Casting couch

Former hockey coach Mir Ranjan Negi — better known these days as the muse for Chak de! India — is all set to join Bollywood. After a successful stint on Indian television where he sportingly shook a leg in a show called Jhalak Dikhla Ja, Negi has decided to take lessons from choreographer Shiamak Davar to fox-trot his way into Mumbai. “Jhalak has changed my life completely. I am now considered a celebrity everywhere and people recognise me wherever I go. I am getting calls from so many film producers and directors with meaty roles that I have made up my mind to give Bollywood a try,” he says. Negi adds he is looking at roles that will suit him. “I am game for sports-related roles, and I’d like to play a coach. I have experimented with dancing, so acting won’t be that difficult, I am sure.” Not when goals are a part of his vocabulary.

Carol king

Christmas may be over, but the season for goodwill continues — thanks to sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan. He is just out with a new album — and Breaking Barriers is a compilation of Christmas hymns and carols played on the sarod. The old favourites are all there — from Jingle Bells and Silent Night to We Wish You a Merry Christmas. “I wanted to perform these beautiful Christmas hymns and carols for a long time,” Khansaab says. The idea first struck him 12 years ago when he played Silent Night at a church in Delhi — and “the lights went off for a while and candles were lit up…” And he hopes that the music will go on to make a bid for peace. “Today, Man has become a symbol of arrogance and hatred. Through this album, I pray for peace and harmony in the world,” he says.

Classy claws

Vidya Balan should think of joining the diplomatic corps. For when it comes to tact, no one can beat the young actress. Last heard, Munna Bhabhi was singing an ode to the former Miss World and the present Mrs Bachchan Junior. “Aishwarya Rai,” said Vidya Balan, “is the epitome of grace.” And then she added somewhat patronisingly, “Even her sneeze is written about. That can’t be easy.” But Balan is not the only future foreign secretary; Priyanka Chopra is a contender, too. When Kareena Kapoor recently commented that Chopra could hardly be considered a real actor, PriChops reacted by praising Kareena’s performance in Jab We Met. Of course, she added, “Bebo is a more senior and hopefully more mature actress than me. I guess she’s qualified to comment on my calibre.” Bollywood’s gain, clearly, is the foreign office’s loss.

Jam session

What do you do every time you’re stuck in a traffic jam? Soothe frayed nerves by turning up the music? Or silently gnaw away at your nails, feeling irrepressibly homicidal? Or try and find an answer to just where this whole traffic madness in Indian cities is leading? Delhi-based photographer-journalist Pradip Saha seems to be of the last kind, and has just pulled off an artwork on the urban hazard that automobiles and traffic-related issues together constitute. As part of a residency programme at the Khoj International Artists’ Association, Saha’s artwork comprises a six-minute-long film clip recorded on Delhi’s crossroads, shot for an imaginary television channel called Hard Times, which was played in a loop through the week on a plasma television in Connaught Place, Delhi’s most prominent public space. While it featured some comic responses from Delhi’s motorists, an LED panel below the screen flashed actual figures related to rising traffic in the capital, for the audience’s benefit. Now, in case you missed Saha’s witty take on traffic, you can always catch a glimpse of it on Youtube. Just follow the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=LFfKN8XqdFI.