Query ex-Femina Miss India-Miss World 1999 Yukta Mookhey about her current inclinations, and she complains, "That's a horrible question." Why? "Because I don't know what I am doing." After a recent shot at cinema (her debut Pyaasa with Aftab Shivdasani is still on hold), modelling and anchoring stage shows, Miss Mookhey, 23, is still looking for a career. As sole hostess of the Filmfare Awards (South) in Chennai, Mookhey is currently working very hard to master the "tough", tongue-twisting art of getting the names of the Tamil films and actors right. So far, Mookhey's only tryst with Tamil was when she undulated for a number in the film Poovaellam Un Vaasam last year.

As Lucky As It Gets

Her name spelt luck for Sooraj Barjatya when he cast her in the hit romantic spiel Maine Pyar Kiya. Twelve years and two children later, Bhagyashree, 32, is back to try her luck again on the big screen. She has her work cut out as she plays a fashion designer in Jateen Kumar's Maa Santoshi Maa, a social drama to be out this Diwali. Bhagyashree has done a few films down south, and the odd small-screen saga like Ujjala on DD, not to forget the two-in-one Parag Saree commercials. "The size of the screen is no criterion," says the petite actress. "I'm looking at good work." It's okay if hubby Himalaya Dassani does not play screen consort.

Pasta to Period Film

What's cooking in celebrity Bangalore chef Arjun Sajnani's kitchen? If Sajnani, 55, co-owner of Sunny's (famous for its pasta and pastries), is to be believed, it's a "spicy dish". The dish is Agni Varsha, Sajnani's directorial debut in Hindi based on Girish Karnad's play Fire and Rain. Taking off on an episode in the Mahabharata, the film, shot in dusty Hampi, will be ready for release in July. For a first-timer, Sajnani, a familiar face in Bangalore's theatre circuit, has whipped up a casting coup: the film stars Raveena Tandon, Sonali Kulkarni, Milind Soman, even Amitabh Bachchan as Lord Indra. Sajnani's style? "I just let my creative juices flow." But of course.

Felicity with Upendra in Hollywood

Global Attractions

What would a Kannada film with a name like Hollywood possibly be about? All the film's producer Ramu, whose repertoire includes a string of Kannada blockbusters with English names like AK 47, Lockup Death and Law and Order, will say now is that it's based in LA and will have "action, drama and comedy". Helping the global cause further will be Felicity, 22, an Australian actress, who Ramu insists was enlisted because "the story had no scope for an Indian heroine". Felicity, an art and theatre grad from Brisbane, will play Maneesha. Among the other attractions in the cast: a chimp from New Zealand, and about 80 "foreigners" in the dance numbers.
That Kannada actors Upendra and Ananth Nag play male leads is but secondary.

-Compiled by Methil Renuka