Dec 27 2008
Vijender Singh
Vijender Singh’s father, a bus driver, had to work overtime to pay for Vijender’s coaching. Although he went to win a bronze for India at the Beijing Olympics earlier this year, he still has to supplement his sport with a job in the Haryana police. Owing to his soft chocolate boy good looks, a welcome paradox to his steely fists of fury, he has been getting modelling offers in which he was rather interested and practised to take a step on the fashion walk. He even recently walked the ramp, and confessed in an interview to the BBC that it was tougher than boxing!
The first Indian woman to reach the singles quarterfinals at the Olympics. A badminton ace (her parents were both Haryana badminton champions, so she obviously got a head-start), Saina began in an arduous way, having to travel, at a very young age, almost 50 kilometres daily for her training. She is well-determined, dedicative and most beautiful player on the Indian side. Funding was also a problem back then, prompting her father to draw out his provident fund to invest it in her future. She hasn’t let him down. Her outstanding performance in the recent tournaments consistently gained the attention of audience on her side. Lots and lots of fans for her charm and storm.
Just when you think he has broken all the records he possibly could have, Sachin Tendulkar surprises you by breaking yet another one! He is invincible, unbeatable and, quite frankly, unbelievable in his ability to go out and create magic on the cricket pitch. People adorably Call him the ‘Little Master’, is a misnomer, because there is nothing little about his mastery. His popularity and appeal endure, and he still retains his middle class simplicity, with wife Anjali and the kids completing the domestic picture of homely contentment despite he is one of the highest tax payer in India.
Saravanan or Surya, as he’s popularly known, is the son of Sivakumar, also an actor. Married to the popular actress, Jyothika (they are quite a celebrity couple!), they both are gifted with a gorgeous baby daughter. With due modesty he says, “When I entered the film industry in 1997, it was with the responsibility that I should live up to the great reputation built up by my father.” Papa should be a happy man.
Doe-eyes and corkscrew curls, Suphala, born of Indian immigrant parents in the US, is a protege of Ustad Allah Rakha Khan and Zakir Hussain. When she was four, she started her desire towards piano and started classical training on it, but it was the tabla that tempted her! She created history when, in 2005, she was the first female artiste to accomplish an extraordinary performance in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. She collaborates with other artistes like Norah Jones, Yoko Ono, Ustad Sultan Khan, Antonio Banderas and more. Fittingly, she has been called ‘afurious beauty with fast fists’.
Thirty-something, Shireen Bhan, who went to FTII Pune to do her Masters in Film and Television, started out as an associate producer with UTV. Now with CNBC-TV 18, she’s their host with the most! Frequently seen on shows such as India Business Hour, Power Turks, and The Good Life Show. Her excellent accent and body language admires everyone in the media, she has been a role model for so many youthful aspirers. A graduate of Stephen’s College, Delhi, shireen, who has interviewed worthies like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Benazir Bhutto, Deepak Chopra, and many more, confesses she doesn’t ride on her good looks, saying her real strengths are editorial authority and integrity.
As executive director with Taj GVK Hotels and Resorts, Shalini Bhupal leads a breathless professional life. She adores her hometown Hyderabad, where she grew up in the illustrious GVK Reddy family and mostly spend her rare leisure hours there. Shalini graduated in Arts, and is in charge of new projects and interiors at Taj GVK. She looks after Taj Krishna, Taj Residency, Taj Banjara (all located at Hyderabad) and also Taj Chandigarh. Yet, she isn’t one to sacrifice her fitness schedule at any cost. A former trainer avers she is one of the most feminine, yet one of the fittest women, in Hyderabad.
She is flawless—almost as though she were cast in wax at Madame Tussaud’s and carted back to the Bigg Boss studio, where skimpy cholis, tight sarees, and ostrich egg sized emeralds and rubies adorn her ‘statue’sque form! A yoga exponent, with a successful DVD launched recently, she is also involved in social causes like AIDS, and does her bit for PETA. She never gets time to think about her personal care since her busy days takes her to nights immediately with few appointments and short official calls. Still single, she has admitted to an interest in London-based Raj Kundra, but till then is happy steering her production company in India. 
Bollywood’s controversy child is actually a man with a bleeding heart, so swear his family, friends and his fans. Movies are fine by him, but what he swears by are charity, secularism and now painting. With some respite from court cases and courting controversy, he’s also the most coveted bachelor in Bollywood. He finds peace in his home made luxury gardens and in the romantic hot spot that he chooses for his melody songs in his films. But he is always plunged into controversies. Why, even Rakhi Sawant pushed her luck by proposing to him on his hugely successful television show, Dus ka Dum. Well, despite many a smitten kitten, there is also a Kat! 
For a plump kid who transformed herself into a fairytale princess, the exquisitely elegant Sonam made quite a transition. Sporty, she is into squash, basketball, and enjoys keeping fit now that she has got her puppy fat off! Fun to hang out with her mates and most often visited her street side park, rarely been to theatres to watch her favorite Matt Damon and few others. Often called a nerd, because her nose is stuck in a book most of the time, she actually dreams of setting up a book club some day! Other dreams are less exalted—making more movies, gorging on her granny’s cakes, and wishing that Salman Khan were single (alas!).