Howzzat?

He is known for his offbeat films. But did you know that Om Puri had offbeat — and decidedly radical — views too? When the whole country feels that no honour is enough for cricket ‘god’ Sachin Tendulkar, Puri has dared to sing from a different hymn sheet. The veteran actor feels that Tendulkar should not get the country’s highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna. That’s because Puri thinks that the award should only go to those who have made a definite contribution to society, and not to those who have merely notched up “personal achievements”. So does Puri have a fitting Bharat Ratna candidate in mind? Well, he wouldn’t mind giving his vote to social activist Anna Hazare. Sachin, are you listening?

By design

Remember Ayesha Kapur, the girl with the Medusa-like hair, who played the role of the young handicapped girl to perfection in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Black? Well, she is back in the spotlight — but not on the silver screen. She has become the accessory designer for UTV Bindass’s new show, Meri Toh Lag Gayi….Naukri. “I used to assist my mother in her department store and that’s when I realised that I loved accessory designing. So when I got an offer from UTV I took it up,” says Kapur. But she hasn’t put acting totally on the backburner. “That’s there. I don’t mind acting, but right now I would rather concentrate on the things I am passionate about,” she says. That’s right, Ayesha, follow your passion.

Top honour

Nandita Das may not have been looming large on the big screen these days, but she continues to make waves. Earlier this week, the prestigious French award — the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters — was conferred on the actor-director at a function in Delhi. For Das, the honour holds meaning, for earlier awardees include stalwarts such as theatre director Habib Tanveer, photographer Raghu Rai and writer Upamanyu Chatterjee. Das, the doyenne of parallel cinema, will finally rub shoulders with Shah Rukh Khan, who has also been bestowed with the award. Clearly, Das — who recently gave birth to a baby — is going great guns. As the French would say, Oo la la.

Siren Saran

Shriya Saran, the sexy south Indian actress — who has also acted in Hindi films like Mission Istanbul and Awaarapan — was floating on cloud nine recently. Reason? Saran got a chance to shake a leg with Shah Rukh Khan at the colourful IPL opening in Chennai. “I am so excited and happy,” gushed the actress. Her fascination with King Khan was obvious as she hung on to him long after their fast-paced Tamil dance number was over. Saran, who has also acted with such southern superstars as Rajinikanth and Mohanlal, got 48 hours off from director Deepa Mehta to keep her two-minute tryst with SRK. The actress is shooting in Sri Lanka for Mehta’s film Winds of Change, which is an adaptation of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children. The film also stars the likes of Irrfan Khan, Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das. Looks like Saran is in good company these days.

Second coming

If you’ve been holding your breath for the last three years, you can exhale again: Amitav Ghosh’s second book in his Ibis trilogy — River of Smoke — is all ready to hit your friendly neighbourhood bookshop. The novel takes off from the Sea of Poppies, which was published in 2008, and continues with the dramatic story of indentured labourers travelling from India to Mauritius. Described by publishers Penguin as “quite simply our biggest novel of the year”, the book is to be launched in June. The summer has never seemed this long.