Ram Gopal Varma's gangster flick Company will grab the attention of two sets of people for sure: one, the cigarette companies, and two, the anti-smoking lobby. In the film's publicity stills, all the lead stars are smoking. Manisha Koirala, Ajay Devgan and Vivek Oberoi deliciously puff away. So does newcomer Antara Mali. The rationale is that for the underworld dons, smoke, from cigarettes and guns, is part of everyday life. But rasps Dr Arun Bal of Mumbai's Association of Consumer Action on Safety and Health:"Films make smoking look cool. Even real gangsters don't smoke this much." That, you could perhaps call smouldering.

Playing With Toy Guns

Most girls play Barbie dolls on film. But Dipannita Sharma, wispy and wide-eyed, is not like most girls. Playing a secret agent in her very first film 16 December, she is out "to show what newcomers are really capable of". The Delhi University history grad already has a few medals under her tiny belt: a Miss Photogenic title at the Miss India contest in 1998, a few ramp turns, and a stage actor for a mother. "Mom's into theatre, so acting comes naturally to me," trills Sharma, 25, who romances ramp-hulk Milind Soman in the film. Don't mistake their fiery on-screen chemistry though. Sharma insists he's "only a pal". Period.

No More the Spectator

There are two words Amrita Singh, Mrs Saif Ali Khan, hates: "Bollywood" and "comeback". Yet, she's now doing both. Singh is acting in the Bobby Deol film Bhagat Singh. She wouldn't have done it but for her first co-star Sunny Deol who "bulldozed me into it". Since her last film Aaina 10 years ago, Singh had married, had two children and watched Khan grow from no-show to Dil Chahta Hai. But what will she play? The lead's sis? His flame? Singh had debuted opposite Sunny in Betaab. Reports are that she will now play Bobby's mother.

Rice Dish or Oil Bath?

Cooking the giant Kasba in Bahrain; the citation from the Guinness Book of Records (top left)

It was a gastronomic excursion that landed right in the record books. To drum up publicity for their brand, Delhi-based basmati rice exporter KRBL decided to do it the palatable way. In Bahrain in the Middle East, their biggest market, the company got 20 chefs to rustle up Kasba, an Arabian delicacy using 2,400 kg of rice. The cooks laboured for hours over a two-metre tall aluminium pot containing 240 kg of cooking oil, 720 kg of tomatoes and meat chunks from a 100 sheep. The outcome? A monstrous dish to serve over 12,000 people, plus an entry into the Guinness Book of Records. The total cost of the entire publicity gig? Rs 1.22 crore.

-Compiled by Methil Renuka