Talk of the Town

Often a film star can be identified by the fan following he commands. And for Govinda, there is no dearth of it, his critics and detractors notwithstanding.

This was evident this past week when a huge crowd turned up for the launch party of ``Jeeto Chappar Phaad Ke''. Even though he arrived four hours late, his fans waited all through just to catch a glimpse of this master of histrionics.

Arriving at 10 p.m ``Govinda time'', the star soon broke into a dance drawing a huge applause from the crowd. His youthful fans broke into hysteria when he offered ``Pappiyan, Jappiyan'' to them.

After five minutes of dancing, Chi Chi -- who was flown in especially for the launch party -- waved to the crowd and made an effort to leave. His fans obviously wanted more of Govinda's antics. ``Arre bus, Yaar!'', Govinda said in Sanjeev Kumar style and the crowd broke into laughter. ``Mein kahoon bus, Yaar,'' he continued.

As if all this was not enough, Govinda picked up a small child from the crowd and embraced it. And while leaving, he waved to the crowd and proclaimed his love for them. Boy, was the crowd impressed!

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Ever since they took up residence at Roosevelt House on Shanti Path, the U.S.Ambassador, Mr. Richard Celeste, and his better half, Ms. Jacqueline Lundquist, have been a particular favourite on New Delhi's cocktail circuit. The change of guard now at the White House will soon take away from the midst of the Capital's chatterati this couple. Though Mr. Celeste has been asked by the Republican Administration in the U.S. to continue heading the diplomatic mission here till a replacement is found, the die is cast.

Aware that they are on borrowed time, Mr. Celeste and his wife have been hosting farewell receptions for different sections of society they have been interacting with during their stay in the Capital. This week alone saw them host two dos: First for foreign correspondents on Monday and then again on Wednesday for the cultural community of the city.

While entry for occupants of Roosevelt House to the party circuit comes with the territory of ambassadorship, those who know Mr. Celeste and Ms. Lundquist insist the popularity of this couple lies more in their persona than in the power they represent.

* * *

The sitar maestro Ustaad Vilayat Hussain Khan, who has often been referred to as a `lifelong rebel', is not afraid to take the bull by its horns. And he lived up to his ``reputation'' at a recent press conference here in Delhi when he lashed out at his Indian classical counterparts for promoting their children.

However, it is another matter that he was accompanied by one of his sons who is learning sitar under his father's guidance.

``Who will decide whether these novices are ready to perform or not. These fathers through PR exercises are busy launching their wards,'' he ridiculed, adding that he was still trying to become an ``ustaad'' after so many years of ``riyaz'' and having knowledge of almost all the ``gharanas''.

While taking a dig at artistes, the sitar legend came down heavily on artistes involved in fusion music for ``changing the originality of music as well the instruments. Our classical music is rich in every aspect,'' said the strong classicist, adding that the experiment could be termed as successful only when improvement was done in the original instrument without changing its identity. ``I can also make a Vilayat veena,'' he quipped.

(By K.Kannan, Anita Joshua and Sandeep Joshi)

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