Wife drive

If you thought holding kitty parties or botox luncheons were all corporate first wives did, think again. Take Rohini Nilekani, wife of Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani. After running a non government organisation, authoring a medical thriller and hosting a TV show, she has now launched her second book, Uncommon Ground: Dialogues between Business and Social Leaders. The book is a compilation of conversations between business and social leaders who participated in Nilekani’s 2008 TV talk show of the same name. And it revolves around topics like food, energy and transportation in India. Clearly, Mrs Nilekani knows how to push the boundaries as far as her own identity is concerned.

Spanish rhapsody

Clearly, Spain is the flavour of the season. After Zoya Akhtar’s road movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, which showcased Spain in all its colour and drama, it’s now the turn of California-based Bengali painter Soumi Nandy to say Ole. Nandy is holding an exhibition of her paintings that are heavily inspired by her extensive tour of Spain. Titled “Image Within Image”, the paintings, which are being exhibited at Calcutta’s Academy of Fine Arts, embrace the vibrant colours that define Spain. “Strong and bold, these colours symbolise life, passion, sadness — all tinged with the white of hope,” says Nandy, who is also a management graduate. The exhibition could well have been titled Viva España!

In memoriam

Asha Parekh, the silver screen bombshell of the Sixties, delivered many a hit with the late Shammi Kapoor. Now Parekh will pay a tribute to the man who she fondly called “Shammi Chacha”. Though she shuns the public eye nowadays, Parekh agreed to share her memories of working with Kapoor on a special show of Star Ya Rockstar on Zee TV that will be telecast today. “I debuted with him (in the 1959 film Dil De Ke Dekho) and have been very close to him and his family. I have so many fond memories of him,” she says. Remembering Kapoor’s energy and warmth, Parekh said that she had learnt a lot about the art of acting from him. “With his inimitable style of dancing and acting, there has never been another Shammi Kapoor.” We second that.

M vs M

Comparisons are odious. Yet they are inevitable if one is talking about two bold and beautiful sex sirens Mallika Sherawat and Malaika Arora. It seems Arora, who sizzled in the raunchy Munni badnam hui number in Dabangg, has serious competition. In the Tamil remake of the movie, the same song (Kalasala, kalasala in Tamil) has been picturised with Sherawat delivering those sexy jhatkas. In fact, S. Dharani, the film’s director, is so taken with the oomphy Mallika’s moves that he cannot stop raving about her. “She gave it all she got. It’s Mallika magic that makes the song special,” he says. So has one M managed to go one up on the other? We can’t wait to find out.

 

Money talks

You can’t ignore a book written by Khushwant Singh. No, we aren’t talking about the iconoclastic — and bestselling — nonagenarian writer and columnist who is wont to write with “malice towards one and all”. We’re talking about a 30-year-old debutant author from Delhi. His book, Simple Ways To Make More Money, to be launched this week, has insightful tips on how to be successful in business. “My name is a big blessing — it has already made me popular,” says Singh, who is an entrepreneur and a motivational speaker. He believes anyone can earn money with positive thinking and a desire to outperform. Singh is positive about his own book too and is confident that it’s going to be a bestseller. And why not? After all, everyone wants to know the secret of earning more money. That, coupled with his extremely propitious name, could make this young man a lot of money indeed.