Should
she apologise? Shouldn't she? Is she sorry? Isn't she? As
controversy clouds Queen Elizabeth's visit to Jallianwala
Bagh, here's something that might fuel the flames. Way
back in 1987, Sanjay Khandelwal and Ravi Patva --
Patna-based film distributors and financiers -- invested
in a Hindi movie called Jallianwala Bagh. It starred Parikshit
Sahni, Vinod Khanna, Deepti
Naval and Shabana Azmi; it cost Rs 60 lakh; it
told the tale of
Udham Singh (played by Sahni), who killed General Dyer in
London ... end of story. Nobody wanted to buy it, and
unlike the victims of the massacre, it died a natural
death. But wait, the story goes on. Although Balraj Tah,
the film's producer-director, passed away some years ago,
a re-release, we hear, is in the pipeline. Good for us,
or so Sahni would have us believe. "It was a pretty
good film with a wonderful script," he says. But
nothing like a controversy to boost sales. "After
the media hype (surrounding the Queen's visit), we've got
many enquiries," says Khandelwal. "We've
already sold the film for the territories of Punjab,
Delhi-UP." Sounds like a happy ending after all.
The Happy Couple
If
you're hit by the cricketing blues, perk up, there's
still hope. Never mind that Leander Paes
and Mahesh Bhupathi lost the doubles
semi-finals at the US Open. It's still India's best since
the Amritrajs reached the Wimbledon semis in 1976. And
when the atp rankings are out this week, they're likely
to be world No. 5 as a pair! Next shot: the World Doubles
Championships in November (only the top eight get to go
there). "We know now we're good enough to win a
Grand Slam," says Paes. "We've been working
hard and playing well." With $350,000 won as a team
this year, they're also earning well.
Viewing Pleasure
Beauty
versus brains? That's old hat. Beauty with brains is
where it's at these days. Proof: Rachel Ruben.
The petite model's just moved, from taking directions to
giving them. Quite by accident, she'll tell you. Ruben
had chipped in for the video of Jana hai Bollywood by the
group Models. Would you like to direct a video, asked the
Magnasound md one day. Yes, she replied, and the job was
hers. It's Models again and the song: Yeh din hamara hai.
Ruben has had plenty of practice -- she's been with an ad
firm for three years. Says our little lady: "I
listened to the song, and voila, the pretty concept came
to mind.'' Should have been easy. She's quite a pretty
concept herself.
An Eye for Giving
If you
thought philanthropy takes planning, here's an
eye-opener. One day, the cast of the teleserial Mahayagya
(on Sony) were discussing the "state of the
nation". There they were -- Manohar Singh (left,
in a scene from the serial), Rohini Hattangadi, Govind
Namdeo and director Anil Chaudhary -- just sitting
around, chatting. Says Chaudhary: "We were talking
about how bad things are and decided to do
something." Quite something, as it turned out. Forty
Mahayagya unit members -- from the stars to the producer
-- have pledged to donate their eyes. Says Hattangadi:
"Every citizen is responsible for the society in
which we are living. This is my one gesture." Adds
Chaudhary: "This was not a publicity stunt, it was a
small but meaningful gesture." Meaningful, it
certainly is. But small? Certainly not. And somewhere in
the world will be 40 people who'll agree.
Should
she apologise? Shouldn't she? Is she sorry? Isn't she? As
controversy clouds Queen Elizabeth's visit to Jallianwala
Bagh, here's something that might fuel the flames. Way
back in 1987, Sanjay Khandelwal and Ravi Patva --
Patna-based film distributors and financiers -- invested
in a Hindi movie called Jallianwala Bagh. It starred Parikshit
Sahni, Vinod Khanna, Deepti
Naval and Shabana Azmi; it cost Rs 60 lakh; it
told the 
tale of
Udham Singh (played by Sahni), who killed General Dyer in
London ... end of story. Nobody wanted to buy it, and
unlike the victims of the massacre, it died a natural
death. But wait, the story goes on. Although Balraj Tah,
the film's producer-director, passed away some years ago,
a re-release, we hear, is in the pipeline. Good for us,
or so Sahni would have us believe. "It was a pretty
good film with a wonderful script," he says. But
nothing like a controversy to boost sales. "After
the media hype (surrounding the Queen's visit), we've got
many enquiries," says Khandelwal. "We've
already sold the film for the territories of Punjab,
Delhi-UP." Sounds like a happy ending after all. 
If
you're hit by the cricketing blues, perk up, there's
still hope. Never mind that Leander Paes
and Mahesh Bhupathi lost the doubles
semi-finals at the US Open. It's still India's best since
the Amritrajs reached the Wimbledon semis in 1976. And
when the atp rankings are out this week, they're likely
to be world No. 5 as a pair! Next shot: the World Doubles
Championships in November (only the top eight get to go
there). "We know now we're good enough to win a
Grand Slam," says Paes. "We've been working
hard and playing well." With $350,000 won as a team
this year, they're also earning well. 
Beauty
versus brains? That's old hat. Beauty with brains is
where it's at these days. Proof: Rachel Ruben.
The petite model's just moved, from taking directions to
giving them. Quite by accident, she'll tell you. Ruben
had chipped in for the video of Jana hai Bollywood by the
group Models. Would you like to direct a video, asked the
Magnasound md one day. Yes, she replied, and the job was
hers. It's Models again and the song: Yeh din hamara hai.
Ruben has had plenty of practice -- she's been with an ad
firm for three years. Says our little lady: "I
listened to the song, and voila, the pretty concept came
to mind.'' Should have been easy. She's quite a pretty
concept herself. 
If you
thought philanthropy takes planning, here's an
eye-opener. One day, the cast of the teleserial Mahayagya
(on Sony) were discussing the "state of the
nation". There they were -- Manohar Singh (left,
in a scene from the serial), Rohini Hattangadi, Govind
Namdeo and director Anil Chaudhary -- just sitting
around, chatting. Says Chaudhary: "We were talking
about how bad things are and decided to do
something." Quite something, as it turned out. Forty
Mahayagya unit members -- from the stars to the producer
-- have pledged to donate their eyes. Says Hattangadi:
"Every citizen is responsible for the society in
which we are living. This is my one gesture." Adds
Chaudhary: "This was not a publicity stunt, it was a
small but meaningful gesture." Meaningful, it
certainly is. But small? Certainly not. And somewhere in
the world will be 40 people who'll agree. 
