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September 27, 2013
India Post www.indiapost.com
Aloo Jeera, Dahi ka raita served up Russian style! ELABUGA, Russia: Aloo Jeera, Dahi ka Raita and Aloo ke Paranthe might be common dishes in India but when served in a small town of Tatarstan, a state under the Russian Federation, it can leave anyone surprised. That is exactly what happened to a group of Indian journalists who visited Elabuga and were served these dishes by their tourism centre hosts at a lunch inside a museum. Tatarstan's cuisine involves a three-course meal in which first salad is served, then soup and finally the main course which involves meat with bread. And of
cooks downloaded the recipes from the internet which were in English, then they translated it to Russian and perfected the dishes to make the guests happy." "Russian hospitality might not be fabled but certainly it is a cut above the rest as unlike their media image of being stiff they are a set of warm and friendly people," an official said. The journalists were also left surprised, when they were taken to a popular 'Indian' restaurant "Malabar" in Kazan which served everything but 'Indian' food. Probably, the 'Indianess' of the restaurant was limited to the dressElabuga
hosts smile, and we are satisfied if we manage to do that," Tanzilya Agishina, the Deputy Director General for Development, Tatarstan, said. Elabuga, often referred to as 'a
city of museums', is located over 200 kilometers to the east of Tatarstan's capital Kazan. It lies at the confluence of the Toina and Kama rivers. Elabuga's museums, including
the well-preserved house of first Russian female soldier Nadezhda Durova and Russian landscape artist Ivan Shishkin's House museum, leave a lasting impression on the mind of the visitor. -PTI
Glamour first for Ileana D'Cruz S Tatarstan
course if you happen to be a 'vegetarian' you will be given fish. In a surprise, the Russian hosts in Elabuga laid out a lunch table which included dishes like Aloo Jeera, Dahi ka Raita and Aloo ke Parathe. On being asked how they had managed to prepare such a menu, Svetlana Andarzyanova, a Ministry of Culture official, said "the
ing of the waiters and waitresses, who were wearing Kurta Pyjamas and Salwar Suits respectively. Also, foot-tapping Bollywood numbers were playing aloud. Though Tatarstan in entirety is a tourist's delight, but Elabuga, with its warm hospitality and rich cultural heritage is a special place to visit. "We just want to make our
he wowed everyone with her understated performance in her Bollywood debut "Barfi", but Ileana D'Cruz says she is more comfortable doing hardcore commercial roles. The 25-year-old actress's second film is Rajkumar Santoshi's action-comedy "Phata Poster Nikhla Hero", which is a departure from her first Hindi film. Ileana feels Bollywood and glamour go hand-in-hand and she is no Vidya Balan to pull off roles like "Barfi" on regular basis. "I must admit that if you want to survive in Bollywood, you have to have a certain amount of glamour attached to you other wise it is difficult may be. I can't talk about other actresses but I have relied on glamour in films in the south. It works. "If you look glamorous, dress well, it works in the film. You can pass off in a film by just looking good. I am not Vidya (Balan). She is great and does not need glam-
our. I cannot even compare myself to her," Ileana told in an interview.
Ileana D'Cruz
The actress says she decided to be part of "Phata Poster..." as she felt people had started taking her too seriously after her portrayal of Shruti in Anurag Basu's
"Barfi" and feared getting typecast. "I think before 'Barfi' released, I had a feeling that people won't be able to accept me in such a serious role because they have never seen me do something like this before. After the film they started taking me too seriously and I didn't like it. "I wanted them to understand that I am a commercial heroine. I have done hard core commercial films down south. I think I wanted to get into that space again," said Ileana, who has starred in Telegu superhits like "Devadasu", "Pokiri" "Jalsa", "Kick" among others. In "Phata Poster..." the actress has been paired opposite Shahid Kapoor. The film follows the story of Vishwas Rao, an aspiring actor mistaken as a super cop. It comes from the director, who has earlier made hit comedies like "Andaz Apna Apna" and "Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani".