At 64, she won the MTV Viewers' Choice Award-a distinction usually reserved for attitude-throwing, midriff-baring, pouting pop icons. Four years on, Asha Bhosle is doing the unthinkable again, lending her sugar-laced voice to sell a fruit drink concentrate. Bhosle has recorded a three minute-plus jingle Rasila rozana utsav for Rasna. The song, a blend of gospel music, western rhythms and Indian ragas, will be all over radio and tv in two weeks. Says the song's composer Shombit Sengupta: "I told her that without her, the project would just not work. Luckily, she agreed." Luckily.

Crown, Violin, Ladle

Okay, she won a crown. But Miss India 2001 Celina Jaitley also has other dreams. One of them is to be a good actress (she's shooting for Feroze Khan's Jaanasheen in which she plays a "turbulent violinist", whatever that is). The other is to be a good chef, better still, to own a chain of multi-cuisine restaurants nationwide. For good measure, Jaitley is now donning the apron more than the greasepaint (she can rustle up maccher jhol and tandoori chicken), and also reading umpteen cookbooks. If things go as planned, the Bengali beauty's first restaurant will open in Kolkata-tentatively named Celina's Kolkata Spice-sometime in April 2003. That's playing it safe. If one pot-boiler does not work, guess she will always have another.

Return of the Prodigal Star

Every actor has a shelf life. Not Rajnikanth, in Tamil Nadu. For three years since his last blockbuster Padayappa, industry captains and avid "Rajni" watchers have had only one query: Will he? Won't he? After a stoic silence, the actor (not just a box-office weapon but a demi-god in the state) has announced in a press statement that he is not retiring. Yet. Rajni returns as the superhero in Suresh Krissna's Baba-a film he's also scripting and producing-based on "a real life story". The proclamation follows a renewed appeal to him by fans and Tuglak editor Cho Ramaswamy to join politics and lead an alternative front in Tamil Nadu. Yet again, the actor has sidestepped politics for films. But fans, take heart. Baba, incidentally, will have political overtones.

Hindi Screen's Arnie?

There have been many uncharitable comparisons: that he looks like Johnny Bravo the cartoon dude, worse still, like Shah Rukh Khan on steroids. But acerbic asides apart, Sahil Khan is a Khan (like Aamir, Shah Rukh, Salman) you can't pass up. After N. Chandra's low-brow hit Style, Khan, 24, is the newest sign-up in the film Khan-daan. With a bod like that, Khan's regimen now includes answering the door (producers queuing up), also calls from other stars wanting bodybuilding tips. Catch the Sly Stallone-Van Damme worshipper with Govinda in Raja Bhaiya. Last heard, Khan had shed six kilos, and hasn't been looking anything like Bravo.

-Compiled by Methil Renuka