Till now, we associated tuxedos only with James Bond. But now this sleek western outfit has become a part of the city's formal dos as well

Sorry Madam, all the tuxedos in the shop have been sold out. But we can get them made," says a shopkeeper in Sector 17. Sold out, we are zapped. Who wears tuxedos in the North? We bet they haven't even heard about it. But we are certainly in for a surprise. Tuxedos, according to most sellers in the city, are the most sought-after by NRI grooms. Now, this is what we call fashion breaking international borders!

Indeed, says Sanjiv Mahajan, of Reid & Taylor, Chandigarh, "Almost every NRI family goes for a tux, and it is no longer an international fashion statement. In fact, they get their tux stitched, rather than the readymade ones." According to Sanjiv, because of the wedding season, the demand for tuxedos has also increased. So much so, that they are out of stock.

While making our recee at various stores to check out tuxedos, we wonder what makes them different from the rest of the formal, and expensive suits. Says the shopkeeper at Raymonds-17, "They have a narrow satiny collar, and a ban on the pocket. You can get it in Colour Plus." For someone, whom fashion is all about comfort, will certainly like the tux for their clean cuts and royal look. "We also get them made on order," adds the shopkeeper. And it is not only the hi-end stores, which are making tux. Other tailors are making them too. Says Dilip Kumar, a tailor from the city, who has made eight tuxs in the past three months. "Seven out of 10 clients are NRIs. I have made tux for the groom and their friends." He adds, "Because of so many NRI weddings taking place, tuxedos have really become popular. Sometimes, the client gets a sample from abroad and wants to copy the same here in bulk." According to Dilip, the only difference in the tuxs worn abroad is that they have a finesse in their designing and make.

If you are still thinking that these are just market figures, then you need to drop in at Jefferson's wedding to a Canadian girl, where everyone right from the groom to the best man, to the sons, mother, father and close friends, all are getting their custom-made tuxedos. Says Annie Charles, "All of us are wearing tuxs for Jefferson's marriage and we are getting them made from Liz Tailors in Sector 17.

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…and we manage to arrest him, if only for five minutes

And who says persistence and patience does not pay. These are the two words that a senior colleague once spelled, when we said chasing stars was the most detested of all assignments. On the Kurali road, the sets of London Dreams are set amidst green fields. Thankfully, not many onlookers, only a few curious villagers. But this does not make the job any easier. Barging through the security check, the bouncers, is always a Herculean task. And this is where the story takes a turn. Collect yourself and hang around till eternity, said the inner voice. There in the middle of the field, Salman Khan lay on the haystack and Ajay Devgan stood on one, talking to him. We could not hear (thanks to the sturdy muscle men), only see.

Two rock stars sharing notes (This is what the movie is about). The shooting is packed off for the day and we wish the lesson taught by that senior colleague does not go down the drain. Salman walks towards the vanity. Yes, yet again surrounded by a fleet of bouncers, who could knock us down with a single punch! ‘Mr Khan, cam we have five minutes of your time,’ we screamed. As not expected, Sallu turns back, looks at the journos hovering on his sets since morning and replies, "Give me five minutes”.

Ah! We have broken the barrier. Now if only Salmanji remembers. Five minutes are over, and we park ourselves outside his van. The actor is sitting outside, patiently scribbling With Love, Salman to his fans, all kids, mind you. And then, luck shone. Salman makes a signal, and we are summoned. And before we could fire the volley of questions, we had been planning for long, the actor makes it clear, "Can we do the interview some time later, on the sets?” But who said we have to patient and not pushy? It helps sometime. Do you like Punjabi food? "I love it," he says. "Look, I have put on weight." What about Punjab? You must have seen enough of it now? "Ya, I love Punjab and I have seen quiet a bit of it through the shoots." You simply cannot ignore those almond eyes, salt and pepper stubble, those hair pulled back with a band, and those bulging muscles. New projects, we throw this one at him. "Hmm, Wanted." And before Sallu mia gets into one of those furious moods, we walk out saying a docile good bye and with a promise to meet again.

The city saw auditions for another so-called international beauty pageant

It was quite natural for us to expect long queues outside the Tagore theatre as we were told some 300 girls would turn up for the auditions. But what we saw was disappointing and annoying to some extent. Guess, high time for organisers to realise that hype doesn’t do any good until there is something substantial.

Held in the city on Friday, PC Jewellers Miss India Worldwide—India 2009 turned out to be a hollow event. Claimed to be the ‘truly International beauty pageant’, the auditions were taken by just 20 girls. Even worse was scene on the other side of the ramp. In total six audiences were there to watch the show, which included our much-esteemed and indispensable judges. Judging their personality, confidence and catwalk were our very own city based personalities, Savita Bhatti- a TV actor, Sameera Kauser- a classical dancer and Bittu Sandhu- social counsellor. The criteria for choosing the winners? “We are looking for sincerity in contestants. Please don’t pretend is our advice to the girls and just be yourself,” specified the judges. But there was something else too that bothered the judges. Savita Bhatti added, “Everybody wants to become a model or a TV star but nobody is willing to put efforts. For most of the participants, auditions are just a hit and trial opportunity”. Bittu Sandhu let us know what she was looking for, “Certainly a combination of surat and sirat.”

Mannat Mundi, a first year graduate student and a participant feels that the contest is a rare opportunity for girls who this year could not make it to the Pantaloons Miss India auditions, “What matters is not the magnitude of the event but the an individual’s grit to make it big”. Some positive thinking there!

We did witness some more determination there. Pritam Taank, another participant had come down from her village, Aujla in Jalandhar district to take the audition. A government teacher by profession, she now wants to live her dream of becoming an actor. “Becoming a teacher was my parents wish. Now when I have fulfilled theirs, I aim to work towards mine by becoming a model and an actor,” said Pritam.

The grand pageant finale would take place on January 31 in New Delhi.

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From coffee table to dining table, there’s a wood world waiting to be explored

Vintage seems to be the mantra not only for fashion trends but also for your home sweet home. And when thinking of home décor, what can be more traditional than wood furniture.

So, Fabindia-Panchkula, brings you the new range of furniture that has a traditional yet trendy look. Handcrafted from acacia and shesham wood and weaved in fabrics, it houses an exclusive range of coffee tables, bedside or breakfast tables, pedestal tables, beds and many more. “It is the first time that we have displayed our furniture in Panchkula and the range showcases latest designs and trends in furniture. Some of our items are not available anywhere else in the city,’ says Alka Sharma, store manager.

This new range is all about subtle style, given the simple and straight designs and a thought given to space management too. Like a library chair that can be converted into a ladder, an extendable dining table that can be adjusted to accommodate three to six persons or a sofa that can be converted into a flat bed. Multi-utility rules the decoration pieces as well, so you have a pedestal table that can be used as a designer vase or store your umbrellas. Give your garden an ethnic touch with sleek low-rise garden table, chairs and benches. As Alka says, “The entire range is designed keeping in mind the new lifestyle. It will serve the taste of both the generations, simple and traditional designs for the older lot and utility and style factor for the younger ones.” The price range starts from Rs 2000 and goes up to Rs 35,000. So if you want that old world charm for your home then at Fabindia, options galore!

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Actor Kate Hudson would prefer eloping to getting married in a ‘big production’ like setting. Although the Bride Wars star, who is divorced from Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson, has not ruled out marrying again, she doesn't want a huge wedding.

"Who knows if I will get married again? I wouldn't rule it out though. But I would elope and then have a party," she said.

Kate also said that very often weddings are like movie premieres as they are very chaotic.

"It gets so screwed up because you're dealing with two families, you're dealing with your parents - some parents try to stay out of it, but they always have to have their word. You're in an awkward position. It's like a movie premiere. It's a big production," she said.

The 29-year-old actor, who has previously been romantically linked to Owen Wilson and Lance Armstrong, is mother to a four-year-old son Ryder with Chris. — ANI

Technical finesse helped Brad Pitt to play his 80-something character transform into an infant in his latest flick

'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, tells the story of a man born in his 80s and who then physically grows younger, used a totally computer generated version of Pitt as Benjamin - from the neck-up.

"For all intents and purposes, we effectively created a digital puppet of Brad that Brad could operate," Ed Ulbrich, executive VP of production at Los Angeles' Digital Domain said.

The high-tech transformation included using 3-D computer models to record the actor's various expressions that were later aged and uploaded accordingly.

Pitt said: "You just spend the day being a jackass doing this or doing this. Trying to map all my facial expressions, muscles. We did that for a few days." Ulbrich added: "What was important to us in this process was that the emotions that Brad carries as an actor come through Benjamin." — ANI