New Delhi, Wednesday December 30, 2009
looking back
REUTERS
06
SNAPSHOTS
IN RAHMANIA: The ‘Mozart of Madras’ won over the world with his scores in Slumdog Millionaire. Composer AR Rahman lifted Academy Awards for Best Original Music Score and the Best Original Song of 2008
REUTERS
AJAY AGGARWAL
TIGER, TIGER BLEEDING BRIGHT: That’s golfer Tiger Woods’s state ever since wife Elin Nordegren discovered his long list of birdies and took him on with a golf stick
WE DID START THE FIRE: Actress Neetu Chandra’s bold photo shoot on a Mumbai beach for a men’s magazine led to a furore by outraged Maharashtra Navnirman Sena members
COMPILED BY ZABEEH AFAQUE
WINNER AVATAR: With collections worth a whopping Rs 500 million, it has become the fourth-biggest Hollywood film ever in India. 3D sci-fi epic Avatar has broken all desi box-office records, beating earlier blockbusters such as 2012 and Titanic
AJAY AGGARWAL
REUTERS
HUM HO GAY-E KAMYAB: The Delhi High Court nullified a 149-year-old law by dropping the Indian Penal Code Section 377 decriminalising homosexuality
PICTURES SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS. HERE ARE MOMENTS THAT REVERBERATED THE LONGEST IN 2009. HT CITY TAKES ITS PICK
BOYS WILL BE BOYS: Reuters’ lensman Jason Reed caught on camera US President Barack Obama (C) and French President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) checking out a 16-yearold while assembling for a group photo at the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy REUTERS
DIJESHWAR SINGH
JULIA NE DIL LE LIYA: With her three kids in tow, Hollywood actress Julia Roberts spent the first half of October in Delhi shooting for her upcoming film Eat, Pray, Love at the Ashram Hari Mandir in Pataudi. And trust the Pretty Woman, she won many a fan in Pataudi, including the Ashram priests
BAL BAL DEKHO: He got Katrina and Ranbir as showstoppers for the grand finale of the Wills India Fashion Week, but it was Rohit Bal’s jig on the ramp that truly rocked the show
MERE PAAS PAA HAI: Amitabh Bachchan wowed audiences when he played 13-yearold Auro. It took four hours for him to wear the make, and two to remove it KNOT NOW, STUPID: Rakhi Sawant promised to get married on TV reality show, Rakhi Ka Swayamvar. But with Rakhi you can never be sure, can you? So she finalised her groom, got engaged, shed bucketful of tears... and decided he wasn’t the man for her
SATISH BATE
PRODIP GUHA
SHET-TY, SHE’S MARRIED: In the most keenly watched B’town wedding of the year, actress Shilpa Shetty married NRI businessman Raj Kundra. But even there, the couple didn’t lose sight of business — they sold the photo rights to Hello magazine
MAYANK AUSTEN SOOFI
IN ARJUN’S LAP-LAND: With interiors by Rohit Bal, Tarun Tahiliani and Gauri Khan, Arjun Rampal’s members only lounge bar in Delhi, LAP, is truly luxe. And Arjun made its launch even special by bringing in all his Bollywood friends from Shah Rukh Khan to Hrithik Roshan. Such dostana!
FINDING CHADDI BUDDIES: Nisha Susan’s Pink Chaddi campaign against moral policing in the name of Indian values gathered a lot of attention and pink chaddis, which were later presented to Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik
UNZIPPING FURORE: With the simple unzipping of her husband, actor Akshay Kumar’s jeans, Twinkle Khanna unbuttoned trouble. The two had an obscenity case lodged against them. Akshay played down the incident, even joking that it helped the sales of the jeans brand go up