Fraud accused Abhay Gandhi planned to marry Deepika Padukone

AHMEDABAD: When the 2G scam accused and key aide of accused ex-minister A Raja, AM Sadiq Batcha was found dead in Chennai in March, the police got a bunch of print-outs pasted on mirrors in his house. They were mission statements like "I will be the richest man on earth", "My son will become a businessman like Mukesh Ambani" and more.

Abhay Gandhi, 31, who was booked for a fraud running over Rs 100 crore, showed an uncanny resemblance to Batcha who had committed suicide.

When the police raided the absconding accused's house, they found a bunch of cards pinned on to a soft board that listed out targets - an Audi car by September 5, 2012, get married to Deepika Padukone by July 5, 2011, earn Rs 1 crore by September 5, 2013, dream house named like Abhishek Bachchan's bungalow Jalsa by September 5, 2014, Rs 10,000 crore by September 5, 2030 and earn 25,000 crore USDs by September 5, 2040. All of them had photographs of his targets.

The police believe September 5 was a significant date for Gandhi. The man wanted for the multi-crore scam was a meticulous planner. Abhay Gandhi, promoter of one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in the recent past, knew what he wanted and how.

He pulled out of the scene when the going got hot, closed shop and fled abroad. Police believes he might be in London. The police recovered goods from his house that give a peek into the fast life that he led.

The police do not know much about Gandhi except that he started big in 2008 with a slew of seminars promoting his investment firm with the formula to grow money.

"Later, he had started charging the participants around Rs 2700 for the seminars conducted in posh hotels across the state. He had some of the shrewdest agents who got him funds worth crores from cash-rich areas such as Khambhat that sees influx of money from foreign shores. With timely payments in the initial phase, he earned confidence and more investment," said a crime branch official.

Police found notes of Rs1000 denomination stuck on walls of all the rooms in his house in Vasna. "It was apparently part of his motivation scheme that he used to follow to attract money. His goal list also had images and status alongside. For instance he targeted a laptop by March 2, 2011 and marked 'completed' when it was achieved," said SM Chaudhary, inspector of crime branch.

"Gandhi has not invested in any property. All properties except the Vasna house belonging to his father, are rented ones. Most of the properties' rent is overdue. He not only fled abroad but also took close relatives with him including his parents," said a crime branch official.

From the Editor-in-Chief 'Navel is the new cleavage for sexy Indian women'

Katrina Kaif captured a nation's imagination with her tantalising performance in the wildly popular item song Sheila ki Jawani in December last year. The film, Tees Mar Khan, quickly faded into obscurity but Katrina's sexy display of flat abs for five minutes might well have started, or at the very least cemented, a new fashion trend. For long, a voluptuous body and revealed cleavage defined what was sexy for the Indian woman. Now, thin is in. The navel is the new cleavage.

Bollywood, always a quick assimilator of new fashion trends, was on to it. In March, early promotional posters of Rohan Sippy's Dum Maaro Dum featured only the exposed midriff of Deepika Padukone. The film didn't make a splash but Padukone's navel baring performance in a remixed version of the iconic Dum Maaro Dum song drew millions of fans. Padukone soon emerged as the leader of the flat abs brigade, twirling her bare waist in Nescafe's Rs 30 crore "Shake it, Baby" advertisement campaign. Padukone readily agreed to do a photo shoot for this issue of INDIA TODAY showing off her perfect midriff.

Away from the big screen, the rise of the navel has led to the re-emergence of the sari. Clearly, stories about the death of the sari-pushed into oblivion by the ubiquitous salwar kameez, jeans, and trouser suits-were greatly exaggerated. And it is the younger crop of Indian fashion designers who have pushed the sari back into the mainstream. The 36-year-old Kolkata-based Sabyasachi Mukherjee is perhaps the best known of the lot. Along with saris, the midriff-revealing ghaghra-cholis have made a comeback. Designer Manish Malhotra's Fashion Week collections regularly highlight low waisted ghaghras accompanied by short cholis.

The creations of Sabyasachi, Malhotra and their fellow designers have found a market. At evening parties in Mumbai and Delhi, the very women you might have expected to sport a skirt and top two years ago now sport the old sari in a new avatar. It's the new style statement.

Our cover story written by managing editor Kaveree Bamzai traces the emergence of this new fashion trend. It is also a social trend. Indians have become more health and fitness conscious. Says fitness specialist Leena Mogre, "No one has a full figure any more. Everyone is on a diet and fitness regime." In 2009, when Rujuta Diwekar, a celebrity nutritionist from Mumbai, who advised Kareena Kapoor on how to get a size-zero figure, published a book titled Don't Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight, the first 20,000 copies sold out in less than a month. At least some people might have anticipated the rise of the navel well before Katrina and Deepika danced their item numbers.

Curiously, the south Indian film industry has been navel gazing for a long while now. But there is a difference in aesthetics. In the south, they prefer some flesh around the abs. Says actor Priyamani who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada movies, "The size-zero phenomenon would not be appreciated down south."
To each their own. Variety is the spice of life and fashion.

Is Salman 'Ready' to take off the slapstick tag?

Rarely has a film which has mercurial actor Salman Khan playing the lead role as 'Prem' failed to work its magic at the box office.

The actor is back with his new film 'Ready' that hits the theatres on Friday and the 'Chulbul Pandey' of Dabangg is eager to hold on to his winning streak with the new romantic comedy.

But Khan, who combines unashamed, pie-in-the-face slapstick with a unique sensibility that appeals to a wide section of India's cinema-crazed population, is at risk of typecasting himself permanently with a string of roles aimed at spoofing the socio-political system.

Following on the heels of the stellar success of 'Dabangg' that won the National Award for the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment, the music of Khan’s Ready has already topped charts with the groovy beats of 'Dhinka Chika' and 'Character Dheela'.

It seems Khan, at 46, has never been in a better place in his life with the biggest success of last year and the second highest grossing cinema of all time in his kitty, his 'Being Human' campaign a hit and Ready setting the tone for a sizzling summer.

This also sees director Anees Bazmee trying to turn the tide in his favour after his disastrous run in 2010 and 2011 with 'No Problem' and 'Thank You'.

The worldwide theatrical rights of 'Ready' have been sold for an astounding Rs 55 crore, according to media reports. It stars beside Khan, Asin Thottumkal, Paresh Rawal, Arya Babbar and Mahesh Manjrekar. Zarine Khan, who bears a striking resemblance to Katrina Kaif scorches the scene in the hit track 'Character Dheela.'

Khan's 'Dabangg' satirized the not just the political system but also set a Jim Careyish trend of mocking the justice machinery that govern rural towns. From bullying the local potter to puffing his chest – Khan unabashedly nailed the genre that he does so well.

Despite starting out as an action hero and maturing into delicate performance oriented roles, Khan is fast slotting himself as a slapstick actor with spoof action sequences and Rajinikanth-styled dialogues meant to draw whistles at semi-urban and rural screenings.

The trend that started with 'Biwi No. 1' and continued with 'Partner' and 'No Entry' continued through Dabangg where he resorted to crude fart jokes to extract laughs.

But the fact remains that the middle-aged actor, linked to several women in his long and illustrious career in Bollywood, one of its wholesome entertainers and still the main draw of production houses looking to cash on the Khan factor.

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