Home and art

He may have taken the world by storm with his art, but Subodh Gupta’s heart still beats for his homeland. So thousands of Biharis rendered homeless by the recent floods and in desperate need of relief can now take hope: the artist-turned-philanthrope has just come to their rescue. “As a Bihari, I felt this was the least I could do for my home folks,” says Gupta, who’s joining hands with wife and fellow-artist Bharti Kher, art portal Saffronart and gallery Nature Morte to host a jumbo charity auction, the proceeds of which will go directly to help the flood victims. “I know this is recession time, but with winter around the corner, the money could do a lot of good to those who have nothing to live on,” observes Gupta. Well, thumbs up to him. And to the other artists —Vivan Sundaram, Jitish Kallat, Atul Dodiya, and photographer Dayanita Singh, to name a few — who readily responded to Gupta’s plea by donating their works for the cause. The grand online event is slated for November 11 and 12. Let there be a flood — of bids.

Dancing days

Odissi exponent Arushi Mudgal has a lot on her platter these days. The 22-year-old classical dancer is all set to pack her bags for Germany, where she’s slated to participate as the only Indian performer at the International Dance Festival 2008, organised by world famous choreographer Pina Bausch. Scheduled to travel to various German cities, the event kicks off in Dusseldorf on November 16. “Pina saw some of my videos during a visit to India and asked me to perform at the festival,” says Mudgal. “I thought it would be a great honour to perform at one of the most prestigious dance festivals in Europe with a vast audience.” Well, exciting times indeed for the danseuse, who’s worked up a self-choreographed recital for the occasion. A tour of Pakistan is also poised to follow, possibly in December. Clearly, someone is dancing her way to glory.

Paan intended

What’s Riya Sen’s colour of the season? Red — and it’s got nothing to do with designer ensembles or politics. The news is out that the uber chic lass, under director Rituparno Ghosh’s watchful eyes, is currently being made to master that one rustic art that the entire nation takes pride in — chewing down a wholesome wrapping of paan. The reason? Well, Sen is portraying a village belle in Ghosh’s latest film Noukadubi, and for the sake of authenticity, has been put on a daily dose of 10 of those leafy bundles. And apparently, she has to do this through the entire shoot, which lasts — heaven help her — 48 days. Teething problems, did anyone say?

Family business

The mother’s a well-known fashion designer, and the son is a part-time one. And now he has turned into a crooner. Fashion designer Ritu Kumar’s younger son Amrish Kumar, 30, launched his debut album under Mummy Daddy Records in collaboration with Times Music in the capital on Saturday. Amrish, who had showcased his debut collection under his mom’s label at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in Delhi recently, doesn’t want the album to be slotted into any particular genre. The album, he says, has India’s young audience as its target. But mummy and daddy may well be happy.

Bowling maidens

Cricket? Forget it. Indian paceman S. Sreesanth seems too busy with parallel pursuits like dancing on TV shows and getting chummy with the fairer sex. Last week, he had been spotted with south Indian star Shreya Saran in Mumbai. The grapevine now has it that the temperamental fast bowler has hit it off really well with actress Anjorie Alagh. They met at a common friend’s party and were seen with each other throughout the do. Clearly, Sree is still bowling maidens — but off the field.