Lakshmi Menon, if you've ever noticed her in a denim ad with an unbuttoned shirt and clingy jeans, appears sullen and sluggish, like she was just going back to bed. Actually the 21-year-old Bangalore model is suddenly going places, doing apparel shoots for Numero Uno, Vama, Garden and Raymond's Be:, a flurry that can be attributed partly to her insouciant charm and partly to good luck. "I'm a quiet type who doesn't like to mix ... but work keeps falling into my lap without trying," admits Menon. Her sacred off-camera moments are spent with To Kill a Mockingbird and Led Zepp, and she demands that any prospective boyfriend "not talk too much". Crooning is acceptable.

Doc of the town

Before being immortalised as the most celebrated elder brother specialist in Hindi film history after the successes of Hum Aapke Hain Kaun and later Hum Saath Saath Hain, Mohnish Behl has decided to switch over to TV and assume roles of greater benediction. Behl now plays a dedicated paramedic in Star's hospital drama Sanjeevani, based on the US series Chicago Hope and to go on air from January 16. "I wanted to test waters in TV, which gives you more freedom to do character roles rather than cliched stereotypes," says the actor, hinting at his immense dislike for his run as the subsidiary sibling. But hang on, what if producers only want to give him doctor roles from now on...

Marry Me

The excitement is not really about Dharmesh Darshan's Haan ... Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya that sees a timely release on February 14. It's really about the film's lead pair Abhishek Bachchan and Karisma Kapoor, who, it appears, have been an item for a while and are now even talking about a sudden and swift marriage. More recently they were seen exchanging hyperkinetic embraces at a New Year Eve's party hosted by the producers of Om Jai Jagdish, Anupam Kher's directorial debut. Darshan, who probably knows it all but doesn't want blood on his hands, chuckled: "It's for them to say what they are up to". Yes, Bachchan is again in the news for reasons other than his acting. This time he may not mind.

Dada's Rap

Dada didn't always form the intermediary link in Sameer Dada Hussain's recently expanded name, but the son of cosmetic queen Shahnaz Hussain decided on its inclusion once it had became the sobriquet of flattering friends. Hussain's other notable addition to his CV has been the release of his eponymous "goonda rap" album (Magnasound) in which, he says, "rogue elements have to be spoken to in their own language and violence countered by violence". The rhymes-like the lead track Ladki patao, lekin condom lagao (Seduce the girl, but use a condom) or the tamer Lena mat panga (Don't mess around)-have been all recorded in a specially built studio in his mom's flashy Delhi house because he was afraid others would "steal the idea". The official fan club is now open.

-Compiled by Anshul Avijit