Prime South : Tidings From The Southern States

Mallika Sarabhai’s all set to prove to native state Kerala that Malayalam isn’ta forgotten language for her. She returns after a long hiatus as retd prof Bhargaviamma inT.V. Chandran’s new film Dani.

"I was to be Soosanna (Chandran’s last movie with the same title), but I hurtmy leg and had to shelve plans. Now I am Bhargaviamma in Dani," says an ecstaticMallika. She is well aware that a role in a Chandran movie could be ascratch-and-win-ticket to awards nite.

"I am always learning and I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to hone myacting skills," she says. Does it mean that she’s bidding adieu to the world ofdance? " Not at all. I got a good role. So I took the plunge."

Dani tells the story of Daniel Thomson (Mammooty) and the period he lived in,1938-2001. He meets Bhargaviamma, a 65-year-old retired professor, at the old-age home.Her past is a revelation to Danny, whose own life has been tumultuous to say the least.Chandran traces the history of the liberation struggle in Kerala through the lives of thetwo. "Bhargaviamma is an old lady Dani meets in the autumn of his life, and the filmis about their relationship and the way it matures. It’s the beginning and the end ofthe movie," says Chandran.

Mallika, meanwhile, found the dialogues in Malayalam a handful. She had it written downin the Gujarati script but the accent was still a struggle. The film’s now ready forrelease and should be in theatres in the next month or so.

For the past two years, every weekday between 9.30 and 10 pm, the whole of Tamil Nadu hasbeen participating in a mass ritual: tuning in to Chitti, Radhika Sarath Kumar’smega-serial. Former chief minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi, it turns out, was one of thosewho compulsively caught up with Chitti. And when he missed an episode—likehe would have when Jayalalitha kept him in jail for a few days—he would find out whathappened from the family later, as he confessed at a function to commemorate the 400-dayrun of this mega-serial. Incidentally, it deals with the travails of ChittiSarada, played by Radhika, perhaps the most succesful of cinema-to-TV crossover artistes.The serial, in its dubbed version, is a hit in Telugu and Kannada too.

Radhika, whose papa M.R. Radha was a staunch dmkite, not only aired Chitti onthe unofficial dmk channel, sun tv, but even incorporated some crucial events of recenthistory. In one of the concluding episodes, one saw protagonist Sarada being arrested inthe middle of the night and roughed up quite like the former chief minister was on thenight of June 29. (Wonder if Jayalalitha was watching...) No wonder Mu.Ka.(as the dmkchief is known) was the ‘appropriate’ chief guest, and he said: "I havecome to honour my daughter." And Radhika, whose husband Sarath Kumar was recentlymade Rajya Sabha MP by the dmk, is ready with her next package: Kaveri, sametime, same slot, beginning immediately after Chitti ends on November 10. Set inMumbai, it stars Madhoo (of Roja fame).

Eat cricket, drink cricket. Or byte into floppies. For die-hard cricket lovers, whenhunger strikes you can’t do better than tuck into a Pizza Jonty, or maybe savour aSachin’s Punch, wash down a Yorker or even an Akram Special. And if it’s thearoma of a CD-ROM or a CPU that you prefer, another Bangy precinct may prove tantalising.Theme restaurants are in, and inSwing and Gangotree (both serve only veg cuisine) areturning favoured addas. At inSwing, one has a choice of chaats from Tendulkar Chi Avad,sandwiches from Dravid’s Bakery or maybe you want to leaf through Kapil’s Dhaba.The Chinese Gully lists soups, The Openers offer short eats and The Middle Order, noodlesand fried rice. "It’s team-work. I have learnt to cook from my wife Kanchan...my son and son-in-law too bat often. I plan to add more memorabilia and play video tapesof great ODIs. We’ll also be giving away small bats, helmets, etc to kids," saysHarish Gupta, 51, who played cricket with Durrani and Solkar before moving from Mumbai toBangalore.

The scene’s the same in Gangotree, a chaat parlor located in the midst of a scoreof IT companies. The menu offers Floppy (puri with schezwan sauce, vinegar, carrots andsprouts), Network Card (delicious pasta), CPU (Chinese bhel-puffed rice with crispnoodles) or RAM (taco-tortilla shell with bean and other fillings), among others. Thedecor matches the menu card with PC peripherals, keyboards, et al. "It took us threemonths of planning. We experiment a lot—with Chinese, Mexican, Italian toppings.That’s why we’re popular," says Raj Sethia of Gangotree.   

It was to be a shopping extravaganza, the scale of which the country had never witnessedbefore. But the Great Mall of Hyderabad fell far short of expectations, ending up likesoda with no fizz. Ogilvy Live, which clinched the international bid to managethe festival, sank some Rs 11 crore into it believing they would recover the money andmore from the sponsors and participants. But then September 11 happened.And of the 13countries that had shown interest initially, only four finally turned up.

The tourists too have kept away. The promoters had expected one lakh visitors aday—but the turnout’s been so poor that some 40 stalls have already shut shop,just half-way into the month-long event. But Gautam Mukerjea, national head of OgilvyLive, insists it hasn’t been a complete washout as the Great Mall of Hyderabad brandhas been established. Both he and the state tourism department claim that despite thisyear’s fiasco they are committed to making this a successful annualevent.