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Diva dazzle
Classic meets contemporary chic. That's the confluence yesteryear heroine Zeenat Aman brings to a gem of a show in the city. To get a feel of vintage when the ruling flavours are more froth and fizz can translate an experience into a keepsake Kodak moment for an album than into just a passing post for YouTube or Facebook.That best describes the date with the 'original' diva of Hindi cinema, who defied the stereotype of a heroine to fashion her own definition: Zeenat Aman. In town to unveil Talwarson-22 Classic Forever jewellery line, she was poise and panache personified in her orange-and-black salwar-suit and Louis Vuitton bag as even at 50 plus she sent shutterbugs into a frenzy on Saturday afternoon. What could have been more natural than to talk style to the bouffant-defying-bob-sporting beauty, whose maxis had breathed oomph into the pallu-sheathed image of yesteryear leading ladies.The stylista summed it all up in a tete-a-tete:Satyam ‘silicone-um’ sundaram
The yesteryear Miss India runner-up who became the first Indian to bring home the Miss Asia-pacific crown, she has spanned a generational shift in the making of beauty czarinas, crowns and contests. How does she define the change and what does she think of modern-day beauty queens in this age of botox and silicon? "They're all beautiful in their way. There's so much new talent. And this slew of talent hunts for calendar models doesn't mean that supermodels are a dying breed." Hum kissi se slim nahin
The parameters of beauty have turned on their head right before her eyes and size zero is colonising the yardsticks of Indian womanhood, what with a Kareena self-appointing herself its brand ambassador and runways belonging more to couture but less to contour. Here's hearing it straight from the style icon about what she thinks of the trend. ""I certainly don't subscribe to size zero as an ideal. Women should celebrate their curves." Heera Panna
When it was jewels that brought us this starry sparkle, talk was bound to get gem packed. "I'm here to showcase this exquisite jewellery that's been hand-crafted so painstakingly," she smiled, slipping naturally into her part of being the face of all this Heera Panna. Providing insight into the craftsmanship of the Classic Forever line, her host Anil Talwar informs, "These polki pieces are an amalgamation of the hand-made tech niques of the Jaipur and Ahmedabad artisans and their trademark is the bhatti ki meenakari on the back of each." Spelling out her personal style, she said she liked to stick to solitaires and a statement piece as a watch. Talking of signature brands, which are the brands she like to sport? "I like to keep it simple, among designers I like Anita Dongre's ensembles. As for accessories, it could be Louis Vuitton and the like," she lends some brand aid. On celebrities going into an overdrive of brand endorsements, she felt that as long as the artistes belive in the brand they promote, it works. "Certainly, celebrities playing brand ambassadors adds credibility to a name," Zeenat reasoned. Roti kapda aur thaan
Having been the toast of the debut edition of Kolkata Fashion Week, how did the cakewalk feel after the pancake? Passion rings through her voice as she recounts the experience, "It felt so wonderful to be showcasing the collection by Kolkata weavers, where the apparel came directly from rustic areas to the ramp." "Anyways, it was KFW's maiden edition and I love being part of firsts," she quips. Coming to her second innings on the big screen, she said, "I have a film lined up release next year, while my sons and the stage also keep me busy," comes her parting note. And the note that rings in our ears is Do lufzon ki hai from her The Great Gambler, that's become a staple on one's mobile hello tune, an ode not only to the evergreen soundtracks but also the ageless appeal of the diva on whom it's filmed. Who'd have thought that lady would herself come calling… chetnabanerjee@tribunemail.com |
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Lord of harmony
With a musical environment in family and elder brother Manhar Udhas, acclaimed playback singer and younger Nirmal Udhas, a ghazal maestro, Pankaj had enough guidance and support to grow as a professional singer. Inspired by family and friends Pankaj Udhas made his first offering album Ahahat in 1980 and never looked back even after touching half century mark and many playbacks in films. Rightly decorated with national and International honours Pankaj today is a name to reckon with in ghazal gayaki. Along with co-singers in Bollywood, he is responsible for donating over 4.5 crores for the welfare of cancer and thalasemic patients. In the city, for a concert organised by Rudra and Aakriti at the Inderadhanush auditorium Panchkula we interacted with him at the Chandigarh Press club here. You say, lyrics is the nucleus of the ghazal what is your criteria of selecting the verses? In fact poetry lies at the heart of the ghazal with various aspects of love. The early great Urdu poets had unrequited love, pangs of longing and frustration as their thematic content. The ghazal and also the Indian classical music were the choice of the esoteric group of society. But over the years the issues relating to the contemporary life have caught the fancy of the modern day lyricists and as these find true expression in my compositions the audience appreciated my work. I have recited and recorded modern poets like Faraz, Rajesh Rizvi and more. But never the less I have ignored the all times greats like Mir Taki Mir or Dagh Dehlavi and I have made albums as a tribute to their genius. But Mirza Ghalib, I feel had been sung a lot but God willing I may like to cut another album. Do you feel the ghazal singing has a bright future over playback in films, especially for winners of reality shows? The film music has departed from the melody traditions of sixties or eighties. Today you need to do brainstorming to recollect a good song. The pattern of filmy music today is difficult to define. Ghazal retains its particular audience and will survive because of poetical potency. We introduced a reality show Adaab Arz hai with Sony and found good ghazal singers. But with TV reality shows, it gives you a wonderful platform to become a star before you really make it to the Film recording studio. I was amazed to see people abroad tracking the success and failures of participants at all TV reality shows. At the same time it is discouraging to see the elements of commercialisation operate in the process. Any joint venture from Udhas trio of Manhar, Pankaj and Nirmal? Yes, way back we all featured in Teen Mausam, ghazal collection and will repeat with our forthcoming album in February next year. Do you plan to record Punjabi ghazals? Despite being a Gujju I have a flair for Punjabi poetry and I have done two successful albums Baisakhi and Khushian De Rang with Dr Sardar Anjum way back in 1994, which augmented my popularity graph among Punjabis in India and abroad. I am serious to come with another Punjabi album. Not only me, but many Punjabi singers have changed the perception of music by taking it beyond the beats of dhol.
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Besides Shagun, many other students of the Frameboxx Animation and Visual Effects Institute have won the international awards through Web Portals. To youngsters who are looking forth to be a part of this competition, Shagun has a word of advice, "The content of the advertisement should be fresh and message should be conveyed effectively in a few seconds time." Ankur Kapoor, another student of Frameboxx has yet again won several awards for his latest animated short films. Tomorrow 5:33PM, a 3-minute sci-fi film on aliens has own the best animation award at IIT Roorkee and Childs Play was awarded the best film on global warming at the Nashik International Film festival. About winning awards on through the web portals, Ankur says, "The web portals awards are held every two months that give students interested in freelance work an opportunity to improve upon their skill." Hardik Trehan, another student won Filmaka.com's Race against the Clock film competition. — Ashima Sehajpal
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The French connection
Pluck some notes from the countryside, fuse them well on the guitar chords and serve them fresh with French wine. Sounds delectable and musical. Interested…try the platter, whipped up by singer Jasleen and guest performer Louis at Purple Rice-35 on a Sunday night. Street performer sounds intriguingly interesting. And Louis definitely turns out to be one.
"I am a traveller first and then a musician. Better still, I am a travelling performer," smiles Louis, the celebrity guest who would be jamming in with Jasleen. "I travel light, with only one companion, 'an instrument'. I don't need anything more than this." Louis, who has explored the lengths and breadths of various countries, likes to pick notes from wherever he goes. "The only stuff I shop for, at all the places I visit is, music-various kinds and forms. I have taken a strong liking for traditional and Indian folk music and I love to listen to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan," adds this performer. Louis will be lending French notes to match up with Jasleen's guitar. "Jasleen and I plan to do some kind of fusion of French songs and some rap. We will be singing a Hindi number Yeh hai mere kahani, with some improvisation." Yet another interesting aspect of this fusion is going to be, mixture of different sounds from different instruments. Louis on Darbuka and Jambee and Jasleen on the guitar. Chips in Jasleen, "It's going to be exciting, different sounds and soothing melodies. We don't plan to go over the top with the fusion, because we want people to enjoy the food as well. Purple Rice is a casual dinning restaurant, so we would be doing something that goes down well with this place." Over to French artiste, who wants to try his hands on tabla some day. "After travelling, I like to learn playing various instruments. Instruments are a sign of freedom, expression and faith. Instead of limiting myself to only French music, I am fascinated by music of different places," adds the percussionist who has also taken a strong liking for the Indian cuisines. " Whatever they make at Purple Rice is yum. The street food is amazingly delicious," he adds with a puckish grin. jasmine@tribunemail.com |
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More than words
"Yahi kahunga unn se.. is not simply the title of his maiden poetry book but also the journey of thought sharing on myriad themes of life, for the launch of which poet Sukhvinder Singh urf Chhote Sarkar has come all the way from Bhubaneswar to Chandigarh, his home town. The reason for this senior executive's venture is obviously emotion oriented as Sukhvinder maintains that let the panoramic ambiance and poetry lovers of the city beautiful be a witness to my growth as a poet of conscience.
"Neither familiar with the "Aaruz" nor prosody of poetic grammar, I sculpt poetry in a simple paradigm of words, drawing inspiration from whatever touches my inner soul. Even the choice of language is no barrier as you see all my poems in this small poetry book are written in Hindustani, Punjabi and Urdu though scripted in Hindi so as to reach more readers," said Sukhvinder in conversation at the Press Club. Though the simple poetry needs more literary articulation and depth of thought, but the poet claims to have only given vent to his emotions stored in his mind for the last forty years. However the illustrations work on each poem deserves mention. Holding Masters in Biology (Hon's) from Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana he opted for Marketing after a two-year teaching stint there. An ace national level basketball player Sukhvinder Singh was a member of the Indian team, which participated twice at the Pre Asian games and four times in national games. But he has been all along honing his skills and nourishing his love for poetry. He promises to offer more publications shortly. |
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Luck by chance
In an exciting opportunity, 94.3 My FM brings a challenging Laakhon Ki Chori for the FM listeners. Through this activity My FM is giving listeners a chance to steal away Lakhs of Rupees, by inviting participants to open the code of a safe loaded with money. The week-long activity, which starts on November 22 is being held through an on-ground activity in DLF city Centre, IT Park, Manimajra where MY FM's safe, loaded with money would be kept and everyone will get a chance to try their luck at breaking open the safe and walking away with the cash. Well, to help the participants they would be given hints to decipher digital codes, which they can use to crack open the safe.
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Clay craft
Known for the speed with which he churns out clay portraits the deft hands of the artist weaved magic with clay and the portrait was ready in no time. Gurpreet Singh Dhuri, a Masters in Fine Art from Chandigarh College of Art, is well known for being the fastest portrait clay modeler in the region. He has participated in many national camps, some of the recent being in Kolkata and Dimapur (Nagaland). He has won several scholarships from the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Academy. |
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Picks & piques This week's biggie—Kurbaan was conceived by Karan Johar, scripted by Rensil D'Silva with dialogues by Anuraag Kashyap and Niranjan Iyengar. There's a lot of ambition riding on those names alone and expectations from the public as well as the critics have been pretty high too. The rags have also been going overboard about the passionate onscreen exchanges between Kareena and Saif, the lead stars of the film. But the film itself fails to live up to it all. Rensil's script is typically wishy-washy, the characters change personalities as though they suffered from multiple personality disorder and the dialogues are so pithy and vacuous and delivered without finesse, that you can only laugh at what transpires on screen. Even though the film is supposed to be a serious thriller about terrorism! Avantika (Kareena) is in Delhi on a teaching assignment and will soon return to utopian USA for higher studies. Ehsaan (Saif) is the new lecturer at the same college who bumps into her at a bus stand previously and then woos her with all the wiles at his disposal. Soon enough they are talking marriage and Avantika decides to go back to the USA with Ehsaan in tow. In the USA, within months of landing Avantika gets Ehsaan into lecturing at the same college in which she is employed and they move into a pretty isolated Indian neighbourhood, which consists of a few row houses with only two families residing (that is all we get to see)- Ehsaan and Avantika and a traditional muslim family whose nationality (Pakistani, Afghani or Indian?) is pretty confusing. Suddenly the script takes a sharp bend and starts skidding in directions that fail to hold true. The muslim family is basically a sleeper cell for a prominent terrorist organisation of which Ehsaan is also a member. Ehsaan is also on the FBI's most wanted list. Go figure how he got through into that country despite this! Before Ehsaan's culpability is revealed, Avantika gets curious enough about one of the daughter-in-laws whereabouts, to break-in into the neighbour's basement and overhears the plans for a serial bombing. She rushes back home and Ehsaan coolly pulls out the phone and tells her to stay put. No violence nothing! Yet she is afraid and never seeks help from outside. The story takes another u-turn at this point. And there are several more that you have to suffer through. None of them appear logical. It's as though the director wanted to keep surprising the audience twisting the story around without a logical flow to make it seem true. Cliches, stereotypes, skewed characterisations, superfluous costuming (Aki Narula) and pretentious plotting subvert the mood. Salim-Sulaiman's music also adds pathos to the narrative, which is further buoyed by some sincere performances by almost everyone in the cast. But it still doesn't help. Tales of terrorism have been hitting the big screens quite regularly of late. Rensil's Kurbaan is just another.
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Raffish royalty
His couture line reverberates with the vibrancy of his state. Scion to the throne of Jodhpur, Raghavendra Rathore carries his royalty effortlessly. Be it is his designs that are inspired by the princely colours and textures of the desert land, or his demeanor, Rathore is a definite blue blood. A classic aficionado to the core, this couturier likes to dress up men. In city, on a professional as well as a personal visit, Rathore refers to city guys as 'the real men'. "Chandigarh is a very important market for me. My clientele here demands classic designs. Women have plenty of options so I have come to further explore market for menswear." His strength of heritage and culture coupled with sound apprenticeship with western brands like DKNY and Oscar de la Renta, Rathore has had the best of both the worlds, "I call myself a multilingual when it comes to fashion. The exposure that I got from New York to Paris has made me analyse designs from varied perspectives and helped me develop an eye for detail," he shares. Designing apparel, jewellery, chocolates, cars and software, it’s designing homes that's priority for this royal these days, "Right now we are focusing on creating homes from start to finish. From building to providing every little detail up to the furniture is what we are looking at," he says. Best known for diversity in design, 'a long lasting effect' is what Rathore strives for. mona@tribunemail.com
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Novel notes
In the city to promote his book Zero Percentile, author Neeraj Chhibba talks about life beyond IIT… Two different worlds exist on the either side of the IIT gate. Inside the India's premium institute, life's tough, competition's immense, pressure to perform chokes, all that Chetan Bhagat told us through 5 Point Someone. Life outside the IIT isn't better either and Chetan didn't tell us about this because he didn't get to see the other world. And someone who did is author Neeraj Chhibba, in the city on Saturday to promote his book, Zero Percentile. Not that the once IIT aspirant scored zero in the IIT entrance but as Neeraj says, "If you aren't able to get through IIT even by a point margin, it nullifies every effort and any score is as good or as bad as zero percentile." Self-inspired and a semi autobiography, Neeraj through the protagonist, Pankaj in the novel has tried to empathise with all such candidates whose dream to be an IITian remained unfulfilled. "Pankaj is a very bright student but couldn't get through IIT due to lack of right guidance. He suffers from depression for sometime and has to deal with the taunts of his parents and friends," shares Neeraj about the novel with another fact, "The novel is not just about IIT failure just as life isn't." The story then moves to Volgograd in Russia as Pankaj takes up an engineering course there. His academic struggle, cultural shift, best friend infected with HIV and ultimately his victory becomes the center plot. To show the real picture of Russia was another aim of his book, "Russia has bad image for its active mafia. The rest of the damage was done by movies like Rocky, in which Sylvestor Stallone, a good American guy has to defeat the bad Russian boxer." However, the real picture, he adds is different and pleasant, with no racism problems and quality educational institutes. A software engineer by profession, it took Neeraj two years time to complete the book and almost the same time to get it published as, "Publishers find it a risk to publish first time novelists books. Even the best of the literary works by world famous writers are sent as anonymous work would get rejected." Published by Rupa and Co, the book has already sold 7000 copies in its first edition and has gone for the second reprint after mere two-weeks of its release. Neeraj is planning a sequel of the book, which will yet again be a semi autobiography on his post-college and professional life. A successful professional and an author, he still has an unfulfilled wish, "If I could travel back in time and get a chance, this time I would plan well to clear IIT." Still yearning for the IIT tag! ashima@tribunemail.com
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TAROT TALK
Tarot advice: Keep a red piece of cloth in your pocket. TAURUS: "Strength" sends a remarkable indication that now is the moment to achieve family happiness. Beware of gossip mongers at work. You will be in a relaxed mood. Romance will lead to happy moments and singles can meet someone special. Money matters need attention. Tarot advice: Give food to cow. GEMINI: Your card "The Moon" bode extremely well for relationship and romance. You have to attend more duties at work place. Take the yogic help to relax and overcome your anxiety disorder and to live happily too. Look around for additional income. Tarot advice: Read a religious book on Wednesday. CANCER: "The Emperor" shows a bright and cheerful start to the week. Spirituality beckons and you are inclined to try and find out more about it. You struggle to keep your temper in check on Monday. This is an appropriate time to buy a car. A Taurean will be helpful. Tarot advice: Offer water to a rising Sun. LEO: You draw "The Five of cups" which says this would be quite a productive and profitable week. Love ties grow stronger and hotter! Children may be annoyed if they feel restricted. You will have excellent ideas for changing or renovating your home. Control your temper on Tuesday. Tarot advice: Donate moongi sabut at a place of worship. VIRGO: The "Eight of Wands" brings new opportunities. Friends could get on your nerves. Mixing business with pleasure works well for you. Focus on gym, yoga and exercise. Do not get tangled with an idle and superficially attractive person. Travel may come up on Tuesday and it shall be gainful too. Tarot advice: Avoid non-veg food on Tuesday. LIBRA: You draw "Queen of Cups". Time to take big claims with a pinch of salt. Work will bring satisfaction and you will be pleased with the progress you make. Your partner needs your love. Join forces with powers greater than yourself and watch that ego midweek. Tarot advice: Keep copper coin in your pocket. SCORPIO: "Knight of wands" shows it would be wise for you to be cautious. Your strained relationship with a sibling begins to mend. You take a deep interest in arts, literature and music. Travelling brings pleasure on Wednesday. Take care of your health. Tarot advice: Do not eat out on Wednesday. SAGITTARIUS: The "Hanged Man" will tempt you to set big changes in motion. Think twice before moving into action, for anything you do will have a great impact. Wait for good news. Tread carefully in romantic affairs for someone close to you is particularly sensitive. Tarot advice: Spend quiet time with your spouse on Monday. CAPRICORN: "The Hermit" warns if you live as a couple; beware of an extra-marital adventure, which you'd have to regret. Your career life will be on the upswing. A friend will be helpful. Balance in all aspects is recommended. Relationships would be warm and mutually fulfilling, giving you stability and security. Tarot advice: Keep silver coin under your pillow on Sunday night. AQUARIUS: "Nine of Wands" supports you through a busy and turning week with healing and earthy energy. You will be overly concerned about a personal issue. It might send you in a tizzy. Revise your professional goals. Wednesday brings luck. Tarot advice: Offer water to Tulsi on Monday. PISCES: "Seven of Cups" says amorous happiness will be at your arm's reach and you'll only have to take it. You can learn more as a student. Professionally, an excellent week. Finances would be strong. Tackle small home repairs by yourself. Tarot advice: Give food grains to birds.
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With the lyrics, invariably poetic and deep in meaning the contribution of a lyricist is supreme while the composer singer too has his share in popularising the ghazal," says the sober, serene and sophisticated ghazal maestro, Padamshri Pankaj Udhas. Established in humility and uprightness the ghazal maestro comes from a family of affluent landlords of Rajkot, child prodigy Pankaj was initiated into music by his father who used to play Dilruba. As ordained Pankaj was influenced by the gayaki style of Begum Akhtar and Ustad Mehdi Hasan. Even though the content of ghazals were too complex to be in his conceptual grasp, but he always attempted to imbibe the melody and composition, blissfully ignorant of his passion to become his calling later.
Web portals help discover talent, they provide a platform to youngsters to exhibit their creativity, they also have a wider reach, as they are very accessible and this is all we have been told about web portals till now. And what we didn't know is, "Web portals are now being used by corporate houses as a commercial strategy. For a single advertisement, they usually get more than 200 different ideas as entries, which otherwise isn't feasible," says Shagun Jasuja, who won the commendation award at the London film festival for the Nokia commercial, Connecting V2. It was one of the 600 ad videos that were uploaded on Mofilm.com last month for ten different advertisements. Shagun's 60-second ad is a live ad that shows students sitting far from each other in a classroom. Then a boy enters the class who connects the student by making them hold a single piece of cloth. The winning point was, "The aerial view of that cloth made the word Nokia complete," informs Shagun.
Fusing food with music, Jasleen and Louis would be
Poet Sukhwinder Singh draws inspiration to write from the simple pleasures of life
Portrait clay modeling expert Gurpreet Singh Dhuri held a clay modeling workshop for students of Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) at its center in Sector 33.
ARIES: "The Ace of Pentacles" manages to maintain clarity and direction in complicated work situations. Your dreamy nature brims with gifts of imagination. You may be worried and concerned about certain family issues and need to take time to sort things out. Budget goes topsy-turvy.