Hindustantimes Brunch 29 April 2012

WEEKLY MAGAZINE, APRIL 29, 2012 Free with your copy of Hindustan Times

We know what you’re fretting about this very second: shopping for groceries, scrambling for movie tickets, prepping for that Monday meeting...

Relax. Focus. Learn how to handle your niggling worries...

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VIR SANGHVI

Meet Paul Smith

RAJIV MAKHNI

Attack of the apps

SANJOY NARAYAN Grateful dads

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SEEMA GOSWAMI

What makes you smile?

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W AT C H O U T F O R

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29.04.2012 IT’S A DAMN GOOD MAGAZINE! Variety is the spice of Brunch Quarterly. We bring you an eclectic mix of fashion, films, food, health and the good life. And of course, the simmering chemistry between actors Sonam Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar. If you haven’t read it, you’re missing out!

Reasons to read BQ: ■ It’s our version of a deeper, full-bodied Brunch ■ Absolutely gorgeous pictures.

It’s a visual delight!

■ There’s nothing else like it.

We know because we read everything in print.

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Fashion: Ivory Coast

Turn It On Tonight!

White out completely with Actor/model Angad Bedi’s India’s favourite non-colour guide to getting lucky

inbox LETTER OF THE WEEK! ‘One for the designers’

A LOT can be said about your interesting cover stories, but this is a shout out to the design team at Brunch! Brilliant work and genius conceptualisation! The cartoons, fonts and layout of the cover story (Who Let The Birds Out, April 22) were apt.

You make Brunch stand out.

DEEPALI AGARWAL, via email Deepali wins a shopping voucher worth ` 2,500. Congrats!

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The shopping voucher will reach the winner within seven to 10 working days.

In case of any delays, please contact chirag.sharma@hindustantimes.com EDITORIAL: Poonam Saxena (Editor), Aasheesh Sharma, Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi, Mignonne Dsouza, Veenu Singh, Parul Khanna Tewari, Yashica Dutt, Pranav Dixit, Amrah Ashraf, Saudamini Jain, Shreya Sethuraman DESIGN: Ashutosh Sapru (National Editor Design), Swati Chakrabarti, Rakesh Kumar, Ashish Singh, Saket Misra, Suhas Kale, Shailendra Mirgal, Monica Gupta

Drop a line at

brunchletters@hindustantimes.com or to 2nd floor, Mahalaxmi Engg Estate, LJ 1st Cross Road, Mahim West, Mumbai 400016

The Born Identity Soha and Saba Ali Khan; Siddharth, Kunaal and Aditya Roy Kapur; Shantanu & Nikhil – stories of celeb siblings

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LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch Namira Khan Yet another awesome story in Brunch.

Enjoyed every part of the Angry Birds article (Who Let The Birds Out, April 22). Keep up the good work guys!!

Asha Pole For the first time in 3 years, I read Vir Sanghvi’s entire article (Rude Food, April 22). This was something really catchy and tempting!!!

Aisha Sharma Another great cover story (Who Let The Birds Out, April 22). Brunch makes my Sundays!

Techilicious was also very cool, I never miss reading it!

BRUNCH ON THE WEB hindustantimes.com/brunch

Sex and the Advertisement Some ads on TV are full of innuendo and sensuality.

Turn to page 20 (It’s Raining Sexy Ads) and read all about it. When you’re done, log on to our website and check out a photo gallery of some of the sexiest ads on TV.

new! The Adventures of the Accidental Philosopher Judy Balan, author of the bestseller Two Fates – The Story of My Divorce, on seeing an opportunity to do things differently in any situation

Brunch Blogs Read Playful Platitudes by Parul Khanna Tewari. Ramblings on pets, dating and fashion

APRIL 29, 2012

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Cover Story

We’re living the good life, better than ever before. Then, why are we so anxious?

Reel World

The actors in the background were what made Kahaani and Paan Singh Tomar a huge hit

Personal Agenda

Actress Sushama Reddy would break her diet for dark chocolate and wants to be a space tourist

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SPECTATOR Sometimes it is the strangest things that make us smile

14 RUDE FASHION Why Indians will take some more time to understand Paul Smith 16 TECHILICIOUS There are so many apps and so little time 17

DOWNLOAD CENTRAL Many children of musical legends managed to make it big Cover Design: ASHISH SINGH

Tweet Meet: Live Chat on Twitter!

If you think that the Age of Anxiety (refer to the cover story, page 6) is affecting you, log on to Twitter tomorrow.

Lifestyle Management Expert Rachna K Singh will dole out tips and advice for an hour starting at 2 pm.

All you have to do is tweet your troubles and she’ll respond. Follow @HTBrunch on Twitter!

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THE AGE OF

Jumpy, edgy and nervous despite being rich and successful? You are not alone.

Lifestyle anxiety is the new urban endemic

by Parul Khanna Tewari

CHECK IF YOU HAVE ANY OF THESE WORRYING SIGNS You see floaters or dots in front of your eyes You can feel your heart beat in your chest You feel an urgent need to twitch your fingers and toes Your neck and back are stiff Your forehead is warm You need to pee in the middle of something important You are sleeping too little or too much You get up in the middle of the night You get unpleasant dreams and wake up tired and fatigued You feel butterflies in your stomach You get nagging aches and pains all over your body

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N PAPER, you have a picture perfect life: A spacious house, a swanky address, a good partner, a decent job, annual family vacations and a big car. You have a wide circle of friends you go out drinking with, or invite home.

There’s just one hitch. You are always on the edge, your mind racing from one thing to another.

Activities that gave you pleasure in the past, such as shopping for yourself or reading, have become chores on your to-do list. You are nagged by constant fears, even if it’s something as mundane as making it in time for a movie or submitting the electricity bill before it gets too late.

This, say the mental health experts, is lifestyle anxiety. And according to them, 98 per cent of Indians, especially those living in urban centres, suffer from it. “It is the endemic of today,” says Dr Nikhil Raheja, psychiatrist, National Institute of Psychiatry, New Delhi.

Raheja says he doesn’t know of anyone who doesn’t suffer from some form of anxiety or another. “This is the kind of anxiety that makes you jumpy, edgy and worried,” he says.

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When this escalates, it spirals into clinical disorders such as anxiety attacks or panic attacks. “We get a very large number of patients who suffer from this. Thirty-seven per cent of the total cases we get are anxiety-related,” adds Raheja.

Aren’t we more anxious even though we lead better lives than our parents and grandparents did? Varun Dhiman, 34, an MNC executive, agrees. “I have the security of my parents’ house and have bought one of my own. I earn well, live a good life, eat out, and travel. I have the best of medical facilities available. Yet, I worry.”

We have access to a burgeoning number of yoga, wellness and rejuvenation spas. But we’re still anxious. This could be because we are geared to believe that it is anxiety which will make us win in life. And herein lies the catch, says Dr Sunil Mittal, chairman of the Cosmos Institute of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, New Delhi. “We believe that this anxiety – to chase a dream and always be on the run – is what will make us thrive.

But in this focused effort to ‘achieve’ and control events in our lives, we often flounder.”

ARE YOU IN A HURRY?

Anxiety is a feeling of being in a constant state of unease, and fearing the outcome. It can be triggered by something as banal as getting worked up about being on time while driving to work. “Anxiety starts with a single worry.

When the mind focuses too much on it and for a long time, it sets in.

That’s how little worries turn into anxieties,” says clinical psychologist Dr Seema Hingorrany. An anxious person is always in a hurry, constantly irritable, gets negative thoughts and, depending on personality type, may brood for hours or get angry.

People in a state of constant anxiety fall back on quick fixes such as alcohol, cigarettes, even gutka; and they love the distraction of parties.

Anxiety, over a period of time, can cause a drastic change in weight (gain or loss), a change in sleep pattern

Anxiety can be triggered by something as banal as getting worked up about being on time for work

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DIARY OF AN ANXIOUS PERSON

Photo imaging: MONICA GUPTA

(disturbed sleep, sleeping too much or too little, interrupted sleep and sometimes even unpleasant dreams). “Anxiety releases hormones called epinephrines in the body,” says lifestyle management expert Rachna K Singh. “These increase the heart rate, constrict blood vessels, and dilate air passages causing fatigue and breathlessness. Also, bottled anxiety causes Obsessive Compulsive Disorders and even minor phobias such as fear of lizards, dogs, of getting into lifts, crossing the road etc,” adds Singh.

THE ANXIOUS GENERATION

There are many reasons why our generation is more anxious than our grandparents and our parents.

A matter of time: “Do we actually make time for ourselves the way our parents did?” asks Dr Nikhil Raheja.

The answer is ‘no’. “We drive hours to reach home. We usually never reach before eight at night. Barely are we through with dinner than we start planning the next day. Rewind to our parents’ generation. People would reach home early, spend time with each other, chat, watch their favourite show on Doordarshan. Also, most women were homemakers. So stresses were evenly divided.”

Where’s the next task? We have so

much on our plate now that we can never sit still and focus on what we are doing. “We are always thinking two days in advance,” says Ruhani Jaiswal, 28, copywriter with an advertising firm.

“There have been times when I am sitting getting my pedicure done.

But all that time I am either responding to SMSs or thinking about the groceries to be picked up, the silver earrings I have to buy, what my boyfriend said that hurt me, the episode of Two And A Half Men I have to catch and holiday pictures that I have to upload on Facebook.” This avalanche of thoughts causes franticness in our already chattering minds.

The gild trap: Author Palash Krishna Mehrotra, best known for The Butterfly Generation, says the consumer culture and credit traps could also trigger anxiety. “We take loans to be ‘happy’. But we realise we are not happy, then we want more money, we work harder, get tired but we cannot stop. It is like being on a treadmill all the time and it can lead

to a life filled with anxiety.” In a material world, hankering after the objects they lust for makes people take on more than they can handle. Sports psychologist and personal counsellor Tarun Jain explains this by citing his ‘BMW theory.’ Say there is a doctor who dreams of buying a BMW. “The doctor wants to earn R70 lakh by the end of a year to buy the car. So he divides that money by 12 and arrives at how much he should earn. He starts seeing 20 patients every day. His daughter is ill but he has to leave her to go to the clinic; all the time he is anxious and guilty. He cannot go to the movies with his family.

By the end of the year, he does manage to buy a BMW. There is an initial euphoria, but his entire year was spent being anxious,” says Jain.

Never in the frame: To stay calm, one needs to be in the moment, suggest mind experts. “Earlier there were fewer avenues of entertainment. You would listen to a singer or band’s entire album because acquiring an album was the only way to listen to music. You would

Bottled anxiety causes Obsessive Compulsive Disorders and even minor phobias

This is the routine of a Gurgaonbased business executive in her 40s who did not want to be identified ■ I wake up tired, as if I ran a marathon yesterday. I don’t know why. I slept on time and had my eight hours of prescribed sleep. I got up after an unpleasant dream once again (I don’t remember the exact reason).

■ I read the paper. I feel terrible reading about a Gurgaon boy who was kidnapped and sodomised or the septuagenarian who was raped.

■ Along with my tea, I check my phone for missed calls or messages. More often than not, there are calls from people that I have to return at some point.

■ I do my puja and immediately after that my maid calls to say she will be late. I fret as I have an important project to finish in office and cannot be late.

■ Luckily, the maid isn’t too late and I start for office at the usual time. On the way, I have to get petrol. There, this other guy in another car starts arguing with me because my car wouldn’t start for five minutes.

■ Finally, I reach office. My boss is in a foul mood and so I am on edge throughout the day. I am able to complete a few things and not able to complete a few others. It is my friend’s birthday today and I have to pick up some wine for him. For that, I have to leave early. So I hurry and try and finish things in office.

■ On the way to my friend’s house, I make official as well as personal courtesy calls.

■ I reach the party and am relieved to grab a glass of cold beer. It really relaxes me.

■ But the next day, I have to go to the gym early and so I can’t stay at the party for too long.

■ Back home, I put an alarm and jot down all the things I have to do tomorrow in my ‘to-do’ diary. Tasks ranging from paying the electricity bill, picking up groceries for a party I am throwing the day after, submitting a report in office, calling a relative who is unwell and checking with friends if they want to catch a movie on the weekend and then booking tickets.

Photos: THINKSTOCK Phew!

“I try not to worry about the future – so I take each day just one anxiety attack at a time” – Tom Wilson, American actor and comedian APRIL 29, 2012

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buy a book and read it three times.

Now you flip channels, innumerable radio stations, watch a film at home and also Facebook at the same time,” says Mehrotra. “This distracting engagement with things around us and the interference of technology in our lives leaves us with no energy to enjoy anything in its entirety,” he adds.

The urge to control: The entire self-help industry is based on the premise of never giving up. It is true we have the strength to change most things in life, but not everything. This translates into people trying to control events that can’t be controlled.

As a generation we are harsher on ourselves.

“Anxiety sets in when we outstretch ourselves and somewhere in our minds, we know we may not be able to achieve what we have set out to,” says Tarun Jain. The irony is that there is always someone more successful, richer, and supposedly happier – the one with a bigger car, better marriage and a more exotic vacation. “When goals are realistic, they give us positive stress, otherwise they give us anxiety. People are mindlessly buying into the whole ‘living a good life’ industry that cinema and television propagate,” adds Jain.

Mind Your Mind: Change The Way You Think Be content: Tone down your 1yourself. expectations from life and Learn to be happy with

what you have.

Get real: Assess your positives and negatives and be sure of what you are capable of achieving. What you dream of or aim for has to match your abilities.

Accept that you may have certain limitations.

Put in your best and say to yourself: I should be happy with what I can achieve.

Multitask: It’s great to multitask but not at the expense of turning into a nervous wreck. Prioritise and go easy. For instance, if you are a journalist, you may be able to submit 10 stories in five days and also go out partying, but you won’t be able to enjoy either your work or your parties.

Draw a line: Don’t live life with unrealistic targets. Check yourself before you start.

Strike a balance: Rather than chasing a life you are supposed

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What you dream of or aim for has to match your abilities.

Accept that you may have limitations

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to live, sit and analyse and live the kind of life you want to live.

Reflect: Take out 15 minutes each day for self-reflection.

Meditation is great. Get an expert to teach you. If you cannot, introspect by yourself. Write down how you want your life to be.

Revisit this every month.

Take stock: With family, work and social pressures, we tend to lose track of where our lives are going. So sit down and draw up a list of things you have achieved and things you have not. Noting your achievements will help you calm down; they will make you feel positive about yourself.

Analyse: Also remember, the work-life balance doesn’t always mean a 50/50 ratio.

Sometimes, it is 20/80, sometimes, 60/40. So relax.

You are not God. Let go: Some people get worried about the weather on a big day. Or, perhaps the things other people are doing at work, neither of which they can influence. Accept that you can’t control everything.

Once you do that, it becomes easier not to worry.

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Live with your worries: 10 Mindfulness training teaches you to stay in the moment and pay

attention to all your mental and physical sensations without attempting to judge or fix them. So learn to live with your worry. It is there. Don’t ignore it or play it down. Accept your emotions. You may not feel like that every day.

This is also the way Buddhist monks approach life.

Ignorance is bliss: You shouldn’t feel envious looking at your friends’ holiday pictures on Facebook – because you don’t know what happens between her and her spouse inside the four walls of their home. Don’t judge your life on the basis of the way others are living. Everyone has a way that works for them. Find yours. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) realised it the hard way in the second installment of Sex And The City. Her husband Mr Big’s request for them to spend time away from each other (for one day in the week) didn’t mean their relationship wasn’t as good as her friends Charlotte or Miranda’s relationships were. It was just a different way.

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parul.khanna@hindustantimes.com

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IMMEDIATE RELIEF FOR WHEN YOU START FEELING ANXIOUS Defocus Shut your eyes and take your mind off from the trigger. Start counting the seconds of your watch or count till 10 or 20. You will stop fretting about your worry for the time being. It will help you temporarily

Deep breathing Yes we know, you want to scoff and say, “It will never work,” but doctors and experts swear by this technique to do away with anxiety. Shut your eyes and inhale and exhale for five minutes, all the while looking at your watch. It will calm you down. Deep breathing works on your nervous system and allows you to relax

Move out of the zone Get up and move away from the physical space (eg: your workstation).

Go and get yourself water or green tea (very calming) Rethink Look afresh at the problem and at your attitude. It will give you a fresh perspective

Know yourself Identify your personality type and reactions. Some people brood, others get irritable and yet others get angry.

Identify your response. When you catch yourself going the ‘anxiety’ way, tap yourself, pinch yourself and tell yourself to stop

Don’t worry. Poet WH Auden wrote The Age Of Anxiety to describe the anxious times of the the 1930s, but people got out of it. We shall too. Every generation has its set of challenges and humans are intrinsically trained to survive. So stop. Don’t pour yourself another drink, light that cigarette, rush to the fridge for comfort food or type on your smartphone to inform the Twiterrati about this endemic.

Relax. This too shall pass. As Bobby McFerrin sings: Don’t Worry Be Happy.

“I don’t have big anxieties. I wish I did. I’d be much more interesting” – Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist APRIL 29, 2012

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MARS AND VENUS

Love Me, Love My Wardrobe?

Love is blind! Which is why you never bothered with his/her awful style.

But what now?

by Yashica Dutt This is NOT what we mean by changing his/her wardrobe for the better!

D

ODGING A potential landmine there, aren’t you? What if he thinks that after wearing that crimson shirt he’ll never be able to walk out of the house again? Or what if she genuinely believes that those fluffy balloon skirts compliment her even balloonier backside? Can you actually risk sacrificing a perfectly bouncy and burgeoning relationship at the superficial altar of good fashion? A lot of people would say yes. Else the Internet wouldn’t be filled with the pertinent question of How do I stop my boyfriend/girlfriend from wearing ugly clothes? But if you put it just like that, then even the relationship gods won’t save you.

“There are better ways of communicating without hurting your partner’s feelings,” says Rachna K Singh, psychologist and lifestyle expert, Artemis Hospital, Delhi. “If you are too critical, make comparisons and constantly nit-pick on your partner’s style, he/she will resent you.” PS: Asking your girl to dress like a chick in your office is a good move only when you are trying to break up with her!

suspenders even though you have a carefully cultivated pet pot belly’, then you need the fashion counsel, not him. “One must have an open mind while making suggestions.

Realise that your partner might not be open to the idea of changing how they have been dressing for years,” says Singh.

Or do what junior lawyer Nayantara Vaid did when she wanted her tall and lanky beau to dress better. “Not that he dressed badly to begin with, I wouldn’t have gone out with him otherwise,” she retorts. “I had to coax him for almost two years before he even considered ditching loose, half-sleeved shirts and extrabaggy hip-hopper jeans. But I was never pushy,” she explains. “I showed him fashion magazines, had open discussions about why I thought he’d carry off what most men can’t and went shopping to have him try better-fitting clothes.

And don’t forget the gifts, he now loves wearing bandhgala shirts after I gifted him a few.”

Comparing your girl to a chick in your office is a good move only when you’re trying to break up

WAY MORE THAN WORDS

“Communicate in a positive fashion, using requests and suggestions like ‘I would like you to’ instead of making dominating statements like ‘I want you to,” counsels Singh. But if you say something like ‘I would like you to wear that awesome pair of

‘I don’t want to ogle at other women wear-ing the same things’

Model FREDDY DARUWALA

LITTLE BY LITTLE

But if your significant other’s bad style is thanks to pure laziness, then you’ll have to step on the ball and sweat it out. You’re their life-changing superhero, remember?

“In an ideal world, I wouldn’t change a thing.

But I did overhaul my husband’s wardrobe completely after we met.

And he didn’t mind, as long as he didn’t have to make an effort,” says Pernia Qureshi, Bollywood stylist and fashion website owner. “But I didn’t redo his style fully. He hates wearing colours, so I introduced a neutral colour palette with grey blazers and beige trousers, even though I’d love him to wear some colour. And I got everything tailored to exactly fit his shape,” says the proud wife who has no qualms about

‘I didn’t redo my husband’s closet. I got his clothes tailored to fit well’ Stylist PERNIA QURESHI

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5 WAYS TO GET YOUR PARTNER FROM NAY TO YAY! Photo:THINKSTOCK

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Shower them with fashionable clothes. Ask your friends to compliment them.

Get sneaky. Strike deals about doing one thing that they want if they dress the way you want for an evening.

If they don’t care about their style, then you can get away by hiding the really ugly ones. If they do care, then read below.

If they think that a pair of neon overalls or diamond-studded jeans are the ‘it’ items in their wardrobe, then take them back to the crazy ’90s albums on the Net. Seeing documented evidence of their embarrassing closet will make them realise their folly.

Don’t sweat! If they dressed this bad, what were you thinking when you agreed to go out with them?

accepting all the compliments that her husband now gets for his good taste in clothes.

And if you are the other half who isn’t bending to your partner’s sartorial demands, then hear what cover model Freddy Daruwala says. “I want my partner to be in my fantasies, be it as a woman wearing a bikini or a short skirt. I don’t want to ogle at other women wearing the same things.” Still not convinced?

Then you better be super awesome, funny and a total knockout. And find someone like hunky former model and actor Ameet Gaur, pronto.

“Honestly, my girlfriend’s personality matters more. If she wears something terrible, I would compliment her about something else that looks nice on her. If that doesn’t work, then I’ll accept her for what she is.”

Awww, did we hear you say! yashica.dutt@hindustantimes.com

‘Her personality matters more.

I’ll compliment her about what suits her’ Actor AMEET GAUR

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REEL WORLD

The Spotlight Is On Four Scene St

by Tavishi Paitandy Rastogi

Khan The rough, foul-mouthed IB officer

Photo: SATTISH BATE

NAWAZUDDIN SIDDIQUI Film – Kahaani Character – An arrogant, aggressive IB officer. Crass and abrasive, he knows his job and does it well.

Life changer – “For someone who’s been struggling for 12 years to get more than a couple of scenes simply because he doesn’t “look” like an actor, this is a stunner,” says the unassuming Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

He’s nothing like the gritty, abusive IB officer Khan of Kahaani whose onscreen presence unnerved the audience.

“Is film ne shuru se sirf surprise kiya hai,” is how he translates the stir that Khan has created. “I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams that I would be appreciated so much. It is fantastic.”

Nawazuddin was equally surprised when he heard that director Sujoy Ghosh wanted to cast him as an IB officer. “I asked them if they had contacted the right Nawazuddin! I am a 5’6”, thin fellow, nothing like an IB officer. So it seemed strange. But I

guess they were sure,” he smiles.

Born and brought up in Budhana, a small village in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district, Nawazuddin’s first introduction to theatre was when he came with friends to Delhi and watched a play.

He was hooked. He watched close to 250 plays before he joined the National School of Drama in Delhi and started doing theatre. Soon he moved to Mumbai, where his struggling days were worse than what he had anticipated. A few two-minute roles were offered to him – till Black Friday happened in 2004.

Though work became somewhat steady, the limelight proved elusive. “I don’t think anyone remembers me in New York or even Paan Singh Tomar but Kahaani worked. And how!”

Up next – “Ab toh kaam shuru hua hai,” he laughs. “Finally, all these filmi people are taking notice and saying, ‘You are an actor’, instead of ‘Are you an actor?’” he laughs.

With seven films ready for release in the next few months, a new chapter has begun in Nawazuddin’s life.

‘Finally, all these filmi people are taking notice and saying, ‘You are an actor’

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Satyaki / Rana The cultured, helpful cop

Photo: SAMIR JANA

PARAMBRATA CHATTERJEE Film – Kahaani Character – The rookie cop has all his niceties in place. Cultured, shy, mild mannered, he goes all out to help the very-pregnant Vidya Bagchi. And of course, he secretly nurses a massive crush on her.

Life changer – “This kind of adulation from all quarters is quite mindblowing,” says actordirector Parambrata Chatterjee. “Without sounding immodest, I can say that I was decently known in Kolkata. So it wasn’t that I was trying to establish myself. But Kahaani has taken it to a different level altogether. The industry guys are now treating me as an actor to reckon with, and the general public in other cities – Mumbai, Delhi etc – is actually recognising me and coming up to me at odd places like the airport to congratulate me on my performance. It’s just overwhelming,” he adds.

Having started his acting career in 2003, Parambrata finished the edit of

his directorial debut and went off to UK to pursue a master’s degree in filmmaking. A year later, when his course was over, he got a call from director Sujoy Ghosh. “Before going home, I decided to just travel around.

I was in Amsterdam when I got a call from Sujoy saying he wanted me back immediately. I heard the story on Skype! So convinced was he about me that he did a look-test for me over mail and just fixed it. I had to cancel the rest of my trip to Rome and get back! Sujoy still owes me the trip,” he laughs.

Up next – Life has suddenly become extremely busy for this new poster boy of Hindi cinema. “I don’t know about the poster boy bit, but yes, a lot of female attention is coming in,” he says, half shy, half smiling. And work?

Is Bollywood the next destination?

“Well, I’m meeting a lot of people and reading some very good scripts.

Some endorsements are also in the pipeline. I’m open to travelling for work, but I won’t shift. Kolkata has lots of great work happening too.

And finally, this is home for me.”

‘I was known in Kolkata.

But Kahaani has taken the recognition to a different level altogether’

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Stealers From Two Sleeper Hits

The Patrakar The nervous, small town hack

Photo: SATTISH BATE

BRIJENDRA KALA Film – Paan Singh Tomar Character – He’s a typical small town, small time journalist. Half scared and half heroic about meeting an athlete-turned-dacoit. His only motivation: the interview will turn ‘him’ into a headline.

Life changer – So disappointed was Kala by the “no-show” of his role as a munim in Agneepath that he didn’t realise how widely he was being appreciated for his role of a journalist in this year’s other surprise hit, Paan Singh Tomar. “When you feel that you haven’t got your due in a big film, you never imagine that you’ll be noticed in a small film. And why me?

We were surprised even by the film doing so well.

Paan Singh Tomar was in the making for three years. The producers just weren’t ready to release it. So expectations were rather low,” says a matter-of-fact Kala.

“I’m very happy. In fact, there is always a risk of fading into the back-

ground with big stars, but Irrfan and Tigmanshu made sure they got the ratio right,” he smiles.

Brought up in Mathura, Kala did most of his theatre in the small circles of this small town. “We performed a lot in Brajbhasha. I never thought I would go to Mumbai and do films,” says Kala. It was perhaps his small town sensibility and regular interactions with journalists from the hinterland that brought out the gritty realness in his performance.

Up next – Soaking in all the appreciation, Kala isn’t gloating about it. “I have been here for long.

Been appreciated and disappointed. This is big but work continues,” he says. Though critics have loved his performance, Kala feels that does not necessarily translate into work. “Neither am I looking at establishing myself any more. I’m just happy to be appreciated.” With three films, Fatso, Jannat 2 and Dekho Yeh Hai Mumbai Real Life coming up this year, Kala expects a good year ahead.

‘I have been here for very long now.

I’m just happy to be appreciated’

Bob Biswas The polite, smiling assassin

Photo: SAMIR JANA

SASWATA CHATTERJEE Film – Kahaani Character – A seemingly inconsequential insurance agent, Bob Biswas leads a dual life as a ‘bhadralok’ contract killer.

Life changer – Saswata is stunned by the reaction to his Bob Biswas turn.

“It is amazing. In fact, rather unbelievable,” he says. Bob Biswas has changed the way we see villains in Hindi cinema. He’s like that dimwitted, harmless uncle next door. But he’s made sure that every time someone says, “Aik mineet?” you duck.

Saswata concedes: “I agree. His innocence is rather scary.”

Life, says Saswata, has changed suddenly and dramatically. “It’s been some time now, but I still feel I am living a dream. It’ll take time to register. My days seem to be passing doing round-theclock interviews. Never before have I talked so much in Hindi and English,” he says with a laugh.

Born and brought up

in Kolkata, he has done theatre, television and films in Bengali. So naturally, Saswata was surprised to get a call from director Sujoy Ghosh for a Hindi flick. With a brief to be polite, like a typical Bengali bhadralok, Saswata was told that he had to kill sweetly.

And has Bob Biswas gone for the real kill? Has his success spelt more money for Saswata? “I really hope it happens, though I haven’t seen any signs of things moving that way,” he laughs. “But what I really hope for is that there should be some interesting roles in films. Somehow, earlier they never seemed to come,” he adds.

Up next – With some good offers coming in from Bollywood, Saswata is taking time to pick and choose. “Life is rather settled in Kolkata. I am looking forward to doing roles in Hindi films but have to watch my step. I can’t compromise on work at home either. See, there are just that many in “character” roles that you can get. So I will wait for something mind-blowing to come my way.”

Never before have I talked so much in Hindi and English!

“I know I’ll be under a spotlight, I know I’ll be under the microscope” – Lisa Guerrero, journalist and actress APRIL 29, 2012

11_Mumbai

tavishi.rastogi@ hindustantimes.com

WELLNESS

twitter.com/HTBrunch

Stay On The Sunny Side

ADD TO YOUR DIET: Eat oats or wholegrain cold cereal; use wholewheat bread for toast and sandwiches; switch to wholewheat pasta and opt for brown rice. Sprinkling wheat germ on to yoghurt and cereals is a great idea too.

BROCCOLI

Fear the sun’s power to cause ageing?

These five foods can be your saviour

by Kavita Devgan

T

O LOOK gorgeous on the outside, you have to nourish your beauty from inside, which means eating lots of good stuff. And in summer, the right platefuls can be handy in combating the devastating effect ultraviolet (UV) radiation has on the skin.

So load foods loaded with antioxidants – the cellular warriors that fight skin ageing caused by the sun – on to your plates.

GREEN TEA

There’s a particularly potent antioxidant known as EGCG that does all kinds of good things for the skin and the best place to find it is tea.

EGCG puts a damper on inflammatory chemicals involved in acne and sun-related ageing. A study published in the Archives of Dermatology shows that whether taken orally or applied to the skin, green tea can reduce the risk of damage from UV light, and also

reduce the risk of skin cancer. Plus green tea contains L-theanine, a de-tensing amino acid and anything you can do to staunch the flow of the stress hormone cortisol helps keep collagen fibres intact.

ADD TO YOUR DIET: Brew a teapot full every morning, so that sipping four to six cups throughout the day is a no-brainer.

AVOCADOS

Eaten in moderation, the monounsaturated fats of avocado will net you smooth skin. In fact, avocados contain the most potent anti-ageing combination – Vitamins E and C – which mops up ageing free radicals.

Enjoying a few slices in your tossed salad will add flavour and increase your body’s ability to absorb carotenoids that most vegetables provide ADD TO YOUR DIET: Spread ripe avocados on bread as a healthy replacement for mayo when making a sandwich; make a salad by combining sliced avocado with oranges and mint; use chopped avocados as a garnish for soups.

MCT

MIND BODY SOUL

SHIKHA SHARMA

WHAT TO EAT IN THE HEAT

S

ummer is the time when kids are more vulnerable to loose motions, vomiting and fever, all signs of stomach infections. Such infections could be caused by drinking water or juices or eating food from outside sources (which may not have been prepared in hygienic conditions).

It can also be due to other children who may have got the infection.

PREVENTION

The best way to prevent summer infections is to avoid eating outside food, especially from street vendors.

Water is the most common carrier of infections, so it is best to drink bottled

water or carry water from home.

Another way to prevent infections is by eating healthy food at home to build immunity. However, go easy on chips and other packaged foods. Children should also not be given chilled water as it affects their tonsils. If they want cold water, dilute refrigerated water with room temperature water to a proportion of 50 per cent.

Similarly, sour foods should be avoided. Kids also tend to catch a chill from high air-conditioning, so keep the air-conditioner at a comfort-

Photos: THINKSTOCK

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(carotenoids play an important part in protecting skin from sun damage as they decrease sensitivity to its rays; found in carrots, spinach, apricots, sweet potato, watermelon, tomatoes).

WHOLEGRAINS

Wholegrain foods are rich in fibre, and keep your digestion humming along. This translates into skin that radiates health. Wholegrains are rich in B vitamins (such as B2 and B3), which help maintain normal skin function, and are loaded with zinc, which assists in maintaining elastin fibres and collagen to promote firmer skin. Best of all, going ‘whole’ gives a selenium boost to the diet, a mineral antioxidant that helps minimise the damage of UV light.

able temperature.

THE WAY OUT

The simplest way to avoid ailments is by keeping your child hydrated. The importance of hydration is grossly underestimated. Even when parents bring their sick child to the hospital, hydrating the child could have prevented most ailments. Most people are unaware that diarrhea can be treated by giving ORS (a mixture of salt, sugar and water) to the child. Younger kids can easily slip into unconsciousness if too much water and electrolytes are lost from the body in the heat.

Unfortunately most people neglect the benefits of hydration and believe that medicines are the best way to tackle it.

In case of babies, it is important to continue feeding mother’s milk. For

Broccoli are loaded with sulforaphane, a compound known for anti-cancer properties. This also protects skin from sun damage as it increases production of protective enzymes.

ADD TO YOUR DIET: Add steamed broccoli florets to salads and pasta; purée cooked broccoli and add to soups; steamed florets can be added to omelettes.

FISH

When it comes to foods that pack a beauty punch, it’s hard to beat salmon, tuna, mackerel and sardines. Loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, these high-quality protein sources are filled with vitamin B-12 and iron. Omega-3s fight inflammation, considered one of the top skin agers, and protect against sunburn. Plus, fish is high in vitamin D, which is great for skin. Even fish oil containing the omega-3 essential fatty acid EPA helps to prevent wrinkles. brunchletters@hindustantimes.com

ADD TO YOUR DIET: Aim to eat two portions a week. Broil, bake or poach it with dill; toss it into pasta dishes and salads.

MCT

older children, rice gruel, mung dal gruel, coconut water and mashed steamed apple is advisable.

Dilute homemade fruit juice with 60 per cent water to make it easily digestible, otherwise the high concentration of fructose in the juice can worsen the diarrhea.

It is also important to know that in case of fever, sponging your child’s forehead with room temperature water will put them at ease. ask@ dshikha.com

‘As a child my family’s menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it’ – Buddy Hackett APRIL 29, 2012

12_Mumbai

MCT

indulge

twitter.com/HTBrunch

A

Seema

Goswami BABY’S SMILE is a thing of beauty.

The lips are raised upwards in delight, the eyes light up, the nose crinkles just so, and an infectious gurgle emerges from those toothless gums. Who could possibly resist?

Not me. Inevitably I find myself grinning back, cooing and gurgling and indulging in the kind of demented baby talk that all adults are reduced to when confronted with a smiling infant.

Yes, a baby’s smile can light up your day. But I often wonder what makes babies smile in the first place. Okay, when they are very young, it is probably gas. But once they begin to take in the world a little, what makes their faces light up with delight ever so often? What do they find so amusing as they chortle away in their cribs? Why is it that some games make them giggle irrepressibly and others leave them cold? (And how can they possibly go from full-throated laughter to highpitched crying in a manner of seconds?)

With adults, it’s relatively easy to anticipate what will bring on the smiles. A fulsome compliment; a thoughtful present; a funny sequence in a movie; a witty one-liner in a TV sitcom; a great new haircut; your kid’s performance at the school concert; a long-awaited promotion; an unexpected raise; a wonderful meal; the list is long and predictable. cally incorrect the joke, I can’t help smiling at the punch line (I There are as many smiles as there are occasions that bring call it reflexive politeness to make myself feel better). them on. There are the social smiles that we plaster on whenSometimes, though, it is the darnedest things that make me ever we are out and about in company. They may be just a social smile. Rummaging through an old handbag and stumbling upon grimace which doesn’t quite reach our eyes, but they are smiles a R100 rupee note tucked away in the lining; having an old for all that. There are the fake smiles that we immediately assume favourite from the ’60s start playing on the radio as I wait at a when a camera lens is trained on us, carefully calibrated so that traffic light; the smell of wet earth as the first rains hit the we look happy rather than chubby. There are the smiles that we parched ground; finding a childhood picture of a family holiday use to convey derision; the smiles we employ to express sarcasm; tucked away in a book; the sight of a dog gambolling on the and the smiles we flash to show contempt. street; the first sip of a strong cup of coffee as I start the day; And then there are the genuine ones that transform our entire my little niece slipping her hand into mine. beings with the happiness that lies behind them. A mother’s smile I guess it’s true what they say. Happiness does lie in the details. as she looks down on her suckling infant; a writer’s smile when And the only way to go through life is to snatch little moments he or she comes up with a particularly felicitous phrase; a father’s of joy as and when you can, without obsessing too much about grin when his son finally manages to dispatch one of the big picture. his medium-pace deliveries to beyond the square Watch the sunset from your balcony. leg fence; a girl’s smile when her boyfriend Decompress with a walk on the beach. surprises her with a ring; a child’s smile Spend your lunch hour on a park bench when his mother finally comes home reading a book, or simply watching after a long day at the office. the world go by. Cool off with an iceOn occasion, our smiles cream on a hot summer afternoon. break through against our Get your nails done. Gossip with better judgement. It proba friend. Wallow in an oil-scentably makes me a callous ed bath at the end of a long day. so-and-so but I can’t help Put the kids to bed and enjoy a smiling whenever I watch glass of wine (or two) with your someone stumble or fall. (In spouse. my defence, I giggle uncontrolTake your pleasures when and lably even if the person taking a where you can. Because no matter pratfall is me.) I find myself smiling how small and insignificant they (but only in my head) when particuseem, they will bring a smile to your larly pretentious people of my acquainface. And that smile could well light up tance mispronounce French or Italian your world. words in an attempt to establish their creseema_ht@rediffmail.com. Follow Seema on Twitter at dentials as polyglots. And no matter how polititwitter.com/seemagoswami

spectator

Sometimes it is the strangest things that bring them to our lips

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS

Get your nails done, enjoy a glass of wine, watch the sunset from your balcony or spend your lunch hour on a park bench reading a book

JUST DESSERTS

Decompress with a walk on the beach or cool off with an ice-cream on a hot summer afternoon

APRIL 29, 2012

13_Mumbai

Photos: THINKSTOCK

SMILES TO GO...

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indulge Photo: JASJEET PLAHA, Location: Aman New Delhi

PS – YOU’LL LOVE HIM

Vir Sanghvi

“I like mixing the rough with the smooth; classic with kitsch,” says Smith.

“That’s what gives clothes an edge” APRIL 29, 2012

14_Mumbai

Paul Smith is that rare designer who appeals to all age groups. And his range goes from trendy shirts to Savile Row-style bespoke tailoring

P

AUL SMITH has always been among my favourite designers. Partly, it is because I have worn his clothes for over two decades now and love them. But mostly it is because of what he represents: the triumph of the talented hard-working individual at a time when fashion has become the business of conglomerates.

And then, there’s Smith the man. Most world famous fashion designers have entourages, battalions of assistants and sinister-looking, hatchet-faced PRs who tell you what you can ask the designer and what you can’t.

Smith, on the other hand, is content to be himself. I interviewed him for Brunch some years ago at his office in London and was struck by how unaffected he was. Last Monday, I caught up with him again at the Delhi Aman for breakfast. Smith was on a hectic one-day trip to India and breakfast was about the only slot in his schedule that had not been previously booked for interviews, photo shoots, events etc.

Though we were due to meet at 8.30 am, I arrived fifteen minutes early having allowed for traffic which, as it turned out, I did not encounter. When I got out of the car, I noticed a familiar figure standing on the porch. It was Smith himself. He had finished his morning routine (a visit to the gym and – I’m guessing here – a swim) early and said that he had decided to wait for me on the porch, seeing as he had nothing else to do.

I’d only slightly recovered from the shock of being received

by Smith when he sprung another surprise. “Nice shirt,” he said.

“It was 1992, wasn’t it?”

Indeed it was. I’d bought the shirt at his Floral Street shop in London two decades ago and – like most of Smith’s clothes – it had stood the test of time. “We made five shirts from that fabric,” he recalled. “There was another brown shirt with a different pattern. There was a green shirt…” (I had bought three of the five so I knew what he was talking about.)

“Do you remember every shirt you have designed?” I asked, slightly gobsmacked at his powers of recall.

“Most of them, yes,” he responded. “In this case I designed the pattern and we had the fabric made for us at a mill in France. It’s the fabric really that keeps the shirts still looking the way they did when we first made them.”

As we began on breakfast (coffee and toast with Marmite for him), we talked about the early days. Smith is a self-taught designer who opened his first London shop in the early 1980s. I told him that I’d first heard of him soon after that shop opened when Paul McCartney told an interviewer that he was wearing a Paul Smith suit.

“Paul was very good to me,” Smith remembered.

“He was playing at the Hammersmith Odeon and phoned and asked if I could come to his dressing room with some clothes. So I thought about it,

rude fashion

14

15

hindustantimes.com/brunch

then, were so widely ripped off by other picked out some things and made designers that they became a standard combinations that I thought he could feature of men’s wear for a decade. wear. I got to the dressing room, laid Smith invented the stripe by playing out the clothes and asked which ones around with yarn. He never drew the he liked. But he just took one look design. Instead he would take a piece of and said “I’ll take them all” and asked cardboard and then wrap various coloured “do you want some tea?” And then, threads around it till he had the stripey Paul McCartney made me a cup of look he needed. Initially, he intended it to tea and a cheese sandwich in his be a one-season thing but when the style dressing room.” took off, customers kept demanding more Smith’s life is full of such encounand more. ters with the famous but unlike most Now, he says, he wants to bury the designers who long to dress the Astripe. He accepts that it isn’t a logo like list and fight to get their creations on say, the Burberry check or the Vuitton to the red carpet, you get the sense monogram because each striped pattern that Smith doesn’t really care who is different but he is uncomfortable with wears his clothes as long as they wear the idea of a signature. He likes each colthem well. lection to seem fresh and original without Celebrity does not turn him on at DIFFERENT STROKES all. Neither, oddly enough, does money. One of Smith’s innovations is shirts with French cuffs relying on a branding element.

It is a brave decision – much resented While he is well-known in America, with patterns and pictures on the inside of each cuff by his retailers who know that the stripe he could be much bigger there if he means big bucks – but it is somehow typical of Smith. He is that would make the design compromises necessary to crack the rare designer who appeals to all age groups with a range that Middle American market. But Smith has always refused to change goes from the trendy shirts and ties of his PS label to Savile Rowhis style: “It sounds strange but I’ve never really worried about style bespoke tailoring at his Notting Hill shop. As far as he is how much money I make. That isn’t why I do it.” concerned, there is nothing worse than becoming a prisoner of But then, he doesn’t need America because he has Japan. He branding or a signature look. first went to Tokyo in 1984 and felt an instant bond with the counPlus, there are always the other projects. Last year, he got a try. A joint venture with the giant C Itoh Company followed and call from Pierre-Alexis Dumas, the artistic director of Hermès now, Paul Smith is one of Japan’s biggest clothing labels with 265 who wanted Smith to do something with John Lobb, the English stores in the country. The Japanese just can’t seem to get enough shoemaker owned by Hermès. Smith liked the idea, and has now of Smith. designed a whole range of shoes for Lobb, sticking to traditionAnd Smith loves Japan. He likes the slight eccentricity that al English styles with the characteristic Paul Smith twist.

Japanese people bring to fashion and remembers how, when he In a sense, the Paul Smith company is to Britain what Hermès was starting out, meetings would sometimes splutter to a halt is to France. It values craftsmanship and originality over brandbecause of the language barrier. At that stage he would put his ing. (Just as Smith worries about becoming a prisoner of the black suitcase on the table and open it while the Japanese watched stripe, Pierre-Alexis worries about his company becoming too curiously. The suitcase contained a train set complete with engine, closely associated with only the Birkin). Like Hermès, Paul Smith carriages, tracks etc., and the Japanese were delighted by the is family-owned (by Smith and his wife) with no debt. Like Hermès, Englishman who came to business meetings with his toy train. it has ventured into furniture and home products with great sucAs he remembers, “Soon, at every meeting, they would say, halfway cess. And it is run by people who (like Pierre-Alexis and his late through ‘Oh Paul San, where is your black suitcase?’ And of father, the great Jean-Louis Dumas) still see themselves as course, I would pull out the train set.” creators first and businessmen second.

Smith likes doing the unexpected. Over a decade ago he creIt was as a creator that Smith first came to India, seeking ated a splash with a collection of beautiful shirts made from the inspiration in the juxtaposition of colours and patterns that is finest cotton fabric adorned with kitschy buttons made from characteristic of our country. Now, he is back selling clothes to small steel charms. “I like mixing the rough with the smooth; Indians. His first shop at Delhi’s Emporio will soon be joined by classic with kitsch,” he says. “That’s what gives clothes an edge.” a second outlet at Bombay’s Palladium mall. I could be wrong Another innovation was the shirts with French cuffs which had but my guess is that his clothes have not had the impact they patterns and pictures on the inside of each cuff. Sometimes, these deserve in India – or the impact they have in the were plain patterns. But often the pictures could be rest of the world – because local customers don’t risqué. On one famous occasion, Tony Blair’s peoknow enough about the brand. ple came into one of Smith’s shops and bought some It will take a few more visits like gorgeous, formal shirts for the Prime Minister to this one for Indians to understand take with him on a foreign trip. It never occurred to what Paul Smith is about. And to the Blair people to check the underside of the cuffs. know more about the remarkable Nor, apparently, did it occur to Blair himself. And man who is at the centre of the brand. so, he went off to meet the President of Russia wearing a Paul Smith shirt under his suit. The trouble was that when the cuff poked out from under his jacket, people noticed that it had a picture of a naked woman. The British press had a field day with that one!

Over the last decade however, Paul Smith has been best known for the signature multi-coloured stripes that first become the brand’s signature (you found them on the shopping bags, on the packaging for the fragrances, on the crockery etc) and

Like Hermès, the Paul Smith firm has ventured into furniture and home products with great success

APRIL 29, 2012

15_Mumbai

TIED UP IN STRIPES

Paul Smith has been best known for the signature multi-coloured stripes (you found them on the shopping bags, on the packaging for fragrances, on the crockery etc)

A VERY PUBLIC SHOWING

Tony Blair (above) once went to meet the President of Russia wearing a Paul Smith shirt that had a picture of a naked woman printed on its cuff

indulge

facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch FIZZLED OUT

SO MANY APPS, SO LITTLE TIME

They’ve changed our lives, but are apps about to crash and burn?

Fact 1: There are about 75,000 apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace, about 4,30,000 apps in Google Play and about 6,10,000 in the Apple App Store.

Fact 2: It’s impossible for a smartphone operating system to survive without being backed by thousands of apps.

Fact 3: Apps are the most exciting space in the tech world. From developers, mobile phone manufacturers and service providers to consumers, this is a win-win situation for all

U

NFORTUNATELY, ALL the above feel-good facts are about to crash and burn! I’m not trying to start a flame war here. This isn’t one of those inflammatory statements made to provoke. Nor am I trying to set alarm bells ringing much before their time. All I’m doing is being the messenger and you’re not supposed to hate the messenger. The signs and messages are pouring in from all sides – you just need to be more aware of them.

The life of an app is literally a few days and sometimes not even that

Rajiv Makhni

techilicious

16

REASON 1: AS DUMB AS…

A PROBLEM OF PLENTY

For every app on your phone or Tablet, there are at least 10 others that can do a better job – you just don’t know it

Have you ever realised that your very expensive smartphone is only going to be as smart as you? It’s you who chooses the apps that are installed on it, which ones you use for your daily tasks and which ones that truly use the full potential of all that whizbang hardware lying dormant inside. Be honest – haven’t you suddenly discovered an app on your friend’s much cheaper smartphone that beats the pants off anything that you have on your top-of-the-line phone? How dumb do you feel at that time?

The true power of apps is to customise your phone the way you want it to work and harness every inch of the power and potential it has. Now sit back and think this one out: do you really have the knowledge and the information on every app out there to make sure the best ones are on your phone? Do you? And there’s a reason why you never will.

REASON 2: IT’S A JUNGLE OUT THERE

Let’s go back to those astounding numbers.

75,000 apps for Windows Phone, 4,30,000 apps for Google Play and 6,10,000 apps for Apple – vast choice, incredible array of possibilities and innovations pouring out from

16_Mumbai

every nook and cranny. And yet, these very incredible numbers are sounding the death knell for apps. Unless an app is featured in the top 50 at the App Store, you’ll never really get to see it (and most top 50 lists continue to be the same – Angry Birds, Facebook, Twitter). Most ‘Top Apps for your Phone’ articles and columns in magazines and on the Web also feature the usual suspects. Unless you know the exact name of the app, most general searches do not throw up a very intelligent choice.

Browsing through thousands of apps on a quest to discover the greats is a foolhardy and backbreaking exercise. And don’t even think about relying on user reviews – most are fake and the others are so ambiguous and personal that they tend to confuse more than inform. So how does a developer get a consumer to see their amazing work?

And how do you – the user – discover the truly powerful hidden gems? The answer is – you don’t!

For every app on your phone or Tablet, there are at least 10 others that can do a better job – you just don’t know it. Let’s not even get started on things you didn’t even know apps could do on your device. It’s a matter of simple math. If 90 per cent of apps are crap and 10 per cent are great innovations, that’s about 1,50,000 amazing apps still lying around undiscovered!

REASON 3: FATIGUE

You buy a new device in a frenzy and download hundreds of apps – you want to try every game you’ve heard of, you want that new high-fangled utility, that silly-but-fun photo manipulation software and all the stuff you’ve seen on everybody else’s phone.

That’s your first week with your new device. Cut to week four: You only use about three or four apps every day, another five or six weekly. Another 50 lie cluttered and dormant and you’ve deleted the rest. The life of most apps is literally a few days and sometimes not even that. The initial euphoria is usually gone within the first month. What you’re left with is pretty much what the phone came with and a few more.

REASON 4: SUPER SMARTPHONES

There are many factors at play to come up with the next generation of smartphones. Phone hardware manufacturers, phone OS programmers and feature specialists are all working at the speed of light towards this. The next generations of smartphones may not need you to install too many apps. They may study your usage behaviour and add and subtract features on the fly. As you use your phone, it’ll study what you do, how you do it and come up with much better ways of doing it. It’ll take the guesswork and the smartness of the user out of the equation. Each of us will end up with a phone that has adapted to what we need and what we do without installing and deleting apps. Thus the need for app marketplaces may just die out with them.

Dear apps, you’ve had a great run, you’ve changed the way we do things, you’ve revolutionised our lives and made them more exciting. But it seems your time is almost up. It’s been good knowing you and we want you to know that wherever you go and whatever you do, you have our best wishes for all your future endeavours. Goodbye and good luck.

Rajiv Makhni is managing editor, Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3. Follow Rajiv on Twitter at twitter.com/RajivMakhni

indulge DAD’S THE WORD

PAPA WAS A ROLLING STONE

It’s tough breaking out of a famous parent’s shadow. But a few good musicians have carved their own niche

download central

Sanjoy Narayan

Mud Morgan is the late Muddy Waters’ son who has kept his Chicago blues sound and legacy alive

M

UD MORGANFIELD and his half-brother “Big Bill” Morganfield play the blues.

Sometimes they play together. I have a live recording of the two playing at the Chicago Blues Festival, doing songs such as Mannish Boy, Nineteen Years Old and Forty Days and Forty Nights, all songs that you can instantly recall as being standards sung by blues legend, the late Muddy Waters. No coincidence there because both the Morganfields are his sons. Remember Muddy Waters’ real name was McKinely Morganfield. Muddy died in 1983 but his two sons in their 50s – Mud’s the older one – keep his trademark Chicago blues sound and legacy alive. They play gigs. They cut records and have a considerably big fan following among blues aficionados.

Mud’s vocals invoke huge influences of his father’s style. It helps that his voice is as deep and his growls nearly as great as his father’s used to be. But, like John Lee Hooker Jr, who played with his band at the Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai earlier this year, the Morganfields do get huge mileage out of their lineage. And why not? If fans like that, what’s the harm.

But it’s hard being children of big musical legends and trying to break out of that shadow. Or, for that matter to live up to, often unrealistic, expectations. Many do try to do that. Some, like Bob Dylan’s son, Jakob, whose band, The Wallflowers, has had platinum albums and several chart-climbing songs, have not tried to emulate their more famous parent’s style. Others, such as Adam Cohen, son of Leonard, curates his father’s art and writing but also sings. The junior Cohen’s new album is an intimate acoustic STAR KIDS set of 10 songs that invoke his Children of musical father’s music. It helps that like legends: Jakob Dylan his father, Adam too is a great bari(this pic), Sean Lennon tone. It also helps that his lyrics (left) and Adam Cohen are as emotional as his father’s. (top left) It is hard to shake off the

CHECK THIS OUT

The Motet is an American band that fuses jazz, Afrobeat, funk, salsa and samba

fame of a legendary parent. But many children of great musicians do and have been able to carve out their own places under the sun – Damien Marley, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rufus Wainwright, the late Jeff Buckley (who, not unlike his father, Tim, also died young), Dhani Harrison, Sean Lennon (who even looks like his dad), Dweezil Zappa... the list can go on. Some of them follow in their more famous parent’s footsteps, making music that is in the same genre or is influenced greatly by it; others try to beat a new path.

The two Morganfield brothers play the blues and often, as I mentioned, sing the songs from Muddy’s storied repertoire. Yet, if you listen to Mud Morganfield, he also has some brilliant original compositions. His latest album is called Son of the Seventh Son. Many of the 12 compositions on it are his own, including the cheeky, replete with double entendre, Cat Fishing. It helps that he has a great band to back him and produce a sound that is his own but not entirely bereft of his famous father’s influence.

Some sons, however, take the expected route and yet come out with impressive results. Zappa Plays Zappa is Dweezil’s band that is a tribute to his father Frank’s music. It’s a tribute act, really, which does live shows that cover Frank Zappa’s eclectically influenced music. Formed in the mid 2000s, the junior Zappa’s band often performs entire albums. I’ve heard them render Apostrophe (’), one of Zappa’s best studio albums from 1974, and they did a fabulous job.

Seeing that we’re talking about covers and tributes by sons of their fathers, the inherently deep-rooted Deadhead in me cannot help but stray off topic before I end this instalment of DC. Fans of the Grateful Dead are die-hard loyalists. They collect every bootlegged concert; every album; every video and all the memorabilia related to the object of their adulation that they can lay their hands on. But when it comes to covers of the Dead’s music, they are usually purists. Few Dead tribute bands, a notable exception is the Dark Star Orchestra, which faithfully reproduces every gig that the Dead played (and they’ve played more than 2,300), pass the muster of Deadheads. Yet there are many. Jazz Is Dead is an ensemble that takes the Dead’s music and interprets it, quite nicely, in jazz form.

But last week, I heard a show called Funk Is Dead in which The Motet, an American band that fuses jazz, Afrobeat, funk, salsa and samba, takes trademark songs by the Grateful Dead and adds what they call “a bit of booty” into them. If you want to listen to funkified live versions of Shakedown Street, New Speedway Boogie, St Stephen, Dark Star (and a reprise), Scarlet Begonias and even Loose Lucy and Stell Blues, I’d suggest you give them a try. And, even if you’re a die-hard Deadhead, I think they’ll pass muster. A suggestion: while you’re going about doing that, do download The Motet’s new album, Dig Deep. It’s free off their website and worth having on your player.

To give feedback, stream or download the music mentioned in this column, go to http://blogs.hindustantimes.com/download-central. And follow argus48 on Twitter

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VA R I E T Y

Come Join The Joy Ride Minibars, TV, massagers – there’s almost nothing you can’t add to your car right now

by Amrah Ashraf

T

WENTY FIVE-YEAR-old Hitesh Kapoor feels like a superhero in his six-year-old hatchback. Why is that?

Because he’s modified his car into something as cool as James Bond’s Aston Martin.

For starters, you don’t need a key to unlock it. Kapoor’s car senses his presence and unlocks itself, thanks to the auto sensing locking system.

Once inside, the experience only improves. The dashboard is remodelled with carbon fibre and leather, and has a touchscreen panel for various purposes – music, Bluetooth, GPS, window wipes and a sunroof.

INTERIOR ASSIST

Kapoor’s car seats also deserve a mention. Not only are they bucket seats in patent leather, they have an inbuilt massager. Even the LED illumination comes with mood lighting options.

But Kapoor isn’t the only one; more and more people are lining up to upgrade their cars and today the mantra is to make your car intelligent. It should assist you in every way possible.

Dilip Chhabria of DC Design. And since most people spend a majority of their day in their car, they should treat it like their living room. “A good music system with surround sound, an icebox and comfortable seats are a must,” advises Shweta R Mali of Mumbai-based UT Automotive Design’s Pvt Ltd. And the fact is that interior remodelling is cost effective. “Don’t spend a couple of crores buying a luxury car when you can upgrade your mid-range sedan into a Rolls Royce with an investment of 35 to 70 lakhs,” explains Mali. But Madhusudan of Mumbai-based Fastact Car Care warns that upgrades should be done keeping the car type in mind.

“Once a customer who owned a Honda Accord Type I wanted to modify it to Type III, and we politely refused. You can’t convert an apple into an banana, can you?”

The mantra is to make your car intelligent.

Upgrades are about beauty with brains

WHY SHOULD YOU UPGRADE?

Actually, the question is why shouldn’t you upgrade? “If someone gives you a pot of gold for a gram of silver, wouldn’t you take it?” asks Kapoor.

Most mid-segment cars come with basic interiors – the seats are uncomfortable, legroom is a problem and most music systems produce noise. “Customers look for comfort, privacy and ambience that manufacturers don’t provide,” says

HOW IT’S DONE

Don’t opt for cheap interior accessories installed at a teardown garage.

There are licenced firms in most cities that ensure customers get an aesthetically appealing and user-friendly customisation. “We have a team of designers who discuss requirements with clients. We make sketches, discuss the costs involved and only then do we go ahead. But if the customers want something absolutely outrageous and not in good taste, we simply refuse,” says Chhabria.

Interior remodelling can take from a week to 20 days. But it is worth the wait.

CURTAINS Your car may be an extension of your living room, but there’s a boundary that should never be crossed. Curtains are a big no-no.

installed in their car (even hatchbacks) with an investment of R50,000. Low on utility, it adds a glam quotient to your car. And it is very popular with kids

Car park assist

Reverse parking can be a painfully difficult task, especially when it comes to judging the distance between your car and another car or any other obstruction. New car park assist systems convert your rear-view mirror into a monitor where you can see the back of your car.

They also announce the distance between the two cars. The most basic version is R6,000

Music system Invest in a

good surround sound music system with touch panel display. Touch panel music systems with CD changer, AUX jack, Bluetooth, FM and international radio, DVD player, amp, speakers, twitters and woofers cost around R1,20,000. Now spending hours in traffic doesn’t sound as bad, does it?

amrah.ashraf@hindustantimes.com

IF YOU HAVE THIS, GET RID OF IT NOW! STUFFED TOYS Come on, you’re not your mamma’s little boy or girl any more. Get rid of the stuffed monkeys, dolls, dogs, snakes, etc., now!

Sunroof Anyone can get this feature

STICKERS No idiotic slogan stickers like ‘My way or the highway’, number plates that say ‘BOSS’ or cartoony decals. Tear them down!

FUR Even the newer models of taxis are giving up on this. You don’t want to follow a trend that even cabbies have abandoned, right?

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GPS navigation system With a GPS

navigation system, you will never get lost. Just feed in the destination and simply follow the directions. It also provides information on traffic conditions, restaurants and other basic amenities

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Rear seat plasma TV Now you don’t

Airbags Any car is unsafe

without airbags. They can be installed for around R30,000 in any car. Airbags prevent injury in case of an accident

have to miss a single IPL match while stuck in traffic. Sit back and stream the match on your plasma TV (using a data card). Of course, the driver doesn’t get one

Control panel

The central control panel is also a really slick feature for your car. You can control different aspects of your car – windows, sunroof, music system, rear seat plasma TVs, etc.

The price range for this feature varies from workshop to workshop

Chiller and minibar

This is very useful on long drives. You can chill beverages in the chiller and carry medication as well.

Prices range from R4,000 to R8,000

Central locking system

The best keyless entry devices cost around R10,000.

Apart from the keyless ones, you can also invest in a buttonless system.

Thanks to the auto sensing locking and unlocking system, the car can sense your presence and lock and unlocks itself. All you need is a small remote sensor in your pocket

Bucket seats and loungers Now, get a back Floor mats Get custom made car mats to add some oomph to the car.

You can opt for anything from feisty leopard prints to Homer Simpson mats.

Prices range from R1,000 to R10,000

LED lights By far the coolest feature available.

Forget boring single colour neon lights when you can set the colour of the lights as per your mood. The latest LED illumination comes with auto switch controls that change colour depending on your mood. You can also use it to illuminate the peripheries of your seats or the chiller to add drama to your car

massage while relaxing in your bucket seat. You can also invest in slick lounger back seats complete with leg support and headphone jack. Also make sure you buy good fabric such as leather. Pure leather seats cost around R45,000

Car Illustration: SHRIKRISHNA PATKAR; Photos: PRASAD GORI and UT AUTOMOTIVE DESIGN’S PVT LTD

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C O M M E R C I A L VA L U E

It’s Raining Sexy Ads

Is applying balm a licence to titillate? Can a soft drink leave you breathless? TV ads laden with sexuality appear to suggest so

by Aasheesh Sharma

A

PROVOCATIVE footwear advertisement of the 1990s had the feminists up in arms.

It showed a model sitting on a stool dangling a shoe, with the body copy reading: “69 % of Italian women would love you to slip into them.”

Almost overnight, the ad was panned

and women’s activists attacked the Delhi office of Anthem Advertising, the agency that created the ad.

By then the commercial had achieved its objective: Cutting the clutter in a crowded market segment.

Cut to 2012. Sensuality and innuendo appear to have made a comeback

in Indian advertising – with a vengeance. Whether it is soft drinks, cement, sunglasses or even balm, suggestive, in-your-face commercials are being beamed into drawing rooms between T20 cricket, preachy soaps and gritty reality shows.

In the Amrutanjan campaign created by Shining Consulting, for instance, a voluptuous Savita Bhabhi-like character applies balm to a stranger who moans in ecstasy. Did someone cry vulgarity? The fault lies in your mind, says Shombit Sengupta, founder and chairman of

Sensual Salve For Strangers On The Train

A young man and his companion board a train as he complains of a splitting headache

Shining Consulting. “We’ve not used any sexual act or word,” he says. “In France, they call such commentators ‘sex maneque’. Those who have a sex gap see and enjoy perverted sexuality at the slightest idea.”

MIND THE GAP

Swapan Seth, chairman of ad firm Equus Red Cell, sees no harm in a bit of “creative cleavage.” Around the world, points out Sengupta, provocative and sexual ads such as “Unhate”

by United Colors of Benetton and others by Tom Ford or Ungaro haven’t really thwarted the growth of these brands. Still, treading the fine line between sensuality and titillation is never easy, says Anil Nair, CEO of Law and Kenneth India, the agency behind campaigns for Renault and ITC. “Titillating ads fall flat in categories where there is no apparent connect with the brand’s personality.

You can argue that point in cement, pain relief or even sunglasses,” says Nair. A recent ad where the dys-

“Innuendo is creativity, provided it is culturally accepted”

A Savita Bhabhi-like character follows him in the corridor and offers to apply balm to him

AMRUTANJAN

Agency: Shining Consulting Creative Director: Shombit Sengupta

Once the lights are out, relieved of his agony, the man ensures his wife sleeps on the upper berth as he reaches out to bhabhiji across the bunk

Curing pain can lead to love and affection. Market research indicated that the youth did not relate to Amrutanjan and perceived it as granny’s ancient therapy. “Connecting to this breed that's

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not waiting for their parent’s permission to live life on their own terms was a big challenge. We’ve brought love and affection to align an old brand to the new generation,” says Shombit Sengupta.

PIYUSH PANDEY, Executive Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather, South Asia

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“Why single out ads?

Today even porn doesn’t shock us”

For Hands-Free Cockpit Convenience

ALYQUE PADAMSEE, Advertising guru

The air-hostess Genelia D’Souza comes into the cockpit with a mischievous grin

functionality is obvious, says Nair, is the Mirinda campaign that features actress Asin and shows people breathless after having the orange drink, gasping and dishevelled. “I find it really funny. Traditionally, orange drinks have been consumed by younger teens and women. I don’t know whether an actress can suddenly make it the preferred drink of the sexually potent adult,” adds Nair.

Ruchira Jaitly, executive VP, marketing, beverages (flavours), PepsiCo India, maintains that the campaign was in good taste and in fact highlights ‘taste’ rather than sensuality.

“What else were you thinking about?

It is an absolutely innocent campaign,” she says. And which ‘innocent’ act is “Caught in the act” referring to?

“Oh that! The act of having a soft drink on campus.” Right.

The captain, played by Virat Kohli, turns around and diverts attention to his crew

FASTRACK

Agency: Lowe Lintas National Creative Director: Arun Iyer

The duo apparently puts the plane on autopilot, so that their hands can be free for other activities. Why did the world switch to autopilot? Why, why?

The ad suggests that the world moved on to innovations like auto pilot, answering machine and the handbrake since people wanted their hands free for other pleasurable activities. Arun Iyer of Lowe

The popularity of tongue-in-cheek campaigns, says Navroze Dhondy, MD of Creatigies Communications, signifies social permissiveness.

“Sometimes, advertising is impacted by social mores and at times it is the other way around.”

Over the 36 years that it has been around, Indian advertising has run

Lintas, says the objective was to have a little fun with innuendo, albeit in a classy manner. “Whether it is TV content, the Web or posters of movies like Hate Story, sex is in your face these days.”

out of ideas, says Bangalore-based brand consultant Harish Bijoor.

“We’ve exploited humour, pathos, emotion, even ridicule. Now it’s the turn of sex.” Bijoor, faculty at the Hyderabad-based International School of Business, says the Dada Kondke-isation of Indian advertising is complete. “It had to happen in a

Catching ’Em Breathless On Campus

SEX DOES SELL

A rude, uptight chief guest arrives at a college event and enquires about the media

Everywhere he goes on the campus, he notices people panting and breathless

MIRINDA

Agency: JWT National Creative Director: Swati Bhattacharya

The next day’s newspaper features the chief guest and a teacher from the college heaving and panting, with the headline: Caught in the Act

Talk about ‘tasteful’ yet provocative ads.

“The Mirinda ad conveys infectious breathlessness. It is anything but suggestive,” says Asin. “The tonality may seem naughty but it highlights the

nation where 54 per cent of the population is below 25.”

With sex tapes being uploaded, even politicians have lost the moral high ground, avers Bijoor. “A few years ago, the Shiv Sena went after Levi’s for hoardings that showed a topless model. Where is the Sena now when Canon is using the ‘F’ word suggestively?”

breathlessness concept of the campaign,” she adds. Is the ad trying to target the sexually active consumer?

“Certainly not,” says Swati Bhattacharya national creative director, JWT.

Riding on its new campaign, Amrutanjan saw 25 per cent growth in six months, claims Shombit Sengupta. The Fastrack campaign featuring Virat Kohli and Genelia D’Souza, says its marketing head Simeran Bhasin, drove 40 per cent growth in 2011-12 for the accessories brand across the sunglasses, bags and watches segments. Its naughty premise: The autopilot, answering machines and handbrakes were invented because people wanted their hands free for other, more pleasurable activities. Arun Iyer of Lowe Lintas says the idea was to have a little fun. “Whether it is TV content, the Internet or posters of movies like Hate Story, sex is in your face. The idea was to recreate the spirit of the Swinging Sixties. They say America’s baby-boom generation was conceived on the back seat of a car. With the handbrake, we’ve taken it to the front seat,” says Iyer. aasheesh.sharma@hindustantimes.com

Good copy can’t be written with tongue in cheek, written just for a living. You’ve got to believe in the product – David Ogilvy APRIL 29, 2012

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PERSONAL AGENDA

twitter.com/HTBrunch

Actor/TV host/model

Sushama Reddy SUN SIGN

if i could...

Leo

BIRTHDAY August 2

HOMETOWN Mumbai

I WOULD MAKE Photo: MCT SURE THAT CHILDREN AND ANIMALS DON’T SUFFER

They have no voice to fight back. They lean so heavily on us and trust us blindly And then awaken in another time when our civilisation has scaled a different height (good or bad)

LIKE TO HAVE THE MEANS AND MEASURES TO RUN INDIA THE WAY I THINK IT SHOULD BE RUN

With good governance, fair policies and paid professionals in place of politicians

SCHOOL/COLLEGE FIRST BREAK

LOW POINT OF

Bombay Scottish, Mahim; Was with Bharartbala YOUR LIFE Not being able to Productions Mithibai College, pursue my JVPD Scheme HIGH POINT OF Bollywood acting YOUR LIFE career the way I PLACE OF BIRTH The Limca commercial wanted to Mumbai

The best thing about having two Modelling, veejaying, acting, sisters? scriptwriting, being a businesswoman Everything is fabulous – I love – what do you enjoy the most? my girls and I wouldn't have it I wear many hats and enjoy any other way! each one of them. But I What makes your day? wouldn’t veejay again.

A hot mug of chocolate, readYour best feature? ing the world section Is my nose – it’s the papers, a tasty broken but photoTHE FOOD ITEM in dinner, watching Sex graphs interestingly.

YOU WOULD and the City or Crime One role you wish you BREAK YOUR reruns, a good poker had played? game and good I covet all of Vidya’s DIET FOR? conversation! roles. Parineeta, Dirty Love is…

Picture, Kahaani...

Intangible, inexplicaOn a bad hair day, you… ble, inscrutable, I have very moody infuriating and hair that doesn’t intoxicating! listen to its mistress!

You get high on?

On a bad hair day, I MCT A glass of fine chamuse serum and tong pagne and pasta my hair to keep my aglio olio with morels. curls consistent.

The last movie that made Your go-to outfit for a red you cry? carpet event?

Cinderella An LBD or a bandage Man. dress is my staple. OtherA tune you can’t get wise, I go for empress cut out of your head? short dresses in interesting Saiyaan by Kailash colours or designs.

Kher.

Your ultimate travel destination?

A sin you’d love to I would love to be a space indulge in… tourist!

Gluttony – I am The exercise routine that scares you? such a foodie.

I hate weight training and I find One thing about your swimming very uncomfortable. body you actually If you were stranded on an island and dislike? could keep five things with you, what would you choose?

I would keep an all-weather tent, a solar operated torch, night flares, a huge supply of fresh water and matches.

The craziest rumour you have heard about yourself?

I have been married off at least five times in my career – it’s ridiculous.

Your best holiday so far?

A solo trip to Italy a decade ago.

Pani puri and dark chocolate!!

LIKE TO BE FROZEN CRYOGENICALLY

Photo: THINKSTOCK

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CURRENTLY DOING

After turning producer in 2010 with a Hindi feature film called Dus Tola, I am working on my next Bollywood film and shooting for my new travel show for an international lifestyle channel, which I am also producing I can gain weight easily on my thighs and that’s a real pain!

What is your greatest extravagance?

My day handbags.

— Interviewed by Mignonne Dsouza

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