Brand equity

Sunil Doshi is not an in-your-face showbiz man. But the boss of Alliance Media & Entertainment, known for his close ties with the Bachchans, is certainly a mover and shaker in the film and advertising industries. Doshi, adept at arranging celebrities for advertisers who want them to promote brands, is now becoming a film producer. Encouraged by the reviews of Mixed Doubles ? the first Hindi film that he produced ? Doshi wants to make what he calls “boutique” films under the Handmade Films banner. Handmade Films will look only at out-of-the-box films “because we’d like to co-exist with the big banners and because there is a market for alternative cinema,” says Doshi. So all those interested in good cinema have something to look forward to ? a cinematic bouquet from Doshi.

Booking celebs

Author Kiran Nagarkar ? known in some circles as Chhupa Rustam for his reclusive ways ? is clearly looking at ways of keeping away from the limelight. The award-winning writer’s new book ? called God’s Little Soldier ? is slated to be released in Delhi and Mumbai next month. But Nagarkar has ensured that the spotlight is not on him at the mega launches. For, reading excerpts from the book ? about a liberal Muslim boy’s tryst with religious orthodoxy ? will be two Muslim heroes of mainstream India, actors Aamir Khan and Naseeruddin Shah. Book launches are not what they used to be ? but, this time, no one is exactly complaining.

Dream girl

Aditi Sharma was on her way to a career course when her life took a dramatic course. Sharma would have enrolled for CAT, when Zee started its talent hunt, which she entered for a lark. Sharma turned out to be the winner of India’s Best Zee Cine Star ki Khoj...

Today, the 21 year-old eagerly awaits the release of her two films ? one with the Mukta Arts-Zee combine and the other with Basu Chatterjee.

While her overprotective mother still tags along with her on the sets, Aditi is all set for a dream role. Ask her how far she’s ready to go to bag the dream role and she promptly says, “My patience, dedication and parental support will fetch me my dream role.” Well, if that’s the capital Aditi is banking on, all the best to you, dreamer!

Fire and ice

As couples go, adman Saumya Sen and actor Nandita Das seem to be made for each other. Sultry Das does meaningful cinema, and creative Sen makes rich documentaries. These days, the husband is busy working on adspots for television for the rural employment guarantee scheme. Insiders in the ad-world insist that the spots ? minute-long tales of a boy’s return to his village ? are evocative little masterpieces shot in colour and black-and-white. Sen, so far outshone by his more visible ? and, let’s admit it, better looking wife ? is coming into his own. And Das is not spitting Fire either!

The last word

Will he or won’t he make a comeback into the Indian cricket squad? Your guess is as good as ours. But if he doesn’t, Sourav Ganguly will have more than a dimming career to contend with. So far, the former captain has hardly had to face a tug on his purse strings. But as they say, all good things come to an end. Take the former skipper’s sunglasses. Though not one for shades, Ganguly admits to owning a few pairs of Oakleys as part of his cricketing gear. But he adds, almost as an afterthought, “I have never had to pay for it from my pocket,” and, in a lighter tone continues, “I may have to start. I haven’t given it a thought.” Stumped, is he?