Item Aplomb

After the long line of C-grade contestants and reports of lewd behaviour from judges, it seemed Musafir director Sanjay Gupta's nationwide Item Bomb hunt was not quite the talent blast it was meant to be. But the contest has found a winner. It is Tatsiana, 22, who will shake her booty with Sanjay Dutt in a specially choreographed song in the movie. A dance teacher with a diploma in classical dance, Tatsiana has been working in Dubai for a year. She hails from the Republic of Belarus. Have the iron curtain sizzlers got a special knack for boogying Bollywood style? Yana Gupta may know.

Small Success

A meaty role is not how you would refer to Anupama Varma's appearance in the upcoming Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav. And we are not talking about the semi-starved form the bikini she wears hangs on. Is the lack of substantial big-screen offers responsible for the one-time music video starlet having taken up a TV offer, a cameo for Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin? This does not mean it is goodbye to films, says Varma. "Television is really big today. And the role that was offered to me was a stylised and interesting part." But yes, she is considering other TV offers coming her way.

Evolving Stage

The comeback for former Bollywood sirens is not via the big screen now, but the stage. After Sonali Bendre, it is the '80s star Padmini Kolhapure who will take a bow on the Mumbai theatre scene. Kolhapure, who quit films 15 years ago, plays a prostitute in Manhar Gadia's play Kaash. That she has never been on stage didn't bother her. "I was told doing a play was the best way to rediscover yourself as an actor," says Kolhapure who will next be seen in Karan Razdan's thriller Eight.

Masala Miss

Are NRI beauty pageant contestants more original than their Indian counterparts? It seemed so when Reshoo Pande, 21, who was crowned Miss India US in New Jersey last week, refused to play charity princess, saying she wanted to be a tax attorney. But wait. What clinched the crown for the Mississippi girl? She said she would like to advocate diversity in Indian culture abroad. Now that's ditsy enough for a beauty queen.

-Compiled by Kanika Gahlaut

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