Hail hills

The hills will soon be alive with the sound of music - and words. Mountain Echoes, the three-day literary festival which opens in Thimpu, Bhutan, on August 26, will this year feature writers such as Amitav Ghosh ( in pic) and Pico Iyer. Also among the participants will be Tabu - who played Ghazala, alias Gertrude, in Haider, Vishal Bhardwaj's Hamlet in Kashmir. The music will be provided by Indian Ocean, the band from Delhi. Bhutan's happiness index is likely to go up a few notches.

Book hook

Karnataka's Congress government, under chief minister Siddaramaiah, is ensuring that students in the state's government schools know their current affairs. Government school libraries have been sent a circular asking them to procure at least two copies of Itta Guri, Ditta Hejje - a Kannada book with essays listing the CM's good deeds. The essays deal with Siddaramaiah's health administration, why he is a simple and honest politician, his path to power and so on. Harry Potter has stiff competition.

Fort forte

Classical music, aficionados believe, is timeless. So how do you underscore that but by bringing musicians and ancient monuments together? The Saregama Classical Studio video series is doing that - recording the music of top artistes against the backdrop of historical monuments such as Humayun's Tomb and Old Fort in New Delhi, the Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, and so on. The artistes include Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and Pandits Jasraj and Hari Prasad Chaurasia. It also features percussionist Bickram Ghosh. Monumental work, some would say.

Eyes have it

It's good to have Sonakshi back. She has finished work on Force 2 and has just released an action-packed trailer for Akira . Now, she has begun shooting for a light-hearted film called Noor, where she plays a journalist. The film is based on Pakistani writer Saba Imtiaz's novel Karachi, You're Killing Me! An enthusiastic Sonakshi started her shoot with a selfie from the sets. She holds a Noor clapboard and is winking naughtily. "Here's to new beginnings, new energies, exciting times and finally getting to portray the girl, who's a bundle of contradictions, just like you and just like me," she says in a post. Carry on, girl!

Take a bow

It's music to the director's ears. Adman-turned-filmmaker Bauddhayan Mukherji is thrilled that his Hindi film, The Violin Player, has picked up the top award for the best feature film at the 37th Durban International Film Festival. Starring the talented Adil Hussain (in pic - remember Life of Pi, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, English Vinglish?) and Bengali actor Ritwick Chakraborty, The Violin Player was described by the festival jury as "a seductive and mysterious tale of a violin player's mundane life". The film revolves around one day in the life of a Bollywood session violinist, who meets a stranger and his life changes with a request he makes. "The journey of The Violin Player is just beginning," Mukherji exults. Next stop, Calcutta cinema halls?