Bengali girl in Idol chase

n It's official — if the second Indian Idol is a girl, she is going to be a Bengali, Antara Mitra. With Meenal Jain being voted out in last Tuesday's episode, the girl who hails from a small village on the Indo-Bangladesh border is now left with four male competitors in the final race to the title.

Among other things, Antara met up with Bappi Lahiri to take expert advice on how to approach the remaining few weeks of the show. The Dada of Disco was very impressed with the Bengali girl and tipped her to win the title.

"She has all that it takes to be a good playback singer," Bappi told Metro. "If so much money is being spent on a show like Indian Idol, we should expect at least one good addition to the music industry from here. I have already worked with Amit Sana and want to work with Abhijeet Sawant. They are the future of Indian music."

Also, for the first time in the history of Indian Idol , Antara along with the other finalists has composed the title track of Indian Idol Takaa Tak, the "insider's look" show on SAB TV.

The song's turned out so well that the show judges are really impressed. "I was deeply touched when I saw the final output," says Anu Malik. "I truly appreciate the amount of hard work and dedication which they underwent to create this magic."

n After Amitabh Bachchan at Fame (Malad), Anil Kapoor was given his own Wall of Fame at Fame (Kandivali). The tribute was paid jointly by the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) and Fame multiplexes. At an exclusive ceremony hosted at the Kandivali cineplex, Kapoor and Balakrishna Shroff, director, Shringar

Cinemas, unveiled the IIFA Wall of Fame, chronicling the life and career of the actor.

The wall features special memorabilia, trophies, costumes, old and new movie posters and a varied collection of photographs spanning Kapoor's childhood days, family and friends. "I am very happy to be here today," Kapoor smiled. "I feel proud to be able to share some special moments of my life with not just my fans but other film buffs as well. The Wall of Fame is a great initiative that will allow fans to get closer to their favourite stars."

n If you haven't had enough of Sidhuisms, get ready for Piddhuisms. The latest from MTV is Piddhu at 12, where the adorably quirky Cyrus Sahukar will don the pagdi of the highly opinionated and hugely funny Piddhu. In his animated-cum-live-action avatar, Cyrus will come up with scoops, comic instances and Bollywood gossip through every 30-minute song-based episode.

"It's not meant to hurt any particular community or person," Cyrus tells Metro. "It's just clean humour. After all the hard work and research I have put in, watching MTV the whole day, rehearsing dance steps, imitating actors, my show will stun you with my expertise on celebrities and Bollywood."

To be telecast everyday at noon and midnight on MTV, Piddhu is being planned as the new face of the music channel. "We are known for creating off-the-wall characters like Poga, Liftman and Chito. Now, Piddhu is set to endear himself to everyone with a quirky twist for every

celebrity tale," says Cyrus Oshidar, senior vice-president, creative and content, MTV Networks India.

n Finding the location for Malamaal Weekly was a huge problem for director Priyadarshan and his team. The task was to find the correct village — a setting with one kothi or haveli, at least four to five distinct streets and the rest a very small settlement. After considering Ooty and Panchmari, the team finally decided on Karaikudi and Polachi where Priyan had earlier shot Virasat. The haveli shown in the film as the zamindar's haveli was actually owned by the erstwhile king, the Raja of Chettinad