Not many of you would know, but Lucky’s most famous song ‘O Sanam’ happened by chance.
When someone as charmingly effervescent as Rakul Preet Singh—her perfect set of teeth lighting up every frame—loses her shirt in spectacular fashion, you are apt to take note. A flimsy tendril of the Bollywood drug case that held the nation’s flighty attention led to Rakul Preet, and she was questioned by the narcotic police. The brilliant minds running our telly news took that as evidence of guilt.The girl hit back at the ‘fakery’ and went to court, effectively gagging the dyspeptic lot. Then, Rakul took herself away to…Maldives, naturally! The destination of everyone we turn to has enough islands to accommodate them all. Rakul chose a wide canvas, where the azure sky met the sea imperceptibly, the wide promenade all hers to sprawl on. With parents by her side, she lets one rip, as we know her, the tinkle ringing in our ears.
Nov 27, 2020
No kidding, we shall pitch for all the belles who have descended on seductive Maldives in recent days to congregate for a gorgeous group photo. But to close out this set with an ace, here is Sophie Choudry who, going by the speed with which these photos were uploaded on Instagram, must have run on to the beach right from the tarmac. The sun may have been struggling to rise at this juncture of early dawn, but Sophie is in place to bask in its opening rays—hand held up as a raming device in a classic pose of acute contentment, ankles buried in water and that surprising blue sash over her shoulders setting off her shockingly neon green bikini. She “woke up in paradise”, don’t disturb her peace.
Nov 27, 2020
Ever since we saw the terribly lanky Prabhu Deva in horribly bagy garb, twisting his limbs out of shape in the song Muqabala Muqabala, 25 long summers back, we knew he was in for orthopaedic trouble. That silent prophecy came true this summer, when he was laid low due to soreness of the legs and the back. Reason: inveterate and unrestrained dancing. But, fittingly, there was a twist. Ministering to him in Mumbai was Dr Himani (who stays in the delightfully named Sakinaka area). The rest is a script for a love story set during the lockdown: a quic dash to Chennai, two months of blissful rest and recuperation and a quiet wedding without song and dance. Moral: if you give yourself to an art, it rewards you in unexpected ways.
Nov 27, 2020
There is an age to be attained before one is considered ‘ageless’. The highlight of the American Music Awards proved, to our immense satisfaction, the truth behind our homespun truism. It came in the shimmering, striated, stippled vision of a throb our teenage years—Jennifer Lopez. There she was, in a black and sheer catsuit and a new, shorter hairdo, writhing, gyrating, splitting the stage in half with a single, gymnastic throw, moving in and out of the ingeniously cast shadows, overshadowing everyone else. Her unequal partner in the rendition of Pa Ti and Lonely was Colombian singer Maluma—not the lumpy thing the name suggests, but quite a pistol himself. More to the point, at 51, J. Lo fully “freaked out” ABC censors with her free expression. That’s iconic.
Nov 27, 2020
Wax statue of film director Satyajit Ray at Mother's Wax Musuem, in Kolkata.
Nov 26, 2020
Bollywood actress Tamanna Bhatia spotted at Bandra in Mumbai.
Nov 25, 2020
Katrina Kaif testing for covid before shot to procure safety.
Nov 25, 2020
Comedian Bharti Singh's husband Haarsh Limbaachiyaa arrives at the NCB office for questioning after a raid at his residence by the agency in a drug related case, in Mumbai.
Nov 21, 2020
Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty spotted at Juhu in Mumbai.
Nov 20, 2020
Every line of human endeavour, high or low—from art, cinema and classical music to mass imprisonment, ideological treachery and an Orwellian police state—is incomplete without a Russian element. Sports Illustrated has other stunners in its capacious stable, but Vita Sidorkina stands out—it must be the violent clash of a homely Slavic face with the disconcerting grey eyes and those blonde streams. (If you think we exaggerate, see also Natalia Vodianova.) But alas, our Vita is no Russian femme fatale—she lives in Miami with her husband and little girl and runs a vegan ice-cream venture. How boringly American is that? Yet, apply the ‘golden ratio’ of beauty to her entire person, and we’ll wager she will fetch impossibly high marks.
Nov 20, 2020
Priyanka Chopra, now a US resident, has to give fans back home a periodic something to remember her by, to rekindle, as it were, the cooling embers of her once crackling stardom. We surveyed public opinion on the intermittent obtrusion of Nick Jonas—never one for varied expression—in frames belonging rightfully to Priyanka only, but Diwali is a different matter. A time of solemn affirmation of family ties and love finds the two with lit diyas in hand, half-closed eyes turned towards each other. His loose, sparsely embroidered jacket does try to establish a rapport with her flaming, floral-printed sari. Did Nick resist wearing a kurta? We’ll never know, but the highlight, surely, is Priyanka’s gorgeous kundan earrings.
Nov 20, 2020
The seductive charm that Maldives holds for couples is legion, or we’d have thought Saina Nehwal had a quiet word with Masaba Gupta. Yet, one of our finest young designers hasn’t turned her getaway into a frolicsome jaunt tailored for mass applause. True to the principles of haute couture, Masaba projects a unique vision. Yes, the white in her maroon bikini strikes a startling symmetry with those earrings, but her expression is not one of marketable ‘happiness’: one hand tidying her hair, she stares in the middle distance, lips set in introspection. Did a self-reflexive turn in Masaba Masaba, where she dramatises herself, have something to do with this? We have to check with Satyadeep Misra, the actor who played her ex-husband, is said to be her boyfriend and who was near at hand.
Nov 20, 2020
Are Ranveer’s kurta and Deepika’s kameez cut from the same cloth? It might well have been, like much of their conjoined lives, always in lockstep with each other—in movies, commercials, photoshoots, even answering the summons of the Narcotics Control Bureau. That life—a very public celebration of harmony and understanding—has turned two. Calling her his ‘gudiya’, Ranveer declares that their “souls are eternally intertwined”, harking to a different era of love’s loud proclamation, something that many would term cloyingly ‘corny’. But lovers, so long as roses bloom in their garden, have always disregarded the demands of smart irony. They say it’s the loveless who have need for such imitation ornaments. What do you think?
Nov 20, 2020
Women put tika to a photograph of legendary Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee, on the occasion of Bhai Dooj festival, in Kolkata. Chatterjee died Sunday after an over-a-month-long battle with multiple ailments.
Nov 16, 2020
Bollywood actress Kritika Kamra arrives at Bunty Sachdeva's residence for the 'Diwali' party in Mumbai.
Nov 14, 2020
Bollywood actress Ananya Panday arrives at Bunty Sachdeva's residence for the 'Diwali' party in Mumbai.
Nov 14, 2020
Bollywood actress Athiya Shetty rings a bell during 'Muhurat' trading session to mark the occasion of Diwali and Laxmi Pooja at the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai.
Nov 14, 2020
Actor Arjun Rampal leaves from his residence at Bandra in Mumbai.
Nov 14, 2020
Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal reaches Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) office after being summoned by the agency for questioning in connection with a drug case, in Mumbai.
Nov 13, 2020
Nearly everything in this glamour shot is perfect: the golden cupolas of a hoary palace in olde Rajpootana, the exquisite early winter light and the stiff photographic posture of actress Ruhii Singh (Calendar Girls). The royal blue bikini has a salutary effect too, as has Ruhii’s browned tresses, the sheer turquoise wrap and her dainty profile. Yet the effect, so patiently held by the poor girl, is marred by those pink slippers. No, nothing can atone for those horrible pieces of rubber. The hospitable citizens of the noble city of Udaipur should ban the stylist from their classy town.
Nov 13, 2020
