Spirited act

Talk about method acting. Mahie Gill, she of Dev D and Saheb, Biwi, Aur Gangster fame, knows how to go the extra mile when it comes to delivering an authentic performance. Tigmanshu Dhulia’s upcoming film Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 2 required the lady to get nicely sloshed. Gill decided that it would not do to merely “act” pickled. To get the character right, she needed to be that way for real. One hears that the actress began to down vodka shots from as early as 8 in the morning to get into the skin of her character. The result: An inebriated actress. And a perfect shot (er, we don’t mean vodka here). Cheers, Mahie.

Child right

Theatre lovers in Delhi had a chance to support a good cause yesterday. Theatre personality Lushin Dubey staged her solo play, I Will Not Cry, which focused on the subject of child survival in India. The play, staged at Delhi’s India Habitat Centre, is a blend of theatre and multimedia, and highlights the burning issue of child deaths and survival amidst many odds. Dubey, sister of theatre actress Lillette Dubey, has employed satire, real stories and music to communicate her message and evoke a sense of collective responsibility to act together for the cause. Good show.

Like a prayer

When your business is in the doldrums, the act of paying obeisance to the gods suddenly looks more attractive than ever. Take Vijay Mallya. The liquor baron, who has been in the news for the way the fortunes of his much vaunted Kingfisher Airlines has nosedived, recently donated a gold-plated door to the Kukke Subrahmanya temple in Karnataka. The door is made up of 2.5kg of gold valued at about Rs 80 lakh. Mallya made the offering by following all the traditional rituals prescribed at the temple. The resident god, Subrahmanya — who has a huge following among the high and mighty — is known to bring good luck to his devotees. And Mallya, the king of good times, certainly needs a bit of good time to come his way now.

Magic maiden

Bipasha Basu is well conversant with the dark art of oomph. But wait, she also knows a fair bit about the real dark arts. As you will find out if you catch her hosting the video diary of Zee TV’s popular horror show, Fear Files, today. Basu will be narrating the story of one of her friends who was a victim of black magic. But why this sudden interest in the occult, you might ask. Well, naturally, it’s got to do with the fact that her upcoming film Raaz 3 is about an actress who resorts to black magic to prop up her flagging career. “I will not only be promoting my film Raaz 3 on this show but will also talk about a supernatural incident that was experienced by my friend Anahita,” says Basu. The new Black Magic Woman, shall we say?

Cool cougar

She became famous playing coy, albeit glamorous, female leads in films like Patthar ke Phool, Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, Mohra, Khiladiyon ka Khiladi et al. But now that she is making her comeback, Raveena Tandon has chosen to walk on the wild side. In Shobhana 7 Nights, a film directed by Sudipto Chattopadhyay, she plays a cougar who gets involved with a much younger wannabe actor who turns into a gigolo to support his lifestyle. But Ravs going naughty is not the only interesting piece of news here. The film’s director has gone on record saying that her character in Shobhana 7 Nights bears a close resemblance to a famous high society author and columnist in Mumbai. Hmm. Now who could that be, we wonder.