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Rosary row
Call it the row over rosary. Sanjay Dutt’s upcoming film, Policegiri, has got the Mumbai-based Catholic-Christian Secular Forum (CSF) up in arms. Reason? A publicity photo of the film shows actress Kavitta Verma apparently wearing a rosary. As CSF puts it, Verma “is scantily clad in a seductive pose, but what concerns the community is the rosary, which she wears around her neck with the cross positioned on her belly”. CSF general secretary Joseph Dias has urged the film’s producers, the censor board and the actress to cut out the “offensive” shot. Policegiri was one of the films Dutt completed before going to jail to serve his sentence. We don’t know about the producers, but Dutt certainly won’t want to have more controversy coming his way.
Retro treat
Better late than never. Had Joy Mukherjee been alive, he would have been delighted that Love in Bombay, a film he directed way back in 1974, will at last see light of day. The movie, where Mukherjee starred with Waheeda Rehman and Zeenat Aman, and which was the last in his series of “Love” films — Love in Simla, Love in Tokyo — was never released. Kishore Kumar also played a cameo in the film and a song that he sang in it is now being touted as a possible hit. Producers of the film say that although the originality of the film has been retained, some changes have been made to the sound and colour keeping modern audiences in mind. Get set for a retro treat.
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In memoriam
Delhiites mourning the loss of filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh will have something to cheer about next month. India Habitat Centre, along with the alumni association of Calcutta’s Presidency College, will organise a special screening of Ghosh’s movies in July. Unishe April, Chokher Bali and Shob Charitro Kalponik are some of Ghosh’s films that are to be shown at the retrospective. The alumni association will also screen three of his latest films — Raincoat, The Last Lear and Chitrangada — at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s auditorium. It will be a chance to revisit the talent of a director who passed away so much before his time.
Southern star
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It’s not just Bollywood wannabes who head south in search of fame. Indian Bollywood wannabes, that is. The latest to join the southward bound group is British actress Amy Jackson, whose debut Hindi film, Ekk Deewana Tha, tanked quietly at the box office. So Jackson is now seeking greener pastures. She has announced that she has signed up for a Telugu film called Yevadu, where she will be seen along with Ram Charan and Shruti Haasan. From Liverpool to Mumbai to Hyderabad… Miles to go, Amy?
Sister act
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If there’s one writer in the family, it’s hard not to be tempted to try your hand at the stuff. Well, Nandini Bajpai, the older sister of chicklit author Anuja Chauhan, has done just that. Her Red Turban White Horse: My Sister’s Hurricane Wedding published by Scholastic India is a coming-of-age book for young adults. “With my children facing the dilemma of being caught between two worlds — that of children and adults — I found it fitting to write about the perils of being a grown-up, but not just yet,” said Bajpai at the book launch in Delhi. The event, attended by more youngsters than adults, seemed like a testament to the fact that the book would do well among its target audience. It also showed that contrary to popular perception, the young are attracted to the written word.