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EYECATCHERS
Chan Landing
 It's
official. Martial arts superstar Jackie Chan is hitting India in
the first week of October, soon after the release of his latest smash
Rush Hour 2. The stops will be Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Crouching Tiger
Hidden Dragon's gravity-defying femme fatale Zhang Ziyi, his new
co-star, will accompany Chan. "Jackie will be here as Hong Kong's
cultural ambassador," says the film's distributor, Sridhar Vishwanathan.
News is that Chan, 47, is also planning a pilgrimage. He's hoping to include
a trip to Nepal, the birthplace of the Buddha. Chan, by the way, is a
hot favourite with some of our own heroes. Kamal Haasan for example, who
once told Vishwanathan it was his life's ambition to work with Chan. And
Jackie Shroff, who even has a script for an action comedy, tentatively
titled Jackie O Jackie starring him and Chan, lined up for approval. To
sum up, an action-packed trip for Chan.
Just Once
 Santosh
Sivan made Malaika Arora every man's dream come true in the Chaiya chaiya
song in Dil Se. Could be why ramp model Rajlakshmi Roy promptly
jumped at Sivan's offer to do a dance number in Asoka The Great. Roy had
been consistently shying away from films, content with playing the home
bird after her marriage last year to model Rahul Roy. "I am not interested
in films," she insists. "The chance to work with Sivan, Shah
Rukh and choreographer Farah Khan was just too good to pass up."
Sivan got Malaika to gyrate atop a moving train. Wonder what he will get
Rajlakshmi.
No Full Stops
 If
you want to add a lucky letter to your name, start with the first letter
of the alphabet. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was the
first to do so. She added an extra 'a' and dropped the dot after the initial
'J' in her name at the insistence of numerologists, who said she should
make the requisite addition and deletion if she wanted to bolster the
impact of the sun. Queen of pulp Shobhaa De, nee Shobha De, seems
to have gone the same way. Says De: "Ever since I added the extra
'a', I have been feeling really, really good. I have finally taken full
charge of my life, starting with how I wish to spell my name. I am at
last comfortable being me." Funny we thought 'S' was De's lucky letter.
Recall Starry Nights, Small Betrayals, Sultry Days, Socialite Evenings,
Sisters, Speedpost...?
Title Happy
 India's
next export at the Miss Universe 2002 pageant will have competition from
another Indian. Neelam Verma, 25, has just clinched the Miss Canada-Universe
2001 title. It has made her the first Indian-Canadian to take the crown.
Her win at the Miss India-Canada contest earlier last month should have
been an indication. Getting past 28 contestants was not easy, but Verma
breezed through the title-clinching question-answer round. The judges
gave her full marks. But that could also have been thanks to Verma's other
talents: writing, fashion designing, scuba-diving and belly dancing. There's
yet another side to her: she wants to be Hindi cinema's next Zeenat Aman.
Maybe Feroze Khan should look her up for his next film.
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