This time every year, archival photographs of Raj Kapoor's Holi revelry are regularly trotted out. But what the captions don't talk about is how the annual celebration typified old Kapoorian double standards. RK Studios in Chembur was the venue where bhang was served in plenty and a huge tankful of coloured water was where all the action happened. Whether a young Asha Sachdev or a senior like kathak queen Sitara Devi, all of them would come out with their wet clothes clinging to them like an RK heroine. It took days for the colour to be washed off as the RK boys delighted in hurling everybody into the tank. But in the intolerant 70s and 80s, the rules for their own women were different. Krishna Raj Kapoor, Neila Shammi Kapoor and all the bahus of the Kapoor household wore a demure dab of colour on their cheeks and sat aloof and untouchable.

Amitabh Bachchan in the 90s had a more equal Holi celebration where the catering would be by Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and bhang flowed on the lawns of his bungalow Prateeksha. (The Bachchans now own three more bungalows in the same area.) Amitabh enjoyed the day as much as anybody else as he'd sit with ordinary band-baajawalas and sing peppy numbers with gusto. All guests and family members would be soaked. It was less rowdy than the RK Holi with universal rules for everybody. For days after Holi, wife Jaya would have a sore throat with all the shouting and drenching.

Shabana Azmi too used to throw Holi parties with the Juhu crowd thronging her place. But this year, she's experiencing a high that's vastly different from the tipsiness of bhang . She practically gurgles with delight at the heap of compliments that have come her way for her superlative performance in Neerja. Along with Sonam Kapoor who played the title role, it's Shabana (who played her mother) who's walking away with most of the applause.

Talking about all the phone calls and messages she's been receiving, Shabana mentioned one close friend who had a different way of complimenting her. This friend called up Shabana and scolded her for half-an-hour saying, "This is the kind of film/role you should be doing. If you ever again do films like Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola in which I hated you, I'll slap you. Don't ever do such films!"

Shabana is too consummate an actress to require the tapping of a real-life experience for a high-calibre performance. But it certainly helped that her daughter in Neerja was a girl she's known almost like a mother. Shabana and Anil Kapoor go back to films like Ek Baar Kaho (1980) where she was the main heroine and he was a small-time side player. She later led the cast of Boney Kapoor's Hum Paanch , also in the same year, and has been extremely close to both the Kapoor brothers since then, when all of them were still single. She has therefore been "Shabana Aunty" for Anil's kids from the time they were born. So playing Sonam's mother held that extra special natural emotion. Add to it, Shabana's skills at bringing a lump to the throat and the performance in Neerja became one of her finest.

With the success of Neerja , Sonam has not only shed the tag of being a non-actress but has also become even more sought after than she used to be for commercial endorsements.

The fashionable ad world makes its own headlines, some of it a spillover from the sister industry of films. With her pretty face and sense of style, Sonam Kapoor was always a favourite with the big names of advertising. But she shared something in common with Aishwarya Rai: the reputation of being a better model and ramp walker than an actress. Another common factor was L'oreal - a couple of years ago, the senior actress had been miffed with the younger Sonam over being the face of the cosmetics giant. It was a brand only Aishwarya was closely identified with until Sonam was also contracted to share red carpet space with her. The clash was inevitable.

Today, after Neerja , Sonam has done it again. She's rumoured to be taking over from Aishwarya as the brand ambassador of a big-time jeweller who apparently wants a younger face for his campaign. The Bachchan bahu can't be too pleased with this new development.

Another tidbit from the ad world: check out the Nestle ad on the Internet. Starring the real-life cross border couple Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik, it sizzles with Indo-Pak one-upmanship but more in the spirit of revelry than rivalry. The ad brims over with fun and humour and Shoaib comes across as a very likeable guy. Too bad the Shiv Sena can't do anything about this Indo-Pak match.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and author