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Who, Wear 'n' When
 Our
man at the Oscars wasn't the only one to "wear Indian" at the show in LA. True, Shekhar
Kapur donned an Arjun Khanna outfit for the function; another
Mumbai designer, Sangeeta Chopra, did the honours for wife Suchitra. But
did you know that Judi Dench, this year's Best Supporting Actress, wore an Abu
Jani-Sandeep Khosla creation? It all began when Lindy Hemming, costume designer
for the latest James Bond film, picked up some of their outfits for the next Bond lady,
Sophie Marceau. Dench, her co-star, was impressed, and there's the story. Says Khosla:
"She wanted something out of the ordinary." She got it.  Role of Honour
What do tenor Placido Domingo and soprano Beverly Sills have in common? They both
performed with the New York City Opera and hit the big time. It's Indira Mahajan's
turn now. Daughter of a Punjabi father and an African-American mother, Mahajan made her
debut as Musetta in Puccini's La Boheme earlier this month, earning accolades from critics
and a standing ovation from the crowd. Says the young soprano who has performed across
Europe and the US, in Japan and Costa Rica: "India is a part of me. I long to go
there." Do come.
 The
Price of Stardom
Who said money talks? it dances and sings. Forget the days when stars performed
gratis at awards nites because the organisers were friends. At the recent Zee Cine Awards,
Shah Rukh Khan, Govinda, Madhuri Dixit, Salman
Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Rani Mukherjee pocketed hefty packets.
Rumours put the figures at anywhere between Rs 35 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh. Guess who got
what. We won't tell.
 Cast Factor
If cast is the criterion, this film's got it made. For his directorial venture Hey!
Ram, powerhouse performer Kamal Haasan has roped in Bollywood's current
darling Shah Rukh Khan. Haasan plays the hero in this Tamil-Hindi
bilingual, Khan -- for whom it's "a dream come true" -- is his friend. Also in
the cast: young Rani Mukherjee who, like Khan, is making her Tamil debut. And when these
two team up, we all know kuch hit hota hai.
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