Out of the box
The going hasn’t been all that good for boxer Akhil Kumar. While his friend Vijender Singh — another medal winner at the Beijing Olympics — has been endorsing many products, thanks perhaps to his dashing looks, poor Akhil Kumar has remained in the shadows. But no longer. Kumar will play the lead role in the second video of the album Precious Platinum — in the Asha Bhonsle song Tum vaada to karte ho, par poora kab karte ho. The video, to be released shortly, features Kumar with model Ankeeta Mukherjee. “He was willing to learn. He patiently put in an effort during the rehearsals and shot the video while learning the ropes,” says director S. Ramachandran. That’s called a knock-out.
Gee for Guru
Actor and now new-age guru Suchita Ray Chowdhury is all set to motivate the young. The theatre veteran, who also acted in Satyajit Ray’s Ashani Sanket, Mrinal Sen’s Calcutta ’71, and Rituparno Ghosh’s Chokher Bali, has come up with her first book, Jeebon… Tomar Copyright (Life…Your Copyright). It’s a kind of a “motivational” book — “the first of its kind in the Bengali book world,” as the writer puts it. It comprises a collection of essays targetted at teenagers and young professionals and revolves around human relationships. She deals with issues such as homosexuality and death which, she points out, youngsters find difficult to cope with. “I am passionate about lending a helping hand to the youth. I don’t judge and I don’t want to preach,” says Suchita. For the young, nothing could be better.
Patient notes
Indian-origin doctor-writer Abraham Verghese is at it again. After wowing readers with moving accounts of the medical world, he has again let the stethoscope rest and the pen talk. After two important non-fiction works, Verghese now has his first novel, Cutting for Stone, being brought out by Random House India. Verghese points out his latest effort — which, after a massive first print in the US, has gone into a reprint and sold in 13 countries — delves into issues such as roots and identity. “Where you are born shapes your fate, and perhaps the most common reason for the vast Indian diaspora is the attempt by so many to change their fate at a time when they were struggling in one place,” he says before embarking on a US promotional tour. At the heart of the book is the tale of a doctor in search of a lost twin. Just what the doctor ordered.
Ash you like it
Like it or not, you are going to see a lot of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the coming weeks. First, the Bachchan bahu wowed Hollywood audiences in a sizzling black number at the premiere of Pink Panther 2 in New York some days ago. And now, she is ready to make her presence felt in Bollywood. Ash, apparently, has her platter full this year, with a host of meaty roles. Topping the list of her forthcoming projects is a blockbuster-in-the-making with Rajnikant. Then she will be seen with hubby Abhishek in Mani Ratnam’s Ravan. There’s more: she will team up with Hrithik Roshan in a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film and with Akshay Kumar in a Vipul Shah venture. Marriage, clearly, does not mean retirement. And she seems to have the blessings of her mother-in-law, Jaya Bachchan, who all but gave up a lucrative career after marriage. But then, saas bhi kabhi bahu thi.
Gandhi-giri
If you think the epithet ‘Mrs G’ ceased to exist with its original bearer one October morning in 1984, think again. From starting her political career as an unsure Congress upstart, all the way to becoming the unchallenged supremo of the ruling UPA government, Sonia Gandhi has done everything to make her mom-in-law proud. So as India goes into elections once again, here’s your chance to catch up on Sonia’s turbulent political career. Sonia — A Biography, a book written on the current Congress boss by journalist Rasheed Kidwai of The Telegraph, provides an interesting insight into the life and career of Sonia, touching on crucial episodes such as her renouncing the PM’s post in 2004, handling the office-of-profit scandal a few years later, engaging deftly in coalition politics or smoothly steering son Rahul Gandhi to a position of power within the party. To be released by Penguin sometime this month, the book — an updated and expanded version of a title Kidwai had originally written in 2003 — promises to be an engrossing read. And in case you’re into filmy gupshup, there’s also a chapter on the legendary Gandhi-Bachchan friendship that ended a few years ago. Something for everyone, it seems.
