Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Sachin Tendulkar

Love Guru at your fingertips

HE has been radio's favourite agony uncle, thanks to his insightful spin on love trouble. But, RJ Love Guru is set to cast his net on a wider spectrum of love-lorn couples through the new Love Guru app. So, if you have reservations on making your love life public, he can be your confidante. If you wish, you can even have a live chat with him once a week. For the voyeur in you, there's the option of listening in to calls every day by tuning into the ‘Call of the Day' section in the app. The app is available for all Android users and can be downloaded from the Playstore.

Helping the Beti

IT seems like some star kids have their heart in the right place. Anushka Ranjan, daughter of Shashi and Anu Ranjan, television entrepreneurs, is working hard to make a difference with her NGO, Beti. It was started by Anu 10 years ago, to raise awareness about female foeticide, and is now helping rape and acid attack victims. "We raise money to get their medical bills covered, take care of their emotional therapy, and also get them a job," says Anushka, who was last seen in the 2015 movie Wedding Pullav, Knowing the who's who's of the Indian film industry has helped, she admits. "It's sad but you need glamour and stars to promote your cause. When Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan tweeted with #bewithbeti, it made a difference." Way to go!

I've got my eyes on you

Actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha steals a glance at the photographer as his wife, Poonam walks away during the launch of his biography, Anything But Khamosh: The Shatrughan Sinha Biography held at a suburban five-star on Friday. Sinha's co-star in several films, Amitabh Bachchan and actress daughter Sonaksha Sinha were also present. Pic/Ashish Rane

The Fan boy anthem is here

IF you haven't watched the Fan song till now, with Shah Rukh Khan looking like SRK but not, you are truly missing out. The song, Jabra Fan, has been composed by Vishal-Shekhar, and will be released in six different languages. The track will be sung by top singers in every language. For example, in Gujarati, folk singer Arvind Vegda, who was recently in Big Boss 9, will take the mic, and in Bhojpuri, Manoj Tiwari will take over from Nakash Aziz who has sung it in Hindi. "It's a simple song from the perspective of a middle-class kid who is besotted with this megastar. The key was not to make it larger than life. We wrote the song for Gaurav, the fanboy, " says Dadlani. Amen to that.

Ricky reveals: Sachin's really getting into golf
FLIPPING through a copy of the newly released book, Tendulkar in Wisden - An Anthology, edited by Anjali Doshi and published by Bloomsbury, Daily Dossier couldn't help but read what Aussie Ricky Ponting had to say about his fellow batting great in the Foreword.

Firstly, Ponting doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to saying who is the greater batsman - Tendulkar or Brian Lara. "For me, he's (Tendulkar) the greatest batsman after Don Bradman. While I hold Brian Lara in high regard because of his match-winning ability, I don't think any batsman can achieve more out of the game than Sachin has," writes Ponting.

Now, for some news: According to Ponting, the Mumbai maestro is, "now really getting into golf." And the Australian is hoping to compete with Tendulkar on a Mumbai golf course soon and in his own words, "maybe, just maybe - beat him in a round or two..."

Bring out the clubs, gents!

Byron's tribute to Manipur

INDEPENDENT documentary storyteller Byron Aihara has announced a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for a collection of photographs titled Dance Music and Ritual in Manipur. The book explores the need for protection of endangered dance music and performance arts in the state, and is the conclusion of the research that he carried out over 16 months. The photographs are a homage to a culture from the fringes, which is virtually unknown to the rest of the nation. The Meitei and Chakpa ethnic groups, and their epic festival Lai Haraoba are just a couple of instances from the book. Based in the California Bay Area, Aihara's long-term interest is the Manipur Project, work from which was shortlisted by the Royal Photographic Society's International Print Exhibition 2015. The book, curated from over 40,000 photographs, will be published by Vajra Publications in Kathmandu, and is currently in the offset stage.