Quirky Indians

His stand-up comedy act The Nation Wants to Know (news show host watchers, does that sound familiar?) was a hit. And now playwright Anuvab Pal is back with a new show called Injia — The Many Highly Effective Habits of Indian People. This looks at the quirks and behavioural oddities that make Indians unique. For example, Pal explores how Indians are great at negotiations, how we behave at nightclubs, how we try to be cool, and so on. That should be interesting, coming as it does from the writer of plays such as The President Is Coming, Chaos Theory and The Bureaucrat, and films such as The Loins Of Punjab Presents. A people and their oddities are always a fount of delight. And in the hands of a deft comic artiste like Pal, it’s bound to be worth a watch.

Write choice

Here’s another journo who’s tasted success in the literary field. Mishi Saran’s first novel, The Other Side of Light, is making quite an impression on the literary world. The book has been shortlisted for this year’s Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, presented annually by the Commonwealth Foundation. The novel is about a journey of self-discovery set in the backdrop of the Emergency, the 1984 riots and the separatist violence in Assam in those times. Saran, a former journalist, lives in Shanghai. Right now she is working on her next novel set in the Chinese city in the 1930s.

Dandi tunes

Chandrika Tandon, a US-based financial analyst, had made waves with her album Soul Call a few years ago. And she even got a Grammy nomination for it. This time, Tandon, who happens to be PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi’s sister, has come out with another album that’s become a talking point. According to the New York-based Tandon, the album, called Soul March, has been inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March in 1930. Over 75 artistes from India and the US collaborated on the album and we are told more than 500 New York residents came for her launch party at New York University’s Grand Hall. Evidently, twinning music with high finance is something Tandon excels at.

Honorary Bong

Yami Gautam is clearly not resting on her laurels. After wowing the audience with her role of a Bengali girl in love with a Punjabi boy in Vicky Donor, Gautam will be seen next in a Tamil-Telugu bilingual film called Gouravam. The film, which released this Friday, tackles the issue of honour killings in the south. Yami plays the role of a half-Bengali lawyer investigating the murder of a young couple. Says Gouravam’s director Radhamohan, “We approached her after Vicky Donor. She readily accepted because the role is a powerful one. It must have been challenging for her to shoot in two southern languages.” What’s with the Bong connection, though? A Bengali girl in Vicky Donor and a half-Bengali lawyer in Gauravam — is there something about Gautam that is akin to the Bong persona? Tollywood, are you listening?

On song

It’s never too late to fulfil a dream. Ask Malaa Treon who recently launched her first music album titled Labdiya. An artist and a textile designer who popularised the use of art on fabric, Treon has now taken to crooning when she’s not painting. “Music was another passion and with this album I have fulfilled one more dream,” she says. Labdiya is an indie-pop album for the young at heart and has several fusion numbers to appeal to a wider audience. “Dreams have no age,” is the mantra of this startlingly youthful 52-year-old. Let’s hope her album is as smashing as her looks.