Hot gig with Coldplay

Hes a really cool guy funny as hell and with a big heart It was rockstar activist and one half of the film industrys most successful music makers Vishal Dadlani telling us about his serendipitous gig with gulp Coldplays Chris Martin at Delhis Summer House on an ordinary Wednesday night which has been since described as surreal ape shit holy shit and para para paradise by ecstatic fans of both menVishal Dadlani performing with Chris Martin PicTwitterWe had called him to ask if a blearyeyed peek at our social media timeline the previous night could be trusted and that it hadnt been a dream How did it transpire Freida Pinto was instrumental in putting us together over dinner at the home of one of her friends the food was stellar and when that was done Chris just decided that we should go play somewhere So we did No rehearsals he saidBut it was not all play and no work for the Coldplay frontman the next day As a representative of The Global Poverty Project he along with actress Freida Pinto met with PM Narendra Modi as a followup to Modis call last year for a global movement to end poverty and provide universal sanitation Which of course is another kind of music to our earsBaba Siddique and conflict resolutionWord comes in that internationally renowned conflict resolution expert and former Bandra MLA the affable Baba Siddique will host his annual iftaar party this Sunday at a suburban hotel Known to be the venue where a certain Bandstand boy of epic proportions and matching abs hugs and makes up with another Bandstand boy of matching measurements over a periodic skirmish it is a muchawaited occasion on the national calendar The lads skirmish a lot so Mr Siddiques skills are called upon annuallyBaba Siddique with Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan File picBut now that theres not been the usual latenight pelting of each others windows or puncturing of each others tricycle tyres we wonder if the uber hosts expertise could be available to other more needy skirmishers Like Lalit Modi and Arun Jaitley Or Celina Jaitley and Sunny Leone Or er Greece and the EUFootloose and fancy freeHe seems an unlikely lotus eater but with a little encouragement from svelte wife Indrani Peter Mukerjea one of the television industrys early icons and the former CEO of Star India and erstwhile executive chairman of Inx Media has been jetsetting around the world His recent travel itinerary includes Ibiza Marbella Budapest and perhaps even BaliIndrani and Peter MukerjeaEver since the famous Doon Schooleducated suave suit sold off his interest in INX and set up home in Bristol he has swopped his office wear for Tees and cutoffs his SUV for a Harley and what indicates the ultimate unspooling even shaved off his trademark mouche Bon VieRandom kindness and senseless acts of beautyCall us sentimental but this is the kind of story that brings a lump to our throat A poignant and edifying story about human nature at its finest and tied with a happilyeverafter bow at the end Nearly two decades ago a frightened and very beautiful hijra called Priya came at dusk to my house and told me a sorry tale of how her Guru was pushing her into prostitutionPriya Babu receives the award from BhagyarajShe cried that she wanted to return to Chennai to her folks but was penniless said gay activist and icon Ashok Row Kavi I remember I didnt hesitate though I was very short of cash I still have a receipt for the cash I handed her which she wrote and signed said the persnickety Geminian and then segues to the part where the goosebumps appear Now here she is getting a Lifetime Achievement Award from Tamil celebrity Bhagyaraj at the Chennai Rainbow FestivalPriya Babu your grace goodwill and good looks which verge of a kind of smoky sexuality have brought you many admirers whereas your hard work has brought you a PhD Its a moment I treasure as much as I love you he ended So there it is folks A postmodern urban fable About one of those acts of random kindness and senseless beauty that illuminate our sorry lives and make us believe in fairy tales all over againTalking the talkThe show is called Koshish se Kamyabi Tak said actress Kiran Joneja about her recently launched talk show for Doordarshan Its the journey of a star from a common person to a superstar the other side of celebrities whom we want to know deeper about what they do besides whatever they are already famous for along with their career graph she said adding In the past I have done the Kiran Joneja Talk Show and Faasley but I have always focused on socially relevant issues this time I wanted to try out something different so Im doing a celebrity talk showKiran Joneja and Jackie ShroffAnd what was it like interviewing the inscrutable and very stylish Jackie Shroff we enquired It was fabulous his first modelling assignment was with me and we have always been in touch We had also done two acting classes before I dropped outhellip Jackie had actually come and cooked in my house many years ago and so it was great fun catching up with him and talking about old times said Joneja We are shooting with more celebrities from 1st to 4th of July