It’s In His Hair

Sanjaya’s styles: “Andy Gibb,” Bad Hair Day, “Paula”/”Rachel,” “Sathya Sai Baba” (americanidol.com)

Sanjaya Malakar has made it through another week on American Idol, another week of negative comments from the judges, another week of changing hairstyles. While his fellow contestant Brandon Rogers was voted off on Wednesday night, 17-year-old Sanjaya managed to garner enough votes to go to the next round of competition.

How does Sanjaya do it? E! News reports that votefortheworst.com, the anti-Idol site endorsing him as having the weakest vocals in the competition, may have played a part. “As soon as Malakar was declared safe Wednesday night, Vote for the Worst credited its minions for prolonging his survival.” (“Idol Says Buh-Bye to Brandon“)

Another reason may be the hair. Like Samson, Sanjaya seems to draw strength from it. Fans of his look may constitute a voting block that has successfully kept him on the show so far. His ever-changing hairstyles suggest that he carefully cultivates and caters to this constituency. How far his coiffure will carry him remains to be seen.

Come Away With Her

Not Too Late. NorahJones.Com

Norah Jones’s third/latest album Not Too Late has, like her previous two, debuted at number one on the Billboard charts.

In this week’s issue of TIME magazine, Jones opens up about collaborating musically with her boyfriend (“We’ve been joined at the hip for almost seven years, so there’s no need to mask our criticisms”), this season’s American Idol (“It really is entertaining”) and how she feels about Dolly Parton (“Dolly’s adorable and hilarious, and she just sings her butt off”).

Of her latest venture–a lead role in the upcoming Wong Kar Wai film My Blueberry Nights–Jones says she was initially very nervous.

“I…had no idea who else would be in (the film). I just figured…it was a little indie movie. All of a sudden it was Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz, David Strathairn and Jude Law, and it’s like, ‘Oh Crap, what’d I get myself into?’”

Sethi Supplies Star-Swag

Pratima Sethi, of San Francisco-based Manak Jewels, helped the stars shine even brighter this Oscar season. Check out Sethi as she takes Carlene Davis of US TV behind the scenes to the TMG Luxury Swag Suite:

Online Videos by Veoh.com

More:
On Manak
Water misses Oscar boat

In Short

Penn (Rediff India)

**70 million people. 6 weeks. 3 rivers.

The Kumbh Mela has drawn to a close this year.

Prashant Panjiar, photographer and author of India: The Definitive Images, offers Time magazine readers this photo essay in honor of the 45-day festival in Allahabad.

**Kal Penn will star in ABC’s new comedy, The Call, about a group of Los Angeles paramedics. The Namesake star will play a “hypochondriac and pessimist” on the show, which will also feature actress Kali Rocha (of Grey’s Anatomy fame).

**Amitabh Bachchan continues to make headlines this week, as he heads to Kolkata for the filming of Bengali director Rituparno Ghosh’s first English-language feature The Last Lear. The film will also star Preity Zinta and Arjun Rampal.

**New Yorkers may want to visit the Union Square Barnes and Noble this Monday night at 7PM, where Jhumpa Lahiri and Mira Nair will be talking about The Namesake.

Show Me The Rupees

Mittal

Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the world’s richest people has just been released.

In 2007 India has become home to the most billionaires in Asia—taking the top spot from Japan (effectively ending that country’s 20-year-domination ).

Lakshmi Mittal is the richest man in Asia (fifth globally). Estimates put his net worth at $32 billion.

This year India, where 400 million people live on less that one dollar a day, has added 14 new billionaires to the Forbes list.

“Holy Disobedience”

Church in Southern India

Jane Magazine readers (guilty) will want to check out desi guest writer Jay Dixit’s piece “Why can’t a woman become a priest?” in this month’s issue. Dixit, a Yale grad who has written for the New York Times and Washington Post, follows a group of twelve reformist Christians—the “Roman Catholic Womenpriests” as they become ordained priests—a first for women in the United States.

There are about ten million twentysomething Catholic women in this country, says Dixit. Many are “questioning the church’s teachings on contraception and women’s and gay rights.”

More:
IndiaChristian.Com
Christianity in India

GTA Gets Desi Life

Desi Life (thestar.com)

Canada’s largest daily newspaper, The Toronto Star, launches a new glossy magazine called Desi Life. Editor Shree Paradkar speaks about her vision for the bi-monthly in this short video, describing the publication as a “voice of integration” for the over half million South Asian population of the Greater Toronto Area. Staff writers include Besharam’s resident DJ Amita Handa and author of Their Jihad…Not My Jihad, Raheel Raza. The inaugural issue comes out April 19.

Texas Twins On Next Deal

Deal or No Deal (nbc.com)

Look for contestant Uzma Lone from the Lone Star State on the Sunday, March 11, episode of TV game show “Deal or No Deal” hosted by comedian Howie Mandel. Uzma will have her twin sister Saima Bukhari on the show as her helper and the two will be donning desi duds, giving the show’s models a run for their money. Nirali interviewed Saima, the owner of Dallas salon and med spa Glow, for the October 2006 “Fall Beauty Trend Report.”

More: Play Deal or No Deal online
“‘Deal or No Deal’ risky business for Plano contestant”

Nair A Breath of Fresh Air

Photo Credit: FoxSearchLight

NPR’s Terry Gross interviews filmmaker Mira Nair in this Fresh Air feature.

Nair speaks candidly about her latest project (The Namesake), and her first impression of Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel (“I read The Namesake purely by chance on a plane…I was just absolutely captured by the distillation of Jhumpa’s writing of, especially, the death of a parent. I felt like I had found solace, I had found a person in the world who understood exactly what I was feeling…I wanted to make the film as personal to the Lahiri family as Monsoon Wedding was to my family”).

Listen to the full 20-minute interview here.

More:
On The Namesake (Nirali)
Salaam Shantaram!

Get The Door. It’s Aasif.

It seems our man Mandvi has a nose for pizza. Seen this?