Citygritty 8212; Pune

Mussolini on showThe Shri Bhavani Museum in the backyard of southern Maharashtra, in the drought-prone belt of Satara district has one of...

Mussolini on show
The Shri Bhavani Museum in the backyard of southern Maharashtra, in the drought-prone belt of Satara district has one of the best individual collection of art works by Western masters of the first half of this century. The collector being the erstwhile Raja of Aundh, the late Bhawanrao Pantpratinidhi, who built this not-so-well-known museum, which is now being looked after by the State Government. The museum has a section of marble statues and guess who looks stoically at you? Curiously enough, it is Mussolini.

As one of the curio exhibits in this section is a bust of this Italian dictator who formed the Axis with Hitler. No record is available throwing any light on how the bust was acquired and kept on public display at his personal museum by the Raja during the heydays of the British Raj. The Raja was known for his staunch nationalistic feeling, being among the first to introduce panchayat elections in his fiefdom covering less than a taluka. He encouraged Indian entrepreneurs and was was among the first Indian rulers to merge his princely state with the Indian union after independence. Perhaps, he must have been among those admirers of Mussolini respecting him for his staunch nationalism despite him being a fascist.

Crowded house
It8217;s getting very crowded,8221; says the dusky Suchitra Pillai with an expressive lift of her brows. In Pune to address a press conference to promote a live show, the Channel V veejay was not referring to the spacious hotel room but to the Indipop music scene. It is going to get a little more crowded now with the lady herself stepping into the scene.

8220;Recording companies are not willing to take risks with English songs so I have stuck to Hindi. I am quite confident about the kind of music I want to do. I am comfortable with ballads and dance tracks,8221; she says of her yet unnamed debut album. Three songs have already been recorded by HMV for the album which should be out by August this year. And yes, her experience as a veejay has helped her in making the album. 8220;I see that a lot of newcomers try to portray things that are not really what they believe in. I will not try too many variations,8221; she says. Just what made her decide to cut an album? 8220;If you have a god-given talent, why not use it ?,8221; she says. Faultless reasoning, that.

Alisha: sight and sound
Just how much does the success of a music album depend on its music video? 8220;The music video can definitely enhance the sale of an album and make it a household name. And sales do matter,8221; admits Alisha Made In India Chinai. Just the reason she was in Pune where she was promoting her new album, Dil Ki Rani. 8220;In a music video the singer is not that far away figure on the stage but someone who comes right into your house. My album Babydoll for instance, did very well at the time but the album Made In India sold three million copies and the music video helped. Made in India almost became a national anthem,8221; she says.

Alisha is also quick to admit that the telegenic models used in her music videos 8211; Made In India features hunk Milind Soman while recent release Vah Vah has Dino Morea 8211; after all as she says. 8220;People like to see those hunks.8221;

Home truths
At A time when politicians all over the country were discussing Sharad Pawar8217;s rebellion, the corporators on his home turf were concerned about the security at the Pune Municipal Corporation PMC headquarters. The reason for their concern was the theft of former deputy mayor Bhagvan Kshirsagar8217;s scooter. It so happened that Kshirsagar complained to the Mayor and the civic administration that his scooter was stolen from the PMC headquarters on May 25.

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Taking a serious note of the matter, the PMC administration swung into action and quizzed all the guards posted at the PMC headquarters but to no avail. Concerned about the security some of the corporators even raked up the issue in the general body meeting the same evening. While criticising the civic administration, they demanded a total revamp of the security apparatus. They were satisfied only after the additional commissioner assured that he had already submitted the plans of the new parking arrangements to ensure the safety of the vehicles to the Mayor in the afternoon itself, before the general body meeting took place.