresh, slather almost every inch of ourselves in moisturiser, but most of us are walking around with dirty skins!
We know him as the nature guy, the geologist who roams around in hills and valleys not just discovering what lies beneath but also the beauty above. That’s Sanjay Kumbkarni, whose photographs of the interiors of Himachal, mostly of Leh-Ladakh, we are familiar with. This time, he has taken a detour from the usual nature shots and captured human emotions.
