New Yorker Kumar Balani has made a breakthrough in the highly competitive world of making crossword puzzles. Recently he received a mail from the New York Times puzzles editor (a very competitive post itself) saying that one of his puzzles had been accepted and it was likely to appear in early spring. Balani, who runs an export business, first tried sending his puzzles way back in 1974 and again in 1994 but were rejected. Then he brushed up his act by solving daily puzzles and taking notes . "That discipline and concentration made the difference," says an overjoyed Balani, the first Indian since 1980 to get to the daunting NYT puzzle pages. He dismisses charges of any racism in the industry.

BACKING OUT: Ghai (above) and Kapoor

Walk Away

Subhash Ghai's Yaadein was quickly forgotten by the masses, so Karreina Kapoor decided to go where no woman had gone before-out of all future Ghai projects. But the ditched director, the most sought after in the industry, is not licking his wounds: "Newcomers look up and respect you ... but once they become stars their diaries fill up. However, this gives me inspiration to look for new talent." He's had plenty of inspiration. Though no one has been as bold as Kapoor, Ghai has fallen out with many of his actresses, including Madhuri Dixit and Mahima Choudhury. As for Kapoor ... well, we now know what she would have done if Karan Johar's K3G had flopped.

Latino Turns Indian

If you are an expat ad model or actress in the US, it usually means bluffing a Spanish accent and becoming a Latino girlfriend of a gangsta or otherwise peddling pepperoni on TV. Sushila Chanana, 21, now a senior at UC Berkeley and a finalist at the recent Miss India/USA pageant, is actually going to move beyond years of Hispanic impersonation with a meaty, bindi-donning role in an Indian serial, Do Kinare currently being shot for Star. "I am thrilled because it will be the first time I play an Indian woman," says the Ambala-born actress, adding that what she really want to do is to be an "Indian-American actress and help showcase south Asian talent". She's been promised a paneer tikka ad.

Maternal Girl

Mumbaikar Amrita Saluja, 25, is a schismatic member of the glamour ad business. When other women with her kind good looks are busy doing roles of sexy pillion riders in deserts and leather-clad vamps who sell men's underwear, Saluja is content with playing a mother ... and in all her ads. But not the kind of mom that ties a bun and wears a sari, only (note the sociological progression) one who has a blunt, wears a ribbed polo neck and flirts with her friends. "I did do a telefilm but I realized that I would rather do momsie ads on my terms and conditions," she says. Saluja also manages a children's nursery-so rehearsals aren't necessary.

-Compiled by Anshul Avijit