Director’s special

In some circles, they still call her the Surabhi girl ? for that was where television and screen actor Renuka Shahane first made her mark. But Shahane, clearly, likes to reinvent herself: she is all set to sit on the director’s chair now. “Even when I was an actor, I was fascinated by the role of a director,” says Shahane, who is giving the final touches to a script that she expects to have ready by the end of June. “The script talks about a social problem which is very common among families but is not talked about and discussed openly. The concept revolves around ‘trust’. It says you should trust the right people, for sometimes even people in a family cannot be trusted.” The one Shahane can trust, though, is her husband, Ashutosh Rana. The former big screen baddie is certainly going to figure in her film. How and when is to be disclosed later.

All fur animals

Her detractors in the film industry may call her a cat, but Raveena Tandon is not complaining. These days she is busy campaigning for animal rights and is particularly agitated about animals being killed for clothing. “I really do hate people who wear fur since the production of fur entails so much unnecessary cruelty,” she says. “Mink cubs are killed to adorn so-called fashionable people.”

The actress, herself a new mother, is all admiration for mother animals ? which is possibly why she did a campaign for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) on mother’s day earlier this month. So as a mother, what does she have to say to the young? “We should teach our children to be kind to animals. For kind children become gentle adults.”

That’s some journey ?from mast-mast to must-must.

What’s cooking?

For close to three decades, Usha Uthup ? the original Indipop diva ? was known for her bass voice and golf ball-sized bindis. Last week, the singer unravelled her culinary skills at an event held at a Bangalore hotel. Despite being a vegetarian, Uthup claims to be a pro at cooking non-vegetarian dishes. In between stirring a Bengali-style prawn dish and Kerala fish curry, Uthup stresses that she enjoys cooking. “Cooking is like music. Both need improvisation. And like music, ‘the simpler, the better’ is the rule in cooking too.” There’s more on this oldie-goldie’s platter. Uthup is playing Mammootty’s mother in a Malayalam movie that is yet to be filmed. And that should whet one’s appetite.