Life is beautiful

Charity may or may not begin at home — but television actors Mohit Malik and Addite Shirwakar are taking no chances. The two, who are said to be a pair, recently launched an sms campaign to save the life of their driver who had met with an accident. The surgery bills were massive, and the two started texting people in the industry, urging them to contribute to a fund for his well being. And they ended up collecting more than Rs 3 lakh in a matter of two days! “Right from big directors to spot boys and light men on the sets, everyone offered to help,” says Addite. The driver is now recuperating in his village — and the couple couldn’t be happier.

Storm in a book

When his father stopped him from joining the army many years ago, N.V. Subramanian went on to find solace in journalism. But who would know that the 50-year-old —who once worked as roving editor for Sunday magazine and is now the editor of a strategic affairs website — would eventually go on to make a name for himself as an author? After jotting down his first novel University of Love a few years ago, Subramanian has just published his new authorial venture. Titled Courtesan of Storms, the Har-Anand novel —set in Delhi — is a story that reflects contemporary human existence, love, and vanities that restrict relationships. At 139 pages, it’s a fleeting read. So go

Rafi returns

That he is an ardent fan of Mohammed Rafi is well known. Die hard viewers of the original TV music reality show Sa Re Ga Ma stillrecall how singer Sonu Niigaam — once with a single ‘i’ and ‘a’ butnow under the spell of numerology —would break into one of Rafi’s silken scores in a jiffy. Now, Niigaam adds to that repertoire of Rafi mania. In a first, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from Birmingham, UK, has teamed up with Niigaam to present Rafi Resurrected in association with music company Saregama India Ltd. Some 75 members of the Birmingham orchestra arranged and orchestrated 18 of Rafi’s tracks in collaboration with Niigaam. Saregama India Ltd has just launched the double CD of Rafi Resurrected, with Niigaam doing the vocals. Well, here’s hoping for a golden resurrection.

Amen!

Our poor celebs can’t even pray in peace. Recently, actor Ajay Devgan took a break from the shooting of Krishika Lulla and Kumar Mangat’s Toonpur Ka Superhero to pop into Ajmersharif with wife Kajol, sister-in-law Tanisha and daughter Nysa. But the news that the stars were at the famous dargah spread like wildfire, and before you knew it everybody had left their work to get a glimpse of the Bollywood family. Finally, says an industry insider, things calmed down, and the Devgans and the Mukherjees managed to enter the shrine. If only the family, a la Mallika Sherawat, had thought of donning burqas!

Musical move

You’ve got to give it to Indian Ocean — the band is forever on the move. Next month, the group comprising Susmit Sen, Asheem Chakravarty, Amit Kilam and Rahul Ram — will be going to the United States, Canada and South Africa for a series of concerts. But before that, there is a new live DVD that they have just released, the first ever by an Indian music band. “These days, bands produce their own CDs and DVDs,” says a musician, “because it’s so much easier to do so than go chasing after record companies.” Indian Ocean has done just that —it has shot and recorded 11 of its popular songs, made copies and given them to EMI for distribution. One of the songs in the DVD — Indian Ocean Live in Delhi —is a new composition called Bula Raha. The song is slated to feature in the Hindi film Bhumi, directed by Avik Mukhopadhyay. The group, which has been composing music and songs for quite a few Hindi films now, is happy with the initial response to the DVD. “We had a dream of a live DVD for years — and we are really pleased and excited that this dream has borne fruit,” the band says. Enjoy!