Oh man, it’s Orhan

He is Turkey’s biggest global export after its coffee recipe. And he’s now coming to Mumbai. Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, the author of such fine books as My Name is Red, The White Castle and Istanbul: Memoirs of a City, will be in ‘Maximum City’ next week. Pamuk, who otherwise happens to be visiting India on a holiday, will be taking time out of his vacationing plans to get up, close and personal with fans and admirers. He will be reading select passages from his books and taking questions from the audience at the British Council on Thursday. That’s called a Turkish delight.

Gimme Red

India-born and Paris-based painter Sujata Bajaj is on a mission. The artist is going to trace the idea of peace in Hinduism with a rainbow of colours. And the colour red, she says, stands not for blood but for peace in her paintings. “I listen to the inner me and then let the colours live their own life and command their own language,” Bajaj, an acknowledged expert on Indian tribal art, says. The artist, who was in Calcutta this week for the release of a coffee table book on her works by French writer Jean-Claude Carriere, says she is guided by intuition. “And harmony transforms into warm red,” she says. Seeing red has never been this peaceful.

Stairway to heaven

Six-pack abs, here comes Nana Patekar. The actor — who was known all this while for his intense roles — now wants muscles, a la Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh. In his new film Ek — The Power of One Nana will be sporting a new look. And what a look! Insiders stress that it’s not just gloss either. One day, the cast and crew of the film had to climb up to the 15th floor of a building under construction for a shoot. Nana sprinted up the stairs with such ease that it put the entire unit to shame for huffing and puffing their way up. Guess if they remake Mr India, Nana could make a bid for the hero’s role.

Simple siren

Mothers may like her, but Sonam Kapoor is all ready to break out of the simple girl-next-door mould. While wooing the media in Dubai following the premiere of Delhi 6, where she plays a demure little girl, the Kapoor kanya declared that she was actually quite “wild.” And she even let drop that she had had quite a few escapades in her life that went against her butter-won’t-melt-in-her-mouth screen image. Clearly, Sonam is now ready for a makeover. Mallika, take cover!

Food for thought

Kajol doesn’t want any carbs. And Shah Rukh Khan only wants grilled chicken. That’s the plan, anyway, but Chef Ranjan Dey, the owner of the San Francisco restaurant, New Delhi, has something up his sleeve. The two actors will be dining out at his restaurant for almost a month while shooting for the film My Name is Khan in the United States. And Dey is going to make sure that by the time they leave the city, they’ll be so addicted to his food that they’ll keep coming back for more. “I’ll give them what they want, but with so many of the local ingredients and vegetables that they will soon get addicted to it,” says Dey — whose fans include Bill Clinton. Before Dey knows it, he’ll be flooded with that line from Oliver Twist — “Please Sir, I want some more.”