Hot item

Here’s one more phoren beauty who is smitten with Bollywood. Maryam Zakaria, an Iranian-Swedish model-turned-actress, is debuting in Saif Ali Khan’s production Agent Vinod. And, yes, she is the pretty girl who gives competition to Kareena Kapoor in the mujra number Dil mera muft ka. Just in case you didn’t know it, Zakaria is a power-packed bit of good in more ways than one. She also does some serious stunts with Saif Ali Khan in the film. Her performance was so impressive that she has already bagged an item number in the Akshay Kumar-starrer Rowdy Rathore. We only hope that she has what it takes to stay the course, and won’t flash and burn after a few hot item numbers.

 

Art heart

You must give it to Teesta Setalvad. In the midst of all her courtroom appearances relating to the 2002 Muslim massacre in Gujarat, she is now trying to raise funds for Art for Humanity — a platform built to raise funds for Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), an organisation that deals with, well, justice and peace. And 72 artists — including such names as Ram Kumar, Jogen Chowdhury, Arpana Kaur, Manu and Madhvi Parekh, Anjolie Ela Menon, Akbar Padamsee, Atul Dodiya — have come to her aid with works of art that will be on display and sale. An arts consultancy group has curated the five-day exhibition, which opens in Mumbai on April 5. “Running CJP has always been difficult and so we have conceived of this unique platform for solidarity and fundraising,” says Setalvad, adding that the works can be seen online from March 31 on http://cjponline.org/afh. That’s called art with a heart, folks.

 

Past blast

Filmmaker Anjan Dutta is in the mood to go down memory lane. He feels that he has reached the age when he can share a few moments of his life with his audience. In his upcoming movie, Dutta vs Dutta, the director has drawn on his personal experiences of the Naxalite movement in Bengal in the 60s and early 70s. The film also relives the Calcutta of the 70s, complete with its vibrant nightlife and Western culture. Soumitra Chatterjee’s grandson, Ronodeep Basu, will play the lead role in the movie and Dutta himself plans to play his father. For Dutta, it’s going to be yesterday once more.

 

Fan girl

Remember Neha Kakkar, the petite and perky Indian Idol 2 contestant? Well, after a few reality shows on TV and a couple of Bollywood numbers to her credit, Kakkar is being hailed as the newest Indian sensation on YouTube, thanks to her song called the Neha Kakkar Shah Rukh Khan Song. “I made this song for Shah Rukh Khan a long time ago when I was totally smitten by him,” explains Kakkar. “But SRK fans all across the globe can now connect to that song which has become an anthem of sorts!” Her efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. After only four days of its release on YouTube, the video garnered over 1,60,000 hits. What’s more, even King Khan tweeted about the song and thanked Kakkar. Way to go, girl!

 

 

Pants down

So you thought 2011 was something of an annus horribilis for the central government, what with mega scams, the economic downturn and social network generated movements against it. Well, if playwright Anuvab Pal — who has given such hits as Loins of Punjab Presents and The President is Coming — had his way, things could have gotten a lot stickier. His new play, The Bureaucrat, which will debut in Mumbai soon, takes the idea of government discomfiture to a whole new level. It’s the story of a discarded civil servant who has been deputed to stop an embarrassing agitation against the government by the “Kapde Utaro Middle Classes” who are hellbent on taking off their pants to show their displeasure with the administration. Pal says the play, directed by Rahul da Cunha, “takes a laugh-out-loud look at the times we live in”. Clearly, Team Anna could learn a thing of two from Pal.