Eyecatchers

India Today, January 11, 1999
Jan 11, 1999

Hold Your Breath

She's a boon to Indian TV. Now Indian literature has something to watch out for. Actress-serial maker Neena Gupta is writing a book for Penguin, based on her popular teleseries Saans (Breath). Says Neena: "This is the first time (in India) that a successful serial is being novelised." And wait, there may be a semi-autobiographical work in the making too. Will she give the steamy details of her famed liaison with cricketer Viv Richards? Hold your breath.

Bright Night
There's no looking back now. When Manoj Night Shyamalan sold his script for the movie Sixth Sense to Disney for $3 million (Rs 12.6 crore), it was the third highest sale of a movie script in Hollywood. He's also been chosen to direct the film, a Bruce Willis-starrer, on a $40 million budget. "I could have secured a higher price for the script," chuckles the 28-year-old writer-director of Indian origin, "but I was confident that Disney would not compromise on quality, so I chose them." The confidence was mutual.

Sonar Sikdar
She's the latest queen of the Indian track. But hey, where's her crown? West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu fixed the problem last week when he crowned Jyotirmoyee Sikdar. Literally. It was a solid gold affair studded with 32 diamonds and two rubies that he placed on her head when she went home to Calcutta for the first time after her dazzling run at the Bangkok Asiad. Said aamar Jyoti, bubbly despite the weight of her Rs 2 lakh-plus head gear: "There is lot of new talent in the districts and I'm sure they'll do both Bengal and India proud. " She already has, of course.

Two of a Kind
Isabelle Jaitly nee Faure with husband Akshay She's French. Hubby's a mix of Punjabi, UP and Malayali blood. Right now they're based in Japan. How much more unusual can you get? Lots more if you're Isabelle Jaitly nee Faure, bahu-come-lately to Jaya Jaitly, Samata Party general secretary and George Fernandes' trusted lieutenant. For a ceremony in France, Isabelle donned a wedding gown made completely of handmade paper. This week in Delhi, she and hubby Akshay had a traditional Kerala wedding too. "I was a little worried about how Akshay's family would react to the paper gown," recalls the bride. But, says amma Jaya, "I like anything unusual and eccentric." And aesthetic, we might add.

Midnight Bash: Filling a stadium with 35,000 candles on New Year's eve is a Kochi youth group, Swaruma's way of "bringing together people of all communities". Who wants booze parties anyway?