Eyecatchers

India Today, March 15, 1999
March 15, 1999

Size Wise

The's just cut his debut album, but his music company's touting him as "India's biggest pop star". It's true, says Pradeep Roy, "I'm 185 kg, 6 ft tall and 5 ft wide, so we're talking literally here." Don't take his music lightly either. Roy is so serious about it that he quit a job with A.F. Ferguson (he's a CA) to work on the album Wah Bhai Wah. And he's only the second Indian after Daler Mehndi to win a prize at the Voice of Asia Ethnic Pop Music Festival, Kazhakhstan. Of course size matters. But talent matters more.

First Lady

Manju Kapur is not a movie star. So hey, why all the attention? Well, the lady's just bagged the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book (Eurasia region) for her novel Difficult Daughters. "The sudden attention is bewildering," groans the 50-year-old English lecturer from Delhi University. And yes, she does have daughters -- three of them -- but no, the book is not about them. "I wanted to call it Partitions," explains Kapur, "but the publishers chose this title." And the jury chose the book Romi Gysi .

Gorgeous Gal
Her fleeting presence was as tantalising as her looks. Model Romy Gysi was in India the other day to be shot by ace lensman Prabuddha Dasgupta for Garden Silk Mills. The gorgeous 20-something, half-Indian, half-Swiss gal makes a worthy successor to Persis Khambatta (remember she once modelled for Garden too?). She's a pro, says Dasgupta, "There was a feeling that this is someone who's here to do a job." And what a piece of work it is.

Look Here
Like the mountain going to Mohammed, last week the World Mohd Azharuddin Cup was taken to Hyderabad, Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin's home town. It was the first leg of a unique, one-month India tour, with Pepsi taking the newly designed trophy -- 11 kg of gilt and silver, valued at -- 27,000 (over Rs 18 lakh) -- across the country, giving the public a chance to take a good look. At Hyderabad, Amitabh Bachchan unveiled it in the presence of Azhar, Ajay Jadeja, Ajit Agarkar and P.R. Mansingh, manager of the Indian team that won in 1983. "The time has come for the cup to come back to us," said Bachchan. Close to a billion people would agree.

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