Who’s rocking?

Farhan Akhtar, of course. Ever since he proved to the world that he could croon as well as make movies — you remember those groovy tunes he belted out in Rock On, don’t you — Akhtar junior has literally been on song. And carmakers Maruti haven’t lost time in riding his singing prowess to garner some publicity for the A-Star, the model for which Akhtar happens to be the brand ambassador. Yesterday, a motley audience in Delhi was treated to a high-adrenaline free musical concert organised by Maruti to celebrate the car’s first anniversary, which featured rock biggies Parikrama and fusion band Advaita dishing out their staples to the headbanging crowd. Needless to say, the bill was headed by Akhtar. What can you say to that, but rock on?

Old is gold

It’s a name that still spells music in some circles. Old timers will remember Mubarak Begum as the lady with the voice. Now devoted fans can welcome her in person — for Mubarak Begum is in Calcutta. She will be honoured with the Rafi Memorial Award at a function in the city this evening organised by the Rafi Lovers’ Circle, a Calcutta-based music group. “We present the award annually to musicians who were connected with Rafiji in some way or another,” says Ruhi Khan, the founder president of the circle. And Mubarak Begum, whose voice once weaved magic, will be heard once again.

Jail jolt

Neil Nitin Mukesh can give seasoned actors a lesson or two on method acting. The actor was so keen to do his best in his new film Jail that he did all he could do for a real-life performance. First, he asked his friends to bash him up on the sets so that he’d be suitably bruised and battered for the role of a jailbird. Then, the actor stopped bathing to give his character an unkempt look. To get into the mood of an isolated convict, he stopped taking calls from family members. Now, of course, we have to wait and see how he finally fares in the film. But we fear that if all this fails, Neil will end up in solitary confinement.

Daddy cool

When it comes to following in dad’s footsteps nobody does it better than AB’s baby. Son Abhishek Bachchan has done whatever dad Amitabh did before him — from singing and acting to getting married to an actress. And now, if the Big B has made a successful comeback on reality television with Bigg Boss, B Junior too wants to try his hand at television. If the grapevine is to be believed, Abhi would be hosting an interactive game show where celebrities would compete with the masses. Will he be the hit that dad was when he anchored Kaun Banega Crorepati? Or will he be locked up, and the key chucked somewhere in the Arabian sea?

All plumed up

Some have already started likening him to old wine — the older he grows, the better he gets. Which means the best of Gulzar is probably yet to come, what with the grand old lyricist-director’s pen having already moved Bollywood for some 45 years now, right from Bimal Roy’s Bandini to Vishal Bhardwaj’s Omkara and, of course, Slumdog Millionaire. But hey, that doesn’t mean the accolades will have to wait too. So after having taken home a whole bunch of awards — including the Padma Bhushan and a Sahitya Akademi Award — Gulzar has now been awarded a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Indian cinema by the arts institution Osian’s. The felicitation came on the wings of the Osian’s annual Cinefan Film Festival, which kicked off in Delhi on Saturday. As the lyricist would say, Jai Ho!