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	May 22, 2000

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Shaking up Shakespeare
Othello in rap, audience members coaxed on stage ... It happened last week, when Delhi's Scene Stealers did a hilarious take on the Bard's works. Reduced Scene Stealers

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare-Abridged, was originally performed by the US' Reduced Shakespeare Company, a parody on the Royal Shakespeare Company; these guys (Vivek Mansukhani, Sukhesh Arora and Giles Hewitt) called themselves Reduced Scene Stealers (RSS). "The RSS prevents ...," they announced. And the drama had just begun ...

Radio Activity
The listener response to his plays is extremely positive, says BBC Radio Drama Director Jeremy Mortimer. So Mahesh Dattani is Mahesh Dattani back with the BBC, this time with the sequel to his Seven Steps Around the Fire, in which he introduced detective Uma Rao to listeners. This one's The Swami and Winston, the story of how Rao, while searching for a lost dog, gets embroiled in a murder mystery. Says Dattani, author of Final Solutions, Dance Like a Man and other critically acclaimed plays: "It is a great opportunity to showcase the hidden India to listeners around the world." Doing a pretty good job of it too.

Next of Kin
When Aparna Sen made her screen debut, she didn't get a glitzy launch. Last week, her daughter Konkona Sen Sharma did. The 21-year-old is about to break into Tollywood with her film Ek Je Aachhe Kanya, and there's already a buzz about her in Calcutta. In Ek Je ..., Konkona plays a teenager obsessed with a much older man, who later tries to bump off his girlfriend. "It's a difficult role," says the film's debutant director Subrata Sen, "but Konkona's good." So the genes have not gone wrong.

Q&A: Preity Zinta
On her latest film, Kundan "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron" Shah's Kya Kehna!, and more:
ťIs this a big break for you?
A. Yes, especially because it was the first film I ever signed, before all the ones that have been released so far.
ťWhat's your next film?
A. Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega starring Salman Khan, Rani Mukherji and me.
ťLots of triangles around these days.
A. Well, they're better than squares.
ťHave you risen beyond the role of a pretty prop in your films?
A. I try to do different stuff, films where my presence has some purpose.
ťPeople always call you "pretty Preity". You think that's because you're pretty, or because it's a good alliteration?
A. (Laughs) Oh god, that's funny ... I think journalists associate a word with your name and then it becomes "pretty Preity", "garam Dharam" or "ravishing Raveena". I mean, I've never heard anyone say "pretty Raveena" or ravishing Preity".
ťMeaning what? You're not pretty?
A. I'm not bad. But I'm not great either.

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