Roving Eye

Well, whatever the reason, the quiet do at Holiday Inn was well-attended by the city8217;s leading journalists 8212; from Filmfare8217;s Khalid Mohammed to Movie8217;s Dinesh Raheja and everyone in between.

Dressed in a glittering white lacha with heavy gold jewellery, Madhuri arrived at the venue sharp at 8.15 pm, with her parents and secretary Rikku, and stayed on till well past midnight. After thedelicious black forest cake was cut, the liquor done with and the Chinese dinner gobbled up, the actress settled down to have some fun. She entertained her guests with a song from Dil To Pagal Hai and even a Marathi number. quot;I am rarely in the city on my birthday. And even today I just got lucky. I have to leave for Hyderabad tomorrow to shoot for Pukar,quot; said the beaming birthday girl.

New woman

Madhuri may have been busy celebrating her birthday, but it seems that the man who re-launched her, Subhash Ghai, was too busy with his new protegee to wish the dhak dhak8217; girl. He and Aishwarya were at the Piano Bar to celebrate the opening of a new Radisson Hotel in Delhi.

None of the business types there noticed Ash, who, in a short simple, off-white dress was sans her make-up. She just merged into the crowd and one party-goer who actually recognised her was overheard saying, quot;I do not think anyone even realises that she is Ash, no one is paying any attention to her.quot; But we are sure Ash didnot mind it as long as the Showman noticed her, on whom she is pinning all her hopes to re-launch her career, just the way he did Madhuri8217;s, now that her second release Jeans too has bombed miserably.

Male march

Dubai is still the place for our designers. Last week some of India8217;s leading male designers Arjun Khanna, Ashish Soni and JJ Vallaya held a joint show in Dubai. Though it was put together by a Delhi choreographer, there were many Mumbai girls on the ramp, including Aditi Govitrikar and Noyonika Chaterjee.

But the show that caught the most attention was the one held by a Calcutta-based designer that took place the same week. The reason being that two superhunks from Mumbai town sashayed down the catwalk. Guess who? Marc Robinson and Milind Soman, of course.

Friday fever

Friday was really the party night as some of the city8217;s most beautiful flocked to the Samp;M party. No, this party need not worry the thought police of this town as Samp;M stands for Sanjeev and Matthew.Sanjeev Chaudhary, the twenty-something Vice-Counsul for Canada, hosted a rocking bash at his residence with his pal Matthew.

For a man who has only been in the country a few months, he certainly seems to have a lot of friends in the right places already. The place was packed and among those present were Persis Khambhatta, Dina Vakil and Madhu Sapre. Incidentally, Madhu looked stunning in a tight black mid-length dress and most of the guests could not take their eyes off her.

Cut the hype

One event that was not such a success was the DSP do hosted by Shaw Wallace to launch their new whisky. They advertised the party on hoardings and in some Saturday papers. The striking invite read, quot;Let your dark side show on DSP Black Saturday, the magical, mystery party to toast the new spirit of the night.quot; And as with all these dos, a sprinkling of celebs attended, including Bikram Saluja and Sushma Reddy.

But after all that hype, the party never really took off as excise officers marched into the TajBallroom and closed the party down! Shaw Wallace was left with an empty room, though some hungry souls stayed on for dinner which was a delicious spread of Indian food. Problem was that you had to wash the dinner down with a soft drink!

Baby doll8217;s do

Who would have even guessed that Alisha Chinai8217;s real name is Sujata. It came as a big shock to all those present at the announcement of Alisha8217;s Rhythm and Soul Tour held at the 19008217;s on Friday afternoon. The tour kicked off on the weekend. But this hour-long event turned out to be a low key affair. The only celebs present, apart from Alisha, were MTV veejays Nikhil Chinappa and Maria Goretti.

India8217;s little baby doll had to answer some rather serious questions, thanks to the media persons present. They asked her about Navalkar and Co8217;s intervention during the concerts. And the desi Madonna had a perfect reply: Her lyrics are quot;perfectly safequot; and the only obscene words quot;sexy, sexyquot; 8212; in a song she will sing during the concert 8212; has beenchanged to quot;baby, babyquot;.

And finally8230;

Anuradha Mahindra is an industrialist8217;s wife with a difference. Having successfully launched two magazines whose quality stands apart from the other glossies on the stands, Anuradha is now off to London to take her style magazine Verve to the NRIs. She is having a party at Chor Bazaar, the swanky Indian restaurant near Mayfair, on June 3, 1998, to launch her magazine to the Brits. And with Anuradha as the hostess you can be sure that it will be a party that beats all parties. And giving her company will be Malini Ramani and Helen Brodie.