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Mallika misses mom's 'aalu paratha'


New Delhi, May 11 (IANS) Actress Mallika Sherawat, known for her bold onscreen avatar, uses her mother's maiden name and says she misses the 'aalu parathas' made by her the most.
"Me and my brother together used to eat 'aalu parathas' with lots of desi ghee which mom used to made," Mallika said in a statement. Now that the actress has turned vegan, she can't eath aalu parathas.
On the occasion of Mother's Day May 13, she will share all this and more through her voice blog, which will go live Sunday. She also talked about love, mischief, festivals and much more.
Mallika, who started her acting career with "Khwahish", was last seen in "Double Dhamaal". She also featured in international films like "The Myth" and "Politics of Love".
Fans can listen to Mallika narrating her life's interesting moments by dialling 5789 from their mobiles.
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'The Forest' terrorises despite the cliche


Film: 'The Forest'; Cast: Nandana Sen, Jaaved Jaaferi and Ankur Vikal; Director: Ashvin Kumar; Rating: ***
Charlie Chaplin once said, 'All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.' Debutante feature film director Ashvin Kumar applies the same principle for a horror film, replacing the park with a forest and throwing in the woman's husband, a policeman's son, and a guard, and binds them all with a man-eating leopard.
Though 'The Forest' is full of cliches of its genre, there are elements that one can really cheer for in this low-budget, independent film.
A couple, Radhan (Nandana Sen) and Pritam (Ankur Vikal), come to a jungle resort in the Kumau Valley. Here they find an old friend Abhishek (Jaaved Jaaferi), who is a cop in the region and lives with his son. As they frolic around the forest, trying to sort dormant issues between one another, a man-eating leopard is readying for the kill.
In the 1952 film 'The Bad And The Beautiful' directed by Vincente Minnelli, filmmakers realised that what actually scares people in a horror film is not horrible creatures, but the fear of something lurking in the dark. Horror lies not in what is visible, but in that which is not and the fear of what it can do to you.
That is exactly what Kumar does to good effect, using shadows and sounds instead of the actual leopard who barely occupies five minutes of screen time.
The cinematography of the film, especially the shots of the jungle taken by Naresh and Rajesh Bedi, is breathtaking. And the actors do a fairly good job of what they are offered.
Yet, there's hardly anything that comes as a surprise as the film panders to known cliches of the horror and thriller genre. Thus, the leopard becomes only secondary to the horror the characters' own inner selves, struggling against themselves and those closest to them. That this is not done in an overbearing manner makes one comfortable in the cliches.
The major drawbacks of the film are the many lapses in writing, which forgets to close some loopholes or better explain others.
There is a track of an ash-wearing mysterious woman which does not find a logical conclusion. There's even a scene where Radha sees the reflection of a woman in the mirror. The scene, it seems, was added just to lend more chill to the film and like a few other scenes, seems completely disjointed from the story.
The leopard is shown to be swift and powerful enough to just carry off people magically. Agreed that these mythical elements were required to build the leopard's character, but a little more attention to detail like the addition of sound of being pulled in the gap during the person's disappearance would have made it that much more believable.
The point of view of the leopard is also done very badly. One of the reasons that makes the leopard so deadly is his sight which is sharper than that of humans. To show his vision to be hazy does not make sense.
The typical ending would have been where some or all of the humans, and definitely the terrorising animal, die. Though there is death, the ending is sensitive and original as the writer-director does something unexpected yet believable. This shows the sensitive side of the film whose intention is not just to thrill, but also raise issues of conservation.
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Cricket: Windies mauled by Lions


West Indies collapsed to 147 all out against the England Lions on Thursday in what the tourists will hope isn't a taste of things to come during next week's first Test against England at Lord's.
Only Darren Bravo with 51, in what was the West Indies first full innings on tour as a mere 34 overs were possible in last week's rain-marred match against Sussex, prevented an even greater collapse at Northampton.
As it was Northamptonshire's Jack Brooks, a self-confessed "glorified club cricketer" made use of the damp seam and swing-friendly conditions to take three for 23 on his home ground, with Surrey's Stuart Meaker taking three for 42 including a spell of three wickets in 15 balls.
For Brooks it was just the latest chapter in a remarkable tale that only a few years ago still saw him playing village cricket.
"I played village cricket till I was 20 or 21," he said. "I just wasn't very good when I was younger.
"I'm still a glorified club cricketer now. But I've worked really hard on my game and my fitness over the years - with a few gentle pushes along the way from coaches over the years, who've told me to start believing in my ability."
There was surprise even before the four-day match began when West Indies captain Darren Sammy was rested by the tourists.
James Taylor, skipper of the second-string Lions, won the toss from Windies vice-captain Kirk Edwards and had no hesitation in asking the tourists to bat in their final match before next week's first of a three-Test series.
Opener Adrian Barath and Edwards, out for nought, both fell cheaply to the 27-year-old Brooks, who only made his first-class debut three years ago, and even star batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul (six) fell cheaply when he miscued a hook off change seamer Matt Coles and was caught on the leg-side.
Bravo played some typically stylish shots as he strove to turn the tide but no sooner had he completed an 86-ball fifty featuring nine fours then he pulled Meaker to mid-on.
Marlon Samuels, whose 32 was the only other West Indies score of note, followed soon afterwards when he was caught behind off Meaker.
There was still time before stumps for Lions opener Joe Root to be lbw to one that kept low from fast bowler Fidel Edwards.
But Michael Carberry (15 not out) and the in-form Nick Compton (18 not out) saw the Lions to 40 for one at stumps.
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Focusing on bowling in the right areas: Narine

Kolkata, (IANS): West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine, who has played a big role in the Kolkata Knight Riders moving up in the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), says he is focusing on his strengths and bowling in the right areas.

Narine is not only the joint third-highest wicket taker in IPL-V, but he also has an enviable economy rate of 5.30, that has played a big role in the Kolkata Knight Riders moving up.

With 15 wickets, the same as Indian leg spinner Pityush Chawla plying his trade for Kings XI Punjab, from nine outings, Narine has posed quite a few problems for opposing batsmen.

"I know that someday my action will be sorted out by batsmen. But I am focusing on my strengths and bowling in the right areas," he said on the sidelines of a promotional event here.

Narine got a pat on the back from Knight Riders' coach Trevor Bayliss, who compared him to Sri Lankan off spinner Ajantha Mendis.

"One of his strengths is his accuracy. It is very similar to Mendis's show in his first few years. For Mendis, it was not only the mystery of his deliveries, but his accuracy, the same is true for Narine. The batsman has no idea whether or which way the ball will turn".

Bayliss said added to this, Narine was pitching the deliveries on a good lengths which made it difficult for batsmen to hit him.

However, Bayliss also praised his other bowlers. "The others have done exceptionally well too. Our bowling has been our strength at this stage".
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We want to finish as No.1: Warner

Hyderabad, (The Telegraph): Even a total as formidable as 187 wasn't enough for the Deccan Chargers. David Warner filled the vacuum left by Kevin Pietersen with a blistering century in only his second game of the season on Thursday.

Warner (109 not out off 54 balls) and Ojha (64 not out) shared a massive century stand to lead Delhi to a nine-wicket win over the Chargers.


Expressing happiness over winning their IPL match against the Chargers, Warner said the team wants to go into the knockout stage as table-toppers.

The following are excerpts:


Virender Sehwag: I was confident even after they scored over 180… I knew the kind of batting line-up we had, chasing 170-180 shouldn't be difficult. I must say 187 is not the easiest target to chase down. But David Warner made it look incredibly easy. I was trying to hit it over long-on but mistimed…

Actually, I failed to read the spin and ended up giving a catch in the covers… These things happen… Good that I got out early… Naman (Ojha) and David Warner took the opportunity well and played brilliantly.

My mindset doesn't change whether I'm playing T20s or ODIs or Test matches… That's the way I have grown up…

David Warner: It's great to be a part of the team, which is doing well...It is a great feeling...We are at the top of the points table and credit to the bowlers, too, for the way they have bowled in this tournament. I watched few of the DareDevils' matches in the West Indies...It's incredible the way Morne Morkel was bowling...We are in a good space at the moment.

We messed up a little bit in the last game. We must stay at the top and we want to finish in the top place. We have to keep playing well, make sure that you are at top and keep working hard. Sehwag is a great player. If he goes or does not go, we have to keep playing well. What I did, I should be doing that exactly.

We know when batting second under lights the ball can do a bit...We tried to take that away from them by going after the bowling very early. I don't go to gym too often...I have not lifted any weights in the gym for the last 12 months! I focus on batting in the nets.
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