Same name

What’s in a name, asks the bard. Plenty, says Vidya Malvade. The actress — who made her mark as the captain of the Indian hockey team in Chak De! India — was shooting for the film Striker when her husband decided to send her some flowers. But the delivery boy, convinced that the bouquet was for Vidya Balan, refused to hand it over to Malvade. He finally relented — but rather reluctantly. But that wasn’t the end of the story. The husband started sending flowers over every day — much to the confusion of the delivery boy. Then someone had a bright idea — he told the boy that the actress was actually Vidya Balan and not Malvade. The latter protested — but the flower boy didn’t care. He’d found the right Vidya! Did someone say something about the dangers of half-baked knowledge?

Music mania

The king is dead — long live the King. We are not talking about Elvis, but our desi king — Mohammed Rafi. Fans of the singer are in for a treat. Thirty years after his death, a label called Universal Music is bringing out six of his songs recorded in December 1979. The songs have been restored and digitised and are now being released as The Last Songs. The album honours the memories of not just Rafi but music director Chitragupta, lyricist Kafeel Aazar and film director Dilip Bose. “It’s a collection of the most precious songs by Mohammad Rafi, the greatest musical legends of all times,” says Rajeeta Hemwani, vice-president (content), Universal Music. “I say precious because the songs were hidden from his fans for more than 30 years after being recorded.” The last songs, clearly, are not his swan songs.

Hairy tale

If you are wondering why KJo has suddenly started looking all grown up, it’s because he’s stopped shaving. The otherwise clean shaven director has been sporting a clumsy stubble these days. The grapevine has it that it’s no designer stubble — it’s just that Karan Johar doesn’t have the time to shave any more. His mega film My Name is Khan will be released soon, and Johar is so caught up with it that he’s let his hair down, literally. Doesn’t the poor guy know that films, like beards, are hair today, gone tomorrow?

 

Well, well, well

The nation may be lustily singing Aal izz well — but there’s something fishy in the kingdom of 3 Idiots. We are told that all is actually not well between two of the idiots — R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi. Relations between the two are so frosty that Indo-Pak ties seem as warm as freshly made toast in comparison. The two actors were recently supposed to host an awards ceremony together, but Madhavan refused to share the stage with Sharman. Finally Omi Vaidya, who played the role of Chatur in the film, had to replace Sharman. Wonder why Aamir Khan didn’t step in to stop the cold war. Or was he waiting for Chetan Bhagat to write an addendum?

Picture perfect

Meet Vicky Roy. Until recently, he was just another underprivileged child, living out his uneventful life on the streets of Delhi. And had the stars not aligned one fine day to turn the 23-year-old’s fate on its head, Roy might have been a far cry from the emerging photographic talent that he is today. After being adopted a few years ago by the Salaam Baalak Trust, a non governmental organisation caring for street children, Roy trained in professional photography at the Triveni Kala Sangam in Delhi, before going on to win a grant funded by the US-based Maybach Foundation — the only Indian among its four recipients in 2009. What followed was a stint with American photographer Joe Woolhead, and an opportunity to photographically document the rebuilding of the World Trade Center in New York. Roy’s photographs, taken during the assignment from March to August 2009, now adorn the walls of the American Center in Delhi, where they command the attention of a hallowed audience. What a click!