Abraham Boards Kabul Express

Abraham for PETA India

He’s 50% Malayali, 50% Irani—and 100% dreamboat.

Frequently voted as one of Bollywood’s sexiest stars, John Abraham intends on sticking to the unbeaten path. “I’m most comfortable with unconventional roles,” he told the Mumbai Mirror newspaper last week. “I want audiences to identify me with unconventional films.”

Abraham is pleased that the Deepa Mehta film Water (in which he plays the gentle idealist Narayan) has received an Oscar nod.

In his latest movie, Kabul Express (released last month), Abraham plays a journalist covering the Taliban in Afghanistan. It has been reported that Abraham received death threats while filming in Kabul. The Yash Raj project, directed by Kabir Khan, has received mediocre reviews. Anyone seen it?

More:
Mehta swims with Water
Deepa Mehta tries her hand at radio drama
Water works for Canada

In Session With Outlandish

Outlandish

If you missed Outlandish’s performance at London’s Scala last month, don’t despair.

You can hear the Danish hip hop trio on Nikki Bedi’s radio show early this morning.

Tune in here and check it out (click on the Listen Live link up-top).

Another Day, Another Dollar (Make That 30 Cents)

Osman Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi cab driver who lives in Queens, discovered a black suitcase in his trunk Monday night after dropping a passenger off in Midtown Manhattan.

The owner, a woman who gave him a 30-cent tip on a $10.70 fare, accidentally left it in the trunk.

The suitcase contained 31 diamond rings.

Chowdhury spent hours trying to track the woman down, eventually calling her mother in Dallas after finding the number listed on a small tag.

“I’m not going to take someone else’s money or property to make me rich,” said Chowdhury, who has been in the US for the past 15 years, adding: “why would I think I could keep it? It wasn’t mine.”

In New York City, Bangladesh ranks as the “number one country of origin for first-time cab drivers.” Many, including Chowdhury, are members of New York’s Taxi Workers’ Alliance, founded by labor activist Bhairavi Desai.

More:
Driving Miss Desi
The New York Cab Driver-Workout
The New York Taxi Workers’ Alliance is recognized by LeadershipForChange.Org

Norah Is Number One. Again.

Norah Jones

Norah Jones’s latest album, Not Too Late, has topped Billboard sales-charts, grabbing the number one spot in its debut week. The LP, her third, has sold over 405,000 units so far–making Jones one of the few recording artists to have a number one record in the UK and US simultaneously.

Her other albums (Feels Like Home; Come Away With Me) were also transatlantic number ones, a record matched by only one other woman—Madonna (Source).

Avial Fo’ Real

Padamadan (video.webindia123.com)

At under five minutes each, Judy Padamadan’s videos offer a brief introduction to many dishes from Kerala, including Urulakkizhangu Ulli Theeyal and sweet Kozhukatta for the uninitiated among us, and straightforward instruction for the more culinarily inclined. Now that I know what avial is (the delicious-looking vegetable dish featured in the video clip above), I would love to try it.

Padamadan is an enthusiast for the cuisines of Kerala and the midwestern U.S. She came to the U.S. from India with her parents when she was a year old. During summer trips to visit her grandparents in Kerala she would spend time with cooks in the kitchen. Back in the states her childhood cuisine was her mom’s “very creative fusion of American, Italian and Indian.” She attended the New England Culinary Institute and has worked as a line cook and food consultant.

More:
Judy Padamadan My Story
Index to 35+ recipes/videos

M.I.A. Has Bird Flu (Not Really)

Our favorite Sri Lankan British punk-ragga princess does it again in her latest video for Bird Flu:

More:
M.I.A. on MySpace
Nirali features M.I.A. back in the day
Where were you in ’92?

Patel Not To Be Envied

Roopal in Red (Style.Com)

“I wore the cute white dress and jacket that we picked out on Thursday, and it was soooo cold! Why would I rather look good than be warm? I got to the show and sat next to Meredith Melling Burke from Vogue and Bergdorf’s Roopal Patel, who both have back-to-back shows because of their jobs. I don’t envy them. I mean I love fashion, but it’s really exhausting to run around like that!!!”

So blogs socialite Fabiola Beracasa–daughter of fashion royalty Veronica Hearst–about being behind the scenes in New York this week, where collections by Vera Wang, Behnaz Sarafpour, and Donna Karan will be showcased (among others).

Be sure to check out Beracasa’s forthcoming entries by visiting New York magazine online–because um, it’s going to be, like, soooooo totally cool!!

PS: You know Roopal Patel as Bergdorf Goodman’s fashion director. Read about her in this Ego Magazine piece.

More about Roopal:
Patel gets promoted
Roopal’s “diary”
Gawker takes a jab, naturally

Nooyi On Top

PepsiCo Inc. said today that its Chief Executive Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi will take on the additional title of Chairman of the Board this May. Nooyi has been at PepsiCo since 1994 and became CEO in October 2006. (Chicago Tribune) She will be the company’s fifth Chairman. “The four people before me have left phenomenal legacies and I have got to make sure that I can fit into their shoes.” Chennai-born Nooyi was named the most powerful woman in business last year by Fortune magazine and the fourth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

Associate Editor of Forbes, Chana Schoenberger says that Nooyi’s election is a good sign for women. “A lot of companies are now having a chairman and then a separate person as the CEO, and then a third person might run the board as the presiding director. So, the fact that Pepsi’s board wanted to give her both of these jobs means that they are very confident in her leadership.” (IBNLive.com)

More: “I have legacies to live up to: Nooyi” (CNN-IBN video)
PepsiCo news release

Guruji’s Canuck Clinic

Room at Brampton (OslerFoundation.Com)

Ontario’s Brampton Civic Hospital plans to open its doors in October of this year–and when it does, it’ll be “due in no small measure to the generosity of the South Asian community, particularly residents with Punjabi roots who live in the area.”

That’s because the desi community in Brampton is responsible for raising almost $3.5 million. The hospital’s ER is to be named after Guru Nanak Dev.

“I won’t lie. That (name) was a huge push for our campaign. It’s an emotional connection so it was really well-received in the community,” said Ramandeep Grewal, a fundraiser and member of the Canadian Sikh Subcommittee.

The Toronto Star reports that the Ontario Federation of Hindu Temples has pledged $2.5 million and the Muslim Friends association an additional $1 million.

When completed, Brampton Community will house 608 beds and be able to accommodate 90,000 ER visits annually.

Stoner Duo Amsterdam-Bound

Sophie Giraud / AP

The as-yet untitled sequel to 2004′s comedy Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle is currently being filmed in Shreveport, Louisiana.

The new movie, due to be released next year, has the two friends flying to Amsterdam–picking up where the original film left off.

Newly-out Neil Patrick Harris will be returning as himself, and this time around viewers can expect to see Rob Corddry (The Daily Show), Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: SVU), and Ed Helms (The Office) take on minor roles.

Nirali fave Kal Penn is excited about the sequel, saying he “laughed out loud” upon reading the script. “It’s ten times funnier than the first one. I’m very very excited to go back to playing Kumar.”

Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle earned a (modest) $18.2 million at the box office.

More:
Penn joins cast of 24
Kal Penn goes to Hollywood
Film review: Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle
Spend a “steamy” Valentine’s Day at White Caste! Mmmm. So good.