Shooting in Punjab for Joker, actor Akshay Kumar talks about his life, career, family, upcoming movie Thank You & much more

While cuts and designs are important in any collection, colour scheme does matter a lot. Hear it from the designers

It was in some hue of brown; added to it was a shade of copper and a bit of golden. The nomenclature of the final product is hard to tell, but the colour Aishwarya Rai wore on the red carpet at the Oscars won her rave reviews!

On the list of Bottega Veneta's jewellery, this year, stones in colours from faded pink to burnished orange have replaced the regular white diamonds. Manish Arora at his show in the Paris Fashion Week preferred less flashy colour tones to his trademark psychedelic colours. If the designs, silhouettes and cuts make the designer creations what they are, so do the colours. As Reena Dhaka puts it, "Had the fashion industry not experimented with colours, it wouldn't have done so well. The first two features that fashion critics notice about a collection are still the cut and colour."

So, even if there are a fixed number of well-identified colours, their permutation and combination adds to the total count. "Then, we also have metallic shades. Introducing new colour schemes is not a deal but making the right choice is important. Don't forget, colours determine if a creation belongs to spring- summer or fall-winter collection." As for her choice of colour for the spring summer collection, she chose hues of orange and burgundy rose.

Selection of colours also depends on the target clientele. Mandira Wirk adds, "A good designer will ensure that the colours suits the skin tone of the clients. Designers in India love to use hues of pinks and purples because it complements the Indian skin tone." Her collection for the season will be in shades of charcoal and wine. She feels that the colour that Aiswarya Rai picked for Oscars was a safe bet. "The brown, copperish colour has always looked well on Indian women. She didn't experiment much this time, courtesy her past fiascos."

Indian designers have the leverage to use as many colours unlike designers from the West. Swati Srivastva, who has showcased her collections in various fashion weeks, says, "People in the West have this tendency to stick to the winter colours like black, brown and grey. It's here in India that they love to have different colours in the wardrobe." And her forecast for the season is new colours. "I will have neon pink, neon green, butterscotch yellow in my collection. But, I am not ruling out the bright shades. The solid shades like red, blue, green, purple, orange will as always stay in the Indian markets."

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Sofia Hayat, a Britain-based singer-actor of Pakistani origin, rues the lack of professionalism in the Indian film industry, alleging some producers were unpleasant to her. India can churn out many hits like Slumdog Millionaire, she says, provided directors up the quality of their work.

“I can bring more professionalism to the table. You need to be the character

and can’t pretend to be one. When I act, I am not pretending, I have the tool. You can’t say I am an actor when you don’t have any tool. You can learn. I learnt for six years through different courses at universities in England. We can bring more professionalism, more colour,” Sofia, 26, told IANS in an exclusive interview.

She says Bollywood producers wanted to get personal before signing her up for any project, unlike in Britain or the US.

“I find sex is like a commodity you just trade here. If you need it, why don’t you hire a prostitute?” asked Sofia who is here to shoot for Diary Of A Butterfly directed by Vinod Mukhi.

Back home, Sofia worked in both television serials and movies. She featured in the BBC’s Waterloo Road and Jonathan Creek and had a role in the BAFTA winning series “Fur TV” that came on MTV.

Her movie stint includes The Unforgettable, where she had a role opposite to Raji James, Exitz that also stars Malcolm Mcdowell and Stephen Billington, as well as Cash and Curry, which sees her as the gun-toting wife of a gangster.

“I am not making films for money. I have made huge money in Britain. I am here to do some good films, but it is like a factory here. They ignore the craft of acting. If you pay heed to the craft, they would be appreciated in Britain and America,” she said.

She feels if filmmakers here don’t pull up their socks and show professionalism, foreign producers won’t engage them in their projects as directors.

“I fear producers would come here and make films, using your lighting guys, your editors, but not your directors. Directors from Britain and the US would involve a high level of money, but they would bring some professionalism with them,” said the actress.

“People say Slumdog Millionaire put India on the global map. Sorry, it’s Danny Boyle who put India on the global map. He is a British guy. You can have millions of films like Slumdog Millionaire if producers and directors put that level of professionalism to the table,” added the actor.

Another problem that Sofia complains about is that the entire script is not disclosed to an artist until one signs on the dotted line.

“The problem in India is they don’t show you the whole script. Recently, I signed one film looking at my character, but when I read the whole script I decided to cancel it,” she said.

“I don’t want to do a film where people would exclaim ‘wow! She looks good’. Rather, would love to do films where people say ‘wow! She can act’. That’s why I didn’t do the role though it was the lead role,” she said. — IANS

Paintings from Orissa, saris from Madhya Pradesh and cane curtains from Assam, the expo at Lajpat Rai Bhawan offers something for everyone

Three artists, Vishal Bhatnagar, Rajesh Kalsi and Rajender Kumar, explore the spiritual, the unknown and the abstract

Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon celebrated the impending arrival of their twins—a boy and a girl—on Sunday with a blue and pink themed baby shower in Beverly Hills. The Montage Hotel’s Conservatory Grill was filled with pink roses and blue hydrangeas, as well as balloons.

“Mariah has been anxiously awaiting her shower,” a source said.

“She couldn’t wait to celebrate her baby twins with her friends.” Guests, including American Idol judge Randy Jackson, stayed on theme by showering the happy couple with a stream of presents wrapped in the colours of the hour. Among the most extravagant treats were two nearly life-size stuffed giraffes and two handmade chairs.

“Mariah had the best time at her shower,” the source said. “She was very touched by how nicely everything turned out and excited about all the generous gifts she received.

“She has been feeling a bit tired and worn out lately, but the shower was an event that she really enjoyed and that made her very happy,” the source added. — ANI

The Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi is organising a retrospective of India's ace photographer Raghu Rai's original photographs along with a slide show and interactive session with the master photographer on Wednesday. This is the first time in the history of Chandigarh that such a large collection of Raghu Rai's select photographs will be on display.

Raghu Rai was born in Punjab in 1942, qualified as a civil engineer, started photography at the age of 23. He has been at the forefront of photography in India for more than 40 years.

In 1971, impressed by Rai's exhibition at Gallery Delpire, Paris, the legendary photographer Henri Cartier Bresson nominated him to Magnum Photos, the world's most prestigious photographer's cooperative.

He was awarded the 'Padma Shri' in 1971, In 1992 he was awarded "Photographer of the Year" in the United States for the story "Human Management of Wildlife in India" published in National Geographic. Recently, he has been conferred the award of Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.

In the last 35 years, Rai has specialised in extensive coverage of India and has produced more than 30 books.

On till March 13 at Punjab Kala Bhawan-16

Hollywood star Jennifer Hudson prepared for her role as Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife Winnie by confining herself to a prison cell to experience “hell” behind bars. The Oscar-winning singer and actor plays the lead role in filmmaker Darrell Roodt’s new biopic which documents Winnie’s life, her fight against apartheid and her marriage to the former South African president.

Hudson was determined to make her portrayal authentic, and spent five days locked up in an African jail after learning that Winnie served more than 500 days in solitary confinement.

“I attempted to experience some of the hell that the lady went through... They snatched her out of her home and she had no idea what happened to her children. Imagine living that? This was her life! This was real.

“As a woman, I am angry for her, hurt for her. And as a mother? God, being in solitary confinement, away from my son just for five days when shooting those scenes - it was too much for me. I was drained and stripped down. I was changed,” said Hudson. — PTI

Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow, who unveiled her voice in the movie Country Strong, is reportedly in talks with Atlantic Records to make a country music album.

The 38-year-old actor has made a series of live performances recently, including one at the Oscars, leading to her starting negotiations with the record label about releasing an album.

Gwyneth’s agents have been talking to a number of labels about landing her a substantial record deal. Those who have heard the music say it’s country pop. In recent weeks there have been discussions with Atlantic. Gwyneth is a very different name for Atlantic, and one who brings a lot of recognition,” said a source. Paltrow, who is married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, recently performed at the Oscars, singing a rendition of nominated song Coming Home from Country Strong. — PTI

Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin has been roped in to join the star cast of new musical Rock of Ages, which includes Tom Cruise, Julianne Hough and Mary J Blige.

The 30 Rock star is the latest big name to sign up for the Adam Shankman directed film which is a big screen adaptation of the hit musical. “Based on information I got today, I’m going to confirm Alec Baldwin as Dennis in Rock Of Ages, Shankman posted on Twitter.In a separate tweet, Shankman added, “Can’t wait to start Rock Of Ages. Julianne Hough, Alec Baldwin, Mary J Blige, Tom Cruise confirmed. I love my cast. More to come.” — PTI

Supermodel Claudia Schiffer says nothing would ever make her return to the catwalk because she prefers to work in an environment where large groups of people aren’t looking at her.

The German supermodel, who gave birth to her third child last year, says she has no interest in catwalks as she doesn’t like all eyes to be on her.

“Nobody believes me but I’m shy, much better in small groups of people than on a stage with everybody looking at me. I understood that I had to do it when I was modelling but now, since I don’t have to do it, I’d rather not,” she said.

“Designers are very clever at trying to persuade me to do it each season and it’s flattering that they do, but nothing would change my mind,” she added.