Rapster Kher

Sridevi did it for Chandni, Amitabh Bachchan did it for Nishabd and Shah Rukh Khan for Josh. So why should Anupam Kher be left behind? We are talking about singing stars. Actors like to play —and hum — their own tune in cinema. So Kher will sing a song composed by the duo Sidharth Suhas for Mr Bhatti on Chhutti, directed by Karan Razdan. An insider reveals that Kher will be crooning in a cheeky promotional video — Bhatti’s gonna get you — with the actor doing

Doughty daughter

Like father, like daughter — or so Ram Gopal Varma believes. Ramu gave a break to lyric writer Mehboob in Rangeela who then went on to pen hits such as Nimbooda Nimbooda and Maa Tujhe Salaam. Then the director asked Mehboob’s 18-year-old daughter, Sana, to compose a song for his new film Contract. And now he has asked her to do the music for a film that is still to be named. So what makes Sana turn to music — even though she has been touring the world with A.R. Rahman since she was a child as a part of his troupe —and not to lyrics, like her father? “I tried my hand at lyrics but I was pathetic at it,” says Sana frankly. “But music is something that has been always close to my heart.” Sana says the song Maula Khair Kare has been appreciated — but her real test will be the next project, which is going to be a musical. Till then, life will be a song.

Spirit of the times

Psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar returns with a bang. Penguin India launches his new book Mad and Divine: Spirit and Psyche in the Modern World. It’s a tome that looks at how spirituality is negotiated, understood and articulated in contemporary times. A leitmotif binding the book is the recurring exchange between philosophical concepts such as the ‘spirit’ and the ‘psyche’ and how they play themselves out in a globalised world. Other portions of the book deal with arresting figures, including Rajneesh and the common layers binding spirituality and healing traditions in Eastern and Western religious discourses.And one more interesting bit seems to deal with the part played by sexuality in the making of a saint. That sounds like a racy winner.

Sound of solace

If you have a voice, lend it. And that’s what two of India’s senior celebs have done. Director Aparna Sen and actor Shabana Azmi are the voices behind a short film on what has been named the Gulberg museum of resistance. The museum — in memory of those who stood against the violence that was unleashed in Gujarat in 2002 — is a brainchild of Sabrang, a Mumbai-based organisation run by, among others, activist Teesta Setalvad. The documentary forms a part of the museum which will document narratives of communal violence, focus on the resistance, and provide space for archiving. And Sen and Azmi will give voice to events that will, no doubt, form a part of contemporary history.

Life à la Dhoni

First, he tells you what clothes you should wear and what gel you should slap on your head to look cool. And then, he goes a notch further, to actually tell you how to live life king-size. In case you’re wondering, Team India ODI captain M.S. Dhoni has just got himself into a tie-up with a media house for a campaign called Zidd, where he takes Indians through real-life problems and how to deal with them. For instance, he tells you to dump conventional stoicism and wisdom in favour of stepping forward to meet crises, from traffic jams to eve teasing, only to emerge victorious. And he tells you to do it with oodles of uncompromising will, or zidd, as they say. So here’s to a ziddi country, skippered by Dhoni. If only he were to show the same tenacity in cricket!