MUSICAL MILESTONE

Here is a playback singer who's now leading from the front. IIM grad Gayatri Iyer, last heard but not seen in Dhoom, Kisna and Page 3, walked into the auditions of M.M. Kaye's The Far Pavilions' stage version in Mumbai on a lark. Before she died last year, Kaye told the play's producer, "If you go to India and throw a brick you will hit a beautiful girl." There was no brick throwing at the audition, but Iyer got the role of the exotic Princess Anjuli in the £4 million musical adaptation.

Little Black Beauty

She addressed the legendary Big B by his first name on the sets. She has had critics giving her as much attention as Rani Mukherjee. Ayesha Kapoor, 10, who plays the wilful and supremely intelligent young deaf, dumb and blind Rani Mukherjee as a child in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black, has had critics sit up to take note of her confidence and talent. Bhansali discovered the Pondicherry-based Kapoor, daughter of a German mother and Indian father, when a German photographer showed him stills of the acting prodigy. And in case you were wondering, keeping her eyeballs up was difficult and required a great deal of practice. No wonder even Amitabh Bachchan is raving about her focus and acting skills..

PREITY CATCH

Q: Who's Bombay Dying for?
A: Preity Zinta. Heir to the Bombay Dyeing empire Ness Wadia is seeing the bubbly-yes, we know she hates the word-actor. Now Zinta, 30, has made things official by telling the press, "I've just started dating." So will this head the Tina-Anil Ambani way to the mandap? A pal of Zinta says the actor's "very happy but it's too early to tell". Kal ho na ho?

Item Not Listed

Bollywood is in a shock after starlet Negar Khan was deported to Norway from Mumbai when she was found working in India for four years on a visitor's visa. The Chadti jawani siren's high came down when her mobile was confiscated and her plea ("I'm married to an Indian, Sahil Khan") ignored. Why the police reacted only now after Khan has starred in music videos and films is a question only they can answer. But other item imports better get their papers in order

-Compiled by Kanika Gahlaut

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