Veena Malik

It may be startling for Indian TV-watchers, not to us Pakistanis. Catty and always worked-up, Veena Malik knows how to throw things, including tantrums. So in a Big Boss 4 episode (what the heck is that show about, can someone figure?) when Veena M threw one of her shoes at a character (another super-phony actor) it got the Indian media tongues wagging.

Well, friends, take it from across the border — when Veena hits the roof, she throws the kitchen sink and not just a shoe at the person she’s angry at. If you don’t believe me, watch all the TV shows on which she appeared to spew venom against a cricketer. The poor lad doesn’t even take her name anymore. So watch out, Indian boys!  – PYT

Ashok Kumar and Nalini Jaywant in Kafila (1952)

Mystery surrounds the ‘death’ of yesteryear actress Nalini Jaywant who, neighbours say, passed away three days ago in tragically lonely circumstances at her bungalow in Chembur. Her relatives and those she had once worked with in the film industry were all unaware of the passing of the star who scaled the heights of fame in the 1940s and ’50s but had turned into a complete recluse for the last many years.

Jaywant’s neighbour Ajay Kapoor told Times of India that the security and domestic staff in the colony saw the body being taken away in an ambulance on Tuesday. “However, by the time we got to know about it, it was all over,” he says. “We heard from our staff that a man, who claimed to be a distant relative , came and took the body away. The house is locked and in complete darkness for the past three days, the servants have gone, and Naliniji’s pet dogs are on the streets. We neighbours have been taking care of them.”

While the Chembur ward office said it could only confirm on Monday whether it had issued a death certificate for 84-year-old Jaywant, inquiries with the actress’ relatives, too, drew a blank. “Her father was my cousin but we had lost touch for years,” says veteran theatreperson Vijaya Mehta. Actress Tanuja, whose mother Shobhana Samarth was Jaywant’s first cousin, was shocked to hear the news; as was Dev Anand with whom Jaywant did hit films like Munimji and Kala Pani with evergreen songs like Jeevan ke safar mein rahi and Nazar laagi raja tore bangle par.

Yogi Nigam, another neighbour of Jaywant, says she had stopped meeting people altogether . “Many years earlier, we would visit each other’s houses but after her husband’s death a few years ago, she withdrew completely from society,” he says. “I don’t think anyone ever came to look her up. I happened to catch sight of her a few days earlier and noticed that she had hurt her leg. Her maid said she had had a fall. I asked her if I could do anything, send the doctor to her house. But she was never forthcoming so one couldn’t do much for her.”

Jaywant, who worked with the biggest names in the film industry from Dev Anand to Ashok Kumar and Dilip Kumar, preceded the legendary actresses of the 1950s like Nutan, Meena Kumari, Madhubala , Waheeda Rehman and Vyjayanthimala by a few years. For film buffs and connoisseurs she will always remain a big marquee name of cinema’s golden era – Radha Rajadhyaksha

Deepika Padukone

There’s never been much love lost between Hindi film heroines, but what’s with all the recent public sniping?

Older readers will probably remember a more innocent time when film magazines carried reverential articles about the leading stars of the day, when those who were in a relationship

were described as ‘very good friends’, and every heroine felt compelled to express her utmost respect for her female colleagues even though what she really wanted was to claw their eyes out.

deepikaWell, guess what? That’s exactly what the ladies are doing these days – albeit metaphorically, for the time being at least. For now, their weapon of choice is their tongue and boy, do they hand out a lashing with a rare relish!

Nor are their frank opinions expressed within the privacy of their own drawing rooms. Au contraire, they are aired on their TV channels of choice as they act all naughty and playful on the talk show of the day. The barbs are dressed up with giggles and chuckles but they are sharp and well-directed for all that. And they are trading them as if there is no tomorrow.

Playing a starring role in these cat fights is Deepika Padukone, ex-girlfriend of Ranbir Kapoor and current squeeze of Siddharth (son of Vijay) Mallya. Asked what product her former boyfriend should endorse, Deepika was quick to respond. “Condoms!” she replied, with perfect aplomb. Questioned about Katrina Kaif – with whom Ranbir is said to be ‘very good friends’ – she said she would like to see her passport. Apparently, this was a reference to the rumour that there is some dispute about Katrina’s nationality and thus, her work status in India. (And no, I hadn’t a clue about this either.)

But Deepika is just the first among equals in this bitching fest, for want of a more polite term. Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, who began as good friends (or so they claimed at the time) now never tire of sniping at one another. Evidently, it’s all down to the fact that Priyanka began dating Shahid after Kareena dumped him for Saif Ali Khan. Priyanka and Shahid are apparently no longer together (do try and keep up!) but the ladies are still sniping away at each other.

Kareena was first off the block, asking Priyanka where she had gotten her accent from. Priyanka, who has been educated abroad, retorted with a tart: “The same place her boyfriend got his”. Then Priyanka was asked that if she could steal something off the computer of a long list of people (including Senior Bachchan and other Hindi film stalwarts) what would she steal? When it came to Kareena, Priyanka asked with faux-innocence: “Does she even have a computer?”

Oooh, you could just see the (Hermès, of course) handbags being drawn at dawn.

For some reason, most of this sniping and bitching happens on Karan Johar’s talk show. Suddenly in the midst of a somewhat happy-clappy atmosphere where everyone is laughing and teasing one another, you get a zinger like the ones quoted above. And above the sound of a million gasps across the nation you can hear Karan chuckle happily as he thinks of the headlines this little one-liner will elicit for the next few weeks.

Okay, so can I understand why Johar is happy for the occasional barb to be levelled across the parapet of the Koffee with Karan (honestly, what is with all this ‘K’ stuff? Doesn’t anyone know how to spell any longer?) show because that can only be good for his ratings. The more outrageous the stars get on the show, the more people are likely to tune in to get their weekly fix of cheap thrills.

But why do the stars fall in line so readily? Why are they so willing to say unkind things about one another on national television? Why are they so ready to be flip and bitchy about their colleagues? Why do they get so darn nasty with so little provocation?

Okay, Karan does tend to needle them a bit. But then, that’s his job as an anchor, to stir things up, to push the envelope, to make people say things that they otherwise would not. After all, his brief is to make the show as interesting as he possibly can. And quips like these go down swimmingly with the audience at home.

But my question is this why do the stars fall for it? Why is it that in episode after episode, they all stumble into the same trap of slagging off their colleagues?

Is it that they are so comfortable with Karan – with whom all of them have done a movie or two and, no doubt, partied late into the night for good measure – that they forget that there is an actual audience out there watching and listening? Do they get conned into feeling that they are just among friends, joshing and joking, and that nothing they say will be taken seriously?

There may well be something to that because once the shock-horror reactions start pouring in, all the stars express outrage that what they said in good humour is being taken amiss. But, if you ask me, all this public sniping just makes me long for the good old days when stars concentrated on their pancake rather than their put-downs – Seema Goswami