STARS ABOVE, STARS WAY BELOW

Priyanka Chopra is a highly admirable young woman, whose sincerity of purpose shone through even in that blot against the human escutcheon, Fashion. At this point we still have her shrieked ‘Toh kya rape kiya maine tumhara’ ringing in our ears. If you ignore the titbits she shares with the press (‘I was so attractive in school, my parents turned my bedroom into a cage to keep the boys out’) then you can look forward to What’s Your Rashee? Chopra plays 12 different roles in it. Unfortunately, Harman Baweja is the bride-seeking protagonist. As the poet said, only man is vile.

COOKING WITHOUT FIRE
Cooking W ith Stella is being described as an upstairs-downstairs comedy set in New Delhi. The idea of a Deepa Mehta scripted comedy baffles the mind, but filmaker and sibling Dilip

Kitchen clash Lisa Ray and Seema Biswas, stars of Cooking With Stella

Mehta has cast an intriguing set of oddballs: Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas and Don McKellar. Lisa Ray plays a Canadian diplomat in Delhi for whom works Seema Biswas, an ardently Christian and ardently crooked cook. Shriya Saran plays a honest young nanny who enters the household later. We are wondering whether there will be annoying drooling over Indian food or whether it will be actually fun. What would have been truly fun is if Seema Biswas played the diplomat and Lisa Ray played the conniving cook. But these wishes shall die quietly.

HISTOIRE DE BABBAR

For those who crushed a little on Prateik Babbar’s lost poet look (helped largely by the mysteries of the script) in Jaane Tu, Jaane Na, here is news. Prateik has just been signed on as lead in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s next production My Friend Pinto. The film will be directed by Raghav Dar, a former assistant director to Mani Ratnam. We don’t know what the script of My Friend Pinto involves but suspect that sighing and languishing will be part of the requirements of the script.

THE GREAT BONG BLOG BOOK

In the manner that Miss India is the appropriate first step towards a Bollywood career, a blog is now the socially acceptable way towards a book. Add Arnab Ray, better known online as The Great Bong to the list. He is set to be published by Harper- Collins very soon. Ray, a Washingtonbased researcher, promises a collection of amusing and highly personal essays on popular culture.

Compiled by NISHA SUSAN