Whoever thought Deejaying is about that electrified hairdo, spiking the streaks, adding a tattoo, or a piece of stud? It isn't just about crescendo, beat per minutes, increase the tempo, turn the amplifier, or give a thud sound to the 60s hit single; what else, you need to know the pulse of the party with the crowd constantly jiving. Those behind the console are almost the "acoustic engineers" taking care of the auditory senses. Yet, there are hardly any schools, preparatory sources, no crash courses either. Some of the DJs share, how did they become one…

"I haven't learnt it from anywhere, not attended any classes or short-duration course," asserts DJ Nakul, 19, already full time into the profession. He adds, "My brother was already a DJ, he too started really young, at the age of 14, so while staying with him I picked it up and then while performing at school concerts, college fests…" and the first experience behind the console is rather a thread work of small stints happening ever since a tender age.

At one point, tipped to be the youngest DJ of the country, for him it's been three years of making music now. He adds, " To be good at it, you need to know a lot many things. First, the music base has to be strong; one should know all the genres of music. Then you need to have a firm grip on the pulse of the crowd."

Like they say, it's more than issuing high sounding statements like, 'My kind of music is very experimental; like fusion meets renaissance.' Agrees Delhi-based DJ Saif, who plays at Lap, "There are many things you need to know. Like one of the first things they teach you on the job is how to count the beats, beats per minute, beat matching, powering…" Seven years into the profession, his too is a somewhat similar story. "I didn't do any crash course or anything of the sort. I used to frequent this club, spoke to the DJ once, got interested, then I used to stand at the console. I never got paid for two years," he laughs. "For six months on the job, I was an apprentice," the rest as they is history. He adds, "I don't think the profession has changed much over the years now, though there are a few institutes now, that claim to train disc jockeys and also give placements."

There's divergent school of thought. "I don't think there are any specialised institutes in Chandigrah but in Mumbai there's this DJ Nasha's Academy from where I passed out. There are many things that they teach you, like how to play different instruments, how turn tables are used to source of playing music," opines DJ Angel, a freelancer in all the major clubs in Mumbai. She adds, "Ideally there should be a training like in any technical field but music sense is what you need, one should know how to hold the crowd."

Nevertheless hers too is a 'starting young story.' "I am from the fashion, jewellery and textile background, was a drummer in school and music has always been a passion with me…"

Currently Nakul is training a few. "I do take classes and have 10 students under me, where it's teaching the finer nuances. It's not like proper school because I myself never preferred learning it amidst time table schedule." As DJ Saif sums up, "If you wanna become a DJ, you just become a DJ," schools or no schools!

manpriya@tribunemail.com

For a long time now we have savoured the mush-dripping screen sagas, actors romancing babes half their age or double their age, flaunting hi-end fashion, delivering saccharine-sweet dialogues, dancing at some ultra-cool locales… We have lapped up every minute detail of Sooraj Barjatiya and Karan Johar productions. Then someone from outside squeezed in something different, something that we could relate to. Something that is for real. Strangely this reality byte managed to win many audiences, leaving debutant writer and director Sona Jain with an invitation to screen her movie For Real at DPR Korea’s premier 12th Pyongnang International Film Festival that begins September 17. The movie is selected in the competition section of the festival.

Thankfully unlike other films belonging to such genres, which don’t see the light of theatres, For Real will also be released by the PVR in Lucknow and Chandigarh on September 17 along with other metros. We share notes with the director on cutting through the cinema that relies heavily on fantasy.

Sona, the writer, director and producer of the film, made her first documentary The Outsiders at the age of 20. The short film based on the eunuch community in Delhi won her admission to the graduate Film Program at the New York University’s Tisch School of Arts.

On For Real she says, “Delivering a subject that deals with children and their psyche is a challenging job. I wrote the script of the movie eight years ago. The first draft came out immediately. It is the execution that took time. As for a different, closer to life subjects entering the cinema, I think our audiences are accepting it.”

It is a story of a six-year-old who witnesses a moment of discord within her family. The ensuing depression evident in her parents causes a chain reaction in the child’s mind, making her withdraw into a fantasy world where she believes her real mother has been sent to the Orion Galaxy and “mother” at home is really an alien. No one believes her story till the lonely child runs away in search of her real mother.

But wasn’t it difficult to understand and interpret a child’s mind? “Indeed. Children’s mind work in their won unique way. So, I spoke to various child psychologist and psychiatrists. In For Real, I have explored the story of an unhappy home through the eyes of an imaginative little girl, whose only motivation is to see her mother happy. This film is my attempt to hold a mirror up to society, asking it to acknowledge the most widespread form of child abuse that remains socially acceptable till date.” The movie won Sona Jain, the Best Producer and Best Screenplay Award at the Asian Festival of First Films, Singapore.

Sona hopes to change life of some kids for better, if the movie catches attention of even one responsible parent. “Burdens of aspiration and slaps of failure cause domestic discord in homes, affecting the lives of millions of children leading to many behavioral and psychological disorders,” she explains hoping For Real makes a real difference.

jasmine@tribunemail.com

Kiran Rao's Dhobi Ghat, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Friday night in the presence of the whole cast at the city's Elgin Garden Theatres, wowed the audiences with its artistry and fluidity.

The film is Kiran Rao's directorial debut, with her husband Aamir Khan playing the lead role of a painter (Arun living in Bhendi Bazaar).

Apart the Bollywood couple, Monica Dogra, who plays the role of NRI girl Shai, Prateik Babbar, who plays the role of dhobi boy (Zohaib), and Kriti Malhotra were also on stage.

Set in the Mumbai monsoon season, the plot revolves around Shai's feelings for Arun and Zohaib in the teeming metropolis.

A beaming Kiran Rao introduced the cast to the audience before the start of the film. She said she was immensely pleased with her directorial debut and expected Dhobi Ghat to do well.

Reacting to statements that the film was meant more for the global stage, she said Indian audiences too welcome such films. It is not the first time that such a film has come out of Mumbai, she said.

Kiran, who also wrote the script, called the story of the film delicate, and said she was pleased with the performance of her cast.

Recalling her most difficult moments during the shooting, she said filming the crowded Eid scene on Mohammed Ali Road during Ramazan last year was one of those tough moments.

She said she had to surround herself with five security guards and Aamir had to hide his face under a helmet to reach the shooting spot near the illuminated mosque.

For his selection for the lead role, Aamir said initially the couple's idea was not to cast him because they thought that his presence will "overpower'' others.

But after a few weeks, he said, they had second thoughts. And Kiran put him through usual tests before casting him, he said.

Amid laugher, the Bollywood star said he was so impressed by his wife' script that he fell in love with her all over again after reading it. He said she was very particular about what she wanted from each actor. — IANS

Police today cane-charged several Salman Khan fans after they gathered outside his house at suburban Bandra hoping to get a glimpse of the Bollywood actor on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.

Mild force was used to disperse the unruly crowd this afternoon when they were waiting for the 44-year-old actor to come out and wave, wishing them on Eid, the police said.

However, no one was injured in the incident, they said. "Even after repeated requests from the police to vacate the area, the crowd refused. Traffic in the area was disrupted and we started receiving complaints from other residents," a senior police official said.

Salman's latest action flick Dabaang, which released yesterday, received a great opening at the box office. — PTI

After losing her first child, pop star Lily Allen is living in fear of miscarrying her baby with boyfriend Sam Cooper.

The Smile singer admits her pregnancy has not been joyful so far because she is haunted by her former baby tragedy. Allen had lost her first baby in the beginning of 2008.

"I came off the pill and, weirdly, a week later it happened. But then it was really difficult, I had complications," she said.

"I had about a week and a half of really heavy bleeding and had gone through lots of scans...I have been living in fear for the past three months," Allen added. The 25-year-old singer plans to retire from the music industry to concentrate on motherhood and she's desperate to give her child the "normal" family upbringing she once craved. Allen, the daughter of actor Keith Allen and screenwriter Alison Owen, said, "It's not that I didn't enjoy my childhood, because I did, but I suppose I was always quite fascinated by how a normal family would operate. — PTI

A former classmate of High School Musical star Zac Efron has said the actor used to ask girls to braid his hair in a bid to get closer to them. The 22-year-old actor, who has been dating actor Vanessa Hudgens since 2005, used to befriend his female classmates by letting them fiddle with his locks when he was a teenager. 

Lana Limon, who studied with Zac at the California State Summer School for the Arts, said, "I braided his hair one day, and he left it in for a long time. And then we finally took it out and it was all greasy and crimped. It was just for fun."

"He ended up drawing huge lips of one page of my scrapbook with his name inside and his phone number," she added. — PTI

German model Claudia Schiffer, who recently turned 40, showed off her curves in a mask and stockings for a photo shoot. The supermodel, who posed for top celebrity photographer Mario Testino, revealed she works hard at keeping herself trim. "I feel much healthier at 40 than I did in my 20s," a publication quoted the mum-of-three as saying. "As you get older you realise the importance of looking after yourself and not to take things for granted. "I've met many women who feel the same way and are more comfortable with themselves and their bodies in their 40s than they have ever been," she said. — ANI

Victoria Beckham's waif-like figure often raises eyebrows but the fashion designer has banned size zero models from her New York Fashion Week runway show.

The Spice Girl-turned designer's new collection will be modelled by healthy girls who look "realistic" to encourage a positive image to impressionable teens.

The 36-year-old denied 12 models from appearing in her show after deeming them 'too skinny'. And despite her own weight continuously being under scrutiny, Victoria claims she does eat properly and puts her thin frame down to being a busy mother-of-three and hectic business woman.

None of the models on her catwalk will be smaller than a size six and her runway show is set to see Sarah Jessica Parker, Mary J Blige, Tom Ford and Kristin Davis in the front row. — PTI

A former bodyguard for pop princess Britney Spears has defended the singer's reputation after she was accused of sexual harassment by an ex-employee. Fernando Flores accused the'Toxic hitmaker of making sexual advances towards him while he worked for her, in a new lawsuit filed in Los Angeles recently. Flores also brought Spears' parenting skills into question after claiming he once witnessed the star 'savagely hit' her son Sean Preston with a belt. Earlier this week, a representative for the superstar dismissed the 'unfortunate' case as a way for Flores to 'make a name for himself'.

Another former bodyguard of Spears, Mark Chinapen, who worked for the 28-year-old popstar between 2007 and 2008, has also slammed the allegations.

"In our time with Britney, we've never seen anything in a negative sense. If there was an issue, we would have said something to her or authorities when it came to the kids. But we never saw anything negative. It (work) was very normal. Starbucks runs, going for lunch, driving, shopping, buying clothes, and going out to events. That's it," he said. "Britney is one of those people that likes to conduct her own business and go around and do her thing around town. She's not looking for someone to be in her face 24/7, just someone to assist when they're needed," said Chinapen. — PTI 

Every drink comes with a unique style, makes for a fine blend. Stephen Marshall, global brand ambassador, Dewar's Blended Scotch Whisky, shared whisky tasting and blending sessions in the city on Sunday. Sounding thrilled, Stephen shared the Dewar's unique double-ageing process.

As one of the Scotland's most awarded whiskies, the house of Dewar's has earned more than 300 awards and medals ever since the first Edinburgh silver of 1886.

Stephen, who has over 12 years of experience in the industry in Scotland, started his career with leading wine merchants, Oddbins, where he managed a number of specialist whisky retail outlets. He helped the brand grow to its present position as the top malt whisky retailer in the UK and frequent winner of the High Street Retailer of the Year award. It was during this spell that he uncovered his passion for whisky and was keen to develop this further. "I love globetrotting, and I found out that the new job would let me travel. I have clocked up well over one million air miles and visiting over 20 countries while I am with John Dewar and Sons," he said.

Coming to the distinct quality of Dewar, Stephen adds, "The distinct flavour and aroma of Dewar's comes from the very unique process of "double-ageing" which takes the finest single malts, that are at least 12 years old, from different regions of Scotland and double age them for a period of six months in exclusively reserved vintage oak casks." This time-honoured 'marrying process' ensures that the individual flavours and aromas harmonise to achieve the perfectly balanced and smooth whisky.

Last year saw Stephen launch Dewar's Discovery, the company's global education programme, in Miami, USA. "This year we will roll out the programme across the globe to countries, including India, Russia, Spain, Mexico, Venezuela and Lebanon wherein we will instruct individuals on the subtle art of whisky tasting, the complexities involved in the blending process, as well as sharing the intriguing history of John Dewar and Sons." 

Jallandar-based Punjabi writer Balveer Singh Parwana has captured the life of a common villager from the pre-Partition era to date in his novels spanning into four volumes under different titles. The latest novel Zehar Cahdih Aasman was released on Sunday at Punjab Kala Bhavan-16 under the aegis of Punjabi Lekhak Sabha Chandigarh. The chief guest Prem Singh, former editor of Punjabi daily Desh Sewak, performed the release ceremony which was attended by prominent writers and journalists from the region. An interactive seminar on the theme of "Journalism and literature -Limits and Possibilities " was also held. Speakers delved deep on the subject with a sharp focus on contemporary journalism, ethics in print and electronic media.

Credited with six poetry anthologies, three short story books and four novels, Parwana laments the widening gap between the rich and poor, which invariably results in individual dominance and imbalance in the social fabric. Poet Balkar Sidhu conducted the programme.

Looking beautiful on the wedding day is not merely a matter of make-up, jewellery and clothes. It entails weeks of beauty care, well in advance. If a total beauty programme is followed for at least one month, before the wedding, it can really pay good dividends.

Cleansing the face is of utmost importance, especially at night. For your daily care routine, cleanse your skin twice a day, morning and night. For normal to dry skin, use a cleansing cream or gel, applying it on the face with a light massage. Then, wipe off with moist cotton wool. Normal to oily skins need deep-pore cleansing. Mix rice flour or ground almonds with a little curd and apply it on the face two or three times a week. Rub gently on the skin with small circular movements. Wash off with plenty of water. This also helps to dislodge and discourage blackheads. However, if you have pimples, avoid scrubs. After cleansing, tone the skin with rose water, using cotton wool pads. The rose water can be kept in a bowl in the fridge, chilled and ready for use. Wipe the skin with it and pat briskly with the rose water soaked cotton wool pads. Toning helps to improve blood circulation to the skin surface and adds a glow.

At night, after cleansing, nourish the skin, if it is normal to dry. Take 50 ml pure almond oil as a base oil. Add 5 ml wheatgerm oil. Put it in a bottle and shake well. Take a little of this oil and massage it on the skin every night, for two minutes, using outward and slightly upward movements. Include the neck, eyes and lips in the daily care routine. Apply pure almond oil around eyes daily, wiping it off gently with moist cotton wool after 15 minutes. Massage the neck with almond oil, using strokes from the chin downwards. Wipe off with moist cotton wool. Oily and pimple prone skins should not be massaged with oil or cream. Apply pure almond oil on the lips and leave on overnight.

For the face, mix a mask at home and use it two or three times a week. Mix ripe papaya pulp with 2 teaspoons oatmeal and one teaspoon each of ground almonds, honey and curd. You can also add egg white to this mixture. Adjust the quantities of these ingredients to get the right consistency. It should be a thick paste, which does not drip. Apply on the face, avoiding the lips and area around eyes. Wash off after 20 to 30 minutes.

For the body, apply ubtan three times a week. First massage with sesame seed (til) oil. Pay special attention to elbows, knees, hands and feet. Then, mix together wheat bran (choker), gram flour (besan) and a little turmeric. You can also add dry orange and lemon-peel powder, or ground almonds. Mix these dry ingredients with yogurt into a paste. Apply on the body and wash it off after 20 minutes, while bathing.

If there is an acne condition or blemishes, professional salon treatments should be started in good time. Pre-bridal care includes professional deep cleansing with exfoliation, toning and mask. If there is acne, treatments are given to control the condition. If there are blemishes, the salon procedures may include treatments like thermoherb or veg peel. For normal to dry skins, our premium facials like diamond, gold and pearl are much in demand as pre-bridal treatments. These facials not only remove tan, but add radiance to the skin.

The diamond body polish is also very popular as pre-bridal treatments. It is designed to invigorate the entire body, smoothing away dead epithelial cells with the diamond scrub. Diamond is known for its ability to exfoliate the skin powerfully. Creams and masks, also containing diamond, are used for body polishing, making the skin satin-smooth and glowing. Deep tissue massage is given, improving blood circulation, leaving the body energized, with a tingling fresh feeling.

Hair care: Wash the hair three times a week. Then, have a tea-water and lemon rinse to add shine. Boil used tealeaves again in enough water. After boiling, you should have about 4 to 5 cups of tea-water. Cool and strain it. Then add the juice of a lemon and use it as a last rinse after shampoo.

Give your hair a quick conditioning treatment twice a week, before your shampoo. Mix well together one teaspoon each of vinegar and pure glycerine with one egg. Massage the mixture into the scalp. Then dip a towel in hot water, squeeze out the water and wrap the hot towel around the head, like a turban. Keep it on for five minutes. Repeat the hot towel wrap three or fourtimes. Leave on the mixture for half an hour and wash your hair. Have weekly henna treatments. Add four teaspoons each of lemon juice and coffee, two raw eggs and enough curd to the henna powder, mixing it into a thick paste. Apply on the hair and wash off after an hour. If you do not wish to use egg, add more curd.