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THE FAB FIVE
It must be one of the biggest coups in Bollywood history. In his forthcoming film Lajja, Raj Kumar Santoshi has managed to cast Rekha, Madhuri Dixit, Manisha Koirala and Mahima Choudhary. And for good measure, he's negotiating with Aishwarya Rai to make a guest appearance. Shooting begins next month. The director, whose recent box-office dud China Gate was a multi-character-actor-starrer, chuckles: "The more the beauty, the more the excitement." But this much?! Gosh, it's blinding.

Q&A: Chandrachur Singh

A chat with the Maachis and Kya Kehna! boy on Mansoor Khan's Josh, the film that could make him or break him:
You recently said that only God could rescue your career. How much depends on Josh?
A. I'm not in the least bit nervous about it but yes, its success is very important to my career. I've seen the movie and I'm confident it will work.
Do you play the nice-guy next door?
A. There's more to my character than that. I'm educated, ambitious, totally non-violent by nature. When I fall in love with Aishwarya, there is a conflict between the family I love so much and her.
What's this kissing controversy?
A. There was a kiss in the script but Ash has a policy -- she doesn't kiss. It has nothing to do with me. So we worked around it. But the press made a big deal out of it.
Do you get to throw some punches with Shah Rukh and Sharad Kapoor?
A. No, like I said, I'm non-violent.
But you get to sing songs with Ash. Even better, right?
A. Absolutely.

Role Play
She's on a roll right now. So look out for a string of flicks starring Nandana Dev Sen, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen's actor daughter. There's Viaje Itaca from Argentina; the Canadian-European production with music by Ravi Shankar and Philip Glass; Srinivas Krishna's Waiting for the Mahatma, which she co-wrote, co-starring Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah; a couple with Ketan Mehta; and one to be shot in London opposite Lucky Ali. How about some hard-core Bollywood masala? Her reply: "As long as I get to do an original character in a fresh, unrecycled story, I'll be happy to work in Bombay." Fresh and unrecycled in Bollywood? Whaddya talking about?

The Other Side of Jazz
He's not only a RARE sort, he's good. India-born jazz pianist-composer Madhav Chari is making his mark in the US with his group Nomadic Subjects. He's even come out with his first album, The Other Side. "Because I'm Indian, people try to label my work. I dislike that. My music takes in the world," says Chari, an ma in maths from the University of Illinois who passed up a chance to do a PhD because "the pull of music was too strong". Too bad for maths. Good for jazz.

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