Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who made a

departure from his usual intense cinema to try hands at comedy with his latest release ‘My Friend Pinto’, says he would not have been able to do jus-tice to the film had he di-rected it, as comedy is not his forte. Bhansali’s new offering as a producer is directed by his assistant Raghav Dhar and stars Prateik Babbar and Kalki Koechlin in lead roles. “There is new talent, new way of looking at cinema, new genre of cinema. If it was some-thing that I would have to make then I don’t think I could have done it better because it is something I can’t make. I am not com-fortable making it and so I have produced it. We all have a genre... it is not like I can’t make it,” Bhansali says in an interview. PTI

REEL OFF

4| Kochi, Saturday, 15 October, 2011

MADHURI’S SCHOOL HUNTFollowing her relocation to Mumbai, ‘Dhak-Dhak’ girl Madhuri Dixit is seeking suggestions for the

best schools in Mumbai for her kidsMatinee Mix

By Shevlin Sebastian

One night, in 1995, Jennifer Kumar had a dream. In it, she

was wearing a blue saree and placing books in the stacks of a public library. There were a few people present in the reading room. She spoke to somebody in a foreign lan-guage. Later, she began dust-ing the books. “I woke up and felt shocked,” says the American. “I did not know what a saree was at that time. I was thinking: ‘What was I wearing?’”

There were more shocks. She repeated the words in the dream to her Indian friends and they told her it was Telugu. “I have never heard of the language before,” she says. “It was unnerving, to say the least.”

Her interest in India was sparked off and she began learning about the history and culture of the country. In 1999, she embarked on a two-year master’s pro-gramme in social work at Madras Christian College in Chennai. She returned and continued with her reading about India .

“I stayed near Rochester, in New York state, which had a lot of Indians,” she says. “I wanted to participate in Indian culture, so I would go to the Hindu temple.”

In June, 2003, at the

temple, she met Krishna Kumar, a Malayali, who was working in the IT industry. They fell in love and got mar-ried in 2005. After several years in the USA, the couple have re-located to Kochi, in February, this year, where her husband works a man-ager in an American firm at Info Park, Kakkanad, while her in-laws, the Karthas, live

in Mattancherry. It has been a roller-coaster

ride for Jennifer in the past few months. “The first thing that I had to adjust to was the climate,” she says. “ Kochi is not as hot as Chennai, but it takes a while to get used to the humidity.” As she also learned to adjust to the long rainy season, Jennifer dis-

covered a fungus problem at home, if the house was not cleaned every day. “Where I lived, in the US, the climate is hot and rainy for a few times in a year,” she says. “Mostly, we have to deal with snow and ice.”

What has been a revela-tion for her is how knowl-edgeable Malayalis are. “Since many of their rela-

tives live abroad, Malayalis are keenly aware of what is happening in foreign coun-tries,” she says. “In America, the people are only bothered about their own lives and do not have much of an idea of what is happening in the rest of the world.”

Meanwhile, she is busy learning how to cook new

Malayali dishes. She already knows how to make samb-har, puttu kadala, dosa, idli, chutneys, and upuma. Since her husband grew up in Delhi, she makes North Indian dishes like masala puri, dal, roti, and Rajma.

Jennifer has so embraced the Indian culture that she has made a Navarathri golu (an exhibition of dolls placed on wooden tiers) at her Kakkanad home. On the floor, she has written ‘Shub Navaratri’ in Malayalam. Behind it, are small statues of the Dasavatar, the ten incarnations of Vishnu, as well as a book by motiva-tional author Robin Sharma called, ‘The leader who had no title’.

On the first tier, the theme is Africa. So, there are clay figures of the zebra, hippo-potamus, crocodile, and an elephant.

A couple of tribal men are looking with fixed eyes into the distance, holding spears in their hands.

On the second step, there are Barbie dolls from various

countries like China, Ireland, Portugal, Holland, and Mexico. Right at the centre there is a doll of Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan.

“I wanted a doll from pop-ular culture,” she says. “The golu is not just traditional, but has modern elements.”

On other steps, there are statues of Lord Buddha, Shiva, Krishna, Ganesh, and a blue-beaded Hanuman. There is Jesus Christ in a manger, surrounded by his parents, Joseph and Mary, as well as the shepherds, apart from a statue of Santa Claus from Hungary.

Jennifer’s family is origi-nally from Hungary. Two dolls from Hungary, a boy and a girl, have only one eye. “As a couple you should see the world through one pair of eyes,” she says.

When she is not busy at home, Jennifer has a fledg-ling career as a cultural con-sultant. “I help people with the nuts and bolts of getting adjusted to the US or India,” she says. “I provide tips on job hunts, applying for col-lege, setting up a home, conversational American-English, cross-cultural soft-skills, and how to handle relationships.”

And so, Jennifer, who knows how to wear a saree and a salwar kameez, is slow-ly getting adjusted to life in God’s Own Country.

An American

in Kakkanad

Malayalis are keenly aware of what is happening in foreign countriesJennifer next to the Navarathri golu (an exhibition of

dolls placed on wooden tiers)

Jennifer Kumar, who is married to a Malayali, is slowly

adjusting to life in Kochi

Katrina Kaif has be-come the world’s most

searched celebrity in mo-bile videos, ahead of pop star Britney Spears who ranked second, according to the findings of a latest global video insights report for September, released by Vuclip, an independent mobile video service.

The top 10 celebrities globally also include India’s Kareena Kapoor (Global rank 4) and Sonakshi Sinha (Global rank 6), alongside international stars such as Lindsay Lohan,Beyonce and Shakira, a Vuclip s t a t e m e n t s a i d . B a c k h o m e , S a c h i n Tendulkar emerged as the most searched male celebrity in mobile videos in India.

Among the most watched clips in India, topping the charts was Ajay Devgn’s

joke on Kangana Ranaut’s bikini shoot for the movie ‘Rascals’, followed by Vidya Balan’s two gossip videos about ‘The Dirty Picture’.

Baba Ramdev’s reply to Rakhi Sawant’s wedding proposal also made it to

the top five most watched mobile videos in India in September.

Among the top mo-bile devices people used to watch videos globally, Apple’s iPhone continued to lead the list. PTI

Those Who Ruled on the Mobile Circuit

Even as Ra. One promo-tions begin to gather full

steam, the makers of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Don 2 have started a full-fledged campaign to popularise the Don persona with witty one liners titled ‘Don Says’

‘Don Says’ includes a series of 11 witty tongue-in-cheek quotes by the Don himself, which will be released every Friday start- ing from October 14 r i g h t till the re- lease of the film

which is on December 23. These quotes will be simul-taneously released across all mediums, including televi-sion, print, radio, Internet and also the mobile platform and mobile apps.

The idea is to get the audi-ences to relate to Don’s at-titude and mannerism, this con- cept lays the tracks

for all the fans to get familiar with his one-liners and be

able to use them as part of their daily verbiage. In the movie Don’s character is known for his sauve attitude, charisma, style and his witty one liners. For this campaign similar one-lines have been written by Farhan Akhtar.

Commenting on this di-rector Farhan Akhtar says, “’Don Says’ is a re-intro-duction for the audience to Don’s philosophy of life and his opinion on people who are either with him or

against him.Commenting

on this, Farhan adds, “’Don Says’ is a fun way to get audiences back into the Don frame of mind and

enjoy h is wit and s h a r p r e p a r -tee be-

fore they can watch

the film.”

The Don ArrivesThe makers of ‘Don 2’ will be releasing a witty

one-liner every Friday until the release of the film

Sanjay on ‘My Friend

Pinto’

Amitabh Bachchan has flown down to Sydney to

shoot for his first Hollywood project, Baz Luhrmann’s ‘The Great Gatsby’, and says he is nervous and apprehensive.

The 69-year-old actor has joined the cast of the USD 120 million film alongwith Hollywood stars Leonardo D i C a p r i o a n d T o b e y Maguire.

“The shoot for ‘The Great Gatsby’ for Baz Luhrmann! Butterflies as large and as huge as the Transformers monsters in the film that I breezed through on the flight.Apprehensions, as fearful

as the raging thunder and lightening storm that broke over the Mumbai skyline just

prior to my departure last night...” Bachchan wrote on his blog.

The actor who will join the starcast on the sets after a few days of preparation, also wrote that he feels like a beginner once again in front of the Hollywood stars.

“A few days of preparation before the actual shoot and then onto the floor among stars - Leonardo di Caprio, Tobey Maguire and several others. A stranger among the giants of the International movie world, I feel as though I am starting off all over again,” he said. PTI

As many as 63 entries, including a first time

entry from New Zealand, have been submitted for consideration in the foreign language film category for the 84th Academy Awards.New Zealand has sent ‘The Orator’ as its official entry, said a press statement on of-ficial website of the Academy

of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.The Indian entry, director Salim Ahamed’s national award winning ‘Adaminte Makan Abu’” is a family drama about an elderly Muslim couple and their struggle to go on a pil-grimage to Haj.

The movie was chosen over 15 others by the Film Federation of India (FFI) to represent the country for the prestigious award.The 84th Academy Awards will be held Feb 27, 2012 and the final nominations will be an-nounced Jan 24, 2012, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. IANS

Oscar Fever BeginsBig B Nervous as Hell

Baba Ramdev’s reply to Rakhi Sawant’s wedding proposal also made it to the top five most watched mobile videos in India