March 2, 1998
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If Wishes Were Nice Guys...
Where would you go on Valentine's Day? To a restaurant? A temple?!! Or both?!!! That's precisely what Sanjay Dutt did when he popped the question to his true love, Rhea Pillai, over dinner with friends. Yes, she said, so off they went to Mumbai's Mahalaxmi Temple at the unrespectable hour of 3.00 a.m. Says his sister Priya who, like the rest of the Dutt clan, got the good news next morning: "I was surprised. But he's happy and that's great." Adds his secretary Pankaj Kharbanda: "Sanjay Dutt ne koi kaam seedha kiya hai kya (Has Sanjay Dutt ever done anything the simple way)? He brings excitement into our drab lives." His fans' too.
She's Mira Nair's new discovery, with a name as well-chiselled as her face. Ellora Patnaik -- Toronto-based Odissi dancer and actress -- plays the lead in Nair's next film, My Own Country. "This is my first big gig," she says. So impressed was Nair with Patnaik's dancing that she incorporated dance into the role. Patnaik returns the compliment: "It was wonderful to work with Mira. She got the best out of me." And the best, we hear, is quite something. Look Who's Not Talking
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© Living Media India Ltd |
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A tabla lesson from Zakir Hussain, cricket by Sachin
Tendulkar -- couldn't get better now, could it? But life isn't all hunky dory for
Puneet Girish Thakkar, 11, who recently met Hussain. Puneet is very ill,
and while he loves actor Shah Rukh Khan, he loves the tabla even more. So the Make A Wish
(MAW) Foundation of India stepped in, and got him 
half
an hour with his idol. The maestro's known for his curly locks, now know him for his
heart. A week before the meeting, Puneet enrolled in tabla classes, and here are the
Ustad's instructions to the budding tabalchi: "Keep your hand straight. Play with a
smile." That smile stretched a mile when he presented Puneet with a tabla set.
"Mujhe tabla accha lagta hai (I like the tabla)," the boy beamed. Quite like Imran
Sheikh, who likes cricket. The 12-year-old, also ill, wanted to meet Tendulkar.
maw managed a meeting with Tendulkar, Sanjay Manjrekar and Abey
Kuruvilla, and nice guys that they are, they spent two hours with him. Says maw
volunteer Vanaja Bahl: "They made Imran feel like he was part of the team. He was
thrilled." Join the gang, son. 
It Happened That
Night 
Our Own Girl 
They're the ideal couple
for the Wills Made-for-Each-Other series, but they won't be just posing, you know. Come
March 28, models Mehr Jessia and Arjun Ramphal are
making it all official. Yes, yes, yes, they're getting married. But know what? They're
avoiding publicity. It goes back to the days when Madhu Sapre and Milind Soman were an
item. Then the controversial Tuff shoes ad happened (remember the nude pictures?), they
broke up, and Jessia believes the media blitz is what did it. Ditto for Ramphal. But if
the happy couple aren't talking, good friend Simi Garewal just can't stop. Says the former
actress: "They make a lovely couple. I think Arjun is the handsomest man in India and
he is just the person for Mehr. This marriage just had to happen. The timing was just
perfect." Gush gush, oops, hush hush, say touch wood.
