Thursday, April 16, 2009

BEAUTY AND BRAINS AT ISTITUTI CALLEGARI MUMBAI







Beauty and Brains walk the ramp at Istituti Callegari Mumbai’s Fashion Show

By Flynn Remedios – Futuristic Media Network


Some of the brightest budding fashion designers from the Istituti Callegari, Mumbai showcased their talent and their outfits last week at a glittering fashion show in Mumbai attended by several prominent persona from the Media fraternity. Some of the outfits would be auctioned and the proceeds given to charity, said Rakesh Kabra of Istituti Callegari, Mumbai.

The exquisite creations were showcased on ramp by well-known Page 3 models including Maushmi Badra (Channel V India's Hottest), Somana Chakraborthy (Gladrags Mega Model), Sweety Chaturvedi (Femina Miss India 2008), Sureen Kalra (Miss Mumbai), Lekha Ananthraman (Ford Super Model 2009) Pranali Wadaskar (Miss Mumbai). The male models who walked the ramp included Bobby Sainiyol (Grasim Mr India) and Inder Sahu.

Istituti Callegari Milano - which holds a 51 per cent stake in the Indian counterpart - and part of Europe’s biggest education sector giant CEPU, announced a unique Indo-Italian fashion and interior designing course in Mumbai wherein course toppers would be sent for an all expense-paid internship programme in Italy and their designer outfits will be displayed at the Callegari Studios in Milan and Mumbai.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

BOLLYWOOD SENSATION MAHIE GILL BEREAVED










By Flynn Remedios – Futuristic Media Network

Dev D actress and latest Bollywood sensation Mahie Gill was bereaved on 5th April, when her dog Bruno – an intrinsic member of her family for the last 11 years - died suddenly on Sunday.

“I am in a really bad frame of mind,” said the visibly upset actress, when we called her on Monday, “adding that Bruno, a German Sheppard was going to be 11 this May. He has been with us for the last 11 years. His liver and kidney failed and the worst part was that we were not around when this happened. He died even before we could reach. He was there for us as a friend and family member for eleven long years, but unfortunately we were not when he breathed his last yesterday,” said Mahie from Chandigarh.

A close friend of Mahie’s who didn’t want to be named said that Mahie hasn’t eaten for the last 30 hours and is really very upset about the unexpected demise. Bruno was a constant companion and friend to the actress in her tough climb up the Bollywood ladder of success.

Apparently Mahie was especially close to her dog and the death has upset her the most.

Mahie Gill shot to fame achieving critical acclaim for her roles in Anurag Kashyaps' films DEV D and GULAAL. In Gulaal, she plays a mistress and a mujra dancer, a semi glam role that she loves talking about. The latest sensation’s next release is Tigmanshu Dhulia's Paan Singh Tomar where she co-stars opposite Irrfan Khan, playing his wife.

Prior to Bollywood, Mahie had worked in the regional Punjabi film arena and also as a fashion and ramp model.

She had just completed a long schedule in Rajasthan for this film and was back in Bollyland for some assignments. She will also be seen in the UTv Production, Indrajit Nattooji directed Aage Se Right with Shreyas Talpade.









Friday, April 3, 2009

NOW OWN THE MOON - OR AT LEAST A PART OF IT

By Flynn Remedios – Futuristic Media Network



Yes you read right – now you can have the Moon or at least a small piece of it. And the price tag isn’t that steep either. Just about Rs 4 to 5 lakh to have a piece of the Moon in your own very bedroom. Wanna know more.. Read on….

To commemorate 40 years of Man’s first steps on the Moon, international art book publishers Taschen have come out with a special Limited Edition of journalist Norman Mailer’s book MoonFire. While the original book by Norman Mailer titled MoonFire: From Planet Earth: The Epic Journey of Apollo 11, is priced at GBP 600 and is also a Limited Edition book, Taschen recently announced a special Limited Edition of just 20 copies accompanied by a small piece of original Moon Rock. And the entire lot was sold out within a few days.

While the exact price hasn’t been disclosed yet – the book is expected to be available May end or June this year – sources said it could be in the range of Rs 4-5 lakh. Each of the 20 books will be accompanied by a certified piece of Moon Rock encased in a decorative, ornamental casket, said Gangadharan Javahar of Dolphin Publications Pvt Ltd, representatives of Taschen in India.

Dolphin is one of Taschen’s distributors in India and the largest distributor of foreign books in the country. Javahar himself an avid book lover went to a great extent to order a copy of the Special Limited Edition book. Thanks to Gangadharan Javahar, Indians will have an opportunity to own some part of the moon right here in India. “When I got to know about this book, I immediately wrote to Taschen to reserve a copy for me. I was lucky. Had I to be late by a day, the last two copies would have been sold out, he said adding, “While I have got one book confirmed for my book store Indus, I am trying to get another copy for my personal collection,” says Javahar. So exclusive is the book and so great the demand internationally that the publishers were reluctant to ‘sell’ more than one copy to each distributor.

Speaking to this journalist at the Collector’s Book Festival at Indus – the Book store at the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai, Javahar said, “Yes we have ordered the Moon Rock book as it’s called. Though the book is yet to be delivered we have got several enquiries for the book. We plan to auction the book along with some other Limited Edition and Collectors Books later this year.”

Javahar who runs Indus – the Bookstore, an exclusive store for book lovers at the Grand Hyatt in suburban Mumbai said that during the Collector’s Book Festival currently being held at the store from 3rd to 15th April, several Limited Edition and Collectors books each costing a small fortune will be on display. Most of these books weigh several kilograms and come encased in a decorative box. Many books are hand signed and hand-numbered and are rare as only a few hundred copies of the books are printed world over.

Indus currently houses over a hundred Limited Edition and Collector’s titles, explained Javahar, adding that the auction will pave the way for a new lot of similar exclusive books. Indus – the book store is located at Hotel Grand Hyatt, Mumbai, which has a luxury mall housing most of the world’s leading luxury brands. It also has another outlet at The ITC Maratha Sheraton, Mumbai and the Taj Residency, Nashik all of which boast of some of the rarest of rare books published on earth.

The Moon Rock book will have exclusive, some as yet unseen photos of Apollo 11’s mission to the Moon, the preparations before D-day and the return to earth. It will have extensive interviews by both Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin. The original book was written by Mailer – then with Life Magazine – who had hired him exclusively for the job.


THE COLLECTOR’S BOOK FESTIVAL – A SPECIAL DISPLAY AND DISCOUNT SALE OF LIMITED EDITION AND EXCLUSIVE BOOKS IS ON FROM 3RD TO 15TH APRIL AT INDUS – THE BOOKSTORE, GRAND HYATT, KALINA, MUMBAI