Friends in the front row

Everyone thinks Anupama Chopra and I should be rivals since we both appear on rival TV channels doing film reviews but actually we are friends and have great regard for each other says our friend CNNIBNs Rajeev Masand whose opposable thumbs are as watched in Bollywood as the Khan abspack tallyWe had called Masand to enquire about his speaking engagement with Chopra this evening at the launch of her book The Front Row based on her popular TV show of the same name when he along with actress Kangana Ranaut and Arunabh Kumar would be in conversation with ChopraAnupama Chopra with Martin ScorseseAnupama and I have been friends ever since her days as a print journalist with India Today says Masand And ever so often we find ourselves flying together for film premiers and star interviews around the world The last time was when we found ourselves waiting together to interview Johnny Depp about his film Transcendence he saysRajeev Masand left Johnny Depp PicGetty ImagesWed both seen the film the previous day and hated it he laughs When Depp made us wait till 7 pm for an interview slated at 1 pm we had a good laugh about Hollywood being as tardy as Bollywood he adds And once I gatecrashed by his own invitation a romantic dinner Vidhu Vinod Chopra was having with Anupama in Rome he laughsThe Front Row was a professional milestone for me says Chopra Mehboob studio became our home for two years We had such a great time creating the show We hosted a dazzling array of guests from Ang Lee to Amitabh Bachchan Steven Spielberg to Shah Rukh Khan I even got a few minutes with Martin Scorsese at the Marrakech Film FestivalOur ambition was to create engaging insightful and entertaining conversations about cinema I hope readers enjoy revisiting the show through this book says Chopra who according to Masand is one of the most hardworking film critics aroundFor someone in her position she really works very hard he says Once at Cannes where she was a participant as well as a reviewer she was so overworked that she fainted and they had to put her in a wheel chair and she was still working he addsKunals Choice Johnny LeverFor our money the funniest response to the Deepika Padukones Vogue My Choice film is Kunal Vijayakars spoof on it on The Week That WasntFrom left Kunal Vijayakar with Johnny Lever Boman Irani Zenobia Irani Kayoze Irani and Danesh IraniVijayakar who is one of the most talented comic artists we have has always been brilliantly impersonating women his takes on Lata Mangeshkar and Pratibha Patil are legendary but this time hes outdone himself with the blowdried locks the faux moue and the in your face primping in the BampW parodySo when the talented funnyman expressed his admiration for one of his peers in the business Bollywoods inimitable Johnny Lever it was not something to be laughed at I cannot believe this man Just watched the Johnny Lever Live show at Nehru auditorium on Saturday says Vijayakar Id gone with Boman Irani and his family Johnny and I are old friends and weve acted together he saysAnd after all these years and after all the stand up acts that have come after him he stands there for 3 hours singlehandedly cracking you up with laughter and has you rolling in the aisles without a single cuss word or a single sexual jokeHe sings dances mimics makes social comments pokes fun creates funny scenarios situations is topical and spares no one or any subject With tremendous respect to all the new fellas you are great But hes the greatest he says My cheeks are paining My back is aching and my stomach is griping just laughing Salut to you Johnny bhai says VijayakarShireen GandhySudhir Patwardhan andAtul DodiyaKochiMuziris biennale fundraiserThis auction becomes special because artists who are the source of the river metaphorically speaking as key stakeholders in the art world are donating generously and directly to the corpus that the biennale is setting up for the future says gallerist Shireen Gandhy of Chemould about this evenings fundraiser auction in support of the KochiMuziris Biennale for which major artists like A Ramachandran Anju and Atul Dodiya Gulam Mohammed Sheikh and Sudhir Patwardhan have contributed their works generously This hopes to be an ongoing exercise where different artists step in at different timesMore irony deficiencyUnbelievable as it sounds Lisa Ray recently turned 43 And whereas the diva is said to have planned a retreat on a private island in Boracay Philippines which had to be cancelled because of the Weather Gods she made up by celebrating her special day with her husband Jason Dehni at the Ritz Carlton in Hong KongLisa Ray with husband Jason DehniThe couple had prearranged for a private pool to spend some quality time with each other said a spokesperson They were accompanied by some good food and champagne to celebrate the beautys birthday And then without missing a beat the spokesperson adds Here are some exclusive photographs of Lisa and her husband Jason during their luxury weekend Err so it wasnt so private after all