Why being a freelance entertaiment writer sucks!

***This piece is a complete act of my insomniac mind and reading it with a pinch of humor will really help***

Only one way to write a blog piece like this, and make that a double, bartender, please. ~ P.J O'Rourke

There are generally 2 reactions when someone learns I'm a freelance entertainment writer.
A - the "Blank stare" like 'is-that-really-a-job?'
or B - the gushing like *Ooooh wowwww , that must be sooo exciting!!!*

which then is quickly followed by 1 of the zillion common remarks:

• have you met anyone famous?
• What newspaper do you write for?
• Are X and Y really seeing each other?
• have you starred in any movie?

2012 Calendar roundups! Dabboo Ratnani, VenketRam & CCL

That time of the year (tad bit delayed, my bad!!) when I do the annual roundups of celeb calendars
Even though I've had a reputation of hating most of it coz its too much cheese and less themes, have my fingers crossed again, hoping something clicks yaar! So we've got our usual lineups from last year -Dabboo Ratnani &VenketRam. No Southscope calendar out this year (for reasons know best to them. Ok! I might actually know why, but we'll leave the dirty details out shall we. sshh) But to substitute we do have a CCL (celebrity cricket league) calendar also shot by VenketRam

Without wasting too much time on the rules then , lets just jump right into it!

"Live and Let live" Dharun Ravi vs Tyler Clementi.

I woke up this Sunday morning to a very disturbing news piece of 20-yr old Indian Dharun Ravi being charged guilty for the suicide of his former roommate Tyler Clementi. Ravi used a webcam to spy on Clementi's relationship with another man. Later Ravi gossiped about the incident on Twitter: “I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.” Two days later, Ravi set up another viewing also inviting fellow dorm-mates. Few days later, Clementi committed suicide by jumping from the George Washington Bridge.Ravi now faces several years in jail & a chance of deportation to India.

Shoes. Channeling my Inner Carrie Bradshaw @ Legs, Matunga.

If you're a bona fide 'Sex & the City' addict, you like any other would know the agonies and pleasure associated with SHOES. Like Carrie wisely said “The fact is, sometimes it’s really hard to walk in a single woman’s shoes. That’s why we need really special ones now and then to make the walk a little more fun.”

Wiser words were never said. I could use an entire closet of them and then some more. Love it or Hate it -  girls today are wearing wardrobes more unbelievable, fantastic, and unaffordable than ever. But whats really important is that you put the money in real good ones. Not necessarily expensive, not Louboutins or Jimmy Choos, but something that you can wear over & over & over again and feel real good about them.

Snuggled in the bylanes of the bustling Matunga market is 'Legs' footwear where owner Javed Khan prides in making custom-wear shoes. They (and its neighboring sister concern Italian brand - Piedi Rosso) stock and design variants of heels, boots, ballets etc. So next time you head out to make an impression, make sure to put your best foot forward.

Fashion&You, Myntra and bitter-sweet online shopping experience.

As much as I dislike shopping (yes! you heard that right) I'm quite the sucker for online shopping. The whole concept of having little neatly packaged goodies delivered right at your doorstep, unpacking them like birthday presents (even though you already know what's inside) warrants for brownie points, doesn't it? While im quite the loyalist on Flipkart, I've been trying to scout websites for wardrobe, accessories.... etc. Till Prateeksha introduced me to 2 of them - Fashion&You and Myntra.com. Ironically, Ive been registered on both but never used them until she put in a reliable word, so I thought i'd give it a shot. Orders placed, deliveries received and now here goes the good, bad and the ugly.

KONY 2012 - Watch + Spread the word.

I (like many others) hadn't heard about KONY until it started trending over Twitter. Many people I knew where posting / retweeting the link of the video that had gone viral over the network in a few hours leading to the Kony 2012 website crash subsequently after it began gaining widespread popularity.

The film created by by Invisible Children, Inc. is to promote the charity's 'Stop Kony' movement to make indicted Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony internationally known in order to arrest him.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s ‘Saving Face’ wins maiden Oscar for Pakistan!

This post originally appeared on Bollyspice.com

A very proud nation Pakistan woke up to a jubilant Monday morning as news flashed of film-maker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s triumph on becoming the first Pakistani to win an Oscar at the 84th Annual Academy Awards held at the Hollywood & Highland Center, Hollywood, California. Her film ‘Saving Face’, based on the appalling incidents of acid attacks on women in Pakistan, brought home the first Oscar for Pakistan by winning in the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category.