From student to chairman

I had spent six months as a 20yearold student at FTII while I was on an exchange programme from NSD says Anupam Kher who was appointed chairman of the institute this weekComing from theatre and that too after training with giants like Alkazi Saab FTII opened up the world of cinema and its huge possibilities to me he said I remember I had butterflies in my stomach while entering the campus of an institution that had given the industry such a wealth of talent beforeAny nostalgia we enquiredOf course the wisdom tree and the canteen tea he laughed adding But I spent all my time there hungry to absorb the teachings imparted watching 3 to 4 movies a day and participating in over 30 student projects at that timeAnupam KherKurosawa Satyajit Ray Mrinal Sen Brando Gautam Ghosh Imagine having access to all their filmsWe recall meeting Kher shortly after his stint at FTII when he was struggling to make it in films a thinasareed hauntedeyed newcomer rehearsing for a production of Brecht at the PrithviWhat does he plan to bring to the place now that he is in the hot seatNothing says the man who has acted in more than 500 movies many of them awardwinning ones I want to go there with a sense of learning Todays students dont need me to tell them how to do things If at all I can help I can do that by first understanding what is needed he said I can also share what it is like being a struggling newcomer and later a veteran After 40 years of working in the industry I want to give back somehowHas he been back to the FTII since his appointment No says Kher I have been busy with my production Ranchi Diaries which opens today But I know when I enter those hallowed corridors again I will have a butterflies in the stomach moment againMasaba GuptaHandled like a bossHandled like a boss we said to Masaba Gupta referring to her masterly response to Twitter trolls who had taken her on for her profirecracker ban statement recently Sinking to hitherto unheard of lows the trolls had made uncalled for references to Guptas personal life which do not merit repeating but which she had handled with kickass class I dont want to say much more about it as I said what I had to in the post Just that there is no reason to not respond to bullies Ignorance is bliss but we live in a time when you must fight she saidAnd true to form shrugging off the spurious controversy like water off a ducks back the designer is already onto her next big design project A House of Masaba cafe bridal store in Hyderabad by Novemberend Why Hyderabad we asked Hyderabad is a huge market for us And the perfect place to kick start bridal she saysDr Yusuf Hamied in grey jacket at the concert with Khushroo Suntook and Mr and Mrs Laimonas TalatKelpsaMuch applauseThe project was conceived in 2014 when Zubin Mehta conducted the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra in Vilnius The person who runs the orchestra Gintautas Kevisas informed Ambassador Laimonas that he was planning a visit to SouthEast Asia with the Lithuanian Symphony Orchestra and was wondering whether they could give a couple of concerts in Mumbai The ambassador approached Khushroo Suntook and the two dates 10th and 11th were finalised says a spokesperson about the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra which performed to great acclaim at the NCPA this week and which we had the pleasure of attending on Wednesday evening Dr Yusuf K Hamied chairman of CIPLA whose mother was Lithuanian and who was born in Lithuania came forward to make it happenAs was to be expected the presence of this international group of acclaimed musicians was highly applauded and the packedtothe rafters Jamshed Bhabha auditorium was witness to many shouts of encore and bravo especially when the dapper resident conductor and violinist of the Symphony Orchestra of India Marat Bisengaliev participated as a solo violinist And whats more we noted it wasnt just the usual suspects of wellheeled Parsis savouring the fare Lithuanias ambassador to India Laimonas TalatKelpsa with Linas Antanas Linkevicius Minister of Foreign Affairs in Lithuania along with the Consul Generals of Spain Hungary Argentina and Holland and Minister of External Affairs M J Akbar were in the audienceNandan Nilekani with Satya NadellaNandan on SatyaIt was taken in his office in Redmond on Tuesday said Nandan Nilekani cofounder and nonexecutive chairman of Infosys and the man who gave India its Unique Identification programme about this picture with Satya Nadella CEO of Microsoft and his newly launched Hit Refresh which he had tweeted yesterday with the words Fine book on the remarkable transformation he is bringing A must readNilekani who is currently on a packed trip in Washington DC says though he has only known Microsofts head honcho since the past one year he is a terrific guy and they get along very well The book is a case study on changing the culture of a large successful corporation when the environment changes said Nilekanni whose words on books especially books on cutting edge IT we would take seriously After all he is the man credited by author Thomas Friedman for giving him the name for his bestselling The World Is Flat Apparently Nilekani had introduced him to the phrase when Freidman had visited him on the Infosys Campus in BangaloreSunaina Roshan with Dr Muffazal LakdawalaA weight off her chestWe shot the clip yesterday says Sunaina Roshan about her outing in front of camera with bariatric surgeon Dr Muffazal Lakdawala to promote a campaign against obesity that she has launched since she lost 60 kilos after her own surgery by him In the clip Roshan speaks candidly about the numerous health issues shed suffered including debilitating depression which she successfully vanquished through her courage and determination Were you nervous while talking in front of camera we enquired was it your first time After all unlike her family Sunaina has been lowkey and behind the scenes Not the first time she said but it was my first time liveAs for her newfound health and confidence Sunaina is intent on spreading the good word I want to tell people that they do not and should not suffer in silence I want to motivate them to conquer their vulnerabilities If I can do it with so many different ailments anyone can