Price Of A Deal
Musharraf may have bent backwards in a bid to make his country the standard bearer of the US in the region. Of course, there are financial rewards for Pakistan, but the fear of a fundamentalist backlash continues to keep the nation on tenterhooks.

Circle Of Death
Violence fuelled by bigotry and foreign money brought the Taliban to power. Now as things come full circle the Islamic militia may meet an equally brutal end.

Afghanistan 1978-2001
Its women once enjoyed social freedom, and there was joy and peace. It is now a country perverted by the missionaries of a grim utopia. A social history in pictures.

EYECATCHERS

What's your role?

Sushmita Sen, the vanguard of contemporary Indian modelling, has been unable to replicate her stature in cinema. (On screen she's famous for being a concubine, a dance specialist and such auxiliary identities.) But director David Dhawan and producer Eakta Kapoor in Kyo Kii Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta decided that Sen, now 25, deserved much better-her vampish status thus being raised to a sari-clad husband-doting, god-fearing heroine. Although Kapoor claims that Sen's "completely Indian looks" added to the film, audiences are not taking the reversal too kindly ... initial response suggests a massive flop. Back to the vamp ... err sorry, ramp?

Three in a Bush

	Rambha (left) with Laila and Jyothika

The name of the Tamil film is in English-Three Roses-and don't be misled into believing that it has some horticultural subplot. Metaphors (deceptive though they could be) are frequently used in the business of giving titles, sometimes to make up for the creativity that the film might lack. However, actress Rambha's debut home production, directed by Parameshwar and launched last week, is no ordinary picture. It stars Tamil temptresses Laila and Jyothika, with Rambha herself completing the flowery triad, in what is a rare and formidable line-up of idols. And the "roses" don't run around tress in gardens; they fight to root out "the evil in society". Says producer Vasu, incidentally Rambha's brother: "Well, I just want our first film to be different. That's why the glamorous ladies don such roles." Forget the name.

Serial Runner

Srikkant with Madhuri (in white)

One-time specialist opener and Indian cricket captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth, 42, is now spreading himself more thinly. After a stint as an express train commentator, a cricket show host and an adviser for Southeast Asian cricket, Srikkanth has discovered the need to produce a Kannada serial-on women's emancipation. The series, Gauthami, for which episodes have already been shot, has Bangalore actress Madhuri playing the crusading protagonist. "Actually I'm exploring new areas of making money," says the producer. So why not act himself? Many people-given Srikkanth's propensity for making faces-felt that he had lost his true calling.

Soap to Screen

The script isn't ready but the chocolate-cream hero of the insanely popular soap Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi is ready to romance Kareena in a Pepsi ad. Amar Upadhyay, popularly known as Mihir, is the cola company's latest endorser and follows a long line of distinguished predecessors, including Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar. The ad is to be shot in November but the actor, who began life in the relative insignificance of family spoof Dekh Bhai Dekh in 1994, is not sitting idle-he's already signed on films with directors J.P. Dutta, Anil Sharma, Indra Kumar and debutante Aruna Irani. And there's little likelihood of his being flustered by Kareena. "If she is hot, so am I," he declares. Kareena?

MetroScape

Fort Of Arms
In the 16th century, a Portuguese governor fortified a strategically located house to defend ships in the harbour of an island on the west coast of India acquired from the Sultan of Gujarat. Mumbai grew first into a fort and then into a city from here.
more...

Looking Glass

Delhi Photography:
Pradeep Bhatia

Delhi Music Concert: Pandit Ram Chatur Mallick Dhrupad Foundation

Delhi Sculpture: Sculpter Hemi Bawa