Puri unki har tamanna ho!

Kaise na peetein hum woh zeher?!

Jab pyaala unhoone thamaya ho!

A while ago, Akshay Kumar seemed to be interested in buying the Rajesh Khanna bungalow, which is also at Carter Road, however there hasn’t been any development on that front.

Says real estate broker Deepak Jain, “Rates have shot up from Rs 20, 000 to Rs 40, 000 per square feet. People are quoting the price they want, simply because they are surrounded with stars.” Agrees Manoj Mejwani, another real estate broker, “Surely, Carter beats Pali when it comes to price, and Carter is also at par with Bandra Bandstand. Today, everybody wants to stay near the sea, and in Bandra there are only these two places, where the seafront is available.”

Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone, who shot to fame with ‘Om Shanti Om’ is said to have purchased her new pad close to beau Ranbir Kapoor’s bungalow at Pali. It is believed that the place has cost her more than rupees two crores.

Says Roshini Rawail, a teacher and a resident of Carter Road, who wants to give her house as Paying Guest (PG), hasn’t been able to find any takers for a while now simply because of the exorbitant rates, “It’s been more than a year that I am looking for a PG for my home. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find anybody.” Remarks Colonel Kappor, a senior citizen and resident of Carter Road, “At one point of time, Pali Hill was the deciding factor, when it came to determining rates. Today, it’s Carter Road and Bandra Bandstand.” Actor Aftab Shivdasani, who has been a townie all his life, has recently purchased flat at Mount Mary and says, “Buying property in Bandra is not at all easy. For me, it was more of a convenience factor as I spend over two hours commuting each day, since my work happens to be in the suburbs.”

The Bandstand promenade begins at ‘Galaxy’, where Salman Khan resides, and ends with ‘Mannat’, the palatial bungalow of ShahRukh Khan. Nestled between them is Arjun Rampal. Says Mandira Rodricks, who lives in the building next to Shah Rukh’s residence, and has recently decided to sell her 2-BHK flat and got some great offers, simply because of his celebrity neighbour, “I wouldn't like to quote the prices, which I was offered. It’s most definitely more than hundred per cent of the market price. There are people who want to pay me the entire cash amount of my property, only because of SRK, whose bungalow can be seen through my balcony.”

Like they say, everything comes at a price. And its a high one if you belong to SRK’s inner circle of friends and family. For those of you who think that what can possibly pose as a problem to the people close to the influential King Khan, here it is..

The actor who is standing at the thrust of producing an international film, has become extremely security-conscious. Not wanting to rely on manned security, especially after one of the security personnel posted at his bungalow was arrested for murder, SRK has opted for a hi-tech security system.

From what we hear, the actor has installed a biometric security scan at his residence. This means that only those guests who have pre-registered their fingerprints stand to have a smooth clearance through the hi-tech security system of Mannat.

And this job has been enthrusted upon the security company. In order to prevent any inconveniency to SRK’s esteemed guests like Karan Johar and Farah Khan, the security company is now constantly chasing them for registering their fingerprints.

So while SRK is having a sound sleep after installing a fool-proof system, it is his pals that are being driven crazy at the moment.

Actor Shah Rukh Khan wants to build an underground parking lot and a swimming pool behind his Bandra residence.

He has applied to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seeking permission to construct a 20,000-sq-ft underground parking lot and a swimming pool measuring only slightly less, on the ground floor of the six-storey building he has built behind his sea-facing heritage bungalow Mannat at Bandra (West).

Civic officials said the proposal has been forwarded to the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority.

As Khan’s bungalow and building fall under the Coastal Regulation Zone — an ecologically sensitive area near the sea — permission from the Authority is needed to undertake any construction there.

The plan, said civic sources, is related to changes in Khan’s building, which houses the actor’s extra living room, guest room, gym and some offices.

Ashok Shintre, chief engineer (Development Plan, BMC), said: “The plan came to us through Khan’s architect and we have sent it for a No-Objection Certificate to the state coastal zone authority as the changes to be made are for a plot under 2 hectares in area (approximately 2 lakh sq ft). If it were more than that, we would have sent it to the Central Authority,” Shintre said.

Confirming that the coastal zone authority has received the proposal from the civic body, an official said no decision had been taken.

“It will be brought before the Authority in one of its meetings, when such proposals are tabled for clearance,” he added, refusing to divulge when the proposal would be discussed.

Chairman of the Authority Shyamlal Goyal was not available for comment.

Khan’s building is already entangled in a legal suit following a petition filed by non-governmental organisation Bhrashtachar Nirmulan Sanghatana last year, alleging that it encroached on the proposed road in the city development plan and the balconies jutted out of the plot boundary.

The slum was still cloaked in darkness, but on the other side of the street, the mansions of stars were lit up here and there with the garish florescence of hundreds of high-voltage projector lights illuminating the last of the nightlong marathon of shooting. ‘Bollywood’ movie stars are rich people in a poor country. Their real-life homes provide ready-made back-drops for the improbable lives of the wealthy heroes, heroines, and villains they play in their films. We children would often go up to the rooftop terrace of our Jehu apartment building after dark and pick out the homes of the stars where scenes were being filmed. ‘Look! Over there. Tonight they are shooting at Amitabh Bachchan’s house over on Tenth Road. You know who is starring, Hema Malini.’ Star struck teenagers in the neighborhoods waited patiently outside the gates of these villas for hours hoping to capture a glimpse of a favorite actor. When shooting was going on late into the night at Meena Cottage, directly behind our apartment it was hard to sleep. The bright lights and the knowledge that just yards away from where we slumbered, one famous star or another was breathing, walking, sitting, or drinking tea was simply too enervating.(p.150)

. 

Now everytime I see Bollywood movies, I'm going to wonder if the homes featured are possibly some star's actual home. How exciting! Want to learn more about where Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Rekha, Aishwarya Rai, Aamir Khan, and John Abraham live? Click HERE, though it’s a bit dated, it’s still interesting. Remember what you see, because it could show up in a movie. I wonder if SRK's home, Mannat, pictured here will or has ever been in a film?  For a thrilling and humorous account of seeing Mannat first hand, check out In Praise of All Things Dharmendra related.

In addition to writing about Amitabh, Kamdar also writes about Rekha's romantic involvement with her cousin on page 165. Wow!  I also like Kamdar's description of Bombay:

Bombay has been called a whore, a temptress, a slut. The city is a woman, enticing, betraying, extricating great sacrifice, sucking one dry. Indian speakers of Marathi, Gujarati, and Hindi call the city ‘Mumbai’ after a local female deity, Mumbadevi, whose distinguishing characteristic is the lack of a mouth. (p.131.)

Until I read this, I didn't know anything about the Mumbadevi and that she has no mouth. Of course I this made me think of Hello Kitty, who also has no mouth. I fell in love with as a kid, and as a much older kid, and Bollywood is my adult Barbie-Hello Kitty. Now I feel more justified in this hobby, because the Mumbadevi has no mouth.

    

Mannat is one of the few people we know here in Dhaka who is below 40. Waaaay below 40, at 8 going on 9.  She is a willing model for many of her fathers photography experiments.  And I get some great references to work with.

5" X 7" Pen & Ink on hand made paper. Brown ink, black ink and white chalk.

_________________________________________________________________

Photo reference copyright Anil Advani. Used with permission.

Recently saw the work of an Indian printmaker, Anupam Sud. Her figurative etchings are very inspiring. It also opened up the possibility of trying out my drawings in a different medium. I'm now looking at finding ways to get hold of some plates to try an intaglio (?) I've done it once before in college but that as you can see below was very basic. The wide range of possibilities had not sunk in. Mostly due to a lack of studying or research, on my part, before the classes started. Also I had not settled into this style of drawing then.

"Kali Ma" my first etching not numbered or signed as I still hoped to do more work on the plate. The goddess Kali symbolizes birth, life, death and the seeds of creation. The complete cycle.

Experimented once with Lino too but couldn't get the fineness i was looking for and also used the wrong paper to take a print!

If you're interested in printmaking check out Amie Roman's exceptional resource list on squidoo and you can see her wonderful work on her blog. Source : Who's made a mark this week?. Amie also posts her step-by-steps making it easier for you to understand the printmaking process. There is also an active forum of printmakers on WetCanvas!

कहते है लोग,ये इश्क़ आग का दरिया होता है |
कैसे कहे,के इश्क़,किसिके दिल तक पहुँचने का ज़रिया होता है ||

कहते है लोग,ये इश्क़ एक आँधी लाती है |
हमे तो इश्क़ से,गिली मिट्टी की खुशबू,सौन्धि सौन्धि आती है ||

कहते है लोग,ये इश्क़ समंदर से भी गहरा होता है |
कैसे बताए,के इश्क़ में,हर पल एक नया सवेरा होता है ||

कहते है लोग,के इश्क़ में,कदम कदम पर संभालना होता है |
कैसे बताए,के इश्क़ में, दो दिलो को मिलकर,एक राह पर चलना होता है ||

कहते है लोग,के इश्क़ में,माँगनी होती एक मन्नत है |
कैसे समझाउ, के इश्क़ करना , हमारे लिए एक जन्नत है ||

कहते है लोग,ये इश्क़,किसी और की अमानत होती है |
कैसे कहे सबसे,ये इश्क़,खुदा की दी हुई एक नेमत होती है ||

Here is another, which I really like -

Anyway, here are a few to start off with

Ballet practice
   

2/27/2007 update:
Ballet show June 5th 2006
 
 
 

These photographs were taken with available light - mixed stage lighting - no flash was allowed [even then all those with the tiny PnS cameras kept letting-off their flea-powered flash cubes, probably not even knowing how to turn off the damn flash. LOL!].