As per highly placed sources, Anil Agarwal of Vedanta has picked up majority stake in a cash-strapped media house. The billionaire NRI hasn’t been deterred by the Supreme Court’s decision on leaving the onus on the natives and tribals on handling their land to industry, which affected Agarwal’s ambitious Odisha project.
Anil Agarwal has been on an investing spree in India and must have realised that owning controlling stakes in a media conglomerate would be a smart investment to mobilise public opinion. As per sources, the cash-strapped media house was bleeding and was on the look out for a buyer. The conglomerate had earlier divested considerable stake to another industrial house.
So if the news of Anil Agarwal of Vedanta buying into this mega Media House is true, it would be interesting to see how Agarwal and the other big stake holder work in tandem in running the business.
BISHI- a songstress, a performer and a fashionista is taking London by the storm. “The New British Diva” The New York Times stated! She is a friend of mine who I met some years back when she periodically visited India to learn Sitar from the maestro – Ravi Shankar. Bishi aka Bishnupriya Bhattacharya is a fashionista too and have been extensively shot by lensman Nick Knight and last year Vogue -Italia released her album.
Here is the video of a Bishi’s rendition of one of Rabindranath Tagore’s song with her mother – Susmita Bhattacharya.
Bishi adds this note for fashionscandal.com readers about this song:
Hi there,
Blessings for the road ahead from my mother and I!
I’d like to wish you a wonderful new year with this beautiful song and visual treat from my mum, my team and myself 
Gram Chara is a reworking of a well known poem by Bengali poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore, set for our voices and strings by Neil Kaczor & produced by Matthew Hardern (who also directed and produced the video). The main strings are played by The Ligetti Quartet whilst the solo viola da gamba is played by Liam Byrne.
I grew up hearing my mum (Susmita Bhattacharya) sing this as a lullaby and in performance during her career as a classical singer.
She has studied the Tagore tradition throughout her life and 2013 is an important celebration for the man regarded by many as the greatest writer in modern Indian literature. 100 years ago Rabindranath Tagore became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
He was an accomplished artist, environmentalist, rural reconstructionist, political thinker and philosopher; as an educationist he founded the International University, Visva-Bharati. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems; the Republic of India’s Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh’s Amar Shonar Bangla; he even established a new dance form called Rabindra Nritya.
Tagore had strong links with Scotland after establishing a close friendship with pioneering Scottish town planner Patrick Geddes and his grandfather Dwarkanath Tagore was honoured with the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh in 1845.
The string arrangement echoes with Scottish themes that pay respect to this historic International communion of art, literature and humanity.
English Translation……
Beguiles my mind the earthly road
Beyond the village it does spread
I know not for whom my mind thrusts
With arms languishing in those dusts
Pulling at my feet the road drags me out
To an obscure end I know nothing about
In which turning in the road
Will I find the mother lode?
Where some new person I will befriend
I can’t fathom where it will end
Lots of love
Bishi x
Well Kanika Chandok is a NRI – a Londoner who gets fancy things written about her in Indian Mags and Dubai glossies. A mother of three – Kanika Chandok has separated from her hubby – Raj Chandok and is dating a Money-Bag – Anil Aggarwal. She is a typical ‘Trophy Wife’ material who claims to be “doing something great with Pucci.” You know what great thing she did with Pucci? Well Kanika Chandok managed the launch of Pucci’s flagship store in London. But ignorant scribes write, “Sharing a close relationship with fashion house, Pucci, Kanika is currently working on exclusive collaborations with the respected label.” I sent few mails to the Pucci HQ and got a rude reply that the Label has no collaborations with the mentioned lady.
She is also a musician and by sucking up the richie-rich Indians in UK managed to bag some vague award.
I believe that Kanika Chandok is friendly with our Desi Queen Bees and expect to see lot more of this multifaceted bag-hag in Delhi and Mumbai soon.
Hope it is okay with you folks if once in a while fashionscandal.com indulges in little self-praise?
Fashionscandal.com was the FIRST to break the news ‘Globally’ on the 14th of May (Here is the link: http://wp.me/p1C8a1-Wq) that the famous funny-man, Jay Leno who is also an automaniac got a TATA NANO in his enviable Big Dog Garage. Since then the news has gone viral not only on Digital Media through On-Line sites, Twitter and Facebook but also has been widely reported by print-media in India and Abroad.
Thank you India Today Group to give fashionscandal.com the due acknowledgement in your reports in India Today, Business Today and Mail Today. The London Tabloid – Daily Mail to carried the news and gave us due credit. Here is what they reported:
Delhi’s popular fashion and lifestyle blog www.fashionscandal.com was the first to report Leno’s brush with Bollywood.
‘Leno kept the affair absolutely Desi and even had dancers doing the Bollywood jhatkas and matkas as the NANO with Tri-Colour stripes rolled in to his garage. The man bowed down in front of the world’s cheapest car with a traditional Namaskar (sic),’ read the entry.
India Today also carried a similar report.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/jay-leno-jumps-on-to-the-nano-bandwagon/1/188766.html
Sonam Kapoor has an agenda for the fashion industry or what? Or why else is she hopping from Paris to London to Milan to catch the Autumn-Winter 2012/13 showings at the fashion weeks? I know she has all the time as she got no movies to do but globetrotting and catching all the fashion weeks seems like the trait of a fashion addict.
Sonam should try for a job with a fashion glossy. I don’t know if any would be keen to hire her as her knowledge on fashion is questionable. Wearing expensive labels doesn’t necessarily make you a fashion pro. My one-time chit-chat with her exposed her as she gaffed about Japanese labels like Comme des Garçons and it’s designer Rei Kawakubo.
But yes I discovered from reliable sources that Sonam Kapoor is not invited by Cavalli or Gabbana to attend their shows. In fact she sends an E-mail request, which is like her resume to the fashion houses to secure an invitation. The E-mail talks about her filmography (a list of flop Bollywood movies) and also Papa – Anil Kapoor’s Slumdog Millionaire claim-to-fame. There are attachments of her snaps with Tom Cruise and of editorial shoots that she had done for Indian edition of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and other fashion glossies. I guess that is enough of hard-sell by Sonam Kapoor to receive an invitation to the front-row. Once at the show she manages to get a picture clicked with the designer and immediately post it on Twitter for Desi media to clamour for it.