Vickey Lalwani

The actress, who has always acknowledged her tradi-tional roots, will remain loyal to them for her bigday as well. We can now reveal — Vidya Balan willmarry Siddharth Roy Kapur at a small, tradition-al ceremony on December 14 in the presence of

family and only the closest friends. The one-day affair willtake place, not at any five-star destination, but at the sprawl-ing Cuffe Parade apartment in Jolly Maker Towers, whichbelongs to SRK’s parents. For the uninitiated, SRK isVidya’s affectionate moniker forSiddharth.

Like everything she does, thereis a little story behind the wed-ding date as well. And this wasrevealed by one of Vidya’s closestfriends. “Vidya’s sister Priya alsogot married on December 14. Theclose-knit family considers thisdate to be extremely auspicious,”said the friend, adding, “Fromnext year, this date will bringtwice the happiness for the Balanfamily. Priya especially is oncloud nine.”

Coming back to the venue ofthe wedding, we asked the friendwhy the couple gave Siddharth’sBandra current a miss. After all,the Bandra pad is more accessi-ble for their guests. “The Jolly Maker apartment is muchbigger. Besides, the Bandra apartment is a rented one. AndSiddharth is not sure if he wants to continue with it,” saidthe friend.

Vidya’s trousseau has been designed by Sabyasachi andshe plans to wear saris for the special day. The coupleintend to take off on a Caribbean cruise two days afterthe wedding. This is the same cruise plan which was ear-lier meant to be a family affair.

Once back, the newly-weds will walk straight intotheir Rs 14-crore Juhu apartment that Siddharth hadbought last year. As we had reported earlier, this was agift for his fiancée. The house has already received hisspecial, feminine touches, thanks to the actress, whohas been shopping for accessories and highlights for awhile now. The actress is busy wrapping up herGhanchakkar schedule with Emraan Hashmi. She goesoff on her wedding break in a couple of days.

Volume 5 Issue 329

CTA

Lots andlots of fun!Pg3 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2012 I ADVERTORIAL, ENTERTAINMENT PROMOTIONAL FEATURE | CHENNAI

BACKBEAT

On song with Ajith

Pg10

Free with TOI & STOI

Fresh from saying no to thenew Star Wars film, StevenSpielberg has shot down

rumours that he’ll direct a Bondmovie, but he has also revealedhow he always wanted to do sobefore.

The Hollywood director saidthat he once offered his servicesto Bond producer Cubby Broccoliback in the early 70s, before hemade his name with Jaws. “Iwent to Cubby Broccoli and Iasked if I could do one and hesaid, ‘No.’ I’ve never asked again.Instead, I made the Indiana Jonesseries,” a paper quoted him assaying. The director had revealedhis fascination with the Bondseries earlier this year. “When Ifirst started making movies, theonly franchise I cared about andwanted to be part of was JamesBond,” Spielberg had said.

“When I started out as a TVdirector, my pie-in-the-sky dream

was to make a little movie thatwould get some notoriety, andthen Cubby Broccoli would callme and ask me to direct the nextJames Bond picture. But I couldnever get Cubby Broccoli to hireme — and now, sadly, they can’tafford me,” he said.

ANI

Wanted to direct Bond, but they can’t afford me now!Ace filmmaker Steven Spielberg reveals he was rejected to direct a Bond film

StevenSpielberg

DanielCraig inSkyfall

Prema Naraynen

Ashwin Sanghi must bea very disciplinedman. How else can

one be a full-time business-man as well as author ofthree best-selling historicalpotboilers, all at the sametime? He laughs out loudwhen you ask him how hemanages to work two full-time jobs, and says, “I setaside time every weekday towrite, from 5 to 9 am in themorning, but the rest of theday is spent at the office.”

It’s that sense of organiza-tion, coupled with asparkling imagination, thathas propelled Sanghi to suc-cess. Ashwin says he lovedhistory in school, and oftenpicked up books supplemen-tary to his text books. Morethan the dates that thepedantic texts focussed on,he loved reading about thepeople — the kings and thequeens. “If I were given theoption to teach history,” hesays, “there are a hundredthings I’d do differently.”

In fact, it was in schoolthat he picked up on howhistory could be jazzed up tomake the characters comealive. While readingShakespeare’s Julius Caesaras a literature text book, itmoved him to discover thatthe events described in theplay had actually occurredin history, and he felt thatthe words rang very true.

However, he’s emphaticabout the fact that it is story-telling and spinning a goodyarn that drives him, notdexterity with language. Theplain, straightforward styleof writing of authors likeArthur Hailey and RobinCook is what he adheres to.

‘I LOVED READING HISTORY IN SCHOOL’

AshwinSanghi

Vidya Balan;(inset)Siddharth RoyKapur

Their books are illuminat-ing, he says, and clearlydepict the amount ofresearch these authors putinto each novel.

He’s also all praise forRamachandra Guha’s histo-ry of post-independenceIndia. In fact, he says, theseeds of his next book have

already been sown. He’s fast-forwarding his travels fromancient history to work on anovel based on a business-man in India, in 1946, on thecusp of Independence.

“My first work was rootedin theology, the second inpolitics and the third inmythology. This one will

focus on something I alreadyhave a footing in... busi-ness.”

Given his rigour, youknow he won’t keep youwaiting eternally for thenext chronicle. It may behistory, but for Ashwin, it’svery much a day-to-dayaffair.

VIDYA OPTS FOR AHOMELY WEDDING

Jayaram

The actress will marry Siddharth Roy Kapur at thelatter’s parental home in Cuffe Parade, away fromthe fraternity’s prying eyes

Parvathy S Nayar

Mollywood actor Jayaram mightsoon go beyond the Malayalamand Tamil film industries to

make a big time debut. The buzz isthat the actor has landed a dream dealwith filmmaker A R Murugadoss,whose blockbuster film Thuppakki isall set to be remade in Hindi.

Apparently, Jayaram, who reprisedthe role of army captainRavichandran to whom actor Vijay’scharacter Jagadish Dhanapal reportsto in the film, will be essaying thesame role in the film’s Hindi remake.When contacted, the actor told us,“During the making of the Tamil film,the director had hinted at the filmbeing remade in Bollywood withAkshay Kumar essaying the role Vijaydid in the Tamil film. However, whatsurprised me was the invitation he

extended to me to be a part of theHindi film! I wasn’t convinced if I’d beable to carry off the same role well ina language I am not all that great at.”However, he adds that nothing hasbeen finalised yet. “I haven’t beensigned on officially yet. So I’m not in aposition to confirm the news,”Jayaram confesses.

The actor is currently busy withTamil films. “Kamal Haasan’s Tenaliopened for me the doors to more comicroles in Kollywood,” says Jayaram,whose comic timing in the latestVijay-starrer has also been muchappreciated, “Ever since, the numberof offers coming in from Kollywoodhas been tremendous; though, I’m notdoing every random role offered tome.” Jayaram will next be seen inSiruthai director Siva’s next, besidesin two of Mollywood director ShajiKailas’ films.

Jayaram in the Hindiremake of Thuppakki?

Keep making 15 minutes of FREE CALLSto India everyday

Matrix now introduces an unmatched offer for all international travellers.Presenting FREE CALLS TO INDIA from abroad. So whether it’s with friends, family or colleagues,

hassle-free connectivily is bound to lake a load off your mind.

What’s more? Enjoy access to Ernails, Facebook, Twitter, BBM and much more at 1/10th the costof International Data Roaming charges with Matrix Data Packs for your smartphones.

Conditions apply.

M tri xx’makes sense

Travelling abroad?

BAG FANTASTIC OFFERSlike FREE CALLS TO INDIA with a Matrix SIM card

- Available for the following countries:

Germany china Malaysia Hong Kong

Australia Indonesia Singapore Mauritlus Kenya

RENDEZ-VOUS NIGHT & DAYJaeger-LeCou ltre Calibre 967A

Every woman has a Rendez-Vous , with h herself.The Rendez Vous Night & Day timepiece isentirely craftted and gemset at the Manuf cturein the Vallée de Joux , Switzerland. Its automatic

movement keeps pace with the constantchanges in a woman’s life, as she perpetually

reinvents herself. Rendea-Vous is morethan a watch , it is a state of of mind

t .!AEGER-LECOULT RYOU DESERVE A A REAL WATCH

ladies.jaeger—lecoultre.com

BENGALURU: ZIMSON • 080 - 409 82 100, CHENNAI : HELVETICA • 0 4 4 - 2 8 464 095

DELFH:JOHNSON WATCH COMPANY • 011 - 460 98 206, 415 13 110, 246 42 255 //KAPOORWATCI-1 COMPANY • 011 - 413 43 678

KOLKATA: KOLKATA: EXCLUSIVE LINES • 033 - 228 20 626, MUMBAI:TIME AVENUE • 022 - 265 15 757 //ROSE - THE WATCH BAR • 022 - 236 20 275 / / ETHOS SUMMIT • 022 - 661 50 351

www.jaeger_lecoultre.com

REINVENTYOURSELF