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Desi & Spicy How do you sell a product? C'mon, you don't have to be a nuclear scientist to answer this. Good marketing strategy, what else! And yes, how can we forget, loads of free- floating rumours. (Hrithik Roshan and the growing warmth between Barbara Mori before the release of movie Kites or for that matter Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra seeing each other prior to the launch of Kaminey!). But we discovered a very new marketing technique and this one is custom-made for the reality show on Imagine TV — Desi Girl. First, get a PR person to call the media and sell the idea of a 'big story'; second, organise a field trip to a village to bring in the 'real element' and third get the fourth estate from all over the world (Oh! this is an exaggeration. But, we've never seen so many electronic and print media members together in Chandigarh. Not even during the IPL). And lastly, bring in the damsels dressed in all possible forms and cuts (You cannot separate oomph from a diva. Can you?), and make them catch hens in a makeshift coop. There you are, cameras zoom in from all angles, journos are more than interested in the experiences of Monica Bedi, Sambhavna Seth, Kashmera Shah, Roshni Chopra, Anmol Singh, Rucha Gujarati, Ishitta Arun and Aushima Sawhney - the eight contestants of the reality show, Desi Girls. Tell me, isn't it a 'hot' and 'newsy' take away for the media? Now, without getting too much into the 'realness' of the show (the villagers of Sialba Majri, a place near PGI where the entire show is shot were not allowed to express their views candidly), we get you the format. Eight of these girls stay with four families from the village in their respective houses. Each family would play host to two girls. In turn, each girl will undertake everyday chores of villagers such as milking cows, making dung cakes, cleaning, cooking food for the family etc. One girl who will be able to adapt to the conditions will be our true Desi Girl. Desi girls! We turn our eyes to well-dressed beauties (How on earth did they do all this?) "It is a 360 degree change in life," shares Kashmera Seth. "I thought I would give up, thankfully I am here to share the experience. We did everything from getting up at three in the morning (isn't this the time they return from a party?), milked cows, made food etc. Unbelievable, but true." "Can you see my nails? They have a story to tell," shows Sambhavna. "It was impossible. We've spent 15 days and have established a bond with the villagers. And yes, I have picked up Punjabi," she smiles. Time for the politically correct Monica Bedi to talk: "I already feel attached to the villagers. (Does this mean she will stay back or take some villagers to Mumbai?). It is a unique experience. I feel that villagers are the real heroes and they deserve all the attention." They sure do Monica!
jasmine@tribunemail.com |
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The CHASE is on First a doctor, then a television actor; takes a sabbatical, goes back to his business in pharmaceuticals, opening restaurants; turns a producer and finally debuts in Bollywood mainstream cinema. If there is anything left to be done in life, Anuuj Saxena has just begun exploring his potential! "My life has offered me lot of opportunities and I was lucky enough to take them up one by one," says the actor-producer of 'Chase', which marks his debut on the big screen. In the city, along with co-star Udita Goswami for promotion of the movie, he seemed eased out, even when we expected the first-time-on-screen jitters from him. "I have been in the industry long enough to understand its pressures. So, I am immune to it. But the excitement is there and a little fear as well," which he attributes to his small screen success. "After playing the character of Abhay Kapoor (in 'Kkusum') for five years, I want to see how the audience receives me in the character of Sohail Ansari, a man on run in Chase." The movie is directed by Jag Mundhra and produced by Anuuj himself and Tarina Patel, an actress from South Africa who also debuts with the movie. "One of the reasons I took up the project was Jag Mundhra. He is director with a reputation for excellent cinema,' says Anuuj. An out-an-out action thriller, Anuuj says 'Chase' is a simple movie, with not many special effects. "I want to take people back to basics with raw action. I have jumped from choppers (that when he is scared of heights), climbed mountains, ran through the forest with dogs chasing me, done fire stunts. The hardcore action is still intact," he says. Well, the action in his real life is not less impressive. Having mastered the art of multitasking, juggling between the actor, producer and businessman routine, Anuuj doesn't find changing gears tiring. "As a producer your responsibility increases. But at the end it's a business with the same application and result - making profit." And when it comes to making career decisions, the businessman in him has the upper hand, "I am very careful about the kind of work I do as it directly affects my corporate image. I would never dance around trees or take part in a reality show to avoid making a fool out of myself the next day at work." So, if the actor Anuuj Saxena waited for the right script and opportunity to come his way to make his film debut, the producer Anuuj Saxena cashed in on the regional market to expand business! "Regional cinema hasn't got its due. Since the inception of my production house, Maverick, I have made three movies in Kannada, Malayalam and Gujarati, before my first Hindi film 'Aloo Chaat', which was released last year. They are much more professional and though there are no big returns the scope for recovering your money is much more." Would he like to try his hand at Punjabi cinema then? "I would love too. You have amazing star culture with the Manns and Jimmy Shergill. I'll keep my options open." The actor Anuuj is satisfied with 'Chase' for the while but the producer Anuuj has his hands full. "My next project includes a movie that marks the debut of Chirag Paswan (Ram Vilas Paswan's son) opposite Kangana Ranaut, which is being directed by Tanveer Khan. Three regional movies are also in the pipeline," he
signs off. nehawalia@tribunemail.com |
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One look through Udita Goswami's career graph and her run at box-office has been action-packed. Whether it's her debut 'Paap' or films that followed, action-thriller seems to be her genre. "I don't want to be typecast in any way. I have always tried to select good scripts and even if most of them have been thrillers, my roles have been different in each," she says. In 'Chase', again an action-thriller, she plays a nurse opposite the lead actor Anuuj Saxena. So did she get her share of action onscreen? "Yes. I did stunts on bike; under water, got chased by dogs. And I didn't even have to prepare for it. My role is not just about looking glamorous." Having worked with big names in the industry, Udita feels for a movie to click promotions are a must. "No matter how good the script is or big the actors and directors are, promotions are needed. And so we need people like Anuuj, who have money to sell the movie," she quips. Shooting in Kashmir for the movie, amidst the security concerns, she says, "It was never an issue. In fact, the place is very warm." In addition to 'Chase', Udita is busy shooting for 'The Man', with Sunny Deol and 'Hello India' with Akshay Kumar.
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art-i-fact Impressionism means taking inspiration directly from nature, trusting your senses rather than what you think you know. — Michael McClure That in a nutshell was the key to impressionism, the French art movement of the 19th century that broke new ground and made its own rules on how to paint. Since then it has been followed by many more ‘isms’ but impressionism remains one of the most significant art movements, not only of its time but also of entire art history. Credited to French artists like Claude Monet, Edourad Manet and Pierre August Renoir, this art movement not only changed the academic approach to painting but also as noted artist Prem Singh says “brought oil painting from the studio out into the open.” Till then, landscapes were painted in a realistic manner within the confines of artists’ studios. Impressionists gazed at sun-kissed nature directly, were awestruck by the play of light and went on to record impressions of nature and other subjects on senses. Light became all-important, so much so that impressionism is hailed in the words of Robert Delaunay as the ‘birth of light in painting’. Ravinder Sharma, Assistant Professor, Art History, Government College of Art, Chandigarh, shares that in order to capture the mercurial nature of light, Monet would paint four canvasses of the same scene at one go. Probably because Monet believed that a good impression is lost so quickly. Incidentally, it was Monet’s painting Impression, Sunrise that led to the name impressionism. Expectedly, the new style was met with resistance, even derision and the art critic Louis Leroy made fun of ‘impression’ and wrote – ‘preliminary drawing for a wallpaper pattern is more finished than this seascape’. Sharma feels that impressionists pre-empted the use of mind and focused only on the sensory while later artists have lent subjective meanings to their expressions. Yet he is all praise for the manner in which impressionists used and juxtaposed colours, exploiting both its complimentary as well contrasting nature. He calls it the scientific exploration of colours in which painters not only made a solid impression, but also discovered colours of shadows. He reminds that use of colour is not meant to be taken lightly and the vernica ang of ancient Indian art too dittoes that colour application is a very important limb of painting. Besides, he is simply spellbound by their singular ability to become one with the visual. Singh pipes in, “Instead of conscious replication of reality, impressionists revelled in its lyrical evocation and played on the optical illusion of colours.” Guneeta Chadha, Associate Professor and Head of Fine Arts Department, Government College for Girls, Sector 11, Chandigarh, feels that the most outstanding contribution of impressionism is that it liberated artists of the form. Today, as she is busy painting her series on resonance of sounds, she thinks that roots do lie somewhere in impressionism. And since impressionism, many more art movements like post-impressionism, expressionism and cubism came into being. Today’s artist is influenced by all of these as well as none, and has the liberty to work without the excess baggage of ‘isms’. Still, some Indian artists do carry the unmistakable stamp of impressionism in their works. According to Singh, renowned artist Paramjit Singh’s beauteous landscapes can surely be called impressionist. Sharma thinks that many artists have imbibed their way of colour application. Without doubt, impressionists have impacted and triggered the imagination of artists and even in the 21st century, there is a quest to understand the techniques of impressionist painters. Whether artists have gone beyond (and thus the influence in their works is not so perceptible) or impressions linger on at the back of their minds - just as Guneeta continues to carry Monet’s image of water lillies deep down within her - few would disagree with what Colley Whisson had to say: “The job of the impressionist painter is to say just enough without forcing the story on the viewer... detail kills imagination.”
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The distance between Bollywood kitsch art and Spanish master Salvador Dali is a light year, but for Gurgaon-based pop artist Baba Anand, the progression from one to the other has been natural. The artist has taken a complete break from his trademark Bollywood and tinsel film art to dabble in ‘Daliesque surrealist abstraction and solid art’ in his biggest-ever retrospective exhibition at the Religare Arts.I gallery in the Capital. The show, The Major Arcana, inspired by 22 famous compositions by the Spanish master, is a testimony that "Dali can still inspire creative reinterpretations in the parlance of Indian contemporary art". Baba, a native of Srinagar, came into limelight in 2001 with his Bollywood pop art show, Kitsch Kitsch Hota Hai. "I harboured this dream to recreate Dali's art in my own idiom when I read a book on him at 13. After nearly five decades, I have realised my dream," the debonair artist said.The highlight of the exhibition is a series of 10 Daliesque doodles — Lips, Moon, Sun, Rose, Heart, Baguette, Clock, Butterfly, Cyprus and Animal — painted in acrylic on small square mirrors in a wall panel.The icons are Dali's patent motifs that were found in almost all his compositions. "You cannot call them Dali's doodles, they are my doodles now," Anand said.Another composition, Eye, in mirror and coloured tinsel, one of Dali's most enduring artistic symbols, rivets viewers with its poignance. A trickle of tears flows down the lone eye in the mirror and spreads into a pool of white tinsel beneath. "Dali was very mystical. He had visions and possessed psychic qualities. The eye was special to him. I took his icon and turned it into a painting collage on a mirror," Anand said. Dali, born in 1904 in Barcelona, Spain, became one of the early pioneers of the surrealist and abstract movement with his painting. "I have used paint liberally, physical loom embroidery and 24 carat gold leafing for some of the larger art works, apart from the usual semi-precious embellishments of shells, stones and crystals. I have not played much with paint as a medium. The use of pigments and paint helps an artist improve his technique," he said. The compositions are a blend of abstract and figurative art." I am constantly changing," said the artist. The exhibit also features a tribute to Dali with three large-format visages of the artist in collage and tinsel-texture compositions, The Fool, The Magpie and The High Priestess. — IANS
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Creative ZONE “In those days Shiv Kumar Batalvi’s spectacular rising as a young poet of eminence inspired many of us. But, he was a class apart. My inspiration came from my wife, Prof Harbhajanjeet Bajwa, who admired my raw writings, maybe out of sheer love,” says Diljeet, presently the advisor to the Fashion Technology Park, Mohali. Many diverse traits, that of a writer, soldier, educationist and management specialist jostle against each other in the multifaceted persona of Daljeet. A student of IIT Kanpur (1960), he left IIT in 1962 to join IMA Dehradun during the Indo-China war. But passion for writing and imparting education remained paramount on his mind. “I am carrying forward my family legacy. My father late Santokh Singh, one of the few graduates from FC College Lahore, was approached by ancestors of actor Om Puri to head their educational institute at Karhtal in Sialkot,” he recalls. Armed with a master degree in electronics and communication, business management, industrial engineering and several diplomas, he has served the Indian Army (Corps of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering) with distinction, for more than 31 years. He had pioneered the concept of regular evening job-oriented post-graduate diploma programmes and served as the principal of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Dayanand College of Communication and Management. A prolific writer and author of 10 books and 300 articles besides book reviews in leading English dailies, Daljeet had been rightly awarded the Punjab Ratan, instituted by All India Conference of Intellectuals. On the literary scene, Cheema feels that though there is an awakening among writers but the many fold rise in publications lacks the scholarly approach to in-depth spontaneity of expression and felicitous use of language. |
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Paintings once belonging to Ambroise Vollard, one of the 20th century's most important art dealers depicted by Picasso and Renoir, go under the hammer this summer some 70 years after they were deposited in a bank vault. Ending a lengthy legal dispute, the works will be auctioned by Sotheby's, with the highlight, a landscape by Andre Derain valued at 9-14 million pounds ($14-22 million), being sold in London on June 22 and the remaining 140 items in Paris. The treasure trove was stored in a Parisian bank in 1939 shortly after Vollard's death and was part of a collection of drawings and paintings first offered for sale in 1981 by Societe Generale in order to recoup 40 years of unpaid storage fees. But the sale was cancelled when the heirs of Vollard and Erich Slomovic, the young gallery assistant who worked for Vollard and deposited the works at the bank, challenged it in court claiming the proceeds of the auction should go to them. Slomovic, a Croatian Jew, had amassed his own collection of works by leading lights of French art and managed to get hundreds of them out of France to Yugoslavia during the war, according to specialist art journals. But he was eventually detained by the Nazis and is presumed to have died at or on his way to a concentration camp. Many of the works Slomovic took to Yugoslavia ended up in the National Museum of Belgrade, and accounts differ as to whether they were donated or seized. The dispute over ownership of the treasure trove hidden in the Parisian bank was exacerbated by the fact that both Slomovic and Vollard died at around the same time —Vollard was killed in a car accident in 1939 and had no direct heirs. — Reuters
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Read on... But not everyone has the time to soak in the mysteries, the romance, the upheavals, the challenges, the glory, the failure, and the history that any book has to offer. Zip, zap, zoom…enters technology, the most overrated and indulgent word of this generation. Known to solve problems in a jiffy, technology provides a handy solution to book readers. Go online, select a site, surf through the catalogue, click the book of your choice, increase the font size of the words, and just slip from one page to another. There you are, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Notes From the Underground finished in an hours time. Trust me it would have taken ages otherwise! And as we celebrate an yearly event (which generally goes unnoticed) – World Book and Copyright Day on April 23 — a day organised by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright, we share notes with book readers on whether ‘time constraints’ hinder their passion for books and given online reading a plum chance to garner more fans. Red letter day In 1995, UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on this date because of the Catalonian festival. The date is also the anniversary of the birth as well as the death of William Shakespeare, the death of Miguel de Cervantes, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and Josep Pla, and the birth of Vladimir Nabokov and Halldor Laxness. “Those who love to read books will always find time,” shares Reenu Mishra, a homemaker and freelance copywriter from Mohali. Although she admits that reading a book requires time. “I can’t think of going through Fatima Bhutto’s book Songs Of Blood And Sword in between cooking breaks. And because I have to get my kids ready for school in the morning, I can’t sit up late to read. So, I am left with no choice but to read through the book online. This saves time, but it is definitely not an exciting exercise. Nothing like reading a book and sipping coffee,” smiles Reenu. Even when there are more than 5,400 online reading sites on the Internet, people feel there is nothing comparable to reading ‘in flesh and blood’. Onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu, online Books 4 free, Book shopofindia.com, are some of the sites that provide readers with umpteen choices. Akash Popli, an insurance agent from Sector 20, finds reading online more convenient than going through 450 or 580 pages. “Who has the time to read a book? I call myself an avid ‘online reader’. Neither do I have time nor the patience to read a book. Besides, the price of books is far more than what it used to be.” On the contrary, Bipin Kumar, manager, British Library, feels that evidence proves that there is no decline in the number of dedicated book readers. “The publishing, printing of books has only gone up. Yes, there would be a section of youngsters wanting to rush through the chapters online, on the whole books are here to stay.” jasmine@tribunemail.com |
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Sparkling show Class apart! Exclusive, exquisite and expensive! Designer jewellery by Annuu Chaddha customizes the word ‘elite’ for you. Launching her spring summer collection and opening her second boutique at Shopping Arcade, Taj-17, Annuu underlines elegance that is synonymous with her brand of jewellery. A range of designs that includes florals, coloured stones, pastel sapphires, corals, green onyx, stones clubbed with diamonds and studded in gold, her collection is classy and trendy, contemporary yet timeless. “Every piece is handcrafted and one of its kind. We emphasise on the quality of the jewellery rather than quantity. And while designing a piece we also consider the cost as every client is not willing to spend the same amount,” she says. Encouraged into jewellery designing business by her son, Annuu isn’t game for the ordinary. Her jewellery marks the setting of precious stones and diamonds in gold. Victorian designs in floral patterns, traditional peacock and tiger motifs in polkis, elegant tear drops and pearls, club setting of diamonds giving a look of a solitaire studded in gold; cocktails rings, chandelier earrings, neck pieces, bracelets — there is something for everyone. Her designs use gemstones as the highlight, “A gemstone comes from the heart of the earth and is a splinter of eternity. Gems have a special place for me as they lend character to every piece of jewellery,” she shares. Already selling for the last nine years in Amritsar and exhibited in Dubai, London, Delhi, Bangalore, Ludhiana, the designer has carved a niche market for herself. “Our studio in Amritsar caters to elite clients. While offering customised designs, we have to keep the personality of the person in mind. The whole deal is to complement your style and catch the eye without being tacky,” says Annuu. Well, we know the tag of exclusivity comes at a price but with jewellery investment has been the word, “Jewellery to me represents time, memories and feelings. Many people think of jewellery as an investment, but to me it is an expression. It should carry sentiments apart from being a statement of style and attitude.” nehawalia@tribunemail.com |
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The flagship Nokia 2690 is available immediately, and the Nokia 1800, 1616 and 1280 will be available in stores in the next few weeks. These stylish and easy-to-use mobile phones will be available across 200,000 Nokia retail outlets across all Indian states including remote areas in Punjab. “Nokia mobile phones have always reflected our understanding of the Indian consumers’ expectations and challenges of mobile adoption. Our four new products launched today not only have relevant innovation in features that address challenges around power, climate and language from a mobile context, but also serve as the first gateway to the Internet for our entry segment consumers,” said Chandan Dang, regional general manager – North, Nokia India. — TNS
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Foreign Impressions “As compared to Delhi, Chandigarh is heaven,” says Bernadette who has been to Jaipur, Agra and Shimla as well. “It’s beautiful, well laid out and convenient,” she adds. And the best experience the family had was of taking a walk in Leisure Valley. “We crossed the Rose Garden but it’s the beautifully laid out walking paths in Leisure Valley that we loved the most.” Apart from that it’s the city markets that Bernadette enjoyed. “The markets here offer amazing variety in casual wear. We bought some jeans and shirts for my hubby and son,” she shares. As for Indian wear the family has picked up some nice bright scarves. The food here was also a nice surprise for Bernadette. “Indian food is quite popular back home but it’s pretty different from the food that we had there.” But one thing Bernadette rues is lack of information about tourist places here. She nearly missed a visit to the famous Rock garden had it not been for a passing mention by someone. “We had a wonderful afternoon at the Rock Garden. The name doesn’t describe it well and I had no information about what it would be like, but the place is amazing,” she says. Summing up, Bernadette says, “Overall, we loved Chandigarh for its cleanliness and safety. We loved the shops as well as the open spaces. However, if you want to improve things more information should be available for tourists. We nearly missed out on the Rock Garden, but had we seen a leaflet we would definitely have made it a part of our trip first-up.” mona@tribunemail.com |
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Side Lanes
The flat roundels at the four corners, sport brass wells to hold posts for mosquito nets. It is a tall bed that does not allow easy access, but every one has clambered clumsily onto it. Any suggestion about reducing its height brings about howls of protest from all those by whom it is revered. It has always reminded me of the fairy tale about the Princess and the Pea. She was so delicate that a pea under a load of mattresses gave her insomnia. She also climbed three wooden steps to reach the bed. Our four-poster started with a horse-hair mattress which later gave place to a coconut husk one. I remember lying on it on hot summer days. It was lumpy and excruciatingly uncomfortable even though none of us had a drop of blue blood. Somehow, the old ones loved it, or their ages made their bodies less sensitive to its uneven contours and needle-like protrusions. When Dadaji, Priyo Nath Dutt, moved from Benares to take up the post of registrar at Punjab University, Lahore , the twin beds were left at the ancestral home. Over the years they were forgotten and lay covered under old sheets. When PN retired and constructed “Ashiyana” at Jalandhar, the maika of his bride Norma, the beds were remembered. The eldest son Monu and son-in-law Hiru, were dispatched to Benares to bring back the furniture to grace the new abode. Due to difficulties in transportation, only one bed arrived. The other was sold with the house. I watched a Bengali film and gasped at the love scene, which had a similar four-poster. Was it ours? We’ll never know. Now into the sixth generation, the bed retains its satin smoothness. Great grand children learn to stand and walk holding the carved vines. Spindles, swivel around with a grating often squeaky sound under tiny hands. We often went to sleep, idly rotating these delicate minaret like carvings. Grand parents, parents, aunts and uncles have breathed their last on this bed. It has many stories to tell having witnessed love, sickness, births and deaths. I wonder what other secrets it harbours under the newly laid, soft sponge mattress?
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After Angelina Jolie, Amanda Seyfried has done it too. The Hollywood beauties have come up with a novel way to stand out on the red carpet, by wearing their dresses back-to-front. At first glance, it looked like the Mama Mia star Seyfried had accidentally committed a rather regrettable fashion blunder. But as the actor sashayed down a Hollywood red carpet in a dress featured a forward-facing zip, it became clear that her back-to-front look was a very deliberate style statement. The 24-year-old looked rather pleased with her choice of confection as she posed for photographers at the premiere of Mother and Child at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre. The unusual number featured purple satin trimmed with the exposed seam on one side and a photo-print design on the other. Of course, in the sometimes topsy-turvy world of high fashion, front facing zips are a popular design feature among the likes of Alexander Wang, Narciso Rodriguez and Victoria Beckham. Seyfried is not the first celebrity to do so. Angelina Jolie purposefully turned around her Max Azria dress for the Screen Actors Guild Awards last year to expose her tattooed back with its plunging neckline. Though Jolie won plaudits for her fashion statement, singer Celine Dion was not as lucky. She was universally panned for wearing a white jacket back-to-front to the 1999 Oscars. — PTI
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Glamorous actor Neetu Chandra, a graduate from IP College, Delhi is now looking amazingly beautiful in Jagmohan Mundra's psycho thriller Apartment. She has played different roles. Neetu who holds a black belt in taekwondo debuted in Garam Masala opposite Akshay Kumar. She did films like Traffic Signal, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, 13B, Mumbai Cutting, One Two Three, Run and Sadiyaan. In Apartment she plays Neha Bhardwaj, a young, innocent small town girl. The actor talks to Lifestyle about her role and more. What is so different about your role? I play an innocent girl who arrives in Mumbai looking for a job. It is a psycho thriller where a different side of my personality will be showcased and I hope the viewers like me. Did you enjoy doing a psycho thriller? Yes, I did. My earlier films have been comedies. But it is a different this time. How did Apartment happen? I consider myself lucky that I met director Jagmohan Mundra. It was quite easy for me to bag the role. What is your expectations from this film? It is a perfect psycho thriller made with absolute honesty. It is a film you might walk out liking. Ho was working with director Jagmohan Mundra? Jagmohan Mundra was very supportive and did not at all put pressures on me as an actor. He put me at ease and made me quite comfortable. Your upcoming projects? The movies lined up for release after Apartment are Kushar Parsaad Ka Bhoot and No Problem. — Dharam Pal
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Hollywood star Demi Moore has revealed she "plucks out" any grey hairs, because she doesn't want to look old.The 47-year-old actress, who is known for youthful looks, but she does her best to keep on top of any tell-tale signs of ageing."I don't dye my hair, but I do have a few grey hairs that I pluck out," Moore said. The Ghost star, who is married to actor Ashton Kutcher, who, at 32, is 15 years younger than his wife, also revealed she hates working out but has taken up Bikram yoga, which is performed in extremely high temperatures, and is finding it works wonders for her figure."I'd love to say that I exercise a lot but I don't. Although Ashton and I have started Bikram yoga. You're sweating so badly, you realise very quickly that no one cares what you look like, you're all just trying to get through the 90 minutes," Moore said. The actor admits her relaxed attitude to her appearance is relatively recent for her, but she feels much happier since she started worrying less about her looks. "I spent a good part of my early career feeling my external was a measure of value and got obsessive compulsive," she said. "I dieted, weighed my food and was generally a lunatic. It was only once I stepped away and realised you need to improve from the inside out that I got closer to the body I always wanted," Moore said. — PTI
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After Shyam Benegal's social satire actor Minissha Lamba is now wants to embark on a period drama like Jodhaa Akbar. "I do not have any particular genre that I would like to do. I just want to entertain people. But I want to do a period drama like Jodhaa Akbar. I loved the film and wished I was a part of it," Minissha said. The 25-year-old actor started her journey as an actor from the critically acclaimed film, Yahaan, alongside Jimmy Shergill in 2005. She was later seen in Corporate, Bachna Ae Haseeno and with her ultra-glamorous look in Kidnap. "It has been a great journey. There were disappointments and happier times as well. These things are part and parcel of every industry...And of everyone's life. I am grateful for where I am today. There is a lot more that I need to do," she said. When asked how the industry reacts to new comers like her who do not have a filmi background, the actor, said, "I did not face any problem. I think the industry is warm and encourages new comers. If you have a filmi background people know you better...Your network is good. But the industry recognises talent and appreciate it, be it for a filmi or non-filmi actor," the actor said. Minissha, who is currently shooting for Hum Tum Aur Shabana by Sagar Bellary of Bheja Fry fame, said 2010 is her year of comedy. "My both the films of 2010 are a kind of comedy. Well Done Abba was a political satire and Hum Tum Aur Shabana is an out-and-out comedy," she added. — PTI
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NEW RELEASES
Director: Jagmohan Mundra Music: Bappa Lahiri Cast: Rohit Roy, Tanushree Dutta, Neeta Chandra, Anupam Kher Jagmohan Mundra's Apartment, a psycho thriller set in a metropolis will see a release all over and theatres in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Zirakpur. It is a cautionary story for young professionals flocking to the cities to realise their ambition. It has a baseline," Rent at your own risk…..". — Dharam Pal
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Impressionists who gave more importance to colour than line and to feel than detailing used several techniques. Colours were applied as thick short brush strokes much like the impasto technique. Colours were applied side-by-side and wet on wet paint and the result was opaque surface. Many see impressionism as a reaction to the newly established medium of photography at that time. The taking of fixed or still images challenged painters by providing a new medium with which to capture reality.
Only a few savour success early in life, which serves as an inspirational force for them in shaping their career later in life. Daljeet Singh Cheema, a brilliant student at Khalsa High School Qadian (Batala) whose poetic creations were regularly published in the established Punjabi magazines like Jagriti and Punj Darya way back in 1955 onwards, belongs to this category. 
For understanding symbols designed by god or a desire to touch base with political scenario of the country; a craving to be part of the mystical world of magic or just the thought of taking the romantic route…everybody needs a book for a some reason or the other. 
Nokia has announced the launch of four new affordable mobile phones – the Nokia 2690, Nokia 1800, Nokia 1616 and Nokia 1280 for entry level consumers in Punjab. The portfolio has a phone for everyone with relevant features such as first time access to the internet, music with 3.5 mm Audio Visual connector, up to 22 days battery standby time, flashlight, dust resistant keypad, anti-scratch cover, multiple phone books, speaking clock in several local languages among others. 
Bernadette
Moylan, a teacher from England, out for a two-week holiday in India chose to spend a couple of days in the city beautiful, which was described to her as the number one city in India. And we caught her happily sauntering in an exhibition along with her husband Peter Knight and children Patrick and Laura. Bernadette shares her impressions.
It is a tall, four-poster, double bed, made of walnut wood, polished to a satiny umber and toned with reddish sienna. The headrest is like a soaring tiara with roses, leaves, curling vines and other flora dovetailing each other gracefully.
The carving seems to have been transported from the walls and tombs at the Taj Mahal and the forts of Rajasthan. The style seems to suggest that the artisans were from similar backgrounds. However, on closer inspection, the roses are more like an English garden variety, not very orientally stylised. As the British planted the first seeds of their rule in Bengal, it is befitting that a Babu moshoy should choose full-blown English roses to adorn his nuptial bed! 
Producer: Nari Hira