Star spat spills over to streets

Hyderabad: This is one clash the box-office could do without. Fans of Mohan Babu and Chiranjeevi have burnt effigies and torn down posters after the matinee idols turned an awards do into a slanging match.

At the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Telugu film industry, Mohan Babu, who won the celebrity award, returned his prize, apparently peeved at the honour being given to Chiranjeevi. Stunned, Chiranjeevi hit back saying he richly deserved the recognition. Having made his point, he promptly returned the prize. “I will take it when the Telugu film industry or myself celebrate platinum jubilee (100 years), whichever is earlier.”

The acrimony reached the streets of Tirupati, where Mohan Babu’s fans heaped scorn on Chiranjeevi. In Khammam and Vijayawada, Mohan Babu got a similar treatment.

Soon enough, however, bottomline worries got the better of the acrimony. After all, the stars bring in money, if not good vibes.

Colours of life at Kala Ghoda

Mumbai: Not a few brush strokes, but an entire portrait. A treat awaits art lovers at the Kala Ghoda Art Festival, which continues till February 11. One of the city’s biggest extravaganzas brings together the best in music, dance, films and visual arts to Fort, a south Mumbai borough.

You can walk past beautifully designed kiosks, get a portrait done by an artist, watch a sculptor breathe life into clay, or attend a book reading session. You can also catch a play, watch a movie, enjoy a concert or just take a heritage walk.

Parks and historical buildings in the area become the venue for these events. Food, mostly local cuisine, spices up the proceedings. Street performances pack in vigour.

This time, you can chat to Gregory David Roberts, the author of Shantaram. Or watch Roman Polanski’s Macbeth and Fernando Meirelles’ Constant Gardener.

No stallions at Kala Ghoda, though. The area draws its name from a statue of King Edward VII astride a black horse. The statue is gone, but the name lives on.

Democracy coach

Delhi: Among the myriad diplomats and businessmen who flew into the capital last week, Hari Sharma stood out as a man whose life straddles three nations. His home is Nepal, he sees India as his adopted home, but his mind, for now, is on Afghanistan, where he’s trying to play midwife to democracy. Sharma, who had spent eight years as head of Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s office in the 1990s, is now coaching Hamid Karzai’s government on democracy in the war-torn nation.

Decades ago, on a bus in Nepal, he chatted to a long-haired, kurta-clad Indian who invited Sharma to come and study in India. That Indian was noted political analyst Bhabani Sengupta, who later wrote a book in Bengali — Pratibeshi — describing Sharma’s role in Nepal’s struggle for democracy in the 1990s. Sharma is on his way back to Nepal. Who knows, he might be called upon to groom another fledgling democracy.

Varsity twins

Chennai: This is one institution that feels it’s better to divide and rule.

Anna University, the country’s largest technical university with over 240 engineering colleges affiliated to it, has been split into Anna University-Coimbatore and Anna University-Tiruchirappalli.

he reason: it had become too unwieldy for administrative purposes.

A big brand name in the job market, the university churns out thousands of engineering graduates each year.

R. Radhakrishnan and V. Ramachandran have been appointed vice-chancellors of the Anna twins. Both are professors of the parent university in Chennai.

Bangalore: Police are on their toes this Monday in India’s Silicon Valley. Security has been tightened because the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal will announce its final verdict. Appeals for calm have been made amid fears of violence. If you’re touching down here, be on guard.