The Indian Jet Set: How 209 Indian Billionaires travel.

The Richest Residents of India do not fly commercial. 

Around 1,000 VVIPs fly private jets, choppers and glamorous Gulfstreams as they zoom over palaces and capitals around the world. 

According to a leading business magazine, India now has 209 billionaires studded around the country’s 28 states. Luxury cars and bungalows aside, they are traveling in rarefied bubbles between hearth and heaven. Here’s a look at some of the super jet set. 

Read the entire feature at SCMP.com here.

After Covid-19 paused Bollywood , Hrithik Roshan is finally back on set – so how did he become one of India’s best loved stars?

More than a year after War – his blockbuster hit with Tiger Shroff – Hrithik Roshan posted an Instagram photo of him back on set: as the actor turns 47, we take a look at his bumpy rise to fame

The pandemic might have hit pause on the Indian film industry, but luckily for us, its masked superhero is back.

Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan kicked off 2021 with an innocuous post – “back on set” – that sent all 33.3 million of his followers into a tizzy. And for good reason – the Indian actor is on screen back where he belongs after a year of no film releases.

As the iconic Indian actor and dancer turns 47, we take a look back at the rise, fall and re-emergence of an icon.

Read the entire feature online at SCMP here.

My interview with Hrithik Roshan in the archive here, when he was in Hong Kong, training for Krrish.

Original Spin: Upspun: Will scan-to-fit revolutinise fashion?

Will scan-to-fit tech revolutionise fashion? Sweden’s H&M brand Weekday is among the first high-street brands to offer made-to-measure clothes – get the ideal cut and reduce waste

Hong Kong’s Unspun, Gay Giano and Isabella Wren are already using the system to tailor personalised attire for men and women

Body scanners can log your measurements in a matter of minutes to ensure the perfect cut – soon you’ll be able to scan your size at home with an iPhone

Read the entire feature at SCMP here. 

Health and diet in the Covid era; My feature with holistic dietician Mayuri Punjabi in SCMP: myeurekalife

My feature on Mayuri Punjabi is out this morning in South China Morning Post; 

Why clients rave about weight-loss coach who takes mind-and-body approach to shedding the kilos, with fasting at its core. Read it all here.

You can follow her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/myeurekalife/ 

The paper didn't have enough room for the addendum; here are a few healthy, easy tips she had

• Stop snacking - you don’t need to eat eight times a day, and should allow your digestive system a rest in between meals. 
• Do not drink liquids during your meals as it causes the digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid in your stomach to dilute, which makes it weaker and slows down the digestion process. This can lead to bloating and general discomfort. Therefore, drink liquids 30 minutes before and after a meal, not during.   
• Never compromise on your sleep. Seven to nine hours of sleep is required Those that say, “sleep is for the weak”, are seriously mistaken.   
• Learn to read labels and pay close attention to the ingredients list. The ingredient that is listed first is the most present, in terms of quantity. It is important to look out for ways in which sugar can sneak its way into ingredients lists, especially when masked under scientific terminology.  
• Trust your body to communicate and tell you what works and what doesn’t. Don’t just jump on the bandwagon of the next fad, as it may not be right for you. We are an evolved species and have done so without any fad diets or supplements. 
• AVOID:  
• Vegetable Oils: sounds healthy but deceptively so, they contain very high levels of polyunsaturated fats that slow down your metabolism, disrupt your hormones, impair digestion and accelerate ageing. Instead try to replace them with traditional fats like Ghee, Lard, Duck Fat, Olive Oil, Avocado Oil and Coconut Oil.  
• Sugar: try and avoid sugar, both natural and artificial, as when it is added to make a product taste sweeter, you should be wary!    
• Processed food; any ingredient list that is a page long, esp junk and fast foods: avoid eating anything in a bottle, jar with more chemicals than food.  
• Don’t use the phrase “cheat days”, I try to steer clear of that term because it sounds like we are doing something wrong that should result in some sort of punishment. Balance is key! 

Fat to Fit: Timothy Skinner in Hong Kong

Outtakes from a shoot with Timothy Skinner, shot by Dino Busch.

My feature with Timothy is out in the paper - can read it online here at SCMP.com Body Transformation. 

Click to enlarge pics

Working out in the park instead of expensive and cost ineffective gyms:



Update: Ah the gratuitous Thirst Trap images.

A Star is Reborn: Sridevi

Fifteen years after she stepped out of the spotlight to focus on her family, Indian film star Sridevi returns with a new movie. P.Ramakrishnan meets the Bollywood legend.

Queen, housewife, journalist, nurse, mystical snake-woman, princess, bandit, goddess, secretary, mad woman, fallen angel, police officer, drug addict, wannabe pop star, dancer, singer, embittered first wife, chief executive, Afghan tribal leader,  falsely implicated drug smuggler and streetwalker – Sridevi has been them all.

Star of  more than 200 Indian films (in five languages) and a member of the haloed pantheon of Bollywood celebrities, Sridevi is a larger-than-life figure.  She had done it all on-screen by the age of 34. With beguiling, sari-clad ease, she’d sung and danced, grieved and raged and cried and laughed on the big screen. As a child star – she won her first award before she was a teen – to a leading lady and screen icon, her cinematic journey was marked with box-office triumph, record-making paychecks and trophies galore.

Then she took a break – for 15 years.

WITH  A TEAR ROLLING down her cheek and a quivering smile, Sridevi faced a 10-minute standing ovation after the premiere of  her comeback film,  English Vinglish, at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14. At the event, her glistening  Sabyasachi  Mukherjee sari ranked her alongside  best-dressed celebrities Zac Efron, Penelope Cruz and Monica Bellucci – and that was before she brought her most potent weapons to bear.

Sridevi at the Toronto International Film Festival. Sept 14, 2012

“Those eyes – when she looks at you, you sort of get lost,” says writer and director  Gauri Shinde, who yanked Sridevi out of her self-imposed retirement. “As a woman, I  [was affected], I can’t imagine what it does to men.

“Meeting Sridevi the first time was surreal. Is this true? Is this happening? I felt like I was in the middle of  Requiem for a Dream, not sure what was real and unreal. I sat there and just watched her.  And she looks like a diva-movie star in her natural state. She was at home in blue jeans and a shirt. She had no make-up on, her youngest daughter was running around. She has this lovely, luminous skin and the most gorgeous, heart-breaking eyes…”

Heart-breaking indeed.  Oscar nominee and  Midnight’s Children director Deepa Mehta, who ran into Sridevi at the  festival where both their films were being screened the same week, tweeted: “There is something very poignant, heart-breaking about a megastar making a comeback after eons.”

Shinde flinches at the word “comeback”: “Oh that expression means nothing to me. The movie was never a vehicle to bring anyone back. My husband [producer/director  R. Balki] was in conversation with Sridevi’s husband,  Boney Kapoor, and casually mentioned that I was working on my first film. Sridevi overheard and was intrigued by the story. She asked to meet me.”

With a background in  advertising, Shinde wrote and directed a slew of  minute-long ads in Mumbai before she took a break and flew to New York to study film.  Her first short,  Oh Man! (2001), was screened at the  Berlin International Film Festival. Her latest script, written in 2008, was penned  without a specific actor in mind.

“My first full-length feature film, with the most famous Indian actress alive – who thinks like that?” laughs Shinde, pulling back copious curls. “I’m certainly not that optimistic. I feel everything fell into place by some miracle, from my DOP [director of photography], music director, crew and cast – that includes  Mehdi Nebbou [seen in  Steven  Spielberg’s Munich and  Ridley Scott’s Body of Lies], I can’t imagine this movie without them. The script   I had written, shooting that in cinematic New York, in Pune, where I grew up, in Mumbai, where I work, it was all a waking dream come true.”

“The script made me want to do the film, and, of course, Gauri,” says Sridevi,  when I grab a few minutes with her at the  JW Marriott hotel in Mumbai. She has just finished a workout and  stands before me in a tracksuit. Her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, her unmade-up skin showing few signs of her  49 years. She’s soft-spoken, notably shy, yet easy to smile.  And when she looks at me, I know immediately what Shinde was talking about when she mentioned those eyes …

I zone back in and ask about the reasons behind the 15-year break.

“When I had my daughters, I didn’t want to miss out on anything, so I took a break,” says Sridevi.  “I didn’t want to miss their first words, their first walk, by being on a set while the nannies took care of them. Because of my children, I didn’t miss the industry, not even a little bit.

“But I didn’t think I’d be away for so long. When Gauri gave me the script to read, I loved it. I could relate to it – so I did it. Had she come to me four or five years ago, I would have said yes then, too.”

Born to  Ayyappan and Rajeshwari in  Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu,  Sridevi was first cast in a Tamil film  at the age of four. One film led to another and  her  career as a formidable child artiste grew as she appeared in a spate of South Indian films. National recognition came a little later. Solva Saawan  (Sweet Sixteen; 1979),  her first  Hindi film, tanked  at the box office and Sridevi was happy to never do a  Bollywood  movie again. She’s often said she hated doing the film as she didn’t understand Hindi.  Years later, she gave Bollywood another try. With her voice dubbed by another artist (she learned Hindi years later), she exploded into the national consciousness in  Himmatwala (The Brave One, 1983).

So much has changed in the  15 years  she has been away from an industry that centres on the young, the new and  the endless parade of beauty queens and models with limited acting skills.  In her second act, will the audience find Sridevi as appealing as they did when  temples were created in her name? The premise of  English Vinglish is unlike any  of those that are garnering millions at the box office in India, or  elsewhere, where action-packed flicks and inane, slapstick comedies have been  filling cash registers.

And then, there’s the age factor.  As  Meryl Streep famously said in Vogue after having been offered three parts as a witch: “Once women passed childbearing age … they could only be seen as grotesque on some level.”

When Sridevi left the industry she was pregnant with her first child   and had seen the song and dance numbers peter out. She had been nominated for best actress at the Filmfare Awards – the Indian equivalent of the Oscars – consecutively for five years  and the critically acclaimed film  Lamhe (Moments, 1991) had garnered her nearly every major award, although the box office had not been kind.

If Shinde’s anxious about  ticket sales, though, she shows no sign of it.

“It’s been a blessing that I’ve not had a moment to think about opening weekend box-office figures,” Shinde says. “There’s always a modus operandi in the media to work a phrase into a film: it’s a ‘women’s picture’ – which it isn’t; I’m no feminist, neither is my film – it’s not a ‘comeback film’ – which is such an easy slot to pigeonhole this into – and I certainly don’t think about whether the movie will make a 100 million. I honestly haven’t thought about it as we’ve been working day and night to meet deadlines, firstly to send the final cut to Canada for the film festival, then simultaneously, as the movie is being made in regional languages, we’ve had launches and premieres in different states in India, so all that has to be overseen.

“Thankfully, my husband is Tamilian, he’s been going over all the details for the [southern] states in India.  We’ve not forgotten that Sridevi is one of the last pan-Indian stars. She’s a familiar face everywhere by the sheer volume of films she’s done.”

In English Vinglish, a linguistically challenged housewife,  Shashi (Sridevi), is  married to an educated patriarch  (stage actor Adil Hussain), who is condescending about his wife’s English. A family wedding takes Shashi to New York, where she’s traumatised by the overwhelming city and its foreign cacophony. Encouraged by her niece, she takes up English tuition, joining a class of immigrants.

Having been the leading lady in five regional languages, Sridevi  says, “I’ve always had a problem with language – so when I did this film, I could relate to it instantly. I’m not fluent in any [she says with a laugh].

“My directors used to call me a parrot,” she said in an interview with CNN. “I’d retain the dialogue, emote what was necessary, but I didn’t know what I was saying in the beginning when I did films in Kannada, Malayalam and even in Hindi in the 1980s. Now I’m better but …”

A comedy of errors and miscommunication aside, the film is a gentle probe into class structure, alienation, fear and embarrassment brought on by a world that speaks a common language – but where the lead protagonist doesn’t.

“My mother’s the inspiration and starting point for the film,” Shinde says. “She’s a businesswoman and always felt had she been fluent or at ease with English, she would have prospered much more.  She thinks the film’s about her – but it really isn’t. There’s no Frenchman in her life who comes  and whisks her around New York. She’s happily staying put in Pune.”

How did the Frenchman, played by Nebbou, who is used to working in understated American and European films, feel about his love interest?

“He, like most of our cast, was in awe of our leading lady – my husband calls her the ‘hero’ of the film,”  Shinde says. “Sridevi has this awesome way of being completely true to her character on-screen and then she just switches back to being herself when the scene’s done.   She’s very shy and  keeps to herself, mostly. Well, she did originally and most of the crew – many of us who grew up watching her – were in awe of her. But she made the effort to put her co-stars at ease.”

As the late  photographer  Gautam Rajadhyaksha, who had known Sridevi from her first few Hindi films,  once said: “There are two Sridevis. Two people as different from each other as you can imagine, leading quite separate lives, who never seem to meet even though they inhabit the same body. I first met the off-screen Sridevi. She’s shy, unsure, awkward, an almost simple-looking girl who  talks in barely audible murmurs. Then, there is the screen Sridevi, who appears as if by magic the minute you switch on the  arc lights. She’s a sensuous seductress capable of unblocking your abused arteries with one look from her smouldering eyes.

“No matter how she saps my energy and spontaneity with her obsession for perfection, the Adrenalin spurts back the moment she turns to face the camera.”

At the Toronto  festival, co-star  Adil Hussain said: “Having worked on stage for years, I’m not in awe of stars. When I heard I had to work with her, I thought, ‘Good, she’s a good actor.’ But the one time I was nervous,  was during a scene near the end of the film  when I had to dance with her.” Hussain   covers his eyes with his hands. “Dance with the Sridevi. That day I was full of doubt.”

Says Shinde: “She  doesn’t live in the past, there are no affectations, she’s supremely  … normal. She’s just so calm and collected.”

The film itself has a patina that’s more Westernised than the glitz and glam of  the average Hindi movie. The director’s proclivity for independent films as opposed to mainstream, song-and-dance flicks, is visible  in the trailer.

“I think my film is not ‘filmy’ … Despite having such a glamorous mainstream actress, I didn’t want to fall into that trap. We kept it   suited to her character, there’s no big ‘item’ song number, and this is despite the many people who told us that you can’t have a film with a dancing diva and not make her dance. But I listened to no one. You’ve got to have conviction in your own story, what’s right for her character, it’s pitched that way. There are no jokes per se, there’s no slapstick, there’s humour, drama, emotion, romance, it’s all there, but it’s subtle.

“It’s a different masala.”

English Vinglish is showing on October 5 and 6th at Chinachem Golden Plaza Cinema, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Shows: 9.30pm
Tickets: HK$120 - HK$180
Tel: Morning Star: 2368 2947



NOTES: Have written for Post magazine for years, my first cover story and that too with my fav subject in the world; Sridevi. Every teenage dream of mine came true.

Got a note from Shobhaa De, author and a power-that-be at Penguin India, to write Sridevi's biography. Hmm. Something to think about in 2013...

An archive of other interviews and features of mine with B'wood actors:

Hrithik Roshan, The Master's Apprentice 

Aishwarya Rai: Hooray for Bollywood

Abhishek Bachchan: Heir and Graces 

Priyanka Chopra: My Life 

Sushmita Sen: Universal Appeal 

Amazing to see Sridevi on the cover of Hong Kong's largest circulated magazine (in English). South China Morning Post's weekend magazinee, Post magazine.

UPDATE: Note from Gauri Shinde below. I die! =0)

Tough to get toned confesses Alexa Towersey: Fit & Fab, Health Post, SCMP

Alexa Towersey, wearing a tracksuit and ponytail at the crossroads of Hollywood Road and Lyndhurst Terrace in Central, looks like any one of the tourists ambling about. That is, until her track top is lifted. 

There doesn’t seem to be an ounce of fat on her well-defined abs. Surely this body was built after a lifetime in the gym. 

“No, I was teased for being too skinny through intermediate and high school. My nickname was Alexa Anorexa,” says the fitness expert. “So, in contrast to a lot of people, I started going to the gym to get bigger and put on some muscle.” 

 Alexa Towersey. “I didn’t walk into a gym and transform overnight.” 

She was a runner at school. “I was far too polite to win, though. My mum told me I said ‘excuse me’ when I had to pass the other children on the track.” 

Then she tried soccer, netball and skiing, but her true passion was riding horses. On most weekends, she was up at dawn, competing in various events around New Zealand. These days, however, weight training has become a love affair. Like most gym-goers, she gets really “grumpy” when she hasn’t trained for a while. But she swears her body is the result of smart, not long, hours at the gym. 

“Doing crazy hours in the gym is how you get injuries, not results.” 

What are you doing differently? 

Honestly, it’s something as simple as having a goal. I started triathlons 15 months ago, and set myself a huge goal of getting to a World Championships of some sort. I’ve managed to qualify for this year’s Ironman World Championship 70.3 in Las Vegas [a triathlon race consisting of a 1.9-kilometre swim, 90-kilometre bicycle ride and a 21-kilometre run]. That’s my goal. 

Are you determined every day to reach that goal? 

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t wake up every day excited about having to train. There are days when the work-life balance is overwhelming and I’m tired and irritable, and it’s hard to find the motivation. But I do it. It’s just a choice I make. That said, the most important thing I have learned in the past six months is to listen to my body. I used to train through thick and thin, on no sleep, when I was sick and even injured. Recovery is just as important to getting results as training. 

Is there a weakness anywhere in your regimen? 

Swimming is not really my forte, and has been a humbling experience for me. I have progressed from hating it, to disliking it, to enjoying it on the odd occasion – “odd” being the operative word there. 

What’s the secret to rock-hard abs? 

I don’t do traditional sit-ups – never have, never will. It’s just not my thing. My core strength comes from a background in heavy weights, and when I’m eating well, you can see the definition, which is always a bonus. To see abs, you need to have low body fat. To lose fat, you need to gain lean muscle, and you can only do that when you train and eat for your body type. 

How much weight training do you do? 

I enjoy lifting heavy weights, and my body responds really well to this type of training. One of my pet peeves is that there is a huge stigma attached to women and weights. Girls shouldn’t be afraid to do weights. I know I’m not everyone’s ideal body type, and a lot of girls are intimidated by how much muscle mass I have, but you have to put this into perspective. I have spent a good proportion of my life doing this. I didn’t walk into a gym and transform overnight. Most women don’t have the hormonal profile to be able to develop this much. And it takes time and dedication on so many levels. 

What’s your diet like? 

I think people really underestimate how important good nutrition is. You can train as much as you like, but unless you’re a genetic freak, if you don’t eat right, you won’t get the results you want. I’m definitely not into deprivation, I like clean, green and lean. Clean and organic fruit and vegetables where I can, Brussels sprouts, lean white meats, and fish. I tend to avoid gluten and dairy – that cuts out a lot of processed foods – and I don’t drink any more. 

What do you indulge in? 

My one weakness is Cadbury’s Creme Eggs. I once ate 18 in a row, then had to give the last six away, not because I felt sick, but because I felt guilty. 

Photo: Sabrina Sikora 

By P.Ramakrishnan

Behind the label: AFH: Designer Ayesha F. Hashwani

Who started it? AFH was established in 2005 by designer Ayesha F. Hashwani and is known for its dizzying swathes of fabric, splashes of colour and timeless, luxurious and (surprisingly for a Pakistani designer) sexy ensembles. Applying the richness of traditional Eastern crafts and motifs to contemporary fashion trends from the West makes for beautiful looks with a distinct touch of exotica. AFH's colours for 2012 range from bright shades such as tangerine to soft muted tones and "fun-loving pastels", says the designer, "with lots of white chiffon, a must-have for summer". 

The main fabrics include voluminous voiles and light silks with a cotton blend. The Karachi-based designer's outfits have been flying off the racks at O'Nitaa in London and Studio 8 in Dubai - and are finally making an appearance in Hong Kong. 

Why we love it: for outfits that are both figure hugging and forgiving. Covering a multitude of sins with long kaftan-like shapes and flowing cocktail dresses, the designer provides a variety of lengths, styles and volumes for any woman. Whether it's asymmetrical hemlines, trains or pleats, there's no shortage of glamour at the label. 

What we'd pick: the airy, long, wispy white dress with arm-length embellishments (left; HK$4,100) and the ornate black cocktail dress (above left; HK$5,300). 

Where can you get it? Online at www.afhashwani.com or through Aliya Zaidi in Hong Kong (to book an appointment, e-mail aliya666@gmail.com or call 6088 9898). 

Byline: P. Ramakrishnan (ramakrishnanp @ hotmail.com)

Reality Chick: Cara Grogan: Eurasian supermodel Cara G on the modeling scene and more

An exotic mix has its perks for this model, writes P.Ramakrishnan. 

All photos by Hyvis Tong.

According to the reality show America's Next Top Model, the world of modelling is a jet-setting, high-paying, glamorous vocation for the chosen few. Reality TV needs a reality check.

"I was at a casting in Singapore with this sunglasses brand and had to meet these two Italian guys in a hotel room," recalls model-turned-VJ, Cara Grogan. "And this girl came out of the room crying. They wanted her to pose completely nude. I called my agency immediately. Outside the room I saw a long line of girls - most in their teens - waiting in the corridor in a panic, calling their agents. There are some dodgy folks out there."

"Folks" is a euphemism for the word Grogan used but you get the gist. Her ascent from print to television may seem rapid but she's been working hard for the past decade: from the best ("commercials shot in Prague, Canada, Japan with the best team in Asia") to the worst ("I was asked to wear a string bikini that barely covered. I refused to step out of the dressing room").

Grogan's the versatile model whose dimpled smile and flawless skin has stared out of numerous ads, her mixed background working to her advantage in every market she's worked in.

"I had a complicated family history, so at 14 I left home and started working," says the 26-year-old. "I've been working ever since." When she came to Hong Kong seven years ago, it was intended to be a short stint; but she kept coming back. "Now, Hong Kong's definitely where I'm grounded."

Grogan grew up in Australia's Victoria and Gold Coast. The mix of Chinese, Swiss, Irish, German and Arabic has its benefits, language not being one of them. "I speak Australian, American and English! I never picked up any other language despite my travels and mixed origin. Shameful isn't it?" She laughs. "One of the best things about being a mixed mutt is that wherever I land, people think I'm from there. When I was in China, they thought I was Chinese, when in Japan, I was Japanese and so on."

Grogan says that while she has been working hard, jobs do come in waves. "Sometimes you're busy every day, rushing to gigs and other times, well, it's me walking my dog through Soho."

As we sit and chat in a trendy new bar tucked away at the crescent of Hollywood Road and Lyndhurst Terrace, an editor of a luxury magazine strolls by. "We've worked together before right?"

Grogan nods, gives a warm hug and mentions a multiple-page fashion shoot she did with them. They agree to work together on another shoot and the editor makes a note to call her agency. "I think it's important to be nice to the people you work with, the diva tantrums don't work anywhere," says Grogan. "You don't get cast again or recommended if you behave badly. I'm really happy when someone rings me back again for a job."

It was probably this attitude that helped propel her into the limelight at Channel V. "The VJ gig happened by chance," says Grogan. "I had auditioned several times before but never gotten through and, on a lark, a friend of mine asked me to audition again. I hesitated a lot, having been rejected so many times before, but they said to me `You're older now, it's a different look; you'll have a lot more to say than before.' So I did go back - and got the job."

Grogan enjoys working on screen, and says her love of music helps her to think on her feet. Perks of the job include meeting the biggest names in the music industry, award shows and of course, travel. Her first modelling job was also something she landed by chance, during her travels around Asia. "I was in Bangkok and I sent a message home saying I was modelling and no one believed me. `Bet you're a hostess,' they laughed."

According to Grogan, she was far from the prettiest girl in class when she was growing up. "Not even close! I wasn't a thin teenager at all, I was pretty chubby - there's a photo my mother put up on Facebook and my boyfriend didn't even recognise me. No one ever found me in a mall and said I had to be a model," she says, laughing. "Then the weight fell off, no crash diet or exercise. Just in the genes I guess, but even then, I didn't have any pretensions of being Elle Macpherson."

Having done countless editorials and worked around the continent, there are a few tricks of the trade Grogan's picked up. "I always know when a shoot's going to go bad," she says. "When there are a lot of people hanging around a set doing nothing, there's trouble ahead. They won't know how to style and just throw everything into one shot. The best photographers work with the best hair and makeup artists; it's a package."

-- April 2011, Interview for Style magazine, by South China Morning Post. 

Tom and John woo Hong Kong: Press conference in Hong Kong with Tom Cruise, John Woo: SCMP,

One of my earliest celebrity assignments... maybe even my first, while I was in HKU, had to do a write up on the Tom Cruise/John Woo press conference as they did the media route across Asia.

Tom Cruise flew in on his own jet, which he piloted and the press conference at The Peninsula was intense. Tom and John were the only two people on stage (and Winnie Chung on the side translating) and over 120 media reps in the audience. Basically anyone with a press badge - that of course included me. Was writing for South China Morning Post's official entertainment site and had to file the feature within hours. Didn't have the luxury of weeks like the magazine scribes. 'Twas fun and got a kick out being published.

I still get a kick out of my title - the fact that it got got approved and went to print.

Ah to be young and restless again...

Personal Taste: Bernard Dance: Interview with Culinary Legend Bernard Dance: Chef of Moet & Chandon

Bernard Dance is chef of champagne house Moet & Chandon's Chateau de Saran in Epernay, France. He was at the InterContinental in Tsim Sha Tsui recently to lead a pairing of champagne and Chinese cuisine.

What restaurants have you tried in Hong Kong?
I've been to Hong Kong many times but always for work, so I haven' really had the chance to explore, but the restaurants in all the hotels I've stayed in have been impressive. Last night I tried Yan Toh Heen (in the InterContinental) and it was wonderful. I wanted to see how the chefs approach their craft and in this massive kitchen I saw how creatively they work together. The food was excellent.

It must be very different from a French kitchen.
For a French chef in a Chinese kitchen, it's lie being on another planet, but it was fascinating. Cuisine is a reflection of a culture and, with China's rich history, I see it as a country of many stories. Though our worlds are opposite, I can see the enrichment of the culture and tradition when I see the food being prepared.

Did you get any ideas that you can use?
Yes of course. As a chef, you need to be constantly learning and exploring and I liked the way the food was prepared here. In France, we don't see live fish in the kitchen. Here it is really fresh. The way the food is made is also different: short and fast, quickly and efficiently.

Have any Asian techniques made it to France?
Yes, you can find woks in kitchens there now. They are very popular in France. The concept is wonderful: you cook quickly, don't use a lot of fat. This has spread across London and the rest of Europe.

Have you eaten anything unusual in Hong Kong?
I've tried everything - snake, shark and all that you read about. The snake was not bad, it was like eel. I have trouble with foods if the aroma is disagreeable, but that is a matter of conditioning. Once I get used to it, then I try it. You eat with all your senses, not just taste, so it has to look good, smell good and even feel good. The texture should not be offensive.

What is always in your refrigerator at home?
Fish, lots of fruits and vegetables, yoghurt, eggs and butter. I have two daughters and they eat only salads and light things because they are so conscious of their figures. I also have spices from around the world.

What countries have you enjoyed eating in the most?

All have been good - Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia, all across Europe. But when I went to Argentina 20 years ago, no one spoke English or French where I was staying and I couldn't communicate with the head chef. He brought his friend over to help - this beautiful Argentinian woman. Now we're married and have two daughters! So that's my most memorable trip - but for different reasons of course.

almost famous: Rani Asra Gidwani: Indian Dance Instructor and Choreographer Balances Motherhood and Bollywood Moves

Eight days before she delivered her beautiful baby girl Raina, Rani Asra Gidwani was squatting on cushions on her mother's living-room sofa, addressing a room full of dancers. Gidwani teaches Indian dance all year round but she's busiest during the months leading up to Diwali, the Indian new year, which falls on October 25 this year.

"I said no to everything, but when people want you, they want you," she says. "I had an assistant; I showed them what to do and taught all the way till my last trimester."

With no formal training but with three decades of experience behind her, Gidwani combines Bollywood-style "filmy" dancing with MTV-inspired sequences and dollops of originality and style.

Officially, she's been instructing for nine years at her Kowloon School of Dance but as far back as she can remember she's been grooving to music. "I've been dancing since I was three years old choreographing my own dances since I was five," says the 33-year-old. "I've always been one of those people who leads the dance; I can't follow other people and copy them. That's not my style. What I have to offer is unique and original. I can't blindly copy what's on TV."

Apart from the vast number of youngsters she's taught over the past nine years ["Ninety-five per cent of the Indian kids in Tsim Sha Tsui who dance have come to some class or another with me"]. Gidwani's worked with Chinese, Japanese, Russian, British and Americans, enthused by the exuberance of Bollywood musicals' and joie de vivre.

"For the older ladies especially, or couples who just want to look good when they're dancing at events, it's a great workout. with Indian dance, bhangra especially, you shake everything. Bhangra-cise is huge in Britain and I'm sorting out a schedule in Hong Kong too.

"Indian music has crept in to so many remixes. From Eminem to Ricky Martin, the influence has spread into the club scene as well so when people want to learn to move to it, they come to me. I'm sure I was the first person to mix hip-hop and Indian songs and teach dance."

A voluminous file reveals her students' information -- an age group from three to 60. "I worked with an international school last year, with teachers, students, all of whom were putting on a Bollywood show after Moulin Rouge I think. They were eager to learn and that made it fun for me to teach. The best part was that there were no hassles because they were so enthusiastic."

Opportunity to work in Bollywood, the world's largest film industry, came often, but she didn't grab the offers. "I've had offers to work in showbiz many times but I wasn't ready to leave home - I was born and brought up in Hong Kong. To live in Mumbai and cater to stars and their egos and try my luck - I wasn't sure. Deep down, I didn't have the confidence then."

And now? 

"Now, I'm happily married and a mother of a 10-month-old. I still get to do what I love and seriously have no regrets."

Words: P.Ramakrishnan.

Portrait: SCMP

Published in South China Morning Post

South China Morning Post

建立日期： 2003年07月19日

Salsa Seduction: Interview with DJ Henry Knowles during his Hong Kong Trip: SCMP Exclusive

The world's unofficial No 1 salsa DJ Henry Knowles knows the power of a sensual latin beat - and plans to use it on his Hong kong fans, writes P.Ramakrishnan.


As the world's unofficial No 1 salsa DJ Henry Knowles is not used to seeing people sitting down at his gigs. "The only time when I did not get the reaction I expected - and I've been doing this for more than 20 years - was when I was the DJ at the wedding of some Jehovah's Witnesses. That was one tough audience. I couldn't play some of the sexier songs and they freaked a bit," the New York-based disc jockey says.

Fresh from a whirlwind tour of Japan, the salsero recalls the experience so vividly because it is a one-off. Normally, the response to his sensuous Latin-laced tunes involves something closer to wild abandon.

"Everywhere in the world, the music gets into the blood. It's an addiction. Whether they're in Japan, Korea, Italy or Belgium, the people just start dancing when salsa's in the air," he says, a few hours after landing in Hong Kong.

In the past two months, Knowles has touched down in Hawai, Germany, the Netherlands and San Juan, where he was part of the world salsa congress. He's used to setting such a pace with two decades of DJ-ing under his belt. He's also used to his No 1 salsa DJ sobriquet, which was bestowed on him by enraptured Italian fans years ago. "There was a time when I was flying to Italy every month and on one of the programmes, they introduced me as such. The label stuck. With the internet bringing the 'salseros' of the world together, it's brilliant to be recognised in the street when you're halfway aross the world from home."

Salsa, the Latin American dance characterised by Afro-Caribbean rhythms, Cuban big-band dance melodies and elements of jazz and rock, has found a fanatical following in Japan, South Korea and a number of hot-spots in Malaysia and Singapore.

A form of music and dance that could not be more of an alien culture and sound finds escalating popularity - marked by the repeated invitations for people such as Knowles and other latin music exponents.

"It is a form of liberation. When I meet some old friends in Asia, I hug them. I kiss them, ther's a very hands-on greeting which is completely different to, let's say, the Japanese culture where physical contact is completely avoided as a greeting.

"You shed inhibitions with the culture of salsa. You move, you get hot, sweaty and sticky," he says, trying to explain why he's frequent flier to Asia as Latin music's unofficial ambassaddor.

"People may not understand what the words are and they might get a better appreciation if they understood it, but this is really about the rhythm, the music itself," he says.

Though a New York resident, as a young boy he was sent to Puerto Rico to stay with his grand parents and developed an ear for the local music. "I bought all kinds of records. Even today, two thirds of my money goes into buying music," he says as he points out why in his luggage, at any given time, there are more than 200 CDs.

"When I was in high school, at a party I brought all my records and I played them. The reaction was so great that I've never looked back.

"I'm a manager for music acts, a promoter, I do the marketing, I do parties, I dance - everything I do involves music."

Like DJs of any genre, Knowles says his greatest skill is reading people - a talent that has overcome cultural differences across the globe. One of the keys, he says is not following the charts, but his audience.

"When we started off, radio stations came to us to find out what was hot in the club scene. We could make or break a track and, if we played the song often enough, we got people addicted to it. Now it's all about the marketing strategy, completely commercial. It's about the musician's look, not their sound.

"It makes no sense to play something just because it's the No 1 song in New York. That song might not necessarily work in LA or Brussels. Knowing the pulse of the audience is important. I don't prepare anything in advance when I have to work at a gig. I go in, feel for the audience and play something. No pre-recorded and pre-planned tracks - otherwise I might as well mail a compilation and not turn up. It is an art to understand the audience."

It's hard to pinpoint when a worldwide audience found a flavour of South American sounds and let it make merry on their eardrums, but it was well before the live-in-leather performance of Ricky Martin at the Grammys.

"The Ricky Martins and the Jennifer Lopez-es have opened the doors a bit wider for an international audience to get into this style of music that has been around for many years. Their music is Latin pop or rock but having brought in listeners, the more curious will do a bit more digging and find a world of sounds that come from Latin culture."

He adds: "Here I'm a one-man show. Sometimes I have musicians or dancers accompany me and we mix and match things. I love open-air events and am really looking forward to my first gig in Hong Kong."

So what can Hong Kong expect at the first official visit as a DJ on sunday in Harbour City to kick off the Salsa In The City festival? "A lot of fun. Apart from playing the music, I go out to the dance-floorr and mingle with the crowd. I work the auience and don't just sit up there with my equipment ignoring the world.

"I will dance with anyone who's willing. You don't have to be an expert and have taken lessons to enjoy this. If it gets hot, humid, sweaty and sticky, then it gets hot, humid, sweaty and sticky!"

With a sly grin he says, "That's the way all good things progress."

Indeed.

Just Good Friends: Relationship Column in SCMP: The perils of being Friendzoned

Can platonic relations exist between men and women in Hong Kong? P.Ramakrishnan asks the happy hour hip crowd.

Brad Pitt says he's just good friends with his Mr and Mrs Smith co-star, Angelina Jolie. But some people wonder whether a platonic, non-sexual relationship is possible between a man and a woman.

Hong Kong's bars teem with people who claim to be just good friends - pals who share cocktails and company and nothing more. Or are they?

Blonde, blue-eyed Amber sits with a group of men and women in Red, a bar in the IFC Mall.

"Of course a guy and a girl can be just good friends," the 30-year-old artist manager says, "When I first came to Hong Kong, I knew two people. Going around town, I was just happy to make a friend, irrespective of their gender, which many new expats feel, I'm sure.

"Everyone's sort of trying to find friends," she says. "You get the instant common denominator. You're in a different city, you've got an interest in Asia. You're living abroad. It's really hard to find really close friends. In turn, some of them become your family. Your little tribe.

"I would rather be in that tribe and know that I'll always have that friend than date them and, if I went horribly wrong, lose the friendship over it. It's difficult to continue being friends after things have gone sour while dating."

Amber says "It is just not there" with some men, no matter how attractive they may be. "A few years ago, there was this guy who lived across from my flat and we were both single," she says. "We were friends. We'd order in on Sundays and watch a movie. There was a mild attraction, but we never crossed a line. I don't have any brothers, just a sister. Growing up, we just had friends who were guys and nothing more.

"I don't think I'd date a guy who didn't have any friends who were girls."

Amber says that some younger, more immature guys think they can't be friends with girls. "Once they grow up and are more relaxed in the other's company, they'll recognise that of course you can be friends," she says. "To me, it's a sign of a mature, sensitive and sensible person."

Michelle agrees. The thirty something company boss says she has a close-knit circle of friends, some of whom are men.

"One of my friends, who's a lawyer, makes good money, works out quite a bit, has his own place - everything's right on paper," she says. "But there were no sparks when we met. He was good-looking, but not my type. He was a nice guy. The more I got to know him, the more I realised he's a sweet person."

Michelle says she talks about everything with her male lawyer friend. "We're into arts, so we talk about that," she says. "He's into property and I'm into property. Now I'm married and he's hooked up with my husband, too, and they go to the rugby Sevens and get drunk together."

Sharon Glick, a relationship expert at St John's Cathedral counselling service, has seen many couples who fall out over platonic friendships.

She says straight men and straight women can be platonic friends. "But underneath it all, there'll be an attraction," she says. "This includes samme-gender friends."

All relationships have some spark of attraction, she says. "And attraction can certainly have a sexual edge," Glick says. "That doesn't mean you have to act on it. It includes relationships with the same gender. If you said that to your average homophobic guy, he'd be in complete denial. Those who are more secure will be aware of that."

So, does this mean that there's an un-acted-on spark among beer buddies at the Sevens? "I use the word 'attraction' in its basic sense, as opposed to repulsion," says Glick. "Not the full-blown erotic attraction. Take it from Sigmund Freud and his concept of the 'ero's. It's positive feelings, the warm feelings, the warm colours, the feeling of attraction. Platonic love is a concept of ero's."

If someone looked like Quasimodo and drooled at the table, they'd find it difficult to have friends, irrespective of the gender, Glick says. "Repulsion springs from different areas, and it can have nothing to do with looks. Sean connery is physically an attractive man. But he is also misogynistic. He talks about how women should be slapped occasionally, and that makes him horrifically unattractive. Similarly, you'll find two good looking people who are just friends and nothing more for myriad reasons."

However, experts warn that even platonic friendships can cause problems for relationships and marriages - especially if the pals form an emotional bond and start to share secrets, hopes and dreams with each other rather than with their partners.

In Lan Kwai Fong, Anghard says looks have little to do with her platonic friendships. "Some ignite my 'want to be his sister' sort of feelings, and the movie buddy list," she says. "I met a guy not too long ago - tall blond and an ex-model. And he'd be great boyfriend material - in a photograph. But only in a picture. He just wasn't my type. I just couldn't talk to him after a certain point and there was no attraction."

James agrees with the chorus of women - perhaps because he's out numbered. "I believe men and women can be friends, but that takes a conscious decision to be so on both sides," the advertising executive says. "It also takes unspoken rules of behaviour. I guess there's always going to be the potential for something sexual to happen."

Diamond dealer Jin throws in a gem of his own. "Of course, I have girls who are just friends and nothing more," the 25-year-old says, "They're fat."

An ice cube bounces off his forehead. The women groan.



'YOU WANT TO NAIL THEM, TOO'


In the movie When Harry Met Sally, Billy Crystal (Harry) and Meg Ryan (Sally) discuss whether men and women can be just friends.

Harry: You realise of course that we could never be friends.

Sally: Why not?

Harry: What I'm saying is - and this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form - is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.

Sally: That's not true. I have a number of men friends and there is no sex involved.

Harry: No you don't.

Sally: Yes I do.

Harry: No you don't.

Sally: Yes I do.

Harry: You only think you do.

Sally: You say I'm having sex with these men without my knowledge?

Harry: No, what I'm saying is they all want to have sex with you.

Sally: They do not.

Harry: Do too.

Sally: They do not.

Harry: Do too.

Sally: How do you know?

Harry: Because no man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her.

Sally: So, you're saying that a man can be friends with a woman he finds unattractive?

Harry: No. You pretty much want to nail them, too.

Screen Studies: Shahrukh Khan: Interview with a Bollywood Icon, South China Morning Post

In Indian cinema, there’s no one quite like Shahrukh Khan. Khan’s unprecedented hold on top of the box office remains a feat unmatched. With the advent of Rab Ne Bana De Jodi, will he strike box-office gold… again? P.Ramakrishnan was in conversation with a King. 

"I honestly don't know where I'd be if that film wasn't made," says Indian actor Shahrukh Khan, referring to Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (which translates to The Brave Heart will Take the Bride). The 1995 film was Aditya Chopra's directorial debut and it defied the skeptics' predictions in Bollywood and eventually ran in Mumbai for almost 10 years, earning a record 700 million Indian rupees (HK$110.43 million) and 10 Filmfare awards (India's equivalent to the Oscars). It also propelled Khan to phenomenal stardom. 

He would eventually become the most well-known actor to have emerged from Bollywood in recent years. His popularity has since spread far beyond India through films such as Don and Om Shanti Om. He has a solid fan-base in Hong Kong, for example, where he's been dubbed the "Andy Lau of Bollywood!". 

With the same film production unit that produced Diwale [DDLJ], Khan hits cinemas again after a year-long absence from the big screen with Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (God Brought the Duo Together), in which he plays a simple country bumpkin from northern India who gets married to the most desirable girl in his village - much to the young woman's distress. It's a remarkably different role for an actor who is more well-known for playing hunks and there's no swanky cars or designer duds to be seen anywhere. 

It doesn't matter, as Khan says, it will be "one of the funniest films" he has ever done. The 43-year-old - now with more than 60 films under his belt since his movie debut in 1992 - is adamant that the all-singing, all-dancing slant of his commercial films has more value than gritty cinematic affairs. 

"You know when you see a so-called serious cinema offering and fall asleep in the theatre? And about 30 people saw it? I'm not mentioning names, but the director has then failed completely to make a compelling story. That's it. It's as simple as that," he says. 

Despite having won numerous awards, the Bollywood star says box office take is more important to him. "It's always fun and great to get awards but nothing beats box office success. If the audience hasn't been won over, then you've failed somewhere along the line," he says. "I think it's an easy excuse when directors or actors say the film could have been a big hit but it was released before its time and it would do well today. That's just bulls***. You didn't know what your current audience wanted, and made a film that didn't work." 

He adds, laughing, that his past four movies produced by him have not done so well at the box office. "I know what I'm talking about. I've cried when my films have failed." 

As for his upcoming movie, he's confident it will do well. "In a way, I'm undoing what Dilwale did. That movie created this urban, yuppie character Raj, the cool dude," he says. "This movie Rab Ne, is demystifying the character of Raj. You have to take my word for it, I'm shy, an introvert, who essays characters that are cool. I was never cool. I act cool but that's not me. I rarely socialise, I rarely party, I was never trendy. When wardrobe stylists send me clothes, I wear them. "When my character is supposed to be the popular jock, I walk the walk, but deep down, I've always been shy." 

So, as he portrays the bespectacled, white pajama-wearing, tech-nerd Surinder Sahni, is that the real him? "Yes... in many ways. It was so much easier to play that part and I had so much fun doing it," he says. "I tell everyone, don't be fooled by my image. When people ask me to go and hit a party, my reaction is, and then what? I'd rather be home with my wife and two kids. To me, a party is on the set. I was destined to play the role of Shahrukh Khan." 

Rab ne Bana Di Jodi screens in Chinachem, TST East.