Wish dish

A girl’s got to dream. Actress Tisca Chopra always wanted to work with Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. Part of the dream worked out when she acted with Aamir in Taare Zameen Par. Now, the second bit’s bearing fruit — in a way. Chopra has just wrapped up a commercial with Shah Rukh. The shoot apparently went off well, and has left our lady, like young Oliver, asking for some more. Next on the wish list is a film with SRK, and one with Amitabh Bachchan. All that she needs to do now is shoot off a letter addressed to the North Pole. A certain rotund and jovial gentleman there may come to her aid.

Dance and do

There is nothing quite like the merging of art and the heart. Bharatanatyam dancer Sohini Roychowdhury knows all about that. The Calcutta danseuse is on a new venture with a non-governmental organisation called Apne Aap which works for the cause of trafficked children. Roychowdhury has been conducting dance workshops for children between 6 and 14 years of age who are supported by the NGO. She also trained 30 girls from slums and the red light areas of Calcutta — and the team put up a show called Dancing with Shiva in the city recently. This is one way of doing your bit. And Roychowdhury’s feet are itching to do some more.

On the mat

If you can’t remember Samir Dattani, we can’t really blame you. But to jog your memory, he featured in a video album with Raima Sen almost a decade ago. Now Dattani is back — promoting his upcoming film Well Done Abba. The film and the actor won some praise at the Dubai International Film Festival recently. And not just that, Dattani even managed to spend some time with Hollywood actor Gerard Butler on the red carpet premiere of Avatar. “It was a wonderful experience,” he says. Wonder what Butler thought about it.

Naughty night

Seek and ye shall find. Hide and ye shall find some more. That seems to be the mantra of former model Mrinalini Sharma. Sharma, who made her debut with an item number in Apaharan in 2005, is hoping to find new fans with her role in the soon-to-be-released film Hide and Seek. She stars with Purab Kohli in the suspense film directed by Apoorv Lakhia. “It’s a story about a group of friends who play a game of hide and seek on a Christmas night and how their lives change after that,” she says. “I play an important role in the film, and hope people will like it,” she says. Let’s also hope the role unearths her hidden talents.

Westward ho!

It’s all hush-hush — but we are told that actress Divya Dutta is going to Los Angeles to meet a Hollywood big shot. The meeting may or may not lead to a role, but our lady is not unduly worked up about it. Because she has some other plans too. After the meeting, Dutta — who has just won an award for Welcome to Sajjanpur — hopes to party hard in the US with her friends and usher in the New Year. If all goes well, the New Year may usher in a juicy role for her. But mum’s the word.