Newbie no more
AshaBhat returned to her alma mater, RV College of Engineering, for the first time after being crowned Miss Supranatural in Poland last December. The 22-year-old was in college for the inauguration of 8th Mile, the college fest. Like a true beauty queen, she was thankful (and less nostalgic, unlike an alumnus) and talked about her days as a newbie in college three years ago. Apparently, the lady “didn’t know anyone” and “approaching the teachers was always difficult”. Oh, that’s the story of 99 per cent of the student population. Of course, things have changed for Bhat in the last four months. Along with the crown came attention (and new found confidence to approach old teachers), which she said was all new to her. “But nice.”
Lit lite
THE Lahore Literary festival which concluded last week was a resounding success. Lahoris queued up by the hundreds to cock a snook at the terror threats and hear some excellent panel discussions. Your diarist, a guest of the festival, was particularly delighted to see the re-emergence of two ladies of a certain vintage into the limelight. We spotted Meher Tarrar, she of the Shashi Tharoor fame, hobnobbing with the Indian contingent. In her heyday, Tarrar had acted in a film or two and her journalistic avatar was a fairly recent one, we were told. The other woman, Tehmina Durrani, of equal renown, was not to be physically espied but was very much a guiding spirit behind the LLF. Those with long memories might recall her as the author of My Feudal Lord, a pulpish bestseller that recounted her years of abusive marriage to powerful Pakistani politician Ghulam Mustafa Khar. With that one book, she became something of an icon on both sides of the border. Tehmina has since moved on. She is now married to Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s brother who is also the chief minister of Punjab and a great patron of the LLF. Tehmina, whose taste in men clearly runs to the powerful kind, has told her friends that even though Sharif has married again, she is treated well. Phew!
Hair matters
Doppelgangers, they are — Michael Antony Dias of Mad Orange Fireworks and musician Vasu Dixit of Swarathma. People talk to Dias thinking he is Dixit and vice versa. Blame it on their almost identical funky sky-scraper hairdo. While the duo has a hearty laugh over the mistaken identity, people around them are left confused. Perhaps, a haircut would help. But that’s asking for the moon, isn’t it? Especially when it concerns these two.
Tailpiece
If the diarist were Srinivasan Narayanan, former director of Mumbai Film Festival, the diarist would be doing cartwheels now. The prestigious Sundance Institute has partnered with Drishyam (Narayanan’s baby), a production company, for the Sundance Institute screenwriters lab that will be held in Goa from April. After films like Margarita, With a Straw and Umrika (won the audience award in the world cinema dramatic category at Sundance this year; and from Drishyam’s stable) and Masaan came out of Sundance Screenwriters Lab, one can only think of the gems that will emerge after the Goa Lab. 2015 seems like a good year for Indian cinema.
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Columns> Code 560 / Bangalore Mirror Bureau / March 01st, 2015