Book bind

If Karisma and Sonali can do it, why not Kajol? Write books, we mean. But Kajol tells us that she is not thinking of penning her thoughts. "Writing a book is a lonely job. You can't ask an assistant to write five pages for you," the actor said at the Jaipur lit fest, where she - along with mother Tanuja - launched Ashwin Sanghi's latest book The Sialkot Saga. "I don't have the patience to be inside my head just living with a character for years at a stretch." No, she is not talking about Ajay Devgn, her husband of 16 years. Kindly do not read between the lines.

Art's heart

In faraway Dallas, a Bengali painter's works are on show. The Crow Collection of Asian Art features Bireswar Sen's miniatures in an exhibition curated by art historian B.N. Goswamy that started on Saturday and will continue till April 24. Art scholars tell us that Sen, born in Bengal in 1897, was influenced by Abanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose, and later by the Russian painter Nicholas Roerich. His playing card-sized landscapes have been described as "Sparkling like a diamond, as if there were a fire within" and the exquisitely detailed miniatures of the Himalayas have for long captivated art lovers. But then the artist and the mountains had a special relationship. When told he had immortalised the Himalayas, Sen had replied: "No, you are mistaken. The Himalayas themselves have immortalised me."

Bose dose

Biswajit is elated. He has started work on a project that has for long mesmerised him - Subhash Chandra Bose. The Bollywood and Tollywood actor will direct a film on Bose which will be made in three languages - English, Hindi and Bengali. "We will mainly focus on the period 1942-1945. It will be a big budget film with international actors," the 78-year-old actor exults. Will his son Prosenjit - once estranged and now united - feature in it? "I have not thought of any role for him yet. If there is one, I'll certainly ask him," he replies. What he does know is that the film will show the "real side" of Bose. "Nobody knows the real Bose. We want to show him in the right light." Did we hear someone from the large - and fractious - Bose family clear his/herheir throat?

Hello, goodbye

When it comes to fissions, Bollywood can put a nuclear reactor to shame. Couples have been splitting so often that our poor atoms feel threatened. But in the midst of all this chaos, Deepika Padukone is holding her own. She is ready to talk about the old and the new. Recently, she was asked if her past relationship with Ranbir Kapoor troubled her current boyfriend, Ranveer Singh. Padukone refused to speak on behalf of Singh, but clarified that there is "honesty" in her relationships. "I always make it easier by being honest about my feelings for all the people in my life - good, bad, past and present." Hmm, someone did say it was the best policy.

Small to big

How does a busy actor become a successful director? By taking, literally, small steps, says Chandan Roy Sanyal. The actor has just finished shooting for Buddhadeb Dasgupta's film Tope and will be seen in the lead role in a yet untitled Hindi rom-com opposite Pia Bajpai. Meanwhile, Roy Sanyal, who also featured in Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's comeback film Jazbaa, has directed two short films, Hiroshima (6 minutes) and 35MM (27 minutes). Now he tells us that he is ready to shoot his third film, Swaraaj, a 30-minute musical docu-fiction on pre-independent India, solely for the Internet. "I am planning to direct a full-length feature film sometime this year. So these films are kind of on-the-job training to hone up my directorial skills," he says. That's called sizing up.