Glitter, glitter

When it comes to flashy, no one does it better than Rakhi Sawant. The thrusting item girl turned TV hottie, who rides on her generous silicone implants, now has yet another sensational — and yes, flashy — implant. She has gone and got herself a diamond tooth! According to Sawant, this was something she had always wanted to do. Perhaps she had heard the saying “diamonds are forever” whereas one’s teeth, alas, are decidedly not so. But if you are aiming to get a peek at the sparkler in her maw, forget it. Apparently, it is tucked away somewhere among her shadowy molars. So what? We always knew this girl was hard. As a diamond, of course.

Tough message

Cartoons can pack a punch. And that’s exactly what There you go! — a comic book brought out by human rights organisation Survival International — does by lampooning multinationals that destroy tribal lands in the name of “development”. As Survival’s Miriam Ross puts it, “The briefcase-wielding officials in the cartoon claim to want to ‘bring sustainable development’ to a forest dwelling tribe. What they really unleash is the clearing of the tribe’s forest and the destruction of their livelihood... All in the name of a ‘multi-stakeholder cross-disciplinary integrated approach’ to development.” The comic book, penned by Oren Ginzburg, has apparently been sent to the Indian Prime Minister and his Cabinet ministers. Wonder if the message will ring a bell with our honourable ministers.

Name game

What’s in a name, did you say? Well, plenty. At least, that’s what Tusshar Kapoor, brother of soap diva Ekta Kapoor, believes. The actor lost his shirt recently when journalists wrongly spelt his upcoming movie as “Shorr”. Apparently, the right spelling of the film was a leaner and meaner “Shor” with not two, but one solitary ‘r’. Kapoor, who is a staunch believer in numerology (it runs in the family — who can forget the plethora of ‘k’s in sister Ekta Kapoor’s famous K-serials?) — was furious that the media had got it so horribly wrong and had no doubt gone and invited some ill luck in the bargain. Relax, Tusshar. If the movie is any good, it’ll fly. Making a shor over its spelling won’t work much magic.

Southern sirens

If you thought only B-grade Hindi movie stars ended up in southern films, think again. First it was Deepika Padukone, who has been signed opposite charismatic superstar Rajinikanth for a Tamil film Rana. Now, newbie actress Sonakshi Sinha has been approached to act in a Kollywood movie with Kamal Haasan as her co-star. The grapevine has it that the consummate actor was so impressed with Sinha in Dabangg, her first film, that he expressed a desire to work with her in his next project, which is inspired by the Hollywood horror film, Hanniba, and is slated to be made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. That should gladden Sinha’s heart. This is one debutante who’s being wooed all over the country.

Books ’’ more

Call it a bonanza for booklovers. A 10-day literary festival Spring Fever 2011, organised by Penguin Books India in Delhi, is bringing together a glittering array of litterateurs, lit wits and artistes from other disciplines. The festival, on till March 13, will feature A-list authors, book previews and book releases as well as some musical performances. So if Shubha Mudgal turns out some soulful renditions, then see poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar shed his Bollywood garb as he converses with authors William Dalrymple, Namita Gokhale and Sunil Sethi. Writer and columnist Shobhaa Dé and adman Suhel Seth will join the jamboree with some book readings. The festival will conclude with a qawwali performance by the celebrated Warsi brothers of Hyderabad. Books, music, scintillating conversation — need one ask for more?