Stringing along

Not too many men would like to be known as Aishwarya Rai’s brother, but poor Sonu Sood had no choice. A role, after all, is a role, especially for a newcomer. But Sood did get noticed as Jodha’s brother, Prince Sujamal, in Jodhaa Akbar. Now we are told he has been getting rave reviews as a musician. Sood, who is shooting for Sooraj Barjatya’s Ek Vivah Aisi Bhi, has been regaling its cast and crew with soulful renditions of old Hindi songs on the guitar. The actor, who plays the lead role of a music composer in the film, has apparently even wowed Barjatya. “When Soorajji came to know that I was a trained guitarist, he asked the director to incorporate this aspect in the film,” he says. And Sood — to quote a wonderful old crooner — ended up strumming his fate with his fingers.

Coal play

Toronto-based author Kwai Yun Li doesn’t quite believe that walking down the streets of Calcutta is like stepping on live coal, but she has an interesting story to relate. In Calcutta to promote her book The Palm Leaf Fan and Other Stories, the author of Chinese origin, who grew up in the eastern Indian city, recalls how her father used to take her to a local tea stall to show off his eight-month-old daughter who had started taking her first, faltering steps. One day, she tottered over some red hot coal that the chaiwallah had laid out. “My mother told me that the blisters on the soles of my feet were the size of melons,” she says. “That was my first and only attempt at walking on hot coals,” she chuckles. Is there a parable to be read there?

Mad in India

Juhi Chawla is convinced that everybody around her is crazy. No, she is not suffering from some kind of an acute persecution mania. Nor is she taking potshots at the cast and crew of her new film Krazzy 4. She is merely talking about the theme of the Rakesh Roshan-produced comic film. “I play a psychiatrist and try hard to get all these mad people on the right track,” she says about the film that also stars Irrfan Khan, Arshad Warsi, Rajpal Yadav and Suresh Menon. The surprise element is a cameo role by Shah Rukh Khan, an old, old associate of hers. But she believes that SRK too is not all there — and this time she is not talking about the film. “When I saw his six-pack avatar, I thought he must be crazy. But then that’s Shah Rukh for you — he’s one crazy achiever, and I don’t put anything past him.” Crazy kiya rey?

Women, uncut

So what is writer Manju Kapur up to? She is “busy struggling” with a novel based in India and Canada. Tentatively called The Immigrant, the book is about an NRI marriage, say the organisers of a round table discussion on personal narratives by women writers. The discussion, held to mark International Women’s Day on Saturday by the French Information Resource Centre and Women Unlimited in Delhi, featured four prominent women. Kapur, French author Christine Jordis, Hindi litterateur Geetanjali Shree and publisher-writer Ritu Menon of Women Unlimited came together for the discussion “Writing the self.” The accompanying graphic was evocative — a long black plait had ended up as the nib of a pen. The tiny instrument, indeed, is mightier than the sword.

Shoot and shout

You may not get to wear a white wig and hold a gavel in your hand but the judge bug is biting — and how! The latest to join the judges’ bandwagon is actor Makrand Deshpande. But Deshpande is not on TV. He is an online judge who, along with V.J. Nikhil Chinappa, will select “digistars” from a list of 24 participants who have been selected for an online video talent contest. “Things can’t get easier than this,” says Deshpande. “This can be a stepping stone to great careers,” he adds. Online voting for the best videos began on March 1 and will continue till March 25. The names of the final winners, selected by the judges, will be announced on March 28. Till then, it’s order, order, order.