Vidya Balan

By Jilawatan

Vidya Balan gets restaurant to put her favourite dish back on the menu

So taken in is Vidya Balan by a particular dish at her favourite Bandra restaurant that she compelled the owners of the place to bring it back on the menu after it was dropped.

Says a source close to the Paa actress, “Vidya is very fond of the cracked wheat ragu on the menu at Farhan Azmi’s restaurant in Bandra. When she comes there the staff knows exactly what to get for her.

But in the last six months, she got so busy shooting for her films that she didn’t find the time to visit the place.

When she came back last week she was informed that her favourite dish was taken off the menu. It is a vegetarian dish made of cracked wheat and spinach and is very healthy.

Few people order it as it requires an acquired taste. During Balan’s regular patronage, it was customary in her order. When she heard it wasn’t there she insisted that it be brought back and now the dish is back on the menu.”

Farhan says, “Vidya is a very sweet girl and my wife Ayesha and I are both like her. We had discontinued the cracked wheat ragu but bought it back because of Vidya.

She loves it. For regulars like Vidya, Ranbir Kapoor, Yuvraj Singh, Salman and Sohail Khan we make food as per their liking like we don’t sell pre-decided pasta but the diner gets to choose everything from the dressing to the sauce and vegetables.”

By Jilawatan

Actor Vidya Balan’s thumb-sucking act in Abhishek Chaubey’s Ishqiya may have elevated the sex quotient of Hindi cinema, but her desperate attempts at recreating that scene by sucking Rani Mukherjee’s thumb in season 3 of Koffee with Karan, looked outrageous and as some said, not very dignified. Nor was Saif Ali Khan’s response “Reliable, Strong and Long”, when KJo asked him what would be his tagline if he ever endorsed a product. Kareena Kapoor looked away innocently but few missed the thrill that coursed through her eyes. Koffee With Karan, as critics have noted, is the new confessional chamber of Bollywood, showing B-town celebrities for what they really are. A bunch of ambitious, brash and cheeky people, as prone to self praise as to the criticism of their colleagues. It is the new rogue’s gallery, where the one who speaks most unguardedly notches maximum points. Dry humour, instant wit, self-praise and a bit of sexy banter — they allow it all to hang out. “People in the entertainment business appear on chat shows like these only to reaffirm their existence in the industry. It is all about image creation,” says director Mahesh Bhatt. “Slander is now legitimate,” believes Bhatt. Ad-man Alyque Padamsee says, “The film industry is now more competitive than it was and bitching is a part of it. It’s bound to happen,” he says. With dirty linen laundered openly, KJo’s dhobi ghat is the hotbed of a public display of lack of affection. Remember the shocking suds, don’t you? Deepika Padukone suggested that former boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor should endorse condoms and the three-flops down Sonam Kapoor, dissed Bollywood’s fashion sense. Kareena Kapoor snarled at Priyanka Chopra’s accent, Suzanne Roshan hinted at bedroom secrets and almost all guests on the gossip couch made fun of Ram Gopal Verma. Padamsee is right when he says, “I have also realised that this season, the women are more outspoken than men.”

By Jilawatan

She turned scriptwriter with Ranbir Kapoor-Priyanka Chopra starrer Anjaana-Anjaani and now Almost Single author Advaita Kala is looking forward to her next film Kahaani which will see Vidya Balan playing the central protagonist.

Kala promises that Kahaani, being directed by Sujoy Ghosh of Aladin fame, will see a completely new avatar of Vidya, who is known for her performance oriented roles in films like Pareenita, Paa and Ishqiya.

The writer says she developed the character keeping Vidya in mind and always knew that the actress will do the role. The film is currently being shot in Kolkata and will release sometime next year.

“It is a very different film. I would say Vidya is the hero of the movie. It is a very difficult role and from the very beginning Sujoy and I knew that Vidya will do it even before approaching her. And true to our belief once we told her the story she agreed immediately,” Kala told PTI.

Though Kala is reluctant to talk about the movie, reports suggest that Vidya plays a pregnant woman who has to fight her way to survive in an alien environment.

Sidharth Anand, the director of Anjaana-Anjaani read Kala’s debut novel and approached her to write the script. “It sort of happened for me. He told me the idea and we developed it into a story about these two young people,” she says.

And before she finished, Jhankar Beats director Sujoy wanted her to write the script of Kahaani.

“We were talking about doing something together and he told me this idea and before I knew the story had gripped me. Somehow this woman’s story became very important to tell,” says Kala.

Aks her about converting her novel Almost Single about a singleton fighting her way to life and persistent questions about marriage, Kala says she was approached for rights but she declined.

“When I started writing it, I did not even know that it will be a novel. I wrote almost single when I had taken a break in my career and was really annoyed with the ways single women are treated. I was approached for a movie adaptation but I think somethings are better left as a novel,” says Kala.

“A lot needs to change in Hindi movie scenario. Female oriented subjects are not given the kind of platform they deserve and I want to stay true to the spirit of the book,” she says.

Even though, Kala is enjoying her stint in scriptwriting, she is not making plans for future. “I am enjoying my time in Bollywood but who knows what life has in offer. It keeps changing. I will continue writing but I don’t want to lock myself in one form of expression,” she adds.

By Jilawatan

Beam Global Spirits & Wine, the 4th largest spirits company in the world, on Tuesday announced the nominees for the 10th year Teacher’s Achievement Awards (TAA). These nominees were shortlisted after an evaluation process by the members of the advisory board; comprising of eminent personalities from the fields of business, entertainment, sports and communication.

The Jury Panel comprising eminent personalities like Anupam Kher, Jagjit Singh, Shyam Benegal, Piyush Pandey, Pritish Nandy amongst the other Jury Members met with KPMG, leading audit firm to submit their evaluations. The series of Jury meetings were held last week in Delhi and Mumbai.

Harish Moolchandani, CEO and Managing Director, India and Indian Subcontinent, Beam Global Spirits & Wine, India, said, “During this decade long journey, we have followed very strict processes while ensuring that the defined due process is followed when it comes to the evaluation of the nominees for the awards.”

The nominees for the Entertainment Category comprise of eminent personalities like Ranbir Kapoor (Actor), Vidya Balan (Actress), Boman Irani (Actor), Shantanu Moitra (Musician) and Shaan Mukherjee (Singer).

The Teacher’s Achievement Awards, recognizes and rewards individual excellence and exemplary achievement in diverse fields.