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Ultimate Bullies They are eccentric, odd and they are here to make life hell for you.
The team of
Dadagiri on Bindass was in city for the launch of its show
A reality show, Dadagiri: Beat the Bullies might
sound easy, but the contestants have to clear three stages where each of
these bullies will test them to the core. And if you win, well, you walk
away with Rs 50,000. As Kishie Mehta, executive producer, Bindass,
says, "We test people for courage in all aspects. It is a reality
show minus the emotional drama that we see so often on television these
days." In the first stage, the contestants are tested for physical
fitness where they might be asked to perform some task, like hanging
upside down in the air. Come second round and they will be grilled on IQ.
After all, mind matters too. If you manage to reach the third round, then
you will have to do all the hideous things like sleeping with a six-legged
insect. Provoked? Go to the Bindass website and fill the form. Bindass
Babe SHE is the official bitch of the show. The girl who cannot stand
ugly faces, is extremely moody, not nice to anybody and loves to show
people down. Hate her already? She is Esha Bhaskar, the Goddess on the
show. Wait. This is nothing. She is the one who makes you do things like
‘having cockroaches all over your body’, ‘picking crabs with mouth.’
Coming back to the character she plays, how much does she identify with
it in real life? She says, "I am not like Goddess in real life. We
all are mean only on the show but the team is like a family." She is
quick to add, "Once on camera I slip into the character I play."
Has she done any of this stuff herself? Quick comes the reply, "I had
to do it all. I was really scared of cockroaches. Trust me during the dry
runs of the show I had them all over me. Now I can face a cockroach."
That could be an inspiring tale for the contestants. A bachelor in fine
arts and having done theatre and three music videos, Esha is definitely
not new to the camera. What’s in the pipeline? "I’ll be working
on a show called Hotmix with CNEB channel," she signs
off. Simply Akash THE host of the show, Akash Beri, is from Panchkula.
He says, "I am very much the character I play. I am on the
contestants’ side." Surely, a messiah for the
participants. Staying in Mumbai for four years now, Akash did his
bachelors in tourism from Delhi and fashion designing from Panchkula.
Coming back to the show, he says, "We make people overcome their
fears. To do that we challenge them and provoke them, so that they are
determined to do it." Isn’t that negative? He says, "That
actually works. Moreover, we’ve shot around 35 episodes, not even a
single participant was negative about it." He adds, "The
participants are given a picture of what to expect. By the time they
leave, none of them is nervous, they might be pissed off though." Do
we also see a sequel to the show? He says, "We are planning a second
season soon, which will be totally outdoors." That sounds
interesting. Bhaigiri on a roll "EK ulte haath ka doonga
to sari zindagi ke liye seedha ho jayega? Kya samjha?" Meet the bhai
on the show, Vishal Bhonsle, who picks on the contestants to make
their life hell. He is the jaw-breaking type and the meanest of the lot.
"My character shocks the contestants by testing their physical and
mental strength. My job is to be rough and rude with the people and make
an easy task look difficult." Vishal is from Mumbai and has already
worked in serials like Kesar and Babul Ka Aangan Chootey Na,
but he relates to the show completely. "I am a fitness freak and
was a personal trainer to Vijay Mallaya. Given my passion for body
building, it is easy to play this character," says Vishal. All that
bullying? "I was a bully in my college. But the show does not
propagate bullying. It just prepares the contestants and makes them tough.
If you tell somebody that he is incompetent and not strong enough to
perform the task, he will give his hundred percent to prove you wrong.
That’s human." lifestyletribune@gmail.com
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REMEMBER the
sweet-and-high-on-bling Silky Kumar on MTV. He returns to
entertain the audiences, this time, in an entirely new avtaar. Sharman
Jain plays a bully in Dadagiri. "I play Mindstine, a nerd
who can’t stand dumb people and has facts on everything under the sun.
If the contestants give silly answers to the questions asked, I taunt
and tease them," says Sharman. Must be fun playing a bully?
"It is. At the sane time, it is not meant to pull them down. These
remarks are meant to distract them. In fact, the questions asked are
simple and test the contestants’ awareness." So, why did Silky
turn mean? He laughs, "It’s the shows format. We bully people so
that they can overcome their fears and remain focusssed on their tasks.
My job is to test their knowledge, but I have to be real bully because
the contestants already know much." Projects in pipeline? "I
have some movie offers but nothing is final yet." So, till the
time Silky shines on the silver screen lets enjoy his bindaasgiri.
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Telly Tales
But now, things are changing and one doesn’t have to wait for annual award nights to catch a glimpse of the star brigade. All one needs to do is tune in to any one of the innumerable reality shows and watch them there, judging a dance drama, applauding a singsong, playing celebrity guest or perhaps participating in one too! Yes, it’s a blast from the past once more on telly. A nice surprise was the ever-smiling Sharmila Tagore on NDTV Imagine’s Dhoom Macha De. She not only intelligently judged the show, but also made us fall in love with royalty all over again. A picture of poise and grace, her well-articulated comments along with those of Shankar Mahadevan and Prasoon Joshi added value to the show. Two more pretty faces one is looking forward to on TV are Zeenat Aman and Amrita Singh on a forthcoming show. The ladies will be judging telly actors who want to make it to tinsel town on Kaun Jeetega Bollywood Ka Ticket on 9X. And then, we also did see the not-so-old Sonali Bendre and Raveena Tandon tread the same path. Now, not all stars make pleasant packages. Topping the list is Shatrughan Sinha. Nothing seems funny enough to make the Shotgun even smile as he judges Star One’s The Great Indian Laughter Challenge-IV. Or is it that his feeble laugh fades in front of guru Sidhu’s boisterous guffaws! And then anyways can anybody explain why Shatru was roped in to judge a comedy show? Oops, enough of that, Khamosh! But just before we do that, let’s tell you that Chunkey Pandey — remember that gaudily dressed skinny chap hopping around singing O lal dupatte waali in the 90s — is also going to be judging a reality dance show on Star One, Zara Nachke Dikha. Pleasant or unpleasant, reality shows may have made us scream out loud, increased our mobile bill by a few thousands or even tempted us to learn how to sing or dance, but then this comeback of the stars is one good thing its doing. What say, filmy junta? (This column appears weekly)
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Mum-to-be Angelina Jolie has been maintaining a secret diary throughout the duration of her pregnancy so that she can remember all the emotions she’s going through and also vent feelings she has for Brad Pitt, it has emerged. The diary is said to be ‘so intimate’that even partner Pitt is unaware of its contents. "While she’s been stuck on bed rest, Angelina is writing down all the changes she’s going through psychically and emotionally," a source said. "This journal is very special to her and she’s keeping it private, even from Brad. She needs to have an outlet where she can vent - sometimes about Brad!" the source added. Bargaining power SHE might be having hundreds of expensive red carpet outfits, but Hollywood legend Dame Helen Mirren still loves second-hand shops. The 62-year-old actor’s love for bargaining had also once landed her the ‘best-dressed actress’ award at a prestigious award ceremony, where she was forced to wear a 7.40-pound dress after the zip of her designer Grecian gown broke at the eleventh hour. "I love second-hand shops," she said. "I make my own clothes because I’ve never found the kinds of things I liked. My mother taught me how to work a sleeve," she added. All her hopes! DESPITE all the buzz surrounding her Broadway debut, advance ticket sales for Katie Holmes’ Broadway debut in All My Sons are far below those for Nicole Kidman’s 1998 run in The Blue Room. Tom Cruise’s stage production this fall may not be as lucrative as they had hoped. Tickets to the Arthur Miller revival play aren’t selling strongly as expected. Less than $1 million in tickets for All My Sons, which starts previews in September, have been sold compared to $ 4 million for Kidman’s Broadway stint, according to the paper. Naomi does it again AUSTRALIAN actor Naomi Watts is expecting her second child with beau Liev Schreiber, according to reports. The 39-year-old is three months pregnant. The couple, who met on the set of the 2006 drama The Painted Veil welcomed son Alexander in July 2007. When Watts was pregnant last year with her first child, her 40-year-old beau didn’t confirm it until he casually told Conan O’Brien, "Yes, I’m going to be a dad." Meanwhile, Watts’ friend Nicole Kidman is expecting her first biological child early this summer. — ANI
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Flaunt it with Hindi Who says there are no takers for Hindi books? The market is growing and getting better too He is a savvy young professional. But his achievements go a little beyond just being a dental surgeon. Anubhav Naresh, is a grooming guru who is out with his book Unveil Your Personality. First things first, we ask Anubhav about his future plans? "An anthology of Hindi poems and a short story collection, that too in Hindi," pat comes the reply. But why in Hindi? We were only voicing Harish Jain’s (owner of Unistar Books) opinion, ‘if you want to flaunt, it’s English, if you want to put on air, it’s Hindi but if you want to be comfortable, it’s got to be Punjabi’. But this 27-year-old writer has no qualms about writing in a language that comes naturally to him. "I can express myself better in Hindi. English is a language, which I acquired as I grew up and is works for my professional needs. When it comes too natural writing, it’s got be in the national language with Urdu words thrown in liberally," he says. But does he know that there are not many takers for books written in Hindi? "If you go to the interiors of this region you’ll find that vernacular readers outnumber English readership." Another young upcoming writer Shivani Chopra is at ease with both English and Hindi and she has already done a number of translations, from Hindi to English and vice versa. "I like writing in Hindi because it flows naturally," says Shivani who teaches Hindi literature at DAV -10. But she contradicts us regarding the readership issues, "If you visit a national-level book fair you’ll find that there is maximum crowd around the Hindi stalls as compared to the English ones. English books attract only a certain class whereas Hindi and Punjabi books have both academicians and laymen for readerships," she adds. Even when Shivani has no inhibitions about writing in English, she would prefer to concentrate on Hindi because that’s the way people would know her better. Children are not reading Punjabi or Hindi literature is a wrong notion, according to short story writer and poet Amarjit Ghuman, who writes for children. "I have a daughter who studies in class V. She has just started learning Punjabi. But she reads storybooks, in English and Punjabi both. We should allow the kids to choose their reading and not impose any preferred language on them," says Ghuman, who has recently penned down a short story volume for children. Her first novel for children will be out soon. But as an author she has a piece of advice, "Children are quite intelligent these days. Writers have to give them enough challenges to keep them hooked till the last page." True, when it comes to quantity the vernacular section is definitely happening. Satish Sharma of Shilalekh, a publishing house in Delhi, saying that his production house gets four to ten new writers in Hindi and Punjabi every year. The numbers is certainly impressive and say a lot about the boom in vernacular writing. But some publishers are not happy with the quality of work. "Most of the Punjabi and Hindi writers are divorced from reality and seem to be writing in a vacuum," says Jain. But then this is another story, a sad one though. parbina@tribunemail.com
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Bang on Add elegance to your wardrobe with colourful bangles
With all available options – polka dotted, tiger prints, contrasting, multicoloured, abstract and metallic shades, who wouldn’t want to wear one? From just another piece of jewellery to a chic ornament, bangles are the perfect outlet for creative expression. No longer worn only with traditional Indian outfits and on special occassions, you can now team up bangles with jeans, skirts or evening dresses. Students wear these to college and universities. Plain with trimmings or wooden ones with carvings, women seem to have fallen in love with them. Says Ekta, who possesses a pair to go with each dress: “They break the monotony and you can wear them daily. Low on maintenance and high on style too.” But for those who prefer the traditional gold and silver, needn’t worry. Take your pick from silver bangles with crystals and carvings. “The bold look is in. We have silver ones studded with sapphires, rubies and American diamonds,” says Sabby, owner of Silver Haze-9. Whether dressing for a formal party or a casual outing, they look cool and elegant. Bold and bright, they grab attention and set you apart in the crowd. The abstract and metallic ones lend a classy feel to an outfit. For that ultra feminine look, try multi-coloured bangles with jeans or some western outfit. And for the traditional look, go for polki studded and silver bangles. Jazz up a flowing evening dress with a combination of bright coloured and metallic ones.
Another add-on to your look can be the multiple-styled armlets. These are available in various forms and designs — spirals, circular or Victorian style. Try them out. With a little imagination, you can create your own individualistic look. Costly affair The cost factor: They are priced according to their design and base material. Bangles with wooden carvings, multicolours and light metallic ones are available between Rs 40-100. Silver or chunky stone studded bangles in metal start from Rs 300 onwards. Where to find them: You can pick them from Shastri Market-22, Jewels-11, Silver Haze-9 or any fashion store near your place. Also look out for any exhibitions around the city for some ethnic designs.
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Walking on air
THEY are popular for obvious reasons. They are comfortable, they work well with jeans and ultimately, make you look athletic, even if you aren’t! Soft, comfortable and smart, you would never want to slow down in life in the right pair. Right from casual to sporty to a little flashy, sneakers talk attitude and personalised style. Given a choice, many would wear these to bed as well! Chips in Aditi Bakshi, a commerce student from SD College-32, who claims to have not even bothered to try on any other pair shoe or those ‘jazzy’ sandals. And well, she has umpteen number of them.
“The only footwear I have known from my teens till date are sneakers. I have branded, non-branded and imported pairs. Now, my mother has warned me not to pick up any more sneakers, but I can’t help it,” she admits. Remember Jaswinder aka Jas from Bend It Like Beckham and how desperately she wanted to own a pair and eventually ended up buying one instead of those fashionable sandals, smiles Aditi. It’s the same with me! Available in mind-boggling varieties, style, designs, patterns, texture and colours, sneakers offer loads of comfort, the pre-requisite of every footwear. Probably why Nupur Sadaana, who works with a call centre, cannot think of getting rid of even her old, tattered ones. “They are so comfortable,” says Nupur. “I wish I could wear them to the altar as well.” At the same time, Nupur suggests that it is always better to go for branded sneakers because they boast of high standards backed by good technology. “No doubt the branded ones are a bit expensive, somewhere between Rs 3,000-18,000, but then it’s worth it.” The market is flooded with a commendable variety of branded and non-branded sneakers. Choose from basketball shoes with leather or synthetic uppers, canvas uppers, cleats with spikes on the sole, cross-trainers usually made of leather, low or mid tops, hiking shoes, also known as trail shoes, running shoes with cushioned rubber soles, tennis shoes with extensive moulding for side support and walking shoes designed for overall comfort. Didn’t we tell you there is a sneaker for every activity? Nevertheless, Harsimran Sidhu, who works for a fashion house, suggests one should take care of certain things while buying a pair. “First, it should fit your feet well. Ill-fitting sneakers can cause walking problems and ankle sprain,” says Harsimaran. “And second, never compromise on quality. Thirdly, pick a sneaker to go with well with your style and dressing. Avoid shiny sneakers; they are restricting.” jasmine@tribunemail.com
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For your eyes only Shahnaz Husain The skin around the eyes is delicate and much thinner than the rest of the face. It has no oil glands and has a fine texture. This area requires special care. Problems like dark circles can happen either due to hereditary factors, lack of sleep, illness, stress or nutritional deficiencies. Therefore, besides external treatment, one has to take these aspects into consideration while treating it. Though it is more common in older people, dark circles can develop even at an early age, like adolescence and early 20s. Have a nutritious and balanced diet that include fresh fruits, salads, yogurt and sprouts along with unprocessed cereals, skimmed milk, cottage cheese (paneer), lentils and beans. Some daily exercises like deep breathing helps blood circulation, oxygenation and control of stress. Adequate sleep and relaxation are also important. While removing make-up or applying creams, do it gently. Apply a cleansing gel or a cream with a moist cotton wool. Only a cream which is specially formulated for the area around the eyes should be applied. Heavy creams are not suitable. It should be a cream with a light texture and consistency. Cream should never be left on the area around the eyes during the night. Normal facial masks should not be applied around the eyes. An under-eye cream containing almond is good, as it not only nourishes the skin, but has a lightening effect if used over a period of time. A light milky lotion has also been formulated by us for the treatment of dark circles along with a mask containing seaweed. The mask is highly specialised with a light, watery consistency to tackle problems like wrinkles, dark circles and puffiness. Easy & Handy Some home remedies can be used to minimise dark circles.
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Health Tip
CERTAIN myths are prevalent regarding first aid measures post injury. Usually, hot fomentation and analgesic ointment are applied immediately after the injury, which increases the swelling by enhancing the circulation to the injured part. This delays the healing process. For a soft tissue injury, immediate action should be restriction of activities, placing the injured part in a comfortable position and application of ice. Ice therapy decreases inflammation and swelling by constricting the blood vessel. Ice massage numbs sore tissues thereby relieving pain and slowing down the nerve impulse. Apply ice for 10 minutes initially and repeat after a break of 40-60 minutes to avoid frostbite. It should be applied through a moist cloth or ice chips in plastic bags to avoid excessive cooling. A person suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, paralysis and impaired sensation should avoid using ice. In nutshell, use cold therapy during the first 48 hours of the injury followed by heat therapy for proper management of injuries. — Dr Ravinder Chadha |
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(N)ice Cream Kandla Nijhowne
Carnival ice cream-cake 1 plain sponge cake 1½ brick ice cream of your choice 4 cornetto cones Assorted bits of chocolate, toffees and candy 4 small cups assorted ice creams Method Slice the cake neatly into three layers. Unwrap the ice cream in a bowl and soften it with a spatula. Working very quickly, sandwich the layers together with 2/3 of the ice cream and most of the chocolate and toffee bits. Finally use the left over ice cream to neatly cover the cake, carefully "cementing" in the four cones around it (as shown in the picture). Return to the freezer for 7-8 hours. Just before serving, scatter colorful candy over the cake and fill up each of the four cones with a scoop of assorted ice cream. For grown ups, omit the cones, sweets and toffees and layer the cake with diced fresh fruit along with ice cream of your choice. Baked Brownie Alaska This is a delightful concoction that has ice cream in it but makes a flying visit to the oven before landing at the table. Have everyone gathered and ready when you bring it out from the oven because, as the saying goes, "A Baked Alaska waits for nobody. Everybody waits for the Baked Alaska!" 1 round chocolate cake, 3 inches high 1 litre chocolate ice cream 4 egg whites at room temperature 2/3 cup powdered sugar ½ cup broken walnut bits Chocolate cookies, crumbled (optional) Method Place the cake on an ovenproof serving dish and sit the ice cream over it, sculpting it into a dome shape over the cake. Sprinkle with walnuts and cookie bits and leave this dish in the freezer to enable the ice cream to get really, really hard again. Half an hour before serving, heat the oven to 400`B0C. Beat the egg whites till foamy, then add the sugar and vanilla. Whip again till it lifts in stiff peaks. Spoon into an icing bag with a star nozzle, remove the cake from the freezer and pipe the mixture all over the creation in a pretty design. You can skip the icing routine and simply spread the meringue (beaten egg white) over the ice cream and create snowy swirls on the surface, using a blunt knife. Transfer the Alaska to the oven for flash-baking for 3-4 minutes till the meringue begins to brown. Remove and serve immediately.
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The red meat and red wine combo is not just about taste sensation, it also has health benefits, as per researchers. A new study on rats using red wine with red meat has shown that the drink works against some of the harmful substances produced by the meat. These harmful chemicals released during the digestion of fat have been linked to diseases such as cancer, diabetes and Parkinson’s. Rats were fed either only red meat or red meat with red wine concentrate. The wine mix was found to reduce two toxic chemicals. The Israeli research is not the first to commend the benefits of red wine. Redcliffs butcher Brian Jennings said he was feeling fit and healthy with a diet that included red wine with meat. "But I always eat broccoli and things like that are supposed to be anti-cancer stuff," he said. "When I started butchering 25 years ago, red meat had a bad name because of the fat but it’s only in the last 10 years it’s been promoted as a health food. We trim it a lot harder these days," he added. — ANI
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THIS is the season of award
nights and no matter how similar these nights are, we all love to watch
them. Leg-pulling star sessions, the morose open-mouthed look on blogger
Big B’s face, stunts by Akki, PJs by the hosts and not to forget the
recent and trademark Ash clutch. But then, there is one particular reason
why many of us tune in — to catch a glimpse of the ‘missing’ stars,
the dream girls of yesteryears, the wifeys of current superstars, the
failed actors and more. So, there we have a Rekha clad in a gaudy gold
sari, a Dharmendra excited over a lifetime achievement award and a Feroz
Khan announcing nominations.
BANGLES are integral in a woman’s sea-sized wardrobe. And, Indian women are known to have a close connection — after all they personify feminity and beauty. A pair of glittering and colourful bangles is a treat to the eye and nothing beats their melodious clinking. Round, square, hexagonal; glass, wood, metal; funky, simple and elegant — there is one for every occassion.
“Chunky bangles in bold colours studded with stones go well with formal dresses,” says Sabby. Earthy colours like red, black, brown and copper add style to your outfit. 
You wore them the most in your teens. Was it not for the office dress code, you would be still wearing them. Sneakers are forever
IN 1903, Italo Marchiony used to sell ice cream from a pushcart amidst
the hustle and bustle on Wall Street. He realised that he was running
tremendous losses caused by his customers breaking his serving glasses
or sometimes even wandering off with them! He came up with an amazing
brainwave. He started serving his ice cream in baked waffle-shaped cups
that he wouldn’t have to keep track of, because they were edible. At
the World Fair (1904) in St. Louise, an ice cream vendor ran out of
clean plates and asked a neighbouring waffle maker to hurriedly roll up
his product so it could hold a scoop of ice cream, eliminating the panic
of unwashed dishes. Thus came to be, the common cone, a major
breakthrough in ice cream history. Ice cream based desserts use other
interesting ‘props’ to make the final dish taste delectable and look
spectacular. Try these out to wow your family and guests. They are
simpler than they sound!