Goes without saying…a discotheque is indeed looked upon as the most happening place. And if the DJ behind the console is a pretty looking girl, "It becomes good and happening then," giggles Delhi-based DJ Sanjana, who played on a Saturday night for Voodoo's pre-Friendship Day Affair.

Here we are, female deejays playing indeed manage to invite more crowd. Curiosity gets the better of many people. Some walk in to check out 'a girl deejay' and how she makes music. Some want to know whether she is as good as her male counterparts. And a sizeable percentage wants to see the razzmatazz. Are we still in the Neanderthal age that we get startled seeing a girl mixing music at a lounge? All said and done, we still have a lot of catching up to do. What say people!

Says DJ Sanjana, who plays house, electro, progressive, electro, trance, club and commercial in some of the famous clubs like Celars, Ozone, Lighthouse 13, Fio, Love Hotel, aliens Aqua (The Park, New Delhi), Agni (The Park, New Delhi), "Yes, I do startle people. The first expression when anyone sees a girl Deejay is that of surprise. It takes a while to get adjusted to my presence."

Mixed response is what DJ Barkha Kaul gets whenever she is behind the console. "Whether it is Ludhiana, Chandigarh or Delhi, I am seeing a change in how party-goers react to a girl deejay. Many girls and aunties walk up to me to compliment on the good work that I am doing. So, I feel when it comes to the love for music, it doesn't matter who is whipping it up," says Barkha, who play House, Bollywood and Techno.

Somebody just gave us a reason that we are not in an ice age. "DJ Kary has been playing at S Lounge regularly for nearly three months now and I think she is very well accepted by the people," says Manish Goyal, director, S Lounge. "This is similar to how people react when they see lady bouncers. The reason to get startled is that there are very few girls in this profession, but those who are there have really gone far. And trust me when it comes to music, it doesn't matter whether a girl or boy is behind the console."

An appreciable 90 per cent have accepted that a pretty face behind the console is more than a glamour quotient. For music lovers really don’t care! The rest of the 10 per cent, we have got a 'brief' piece of advice for you — grow up people!

jasmine@tribunemail.com

How do we justify a long weekend? Sleep through the day, catch up with old buddies, go on a romantic date, better your cooking skills, or catch with members of your club. This could be any club, the go vella club, the wine club, the adventure club, the cool kitty club, and for the city folks, well, they have an option to join and take part in the activities of Dare Club, a premier family entertainment club.

The club, launched on June 30, announced the opening of their membership at Press Club on Saturday. Along with the initiators of the club, the first celebrity member Pravesh Rana talked about the need for leisure time and how joining a club like Dare Club can prove beneficial.

Gaurav Goyal, managing director, Dare Club, assured that members of the club would be taken through an eventful journey. "Every member will be served with the best of capabilities. We will be providing them with 10 smashing events like Sufi Night, Crackistic Diwali, Rangla Punjab, Celestial New Year and much more." Dare Club with a membership fee of Rs 50,000 (for two adults and two kids under 12) also promises to organise two social events and many more workshops. As for Pravesh Rana of Bigg Boss season 3 fame, it is important to spend time with family and friends. "When Gaurav asked me to join this club, I couldn't say no. I also understand the value of sharing time with near and dear ones, especially now that I hardly get to spend time with them," says Pravesh. "The concept of members getting together to be a part of various activities is interesting," adds the actor, who likes to spend leisure time with friends, relaxing and working in the gymnasium.

Canada-based Lisa Ray is in no hurry to act and is instead keen to spread cancer awareness and write a book. "I am engaging with the world, but with a different quality now," says the model-actress who is leading a healthy life after fighting a rare cancer of plasma cells.

"My disease, multiple myeloma, is in remission. We don't take the attitude that it is ever gone completely, but we monitor regularly and now I'm leading a particularly healthy life," Lisa, 38, told in an e-mail interview. "I'm not back to a normal life, but an extraordinary life because of the insights I've gotten and the changes I've made to my lifestyle."

Lisa, who looks forward to the release of her film Cooking With Stella, is trying to do things she enjoys but is living life on her own terms.

"I think I sacrificed a lot of my life for my career to date...Cancer is a huge wakeup call. I'd also like to raise a lot more awareness for cancer...That will be an integral part of my career. As well as writing a book." Lisa is exploring new creative opportunities. "The point is to chase joy. I've also had some unexpected honours recently. I was invited to MC (Master of Ceremonies) a luncheon for the Queen in Toronto and I was also seated at the head table. It was a great experience," she says.

"I'd also like to raise a lot more awareness for cancer, multiple myeloma and stem cell technology. That will be an integral part of my career. As well as writing a book," she shared. — IANS

Bollywood actor Sonam Kapoor has described her upcoming flick Aisha as a fun-filled romantic film. Sonam, who promoted the movie along with Cyrus Sahukar here on Thursday, said: "I think it's a fun romantic film and it's also based on a classic love story Emma. Everybody loves love stories." Cyrus Sahukar, one of the actors of the film, said the whole cast and crew of the film is very young and that reflects in the film as well.

"It's exciting to be a part of Aisha because the whole crew is very young. It's a film which has been adapted from the movie called Emma and I am excited about it," said Sahukar.

Lisa Hayden, who makes her Bollywood debut with Aisha, appeared excited about the movie.

"I think it is going to be a really fantastic film. I think a lot of young people in India are going to love and enjoy it," said Hayden. Directed by Rajshri Ojha and produced by Rhea Kapoor, the film has Abhay Deol and Sonam Kapoor in lead roles. The movie is an adaptation of the British novel Emma written by Jane Austen and will release on August 6. — ANI

Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt has topped a new ‘Men Who Men Love’ poll. The 46-year-old actor is the man most British blokes admire.

Soccer ace David Beckham, 35, landed the second spot, while Die Hard star Bruce Willis, 55, came third.

"Brad's loved by men and women alike. But Peter Kay and James Cordon made the top 20, so you don't have to be ultra sexy for other men to love you," according to market research firm www. OnePoll.com, who quizzed 4,000 men, as saying.

Top 10 are: 1. Brad Pitt 2. David Beckham 3. Bruce Willis 4. Johnny Depp 5. Will Smith 6. George Clooney 7. Daniel Craig 8. Clint Eastwood 9. Jeremy Clarkson 10. President Barack Obama — ANI

Hollywood actor Eva Mendes' luxury car has been damaged by her dog who went ballistic at the sight of a coyote and smashed her windshield.

The Hitch star owns a burly Belgian Malinois named Hugo, which she describes as a really sweet attack dog'.

But Hugo damaged her car during a drive back to Mendes' California home, when a coyote caught his eye from the backseat of the car, prompting him to try and muscle his way through the glass.

"He's fully trained, fully equipped. And he's in the back and I'm driving and a coyote runs across... and for some reason Hugo becomes crazy. His instincts kick in. He just thinks, 'Kill coyote before coyote kills mama!' said Mendes.

"So he goes ballistic back there. He leaps across and all my windows are closed and he's going insane against the windshield. So I have to pull the car over and get some kind of control over the situation being the pack leader that I am. I look over to my windshield and it's completely shattered," she added.

But the 36-year-old actor assured animal lovers her beloved pooch didn't injure himself, saying, Doggy's ok. — PTI

Hollywood star Jennifer Aniston says she wouldn't have a baby via artificial insemination like her character in her latest movie The Switch.

The 41-year-old actor, plays a singleton who decides to use a friend as a sperm donor in the movie, but in real life she prefers the traditional way to conceive a child.

When quizzed by talk show host Jay Leno during The Tonight Show on whether she would undergo artificial insemination, she replied, "I'd wanna know the guy!" Leno continued to tease Aniston about the embarrassing subject matter putting her on the spot about how a sperm bank works.

"Well, you go to the bank and you have a card... I honestly don't know exactly," she said.

Although she isn't interested in sperm banks, Aniston was recently reported to be visiting a life coach to make her baby dream come true.

The actress, who divorced husband Brad Pitt in 2005, following a five-year marriage, has reportedly been having meetings with Hollywood life strategist Suzannah Galland in a bid to make the right decisions in her life, and fulfill her wish to become a mother.

Galland, whose clients reportedly include Naomi Campbell, Demi Moore and Gwyneth Paltrow, said, "So many of my clients are walking around with a big hole in their hearts if they don't have a family. Many of them think that because they can't have a family the traditional way it won't ever happen to them, they don't consider other viable means, firstly, adoption." — PTI

The solitary release this week is a flight of fancy that has its basic core enmeshed in the lives and times of two of Mumbai’s most infamous dons - Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim. Milan Luthra’s much-awaited  Once Upon a time in Mumbaai has the perfect moniker, one that lends credence to the claim that it’s overly fiction with very little fact. It’s an expansive and inveigling tale and provides all the entertainment that one could desire in a stylised, exciting one-of–a-kind mould.

Film: Once Upon a time in Mumbaai

Cast: Ajay Devgan, Kangana Ranaut, Emraan Hashmi, Prachi Desai, Randeep Hooda

Director: Milan Luthra

Satya, Company and Black Friday were the edgier takes on the Mumbai underworld. Milan Luthra’s Once Upon a time in Mumbaai doesn’t try to compete with those illustrious experiences, instead he wants to entertain and is quite unabashed about it! His film is highly stylised, retrofitted and provides the kind of popcorn entertainment akin to those crime thrillers (Deewar, Zanjeer et al) of the 70’s.

The movie draws on real-life incidents for its reel life inspiration. Fiction and reality get brilliantly enmeshed in this saga penned so evocatively by Rajat Aroraa about the changing face of the Mumbai underworld. Milan Luthra sets the tone for what is to come, with greatintelligence. A cop, Agnel Wilson (Randeep Hooda), is prevented from committing suicide and his subsequent questioning by the Commissioner provides the start-up for the story of this oh-so-compelling tale set in Mumbai’s underbelly. Luthra’s aim is not to provide grittyreal-life biographies of the two dons (Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim) that reigned over Mumbai. The trappings of the seventies are all incorporated in great style. The costumes are blatantly seventies and the character styling is just as evocative. Aroraa’s character driven main plot is also slickly played out.  

Sultan (Ajay Devgan) comes from Chennai to Mumbai as an eight-year-old, to find a life in the metropolis. He labours at delivering coal to the steel furnaces and slowly and steadily climbs the ladder of underworld success. He has his own ethics and territories and rules them with a benevolent eye. There’s a scene fifteen minutes into the film where Sultan has to take-off a set of rail tracks in order to smuggle across contraband. He could well have left the tracks undone, but his concern for the safety of the passengers of the train that is about to cross the same stretch makes him put extra-human effort in replacing the undone tracks. It appears silly and illogical but Luthra’s objective here is not to further logic but to give fitting expression to his larger-than-life narrative and at the same time lend the Robinhood angle to Sultan’s character. And it works. That scene sets the tone for the melodramatic flourish that is soon to follow.

Shoaib (Emraan Hashmi), the delinquent son of Inspector Khan, seeks Sultan’s support and gets interned as a trusted aide before aiming for the big chair himself. All this happens while Sultan gets embroiled in a love affair with diva Rehana (Kangna) and finds out how short-livedhis romance could get. Rehana is diagnosed with congenital heart disease and Sultan seeks to change his occupation, become a neta, in the hope of extending his love life. The signposts are all familiar and those from Mumbai would get the connections to those inglorious forbears without much effort. Luthra makes the experience larger-than-life, replete with a Helen style cabaret (performed by Gauhar Khan) and some terrific romantic sequences between the two lead pairs — Sultan with Rehana and Shoaib with Mumtaz (Prachi Desai). Every scene is set-up quite masterfully.

Aseem Mishra’s camerawork is non-intrusive and doesn’t aim to make a standout statement. The texture matches perfectly with the period, the colours on show are deeper and darker and low on candied hues.

The narrative is fluid and engaging throughout.  It may not be edgy-realism but it’s all immensely engaging and enjoyable. Rajat Aroraa’s dialogues reverberate with tangy insouciance. Every sentence uttered has meaning far beyond the obvious. The casting is picture perfect. Every actor on show here gives off his or her personal best. Ajay Devgan’s Sultan is searingly intense and mesmerizing, Emraan’s Shoaib showcases the right amount of flash and daring, Kangana’s Rehana is magnetic, Prachi’s Mumtaz has conviction, Randeep Hooda’s Agnel Wilson has perfectly calibrated fiery earnestness and every othersupporting actor does well to stay in character. Even Pritam's music lends adequate 70's dash to the narrative spiel. Bollywood schtick gets a classy hue here. Get set for one-of-a-kind excitement at the movies this week!

Lions Club Chandigarh Harmony organised Tree Plantation Drive and planted about 50 saplings of different types of Shady and Flowery Trees at Govt Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35, Chandigarh. Principal Ravi Raj Kaur along with teachers and NSS volunteers  participated in the Plantation Drive.

The Club also planted about 50 Herbals Plants with medicinal value at  Shri Dhanwantry Ayurvedic College and Dabur-Dhanwantry Hospital, Sector 46-B, Chandigarh. S.K. Thakur, Principal, along with teachers and students participated in the Plantation Drive.Ram Kumar Garg, president, along with Members of the Club planted  the saplings and trees at both the places. The Club urged the citizens of City Beautiful to come forward and plant more and more saplings and trees to save the environment. — TNS

Spice Digital, one of the leading VAS players in India announces its partnership with the Sangam Kala Group (SKG) to sponsor their annual National Singing Talent Hunt contest- Spice Surtarang. This would provide a national platform to aspiring professional singers all over the country. In the 36 years of its existence SKG has discovered gems such as Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal and Sunidhi Chauhan- who have since their discovery dominated the Indian singing environment.  Some of their recent discoveries that are now household names are Harshit, Abhaas, Vineet,Toshi, Ashpreet.

As the first round of auditions this year are going to be through mobile phones, all those aspiring singers who could not make it to selective audition centers till last year will be able to participate in the competition. The mobile auditions, conducted for the first time in the country, have been made possible through Spice Digital’s Music VAS technologies. “Mobile Audition” is one of their most unique offerings under this category which will enable aspiring singers to not only record their songs, but also have them voted for by others as a popular choice. 

 This service, which can be accessed by dialing 54321333 is LIVE across all major mobile operators including Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Tata. 

The Spice Surtarang talent hunt is available for participants in three age groups, Sub-junior (5 to 12 years), junior (12 – 18 years) and senior (18-28 years) across filmy and non- filmy categories. The participants who are short-listed by the mobile auditions process will gain entry into regional rounds held across the country, the winners of which would participate in the National round.

According to Saket Agarwal, CEO, Spice Digital Limited, “One of the biggest segments within the Mobile VAS business is the entertainment industry. Spice Digital has always recognized and supported fresh talent in the field of music. This association with Sangam Kala Group is our way of presenting opportunities to aspiring singers from across the country to showcase their talent by providing them access through the mobile radio platform that may otherwise would not have been possible.” — TNS

The announcement of Miss TVS Scooty – City Beautiful was made in the city on Friday. The contest with a difference will try to find out socially responsible volunteers who posses qualities of beauty, confident, intelligence and responsibility.

“In this contest we will try to reach every nook and corner of the city to find out suitable candidate for the title Miss TVS Scooty,” says Anshul Chopra, area manager, TVS Motor company. Awareness campaign will also be run in colleges, sector markets and residential area to aware people to use road accident free following simple traffic rules. The finals will be held in the last week of August.”  The winner will be given TVS Scooty as a prize. — TNS

Vista, a well known brand of Alps Industries Ltd has recently added a unique blind in their world class range of interior products basket; multi-way panel track blind, an innovative blind which gives a solution to the consumers’ ever-changing taste & convenience for window dressing aesthetically.

Multi-way panel blinds also known as sliding window panel made up of desired fabric, glides smoothly on its own track. The overlapping of panels gives complete privacy and allows desirable level of light as per the highly technical properties of fabrics selected for the blind from the wide range of fabric collection available.

The panel blinds glides effortlessly on a cord operated track however option of remote operation is also provided.  The multi-way panel track blind can be mounted on wall the slim profile track virtually disappears once it is installed and gives a pleasant feel to the ambience. —TNS

Nikon India, leaders in imaging technology, announced the launch of its first Nikon Coolpix Zone in the city . With an aim to grow closer to its customers’ base, the company has adopted the shop-in-shop retail concept in the month of February last year to enable access to its products and services. Photography lovers in Patiala can now have an easy access to the entire range of Coolpix and make an informed choice.

Nikon’s shop-in-shop zones are an attempt to provide customers with an interactive and informative shopping experience. The zone was inaugurated by Mr. Hiroshi Takashina, Managing Director, Nikon India. who said, "The launch of Nikon’s Coolpix Zone in Patiala is a major step towards not only strengthening our brand but also promoting photography culture in India in a big way. We hope the zone will enhance customer engagement, buying experience and augment access and availability. ”

In keeping with this retail plan, Nikon is targeting 1800 retail outlets for store branding along with the plan to hire 200 store promoters to further improve the buying experience. On display here will be the entire range of compact cameras and select D-SLR cameras. Both professional and enthusiasts, get to touch, feel and experience the cameras along with other accessories and expert guidance, technical know how all under one roof. —TNS