Roving Eye 8212; Chandigarh

Partying For A CauseMadhurika Dalvi, daughter of ex-Ranji cricketer Michael Dalvi and his estranged wife Shorboree she who restores Raj ...

Partying For A Cause
Madhurika Dalvi, daughter of ex-Ranji cricketer Michael Dalvi and his estranged wife Shorboree she who restores Raj furniture, which you may have seen at Rohit Bal8217;s home, is learning the art of pulling at heartstrings and, well, pursestrings. But Delhiites, even when they8217;re foolishly high, aren8217;t used to flashing their wallets for a cause. So, the Jan Shakti Vahini8217;s Rs 5,000-a-couple charity do at Djinns needed a Nina Pillai to pack some punch into the proceedings after local flavours Sonalika Oberoi and Bal, with support from deejay Rummy, failed to bring order to the floor.

It was Nina8217;s rescue act that saved the auction, what with Jackie Shroff looking decidedly under the weather, and the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai stars not showing up as promised leading to a lot of hand-wringing about Shah Rukh8217;s heart he8217;s only too happy to take his trousers off for the Lohias, grumbled a pretty face sipping at her Evian, but ask him to spare time for HIV/AIDS 8230;. That left the field entirely to the gelled Karan Jauhar, the new darling of the slick set, and the KKHH designer Manish Malhotra, whose pretty-boy looks had Shefali Talwar gushing in torrents.

But guys, to be fair, Shah Rukh 8212; 8220;men have to work for a living,8221; was Nina8217;s aside was shooting for Kamalahassan8217;s movie-in-the-making, Hey Ram, which, incidentally, gives an enigmatic twist to Gandhi8217;s assassination. And is absence was somewhat made up by Gauri, though there were no takers for his Ladki badi anjani hai white suit, and it took a lot of persuasion for film financier J. K. Jain who caused a lot of heartburn recently when he had Azhar8217;s boys come over to his famous farmhouse after their Kotla victory to snap up Shah Rukh8217;s autographed Polosport T-shirt for Rs 60,000.

At the last Madhurika Dalvi show, it was the controversial Abhishek Verma who dished out the dosh; on Thursday night, the honour went to Rocky Dutta, better known as Ambica Pillai8217;s ex-husband, who forked out Rs 4,40,000 for a lattice-work gold and diamond set designed by Deepika Mehta and modelled by a svelte Manpreet Brar in all-black. Giving him company for a cause was Deepika8217;s hubby, Ratan Mehta, who paid Rs 2.25 lakh for Kajol8217;s peach-hued velvet reel-life wedding dress, flaunted temptingly by Ruchi Malhotra.

The other generous soul was the redoubtable Ashwini Minna, who, after making dire predictions about Vishnu Bhagwat, snapped up Kajol8217;s Saajan ji ghar aaye zardosi-on-silk outfit for Rs 2 lakh. Those who followed him in succumbing to Nina8217;s elfin charm were Usha Steering8217;s Sanjay Kapoor, who paid Rs 75,000 for a white gold-and-diamond bracelet, and Marina Hotel8217;s Shashank Bhagat, who walked away with Salman Khan8217;s all-black suit after paying Rs 50,000 for it. Not so generously inclined that evening were Robert Vadra minus Priyanka, Ranna minus husband and Rina Dhaka, Nikhil and Shweta Nanda who had shutterbugs descend on them like a pack of wolves, and Gauri8217;s Loreto Convent chum Shivani Wazir. And the one person who was hard at work while the rest were having a ball: Asian News International8217;s Pratibha Advani, a.k.a. daughter of L. K. That was one night no one8217;s going to forget in a hurry.