Ergo January 12

A BYTE OF LIFE

Monday, January 12, 2009

10

DEVDAS REVISITED

Abhay Deol plays the urban version FREE CIRCULATION

Vol. 3

08 SHARAPOVA to miss Australian Open

No. 7

The Vijay-starrer releases today. Director Prabhu Deva speaks about globetrotting while scouting for the film’s locations

» PAGE 11

War and Peace The above drawing and photograph is one of the exhibits on display at The Madras Terrace House. Children of Sri Lankan refugees have penned and drawn many such works that give a glimpse of their troubled childhood, torn between crisis and conflict.

» PAGE 03 PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN

02 NAMMA CHENNAI

ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

DOGS’ DAY OUT I

Vengeance using vigilance A clerk stationed at the office of the City Police Commissioner was recently arrested by the Vigilance and Anti- Corruption squad for accepting bribe from a retired police inspector. Reliable sources reveal that the accused had deliberately detained the pension papers of the inspector and, therefore, the latter had trapped him.

Back to old days Some khakis had fallen out from key posts following the famous split involving the state’s first family. Now that the differences have been sorted out, the officers are awaiting a big comeback. One such loyal officer is eyeing a vacant top post in the city and is expected to move his ‘petition’ soon to the resurrected politician.

Sea-sick cops Cops attached to the floating police station in Royapuram are facing a tough task as many suffer from severe sea sickness. The thought of going on rounds is sending a chill down the spines of most khakis in the team as they claim to be suffering from perpetual ill-health. Moreover, their seniors don’t pay heed to any problems, they lament.

t was a fiesta of the four-legged kind at the University Union Grounds in Chetpet as the 88th and 89th dog show hosted by the Madras Canine Club unfolded on Saturday and Sunday. Canines from around the country and even overseas made the two days a memorable moment among dog lovers. On the first day of the event, over 40 breeds enthralled the spectators at the show in the ‘Obedience’ round that featured canines from pugs to Pomeranians to German Shepherds and Labradors. An All Breed Championship and Speciality Show adorned Day Two of the event. Kickstarted at 11 in the morning, the day witnessed a total of 465 dogs, including 48 breeds, registered for the clash for the best breed of the event. ■ Ergo Correspondent PHOTOS: R. RAVINDRAN

03

Monday, January 12, 2009

A prayer for peace Violent conflicts continue in war-torn Sri Lanka, and its impact is far-reaching, as this exhibition of drawings showcased by refugee children portrays LIFFY THOMAS [email protected]

When peace came to our Tamil homeland, there was happiness. Many coloured flags waved, people came out in large numbers, the Yarl Devi train started running again from Jaffna to Colombo. Our homes changed, our hopes were high. We, who had lived as refugees, returned to our native village. But when we thought we could have peace of mind, came news of war and fear. Oh! When will there be peace in peace in our country? Vijayakumar, Nagavathi Anai Refugee Camp

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hese are poignant words penned in Tamil by the teenager staying in one of the 117 refugee camps set up for them in Tamil Nadu, supported by an equally moving sketch drawn by him showing the strife in his war-torn homeland. Around 500 Sri Lankan refugee children have used their artistic expression to express ‘Their dreams’, ‘Their life so far’, ‘An in-

cident that affected them’ and ‘Peace’ to explain what the conflict-ridden region has done to them. In the exhibition titled ‘Sunshine in a tear drop’, each of the short-listed drawings on display at Madras Terrace House has a heart-breaking story to tell – troubled minds, memories and aspirations of childhood. Like, K. Koneswaran has drawn a prison, which he describes as the place where his people are being caged and tortured. N. Sayandhan, on the other hand,

has sketched a picture of a doctor lending a sister Rs. 1,000. “I want to become a doctor and donate money to orphans who are separated by war,” reads his message. Each of these poems and art works are well supported with a vivid photograph of the child, taken by photographer R. Sunder. Besides, there are a good number of images at various refugee camps captured by R. Sunder put up for sale. The photographs are priced at Rs. 4,800 each. Proceeds from the sale will go to Organisation for Eelam Refugee Rehabilitation (OfERR), the NGO organising the exhibition. ‘Sunshine in a tear drop’ will be on display till January 18 at The Madras Terrace House, 15, Sri Puram, 2nd Street, Royapettah. Ph: 4503 8391. ■

Some of the drawings that talk about anxiety, fear and memories that will be etched for ever. (Far left) A photograph by R. Sunder

04 KALEIDOSCOPE

Ask your query Q: I visited the United Kingdom on a project for my company. I saved some money from my daily allowance. Will I have to pay income tax when I get this money to India? Kadhirvel – TCS, Chennai

Answer: Kadhir, allowances will not be taxed if you actually spend them and show proof of expenditure by showing bills. If you get it back in the form of physical cash it will be added to your income and taxed. Q: I have been investing in four SIPs for the past 2.5 years. Seeing the sensex falling so drastically I realise I have lost quite a lot of money, should I stop investing now? Saranya – CTS, Coimbatore

Answer: Saranya, it is better you hold on the funds and let them recover unless you need cash urgently. Also, the good thing is that you have used the SIP route and would benefit by continuing now. If you stop now then you will loose the opportunity you get by rupee cost averaging.

Mini Quiz The first person to send in gets a free executive diary Q1: FMP is the acronym for Flexible monthly payments Fixed maturity plan First monthly payment Floating monthly payment Q2: EPS used in stock market is the acronym for Equated Payment scheme Equally Priced Shares Earnings Per Share Exempted Proprietary Shares Send your answers to [email protected] or SMS your answers to 92813 98889. For example if you choose A as the answer to question 1 and B as the answer to question 2 type it as 1A2B and send it.

Word in Word Find out all seven-letter words that can be derived using only the letters of the following words. 1. Diversified 2. Investment 3. Portfolio 4. Financial 5. Insurance Answers on Page 7

ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

HOUSING LOAN

as tax saving tool – myth or reality?

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et’s look at housing loan as a tax-saving tool. The tax benefits come in two ways: The principal component of the repayment will give benefits under Section 80C (See Finergo dated 5 Jan 5 2009); and the interest component under Section 24 up to an amount of Rs. 1.5 lakh. The major benefit thus comes from the interest component. Since taxable income reduces to an extent of Rs. 1.5 lakhs, there is a huge reduction in income tax too.So is housing loan a wealth creator or destroyer? Finerva believes that a housing loan is a drain on your wealth; here’s how.

HRA becomes taxable The minute you take a housing loan for tax benefits, the HRA component becomes fully taxable. This amount gets added to your income. The irony is that as time goes on, your interest component keeps coming down but your HRA keeps increasing with your salary. You cannot claim your HRA unless you

for the lender.

What If I Don’t Take a Housing Loan?

shift to another city.

Interest Outflow does not come back The benefits from all the components in Section 80C (except the children’s education fees) come back to us as they are investments – including the housing loan principal. But interest on the housing loan is an expense. It goes out, never to come back to us. In fact it is income

If you don’t take a housing loan, you will pay an additional income tax to a maximum of Rs.50, 985 (even if you are in the highest tax bracket Salary higher than Rs. 10 lakhs per year). Others will pay much lesser tax. Even in the highest bracket, by not taking a housing loan, you have a surplus of close to Rs. One lakh at your disposal for additional investment. Remember investments come back to you after growing. That’s wealth creation.

Summary Though housing loan is used by most salaried people to save tax which it doesn’t - it is negative on wealth creation. This is because of the structure of Section 24 of the Income Tax Act which gives the benefit from a housing loan form the interest component only. Interest being an expense does not add to wealth. ■

05

Monday, January 12, 2009

Websites of the day

Alert

Need a good rant? Visit this site and get it off your chest. http://rantasaurus-rex.com/ Type something to see what it looks backwards http://bored.com/ writebackwards/index.html

Dr. Simon Goon, head of business investments, and Ben Fisher, investment and aftercare specialist, will be part of the panel discussion organised by TiE, Chennai on ‘Investment Opportunities in the North East of England’. The sectors in focus include healthcare, life sciences, biotech, digital media, animation, renewable and wind energy. It will be held today at Walajah Hall, Taj Connemera at 7 p.m.

Syncing business with passion By nurturing tribal, folk and native music, this duo has taken their label places ANUSHA PARTHASARATHY

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And the music flowed EarthSync, headquartered in Chennai, was started as a way of harmonising different kinds of world music — getting together and syncing different elements. Two-and-a-half years of research went into the starting of the company. “It was quite a challenge. We had to travel all over the world to build contacts and learn their culture. Since we are a music label, it requires us to travel a lot to

In a minute Company: EarthSync Started: 2005

PHOTO: S.S. KUMAR

here is always a profound fascination for treading off the trodden path into another that is less travelled. Though, very few take the latter. EarthSync is one such venture and adventure. An international music label that nurtures tribal, folk and native music, it is a oneof-a-kind business started by the charismatic Sonya Mazumdar and Yotam Agam in 2005. Sonya Mazumdar grew up with parents who were avid music lovers and this exposed her to world music at a very early age. The seeds for what would be a passion later were sowed deeply then. She went on to become a project manager and later decided to start her very first business venture, EarthSync. “It was pursuing a certain passion,” exclaims the Management graduate who worked with shipping and oil companies before turning entrepreneur, adding, “We started EarthSync with ‘Laya Project’ immediately after the tsunami struck in 2004. It was a big success, after which we officially began the music label.”

Founders: Sonya Mazumdar and Yotam Agam Funding: Self Website: www.earthsync.com On the record: Sonya Mazumdar and Yotam Agam

bring in fresh music and feel to our albums. We need to identify different art forms and see where to get them from. It was challenging and still is. I guess that’s why we love it.” Initially, during the production of Laya Project, the team faced certain uncertainties due to the ‘newness’ of the business and how people would react to the music. But they made no compromise on its quality and went ahead with the production. When the project was released worldwide, it was an instant success, selling more than 5,000

units. This boost washed away any persisting doubts from Sonya’s mind and she decided to dive into more such projects. “I don’t come from the music business and, hence, learnt the ways about it on the fly. But I never looked at how it was done by others. I did it how I felt it had to be done. Old lessons are not relevant in today’s changing industry. There is not much difficulty in branding the product. But we need to be clear about what kind of brand we are promoting. EarthSync is a high-qual-

ity, beautiful and sensitive brand and our products define it,” Sonya explains.

Going ahead EarthSync is self-sufficient in the sense that the label also owns a production house with a fullyequipped studio called ‘Clementine Studios’ that takes care of the entire production package, including distribution and selling, too. This music label also holds an annual festival where more than 20 musicians are introduced on stage, with the EarthSync signa-

ture of highest quality production and artistic direction. Earthsync is lining up four world music albums for release in 2009. It has also been asked to perform at the Perth International Art Festival this year. “Our music is our USP. And all our initial anxieties have vanished. Now it seems very normal to run an international music label,” smiles Sonya. ■ (This column celebrates the spirit of entrepreneurship. If you are an entrepreneur with a successful business model or know one, write to us at [email protected])

06 VILLAGE

ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

Blinking women Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

Computer geeks learn to flirt

Data on over 6,000 prisoners in UK lost

Even the most quirky of computer nerds can learn to flirt with finesse thanks to a new ‘flirting course’ being offered to budding IT engineers at Potsdam University south of Berlin. The 440 students enrolled in the Master’s degree course will learn how to write flirtatious text messages and emails, impress people at parties and cope with rejection.

The British Government has done it again! It has lost a computer memory stick that contained the data of more than 6,000 prisoners in the country, besides some of their medical records. The culprit, according to The Telegraph, is a health worker of the Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust. The device was lost last month by a member of staff and contained details on 6,360 prisoners from HMP Preston and was lost on December 30. It is the latest in a long series of data losses to hit the Government and prison and health staff are now having to trawl records to track those affected down and inform them. It contains details of some prisoners’ ailments but not full medical history, as well as prisoner surnames, their age range, cell location, prison number and clinic appointment times.

Reuters

World’s largest crossword built on tower block in Ukraine The world’s biggest crossword, boasting to be more than 100ft high, has been put together on the side of a tower block in Ukraine. Clues to the massive puzzle, which is 19 squares across and 34 squares high, have been sprinkled around major landmarks and attractions, including parks, fountains, and theatres, in the historic city of Lvov. The literary challenge encouraged participants to test their grey matter during their weekend promenades, providing them with an opportunity to work out their brains and their legs at the same time. And since the brainteaser was too huge to be penned by hand, solutions are lighted in fluorescent letters at night, reports the Telegraph. The idea was to allegedly make partakers collect themselves outside the tower block each night to match or correct their answers.

ANI

Oh Grandmother, what a rubbery face you have! A Chilean man tried to steal US$ 80,000 from his 82-year-old grandmother by disguising his 21-yearold girlfriend as the elderly woman and having her withdraw money from the bank, but the plot was foiled. The man falsified his grandmother’s identity card and his girlfriend wore a latex mask. They might have gotten away with it if it weren’t for a bank worker who called the grandmother’s home and learned she was visiting relatives in Venezuela.

ANI

Reuters

Prince Harry apologises for racist remarks

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ritain’s Prince Harry has apologised for the racial and offensive remarks he had made three years ago against two of his colleagues, calling one of them a ‘Paki’ while other as ‘raghead’. Harry, third-in-line to the British throne, issued a public apology on Saturday after The News of the World newspaper reported about him using the offensive terms. Paki is a derogatory term for Indians and Pakistanis. The Prince, who is an Army Lieutenant in the Household Cavalry’s Blues and Royals, made the remark in 2006 at an airport departure lounge as soldiers waited to travel to

Cyprus for training exercises. “Harry was making a film of his army mates using a camcorder. He was talking over it – moving the shots to different individuals. But when he passed over an Asian-looking soldier, he stopped and zoomed in. Then he said ‘And here is our Paki friend’ – before moving on to someone else,” the report said quoting a senior Royal source. The video was available on the newspaper’s website. The 24-year-old Prince made the second remark in Cyprus when he called another cadet – wearing a headscarf – a ‘raghead’, a racist term for Arabs.

St.James Palace, the office of Harry and his elder brother Prince William, issued an statement saying Harry was sorry for any offence caused by his use of words. “Prince Harry fully understands how offensive this term can be and is extremely sorry for any offence his word might cause,” a spokesperson for the St. James Palace said. "He used the term without any malice and as a nickname about a highly popular member of his platoon. There is no question that Prince Harry was in any way seeking to insult his friend," he added. ■ PTI

07

Monday, January 12, 2009

This day, that year

Fruity nature

It was on January 12, 1976 that Dame Agatha Christie, queen of the detective story and creator of detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, died.

Motorcyclists in Nigeria have started wearing fruit on their heads to get around a mandatory helmet law.

‘Star-baby-name’ fever hits Oz parents! S tar baby names like Cruz, Shiloh and Maddox are becoming increasingly popular among new parents in Queensland. According to the figures released by Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, babies named after those of Hollywood celebrities have significantly increased last year. The most popular celebrity baby name was Cruz. Nearly 48, babies were named after David and Victoria Beckham’s third child and 46 babies were named Brooklyn after the couple’s first son. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s tots’ names were also popular, with 22 new Queenslanders named after Shiloh last year, 10 were named Maddox and seven Zahara. Another 20 were named Rocco, after Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s son, while three babies were named Suri after Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’s daughter. One couple has also named their tot after Coldplay singer Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow daughter Apple. Southern Cross University associate professor of media studies Karen Brooks said the

Nearly 48 babies were named after David and Victoria Beckham’s third child Cruz, the most popular celebrity baby name.

increase in celebrity baby names was “a sign of the times”. “We were all once part of a more religious culture and hence a lot of our names came from kings, queens, saints and heads of state,” the Courier Mail quoted her as saying.

“But now with the emergence of a more secular society, we see more and more people looking up to celebrities - it’s just a natural evolution of names,” she added. However, Brooks said parents should be wary not to name their

child for the wrong reasons. “A lot of parents want to give a name which makes their child stand out, but naming a child after a celebrity might do the opposite, because it’s more a nod to the celebrity than to the child themselves,” she said.

“What some parents don’t realise is that a name can become heavy baggage for a child in later life, especially as a lot of celebrities are focussed on for the wrong reasons,” she added. ■ ANI

My best buddy

Word-in-word answers T

he following 32 words can be made from the letters in diversified: 1.defiers; 2.deified; 3.deifier; 4.deifiers; 5.deifies; 6.derides; 7.derisive; 8. derived; 9.derives; 10.desired; 11.devised; 12.deviser; 13.diverse; 14.diversified; 15.divider; 16.dividers; 17.divides; 18.edified; 19.edifier; 20.edifiers; 21.edifies; 22.fireside; 23.redivide; 24.redivides; 25.reified; 26.reifies; 27.resided; 28.revised; 29.serifed; 30.verified; 31.verifies; 32.versified The following 16 words can be made from the letters in investment: 1.emetins; 2.eminent; 3.intense; 4.intents; 5.invents; 6.investment; 7.misevent; 8.mittens; 9.sentient; 10.sentiment; 11.smitten; 12.tennies; 13.tennist; 14.tensive; 15.venines;

16.vestment The following 3 words can be made from the letters in portfolio: 1.oilproof; 2.portfolio; 3.rooftop The following 2 words can be made from the letters in financial: 1.financial; 2.finical The following 24 words can be made from the letters in insurance: 1.aneurin; 2.aneurins; 3.arcsine; 4.arsenic; 5.canines; 6.canners; 7.cannier; 8.carnies; 9.crannies; 10.cunners; 11.encinas; 12.insaner; 13.insnare; 14.insurance; 15.nancies; 16.narcein; 17.narceins; 18.nuances; 19.nuisance; 20.saucier; 21.scanner; 22.scunner; 23.sunnier; 24.unrisen

쑸 WowWee marketing director Steve Hardy holds the WowWee interactive robot buddy Joebot, a finalist at the 8th Annual Last Gadget Standing event at the Las Vegas Convention Center during the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show on Saturday, in Las Vegas, Nevada. AFP

08 SPORT

ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

Pak players waiting for ICL dues The Pakistani cricketers of the Lahore Badshah team that won the Indian Cricket League (ICL) this season are still waiting for their prize money and other dues totalling around from 40 million rupees. Some of the players who played for the Lahore team confirmed that they still have to get the payment for winning the ICL Twenty20 championship plus other individual bonuses.

We did not back-stab Pietersen: Harmison Insisting that Kevin Pietersen had the backing of his teammates during the spat with sacked coach Peter Moores, England pacer Steve Harmison has said reports of players back-stabbing their former skipper were “rubbish and nonsense”. “Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Strauss, myself and other senior England players stand accused of stabbing our former captain, Kevin Pietersen, in the back over the split with our former coach, Peter Moores, which has ended up costing two good men their jobs. The first thing I need to do is refute that accusation completely. It simply isn’t true,” Harmison wrote in his column in the Daily Mail. “I can say without a moment’s hesitation that both Fred (Flintoff) and I supported Kevin as our captain and our leader, Strauss has already made his backing for Kevin quite clear and any suggestion that we turned against him when Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, rang us for our views over the crisis is rubbish. The idea that we told Morris that we supported Peter Moores ahead of Kevin is nonsense. To my mind, the only people who have stabbed Kevin in the back are those who chose to leak the information that he had promised to quit the captaincy for the tour to West Indies if Peter remained as coach.” PTI

TTFI to hire video analysts Top Indian players on Sunday hailed the Table Tennis Federation of India’s decision to hire the services of specialised video analysts to help paddlers in their preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. TTFI will place a final proposal before the government and other specifications, including the estimated budget for the project, would be finalised later this month. Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal hailed the initiative as an important stride towards professionalism. “I should say, this is a move towards professionalising the game in the country, which is very important if we want to improve our performance in the international arena. Still we are quite amateurish in our attitude towards sports like table tennis. This should change immediately and we must adopt the scientific means like this to improve our performance level,” Sharath, who plays for the Super Division club San Sebastian in the Spanish League, said. “Video analysis is an integral part of the game nowadays. I think, such specialised software would definitely help our players to hone their skills in the run up to the Commonwealth Games,” 26-year-old Sharath said. The new system, which is estimated to cost Rs. 1.5 lakh, will analyse the players’ performance during the training sessions as well as the matches and dissect their techniques to help them in ascertaining the deficiencies and rectify them. Another Olympian paddler Neha Aggarwal praised the TTFI’s decision and said, “This is a welcome step. If it happens, the system will surely help us to understand the problems accurately and will add to our performances.” PTI

PHOTO: S. S. KUMAR

Sharapova pulls out of

Australian Open

09

Monday, January 12, 2009

‘‘

It is our desire to continue to support the event (Chennai Open) for another five years. The TNTA (Tamil Nadu Tennis Association) has been working towards this goal and the event will remain in Chennai. Importantly, the event will have a title sponsor, besides the eight sponsors, headed by the state government. M. A .Alagappan, Vice President, TNTA

Open and yawn Missing biggies and many injuries made for a very dull Chennai Open SHALINI SHAH [email protected]

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hennai’s most high-profile sporting event seemed a little off-colour if nothing else. Yes, India’s own Somdev Dev Varman made it to the finals. But then, for tennis novices (like yours truly), what’s most attractive is the star power and the chance to say “I saw Nadal!” to anyone who might care. Most big players were knocked out or withdrew citing injured wrists and heels. Moya lost to Somdev, fuming till the very end how the organisers favoured the home boy by holding a match in the sweltering Chennai afternoon. A lot of disappointment for kids used to yelling “Moya, soya!” Just when spectators were waiting for an interesting semi-final between Somdev and Rainer Schuettler came

the announcement that Scheuttler withdrew with a wrist injury. (“What did you do with that handshake, Somdev,” the lucky finalist was asked.) This when earlier in the tournament top-seed Nikolay Davydenko, too, retired hurt. The usual fanfare was there. So was the bunch of people hovering outside to spot someone who looks like he/ she has an extra ticket to give away or sell. Many got a fair share of the Sugarfree freebies being distributed like sweetmeats in a festival inside. The Volvos perched inside got a fair share of attention, too, while food stalls like Pathankot and Frankie probably did a year’s business in a week. Missing this time, quite thankfully, was the cheerleading trio that’s been seen prancing around since the last couple of years. Autograph-hunters went home

happy, getting not just tennis players but also the like of Vishwanathan Anand and actors Bharath and Arjun. The rain came in uninvited, as is usually the custom every year. Most matches got postponed to next afternoon (including the aforementioned Moya fiasco). If tennis got boring, the giant screen proved entertainment for the thumb-twiddlers. A very bored Gautham seated in a row in front of us got a ‘Gautham, please stop dreaming and watch the tennis’ SMS sprawled on the board for everyone to see from a mischievous friend during the doubles semifinal match between WawrinkaScherrer and Allegro-Tecau. “I wasn’t sleeping,” explained an embarrassed Gautham. It’s okay Gautham; if you were nodding off, you probably weren’t alone. ■

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aria Sharapova will not defend her title at the Australian Open next week after withdrawing from the year’s opening grand slam tournament, officials said on Sunday. The Russian world number nine advised tournament officials that she was not confident of her fitness levels after a shoulder surgery late last year. The 21-year-old was hindered by a right shoulder injury much of last season and skipped the Beijing Olympics and the US Open before having arthroscopic

surgery in October. “I am very sorry to announce that I am not going to be able to defend my title at this year’s Australian Open,” Sharapova said in a Tennis Australia statement. “My shoulder is doing great, but I just started training a few weeks ago and I am just not near the level I need to be to compete at the highest levels.” Sharapova did not drop a set on the way to winning her third grand slam in Australia last January. She went on to win her first 18 matches of the season and reclaimed her world number one ranking in May. But the shoulder

injury hampered her progress in the second half of the year and the last match she played for the year was in Montreal in August. Tournament Director Craig Tiley said he was disappointed for Sharapova. “She played some amazing tennis on Rod Laver Arena last year and I know she has been working around the clock to try and get back from the shoulder injury. In the end, time beat her this year,” he said in the statement. The Australian Open gets under way in Melbourne on January 19. ■ AFP

PHOTO: AFP

Russian’s shoulder to keep holder from Australian Open

10 FLICK

ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

I’m in love again Amy Winehouse has openly declared that she is in love and is “off drugs for good.” The ‘Rehab’ hitmaker, married to jailbird Blake Fielder-Civil, was said to have paired up with budding actor Josh Bowman.

Devdas, again This time, however, he’s an urban, city guy

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arat Chandra Chattopadhyaya’s novel Devdas has been explored by various filmmakers, but actor Abhay Deol says his modern-day interpretation of the book, Dev D, is different. “It’s not a verbal film; it’s very heavy on music. If I compile my dialogues delivered in the film, not more than four pages will be covered,” says Abhay. “Devdas has been made before, but this one has a very new, fresh and out-of-the-box approach. Nobody had ever thought of making Devdas this contemporary way,” he adds. Dev D, which is set to release on February 6, is directed by Anurag Kashyap and boasts of 18 tracks, including Rajasthani, Punjabi and Awadhi folk numbers compiled by music director Amit Trivedi. Speaking on his current project, Abhay says: “When I read the book I realised that Devdas had streaks of arrogance and possessiveness. We kept those features and made the character very urban, a city guy.” “It’s a deep character, but I did not have to work a lot on my body, look and attitude because the role did not require me to portray a character

from a different background altogether,” adds the actor. The idea of the film, which is Abhay’s brainchild, is different. But will this version of the classic click with the audience? “Dev D adopts an unusual and contemporary approach and I think that is exactly what will work for the film, because it will be like a revelation for people. It’s always good to turn a stereotype image and experiment with it.” The film will be introducing two new actors as the new age Paro and Chandramukhi. “Mahi and Kalki were very nice to work with. They were so professional that it didn’t seem they are making their debut with this film. Very sweet, very honest with their work and very hardworking,” Abhay says. Deviating from his present profession, the experimental actor is all set to don the hat of a producer. He will be producing a film called Junction, which will be directed by Atul Sabharwal. However, Abhay maintains that his acting career will not take a backseat because of his newfound role. “I will continue acting in films for sure,” he breaks in. After Dev D, Abhay will be seen in Dev Benegal’s yet-to-be-titled film. ■ IANS

Dev D adopts an unusual and contemporary approach and I think that is exactly what will work for the film, because it will be like a revelation for people. It’s always good to turn a stereotype image and experiment with it.

Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor star in Rensil d’Silva’s terrorist thriller

‘Am I mad to call my antiterrorism drama Jehad!’

Almost famous

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A

aif Ali Khan’s films have a tendency to go nameless until the last minute. The latest is a Rensil d’Silva-directed terrorist thriller, which is produced by Karan Johar and has Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Viveik Oberoi and Om Puri in lead roles. Nearing completion, the film has no title yet. This week, sections of the media were abuzz with reports that Rensil’s film has finally found a title, Jehad. Rensil is appalled by these reports. “Am I mad to call my anti-terrorism drama Jehad? What signal will it send out to the audience? Please don’t believe such rumours. Jehad was a name suggested by Kareena and Saif. I am certainly not going by that title. Suddenly everyone thinks it’s called Jehad. Considering the current climate, that’s a really inappropriate title.” So what is Rensil going to call his film? “I’ve no clue. And I can’t put it to public vote because that would give away the title. But it’s certainly not Jehad. ■

ctor Tom Cruise has revealed that his two-year-old daughter Suri with Katie Holmes almost stormed the stage during her mother’s performance of All My Sons on Broadway. Katie Holmes with daughter Cruise and Suri have Suri. GETTY IMAGES been to see the play regularly, and the actor admits he has seen it more than 30 times since it debuted in September 2008. But on the recent show, Suri almost made her unannounced debut. “I was watching with Suri from the wings and I could see her feet creeping out onto the stage. I realised she was going onstage. Then she got on the floor and she was going to crawl onstage, and I’m quietly clinging onto her dress,” Contactmusic quoted him as saying. “So I picked her up and said, ‘You can’t go onstage,’ and she said, ‘Why?’,” he added. ■ ANI

11

Monday, January 12, 2009

Singer K.J. Yesudas turns 69 Dr. Kattesseri Joseph Yesudas, one of the finest voices India has seen, celebrated his birthday on Sunday.

Bang on target E

xpectations are high from Villu, which is all set to release today. (The film’s director confirms this). Prior to the film’s release, Prabhu Deva met up with the winners of Radio One’s Villu contest on Friday, as part of the film’s promotional activities. There was a lot of excitement in the air at the Radio One office as the Radio One team and 50 winners of the Villu contest waited for Prabhu Deva. The star director, however, entered fashionably late, almost an hour behind schedule. Prabhu Deva was welcomed with a glittery ‘villu’ and the winners were obviously delighted to catch a glimpse of the Michael Jackson of India. He patiently gave out the tickets to winners and signed autographs. Later, RJ Arun of Radio One involved the di-

PHOTO: R.RAVINDRAN

Prabhu Deva smiled, posed, met contest winners and signed autographs at the Radio One office. However, he remained tight-lipped about Villu’s plot

rector in a friendly chat at their studio as he shared interesting trivia about Villu, not revealing much though. “It’s a movie that will spread a lot of positive energy and happiness in everyone who watches it,” he said. Villu is a very stylish film, shot in exotic locales like Switzerland, Turkey and many more, he added. Sharing interesting anecdotes behind every song of the movie, he revealed, “The song ‘Vada Mappala’, where Vadivelu does a small act, is sure to keep the audience in splits.” On his most unforgettable experience during the film’s making, he said, “We had to travel a lot for this movie. For one particular location we went globetrotting to places like Bangkok , Munich , Ukraine and Turkey and finally found the dream spot in Switzerland.” ■

The song ‘Vada Mappala’, where Vadivelu does a small act, is sure to keep the audience in splits

Bhandarkar for TV He’s not directing anything for the small screen, though

F

ilmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar is all set to produce television software for Sony Entertainment. “But I’m certainly not directing anything on television. Where do I have the time? My next feature film, Jail, starts at the end of February. And then I’m planning another big-budget film this year which I’ll coproduce. People probably presumed I was going to be directing stories for television because some of the 10 stories assigned to us are female-centric,” Madhur said. The television wing of his firm is being run by two filmmaker friends, Ashok Pundit and Raman Kumar. Madhur said: The television wing of my company, Bhandarkar Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., will be looked after completely by Raman and Ashok. They’ll choose the directors to make these telefilms.” Already on board are Suhail Tarari, Anand Rai and Javed Sayyed. ■ IANS

Crowe throwing his weight around, literally

R

ussell Crowe has been throwing his weight around on the pre-production of Nottingham so much that Brit actress Sienna Miller has dropped out of the flick. Crowe is reportedly telling producers to get a new director and demanding script rewrites. Miller, who was supposed to play Maid Marian, left the production on January 9 after she was put on hold while shooting was pushed back from February to April. “It is a mess. Russell never lost the weight he put on for Body of Evidence – and so the love scenes between him and Sienna would have been laughable. He’s so old and fat and she’s so young and gorgeous. It’s just . . . gross,” the New York Post quoted an insider as saying. One producer said Crowe has to shed 35 pounds, adding: ‘We can’t have Robin Hood looking more like Friar Tuck.” ■ ANI

12

ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

Friday’s Query: Which movies would you nominate as the Best and the Worst of 2008 and why? Best movie n worst movie of the year JK Ritesh’s Nayagan. Best because I appreciate people who had guts to work in this project. Worse because enna koduma sir edu Jagan Capgemini, Mari HCL

Best movie Nayagan by JK Ritheesh and worst movie Kuruvi (Mask of Zorro) Nivedhan, Infoview Technologies

Best movies Anjathey, Dasavatharam, worst movie Silambaattam Ashik Shareef, HCL

Best movie Varanam Ayiram. Worst movie Kuruvi Geetha, Perot Systems, Amritha, TCS

Best movie Subramaniapuram, story, screenplay, down to earth dialogue, music etc. is good. I watched this movie more than 5 times I can’t find any mistake. Worst movie was Kuruvi. No comments Arun Kumar C, Congruent Solutions Pvt Ltd, Suresh, Allsec

Best film Dasaavatharam. Worst film Kuselan Gopinath.R, Kalai, Gomathi, Mani, Durga, Sudha, Senthil, Vanarani PMC

Best movie Saroja because of best entertainment movie and worst movie is Kuruvi because of Vijay’s long jump Rajesh, Perot Systems

Best: Dasavatharam - a complex script with thousands of events connected together which was handled with maturity to make even a layman understand it. Worst: Kuruvi - Too much of unrealistic heroism. Even Vijay’s die-hard fans hated it Mukund SCB, Scope International

Subramaniapuram, Pollathavan are the best for the superb screenplay and Kuruvi is the worst for Vijay overacting Mahesh Rajamani, Perot Systems, Hariprasad T Wipro

Best movie Blood Diamond, Worst movie Rab ne banaa di jodi Harin, Wipro

Dasavatharam is the best movie, because one man shows ten body languages. Nayagan is the worst movie. J.K.Ritheesh is an example of how not act like Seenivasan, Technip

Best is Kuruvi because hero teach us to fly like Kuruvi and the only Indian film

that can compete with films like Spiderman, Hulk etc worst is Anjadhey because it didn’t celebrate 150th day as Kuruvi celebrated, cannot relate myself to that story, no graphics in the stunts, no duets in foreign locations Santhosh, Wipro

Best movie Varanam Ayiram for Suriya ever clever acting and worst movie Casino Royale for boring screenplay Gowri Shankar, Abi, Glory RBS

Best movie is Poo . Worst movie Sakkarakati song only helped the movie to release Mohan Kumar, TCS

Best movie stylish Billa and laughing Saroja. Both are full entertainment. Worst movie Kuruvi. Over scene over mokkai Josh, Caliberpoint Star

Best: Poo (manmanam irukku) Worst: Kuselan (over build-up erukku) Saran, Anbu, Tamil, Mohana, Buela, M.Rani PMC, Meenakshi Mohan TCS

Dhana Balan from HCL Technologies has nominated his friends as Partners in Crime. They clicked this photo at Kodaikanal.

Best movie JK Ritesh in Nayagan no need of explanations. Worst movie is all Hollywood movies. Because they have wasted their time by not seeing Nayagan Balaji S, TCS

Best movie: Poo for best screenplay and the worst movie is Aegan, it doesn’t have even a single reason to say it’s a film V.Ravimohan, Cognizant

Worst was Kuruvi, its all because of unimaginable stunts done by Vijay. Best was Poo, the only movie dominated by a female lead Pradeep Maran, TCS

Best - Slumdog Millionaire for making the whole world talk about it; Worst Kuselan for hyping an individual more than the story Senthil Kumar, P RR Donnelley

Best is Subramaniapuram and the worst is Kuselan

Ananda Subramanian from CGSL has nominated his Citishare Operations Team as Partners in Crime. This photo was taken at Kolli hills in Namakkal.

Prabhu G, HCL

The best movie is Santhosh Subramaniam and the worst movie is Kuruvi Sankar S RSystems International, Krishnamoorthy CTS

Best films: Taare Zameen Par, Subramaniyapuram, Dasavatharam, Poo. Worst films: Silambatam, Kuruvi Lakshmi.S CTS, Sivalingam.P HCL

Abiyum Naanum as best which showed a true affection of a father and Subramaniapuram as worst because of too much of tragedy Hema Indus Rsystems

Saroja - the best and Kuselan the worst Asath Kani, TCS

Today’s Query: Who is your favourite tennis star and why?

Ravi C. from FSS-Tidel Park has nominated his friends as Partners in Crime. This pic was clicked at Tidel Park.

13

Monday, January 12, 2009

Srinivasulu Namala, Project Manager of HCL Technologies, has been nominated as Office Angel by Mrs.Manonmani Kesav. He always carries a smiling face. He carries out many activities, but never looses his temper or looks disturbed. He executes everything according to the plan. There won’t be any mismatch in the execution. That his specialty.

■ Dear Siva & Poornima, Wishing U Many More Happy Returns of the Day.May All Ur dreams comes true.Have a great Quarter ahead.Ippadikku Treatukkaga greeting anuppum Colleagues Sangam:) With Best Wishes, HCM BOFA team Infosys

■ Dear Shanmuganathan, Happy birthday to you Shanmugam From the bottom of our hearts, And may your good times multiply, Till they’re flying off the chart! Friends, New Age Software and Solutions

■ Hi KK, Its a nice feeling when u no dat sum one likes u, sum 1 thinks about u, Sum 1 needs you; But it feelz much beter when You know that someone Never ever forgets your birthday. We never! Happy birthday…may almighty’s best blessings.....many many more happy returns of the day. With Love & Regards FTP GT 2007, Hexaware Technologies

Sundaravel.M of Sutherland. doodled this

■ Dear Bhai, Wish you a many more happy returns of the day!! Have a Fabulous days ahead!! Happy Married life! Insha Allah! Be happy! Dnt forget Briyani Treat !!! Cheers (Guess who I am) Anonymous

1."Avan ean rupaai nottula iodexai theicchukkitte irukkaan?" "Avan panaveekkatthai kuraikkiraanaam". 2.Maampoo pinjaahi maangaaya maarum,aanaa jaathippoo jaathikkaayaaha maaruvathillai! S Dheepa, Infosys

■ Dear Gautham @ Ragu, Your life is a gift from the Creator. Your gift back to the Creator is what you do with your life. Today’s Top news Story, a hot and happening dude, celebrated his birthday with great style on Dec 11th.... He was totally absorbed in high voltage fun and his day was full of colours... Hey that was You, GAUTHAM... Sorry, since no circulation for ERGO on Sunday, We missed it. Belated Birthday Wishes ... Keep Smiling

With Luv, Sangdevrekhs Sify Technologies, Elnet

■ Dear Friends, "Thanks a bunch for all the wishes, you Advees made my day" Thanks & Regards, Vasudevan.S

■ Dear Durga, Hearty Congratulations!!! Wish you happy Married life with lots of surprises!! Keep Rocking!! Wsihes from, Kalpana Wipro Technologies

Belated Wishes ■ Dear Anusha( AGAS), May there always be work for your hands to do May your purse always hold a coin or two; May the sun always shine on your window pane May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain; May the hand of a friend always be near you Their hearts full of warmth and gladness to cheer you "Happy Birthday Kulli" With Love, Nithya, Bala,Vithya, Sharanya, Deepa, Priya, WIPRO

■ Dear Vimal, We wish you many more happy returns of the day. This day is special day because it gives you for us. We wish for you that whatever you want most in life, it comes to you Just the way you imagined it. Hey this day is yours Man! Keep rocking and keep on rocking. Once again we wish you a fantastic birthday. Kastapatu ivalavu ezhuthirukom so at least give us chocolates By Your Friends

■ Dear Ramachandra S, You make wishes and we ll pray to God for all ur wishes to come true. Happy Birthday With Regards Team DTCC Tata Consultancy Services

14 TRAFFIC JAM

ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

$1.5 million kidney row A husband who donated a kidney to his wife wants $1.5 million for it now since the pair are divorcing.

We have our first short-listed photograph, taken by Sathishkumar Bhoopathy (Saku) of MphasiS, of a village festival. He calls it Maariamman Kondam Thiruvizha, celebrated during April-May at Sadumugai in Satyamangalam

The harvest season is round the corner and it’s time we made the Click Pick column a little more interesting. Photographs of the harvest festival, rural India and littleknown rituals will be given preference this month. Please send us fresh photographs, preferably those clicked by you on a recent trip, to [email protected] All photos selected for clickpick this month will receive a gift voucher worth Rs.1,000, courtesy Kantilal Diamonds (Ph: 2828 1700). Readers are requested to send their addresses with their entries.

TEAM Editor: Karthik Subramanian [email protected]

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Printed and Published by S. Karthik on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., at Plot B-6 & B-7, CMDA Industrial Complex, Maraimalai Nagar, Chengleput Taluk, Kancheepuram Dist., Pin: 603209 & at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002. Editor: S. Karthik (Editor responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act). RNI No. TNENG/2007/24553

sudoku

KAKURO

15

Monday, January 12, 2009

Boy racer

Word’s worth

A 6-year-old boy who missed the school bus took the family car and drove there.

"Jentaton" (jen-tay-shun) a rare and obsolete word meaning ’breakfast.’ Also, jenticulation, Jenticulate is the verb, meaning ’to breakfast.’

B.C ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20 Necessity is the mother of invention, but today your high spirits at work will guide your innovative methods of work. Your good mood will encourage you to help others. As smiles are infectious, you will find your beloved in equally pleasant mood. Cheers!

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20 Gulp up your energy drinks as work today seems to be hectic. Ganesha thinks you might not get the desired private time with your beloved. A tiring day can be winded up merrily with an impromptu get-to-gather with colleagues at your place.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20 You tend you feel brave today. Personal life will be smooth and easy. Technologically speaking, today is the best day to buy new software and if you have already bought one recently, you may start using it now. Overall, a cool day!

BORN LOSER

CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20 Buckle up soldier! A tough day at work. You might have to put in a lot of efforts for mediocre tasks. Do not worry though, blame it on the planets. Your partner will try to cheer you up and get you back into action again. Be happy, suggests Ganesha.

LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20 Trees of Patience bear the sweetest fruits. At work you might feel underestimated, unappreciated and underpaid! This is a temporary phase, patience is the best virtue. Your partner will shower you affection making your evening pleasant.

VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20

FREE RANGE

WORKING IT OUT

Just like a duck on the surface of water, you might seem calm but underneath your rigorous efforts will be noticed today. Knowledge increases by sharing and that is exactly what you tend to do today, . Health should certainly not be ignored today.

LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20 All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. You feel like sharpening you skills and fell like proving your capabilities at work. ‘Play’ comes in when Ganesha thinks you will have a good time with your beloved at the movies.

SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20 All batteries need charging and so does your mind. Take proper rest and boost yourself out of this low energy day. You might not be able to transfer the gush of ideas from mental computer to workstation. Fortunately, you will have leisure time with family.

SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20 Ganesha thinks you will be in an exploration and learning mode in your work area. Nevertheless, give the first priority to your prime responsibilities. Since you are feeling bright, you might want to carry this of further with your beloved as well.

CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20 A busy day today to plan busier days ahead. Fixing up meetings and schedules will keep you busy. Loaded meetings naturally will result into ample amount or research work and avid communication. Wear your best suit to work!

PREVIOUS ISSUE’S SOLUTIONS

AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20 Ganesha finds you in high spirits and brimming with energy today. This will definitely help you in future planning. Ganesha thinks this is the best day to transfer your energies to the cupid. In simple words, it’s the best day for proposing to someone.

PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20 “To do or not to do” might be your state of mind at work today. Learn to handle pressure. In personal life, the same confusion seems to linger. You might not feel like sharing your feelings with your partner, which is not at all advisable. Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni

16 !

ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

Snow for sale Cash-strapped Alpine farmers are raking in a fortune harvesting snow and selling it to desperate ski slopes.

Shilpa makes a flying visit ERGO CORRESPONDENT [email protected]

A

PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN

ctress Shilpa Shetty made her first public appearance in 2009 in Chennai on Thursday. She was here to officially unveil popular celebrity Sona Heiden’s store, Uniq. After making the press and audience wait for an hour, the 33-year-old Miss Body Perfect was thronged by photographers and cameramen even before her appearance on stage. After much confusion, Shilpa Shetty officially launched Uniq. Answering the sole question from

the media about her working in Tamil cinema, she said, “I love Chennai and I have many friends here. Prabhu approached me for a role sometime back but I could not do it.” Shilpa looked in quite a hurry and vanished immediately after the event. If organisers were to be believed, she had an immediate flight to catch. Uniq is an exclusive store for designer accessories with a range of handbags, footwear, hats, scarves, earrings, belly rings, bangles and anklets. It is located at 59/28, Kavingar Bharathidasan Road, Teynampet, Chennai 600 018. Ph: 044-4200 0030.■