Eyecatchers

India Today
October 5, 1998

Money for Something

What price a rose? Rs 25,000 says Hasina Jethmalani. At a flower auction organised by the Cancer Patient's Aid Association last week, Ram Jethmalani's designer daughter-in-law dipped deep into her well-cut pockets for just one rosebud. And with Shobha De presiding, the crowd coughed up a couple of lakhs in half an hour. "It shows that people in Mumbai also know generosity," drawls De. They rose to the occasion, right?

A Cut Above the Rest

Let others invite a VIP. Not this guy. For the negative-cutting ceremony of his Punjabi-Hindi film, comedian-director Jaspal Bhatti's chief guest was a butcher. His name: Shah Nawaz. The film's: Mahaul Theek Hai. Was Bhatti cutting corners? Nope. "Since the film is a spoof on the police and bureaucracy, a butcher was ideal to show how hapless like a lamb or a chicken the common man feels at their hands." He's serious.

Mondol's Pandal

Pandal Are there oscars for pandal producers? Probir Mondol would be in the reckoning. For the Durga Puja festivities in Calcutta's Salt Lake this year, Mondol has erected a 150 ft long, 90 ft high replica of -- why of course -- the Titanic. You should have guessed that. After all, T-Rexes lumbered into puja pandals the year Jurassic Park was out. Says the ship-building artisan: "The organisers wanted something to make people from Calcutta recognise Salt Lake as a place to visit during the festival." They got it.

What! Me?!

WHAT Happened?
April '98: Alisha Chinai's new album is out. The cassette cover credits Ragheb Alameh for the song Laila. In interviews, Alisha credits ex-hubby Rajesh Jhaveri.	September '98: Usha Uthup says she first picked up the original Arabic tune (by Alameh, a Lebanese composer) and sang it in 1993, in Arabic and Bengali.
Who said WHAT?
Rajesh Jhaveri: "Uthup has never sung an original song in her life. Who's she to point fingers?"	Usha Uthup: "Alisha in an interview claims the song was authored by Jhaveri with a mid-eastern touch."
WHAT Next?

Alisha plans legal notice. Jhaveri says they paid royalties to composer. Aha, so he admits it's not his song.

Aunty Usha should think twice before talking now. After all, is one copycat better than another?

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