Karnad, the critic

Girish Karnad seems to be making a habit of courting controversy. After taking potshots at V.S. Naipaul and Rabindranath Tagore, this time he has created a stir with his remarks on Kannada novelist S.L. Bhyrappa. Speaking at the Dharwad Sahitya Sambhrama, a literary meet, the actor-playwright said he’d made a mistake directing films based on the works of Bhyrappa as his own temperament didn’t match the novel’s tone. For instance, while Bhyrappa was against the slaughter of cows, Karnad said he was totally against the ban on cow slaughter. That should set the Hindu right-wing brigade all aflutter with indignation.

Congo tale

What do you do when you graduate in mathematics, and that too from Yale? For Anjan Sundaram the answer to that question was that he wanted to see the world, especially Congo. “My mother cried for days after hearing that I would be going to a war-torn country,” recalls Sundaram. Once there, he soon started writing and reporting for news agencies and The New York Times. “I became a stringer as I thought it would pay for my travels,” says Sundaram. He stayed in Congo for one-and-a-half years from 2005 and the result is Stringer — A Reporter’s Journey in the Congo, a non-fiction take on his experience in the war-ravaged country. Published by Penguin and set to be launched soon, the book promises to give an insider’s view of a country most Indians are barely aware of.

Fan dance

If Bollywood has a die-hard Rekha fan in Vidya Balan, Tollywood too has an ardent admirer — Debleena Dutta (in pic). The popular Bengali TV and film actress recently wowed the audience with her tribute to Rekha during a fashion show organised by Calcutta-based designer store Palki. The actress, who is also an accomplished dancer, danced to In aankhon ke masti mein, a timeless number from Umrao Jaan. “It feels special to enact an iconic song and a legendary actor on stage,” says Dutta. “I have always admired the diva — so it was an honour performing on one of her most romantic songs.” Rekha would have been pleased.

Faithful Pooja

Stand by your man, they say. Well, New York-based actress Pooja Kumar, who plays the female lead in Kamal Haasan’s now controversial film Vishwaroopam, is doing something similar. She’s standing by her director as he fights to release his film in Tamil Nadu. “It’s incredible how nothing bogs him down,” says the petite Pooja, who has also bagged a role in the sequel to Vishwaroopam (yes, there is one on the cards). Well, the fate of the film might hang in balance in Tamil Nadu, but Kumar is already reaping the rewards of her role in it. She claims she’s got two film offers in India and one in Hollywood. “Indians are being accepted in a big way in Hollywood now. You have at least one Indian in any American TV serial now,” she says. No doubt we’ll see more of the petite Pooja in the days to come.

Slim ’n’ trim

Saif Ali Khan is looking lean and mean these days, having shed all the extra kilos he’d piled on following the non-stop parties after he and Kareena Kapoor got married in October last year. And the star is all praise for Tigmanshu Dhulia — he stars in his film Bullet Raja — who took him out of his busy social life in Mumbai and Pataudi and hauled him off to Lucknow where he was put on a stringent diet and a daily gym routine, This, together with an early-to-bed-early-to-rise regimen, soon got Khan the trim dehati look he needed for the role. “It’s a different look, and not in a million years would I dress like that in real life,” admits Khan. “But it’s a wonderfully written role and an interesting character with loads of attitude.” Now, this is something fans of Saif Ali Khan will certainly look forward to.