Dancing to His Tune

When two ace choreographers meet, what would you expect? Jealousy? Rivalry? A wee bit of ill-will? But sparks of a different sort flew last week, when Bollywood heavyweight Saroj Khan teamed up with modern dance innovator Shiamak Davar. The lady who's thrown all her girth behind tinseltown's heaving-bosoms routine, was directing Davar for the video of his debut Hindi pop album, Jaane kisne. "I'm learning so much from her," declares Davar, now a successful Bollywood debutant with the choreography of Dil to Pagal Hai. "It's wonderful to work with him," claims Khan. Hey, whatever happened to good ol' professional rivalry? Sorry pals, wrong place. "There is no time for such frivolous rubbish," says Davar. And to think we thought her dil had just done a little dhak dhak ...

Wide Spread

It takes 16 cooks working on a 27-ft-long tava that needs 16 gas cylinders at a time, and if you find that hard to swallow, how about this? "It" is a dosa, all of 25 ft long, and the made-to-order spread served at Sankalp restaurant in Ahmedabad costs Rs 5,000 a piece. Which is not much, considering that one of these dosas is enough to feed 30 hungry souls. Says Sankalp's owner, Robin Goenka: "We first offered a 4-ft-long dosa, then made it 8 ft, but that was no fun so we took a leap to 25 ft." A leap that is likely to land him in the arms of a chubby bank balance. But what's it with our Gujarati brethren and food? At Cream Corner Pizzeria in Vadodara, proprietor Shailesh Rathod has just tossed up an 8.5-ft-wide pizza. "It gave us a feeling of pride and joy," he gloats. "It took us 18 hours to complete this pizza." No way you can call that "fast food".

Special Session

This is the story of a VJ, some PJs and a formula that clicked. Meet Jaaved Jaaferi. The ultimate joker in Channel V town becomes the oldest one around when his show, Videocon Flashback, turns three this week. Same veejay, same concept, "even the same sponsor" -- it's a record of sorts for the Indian teleworld. Says Jaaved: "We were the ones to start talking to the audience not at them." Just one problem, he adds, there is no competition. "This makes it even more difficult to keep reinventing ourselves." On B-day (birthday, big day, whatever), V will try doing just that. The one-hour special will have gags aplenty, a host of stars calling up with their good wishes and a mini Hindi film with Jaaved playing all the characters. Most talented three-year-old we know.

High Drama

Everything about it is maha -- maha sets, maha experimentation with the Mahabharat. What's more, stage actress/director Lillette Dubey is having maha fun making it. Jaya (Victory) will be a 20,000 shloka, rock-jazz-Carnatic version of the great epic. "It's a musical experiment," she gurgles gleefully. "There is nothing sacrosant about it." Don't doubt her for one moment, folks. This rock opera on the scale of Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, will be performed within the compound of a desolate mill next to the sea in Mumbai. "No shiny headgear and naked torsos," please. "It's tacky," says Dubey. "Besides, the men don't have the bods, anyway." And if they did?

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