The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic courtesy/theblackprince.com
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Reliving history
Not much is known about the intriguing life of the last king of Punjab, Maharajah Duleep Singh, who was taken to England by the British at the age of 15. And even lesser known is the story his mother, Rani Jindan, a strong woman who strove to fight years of injustice done to her family. As India and the UK celebrate 70 years of partnership, the life of the maharajah has been made into a biopic, The Black Prince, which releases internationally later this month. The film marks the acting debut of acclaimed Sufi singer-poet Satinder Sartaaj, who plays the lead, while Shabana Azmi plays his mother. The veteran actress has already won two international awards for Best Actress for the film, and is happy about the kind of research that has gone into it. A film coming from the stable of a producer who is himself a historian, is, after all, hard to come by.
TV heartthrob and t-shirt support
That Nakuul Mehta enjoys a massive fan following is evident on the amount of gifts he receives on set of his immensely popular show, Ishqbaaz. "I've cut 200 cakes in the last six months," shared Mehta, who has been urging his fans to stop wasting money on gifts and instead, donate it to a cause. The actor has collaborated with friend Nishchay Gogia, who runs a quirky clothing label, Moochwala, to design a special set of t-shirts, available for sale on its social media platforms. The proceeds will go to support Anil Kumar, a 38-year-old woodcutter from Kerala, who braved all odds to become a marathon runner and now, has the opportunity to participate in the Asian Masters Athletics Championships in China, to be held in September. He is currently running a crowdfunding campaign of '77,000 on fueladream.com. "Nishchay and I love playing cricket and tennis, and we keep track of various sports besides cricket. When we heard about Anil Kumar, we felt the urge to help and spread awareness about him. We've crossed the 65 per cent mark and once, the goal is complete, we will stop selling the t-shirts," added the actor.
No country for filmmakers?
"Desperate times, desperate measures. In 2003, the dream was Raghu Romeo. In 2017, the dream is RK/RK," says actor Rajat Kapoor on the link he shared recently on Twitter, as a response to those who have been asking him what's next after his 2014 directorial project. "It's been three years since Ankhon Dekhi released, and since then, I have been meeting people for financing my next film. They show interest, but it wanes. It all depends on how much your last film made," Kapoor, whose films have consistently won awards, told this diarist. He had given himself time till June to find a producer for RK/RK, whose plot revolves around a film director, but since nothing has materialised yet, Kapoor decided to take the crowd-funding route. But with the recent off-beat releases, haven't things changed at all? "A lot of it has got to do with individual steam. We see sparks from time to time like Court and Titli, but it still remains very difficult to raise money through conventional sources."
The eight-year journey of Aadhaar
As tax payers try to figure out how to link their Aadhaar card with their PAN card, bank accounts and gas agency, a book on the all-important document couldn't have come at a better time. Well-known political and economic analyst, Shankkar Aiyar, released Aadhaar: A Biometric History of India's 12-Digit Revolution yesterday, in which he presents the ups, downs and turnarounds of the document under two governments. Eight years ago on July 6, the then Finance Minister and now President Pranab Mukherjee had announced the creation of Aadhaar. As the prime mover of the world's largest identification project, he has shared his insights on the phenomenon in the book, where he recalls, "I was not satisfied with merely letting it happen. I was determined to make it happen."
Look close enough and find a book
Consider this. You are walking on the platform, busy on your smartphone. Your eyes wander for a moment and you find a book tucked under a seat. You think it's lost property, but it is actually yours to take. Taking inspiration from actress Emma Watson who, as part of her collaboration with a worldwide initiative, Books on the Underground, leaves books on the London tube, Delhi-based couple Shruti Sharma and Tarun Chauhan are replicating the idea in the capital's metro trains and stations. Through their non-profit mobile library, Books on Delhi Metro - which goes by the motto, Take it, Read it. Return it to someone else to enjoy it - they are trying to encourage the good old reading habit among people. The couple makes the commute all the more exciting by dropping clues on their social media pages every day. While we are happy for fellow bibliophiles in Delhi, we are wondering how exciting it would be chance upon a tome in a Virar local!
Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
Who is the fairest of them all?
Malaika Arora Khan seems to be wondering about something as she looks in the mirror during an event in Goregaon.
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