When the $100 million-budget Spiderman opens this week, look out for an Indian who will have his 30 seconds of fame. Ajay Mehta, the New York-based actor who has starred in a host of roles in the prime time series Sex and the City and Sopranos, will be among the five characters picked to represent the multi-ethnic setting of New York City, which plays the backdrop to the comic hero's celluloid resurrection. Mehta, who plays a desi cab driver, is smitten by Spiderman's antics and relates a hearsay account on the hero's heart-stopping antics from the Manhattan skyscrapers. Short though his presence may be, it left the requisite impact on the big budget movie's associate producer Grant Curtis. "Mehta is a really good actor. That's why we used him. He did a great job." As for Mehta, he says, a mite unmodestly, "There was no written dialogue. I just improvised on the spot." Surely a web weaving effort, this.

An Early Start

At 23, Rehana Mirza is possibly amongst the youngest writers to debut with a full-length drama script. Her pan-Asian drama, Barriers, dealing with the South Asian perspective of the backlash that grew out of 9/11, opened in Manhattan last week. Residing in the vicinity, Mirza was house-bound for a week as the authorities closed down all commute in lower Manhattan. "There was a lot of thinking on it at that time. My training helped me work through all of it," says the artiste who studied dramatic writing at New York University. The flip side was that Mirza decided to channelise her energies into telling a story through a play. "The reason my play is a pan-Asian drama is because I feel it is important to bring together all communities. My mom is Filipino and my dad is Pakistani, so I firmly believe in the value of diversity." Looks as though she has a headstart in life.

Moral Booster

LOVE hurts, acceptance pays. While that could well be the USP of candyfloss celluloid capers, in actor-playwright Girish Karnad's Bali it takes on a whole new meaning. A Jain king, incensed to see his wife romancing another man, decides to exterminate her paramour but is overcome by compunction. Says Karnad, "It's a crime not just to commit a murder but even in intending to kill." Playing the role of the protagonist is Gary Turner, an English actor who is serenading history by featuring in an Indian play. Bollywood actors Naseeruddin Shah and wife Ratna also play significant parts in Bali, which shall see a June opening in London's Lester Hay Market. Love all, play.