New Crop in Bollywood

>> So many of our friends have kids who are about to be launched in Bollywood! For starters, there's Rima and Manoj Jain's handsome son Armaan who will make his debut under Saif Ali Khan's banner. Going by the family legacy, much will be expected and much will be delivered.

Rima, after all, is Raj Kapoor's daughter and even though she gave Bollywood a miss, she appears to have inherited her late father's charisma and charm. Armaan who we have known since he was a toddler has not only got the Kapoor looks but also his father Manoj's polish and South Mumbai sophistication. Then there's our friends Jackie and Ayesha's cub Tiger's imminent debut, which has attracted a justifiable amount of attention thanks to his swashbuckling action hero personality. An insider who has watched Tiger at close quarters says that the next Akshay Kumar is about to be born.

Tiger Shroff and Athiya Shetty

Sunny's son and Dharmendra's grandson Karan Deol will also be finding his feet in the coming year, and what will be interesting is to see if he will follow in the Deol action man footsteps or forge his own distinct identity like his uncle Abhay Deol did.

Armaan Jain and Karan Deol

Suneil and Mana Shetty's daughter Athiya and Mahesh Bhatt and Soni's daughter Aaliya will also receive justifiable attention and support given their parent's good will and clout. Star sons and daughters: we recall the time when Rishi Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt and Kumar Gaurav stepped up to the plate. The more things change, the more they stay the same in Bollywood!

Philanthropist Recognised
>> Rahul Bose is an incredible individual. Not only does he act, produce and support the best in Indie cinema (his unofficial title is Mr New Wave Cinema) but he also plays high-level rugby (until recently he was on the National Team), spearheads a big ticket celebrity auction and finds time to run his foundation. And it is for the last that he was commended on August 15, this year by no less than Lt Gov Gen (Retd) Bhupinder Singh for services rendered to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Rahul Bose receiving the commendationu00a0

The official citation given states, "Rahul Bose, a renowned celebrity and philanthropist, personally came down to the islands immediately after the devastating tsunami of December 2004, to provide relief and rehabilitation. He visited the remote islands as many as 23 times between 2005 and 2007 and donated relief materials in different forms." To which the talented actor and philanthropist says, "Helping ease pain on this planet is reward unto itself, getting recognised for it is the icing on the cake."

The Big Tease
>> No one can deny he's one of the greatest storytellers of the century, but even so when the Sir Salman Rushdie chose to create suspense on a social networking site yesterday it got enough people guessing.

Salman Rushdie

"Tomorrow I can finally stop being secretive about where I'm going to be tomorrow," said the great storyteller, and proceeded to maintain a mischievous silence, leaving his friends and fans furiously guessing. The responses were as interesting as his tease. From ‘The White House? to It's Maria Sharapova at the US Open! to India?, (ours) to the most intriguing one: "Don't tell me you're attending the Republican convention." It is obvious that the popular and critically acclaimed writer's circle expect him to show up just about any and everywhere. So, where is he going to turn up today? Watch this space!

Reality Crisis
>> Seldom has a real estate deal caused so much consternation and heartburn amongst Mumbai's Big Boys, but this one appears to have split the city‘s high rollers straight down the middle with people taking sides and making allegations and counter allegations.

When an A-list industrialist made headlines buying a bungalow on Cumballa Hill from another of his community, tongues were already wagging about the modalities and the price. So, it was only to be expected that when that deal fell through tempers would be frayed. But who would have expected that the same party then would be involved in another high-profile big bucks reality deal that would also fall through? This one is for a plot in Worli and whereas the buying party says that a gentleman's agreement has been breached. The sellers (industrialists of equal clout and standing) say agreed terms and conditions were not met. For the sake of all, we hope the home-seeker finally finds a bungalow where he can hang up his hat. And that peace and goodwill are restored.

Air India's Treasure Trove
>> It's finally happened. After decades of dragging its feet, word comes across that Air India is finally going to put together its staggering art collection started by the late JRD Tata and added to over the years by other aesthetes.

JRD Tata

According to one of the country's leading art authorities Saryu Doshi, who along with Tasneem Mehta is on the advisory committee for this venture. The collection consists of a vast amount of art, antiques, murals, tapestries, and antiquities.

Saryu Doshi

"They have a very substantial representation of modern, ancient and a few contemporary pieces too," says Doshi. One art expert estimates the value of this priceless collection at Rs 350 crore, though others are more conservative. "The attempt will be to catalogue, collect, assess and perhaps lodge them all under one roof," says Doshi. u00a0