Roving Eye

Man Hunt
They came from different walks of life8230; students, doctors, engineers, management professionals, sports coaches8230; all to walk the ramp of Mr. Pune, 1999. The first round for the competition was conducted at the Pride Hotel on April 11.

About 60 contestants walked down the makeshift ramp at the Crystal Hall, vying for the Man of the Millennium8217; title. Introducing themselves to the three judges 8211; fashion journalist Ritika Ramtri and photographers Bunty and Prashant 8211; the men spoke a little about their hobbies and what their credo was.

Of these, 35 were selected for the next rounds that include separate competitions to judge good physique, talent and personality. They will be short-listed to 20, who shall enter the final fray. Quite raw during the first round, the stray incidents of fumbling and tripping should be wiped out with more practice.

Here8217;s to hair
Hairdressing is our passion 8211; goes their motto. To prove how serious they were, L8217;Oreal Professionnel, in conjunction with Nalini and Yasmin, Mumbai, had two of their professional hairstylists, Binaifar Pardiwala and Kanta Motwani, over at the Hotel Aurora Towers on April 12. The object of the one-day workshop was to demonstrate the latest haircuts and hair-colouring techniques to fellow hairstylists in Pune.

Says Pardiwala, 8220;The workshop is to demonstrate new approaches to hairstyling and colour like personalised cuts. Instead of standard hairstyles, these take into account the person8217;s lifestyle, hair quality, complexion. Colouring comprises global totally coloured and partial techniques like highlights, slices and meches.8221; About 60 participants followed every carefully-executed snip of the scissors in this look-and-learn experience.

From all quarters
A little of everything to make for an enjoyable musical evening. City band Lambada certainly seemed to think that way. At their performance at Jazz Garden on the night of April 10, their repertoire included everything from Ricky Martin8217;s Maria, Queen8217;s I wanna break free, Lionel Ritchie8217;s Hello and even Mika Singh8217;s Sawan Me Lag Gayi Aag.

The youthful band, comprising Manoj Pandya guitar, Rocky Tribhuvan, Reshma Bendre, Balaji Reddy vocals, Mahesh Iyer drums, Abhijit Thigle bass and Rajiv percussion, gave the crowd plenty of reason to be cheerful.

Nana, the builder
Nana Patekar is in Pune these days and he8217;s turned a builder here, we are told. From drafting designs to blazing the silver screen and now to making buildings 8211; he certainly is a guy on the move.

Patekar has always made his intentions about an early retirement known. With just a Bachchan starrer, Kohraam, and a long-stalled Billa No 203 to go, he seems to have paved his way out. And if his track record is anything to go by, he8217;s bound to make one helluva successful builder. We are sure he8217;ll leave his mark on Pune8217;s skyline in the coming millennium.

Artistic scapes
The manicured garden of the Kirloskars was host to Madhuri Phalnikar Bhaduri and her art over the weekend. Her exhibition, Reminiscences, which was held on April 10 and 11 at the Lakaki Bungalow, had three major themes 8211; Pratiksha, Shoonya and Vidushak.

Pratiksha, for Madhuri, symbolises the waiting that Rajasthani women endure while their men seek work in the cities. This appears to be a favourite theme. Vibrantly-dressed Rajasthani women wait8230; in different settings and different poses. Shoonya, more abstract, seems to be Madhuri8217;s own search for meaning and Vidushak she sees as the mask of gaiety that hides the angst within.

The Cup overfloweth?
The pen is powerful. That8217;s what cricket fans and well-wishers of the Indian cricket team are out to show through the Gilbey8217;s Green Label Sign Lagao-India Jitao signature campaign. The aim behind the campaign launched country-wide is to get as many people as possible to send their good wishes to the Indian cricket team for the World Cup through banners which will eventually be stitched together to form one huge banner 8211; 10.45 km. long.

The event was kicked off by Pune Mayor Datta Gaikwad, while model-turned-choreographer Shyamoli Varma also affixed her goodwill signature to the banner at the Poona Club recently. At three points in the city 8211; the railway station, M.G. Road and Swargate 8211; fans young and old lined up to sign in. A good sign, huh?