We don’t need no education
Purva Grover

Securing good marks, wooing fans, chasing dreams: What is telly’s youth brigade pursuing most sincerely?

IT’S not the Monday test scare that keeps them awake a night before. The forthcoming parent-teacher meet is also no trouble. Neither is the first-bencher geek competition, nor do they worry about the prefect checking their uniform, nails or shoes. Theirs is a different world all together, where marks have given way to votes, annual day functions to reality shows, teacher’s pets to judges’ faves, and plaid school dress to chic designer wear. Yes, we are talking of the young stars of tellydom. We picked up the report cards of these students — now actors and singers — to find out if they have education, talent, or both, on their syllabus.

This 19-year-old was in the first year of B.Com when Star Voice of India changed his life forever. Ludhiana-lad Ishmeet Singh always found his calling in notes, not numbers. “I was simultaneously doing CA (Foundation) too. Fortunately, rules changed and one could not pursue CA along with B.Com!” he chuckles. After dropping a year from college and winning the contest, offers have been flowing in, not just for singing but acting too. “Yes, you’ll soon se me as Maharaja Ranjit Singh on national TV,” he tells, excitedly. So does the gap in studies pinch? “I have achieved so much in this past year that it really doesn’t matter,” he says candidly. Any plans of getting back to accounting books? “I’ll complete my graduation and will probably join a college in Mumbai this July,” he adds.

Another young voice tracing his dreams and education in Mumbai is Abhas Joshi’s. Says the 18-year-old runner up of Star Voice of India, “I will complete XII class here in Mumbai now.” The Jabalpur boy was nourishing dreams of becoming a neurologist in 2004 when he won the children series of Sa Re Ga Ma. After that it was goodbye medicine. Soon after VOI, Abhas anchored Chhote Ustaad. So he missed his board exams? “Yes, but it was worth it,” he says. Next month, Abhas will launch his debut album and also plans to eventually graduate in commerce. “I have a platform to sing and have to work hard to prove myself. At the same time, I know the importance of good education,” he explains.

Now, while these two are keen to attend classes, 20-year-old Rahul Vaidya has already carved out his future, sans further studies. Son of an engineer father and B.Sc graduate mother, Rahul is content being a school dropout. “I love myself for leaving studies behind and following my dreams,” says the sensational runner-up of Indian Idol’s first season. “Where’s the time to study?” he asks. And his diary boasts of playback singing for a few flicks, hosting Jhoom India, cutting a debut album and more. Currently, Rahul is wooing judges and fans on Jo Jeeta Wohi Superstar. “My second album, tentatively titled Mere Maula, will be out in July,” he tells.

His closest buddy on Jo Jeeta… Vineet Singh too is treading a similar path. What draws one towards this 19-year-old, a student of Reshammiya’s Rock Gharana on Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005, is his never-say-die spirit. “I took part in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa For six years in a row but was rejected for being too young,” he recalls. Then just eight, Vineet didn’t give up. The finalist of Fame 2005, he got a wild card entry to Sa Re Ga.. and even though he didn’t win the title, he was a hit. Next, he toured the world with Reshammiya and got busier by the day. “I had dropped my class XII exams twice till that time,” he tells. “Padhai mein dil lagta hi nahi tha. It was music where my heart lay,” he explains. So, this year too he filled up forms to appear for his boards, but work didn’t allow him to. Any regrets? “I have done my school, my parents, my city and myself proud. Need I regret?” he asks.

Director’s cut
Parbina Rashid

M.S. Randhawa’s name does figure in the family tree of this Randhawa!

IT’S difficult to decide which of the two descriptions suit him the best — the art collector with his enviable collection of Sikh Art artifacts or the PCS guy who has joined as director of the Government Museum and Art Gallery, the latter amid controversy (A hate mail was circulated criticising the short sightedness of the administration for making a PCS officer the head of such an institution.)

Our first interaction with Navjot P.S.Randhawa was at a local gallery where he exhibited a collection of lithographs, war weapons and armaments related to the Sepoy Mutiny and subsequently during the Non-Cooperation Movement. The exhibit was a part of the 150 years of the First War of Independence celebrations. Now, he again makes news as he lends the City Museum about 50 pieces of furniture designed by Pierre Jeanneret and ready to loan a few more for the Le Corbusier Museum in Sector 18.

That’s not all. During our conversation with him we also come to know that Navjot has a collection of 800 handwritten books on various topics. So what is it that makes him such a devout collector, the M. S. Randhawa connection? “Well, I have a connect with him, but not in the way people think,” says Navjot explaining the connect, “M. S. Randhawa was my mother-in-law’s father’s elder brother.” It takes time to get the clear picture of his family tree, but he supplies more information that helps us come to the right conclusion — “My maternal grandfather was the home minister of Faridkot while on my paternal side, quite a few members served as generals of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. So art and artifacts was very much a part of the family.”

Incidentally, export of vintage weapons is the profession he chose much before he got in the services in 2000. “There were Britain-made guns and I used to export them to clients abroad. But soon, the stock got exhausted, so I diversified into other collector’s items and this is how I added on to my collection too,” he says. And his first commercial success as a heritage consultant came when his J. Akrohi hired him to do up the collections of lithographs and paintings for The Imperial in Delhi, the largest museum hotel in the world. What followed later was a long affair with Intach and Punjab Virasat Charitable Trust, where he was involved with restoration works like that of the haveli of Todar Mal in Sirhind and reviving paintings of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

“Art has always been in my blood and now, as a director, I can live my passion,” he says. And his passion includes bringing in more life to the museum by extending the closing time of the art gallery to eight in the evening, improving the caféteria and more. But then, that’s another story.

parbina@tribunemail.com

First day first show
Little dhoom, less dhadaka
Rajiv Kaplish

Dhoom Dadakka: Avoidable

Plastic fights. Plastic songs. Plastic emotions. Director Shashi Ranjan thinks that’s a new form of entertainment. He cobbles together a bunch of zombies and morons and has a go at the marquee. The connoisseur of artificiality’s flirtation with the camera gives shape to a project called Dhoom Dadakka that has phoney written all over it.

Part nautanki, part cinema, it has B grade actors who sometimes think they are clowns in a circus and at others consider themselves to be part of a mela. Not clear of their exact status, in utter confusion they mistake mimicry and buffoonery for acting and emoting.

Aided and abetted by comedians and villains who even get top billing over them, they wear outlandish outfits, make funny faces and mouth double-meaning dialogues. The male and female protagonists even have comic names. Anupam Kher is Mungilal, Gulshan Grover is Fursat Lala, Bhavana Balsawar is Angoori, Satish Kaushik is Johnny Inglish and Deepshikha is Rambha. Even more childish is the plot. Mungilal is looking for an heir apparent with the help of childhood friend and fellow gangster Jignesh (Satish Shah) whom he can present at an Asian Bhai Meet (conference of mafia dons) in Bangkok in order to secure a territory in Mumbai where he can construct a hospital for the poor.

Helping Mungi in his "crusade" is Hinglish-speaking private detective, Johnny Inglish, whose wife, Rambha, is a nymphomaniac. Creating hurdles for Mungi is rival don Fursat Lala who wants the underworld to recognise his son, Zac (Issac), as his well-deserving waaris and allot him the area so that he can build a casino there. Posing as progeny of Mungi’s sister, Angoori, are four tricksters Rahul (Shaad Randhawa), Shivani (Aarti Chhabra), Jiya (Shama Sikander) and Ranbir (Samir Dattani), who had come to Bangkok to lay their hands on the goon’s millions but are now caught in the mafia crossfire.

While any of them may or may not turn out to be the real successor to Mungi’s empire, helmsman Ranjan surely qualifies to be a waaris of the late Dada Kondke’s legacy. Had the Marathi comedian been alive, even he might have blushed at some of the double entendres. The clownish antics of the two male and two female protagonists create little dhoom and less dhadaka. First Budha Mar Gaya and now Dhoom Dadakka — Anupam Kher seems to be fast losing himself in a maze of farcical comedies. Gulshan Grover, Satish Shah, Satish Kaushik and Jackie Shroff in a miniscule role as Godfather Ganpat Rai are unbearable.

The year 2007 saw the good, the bad and the ugly of Bollywood; 2008 has so far seen only its worst.

Write to Renee

at lifestyletribune@gmail.com or Life Style, The Tribune, Sector 29-C, Chd

Ruchika Menon, Chandigarh

I feel you are carrying too much resentment against your mother from your childhood. Give her some breathing space. If you feel that you were emotionally hurt in the past, then it is time to try getting rid of that bitterness. Accept the fact that she is your mother and loves you in her own way. Try and stop being so obsessive about your mother’s actions and reactions.

Ramneet Bawa, Bathinda

You should trust your instincts, if your gut feeling tells you that he is the right man , then so be it. Since you have an open-minded family, they will support you. But then, the decision ultimately rests upon you two. If you feel you can make it through life together, joyously, just do it. Give yourself a chance to grow and don’t let friends or others influence you.

Ravinder Khera, Patiala

First of all, you need to build confidence in yourself. Learn to know and understand that you are a wonderful human being and stop looking at your husband for approval. Yes, the attention that one gets as a child does sometimes gives one false ideas about oneself. Change your attitude towards your husband and watch him change towards you. It could be the signals of insecurity that you send to him that makes him react the way he does. You could definitely see a counsellor to help you with your own growth.

No music to the ear!
Purva Grover

If not an addict, you are a hapless victim of mobile invasion. Block your ears now to save yourself from further damage

MOBILE is a nuisance and this piece is going to prove just that. And what it further hopes to prove is that men, women and children, all are part of the game. Don’t believe us? Okie, then step into a bus, a train, a restaurant, a garden, a shop or just be anywhere on planet earth and you will not only believe us but also write back to us confirming the same. As of now, picture the nuisance with us.

What is it that you dislike about travelling in the Shatabdi or an HRTC bus? No, we are not talking about food in the former and stench in the latter. Instead, we are talking of a simpler thing that makes you feel nothing less than a victim. From innumerable weird ring tones to weirder conversations, you are forced to listen to it all. By the time your journey comes to an end, you know that Sony music phone’s claims of offering the best sound quality are indeed true and that Sector 35 resident Mrs Sharma’s daughter is getting married in three months and will be wearing a pink lehnga and blah-blah. Worse, you may even find yourself humming a Himesh Reshammiya number. But, what can you do? Just look at your co-passenger and smile.

Ugghhh... and what do you actually want to do? Scream out loud, snatch the mobile and throw it far, far away. Why can’t these mobile addicted people choose a new ring tone for their mobile at home, you wonder. While, the fellow next to you — mind you, completely unperturbed — scans through his huge collection of ring tones beginning from the standard Nokia or Air Tel tone to Saare jahan se acha to Dil kabootar to Chandigarh kare aashiqi to Taare Zameen Par. Half an hour later to save yourself from the torture, you actually end up switching on the bluetooth and help him with a ring tone of his choice.

Okie, now imagine yourself in a nice fancy eatery or even a dhaba. You are just about to bite into garma-garam roti when a loud Who Let The Dogs Out shakes you out of your senses. And it follows with louder numbers, say a Mauja hi Mauja, Lonely...I’m so lonely, Doob Ja Meri Pyaar Main...and the musical treat comes to an end only when you hurry up with the eating and leave. Whatever happened to singers performing live or World Space or the TV showing a cricket match, one doesn’t really know! For, all you could hear was music loaded in some stranger’s mobile. We know what you want to do, throw the stranger’s mobile at the same place where he left behind his earphones. Right?

The last one — Can you answer why people don’t attend mobile that are ringing loud and clear? Why don’t they utilise the vibrator feature of their expensive handset? And, then even if they hurry up with attending a call, why is their "hello" and conversation loud enough for us to know that they love their girlfriend or that they don’t have cheeni at home or that they sobbed while they watched Taare Zameen... We don’t want to know. Can someone please tell them? Be it in a lift, a board meeting, a theatre or even a graveyard, we neither want their phone ringing into our ears nor want to lend an ear to their personal lives.

Convinced of the nuisance? If not yet, then we assume you are some alien with sound blocking characteristics or have unlimited patience!

Cut for luck
Saurabh Malik

Good fortune may just be a haircut away

CUTTING edge technology is actually helping you cut a happy figure. Nay, not just by giving you a whole new jazzy look even Bipasha Basu would envy; but also by improving your kismet. A slash here; and a cut there; and you emerge “all the more lucky”. And, of course, a cut above the rest!

Confused? Don’t be. It’s all about Feng Shui, gals!

The professors of the ancient Chinese art believe happiness and prosperity can be achieved by arranging, and rearranging, your house the Feng Shui way. It may cut no ice with you, but hairstylists across the city are going a step forward, the international way. They insist reshuffling your hair too can help you excel.

“Feng Shui is not just for your house. No, not anymore,” says Gagandeep Sidhu, a hairdresser with Rex Beauty Salon and Academy-17. “It’s about your landscaping as well.”

The basic premise is that you are cut out for better things. “And, we help you out with it by harmonizing your inside with the outside,” she explains. “After a Feng Shui cut, your external appearance gels with your internal traits; giving your personality a powerful projection”.

It’s not easy. To begin with Feng Shui practitioners assess the “elements” that best describes you, and your lifestyle.

“In all, there are five elements — fire, earth, metal, wood, and water,” says co-hairdresser Mandeep Kaur Khattra. “Your personality basically reflects the qualities inherent in these elements. So, we ask you to look harder at yourself and tell us which element portrays you the best. On the basis of the information, we share with them which look best suits their persona.”

Well, undergrad Namita Grover soon found out that she was a firebrand after taking the introspection test. The little angel, looking for a summer job, discovered she is on the inside a fiery person eager to express passion, adventure and creativity. To complement her qualities, Namita has just received a choppy cut followed by streaks of deep red that highlight the fire element in her. And, now she is all set to apply for a pro-active sales executive’s job. Gals, what are you waiting for? Come on, wear your new hairstyle; and luck.

saurabh@tribunemail.com

Surya Namaskar
Parbina Rashid

Swami Mitrananda is in city to direct a play

WHEN Swami Mitrananda speaks about how he has travelled the entire Himalayas on his motorcycle, one’s conventional image of a swami goes for a toss. But, he explains — spirituality is also a great adventure, to leave the known and seek the unknown. And passive spirituality is definitely a no-no for him because this Swami is driven by the Chinmaya Mission’s bottomline that emphasises on ‘harnessing youth potential through dynamic spirituality’.

To seek the true man, who has been actively involved with theatre and adventure trips, we meet up with the Swami who is busy directing a play Surya 108 with 60 members of the Chinmaya Mission at PGI’s Bhargava Auditorium.

"I have been working with children, first as a member of Chinmaya Bal Behar and later as an active member of Chinmaya Yuva Kendra," he says. He joined the monastery in 1989, but carried on with his love for sports and passion for writing and directing stage shows. Though most of his plays aim at propagating the poetic and scientific explanations of the scriptures, Swami Mitrananada has worked on social issues too, like the one on Tamil poet Subramanium Bharati or the one titled Line of Control or Line of Confusion on the Kargil.

The play Saurya 108 falls on his line. The number 108 because according to Sage Yagna Valkaya the distance between the earth and the sun is 108 suns and the distance between the earth and the moon is 108 moons. "Sun is the source of all energy and when you meditate on the source of strength, you become strong," says Swami Mitrananada. Though his genre of plays include mostly street plays which evolve during interacting sessions among the participants, Surya is going to be a proper one-and-a-half hour play with proper costume and lights.

"This is a play on cultural harmony, because the sun is worshipped not only in India but also in Egypt, Japan, Iran and even Europe," he says. This is one play he is going to take to Amritsar, Kolkata and even China and Korea.

Little Interview
Dil Hai Hindustani
Parbina Rashid

Gen-Y Sagar, Amrit, learnt the craft of film-making on the sets of Ramayana & in California

THE lastname says it all. He is Ramanand ‘Ramayana’ Sagar’s grandson Amrit Sagar, who practically grew up on the sets of Ramayana. And not surprisingly, it is still his most favourite serial. But no, Amrit is not willing to follow his grandfather’s footsteps. After producing and directing a flick 1971 and Dharamveer a show for NDTV Imagine, he is coming up with another Vijay… Desh Ki Aankhen, a thorough action-packed serial, once again for NDTV Imagine. Excerpts from a telephonic tête-à-tête with this new generation Sagar.

Tell us about Vijay… Desh Ki Aankhen?

It’s a patriotic serial which questions the viewers ‘Don’t ask what the country has done for you… but what you can do for the country.’ The serial will showcase international locales, hi-tech spy gadgets, weapons, fighter jets, submarines and more.

Quite a detour from the mythological serials the Sagar family is known for. Is the foreign degree in film and video responsible?

True, I have this degree from California. But the fours years I spent at the California College of Arts and Craft has only helped me understand world cinema better. My heart and roots lie very much here and so far the subjects that I‘ve dealt with are very Indian.

Any western influence?

In terms of work culture and technology, yes. Working for long hours with the production units has had an impact. Now, India is so big that we are the source of inspiration for others.

Who are the actors you look forward to work with?

Working with Amitabh Bachchan is a dream, I dream everyday! Other than him, it’s Hrithik Roshan and Aamir Khan.

Fruitful Season
Purva Grover

Juicy, soothing & sweet, you can’t help but succumb to the temptation!

Photos by Parvesh Chauhan & Manoj Mahajan

Swearing by sustainability

Are city architects living by what they preach? Parbina Rashid finds out

THE legacy of Le Corbusier is not an easy one to carry forward. But there is a breed of architects who are trying their best to do just that. Only a couple of weeks back an exhibition organised by A3 Foundation showcased the zeal of budding architects who came out with wonderful models of houses and commercial places, all using mud and thatched roof. The hallmark of the exhibition was sustainable architecture with emphasis on shadow play and air-cooling techniques. Theoretically, a befitting tribute to Corbusier. But, how relevant is it in a city where good architecture is synonymous with Italian marble floor, concealed lighting system and false ceiling? We run a check on the houses of the architects who swear by Corbusier and Laurie Baker to find out if their own houses are setting an example.

The first person that comes to our mind is Sangeet Sharma, the person behind A3 Foundation and through him we get to meet his father S. D. Sharma, who designed their house — a house known for its simplicity. “Brick structure, both inside and outside, no concrete roof, no plaster,” says Sharma senior. He recalls one funny and sympathetic remark made by a close friend, “You can always plaster the interior walls when you have enough money.”

Sharma, who closely worked with Pierre Jeanneret while designing a house in Sector 5, was quite influenced by Jeanneret’s simplistic lines and bare looks. An environmentally responsive structure, it typifies climate harnessing theory by minimising the effects of the harsh summers and thus allowing the inhabitants to take advantage of the winter sun. “The exterior is of simple brick tile, a choice material that again rises out of the ideology of the architect,” Sharma says.

Jaspreet Thakkar, known as an environmental-friendly architect, is another one who practices what she preaches. “You have to walk the talk,” says Jaspreet. Her home with rainwater harvesting features, near Chandigarh IT park is built on Laurie Baker’s ‘rat-trap’ principle. It has a tiled and wooden roof and the floor is made of waste stones. With the right orientation of windows and air circulatory, she has managed to avoid ACs. And has she managed to inspire her clients too? “Living in a low-cost and environment-friendly building is a way of life. Many a times the status quotient do cloud our belief, but if you are firm in your belief, you can do it, even inspire others,” she says.

But S. S. Bhatti, the man who won a prestigious award for his low-cost house from University of Roorkee in 1995, is not so optimistic about the trend of sustainable architecture catching up in the city. He cites the reason, “Too much of black money and lack of awareness.” And also the term sustainable development is largely a misunderstood one, according to Bhatti. “Like my house is a low-cost structure in the sense that I have cut down on the design, structure, construction and materials part of it. Though the walls are made of bricks sans plaster and there is cemented flooring and frame-less doors and windows, it is not along the lines of sustainable architecture. For, the term means using locally available material that comes from nature and gets decayed back into the nature at the end.”

So, is the concept of sustainable architecture going to remain in textbooks only? “A role model would be that of a city, where the permanent structures are in brick and concrete, and people’s dwellings in vernacular material,” says Bhatti. That, we suppose, will happen only when the ‘back to the roots’ movement will gain full momentum.

Golden Moments

Mumbai-based animator Jateen Thakker was part of Oscar-winning
The Golden Compass

WHEN The Golden Compass won the Oscar this year, a slice of its glory percolated down to us Indians too. Guess how? Mumbai-based animation artist Jateen Thakker, composition head of Rhythm and Hues-Mumbai, was part of the film throughout — right from research to executing the characters.

Which character was the closest to his heart, we cannot help but ask. “The Golden Monkey. Since it does not exist, visualising it was a problem and so was capturing its different moods,” he says. Jateen was in town to address a seminar on animation as a career, organised by Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics at CII on Saturday. Jateen has also been part of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Superman Returns and The Kingdom besides four Bollywood films and a number of television commercials. He has just finished his latest The Incredible Hulk. “I enjoying working on the project but right now I cannot reveal anything about it,” he says. Switching over to the Indian scenario, we ask him why do mythological figures dominate our animation scene? “We have so many heroes from mythology who make fascinating characters. And it is one way of spreading awareness about our own culture among the young people,” he says.

And for Jateen, Hanuman still is the most fascinating one. “So many different versions are being made on the same character, but then Hanuman has so many different shades to him,” he adds. — TNS

Sleepless nights

TALK about dedication towards work. Scarlett Johansson has been staying up until 5.30am to record owls and see fairies. This is to incorporate unique LP sounds “like we've drunk cough medicine and seen Tinkerbell" in her album Anywhere I Lay My Head. She kept a mini-recorder with her all the time. We recorded all kinds of stuff - everywhere you go, Louisiana is alive with sounds." — ANI

Health Tip

GOUT is an arthritis that occurs when there is an increase in uric acid. Uric acid, a waste product, gets flushed out by the kidneys via urine, normally.

Symptoms: An individual is awakened by acute pain in the big toe during night. In chronic cases when attacks occur frequently, the crystals of uric acid get deposited inside the joint.

Avoid: Tea, coffee, chocolate, animal proteins like seafood, liver, meat extracts, vegetables like peas, beans, spinach, lentils and any form of alcohol.

Treatment: Allopurinol is used on a long-term basis. Steroid injections provide immediate relief. Exercising makes joints flexible. Strengthening exercises using weights or stretch bands helps. People suffering from gout can decrease or discontinue medication by changing their lifestyle, say type of food eaten or change in physical activities.

 — Dr Ravinder Chadha