He strapped on roller skates when all of four. All that kinesthetics must have accelerated the boy's thinking. A year on, K. Praneshwaran, a kindergarten student in Chennai's Velammal Matriculation Higher Secondary School, is roller-skating to spread the message of "communal harmony" and as he airs all-knowingly, "for the people of Gujarat to live in peace". Last week, the pint-sized Praneshwaran, wearing kneepads, a skull-cap, and loads of confidence, charted an untiring 154 km from school to Pondicherry on skates. The feat took him three days to accomplish. In keeping with the noble mission, he interacted with the people of 52 villages en route, passing around pamphlets on communal harmony. For his effort his prize was ready: a statue of Lord Ganesha from Pondicherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy and reams of praise. Next on the young speedster's peacekeeping agenda: a marathon expedition from Chennai to Kanyakumari in 2003.

Scare Story

If Bipasha Basu was the star attraction of Raaz, its surprise was Malini Sharma, the ghost in the film. Sharma, 28, whose only claim to fame till Raaz was a one-minute materialisation in the Bombay Vikings video Kya Surat Hai, grabbed attention for her high-decibel performance and those purposeful locks. It was enough to get Raaz's producers to sign her on again for Encounter, this time as the lead opposite Dino Morea. But then? The unit was in for a royal scare when two days before shooting, Sharma backed out. While most starlets crave for reviews, Sharma is turning her back to them. "All these years that I have been on camera, modelling or compering, what I've wanted is to be behind it. Acting is not what I want to do." More surprises then?

Over a decade ago, she stepped out of her writer-lyricist ex-husband Javed Akhtar's looming shadow and became a writer. Today, Honey Irani is sharing the headlines with her 30-year-old director-son Farhan Akhtar (Dil Chahta Hai). Switching to direction with the film Armaan, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Preity Zinta (but of course) and Gracy Singh, Irani laughs: "The joke in the family was that Farhan had finally become a director and I got left behind. They were always urging me to try direction but I was just too scared." An honest confession from one of Hindi cinema's highest-paid scriptwriters. The story of Armaan, a "mature emotional drama", is also Irani's handiwork. "When I was only penning scripts, it was easy to blame everyone else. Now, it isn't." Explains why Irani is "scared" stiff.

Now It's Getting Flat

At Pepsi, last summer was all about Preity Zinta and a cheeky monkey. Coca-Cola went ga-ga over Hrithik. This year, the cola majors are getting more vitriolic with each ad. The first official slugfest began with Coca-Cola's Life Ho To Aisi campaign, and Pepsi's retort with an irreverent Fardeen Khan-Rahul Khanna ad. Aamir Khan's Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola sermon had Pepsi reshooting the Khan-Khanna ad in 24 hours with a new ending. Here's more: there will be seven more ads from the Coca-Cola stable. Pepsi has an Amitabh-Sachin ad up next. Scoffs Coca-Cola's Sanjay Choudhry: "Our ads are aimed at the consumer, not the competitor." Pepsi's Deepak Jolly: "How can they take a generic stand when they're only No.3 in India?" Ouch.

-Compiled by Methil Renuka