Recently, when he was on zoOm's Ring-A-Star show, the phone lines were jammed and the squealing fans who were lucky to hear the hot hunk Arjun on the other end, just wouldn't hang up. He bared his heart to his fans, sharing all secrets about his love stories, women, travel and his struggling days.

And yes, he even crooned for his fans out there. They'd love to see him do the Elvis moves from the desi Jailhouse Rock number, but he shared a little secret instead.

"My parents aren't the only Elvis fans from that generation. When I went for a special screening of We Are Family I met Hiroo aunty (Karan Johar's mom).

She told me that she'd gone for her honeymoon to Las Vegas and coincidentally, Elvis was performing there. She got a chance to watch Elvis live and it was a dream-come-true for her.

Hiroo aunty told me, 'Beta I have watched Elvis live, I am telling you that you were very good too.' Now I don't know if Elvis is turning in his grave, but I am happy that everyone, including my parents has loved it.

" Well, Elvis is a legend alright, but Arjun is also apun ka rock star no less, right? The actor had one little advice for his fans, "When you're going to watch We Are Family, please take a box of tissues with you." And our advice is, wear water-proof make-up, girlies.

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hai na? Not any more. Some of the young actors and actresses from Delhi are breaking the mould, shattering the stereotypes.

They're cool, trendy, and every bit Bollywood, with a certain Dilliwala feel to their character. They're doing unconventional roles, and are giving Bollywood's closed-in clan some jitters as they stride ahead.

Nalin Singh , Neha Sharma, Rajat Barmecha, Shalini Vatsa, Arjan Bajwa, Suhel Seth, the list is increasing, as is their fame. After all, Academy Award winning Hollywood director Ang Lee scouted across the nation before zeroing in on Delhi lad Suraj Sharma to play the younger Pi Patel in his next, "Life Of Pi".

DU graduate Imran Zahid is another new find. He was handpicked by Mahesh Bhatt to play Chandu's role in a movie based on slain JNU leader Chandrashekhar's life .

He says, "It is Bhattsaab who messaged me and I have still saved it. It read, 'Dil thaam ke baitho, tumhare liye ek role hai'.

" Delhi's youngsters, with their 'alag' ideas of acting, directing and storywriting are wanted in Bollywood right now. As Anurag Kashyap says of Rajat Barmecha (of "Udaan" fame), "Yeh Dilli ka ladka hai na, unka acting ka idea alag hota hai.

Jab aaya tha, tab toh fullto filmi tha." Jokes apart, this newfound bunch of talent is unwilling to compromise, and equally unwilling to be labelled an 'outsider' in Bollywood.

As Nalin Singh, who's all set to play Joseph Goebbels (Hitler's closest associate) in a film on Hitler , says, "With so many Delhiites making it big in the film industry, this sort of labelling will stop..

. Now one can afford to have a filmi career staying in Delhi itself.

" Maybe there's something to Nalin's words. The capital is surely becoming the hot new ambience in Hindi cinema, with actors, directors, writers, and even stylists from the capital featuring in the rolling credits of some of the hippest and most talked about films in recent times.

So, is Delhi becoming a new recruiting ground for films – just like Mumbai ? What is it about Delhi that makes it so filmi? Funnyman Vir Das, who's also into acting these days, puts it perfectly, "Delhi is made of communities and we can see these lines quite clearly. An aunty from Punjabi Bagh will be different from an aunty of Faridabad and an aunty from Vasant Kunj.

And while Bollywood has exhausted its Switzerlands, directors find untapped potential in Delhi, with lots to explore. And this makes Delhi a hot destination for cinema today.

" So, take note, koi aisa-waisa role nahi chalega. Dilli sirf hero ka role karega! (less)

"It lends colour to cinema. While Mumbai is a melting pot of cultures, Delhi is made of community, and we can see these lines quite clearly.

An aunty from Punjabi Bagh will be different from a Faridabad aunty or an aunty from Vasant Kunj. And while Bollywood has exhausted Mumbai and its Switzerlands, something that we see in almost all movies, directors find untapped potential in Delhi, with lots to explore.

And this makes Delhi a hot destination for cinema today." So what does he love about Delhi? "Delhi women – they're the most beautiful women! But the fact remains that they know they are gorgeous.

I love Delhi winters too – there's nothing like driving on Akbar Road at 3am in the morning. I still cannot get enough of the double mutton single egg roll at Nizam's, the kakri with masala at Barakhamba Road, and the chat at Shahjahan Road," gushes he.

Vir, though he shifted base to Mumbai four years ago, is still a Delhi boy. Having studied at the Delhi Public School, Noida, for three years, – "the 'cool' DPS," quips Vir – he went on to study Political Science for two years at Sri Venkateswara College, better known as Venky, and finally finished his bachelors in Economics from Knox College , Illinois , USA.

Political Science, Economics and then theatre – quite a jump, eh? Laughs Vir, "Call it the academic in me or the non-academic. The thing was that I scored only 53% in my boards.

Add to that 10% for basketball, dramatics etc, and I made the cut for Political Science, but sadly, I was only 3% short for English (Hons), which is what I wanted to do." His stand-up acts started in America in Chicago , when he performed for five minutes on the amateur comedy Tuesday nights.

"After the Tuesday nights, they told me to come for seven minutes on a Friday and then it stretched on to Thursday nights – the response was good. After that, I came to Delhi for the holidays, and I had to perform for one night at the big hall in the India Habitat Centre.

And all the tickets were sold out..

. The response for the show was great because at the time, no one was doing stand-up.

That's how it started." Academics is not the only area where Vir has changed tracks.

It's true of his profession – from stand-up comedy to TV shows and now to Bollywood. "I was only 24 years old when a lady called Sabina Sehgal Saikia – the then Delhi Times editor – asked me to host the Times Food Guide Awards, so it was with The Times of India that my career began in this field.

After that in 2005, Zoom wanted me to do two TV shows, "Is Route Ki Sabhin Linein Maast Hain" and a late night show entitled "Ek Rahin Vir". I shifted base to Mumbai from USA in two weeks! And I still have some of my stuff in America that I have yet to pick up," laughs Vir.

Vir Das took up acting with "Badmaash Company", which also starred Shahid Kapoor and Anushka Sharma. Since then, he's done Aamir Khan's " Delhi Belly ", among other films.

"I auditioned nine times for "Delhi Belly", and it was torturous!" Now, he has a TV show lined up, called "History Of India", three movies on the floor for 2011, another for which he starts shooting soon this year, and finally, the release of "Delhi Belly", which he says has captured Delhi "in a very beautiful and unconventional way."Stand-up, TV shows, Bollywood, and his own band – seems like life has just started for a funnyman from Delhi called Vir Das (less)

Sethi in Gurinder Chadha?s latest offering ?It?s a Wonderful Afterlife?, has infused life into the character of the mother who is always on the lookout for a suitable match to marry off her fat and not so beautiful daughter, Roopi(played by Goldy Notay). Shabana essays the role with such perfection that the audiences will instantly identify with her and would recall their neighborhood aunty or some other relative similarly desperate to get her daughter or son settled in matrimony.

Even the murders that Shabana Azmi commits through over- spiced curry of the relatives of grooms who had rejected her daughter, does not make her look inhuman and an object of hatred. In fact, the veteran actress successfully keeps the human touch to all of her actions, which successfully induce laughter in this funny comedy.

However, the zenith reaches when Ghosts of the relatives want Mrs. Sethi to die for their redemption but she would not go before marrying off her Roopi.

This forces even ghosts to join Shabana Azmi in her marry Roopi efforts, thereby inducing more laughter. Sendhil Ramamurthy, who plays the part of Raj( much like Shah Rukh Khan plays the part of Raj Malhotra in his innumerable flicks like ?DDLJ,KKHH etc) and comes as a secret agent to investigate the murders, looks hot and charming in the flick.

Sendhil is one of the highlights of the film, which is otherwise fails to match the magic of Gurinder Chadha?s earlier flick ?Bend It Like Beckham?. -- k k rai Send comments: 0comments (less)