Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Is that what you call a fairy tale?
Comedienne and dance reality show contestant Bharti Singh seems smitten by Hrithik Roshan as he tries some dance moves with her at a studio in Goregaon yesterday.

Another accolade for Dilip sahab
He may have earned the epithet 'Tragedy King' for mastering characters engulfed in misfortunes but in the process, he rose to stardom. Dilip Kumar - the 94-year-old actor and one of the early superstars of Indian cinema - added one more feather to his cap yesterday. The legend, who was attended to by doctors at his residence earlier this week, shared the news with his fans saying, "God is kind. Humbled at receiving the Living Legend Lifetime Award from Punjab Association this afternoon." The Government of India had earlier honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1991, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1994 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2015 for his contribution to cinema.

Sibling love
He is Delhi-based while she moved to Mumbai years ago. She embraced showbiz while he is an anti-corruption and business crimes lawyer. But that doesn't seem to take away from the bond Gul and her brother Sherbir Panag share. It was Siblings Day recently (yes, Rakhi has an American avatar) and this is how Gul spread some cheer on Twitter.

Now, Gurmehar the blogger
From endorsing peaceful Indo-Pak ties to raising her voice against the violence in Ramjas College, 20-year-old Gurmehar Kaur catapulted into the spotlight and had to face a nasty backlash too. She started #ProfileForPeace campaign that was part of the Save DU campaign. These campaigns went viral and stirred pan-Indian responses, including from politicians across parties. Some trolled her and some joined her in the fight for freedom of speech.

Now we hear that Gurmehar has started a blog. In her first blogpost titled 'I am' about her identity and how the people around perceive her, she wrote, "I'm not your angry, vindictive war-mongering bechari you hoped me to be. I don't want war because I know its price; it's very expensive. Trust me I know better because I've paid it every day," making an obvious reference to her father's loss. On last count, this diarist noted a flood of encouraging comments. We'll be keeping an eye on how this one pans out.

Creating a new Sita
Author Amish Tripathi has recently been in the news for his upcoming book, Sita-Warrior of Mithila, the second in the Ram Chandra series. Recently, he invited fans to help him create a cover for the book, using their depictions of Sita as a work of art. While the final book cover won't be chosen from these entries, the design contest will select five winners, who will be invited to the book launch in Mumbai. Think you have it in you to re-imagine Sita like Amish does? Give this contest a go.

Rocky Singh (left) and Mayur Sharma

An ode to forty years of crazy fun
They turned wisecracking foodies scouring the highways of India for regional roadside fare 10 years ago. But Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma have been friends for over four decades. Barring their food preferences - Singh eats just about everything while Sharma is a pure vegetarian - the two have even followed similar trajectories in life, when they gave up plush jobs in multinational companies to pursue their passion for food married with travelling. They recently dug up this old photograph of theirs; the characteristic bonhomie and quirks intact. The duo shared it with a typical rhyming couplet they end every episode of their show with: We've travelled n liked to Ghumo / on our cycles n my Sumo / now on twitter getting stoned with clicks / been doing it all since 1976.