Master scriptwriter

Salman Khan

It could be a thrilling plot for a cinematic psychodrama itself. One of the most brilliant screenplay writers the industry has ever seen, someone who has his finger on exactly what the masses want, stops writing scripts one day.

Every one thinks he's retired. But in actuality he's never stopped working, it's just that, what no one knows is that he uses his unmatched knowledge of film and audiences, of plot turns, character development, drama and audience appeasement to script the career of his star son.

Guiding him about his image on and off screen, advising him about which scripts to pick what will work in today's times and what won't, and mentoring him at every stage of his career.

Salman Khan and (right) Salim Khan

Sounds fantastic? Well, now with the astounding box office success of yet another blockbuster ‘Kick' from Salman Khan, more and more people are coming around to our long held belief that behind Salman Khan's gravity defying career lies the steady hand of his father Salim Khan.

Think about it, Salman has been through episodes that would lay another actor low for life: from hit and run accidents to shooting endangered species to high profile break ups with his GFs. And yet, he has emerged from each, his fan following larger, his box-office performance bigger.

Could it all be just charisma or good luck, or the handiwork of someone sitting in the background, writing the finest script of his life-one that's being played out in real life unbeknownst to audiences by his son? And if this is true, imagine what a film script it would make!

Made in heaven
Word comes in of a marriage almost made in heaven, with the imminent engagement of IT billionaire Azim Premji's son to aesthete and design maven Kavita Singh's daughter, which is soon to be announced.

Azim Premji. Pic/AFP and Kavita Singh

With both sets of parents-Yasmin and Azim as well as Kavita and Jasjit hailing from the same social sphere and sharing a like minded approach to values and life, the fact that the couple are very much in love, comes as an added cherry on the cake! Expect a low key but stunning wedding.

The return of Joss
For a certain kind of Mumbai foodie, dining at Kala Ghoda's Joss was a thing of beauty and joy forever. And that's because the unassuming and talented Farrokh Khambata had managed to do the impossible: strip Japanese and far eastern food of its snobbery and serve up authentic but suited to the Indian palate fare.

Farrokh Khambata

And so, when Joss downed its shutters there was a big hole in the foodie universe of his erstwhile patrons, even though Umame and Amadeus his subsequent eateries provided excellent fare. Which is why now news of the imminent reopening of Joss has set off a ripple of excitement.

"An ecstatic yet emotional moment for me to see the sign was put up. Back to where it all started," posted Khambata last week on his Facebook page. And the hurrahs came back as a resounding echo of delight. "Best thing is we don't have to travel far now," said one fan." Ah well, it's Sobo's time to crib.

Such a long journey
"GOODBYE USA & HELLO DUBAI..." wrote rocker turned music impresario Farhad Wadia about an epic driving sojourn he'd made across Northern America with his partner Binaifer F Gandhi "4 weeks and driving 5200 miles (approx 8320 kilometres, about the distance of a Bombay to London flight) from Seattle to Vancouver to Minneapolis to Chicago to New York City," he said.

Farhad Wadia

What did he love the most about his journey we enquired? "Well we just loved the Canada bit, i.e. Vancouver, Banff, and in the US we just loved the starkness, expanse and beauty of Montana and Wyoming," said the man who had put the swing into Independence Day with his rousting concerts on August 15. Any advice for others? The advice bit is plan for a 2nd driver, as it can get a bit tiring on the long stretches And then he signed off with "NYC to LA next!"

Books rains and music
‘Someone once said that music, poetry and rain go together. Nature provides the rain; Literature Live! is taking care of the other two ingredients,' wrote our friend, the indefatigable Anil Dharker about an upcoming event organised by Literature Live!: The launch by poet Gulzar of Sathya Saran's book on the legendary composer S D Burman.

Sathya Saran

"Do come to the wonderful new Jindal office at BKC. It's got lots of space, great art and a fine auditorium," he said about the book whose release we had written about in these columns. Incidentally, according to a source, Saran's next is on the life and times of the late ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh.