When in fashion business, exclusive is the tag everybody loves to flaunt. So, you have big names in the industry selling exclusivity to those who pay well for it. And, those who want exclusivity without gong bankrupt, well, we have Nidhi and Divya Gambhir with their label Walnut. "It is an out an out Western wear collection, not fusion. We are playing with digital prints," says Nidhi. But where's the exclusivity? "In the concept itself. Not everybody can go to London or Bangkok to shop for that expensive classy dress. And, most of the options provided are too Indianised with embroidery and the bling effect. Our approach is to keep the contemporary elements alive along with the classy look," she adds.

Retailing their label through multi-brand store Soh-Koh Clothing Inc-26, the designer duo presented their latest collection with structured dresses, high on texturing, pleating and keeping it simple. "Brunch, cocktail evening or office, our dresses for the feminine, stylish and sorted out ladies," says Divya, who has also assisted Varun Bahl.

The two young designers from Delhi debuted this year at Lakme Fashion Week Spring/Summer-2009 at their Gen-Next show and were featured by Vogue as one of the top 10 emerging and talented designers. "Even at the Gen-Next show, our collection was called Birds, a very English, sophisticated Western wear. Our collection was called experimental,” says Nidhi.

Running their own label for two years now, and assisting Aki Narula before that, the two match in every respect, personal or professional. "We are twins, so it is obvious that our sensibilities match. We never create something that even we would not wear. Once you create your market, they come to terms with the fact that it works well for others too," clears Nidhi. And, that means sometime saying no to clients. "Mumbai sense of style is different from Delhi. Mumbai is classy, Delhi is bling and if the client is too demanding, you have to be straight."

And who is their favourite? "Rajesh Pratap is one the best Indian designers with his simplicity, neat and classy designs. He doesn't need a Bollywood star to sell his clothes. If your work is good, you'll sell it without the star attraction," Divya adds.

Content at the growing levels of fashion-educated breed, they are looking forward to reach out to more people, "We are into pret, diffusion and couture. But we want to cater to groups with different price brackets."

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Valiant warrior, resolute social reformer, proponent of poor peasantry and above all a devout Sikh, Banda Bahadur emerged as a colossal on the military firmament of otherwise mighty Sikh armed forces raised and blessed by the great Guru Gobind Singh ji. Born in the sleepy village of Rajouri in Poonch district of Jammu in 1770 and named Lachhman Das, he grew up as a daring hunter having mastery over archery and skillful fighting with swords. An incident of killing a pregnant deer greatly changed his mind and he turned a bairagi sadhu where his guru renamed him Madho Das in his ashram.

As ordained, he happened to secure the blessings of great guru Gobind Singh and the dormant fighting abilities and volcanic courage to eliminate feudalistic rule for the benefit of poor landless farmers and humanity as a whole. Now, the veteran freedom fighter and art promoter, HS Bhatti, the founder of the Punjabi Kala Kendra, Mumbai, with late Balraj Sahni and Rajiv Mehta, play director has teamed up to make a light, sight and sound spectacle as a salutation to Banda Bahadur, an embodiment of humanism.

The mahurat shot ceremony was performed by eminent scholar of Sikh Studies, Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia at the Chandigarh Press Club on Sunday. "Our humble tribute to the great General coincides with 300th anniversary as Guru Gobind Singhji renamed Madho Dass into armored Banda Bahadur on May 12, 1710, at Nanded before he conquered Sirhind," says Bhatty.

"After an extensive research Aswini Sawan has scripted the story and dialogues for the mega production and we hope to stage the inaugural show on March 1, next," says project director Rajiv Mehta. A mammoth show has been planned on May 22 next year at the open battleground of Chhaper Chheri to celebrating the triumphant victory over the Mughals.

Earlier, noted historians and Sikh scholars led by Ahluwalia excavated and discussed historical facts about the life and achievements of the martial Sant-Sipahi. HS Bhatty, Joginder Dyal and others have reacted to the divergent views some historians hold on the celebrated Sikh hero and offered historical facts to negate their perception through this endeavor.

Dhupia's very first shot in debut Qayamat saw her emerging from sea wearing a swimsuit and her next release was Julie, which despite its success, placed the actor in a bracket from where it was difficult to come out.

Her subsequent releases like Sheesha, where she played the role of a seductress and Teesri Aankh - The Hidden Camera, where she played a porn film victim, didn't help her cause either. Dhupia decided to come out of her 'sex siren' image by accepting a strong supporting role opposite Kareena Kapoor in Priyadarshan's Chup Chup Ke.

"It was Priyadarshan who came forward to help me change my image. When the entire world was after me to wear a bikini, he put me in a salwar-kameez," Dhupia says.

"The problem is that no one realises I can do a lot more.

Thankfully films like Ek Chalis Ki Last Local and Mithya followed that helped me showcase a different facet of my acting talent," she adds.

Dhupia plays an aspiring actor Sophia, a femme fatale in her forthcoming film Raat Gayi Baat Gayi. Her character is like a jigsaw puzzle in the film, which slowly unfolds through a series of interesting interactions with the men (Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Dilip Tahil) she meets.

So, is she happy to be playing a sexy seductress again? "What makes you think that I am a seductress? May be I am a victim myself in that party. Yes, in the film's context, I do flirt and have a drink with others around. But then may be I am a 'poor-little-vulnerable-I-don't-know-what-to-do' Neha than being a sexy seductress Neha," she jokes. — PTI 

Hollywood star Demi Moore is tired of being hailed as the ‘poster girl’ for age gap relationships because of her successful marriage to actor Ashton Kutcher who is 16 years younger than her.

The 47-year-old actress is not quite happy with the fact that people look up to her as an example of how a romance between an older woman and younger guy can work.

"I'm certainly not the first person to be in a relationship with a younger man, but somehow I was plucked out as a bit of a poster girl.

The Ghost star is not keen on being referred to a cougar, the slang term for a sexy older woman who dates younger guys. "I prefer to be called a puma," said Moore, who has been married to Kutcher for four years now. — PTI 

Hollywood actress Natalie Portman is reeling under her heavy workload as she has taken up almost every project which has come her way. The Closer star has her hands full with a number of films in the pipeline.

The 28-year-old was busy promoting her new movie Brothers and recently wrapped filming a period comedy Your Highness with James Franco.

Portman is currently working with director Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan and she's then set to join Robert De Niro and director Kenneth Branagh in the comic-book adaptation of Thor.

The actress has also just signed on to tackle Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's book which adds flesh-eating monsters to Jane Austin's period novel.

Now the actress seems to have realised her mistake and and is regretting saying yes to so many. "I overdid it. It was like an all-you-can-eat buffet, and I was like, 'I'm hungry!' And now I'm like, 'Oh, no!' I tend to get overambitious with what I can do," said Portman. —PTI 

Oscar-winner James Cameron's multi-million futuristic love story Avatar has received a green signal from the critics, who have hailed the film as "ground breaking" for its "back-to-nature" theme and technical wizardry.

The director, who created box office history with Titanic, has made an entire new world in the 3D love story, which is the costliest film ever made with a gigantic budget of USD 300 million.

Avatar will see a worldwide release on December 18 but the world premiere last night has already created a buzz with critics heaping praise on the movie by calling it the next big thing in cinema.

"Movie events don't get bigger than this. James Cameron's long-awaited follow-up to Titanic, the most successful film to date, is immense in every way: from the ambition and scope of its vision, to the ground-breaking technological wizardry, to the staggering size of its budget," said the Times, giving four out of five stars to the movie.

"Avatar is an overwhelming, immersive spectacle. The state-of-the-art 3D technology draws us in, but it is the vivid weirdness of Cameron's luridly imagined tropical otherworld that keeps us fascinated," adding that the box-office reception of the film will affect Hollywood in a huge way. Guardian was more restrained in its praise of the movie but that did not stop the daily from calling it "fantastic". — PTI 

Sutra brings original, ethnic and stylish stuff to the city Sutra offers chanderi, Maheshwar, bagh, bagru and sanganer saris and unstitched dress material all from different artisan clusters. "All the stuff here is hand crafted from artisans in the remote parts of the country," says Shruti Gupta, a qualified designer from Philadelphia University. "The traditional craft is dying with the coming of power looms.

A Chanderi sari takes roughly 40-60 days to be weaved by the craftsmen and is priced around Rs 4,000. But a power loom sari is priced much lower. So, people think twice before investing in an original," she says. But there is need to create awareness, she emphasises. "The hand crafted fabric is not only fine in quality but also comfortable to wear.

And then the skilled craftsmen are being forced to work as laborers or rickshaw pullers for the want of work." Sutra in association with the UN cluster development provides work to these craftsmen and they work in close association with qualified designers to create stuff that is contemporary.

The exhibition has an elegant collection of Chanderi saris, Maheshwar saris, suits, dupattas, traditional vegetable prints from Bagh and hand block printing from Sanganer. Also available are interesting mix in raw silk and cottons and colourful stoles. Sutra has also roped in city students to provide original and latest designs while ensuring a decent living to the artisans.

Concludes today —TNS

Hundred kilometers per hour in less than 30 seconds, two automatic gears, 8.2cc engine, cost just 36000. Still, it's no competition to Nano. In fact, it is in the league of its own. Only if was a little big to adjust a driver but this two-feet-car can only be driven by a remote.

The distributor of the car, Vikrant Malhotra is not happy with the term, toy car that people use for it. "It's a hobby for people who love speed of the cars and is not meant for children strictly," he says.

Imported from Taiwan and assembled in India, the car known as Thundertiger has already sold eleven models in the city. "The response here has been great. People do get fascinated by its speed and buying for the gift purpose as well." It runs on nitro fuel and the remote controls its till one kilometer. Another model of the car, HPI-RS4-EVO3 has the maximum speed of 125 km per hour. — TNS

It was after the 'great revelation' by the fairness creams, we were obliged with the information that fair complexion is mandatory to become an airhostess or a model (thank God there is no such precondition for journos). And, thank God for at least this time there isn't any sexist overture, fairness creams are aplenty for men too. Also, thank God there are exceptions like Bipasha Basu in Bollywood and Krishna Somani in the modeling world to dole out comfort to women with wheatish complexion.

Anyways, men and women who swear by the fair skin and fairness creams, are advised to know certain facts, though this is no judgement we are making. Dr S.B. Mehta, city-based dermatologist, opines, "More than the actual effect, fairness creams psychologically make people believe that they look fairer after applying them."

In case you actually do, it is important to know the basic contents of the creams, responsible for bringing in the change. "Very few fairness creams have a mention of the contents. They can also have a heavy amount of steroids which can harm the skin." He warns of various side effects and reactionary episodes once the application is stopped. "Reverse reaction can be caused, leaving the skin even darker than before." Do a Google search on the contents of the creams to know more about them.

Fairness creams for men have an equal number of buyers as those for women. The 'fair' demand has cornered the middle requisite of tall dark handsome boy. Dr Ashima Goel, another city-based dermatologist expresses her surprise while sharing an experience, "A young college going US- returned boy, who used benoquin, a de-pigmenting cream, often visited me asking for the cream. The fairness cream was banned in the US after its contents were found to be harmful."

However, she adds that not all skin fairness creams are bad for the skin, "Most of the fairness creams have alpha hydroxi acids, which are effective. She suggests that creams should be used after taking into consideration the skin tone, "People with oily skin can suffer from acne outbursts. Also, one can develop pigmentation or photo dermatitis, a burning sensation that one feels on sun exposure."

Dr Daljit Kaur, consultant dermatologist, Fortis-Mohali, rightly says that no number of creams would help the skin if diet, water intake and sunscreen are not adequately used. "In fact, these matter more than what creams is one using. Also, if over the counter, routine fairness creams were that effective, no person would have a wheatish complexion."

The reason Dr Swami adds, "No cream can change the natural complexion, only the quality of the skin can be improved." Make sure you don't blindly follow the vain vanity creams that might wane your beauty.

ashima@tribunemail.com

A glass or two of champagne is good for heart and blood circulation, say researchers. According to Reading University researchers, the fizz made with black grapes has the potential to reduce strokes and heart disease risk.

"We have found that a couple of glasses a day has a beneficial effect on the walls of blood vessels - which suggests champagne has the potential to reduce strokes and heart disease," said the lead researcher Dr Jeremy Spencer.

"It is very exciting news," Spencer added.

Previous studies have shown two glasses a day of red wine helps ward off heart and circulation problems. Most of that effect comes from chemicals called polyphenols, which affect circulation by slowing down the removal of nitric oxide from the blood. In turn, elevated levels of nitric oxide cause blood vessels to dilate, which lowers blood pressure and reduces risks of heart problems and strokes.

Polyphenols are also found in champagne, which is made from two varieties of black grape, pinot noir and pinot meunier, and one of white, chardonnay.

The team found that champagne had a far greater impact on nitric oxide levels in the blood than did a polyphenol-free alternative of alcohol and carbonated water.

In short, its polyphenols have the ability to improve blood pressure and reduce heart disease risks. "Our data suggests that a daily moderate consumption of champagne wine may improve vascular performance via the delivery of phenolic constituents," said the researchers. The study is to be published in the British Journal of Nutrition. —ANI

In every household there has been an agony aunt who guided you through the tough times with their hair and skin secrets. But the benefit is known only to a lucky few, and having suffered with many a skin problems herself Betty Nangia, naturopath and pranic healer from Betty's holistic and skin care centre in Sector 8-C, has now launched her line of natural cosmetics that offer a complete skin care solution. Says Betty, "I was 18 when I got married and had my first baby at 19.

It was at that time when I first suffered skin problems. From acne to pimples I had numerous skin problems that didn't get cured for a long time, and it was after a torment of 5-6 years that I decided to cure myself and started studying naturopathy and electropathy. I did my four-year degree from the Chandigarh Board of Alternative Sciences and started making my ubtans at home." Experimenting on her own skin, she says, "I first started testing on my skin and still do, and seeing the difference, friends started taking advice and it was after that, that I started practicing naturopathy."

Talk about the line she has launched and she says, "It's my dream line and its all natural. I haven't come up with a wide variety, but my line includes three basic things (cleanser, toner and moisturiser) for different skin types and believe me the skin needs nothing more."

Spelling out her cosmetic line she says, "Blush is the product for hypersensitive skin; Restorative is for blemishes, patchy, dark and pigmented skin; Gorgeous is for anti-aging stuff; Sheen is for pimple and acne. Other than this I have creams for joints and muscular pains, hair care and eye care products also." Ask her is it only cosmetic products that help restore a damaged skin and she says, "Definitely not, one has to take a balanced diet and fruit juices for a healthy skin and that's what I tell my patients."

jigyasachimra@tribunemail.com

As we talk of preventive measures and growing number of swine flu cases in the country, print and electronic media flash the news of Indian pacer S Sreesanth being tested positive for swine flu virus. As always, it makes us sit up and think wherein lies the fault-- our casual attitude to execute preventive measures or unawareness about the flu on a whole?

However, in this entire hullabaloo comes up the name, homeopathy, an alternative medicine, which probably we thought would have no role to play at least in this case of imported virus. But we were wrong. Dr Ram Parkash Sharma, DHS, homeopath physician from Sector 19, has successfully cured a swine flu case last week, and is giving preventive medicine for the flu to many.

And, for those who don't see any 'instant cure' with homeopathy, Dr Sharma who has been practicing for almost 46 years now shares, "Without chemotherapy, or any radiation, homeopathy can cure cancer, which I have seen with my own eyes. You could call it a miracle, but I handled two cases of cancer with considerable success."

Other than cancer, Dr Sharma gets cases of swine flu almost everyday. The symptoms of course are the same, cough, body flu, cold, high fever, followed by chest congestion and vomiting." Dr Sharma gives them three doses of Influenzam to be taken everyday. "Most of the times, patients cannot decipher whether or not they are suffering from swine flu because they take it as common cold. I get chronic cases as well," he adds.

Despite allopathy being the most-favoured form for those looking for a speedy recovery, the number of people turning to homeopathy for swine flu, cancer, and asthma are also increasing.

Dr Sharma remembers a similar situation, when the swine flu epidemic broke out somewhere in 1958. "There was no loss of life then. I feel people should be more aware about the flu, passengers coming to India should be thoroughly checked at the airport, and we should consult a doctor immediately on the breakout of the first signs of flu." The 82-years-old homeopath ends the conversation with a reassuring smile, "Swine flu is curable through homeopathy as well."

jasmine@tribunemail.com