Designer Shruti Sancheti will pay an ode to the glorious and sumptuous fibre Silk at the forthcoming Lakme Fashion Week, starting Aug 20.

She will unveil her collection titled Strands Of Silk, which will show festive colour palette splashed with warm shades like crimson, vermilion, cherry, carmine, wine, aubergine, burnt orange, saffron, alphanso, fuschia, and indigo blue on Textile Day at the four-day gala.

Sancheti has indulged in Benarasi fabric, woven intricately with zari along with Pochampali, a distinguished complex weave, to add a pan Indian flavour to her creations.

Apart from the Benarsi fabric, variants of silks like raw, cotton, and woven have also been used along with makhmal as variants to add character to the rich line.

"My collection is meant for the vivacious women who celebrates her unsurpassed legacy of textiles and craftsmanship and yet has a voguish approach to fashion; who believes in timeless clothes yet is trendy and believes in understated luxury and restrained opulence and rejoices and celebrates her festivities to the fullest," Sancheti said in a statement.

As far as the style is concerned, she is offering sharara jumpsuits, half crop half chuga jacket, pallazo pants, circular and pleated anarkali's along with various constructed jackets and blouses.

Detailing like tucks, ribs, pleating along with customised wrought iron hangings and buttons and detachable hand embroidered jewellery give the garments a contemporary twist.

Love to party? Check out Anuradha Ramam's latest offering masterpieces "unconventional party collection".

Every piece is made according to the taste and requirement of a self assertive woman, who wants to explore and experiment with fashion.

The designs have the confluence of fusion clothing that has a distinctive flavour. Most of the dresses and gowns in the collection are designed to make the wearer look slimmer and taller.

- One-shoulder dress: This dress is in hand block printed pure crepe. The asymmetric panels at right princes add interest to basic knee length fit and flare silhouette of the dress.

The dress is perfect for a brunch party or an evening affair. To add colour you can team it with a turquoise blue watch and chunky earrings along with a long chain and a turquoise pendant.

- Black and white mangalgiri gown: This dress is designed to make one look taller and slimmer. The hand block printed panels and pace in a way, which make one look slimmer and the lengthwise styling makes the wearer taller. The yellow piping on the neck and hem add interest and color to the dress.

- Black flare gown: This dress shows the beauty of Indian handicrafts. It has a kantha yoke attached to body with a hand-aari embroidered mirror lace. The white mulmul hand block printed fabric adds interest to the dress. This dress makes one look slimmer because of the flared silhouette in black colour.

- Black and white stripes: This Ikat and Mangalgiri dress is specially designed to make the wearer look slim. The black panels from the princess make one look thinner cutting down the sides. The hem is made hand woven Ikat in black and white stripes.

- Asymmetric hem dress: This black and white Mangalgiri dress with an asymmetric hem is a perfect beach wear dress. The red piping and buttons give a nice quirky accent to the dress. The black panels on the side make the wearer look slimmer cutting down the sides. Wear it with big jhumka earrings and a chunky bracelet. Complete the look with wedges and a beach bag.

The price range starts from Rs.5,200 and the collection is available at the store in Meherchand Market, Lodhi Road here.

As everyone is celebrating Eid Tuesday, veteran actress Shabana Azmi says she is missing her co-star and friend Farooque Sheikh, who died last year.

The two acted in movies like “Anjuman” and “Lorie”.

“Missing Farooque. Every Eid we used to have a fierce competition ki sheer qorma kiske ghar ka behtar hai,” Shabana tweeted.

The actress sometime back said that she would like their play “Tumhari Amrita" to be revived.

The play, which is a funny, poignant, melancholic chronicle of the life of two lovers who would not stay together, ran for 21 years until Farooque's sudden death in December 2013.

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has announced that his Being Human (BH) charitable organisation will help “100 genuine patients” suffering from heart condition by providing them free treatment.

Kicked by the "Kick" success, Salman took to twitter to make the announcement.

“If any kids on FB ya twitter who has a heart condition n can't afford to get it treated, BH vil (will) get 100 genuine patients treated,” he tweeted Tuesday.

Initially, he told his followers to share details on the social networking sites, but later realised that there would be “confusion”, so shared email address - beinghumanemail@gmail.com - to get in touch with the organisation.

A month back, he had used the microblogging site to help his fans and others find jobs through his site beinghumanworkshop.com.

An initiative by Salman, "Being Human", a charitable organisation, works for the betterment of the underprivileged.

Mahesh Bhatt observes fasts during Ramadan as a tribute to his late mother and says on Eid he looks forward to "uniquely designed vegetable biryani". His colleague Shabana Azmi enjoys the festival by feasting with loved ones and appreciates it for "the goodwill" and "continuity of tradition" that it brings.

Here is what celebrities have to say about the festival being celebrated Tuesday:

Mahesh Bhatt: Celebrations begin tonight as soon as we spot the moon. Like every year we usher in Eid by playing the song "Gali mein aaj chand nikla" from my last directorial film "Zakhm".

I look forward to eating my Eid speciality, a uniquely designed vegetable biryani made specially for me by my neighbour. Do you know I keep all the 'roza' in the memory of my mother? I've been doing that since 1998 after her demise.

Shabana Azmi: I'll be celebrating at home with family and close friends as has been the norm. During earlier times abba's (father Kaifi Azmi) friends would drop in and the standard fare was 'dahi vadas' and 'sheer khorma'. Now everybody just comes for lunch.

Biryani, kababs, aloo gosht, chicken dum, mirchi ka salan and sheer khorma is the Eid menu. On the night before Eid, everyone pools in to cut the badaam and pista for the sheer khorma. Kids put on mehndi, bangle-wali comes to make jodas for all and everybody waits with bated breath to sight the 'Eid Ka Chand'. Alas, the ghararas have made way for the more practical salwar-kurta. Kids look forward to their Eidi. I love the goodwill and the bonhomie and most of all the continuity of tradition.

Adnan Sami: My wife Roya and I will spend Eid with close friends. Our thoughts and hearts are with the people of Gaza and the tragic times they are enduring. May the Lord have mercy on them."

Zarine Khan: My entire 'khandaan' (family) comes together on Eid. Then in the evening we will visit friends.

A musical night titled "Musafir Hoon Yaaron” is being organised here Friday to commemorate the 75th birth anniversary of composer R.D. Burman, fondly known as Pancham Da.

A galaxy of playback singers such as Babul Supriyo, Vinod Rathore, Anuradha Paudwal, Mohammad Aziz, Mamta Sharma, Kavita Seth, Hema Sardesai and Sapna Awasthi will perform and pay tribute to the musician, known for his experiments and innovativeness, at the Talkatora Stadium.

It is an initiative of PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

“On the occasion we are also honouring Homi Mullan, Bhanu Gupta and Ramesh Iyer who were closely associated with the music maestro,” said a statement.

Born on June 27, 1939, the man behind evergreen songs like "Yaadon ki baraat", "Beeti na bitayi ratiyan", "Dum maro dum" and "Tum bin jaaun kahan", died in 1994 at the age of 54.

Filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi remembers her late cousin Arun Dutt as a "wonderful cerebral person" who "eventually was afflicted by the tragedy that gripped the family".

Geeta and Guru Dutt's son Arun died July 26.

Speaking of Arun, Kalpana, whose mother Lalita is Guru Dutt's sister, said: "I am deeply pained by Arun's death. Now Guru Dutt maama and Geeta maami's doomed family is gone. Along with them, their two sons Tarun and Arun have also given up their lives."

"He actually died of multiple organ failure and cardiac arrest due to prolonged and intense intake of alcohol," she added.

Kalpana recalls Arun as a gentle and troubled soul.

"He was a wonderful cerebral person. But eventually he was afflicted by the tragedy that gripped the family....the tragedy that befalls children of colossal personalities. Can you imagine what a burden it must have been for Tarun and Arun to carry forward their parents' legacy?"

While Guru Dutt allegedly committed suicide in 1965, his elder son Tarun, who had directed Rekha in the 1984 caper "Bindiya Chamkegi", apparently took his own life in 1985.

After their parents death, Arun along with his two siblings - Tarun and Nina - grew up in the homes of their father's brother Atma Ram and mother's brother Mukul Roy.

By all outward definitions the three children of Guru Dutt had a normal healthy childhood. When Tarun Dutt allegedly killed himself, there was a shocked sense of deja vu to the family's tragic history.

Arun was only eight years old when his legendary father passed away. The child didn't know his father's reputation as a living legend.

Apparently, Guru Dutt never encouraged his children to be part of the movie business. He wanted them to be spared the heat and the lust of the entertainment industry.

But once cinema's child, always one. While Nina has dabbled in music, son Tarun tried direction.

Arun, who worked as the director of Guru Dutt Films Acting Academy, wanted to recreate his father's classic "Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam" but never got around to doing so.

Singer-composer Shekhar Ravjiani has dedicated his interpretation of “Hanuman Chalisa”, which happens to be his fourth single, to his late grandmother.

“Hanuman Chalisa has been an integral part of my life. My grandparents instilled these traditional values in me. It was my late grandmother’s wish to see me compose a version of the epic prayer. I dedicate it to her,” Shekhar told IANS.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan released Shekhar's "Hanuman Chalisa" here Tuesday.

In the past, Shekhar had released two Marathi singles "Saazni" and "Savli" and Telugu single "Butterfly".

He describes his version of the "Hanuman Chalisa" as “soothing” and “meditative”.

“This version is more soothing, calm and peaceful. When the song started to sound the way I wanted it to, I decided to do a little more research on Lord Hanuman. I went to a bookstore and started reading. Suddenly, I felt like making my own version of it,” he said.

“I got in touch with a publication company called Vedic Cosmos and they were excited to be associated with me on the single," he added.

A successful musician in filmdom, Shekhar doesn't make the singles to taste "success".

"I've been in the industry for over 15 years, composed about 500 songs for over 60 films. But these singles have never been part of them. These are made on a personal level but not for the reason of achieving success. My soul is connected to these singles," he said.

"What matters to me is that people should enjoy the experience of these singles. That's my expectation from them. I feel such songs open the doors for a new set of listeners for me. I feel I challenge myself with such experiments and I like it," he added.

Next in the offering is a book on "Hanuman Chalisa".

"I’m coming up with a book called Shekhar Ravjiani’s 'Hanuman Chalisa', which will be available globally. I’ve also come up with an app for mobile phone users with my song and book,” he added.

Shekhar’s book will be available in Hindi as well as English.

Actress Kajol will feature next in a women-centric film to be produced by her husband Ajay Devgn.

"Kajol will be doing a film this year. It will hopefully go on floors from October end. It will be produced by me and directed by ad filmmaker Ram Madhvani," Ajay told reporters in a group interview.

Without divulging the movie's subject, he said: "It is a woman-centric film. We are looking for a hero. I would only be producing the film...I won't be a part of it."

Ajay says the reason he's not a part of the film is "that's what the script demanded".

Kajol's was last seen in full-fledged roles in films like "We Are Family" and "Toonpur Ka Superhero".

Designer Amit Aggarwal is set to open the winter-festive edition of the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) with a line inspired by the tribal look.

Aggarwal and another young talent, Masaba Gupta, will showcase Aug 19 at Palladium Hotel, a day prior to the fashion week, scheduled Aug 20-24.

Aggarwal, known for his edgy and futuristic fashion, has added tribal influences like weaving techniques, striped tattoos and structured jewellery in his collection for LFW.

“Structured silhouettes that are strong and crafted to the body are distinct features of this collection. Black coupled with saturated and deep tones appear on washed matt silk, crepe de chine and duchess satin, while tulle blurs the edges and suggests a softer, darker romance,” the designer said in a statement.

After graduating from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi in 2002, Aggarwal showcased his collections through student competitions around the world, and soon began working with some of India’s most accomplished designers, such as Tarun Tahiliani.

In September 2011, he showcased his line in Paris in collaboration with Aveda, for a hair and make-up trend show.

Fashion designer Manish Malhotra has styled Kareena Kapoor's look for the promotional "Singham 2" song composed by Yo Yo Honey Singh.

The song, he said, will be out Friday.

"Right now I am shooting a song with her (Kareena) for 'Singham 2'. I am doing a song with Kareena, Ajay Devgn and Honey Singh. It's a promotional song and will be launched Aug 1," the 47-year-old said here at the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) press meet.

Malhotra has been a part of the fashion and film industry for a long time and reminisced his association with the glamour industry.

"Just this morning I was talking to Kareena and she said 'My god, I have been working for 15 years.' I told her that next year I will complete 25 years in the film industry and ten years to my label. My association with Lakme will also be 14 years old," the designer said.

Malhotra's bridal 'Gloss' collection will be showcased at the grand finale of LFW, scheduled for Aug 20-24. Kareena will be his showstopper.

When real life couple Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan teamed up on the screen, their chemistry failed to entice audiences. Now, they are not interested in doing a project together.

In fact, working with Saif doesn't top Kareena's priority list.

When asked why they are not seen on the screen, Kareena said: "It's not on the top of our list."

Their romance said to have blossomed on the sets of "Tashan" and later when they teamed up for "Kurbaan" and "Agent Vinod", the news scorched the headlines, but their chemistry failed to scorch the screen. In fact, all the three films turned out to be damp squibs.

The scripts should be blamed Kareena argued.

"If our films have not worked, it's because of the scripts. If the films have not worked, then I feel the story was not that great! I don't believe in things like chemistry and I feel the pairing depends on the story. If the story is strong the chemistry also looks good. If story is not good you can't do anything," she said.

"I am happy not to work with Saif," added the 33-year-old who married Saif 2012.

For Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, working in Indian filmdom is like an "educative experience" as the country has mastered the craft.

The heartthrob of Pakistan is making his Bollwyood debut with "Khoobsurat" opposite Sonam Kapoor.

"The amount of experience that India has in filmmaking, for me it is an education to understand how systems work because we are re-propping our industry and it would be a valuable contribution," said the actor, who featured in internationally acclaimed Pakistani movie "Khuda Kay Liye".

"...they have mastered the craft to the extent that they have won over a global audience.

"I am actually able to take back certain form of education. For me, it is more importantly an educative experience when it comes to filmmaking and I would like to incorporate that in some way or the other back at home as well," he said in an interview.

"Khoobsurat" has been produced by Sonam's sister Rhea Kapoor and directed by Shashanka Ghosh.

The fate of the film, which also stars Kirron Kher and Ratna Pathak Shah, will be known when it hits theatres Sep 19, but Fawad has already won a fan following thanks to his TV show "Zindagi Gulzar Hai".

Emraan Hashmi has become identified with various genres of thrillers and, therefore, the actor doesn't see himself fitting into the social or family drama mould.

In his over-a-decade-long career, the actor has worked with filmmakers like Ekta Kapoor, Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur, apart from teaming up with his uncles Mahesh and Mukhesh Bhatt.

When asked if he would ever do a Sooraj Barjatya film, he said: "Nope. He makes fantastic films, but probably I won't fit in Sooraj Barjatya kind of films."

Another interesting part of his acting journey is that Emraan has mostly worked with newcomers.

Admitting the same, he said: "Yes, I have always brought in fresh faces in the industry and that's because of my brand, it's not something that I yearn for.

"There are great actresses and when I get an opportunity, I will work with them. But there is no yearning that the next film has to be with someone like that. Whenever a film will require one of them, I will do a film with them too," added the actor who teamed up with Vidya Balan in "The Dirty Picture" and "Ghanchakkar".

Designers Kajal Bihani and Mitali Kalantry of the brand The Anouk have come up with a unique collection of rakhis and lumbas, which can also be worn as a fashion accessory.

The lumbas, which are the Punjabi styled rakhi, are given jewelled look by the designers and this makes them wearable round the year.

Also, the rakhi collection has some messages written on it, including "Mera Bhai Dabangg", "One in a Million" and "Rockstar". Traditional designs laid in "panch-dhatu" and Swarovski have a tinge of gold too, said a statement.

While the lumbas come in a box packing, the rakhis come in a table top card form ,which can be kept on the desks.

The price starts from Rs.550 and rakhis are available at the designers' store in Saket here.

Superstar Salman Khan's "Kick", which released ahead of Eid, crossed the Rs.100 crore mark on the fifth day after its release.

"#Kick day-wise actuals: Fri 26.40 cr, Sat 27.15 cr, Sun 30.18 cr, Mon 14.41 cr, Tue 28.89 cr. Total: ? 127.03 cr nett. India biz. WOW," trade analyst Taran Adarsh posted on Twitter Wednesday.

Another industry expert Komal Nahta confirmed that the movie has raked in over Rs.100 crore.

Starring Jacqueline Fernandez with Salman, "Kick" has been debut-directed by Sajid Nadiadwala, who has for years entertained movie buffs with his film productions.

The movie's songs have turned out to be popular on the music charts and the action sequences performed by Salman are much-talked about.

A woman, who calls the shots in office, cooks for her husband who is also her junior at the workplace. Is that thought "demoralising" or "sexist"?

Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel’s new ad, which presents a working woman cooking for her man, has stirred up outrage on Twitter. But adman Prahlad Kakkar says it’s perfectly valid and there’s nothing wrong in the content.

"She's cooked meal with her own hands because it is important to her to cook for her husband. It's special. I think it's perfectly valid ad. It means that sometimes women are more competent than men...not all the time but sometimes and that they deserve to be bosses," Kakkar told IANS on phone from Mumbai.

Launched recently, the ad presents a woman setting a deadline for her subordinates, who include her husband, in office.

On her way home in a chauffeur-driven car, she calls up her husband to check what he would like to eat for dinner and then she is seen preparing a few dishes.

Through with cooking, she asks her husband to come home and tempts him with her home-cooked food by sending him its video.

Known for touching hearts of many through their ads like the recent one on a young couple set to marry soon or about an army man communicating with his lover, Bharti Airtel has this time angered people.

Here’s what some of them tweeted:

Sarah Jacob: Ah, Airtel. You attempt to be 'progressive' and 'feminist'. End up with an ad even more retrograde and sexist than usual!

Gaurav Kapur: This airtel ad sends the wrong message. A double income, no kids couple can't afford a cook?! Demoralising for management students!

Parul Tyagi: The Boss wife Airtel Ad is the latest example of 'trying too hard to look cool while riding on feminism'. Total fail.

According to a survey by Gallup Inc., a US research and consulting services company, the payroll-to-population employment rate for women in South Asia is 10 percent as compared to 36 percent for men.

The data shows that the ratio of working women is still not on par with men.

Also, cooking meals or looking after household chores doesn't make a woman less competent.

Kakkar said: “Why shouldn't women be bosses in the office?"

"They can still cook for their husbands and still be good housewives. But in the workplace... that’s resentment... that’s where men don’t like their women being senior to them.

“If a wife occasionally cooks a special meal for her husband it means she can’t afford a servant? What rubbish? Look at the house. It’s a very upmarket house. The only underlined resentment is why should the woman be the boss?” he added.

Miss Diva, that was launched last year as a official franchise from India for Miss Universe, is set to stars auditions Thursday.

With the national auditions at various cities starting from July 31, Miss Diva 2014 will strive to identify the divas who will be a perfect personification of beauty and intelligence. The winner of Miss Diva 2014 will represent India at Miss Universe 2014 with aplomb and confidence, said a statement.

The rounds will starts from Ahmedabad, moving to Indore, Lucknow, Kolkatta, Chandigarh, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore and will end in Mumbai.

Also, Yamaha Motor India Sales Wednesday announced its association with the beauty pageant as an attempt to strengthen its brand equity especially among its style conscious female audience.

Indian filmmaker Dev Benegal’s dark comedy “Dead End” was named the best project at the Network of Asian Fantastic Films.

The story of a man, who is declared as dead by a shady government department and has to take extreme measures to prove that he is alive, was co-written by Benegal and Sarat Rao. Satish Kaushik Entertainment and Benegal’s August Entertainment will jointly produce the mmovie.

The Bucheon Award is worth $15,000, reports variety.com.

Other winners announced included “The Cartridge and the Man Who Copied Himself” a dark body-swap fantasy by Taiwan’s Bruce Hwang Chen, which claimed both the NAFFAward and the new Media Vision Award.

Actor-filmmaker Satish Kaushik is ecstatic after his new project “Dead End” was named the best at the Network of Asian Fantastic Films in Seoul.

This is the second win for the film, which was awarded the Network of Asian Fantastic Films Award at the 12th Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF).

After the win in Seol, Kaushik said: “The project has been garnering positive response and now with two awards in its kitty and a cash prize win, we can look at kick-starting pre production.”

A dark comedy, “Dead End” has been co-written by Dev Benegal and Sarat Rao. Satish Kaushik Entertainment and Dev Benegal’s August Entertainment will co-produce the movie

“Dead end will see one of the most successful complex cross country funding and I’m sure it will firm up India’s position in the global cinema market. I have always believed that cinema has no language and ‘Dead End’ has proved it so,” said Kaushik in a statement.

The best part is that the “a simple Indian folk tale” has become popular among cinema circuit.

“Who could even imagine of such a scope? I had the rights to the story. Dev and I developed it and I want him to direct this project as well,” said Kaushik.