He's the managing director of a 27-year-old wine company, and few in India can rival Ranjit Chougule's knowledge of wine and the business itself. But then, it's a family concern — his father, the redoubtable Shamrao Chougule, rose from a humble farming background to set up Chateau Indage, currently India's biggest wine producing company.

Bachata is a Latin folk dance. Priti Gupta of Dance Sports India who teaches this form says, "Bachata is actually a kind of music, and a dance routine developed as a result of it. It was a peasant dance, which slowly gained popularity all over the world." According to her, this dance is meant for people from all age groups as it is quite simple, and the best part is that one doesn't need to go through a long course to learn it!

"A workshop of two-three days is enough to learn the basics," says

Preeti.

Pasodoble

Overlooking the serene environs of the heritage St Peter's Church is Fahad Samar and Simone Singh's 2,500 sq ft terrace apartment in Bandra. As actor Simone and film-maker Fahad often have to travel to film studios at Goregaon, they both felt Bandra embodies their style of living and sense of aesthetics, after South Mumbai. "It has an energy and a feeling of community that we both adore," says Fahad.

If she had her way, Deepa Awchat would write on all her experiences of savouring different regions of India — "Not just food, but culture and heritage too," she smiles. For the slim-figured restaurateur has "loads of documentation" collected over her 20-year-old tryst with different cuisines, that goes much beyond her first book that she's just written. A gazetted post with the Customs department, which she gave up along the way for her first love, cooking, holding no regrets for her.

"The pleasure," she smiles, seated at the terrace of her home at Matunga, "Is to present food the way I see it; each dish must have definite ingredients."

A scene, what seems like a regular day in the life of superstars Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, flashes on TV screens. He is playing with a video game and she wants his attention. A closer look and two seconds later, you realise that it's a mobile ad. By then, the viewer has already warmed up to the couple's easy camaraderie. Yes, they come in pairs now. While most celebrities today are open about their love lives, they also seem to be cashing in on it by appearing together and adding that extra zing to their brand value. Other instances? John Abraham and Bipasha Basu playing the seduction game for a shampoo ad, Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor fighting over a soft drink can.

She has managed to piss off many, including superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan and even newcomer Sonam Kapoor, with her candid views on them on her blog. But trust Shobhaa De not to back down, despite the backlash (the latter called her a 'porn' writer, while SRK insisted she was a joke!).

"My views are independent and free of any prejudice. I have never belonged to any camp (and that covers politics, society and Bollywood!), and my views are taken seriously because of this one reason. My job is to provide an honest opinion; I am not anybody's PR agent. I give credit where and when it is due most generously, but people are free to debate or disagree. I stand by every single word, so deal with it!" she says.