True grit

It's a book that celebrates courage. Navin Gulia, a motivational speaker and author, has come up with the second edition of his book In Quest of the Last Victory which describes his struggles and accomplishments. Gulia, an ex-Indian army officer, was paralysed after a fatal accident while on duty. But he overcame his physical and psychological trauma and the book traces his fight against paralysis and his journey back into life. An adventure junkie, Gulia has received a number of prestigious awards, including the Haryana Gaurav Award. A hero, no less.

 

Getting physical

Padmini Dutta Sharma's new book, 5 Hot Sizzlers, sounds a bit like Fifty Shades of Grey. But the book is actually a collection of five stories, each with a woman protagonist, and each about how they face a particular problem and how they deal with it. This is Sharma's third book, and she is also a counsellor of sorts. Sharma belongs to the "relationships need to be physical" camp and that's a subject she constantly dwells upon in her stories. So, we suppose there is some Fifty Shades of Grey in this book after all.

Waheeda's friend

Yesteryear actress Waheeda Rehman cherishes her friendships - old and new. From the contemporary lot of actors, it is Abhishek Bachchan with whom she shares a warm camaraderie. This nugget of information was disclosed at the recently concluded Jaipur Literature Festival where, when she was asked about her friends from the film industry, she took Bachchan Junior's name. "The younger lot has no time and there is a big age gap too," said the 76-year-old. Evidently, Abhishek Bachchan, with whom she had acted in Dilli 6, manages to bridge that gap.

Roast toast

Some say that filmmakers Ram Gopal Varma and Karan Johar don't always see eye to eye. But in the matter of the AIB Roast controversy, where actors Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor got "roasted" (i.e. insulted with a profusion of swear words) by "roastmaster" Karan Johar, among others, Varma has shown that his heart is in the right place. Varma tweeted, "The AIB show is proof that India has finally come of age and I truly appreciate Karan for taking the plunge..." He praised Johar for having the courage to take the lid off a volcano of lies and hypocrisies. Now let's see if Varma follows suit and allows himself to be "roasted" at a similar show.

Rajini wins

No one messes with Rajinikanth. Bollywood director-writer Faisal Saif learnt it the hard way. The filmmaker had the movie fraternity buzzing last year, when he announced the title of his new comedy film, Main Hoon Rajinikanth. But Rajini Saar wasn't amused. He filed a case in the Madras High Court alleging the titled poked fun at him. No prizes for guessing this one - last week the court ruled in Rajinikanth's favour. After all, Rajini always wins.