No, this isn't a joke. Urmila Matondkar has
turned into a ... well, into a cat!! And she is coming to a theatre near you in
three-dimensional sizzling, writhing form. The Hindi movie is a revised version of India's
first 3-D award winning Malayalam film My Dear Kuttichathan. And the genre is children's
fantasy with the usual good versus evil theme spiced with black magic, naughty spirits and
a pack of kids. Says Matondkar: "I play a good magician, so I turn people into things
(what things?) and yes, I also turn into a cat." Says director Jijo: "The role
suits her." Time to blow the dust off those 3-D glasses!
Supping with the Enemy
In a time of coalitions and strange political bedfellows, here's
another proxy marriage -- between arch rivals Jyoti Basu and Mamata Banerjee. The chief
minister's daughter-in-law, Dolly Basu, features in a TV serial Pratighat
alongside Nayana Das, a candidate of Mamata's Trinamool Congress. But whatever the
political nuances, Dolly thinks it's worth her time (wonder what the old man thinks).
Shall we expect papa-in-law's battles to get onscreen exposure?
Palette to Palate
What more can you ask for in a man? Artist Manjit Bawa, 56,
paints beautifully, cooks almost as well, and he sings Punjabi Sufi songs. And that's not
all. Bawa has volunteered to whip up a Lohri dinner feast at Delhi's Habitat Centre.
"Cooking has always been a passion," says Bawa, and in his spare time the artist
cooks for friends in his Dalhousie hotel. But Bawa won't be caught dead writing one of
those celebrity recipe books. "It is like painting, you have to create each time you
have to innovate." The portrait of a true artist?
Downhill to Success
Shiv Keshavan was an ordinary teenager romping
on ski slopes, dreaming ordinary dreams -- until he received an extraordinary letter. An
invitation from the Federation of International Luge, Switzerland, to learn luge --
sledging down a 1.3 km snow slope -- in Austria. Keshavan, 16, a student of Lawrence
School, Sanawar, grabbed the offer and clocked a zipping 128 kmph -- 2 kmph short of the
world record. "The roller-coaster effect hooked me and I resolved to be the
best," he says. It isn't just talk. Keshavan is the sole competitor from India and
the second Indian ever at the Winter Olympics. And with no sponsorship -- his uncle is
paying for the sledge -- the kid is still determined to bring home the Gold.
No, this isn't a joke. Urmila Matondkar has
turned into a ... well, into a cat!! And she is coming to a theatre near you in
three-dimensional sizzling, writhing form. The Hindi movie is a revised version of India's
first 3-D award winning Malayalam film My Dear Kuttichathan. And the genre is children's
fantasy with the usual good versus evil theme spiced with black magic, naughty spirits and
a pack of kids. Says Matondkar: "I play a good magician, so I turn people into things
(what things?) and yes, I also turn into a cat." Says director Jijo: "The role
suits her." Time to blow the dust off those 3-D glasses!
In a time of coalitions and strange political bedfellows, here's
another proxy marriage -- between arch rivals Jyoti Basu and Mamata Banerjee. The chief
minister's daughter-in-law, Dolly Basu, features in a TV serial Pratighat
alongside Nayana Das, a candidate of Mamata's Trinamool Congress. But whatever the
political nuances, Dolly thinks it's worth her time (wonder what the old man thinks).
Shall we expect papa-in-law's battles to get onscreen exposure? 
What more can you ask for in a man? Artist Manjit Bawa, 56,
paints beautifully, cooks almost as well, and he sings Punjabi Sufi songs. And that's not
all. Bawa has volunteered to whip up a Lohri dinner feast at Delhi's Habitat Centre.
"Cooking has always been a passion," says Bawa, and in his spare time the artist
cooks for friends in his Dalhousie hotel. But Bawa won't be caught dead writing one of
those celebrity recipe books. "It is like painting, you have to create each time you
have to innovate." The portrait of a true artist? 
Shiv Keshavan was an ordinary teenager romping
on ski slopes, dreaming ordinary dreams -- until he received an extraordinary letter. An
invitation from the Federation of International Luge, Switzerland, to learn luge --
sledging down a 1.3 km snow slope -- in Austria. Keshavan, 16, a student of Lawrence
School, Sanawar, grabbed the offer and clocked a zipping 128 kmph -- 2 kmph short of the
world record. "The roller-coaster effect hooked me and I resolved to be the
best," he says. It isn't just talk. Keshavan is the sole competitor from India and
the second Indian ever at the Winter Olympics. And with no sponsorship -- his uncle is
paying for the sledge -- the kid is still determined to bring home the Gold.
