Mega stars, mega bucks
Ashima Sehajpal

Remember the essay we used to write on Diwali when we were kids? And the line, which would inevitably pop up in the essay was (in the simplest terms) 'people wear new clothes and decorate their houses on this day'. Well, we still abide by the same self-made rule and follow one theme quite avidly, 'shop till you drop'. From clothes to fashion accessories to home décor trimmings to anything and everything, we go out 'just to shop'. And what do you expect when it comes to celebrities? They too do the same but probably with much more fervour. So, here we peep into their shopping list to find out what these celebs from the region are spending their money on.

Sony boy

Frainy Ahuja Excess baggage This tall lady (5'11") has just come back from walking down the ramp at the finale of the Wills Fashion Week and plans to take some rest for now. So, what about shopping? "Diwali is once in a year occasion and gives us a good excuse to shop. I too have availed it by buying a traditional dress and accessories for the occasion. Worth mentioning are a Louis Vuitton bag and wallet worth Rs1.25 lakh," says city-based model Frainy Ahuja. She prefers to go for accessories rather than jewellery this time.

Very few would know that besides blowing punches at his opponents in the boxing ring, this Olympian with the chocolate boy look is tech savvy too. "I recently bought a Sony Vaio laptop and what can a better occasion than Diwali to do the buying," says Vijender Singh And here is another fact that can leave all his female fans drooling once again, Vijender loves to play the guitar and will soon be buying a new one for himself this Diwali. Turning a year older on October 29, the charming boxer is all set to throw a bash for Diwali and his birthday.

Kyunki he wants it

Hailing from Ferozepur and now settled in Mumbai, Manav Vij, the actor who got recognition after playing the role of Joydeep in Kyunkin Saas Bhi Kabhi Babhu Thi, says this Diwali is special for him as it is his first in Mumbai. And is he buying anything on Diwali? "In a day or so, I will be buying a Honda Accord car and after that because I will be almost bankrupt, others things will have to take a back seat." The television star does not forget to tell us his dress for the occasion; "I have bought a white pathani suit for the occasion."

Melody & machine

Now, this model-turned actor indulged in some expensive shopping and has bought a Ford Endeavour on the occasion of Diwali. "After making such a huge investment, all I am buying now is just the minimal basic things for Diwali," quips Karishma Modi. But then there is something else too that she is excited about, "It is my daughter's first Diwali and ours being a musical family, I am going to gift her a lot of musical toys."

Joy of giving
Jigyasa Kapoor Chimra

Revealing Fashion

A new Bollywood film takes a long hard look at India's fashion industry, putting the spotlight on its underbelly of drug abuse, depression and politics at a time. Fashion, which opens in cinemas on Wednesday, comes close on the heels of three high-profile fashion expos in New Delhi and Mumbai, in a fortnight that has seen the country's media obsessed over post-show parties hosted by India's top designers.

Director Madhur Bhandarkar, an award-winning Bollywood filmmaker who created some of the most memorable woman protagonists of Indian cinema, said he hoped to give Indians an intimate, fly-on-the-wall look into the corridors of fashion.

"Two years ago, a common man on the streets in India wouldn't have cared about models and brands and ramp shows. But suddenly, fashion has entered our lives like never before," Bhandarkar said.

India's fashion industry has raised its global profile, following a rise in disposable incomes, victories by Indian beauty queens at international pageants and a multitude of fashion events.

"The common man still can't afford many of those clothes on the ramp, but modeling as a career is a bright option for many girls," said Bhandarkar.

Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra, a former Miss World, is cast in the role of a small-town girl who harbors dreams of becoming a supermodel, but has to battle obstacles to succeed in the big, bad world of Mumbai.

Comic relief

The super hot and bold actress Celina Jaitley needs no introduction. After Money Hai to Honey Hai she is back with a bang with Rohit Shetty's directed Golmaal Returns, which stars Ajay Devgan, Kareena Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Arshad Warsi, Amrita Arora and Tusshar Kapoor. In a comedy of errors, Celina Jaitley plays a non-glamorous role of Meera Nair. Celina plays a south Indian character in the movie. Here is the bombshell telling all about Golmaal Returns, which releases on Wednesday.

I have a pivotal role. I got a chance to try my hand at comedy as well; I play a south Indian girl and have been cast opposite Shreyas Talpade.

Everyone wants to work with Rohit Shetty. Like his films, the mood on the sets is also full of fun. He knows how to extract work from his team. I would love to do more films with him.

Well, I always wanted to work with Rohit Shetty. He is a true professional and I knew I would be in good hands. Also, I relished the opportunity of working with all my co-stars.

Well, it is fun to be a part of a big unit. I enjoy working with many people around me.

It was a complete blast! They made me laugh so much that my mascara used to come running down sometimes! I had to beg them not to make me laugh and let me do my scene.

The promos and its pre-release report are certainly in the news. Hope everything turns out well.

Paying Guest, Hello Darling, Run Bhola Run, Show Man, Chai Garam and one international film.

— Dharam Pal

Politically correct

Actor-activist Rahul Bose says there is an urgent need to make secularism "active" by reaching out to different communities in small, everyday gestures like offering a lift to someone from another community or encouraging children to share lunch.

"It is the expression in small ways - like offering a lift on way to office to a person from another community, which makes a difference." "We can, for example, encourage our children to share their lunch with everybody. When there are festivals we can reach out to celebrate them with the other communities - the Muslims reaching out to celebrate Diwali and the Hindus to celebrate Eid. It is the simplest way of building bridges," Rahul said.

The actor also feels that it is important not to generalise about any community.

"Whether it is the attacks on Christians in Orissa, or terror acts in different parts of the country, it would do well to remember that while a terrorist might be a Hindu, not all Hindus are terrorists. While a terrorist may be a Muslim, not all Muslims are terrorists. But a feeling is growing that all Muslims could be terrorists.

"That idea is extremely seductive. Throughout history it has been found that if you can blame your woes on one homogeneous group of people, it makes life simpler and governance easier."

Rahul is totally opposed to a toughening of the existing laws, being demanded by some groups.

"I am dead against it. If you can prove to me that a diligent execution of all legislation we have so far has been done, then it is fine. But we have not done it." Asked is the communal virus was creeping into Bollywood, he said: "I have never experienced it. If you took a cynical view, you would say everyone is obsessed with making money or becoming famous. If you didn't, then you will argue that they are truly fascinated with the medium, whether it is a village guy wanting to become a hero or the producer wanting to win an Oscar. It is the medium which dominates all other prejudices." Rahul received the Eminent Citizens Journalist Award by CNN-IBN for two stories he did - an interview with Johnny Joseph after the floods in Mumbai and the second for getting on the local train the morning after the bomb blasts in 2007 to discover for himself the so-called "spirit of Mumbai".

"I asked people why they were travelling on the train. They told me they did not want to, but had to get to work. If they did not, they would lose their jobs. Their children had travelled an hour earlier to go to school." Rahul said he found that the so-called "spirit of Mumbai" was created by people "looking for comfortable cliches".

The explanation, he said, "was far simpler and more direct".

Other than social work and acting, Rahul, who won accolades for his performance in films like Mr. & Mrs Iyer, Pyaar Ke Side Effects, Jhankaar Beats and Chameli, plays rugby too.

Going places

The Indian Film Festival will be held in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, from November 2 in which Yash Chopra's cross-border love saga Veer Zaara and Ashutosh Gowarikar's epic movie Jodha Akbar will be screened.

"The 10-day festival is aimed to engage Emirate nationals to share the Indian culture and traditions and thus help in cementing ties between the two countries," Indian Ambassador to the UAE, Talmiz Ahmad, said yesterday.

Shahrukh Khan-starrer Veer Zaara, which portrays a love story of an Indian officer and a Pakistani girl, will be the first film to be screened at the festival and its director Yash Chopra will also be present Ahmed said.

Besides, seven other films are also to be screened during the festival including Hrithik Roshan-Aishwarya Rai starrer Jodha Akbar, Daatu (Kannada), Anuranan: The Resonance (Bengali), Kayyooppu and Gul Mohar (Malayalam), Paruthiveeran (Tamil).

Terming Indian cinema as the "influential reflection of contemporary India" to the outside world, the ambassador said, "The films chosen by us emerge from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, but explore themes that will resonate with discerning audiences anywhere in the world." UAE's Minister of Higher Education and Research, Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan will inaugurate the festival.

— PTI, ANI, Reuters

‘Stole’ the show
Manpriya Khurana

You have it. Your mother too used to wear it. Your grandmother wore it too. Of course, you can call it a part of ethnic wear but here you love to flaunt it with a pair of denims and sweaters. You need another hint? All right,, remember Shah Rukh Khan in Kabhi Alvida Na Kahena? He knotted it so stylishly around his neck and made all the fashion frenzy people follow him. It is stoles we are talking about. So what’s new about it? Well, actually a lot. Everything from the way they are worn to how they have been done undergoes a sea of transformation each year, with only its name intact. This piece of garment reinvents itself in myriad ways, time and again. Keeping up with the tradition, here’s looking at it this year too, but with fresh perspective.

This season too, the stripes rule. Broad, narrow, colourful to monochromatic, stoles in stripes serve other purposes too rendering a dressy look. Shaina Singh, a fashion designing student, says, "I personally love stoles. They are the most versatile piece of item in any wardrobe. One can tie them as scarf, cover the heads, shield themselves from the wind, wear with westerns and even use as a dupatta." No wonder, the girl has close to three dozens of them in her wardrobe.

Apart from stripes, the checks-touted to be this season’s hottest trend on international circuit too have permeated their way into stoles. Then come the patterns of self, paisleys and plains. Apart from the brands where there are plethora of stoles in knit fabric combined with patterns of stripes to neutrals, one can find them at various other shops too. Tarun K. Laul, of Ten West-10, says, "During the season, they are very much in demand. Though not a basic piece of clothing, it still is a craze among youngsters." Ranging from Rs 300 onwards they come in varieties of silk and wool. At Ebony-9, one can find exquisite combo of duppattas and stoles. They come in semi-sheer fabrics that go just well with the party outfits. Further, striking permutaion and combination of multi, plane colours, prints, basket designs (they have a woolen touch) in silk, chiffon, satin and cotton. Starting from mere Rs 150, they go up to Rs 650.

If you don’t mind the ones then head to various shops in Sector 15 and those lying in sectors 8, 9 and 10. Payal Saboo, city based designer, says, "Stole is a great accessory to enhance your look, especially in winters. They come in a whole range of fabrics from chiffons to georgettes to just the beaded threads and in winters, woolens is the obvious choice." One can wear them to the office too, minus the embroidery and all. There should, ideally, be no chunky things accompanying it since it itself is an accessory. Given its functions and forms, its time we compared the garment to Swiss army knife.

Knot in style

Let your innovations do the talking and creativity rule, with these ways to wear to a stole.

Wear it the simple and classic way, with loosely around your neck with one side hanging.

Join the ends so that its length is doubled. Put it across your neck from behind with two ends coming out of half the loop formed.

Tie around your neck with big knot coming in front loosely. It goes well with collared shirts.

Touch wood
Ashima Sehajpal

It’s customary to say that interiors of the house reflect on the personality and taste of the homemaker. It’s the lady of the house who takes the charge and decides the colour of the wall and patterns in the upholstery. In the nutshell its her decision entirely as what furniture would suit the decor. So, it’s natural that, there are women in the city who design furniture for others and indeed their choice wins some compliments for the ownerers. Besides, being a source of income, designing stuff for home d`E9cor is an art for them that gives an outlet to their creativity.

We talk to these designers about the furnishing trends this Diwali and to know how do they go about selecting accessories while decorating somebody else’s dream home.

Punita Singh, a Mohali-based furniture designer who specialises in designing consoles and tables says, "I make it a point to visit the house first and get the feel of the space before designing furniture for the house."

Punita Singh showcases her collection of period furniture. Photo: Pradeep Tewari

Into the profession from the past four years, Punita designs the piece keeping in mind the budget and taste of the client. "People often do not go for a complete makeover for their house but they try to bring in little changes in the d`E9cor by changing some furniture. It then becomes even more important to see the interiors so that they gel with each other."

So what are the must-haves for home d`E9cor this Diwali? "Glass consoles fill the empty space in the room and look graceful. We are also designing and making side tables, accessories like candle stands and mirrors known as jharokhas for Diwali" says Punita.

Well, these pieces can also make for a good Diwali gift.

For Anshu Anand from Inner form, Panchkula, she believes in selling a concept than just a piece of furniture. "It’s not just about doing the essential furnishings with sofas and tables, making tailor made decor items is the recent trend," says Anshu. While our lady designs and sells home decor trimmings she adds, "RandD in furniture involves designing furniture while keeping in account factors like interiors of the room and area of the space."

While her forte remains embedding stones in furniture, she says that the trend of period furniture is here to stay. "Though people are now going for contemporary, straight lined furniture since it is easy to maintain, grace of carved ethnic furniture is matchless. It renders a regal touch to the interiors."

Nimmi Singh another furniture designer from sector 9, is into making customised furniture and accessories. From designing and making sofa sets to motifs like candle stands, ceramic tree holders, she does it all. Talking about the her craft she says, "What makes every piece of furniture unique is it’s detailing. The same goes for accessories. Even a small size candle stand should compliment the interiors and so it’s important to know about the furniture kept in the room and other items of home decor as well".

ashima@tribunemail.com

Speaking Art
Neha Walia

"Critical art in Europe has a fear of beauty, but Indian art doesn't show that fear." It's a statement of sorts but in the words of Renee van de Vall, an art conservationist from Netherland. In city, for interactive workshop on conservation of contemporary art forms at the Government College of Art-10, she feels that in India, art is a balance of traditional ideas and contemporary visualisation. "Art in India is lively and open to all levels of debates. It crosses all the barriers of thoughts and perceptions. Quite unlike Netherland," says Renee, who works as an art conservator in the University of Maastrichts in Netherland.

On her maiden visit to the country to attend the Conference of Museums in Delhi on art conservation and restoration, she spoke at length about conservation of contemporary art. "The ethical stance on art conservation is to maintain the authenticity of the work but when talking about modern art, it evolves constantly. Earlier art forms needed development by the curator but the contemporary forms need no such installation." She further adds, "The conference was all about the latest technologies to preserve art forms and the conceptual innovations in the field of natural history, iconography or sculptures." Her idea is that art conservation in India is not a problem like in her country. "There are so many things to think like artistic value, legal problems and historic value," she says.

An art philosopher and a contemporary art conservationist herself, she feels that the possibility of interaction is more in the new media art forms as they give a chance to the user to configure the work themselves. "The young artists are now exploring new vistas of creativity, be it Utube, video games or else." Renee has travelled through various art institutes and galleries in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai before coming to Chandigarh.

And what's the difference in young artists from the two countries? "It's the lack of reflective depth in artists back home. They learn many things just by doing them, but here the art is more lively," she says. A perfect example of traditional yet contemporary art forms, she says, is the miniature art form and the level of craftsmanship in India impresses her. "Folk arts have become a fertile breeding ground for young artists in India whereas back home they have been taken over by commercialization."

And what are her favorite picks? "My personal favourites among Indian artists are Amrita Shergill. But I am deeply impressed by an artist called Nazreen, her abstract art is strongly poetic." Among Dutch artists she is fond of the traditional art of Rembrandt, famous 17th century painter and his work 'Vermeer' and a moving-group of artists called Cobra. "Also I like the works of Maclene Dumas, a south African artist now based in Amsterdam."

lifestyle@tribunemail.com

Tech trawl
Manpriya Khurana

A cell phone installed in a watch. Cool! Navigation system on your mobile. Ultimate! Megapixel camera in your pen. Mind blowing! Technology, it seems is enough to drive us crazy. But what about things like, 'A pendrive at the back of your shoe,' 'chopsticks that have an MP3 player in them', or better still, 'a computer that doubles up as an espresso machine!' What else? The CEOs, the managing directors or whatever, at the launch of such gadgets go like`85. 'Well, we wanted to give our customers a taste of cutting edge technology.' huh! But do we really need things like 'treadmill that can also perform food processing functions'? As if people knead, cut, grind and mash while exercising.

The gizmo producing companies seem to be in sort of race to make it to some 'Forbes list of top ten weird gadgets' or the wackiest inventions of the millennium. (So what if they cannot even be used) Think USB drive and a cuticle pusher rolled into one!

Amitpal Singh Grewal, a gadgets expert, says, "Yes, at times it is nothing more than waste of time and money to buy such products. Generally it's the kids who are fascinated to buy such products." And some of the weird pieces that he's heard of include, I-pod charger in a shoe, so when you run it gets charged and a water proof I-pod speaker system that resembles a shaving tube.

In the world of gizmos, there's certainly overlapping between what's stylish and what's unnecessary. Gaurav, marketing head, Brado, a Hong-Kong based IT company, has a different take, "Technology should be not just cutting edge but also multi-tasking. We are soon going to launch handsets that can accommodate dual sim-cards." That is exactly how technology is supposed to be. And for the hi-tech things that are not of much use, we wonder do they sell? Says Amitpal, "They do sell but in very small number." These techie objects might not be available as widely in the city but how can we forget that they are a part of endless gift packages from abroad.

Enough bashing, let's hear from a fan. What attracts people to such devices? Gautam Ahuja, B.Sc student and a tech-junkie, says, "There's some intrigue factor associated to the unusual, uncanny hi-tech stuff. It's great to show it off, not to forget the starting point of many conversations." Also, he's totally in love with his pen that emits laser beam.

And talk of the utility factor; umm`85maybe we won't mind a navigation security system in a beautiful diamond necklace. Don't know about anything else, but they certainly help in recognising geeks. How? Call yourself one if you feel like possessing them or fancy any of the gadgets mentioned.

manpriya@tribunemail.com

Screen presence

Appearances are certainly deceiving when it comes to LCD and Plasma televisions. Although both types of televisions are flat and thin, they make use of different technology to deliver similar results.

To be honest, there isn’t much to look under the hood. But inside the sleek and thin exterior, plasma TVs employ a matrix of tiny plasma gas cells that are charged by precise electrical voltage to create a picture.

In the case of LCD screen, liquid crystal display makes up the screen. Imagine liquid crystal pressed between two plates to which changeable electrical charge is applied to create an image. That’s an LCD television.

Despite the advances made in LCD and plasma technology, however, there are experts and gamers who really do use TVs a lot to make sure that CRT Regular TV still offers the best quality.

To a layman, however, it’s not the technology and how it works that matters much. It’s the quality of the TV that he is worried about. Both LCD and plasma TVs offer excellent picture quality and advanced functionality. But obviously both have their pros and cons.

The choice of an LCD or plasma TV will be depending on your budget and your requirements. If it’s required for basic home theatre system, plasma screens are to some extent better, since they can render black better than LCD screen. Because of high contrast, the details on a plasma TV are marginally better. The reason LCDs cannot achieve as true a black as plasma TVs is due to the liquid which is backlit and does leak a little. In addition to this, one of the major factors in favor of plasma TVs is their better viewing angle. This allows you to sit at acute angles and still get a clear picture.

It’s not all that bad for LCD TVs. With improvements being made in LCD displays, minor problems will definitely be rectified. Technically there are some advantages that an LCD TV offers. A wide range starting from small handheld TVs to a large home theater screen, LCD TVs have higher resolutions than plasma TVs of the same size. What this means is there are more pixels on the screen and if you are one of those who like to see every little detail, you can also use it as a second monitor for your computer, an LCD will offer more. Of course the TV part also depends on the source and an ordinary cable TV connection won’t let you notice the difference.

The running cost of a TV while increasing screen sizes also pumps up power consumption and in this regard, LCD TVs outscore plasma TVs once again. LCD TVs are not power hogs. They consume up to 30% less power than CRT and plasma TVs.

Another downside that plasma TVs suffer from is the screen burn-in. For whatever reasons, if you leave your TV on with a still image, say you paused a movie or are watching an image for an extended period of time, there is a chance you could face a burnout, this means that even if you turn it off, a faded impression of that image would be visible permanently on the screen. While newer generation plasma TVs suffer less from this disorder, it hasn’t been entirely eradicated.

When you are looking at plasma or LCD TVs, you may come across a piece of information that says 30,000- 60,000 hours or any such number. This is the time for which your plasma and LCD screen will have optimum performance after which its brightness will start to fade off. In this case, a LCD TV has a longer life, in case it fades out for some other reason the light source in a LCD TV can be replaced, for a plasma TV that is the end of the line.

Hope this would help you.

amitpalsinghgrewal@gmail.com

Million-dollar fun
Neha Walia

Don't we all love the luxuries of this world? And while we live, eat and drink technology and are smitten by the virtual world, luxury has got altogether a different meaning. Luxury comes in form of technology. We don't think twice before spending a fortune on the latest mobile or the newest gizmo. And in the growing list of geekos, we have gamers, probably the busiest of all the geeks, who are ready to afford this luxury, even if it makes their pocket go lighter by dozen. They love their Playstations, Xboxs and Nintendos more than Armanis, Guccis and Raybans.

Video games are an all-time favorite pastime. But wait. How much are you ready to pay for your leisure? "Rs 12,000 and more per month," says Jeetendra, an 18-year-old who is a regular gamer.

Now, for some that amount could be more than a month's salary (believe me when I say so). But for Jeetendra it's a small amount to pay for his pleasure. "I am big-time into gaming and it is not just a hobby but a passion. I got a Playstation at home so that I can play whenever I feel like," he says.

This devout gamer spends six hours everyday to his passion and makes sure he is updated with the latest. And that's not all, he is in for making some moolah out of it as well. "We have regular gaming sessions in our group with betting and everything and it's a high-stake affair," he says. Well, fending for himself is he?

And if you thought that only teenagers are big time into gaming then here's a statement. It's a no-age bar zone. Or, so believes Karan Wahi of Wahi Group, who loves his Sony Playstation and doesn't mind paying for it.

"I got mine for Rs 40,000 and keep a regular track on the updates," he says. Whether it's a late night fun or full on gaming sessions with cousins, Karan has no complaints.

While these figures might raise some eyebrows, this is just the tip of the iceberg. When it comes to gaming gadgets and accessories, we are talking big money. Apart from the burning prices, the accessories or uploads are equally mean on the pocket. "The latest CDs and software updates can cost anything between Rs 500 and Rs 3,000. People usually get their Playstations and Xboxs from Delhi or Mumbai, given that the latest series are launched in these metros," says Sachin from Reliance World-35. This comes with the added expenses of transport and delivery charges.

But no one's complaining since there is no price tag on one's passion. At least that's what these gaming gods think, flaunting their prized possessions and loving it too!