Saturday, March 9, 2013

Spicy Saturday: Vidya Balan

On the heels of International Women's Day, it seems only right to recognize one of the hottest ladies of modern Bollywood, Kerala-born beauty Vidya Balan. Why is she hot? Because the versatile actress is burning up the box office with films like Kahaani and The Dirty Picture, netting headlining roles and demanding paychecks on par with male stars. Able to play everything from the ingenue to the sexpot to the badass, Vidya earned her stripes on TV, doing commercials and sitcoms and music videos, before making her Bengali film debut in 2003 and her Hindi film debut with Parineeta in 2005. In just seven years, she's become an award-winning, must-have lead actress! In short, Vidya rocks.






Thursday, March 7, 2013

Five Things Soaps Can Teach You About Writing


As a lifelong TV junkie and erstwhile entertainment journalist, I’ve often joked I have the “superpower” of being able to sense where a story is going. (Friends have tested this theory. Exhibit A: the pilot for The LA Complex.) That’s because even when a show is throwing in every twist imaginable, crafting unreliable narrators and casting new roles, there is a narrative flow. It’s called a story arc for a reason. There are always clues and flags—and subtle signs that sometimes even a writer doesn’t pick up on—which hint at the trajectory of a given plot. And, often, a regular soap opera viewer (or regular reader!) is eagle-eyed when it comes to spotting missteps and deviations from the natural direction. Most of what I've learned about writing a riveting tale, or enjoying one as a consumer, I gleaned from being addicted to daytime soaps!