Son struck

Star sons — and daughters — are rising this season. While Bollywood is busy fawning over the two Kapoor kids, Telugu actor Chiranjeevi’s son, Ram Charan Teja, has just been launched in his debut film Chirutha. Ram Charan — better known as Cherry — has some big boots to fill. After all, dad is the Amitabh Bachchan of the Telugu film industry. But Cherry is making all the right first moves. For starters, Chirutha is a solid masala film, with fights, dances and comedy — everything that will pull in the crowds. Also, a grand puja was held before the film was launched, which was attended by biggies such as Nagarajuna and Rajnikanth. Cherry had his dialogues ready. “My father is my guru and friend,” he said on the occasion. This star son knows what sells.

Shoot at sight

Whilst most actors are content with doing their lot in front of the camera, Shahid Kapur likes his spot behind the lens, too. During the shooting of Imtiaz Ali’s comedy Jab We Met, Shahid spent some time taking photographs — impressing everybody on the sets. When he was not shooting, he was getting tips on photography from the film’s cameraman Natti. Director Imtiaz apparently was greatly impressed by Shahid’s ability to capture the right moment on a frame. Now all that Shahid needs is a model — preferably not somebody whose name begins with a K — for his experiments.

Simply simple

Once you are done with the Puja binges, you could give some thought to food writer Karen Anand. She is out with three new books — Simple Cooking for the Gourmet Vegetarian, Simple Cooking for Soups and Salads and Simple Cooking to Stay Fit. The books were released by Westland Books in New Delhi last week with some fanfare — and quite a lot of soups and salads! Anand tried out some of her recipes for the benefit of the salivating audience. The ‘Simple Cooking’ series will later embrace the desperate housewife, the sweet tooth and the single person. What’s next — Simple Cooking for those who order in?

Look, Mummy!

Other actresses may have been repeatedly beating her to those coveted roles in Bollywood flicks of late, but Celina Jaitley couldn’t care less. After all, Hollywood came calling on her only a few days ago. And if that wasn’t all, she was lapped up by the Egyptian tourism authorities as the face of Egyptian tourism in India, and flown off to the land of the Pharaohs, where she apparently had the time of her life romancing the pyramids and the Sphinx. We hear she’s now back all safe and sound, and is planning to share her out-of-this-world experience with ignorant Indian checkbox travellers who don’t know what they’ve been missing out on all this while. So listen to her when she speaks, and pack your bags. Who knows, a date with the mummies might just be on the cards!

My, Tai!

Ashatai knows how to rock — and, clearly, the top singers know it as well. Others of her generation have hung up their tanpuras, but our Mumbai crooner is much sought after when it comes to jamming with international stars. The wonder band The Black Eyed Peas (BEP) which had a concert in India last week says it has one wish — it hopes to sing with Asha Bhonsle. The three-time Grammy winners are also planning a grand musical extravaganza, which will feature Herbie Hancock on the keyboards, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson as lead vocals, Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers on the bass and Prince on the guitar. Will our own tai figure in the list of musicians? After all, when it comes to popularity, Asha and the BEP are like two peas in a pod.