Sun rises on the other Rahul

The former pilot with Jet Airways has taken leave of absence from the company and is now involved in producing television programmes. Though his company8217;s Taste of India was aired on Star Plus, Sunday was his first big break was on DD.

Infact, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Defence had requested Doordarshan to waive the telecast fee for the event, but the public broadcaster put its foot down. Stracon, the company which is being investigated by the Comptroller and Auditor General for its role in the now-disbanded sports consortium, was the marketing agency for the event billed as Operation Vijay. It cost the Government upwards of Rs 1 crore, not the least of which was spent on a houseboat set designed by Bollywood8217;s premier art director Sameer Chanda. The event was managed by Wizcraft, the Mumbai-based company which had worked with Mahajan on the BJP8217;s first anniversary bash at the Hauz Khas monument.

Mahajan Jr had apparently camped in Srinagar8217;s Centaur Hotel since August 5 for the show. Not all the stars who had promised to turn up for the event did so, but sources working with Mahajan Jr say this was the first step in the 8220;restoration of normalcy8221; in Kashmir.

Though the event was ostensibly for thebenefit of the soldiers who died or were injured in Kargil, not a single member of the Armed Forces was present in the 2,000-strong crowd 8212; which included actress Sridevi, producer husband Boney Kapoor and veteran actor Jeetendra 8212; by the side of the Dal Lake. Mahajan Jr said there were several Army officers in civvies but the Public Relations Officer of the 15 Corps, Major P. Puroshotam, admitted no one from the Army was present at the show.

He attributed it to the security constraint: 8220;We did not boycott the show but we had already informed the organisers that if the programme was conducted outside the Badamibagh Cantonment, we would not be able to participate.8221;