Star trek

After playing the blink-and-you-miss role of an air hostess in Priyadarshan’s Garam Masala, starlet Nargis is hopeful that her role as a devdasi in her next film Pranali will garner some eyeballs. “Although Garam Masala provided me with a platform, it is this film that gave me an opportunity to explore my acting skills,” she says. “And I am sure the audience will appreciate my role.” Nargis plays a young girl who is married to a village deity and then condemned to prostitution. If Nargis doesn’t quite woo the audiences, Pandit Birju Maharaj may just do it for first-time director Hridesh Kamble. The film, which has music by Kailash Kher, showcases a “taandav nritya” choreographed by the Kathak maestro. And Lord Shiva’s dance, after all, can turn the world upside down.

Life’s pages

It has been more than a decade since Saeed Mirza decided never to make films again, and took to the road, starting a long journey into the depths of humanity. The journey is yet to end, but the notes that the director — known for classic films such as Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho and Albert Pinto ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai — made through his travels have now made their way into a new book, released by Westland Publishers in Delhi on Saturday. Titled Ammi: Letter to a Democratic Venture, the novel is Mirza’s first and shares his reflections on life, much of which were radically reshaped through his journey across the world. “I felt at peace while writing the book, jotting down my views and thoughts, and incorporating them into the book by way of a series of travelogues, letters and love stories that hold them together,” says Mirza. “I had no style to conform to, no deadline to meet. I just wrote down what I felt deep within. It was a wonderful experience.” In fact, the book has sown the seed of another authorial venture, says Mirza. “There’s so much in my notes that haven’t been written about.” So look out for the sequel.

Sibling rivalry

Sohaila Kapur is not going to like this. The theatre actress, who made a name for herself well before her brother entered the hallowed portals of Hollywood, is in New Delhi with a play called 45-35-55, a comedy in Hinglish and Punjabi, organised by the Vascular Society of India. And the publicists have decided that Sohaila needs to be introduced to the press. So the invites to the play, which premiered at The World Theatre Festival in Lahore, adds in brackets that Sohaila is the sister of Shekhar Kapur. Well, if the director’s name pulls the crowds, nobody should really object. The cause, after all, comes straight from the heart.

Waxing or waning

When Salman Khan went to London to unveil his wax statue at Madame Tussauds, someone was waiting for him at home. Considering that his girlfriend Katrina is supposed to have gone along with him, who could that be? Curb your imagination — it was only Boney Kapoor, who is directing Salman in a film, so far known as Wanted Dead or Alive. But we are told Kapoor was not at all irritated that he had to put the shoot in Chennai on hold, waiting for Sallu. After all, it’s not every day that someone gets a wax statue put up at Madame Tussauds. The director very graciously commented, “As it is, everything in Tamil Nadu was closed for Pongal. So I’d say Salman’s visit to London was well-timed.”

Show and tell

Just what was singer Babul Supriyo doing on the show, K for Kishore? Those who read their celebrity and media pages with interest thought that Supriyo had been barred by NDTV from appearing in shows on other channels. But there he was, as big as life, happily co-anchoring the Sony TV programme that seeks a singer who sounds like Kishore. Apparently, Supriyo’s contract with NDTV Imagine — where he has a reality show — stopped him from signing up for any other TV music hunt. And NDTV Imagine filed a case when it heard that he would figure in K for Kishore. “Yes, I was under a contract with NDTV Imagine for their Celebrity reality show Dhoom Machaley,” says Supriyo. “The contract barred me from entering any reality show as a contestant so I thought that it wouldn’t be an issue if I chose to anchor K for Kishore.” The courts allowed Supriyo to host Sony’s programme and all is well with the world. Last heard, Supriyo was yodelling all the way to the sets.