All pursed up

Some people collect stamps; Bips does bags. The Bong bombshell, we are told, has a real fetish for designer bags. Her Gucci, D&G and Louis Vuittons are her investments, and she takes care of them the way Bipasha Basu’s mother looks after her jewellery. Her bags are even more precious to her than her designerwear which, once worn and photographed, is apparently never repeated. But the bags are such eyeball pullers that Bips wants to carry them over and over again. Did someone call her a bag lady?

Music miles

City lights have their moments — or at least that’s what the British composer duo Garry Hughes and Andrew T. Mackay think. The two, who were so inspired by Indian classical music that they went on to form a group called Bombay Dub Orchestra, are out with a new album called 3 Cities. The cities in question are Mumbai, Chennai and London — where the music was recorded and mixed. The album, now being released in India after creating waves across the world, has the sounds of the sitar, sarangi, flute and the tabla, put together in different forms by the composers. “The great thing about Indian classical music is that it’s all about improvisation,” says Hughes. The album was number 3 in the iTunes world music chart in the UK and number 20 in the US. Clearly, Indian classical music is going places.

Showing skin

If you’ve got it, out it. That’s our boy’s motto. Sanjay Dutt likes body art so much that among the first things he did after returning to Mumbai from South Africa recently was visit a Bandra studio to discuss a new tattoo with his tattoo artist. The tattoo is like a sleeve design — and with this, Sanju will become the most tattoo-ed actor in Bollywood. He likes it so much that he has paid for the tattoos that his make-up men and light-boys sport. What next? Munnabhai Tattoo Artist?

Dog day

Please congratulate Koena Mitra — her family has just expanded. The latest to join her household is a chihuahua called Dude. Her status on Facebook says it all: “Meet my 8th wonder....my lidddllleee baby boy.... dude,” she says about the dog which she spotted on an online shopping portal. Koena is particularly happy because this is the first male in an eight-member group of pets, the rest of which are all females. Can one hope for a healthier sex ratio?

Song-and-dance

Ever thought of merging Tagore with Gujarat’s favourite dance form, dandiya? Rabindra Sangeet singer Pramita Mullick is doing just that — she has given a new form to Rabindranath Tagore’s play Mayar Khela. First staged by Tagore in Calcutta at the Bethune College in 1888 — the production featured only women from the Tagore family — the dance drama was later cut short by the poet. “But this form was never staged in its entirety,” says Mullick. To stress the universality of the work, the performers’ outfits will reflect Indonesian influences. Over 40 members of her music troupe will take part in the production to be staged in Rabindra Sadan, and the choreography will include the dandiya style. Whoever said Tagore wasn’t global?