Aftermath

The list of films dealing with the Gujarat riots seems to be surging. After films like Parzania and Firaaq, comes well-known Malayalam director T. V. Chandran’s film Vilapangalkkappuram (Beyond the Wail). The movie, which stars southern actress and filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s wife Suhasini, was screened by the social group, Anhad, in the capital recently. The story is about a young girl Zahira (played by actress Priyanka), whose father runs an eatery in Ahmedabad when the riots happen. The rioters loot his shop, kill him and rape his wife and daughter. But Zahira escapes death and reaches Kerala — only to be further haunted by religious fundamentalists there. By now, she has had enough. She comes back to Gujarat and fights it out. We all know of a riot-victim called Zaheera, whose story took a different turn. But then reel life can have its own endings.

In and out

Bobby Deol is a nice guy. Dharam da puttar, we are told, likes to mingle with the masses. The actor refused to enter his comfortable van when the crew and cast of Sangeeth Sivan’s EK — The Power of One were wrestling it out in the fields of Punjab. The film’s executive producer, Jaswant Khera, says that they were shooting a few fight scenes in muddy fields and a spell of bad weather was doing all it could to upset their schedule. “The unit had already lost 3-4 days of shoot, thanks to the bad weather,” he says. But Bobby wasn’t going to stay put in his vanity van — and went ahead with the shoot. “I was absolutely overwhelmed by his dedication and professionalism and the action sequences undoubtedly turned out as winners in the film,” says Khera. Khera should have known — you can take the fields out of a Jat, but can’t take a Jat out of the fields.

Model Modi

You can love him or hate him — but you certainly can’t ignore him. Journalist M.V. Kamath has no intentions of ignoring him. On the contrary, he is out with a biography of the one we are talking about — controversial BJP leader and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. The former chairman of the Prasar Bharti has written the book along with scholar Kalindi Randeri. Published by Rupa, Narendra Modi — the Architect of a Modern State, argues that Modi is a much misunderstood man — more sinned against than sinning. The book, slated to be out next week, is an attempt to unravel the “other side” of the man. Well, looks like this one is going to stir up a hornet’s nest. Be ready to duck.

Poll role

Nandita Das is not going to fight an election — at least not right now — but she is sure going to fight for the polls. The actress-turned-director has lent her support to a citizen’s movement. She is an ambassador for the All India People’s Manifesto, an online mass campaign that urges local groups in constituencies to focus on their priorities and objectives for the coming general elections. “Such initiatives are important because they go a long way in contributing to the change that we want to see in society,” she says in favour of the movement, an awareness video of which is now up on YouTube for all to see. It has already reportedly registered more than 50,000 hits, so clearly, Das is being heard. And seen.

Belly belle

The temperature’s rising, and Bong bomb Riya Sen is doing her bit to add to global warming. Apparently, the actress is training to become a belly dancer. No, she is not taking up an alternative career, but she is getting all ready to perform at a star-studded Bollywood event in Dubai. Riya will be grooving to some hot Bollywood numbers, and to lend an Arab touch to the event there will be an explosive mixture of belly dancing and Bollywood tunes. We had heard of Delhi belly. But this is the first known example of the Calcutta belly.