Docu dance

If you are old enough to remember Uday Shankar's iconic film Kalpana, or even if you are not, you should look forward to a documentary on the dancer being shot by choreographer Sukalyan Bhattacharya ( in pic). Called The Painter, The Dancer, The filmmaker: Pandit Uday Shankar, the film has been shot in Santiniketan and Almora, where Shankar set up a dance school, and Udaipur, where he was born. "It is a tribute to the great personality who not only redefined dance, but the art itself. It is our attempt to view Uday Shankar's life through his classic Kalpana, which gave a new dimension to Indian film," says Bhattacharya. The film will be ready for release this November and then sent for screening at international film festivals. Just the right move, Shankar fans would say.

Medal mettle

Not everybody is returning awards - some are accepting them with gratitude. Though, of course, it should be noted that the recognition for Dr Rama Jayaraj, a cancer researcher, comes from Australia. The senior lecturer at Charles Darwin University in Australia has been awarded The Pride of Australia Medal, set up by NT News, a news organisation in the Northern Territory. Dr Jayaraj won the Inspirational medal for his work as a teacher, initiating methods to help students do better research. Let's hear it for the good doc.

Wah, Shah

Actor Sohum Shah is being showered with praise. First seen in Ship of Theseus, which he also co-produced, the former businessman from Rajasthan wowed viewers as a junior CBI officer - a small town, opportunistic, ruthless man - in Meghna Gulzar's Talvar, a film based on the Aarushi Talwar murder case. "Life is always about surprises," the handsome actor says. "The journey of my life from a small suffocating place to Mumbai itself holds a lot of surprises and I have translated what I have learnt along the way in my work and that shows." Shah will next be seen in the fantasy period film Tumbad, in which he plays the lead. Clearly, fantasies are being translated into reality for Shah.

Sad and happy

Ranveer Singh is not a happy man. And that's because a young actor has been paired with him in Aditya Chopra's new film Befikre. There's nothing wrong with Vaani kapoor, who is said to be elated to have been offered the role. But Singh thinks she is a newbie. Indeed, Kapoor is just one-film old, having marked her debut with Shuddh Desi Romance. But Singh, who plays the lead in the film, is not going to kick up a fuss. Adi Chopra, he is sure, will steer the cast well. Meanwhile, unlike Singh, Chopra can't stop smiling. "It's my happiest film. My youngest film. My riskiest film," he says.

Baton master

His 2013 concert in India - by the picturesque Dal Lake in Kashmir - was mired in controversy, as separatists called for a ban to protest against the show. This time, though, Zubin Mehta is being feted. He conducted the Australian World Orchestra in Mumbai and Chennai, and then concluded the tour with two concerts in New Delhi this week. Lovers of Western classical music were ecstatic. And more so when the 79-year-old Bombay-born maestro released his memoirs in Delhi. Mehta, one can be sure, is enjoying his stay - and peppering his food with chillies. "I put chillies in everything I eat no matter where I am," he told The New York Times in an interview last year. "I've had Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris almost threatening to kick me out because I put chillies in their food." Ah, now we know why he's so hot!