TGS Life 12/11/2016

AN ARTISTIC ODE TO LORD GANESHA PG 5

PUNE, NOV 12-18, 2016 | www.thegoldensparrow.com

TOYOTA LAUNCHES NEW FORTUNER AT RS 25.92 LAC PG 7

SG

TGS LIFE NOV 12-18, 2016 PUNE

STAGE

Living on the edge The Siddhus of Upper Juhu is a play that offers a satirical glimpse of a city and its civic and civil issues that drive a man to the brink of a nervous breakdown

By Zainab Kantawala @kantawalazainab

T

he Aadyam-Aditya Birla Group, Rage Theatre is staging The Siddhus of Upper Juhu in Pune. The play deals with an average middle class couple’s struggle to survive the maximum city. It deals with economic meltdown, urban angst, and the madness of a consumer society. The play has been directed by Rahul da Cunha and the cast consists of theatre veterans like Rajit Kapur, Shernaz Patel, Meera Khurana, Kajli Sharma and Shishir Sharma.

The story revolves around Balvinder aka Bubbles Siddhu, a 50-year-old, well-paid financial executive who is on the brink of a breakdown. The situation takes a turn for the worse when his company, where he has worked all his life, goes through rough times and he gets fired. His life begins to spiral downwards, when his apartment is burgled and the robbers take not only all his clothes, but his precious Black

Label too. He becomes a middleaged corporate man on the prowl with crazy plans and paranoia.

Behroze, his loving supporting Parsi wife, who quit her job years

ago to raise their two daughters, is forced to go back to work.

The story unfolds further when Bubble’s rich farm-owning brother, Goldie and his sisters,

Pammi and Smiley arrive to help save their brother from the financial crisis and ill health with hilarious consequences. So Bubbles does the only thing left

Going underground with the J00F sound John 00 Fleming sounds like the name of a Bond character. But the only common thing between him and the double O is that John’s electronic feats have a globally entrenched popularity

By Gulal Salil @gulalsalil

F

or the kind of music that he makes – which he calls the J00F sound – DJ John Fleming would sound like a perpetually lost and transient soul, tripping heavily on the psychedelic.

While that description may be a little overreaching, the fact that he is transient has got a lot to do with his dedication to music production. The UK-based artist’s genre of what his website describes as ‘progressively edged trance’ has evolved to a stage which is no longer confined to the underground. It is bursting with textures from all ends and breaking into the mainstream ruled by big labels.

Speaking of influences, the DJ had a pretty sudden entrance into music making as a teen. As he says, “I’ve no idea where the musical influence came from in my life,” describing how one side of his family were engineers while the other practiced medicine. As it turned out, his oblivious jump into music happened because a local

store selling records caught his attention, and he started buying vinyl records regularly with no intention of becoming a DJ. He adds, “That part happened by accident, with my head master at school asking me to DJ at a school event due to me collecting music. After that first ‘gig’, the rest is history.”

Historical legacy it is, as Fleming stands tall today at 43 with five albums to his name under labels like Ministry of Sound, Deconstruction Records, Logic Records, and 3 Beat Music as well as his own called J00F Recordings.

His 2016 release Alter Ego reached the top position on the Beatport main release chart. Besides that, the producer was eventually approached by TV and movie directors, who were fans of his work. He has scored The Colour of Time featuring Mila Kunis and James Franco, and BBC’s Top Gear alongside loads of other TV series by the likes of Sony and CBS since.

Yet, after such commercial reach, his character is still like that of a 20-something pilot testing sounds.

His experimentation

2

for him to do: he has a nervous breakdown and it’s the best thing that ever happened to him.

“The main challenge while making this play was to get the point across. The subtlety was required to make people laughing and also highlight the issue. The play is about two people who are facing middle age and stay in a city where the infrastructure is falling apart. I had the plot in mind a long time ago when I sat thinking about Mumbai and how things there are going from bad to worse. Where other cities are striving for development, Mumbai is falling apart,” says Rahul.

For a director whose every play is centred around Mumbai, da Cunha now wants to explore Bollywood.

“The city has been the backdrop of my every play, it is a huge subject for me. I am currently working on my next play which is about Bollywood.

This is another subject that has always fascinated me. Also I am working on a musical #singIndiasing,” he says.

When: November 13, 7 pm Where: Susie Sorabji Auditorium zainab.kantawala@goldensparrow.com never ends. As he remarks, “It’s a natural process to evolve as an artist, otherwise I personally would get tired of doing the same thing over and over again. Some people’s journey will be to get as big and as commercially viable as possible, whereas mine is to break musical boundaries and keep experimenting musically to create new scenes.”

Fleming’s generationsold residence in this scene has imprinted him with wisdom and also fear for its future, as he continues to observe the change in a DJ’s perception to a celebrity playing commercial hits. He states, “I have no problems with that but fear. We must not forget the importance of the underground world. These are the people that rebel against that tide of commercialism creating what will be the next musical phenomenon.

It is all part of the historic musical ecosystem that’s been with us for many years.”

The musician has been playing in Pune for so many years now that he feels it is his second home. He is coming back to the city this Saturday with an extended set – his first in India. With excitement, he says, “I am proud to be playing a 4-hour set at Bluefrog and VH1 Supersonic. I can’t wait!”

When: November 12, 9 pm Where: BlueFROG, Pune gulal.salil@goldensparrow.com

3

Rising up to the bass In his latest avatar as Ez Riser, bass musician Sohail Arora is back with his love for the low-end sounds with his respectable, high-end status

By Gulal Salil @gulalsalil

B

ehind the ebb and tide of bass heavy frequencies, beneath the commercial surface, sits an observer who goes by the alias Ez Riser, responsible for deciding the rise of many. Th is one sincere listener, host of many national and global acts such as Delhi Sultanate, B.R.E.E.D and Madboy/Mink has broken records as a founder, artist and alternative agent. Artist management and gig company KRUNK is in its eighth year and founder Sohail Arora is doing the rounds with its Bass Camp Festival, dropping in at Pune again this year, this time with DJ Paloma and Swindle.

Pick anyone from Mumbai’s bass scene, and the name Sohail Arora would receive instant recognition. His multitudinous personality has a vagueness to it which only adds to his popularity. Having founded KRUNK in 2009 and represented Bay Beat Collective in partnership for the

longest time, Ez Riser is a relatively new project, taken up after BBC’s crew went in different directions.

The reason the artist favours bass so much is, as he remarks, “it’s the feeling of experiencing music very differently from most of the genres. The vibrations of the low end and the vibe that it creates globally for such a sound is a special experience.”

Sohail has worked in a multifarious set of roles in his life and he was not always a musician, “however I’ve been heavily into music as an avid listener from my childhood,” he says. His parents introduced him to music very early in life and his grandfather’s night radio also exposed him to a diverse range of tracks. From being a member of a rock band, he continues, “to a music journalist to eventually becoming a music booker and programmer at Blue Frog and DJing full time”, he says music has always been and will be an important part of his life.

With such a deep, kindling inclination to music, what made him stay back from stepping into the commercially fertile land of EDM? He responds by stating a dislike for the genre, “I feel

TGS LIFE NOV 12-18, 2016 PUNE

SG STAGE

EDM has no soul. It’s a path to a different kind of success which I do not wish to take. I have played house music occasionally and I listen to all forms of music except mainstream EDM.” Riser’s evolution as an artist is mirrored in the evolution of the Bass Camp, which is India’s only dedicated bass music platform.

As he describes how the festival has become a spot for national artists to interact with their international heroes, “Such an opportunity is very precious and we feel really blessed that the global bass family has been super supportive over the years towards the Indian bass community and the scene. The festival is not about big-name headliners and aims at showcasing versatile styles of bass music each and every time. There is no formula, the idea is to keep it fresh and current from a global point.” At the same time, being an artist as well as a manager, he has been able to understand the dynamics both roles share, which is key to KRUNK’s success.

His advice to Pune’s peeps stepping into the High for the concert is simple, “Just come with an open mind and some energy, as from experience, Pune is always reluctant to move till the end of the party.”

When: Saturday, 13th November, 1.30 pm onwards Where: The High Spirits Cafe gulal.salil@goldensparrow.com

Bringing Sufi traditions of Nizamuddin to Pune The Niazi Nizami brothers have enthralled worshippers at the Nizamuddin dargah in Delhi for centuries. Now it’s Pune’s turn

By Rucha Devarchetti @rucha285

I

f you have visited the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi, you will need no introduction to the Niazi Nizami Brothers, who offer their prayers to the saint in the form of soulful Sufi renditions.

Their music has fans spanning across generations and has been featured in several Bollywood fi lms as well. Th is Saturday, the trio of qawwals from the celebrated dargah will perform at the J.W.Marriott Hotel.

The Niazi Nizami brothers belong to a family of qawwals who have been singing at the Nizamuddin Dargah for past 750 years. Their renditions belong to the Hapur gharana of music and it is also a part of the Niyaazi silsila (chain) of Sufi music. The trio learnt it from their father Ustad

Ghulam Qadar Niazi who in turn was a disciple of his own father, Ustad Inam Ahmed Khan.

Imran Nizami, one of the three brothers, says, “Pune has been a really good audience to our previous show, and it is the high demand from music lovers in the city that brought us back here. Mashallah, if the listeners keep encouraging us this way; we will come here time and again to perform.”

In a world full of Western music, the Sufi tradition has carved a niche for itself in the hearts of the younger generation across the globe. Nizami gives credit to the charm in Sufi lyrics for this trend.

“The lyrics of any Sufi qawwali attract the listener towards itself. It has a certain power that cannot be explained when you read it or speak it out loud. But when we sing it, its connection with your heart will be established immediately and you will feel for it even if you do not understand the words.”

Nizami explains further, “In classical music, the singer will have to stay in the frame provided by the raag that he is performing which makes it a little conventional. On the contrary, in a qawwali, we do not have any limit or a particular method of presenting our songs.

We can sing to suit our listeners and probably that is one of the reasons why our music has struck a chord with the youth.”

The popularity of the qawwalis sung by the trio shot up when their compositions were featured in Bollywood movies like Rockstar and Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Imran Nizami explains that the liberal nature of Sufi renditions is put to use on a large scale when composing songs for movies. “The audience for movies is quite vast and we have to make sure that they understand

our art to like it. We alter the lyrics at times or even translate it into a more understandable language for it to be accepted by listeners.”

The qawwalis that are performed at the Nizamuddin Dargah are usually in Farsi but Nizami says that when it comes to movies, they try and stick to the colloquial language for the audience to comprehend easily. “That,” he says, “is one of the reasons behind our success in making a place for ourselves in the music lists of the younger generation.”

It does not stop just at that.

The Nizami brothers have several plans up their sleeve to take their centuries-old tradition forward with gusto. “Fortunately, our work so far has been accepted graciously by audiences worldwide. We believe tremendously in the power of hard work and by the grace of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, our efforts have paid off,” says Nizami, ever humble.

When: November 12, 8 pm Where: Paasha, JW Marriott, SB Road

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TGS LIFE NOV 12-18, 2016 PUNE

ENTERTAINMENT

Why are Indians so obsessed with fair skin?

Akshay Singh’s directorial debut Pinky Beauty Parlour highlights the repercussions the obsession with fair skin has on the human mind

By Zainab Kantawala @kantawalazainab

Y

ou are sure to recognise actor Akshay Singh from his cameo roles in numerous mainstream fi lms over the years.

The actor-turned-director was earlier seen in a number of television commercials, some television shows and fi lms like Ghayal Once Again, Baat Bann Gayi, Vikalp, etc. But he is now at a career high as his directorial debut Pinky Beauty Parlour was selected by Star for the Indian Story Section at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival this year. The fi lm addresses a very important stigma that prevails in Indian society. It is an engaging and poignant tale of repercussions this obsession for fair skin has on the human mind, families and society in general. The fi lm takes us on a touching journey of sisters Pinky and Bulbul, who run a beauty parlour in one of the by-lanes of

Varanasi, the holiest of cities in India.

The fi lm depicts the predominant social stigma which has taken deep root in the form of an obsession with fair skin, especially with regards to women in India. As the story progresses, we enter a unique and colourful world of the beauty parlour, and are drawn into an engaging, quirky and entertaining story of intermingled loyalties, insecurities and complexes. At the same time the fi lm Pinky Beauty Parlour has a timely message for the audience to take home and chew on.

“I had noticed around me since childhood how people with darker skin tones were made fun of and not considered beautiful.

Th is has pressurised a number of dark-skinned young women and men too, to use fairness creams and all sorts of other ingredients to lighten their skin tone, that yield no results. That pressure takes a toll

on them which ultimately results in low self esteem,” he says. All these observations left a deep impact on his mind. Th is motivated him to make Pinky Beauty Parlour.

It was during his research while writing the script that he realised that small towns in India were flooded with beauty parlours and people there are very conscious about their looks and particularly the complexion of their skin.

“I chose to set this beauty parlour in Varanasi because I know the place and the people of Varanasi very well, which has beauty parlours almost in every lane and street,”

Switch to the big screen with a murder mystery

T

elevision heart-throb Gurmeet Chaudhary is all geared up for his upcoming film Wajah Tum Ho, that also stars Sharman Joshi, Rajniesh Duggall and Sana Khan. The film has been directed by Vishal Pandya. Gurmeet is all excited about his new release as he believes that the film will change his life and career.

“I am playing a Mumbai-based lawyer Ranveer Bajaj. When Vishal narrated the part to me, I was all excited to be a part of this murder mystery. Besides working with a good director, I get to be a part of a thriller, and it’s good in content too. So I was all thumbs up,” he says.

Gurmeet has played a range of characters on television, but playing a lawyer was challenging for him.

“I admired the role of Amitabh Bachchan in Pink, and the character Sunny Deol played in Damini. They have set the bar high for me, and I hope I do justice to the character,” he said.

He started preparing for the role well in advance. He went to courts and observed the lawyers there, and read some law books too. “I used to rehearse at home wearing the costume. I even

changed my house nameplate to Ranveer Bajaj.

My wife thought that I was going mad. But this is the extent I go, to get into the character,” he laughs.Sharing the screen space with senior actor Sharman Joshi was a learning experience, he said. Talking about the fun he had on sets, he says, “I have always looked up to Sharman for his roles in Style and Rang De Basanti. So it was great to work with him.

Sana is full of energy and is a fun person to work with.”

Asked if he is planning to juggle between TV and films, Gurmeet said that he was channelising all his energies and focusing mostly on Bollywood. “Whatever I am today is because of television.

It is a big medium now, but no daily soaps for me right now. But I would love to do a series, if it interests me,” he says. Everyone has seen him in thriller, romance and action roles, and what he next wants to venture into is comedy. “I would love to do a comedy like Chachi 420 ,” he says.

he shares. The fi lm questions the mindset that is conditioned to value fair over dark and dusky skin tones.

“It is against predominant social stigma and an unhealthy obsession with having fair skin and the myth that fair is only lovely and dark is not. I am against anything that promotes racism,” he said.

Though the fi lm deals with a serious issue, the approach of the narrative is satirical and tinged with dark humour. As a fi lmmaker, Akshay has tried to make a point with a pinch of humour without being preachy. He believes in entertaining the audience and

also forcing them to think at the same time.

“Significant portions of the fi lm were shot on real locations, in the streets, market, railway station, the Ganga ghat of Varanasi, using the guerilla shooting technique. With this process we even managed to shoot sequences such as live Ram Leela, Raavan Dahan, Ganga Aarti etc, which otherwise we could not have recreated,” says Akshay.

The fi lm stars Sulagna Panigrahi, Khushboo Gupta and Akshay himself in the lead roles. zainab.kantawala@ goldensparrow.com

Purab wants a romantic comedy role next

P

urab Kohli is on a career high with his film Rock On 2 releasing this week and his new television series POW Bandhi Yudh Ki making waves with the viewers. He believes that Rock On 2 is not a run-of-the-mill sequel, but that it actually has a good storyline.

“I play a lovable character who wears his heart on his sleeve. In the first part, KD is seen as a struggling musician, but in this film he is more settled in life,” says Purab. The characters in the sequel are bolder and the emotions portrayed are stronger, he feels.

Purab is also excited about his new television show POW, which sees him in a completely new avatar.

He plays an intense and complex character of a soldier who has been enslaved and has gone through torture for 17 years. “The whole idea of the show was so original that it intrigued me to get into TV. I had to get into the mindset of a person who had gone through tremendous torture and is returning home after 17 years,” he says. He even visited a psychologist to get an in-depth understanding of the character. It

was emotionally draining for him, but he was all up for the challenge.

After this he wants to play lighter characters. “I would love to do a romantic comedy after this,” he says.

After years of struggle in the industry, his turning point arrived with Rock On. “Post Rock On in 2009, there was a recession in Bollywood. Out of the five films that I had signed, only one got made. In 2014, Jung was released but that too flopped.

That was a big blow for me,” he says.

The actor is currently busy with his next film, Noor.

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TGS LIFE NOV 12-18, 2016 PUNE

FEATURES

By Zainab Kantawala @kantawalazainab

S

ujata Bajaj, the Indian-born, Paris-based internationally acclaimed artist is showcasing her work in the city after almost 29 years. Th is is a great opportunity for the art aficionados of Pune to view Bajaj’s highly evolved abstract art devoted to Lord Ganesha, and feel a sense of pride in what this Pune girl has achieved through her artistic creations.

Bajaj’s recent series of works titled ‘Ganapati’ spotlight her fascination with the deity. She has been painting, etching and sculpting the elephant god for ever, it seems.

“Ganesha gives me happiness.

Working on this is like tapasya for me. No other form lends itself as vividly to the abstract as Ganapati.

When I paint him or sculpt him, I am through the process, experiencing my own artistic freedom, and the immense joy intrinsic to that freedom,” she says.

Accompanying the exhibition

is a coffee table book titled ‘Sujata Bajaj: Ganapati’, that highlights works from her Ganesha project over the course of three decades.

It has been written by Frenchman Jean-Claude Carrière, who has followed Bajaj’s career for more than 25 years. The contents include mixed media, painted fibreglass sculptures, drawings and etchingcollages, testifying to Bajaj’s versatility in handling a variety of techniques and materials.

Bajaj’s art is her life and also her identity. She is known for her intensity, and mastery over the mediums she works in, and the mystery, spirituality and lyricism that are inherent in her creations.

Bajaj’s odyssey as an artist began when as a young girl, she happened to be confined to a bed for a long period due to a foot injury. That is when she started to make her first drawings.

“As a kid, I was interested in poetry. I started to draw when I

was four. The lines and colours fascinated me so much that very early I knew that I wanted to be an artist. I made birthday cards for my friends instead of buying them.

Even my parents knew that I was born to be an artist,” she says.

Though she has lived abroad for a long time, she retains her Indianness in the clothes she wears, the food she eats, the way she talks and of course in her style of painting.

Her inspiration is fi rmly rooted in

An artistic ode to

Lord Ganesha

Renowned artist Sujata Bajaj is showcasing her interpretations of the elephant god through her paintings and sculptures

her Indian heritage, but she also draws much from the new artistic movements and techniques that she was exposed to after moving to France and Norway.

“My main sources of inspiration are my Indian roots and nature. My husband is a Norwegian, so I also get inspired by the wild nature there,” she says. In fact, it was her art that brought about her meeting with her husband. “I was a student in Paris, and was exhibiting my work with seven other international artists. My husband came there and bought one of my paintings, which still hangs on his office wall. Th is is one of the fond memories that I will always cherish. I found the man of my life through art,” she says.

Painting for Bajaj is synonymous with meditation. She describes her art as an act that is detached and meditative. It is not like figurative art, in which the artist or the viewer reaches for a point that relates directly with something in the real world. In her works, it is hard to relate to anything directly.

“When I paint, I am completely disconnected. My subconscious takes over me, and it’s just me and the colours. What is invoked depends on the person who is viewing the work and the how that person is feeling at that time. My works give the viewer energy, they give them hope, they give them positivity,” she says.

When: Till November 17 Where: Monalisa Kalagram, Koregaon Park

PICS BY VISHAL KALE

TGS LIFE

Harley-Davidson announces 2017 India line-up, new MilwaukeeEight engines

NOV 12-18, 2016 PUNE

THRILL OF DRIVING

All bikes to get ABS, new Roadster and Road Glide Special models added

H

arley continues to be one of the most powerful large-capacity motorcycle manufacturers in India. With their impressive CKD (assembled in India) lineup, they’re able to keep prices competitive and have a huge community of riders behind them.

For 2017, Harley-Davidson has introduced ABS across all their motorcycle families in India.

They’ve also added a new Roadster

model and a Road Glide Special touring motorcycle to the range.

With the latter, we also get the new “Milwaukee-Eight” engine, which is the ninth generation of Harley’s big twin. In the Road Glide Special, there’s the Milwaukee-Eight 107 (1745cc) twin with four valves per cylinder and oil-cooled heads. Harley continues to stick to tradition by keeping as much air-cooled as possible. They’re claiming more

power, smoother throttle, and a “purer sound”.

There’s an even more advanced Milwaukee-Eight 114 (1870cc) motor with proper liquid-cooled heads available, but that’s only in the CVO Limited model.

On to the bikes: The Roadster is the newest member of the Sportster family, and comes in at Rs 9,70,000 ex-showroom, Delhi.

Harley pitches it with “minimalist, fastback styling”. We think it has

all the stuff Sportster buyers are attracted to: blacked-out paint job, short, aggressive seat and bars and that big-twin sound. We also like the new alloys and (shocker!) upside-down front forks.

The Road Glide Special is for the “high mileage warrior”, though at Rs 32,81,000 exshowroom, Delhi, we suspect that’s not the demographic that’s going to be buying this bike. The afore-mentioned Milwaukee-

Mercedes launches C- and S-Class cabriolets in India First drop-top C-class and first S convertible since 1971, claims the co

I

t’s like manufacturers are rushing to get as many vehicles out the door before the close of 2016.

Mercedes isn’t being left behind, and just launched the C-Class and S-Class cabriolets in India. Perfect weather for open-top motoring too, unless you’re in Delhi.

The C-Class cabrio comes with one engine option — a 2-litre, 245hp/370Nm four-cylinder petrol, while the S 500 Cabrio is available with a 455hp/700Nm V8 petrol.

Both cars come equipped with Mercedes’ more recent 9G-TRONIC transmission. While the performance numbers are healthy, these aren’t all-out sport roadsters, tending toward the luxurious. To this end, the C-Class cabrio comes equipped with AGILITY CONTROL suspension with “selective damping and lowering”, while the S-Class comes with the sublime AIRMATIC air suspension for continuously variable damping.

Of course, the party trick is the

automatic roof mechanism, which works at speeds up to 50km/h, while taking a scant 20 seconds (less with the S) to operate. When the top’s down, both cars come

with Mercedes’ AIRCAP system which optionally extends a louvre up front and draught stops behind the headrests to reduce cabin turbulence. Of course, traditional

Mercedes features such as PRESAFE, THERMOTRONIC automatic multi-zone climate control, PARKTRONIC parking assist and an LED lighting system

Eight 107 motor is present, as is an all-new touring suspension setup that allows more preloud at the back and hydraulic preload adjustment via a simple knob up front. The fork is a Showa SDBV unit and Harley claims it performs much better now.

Harley also announce the availability of Screamin’ Eagle hop-up kits for the new engines, as well as the availability of ABS for the 2017 Street 750. are present.

As is the fashion these days, the C comes with a Burmester sound system with 13 speakers, while the S bumps it up to 23 speakers — an excellent use of the additional space, we say. The S comes with 1520 watts of power too; imagine those 23 speakers doing what they do best with the top down. The Delhi smog can’t clear fast enough.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class Cabriolet 300 is priced at Rs. 60 lakh and the S 500 Cabriolet is priced at Rs. 2.25 crore (Ex-showroom New Delhi).

Toyota launches new Fortuner at Rs 25.92 lac

TGS LIFE NOV 12-18, 2016 PUNE

THRILL OF DRIVING

PRICES • 2.7-litre petrol 2WD 5-speed manual: Rs. 25,92,000 • 2.7-litre petrol 2WD 6-speed automatic Rs. 27,67,000 • 2.8-litre diesel 2WD 6-speed manual: Rs. 27,52,000 • 2.8-litre diesel 2WD 6-speed automatic: Rs. 29,14,000 • 2.8-litre diesel 4WD 6-speed manual: Rs. 30,05,000 • 2.8-litre diesel 4WD 6-speed autmatic: Rs. 31,12,000

Petrol, diesel, 2WD, 4WD, manual and auto variants available.

Everyone can stop holding their breath now

I

t’s as if anyone we speak to in the market for an SUV was waiting for the new Fortuner to become available before making any choices. That’s the sway the brand holds within the psyche of the Indian consumer. And why not?

Toyota’s don’t break and soldier on until the owners get downright bored of them. So here comes another one for the decades.

The new Fortuner is available with a 2.7-litre petrol or 2.8-litre

Company’s volumedriver gets the family face, 5 extra bhp and added features

S

koda has announced the new Rapid sedan with a host of new features and the rakish family face, now shared with the Octavia and the Superb. While the sheet metal remains largely unchanged, significant changes are visible up front and within.

To begin with, the new Rapid comes with “Quartz-cut” projector lens headlights with chrome “eye lashes”.

LED DRLs are also present.

The new grille is dark with chrome surrounds, with a hexagonal lower grille finished off by a pronounced lip at the front of the air dam.

The result is a fairly aggressive stance when seen from the front. Sadly, the rear is much of the same old Rapid, and we’d have liked more tweaks to that end.

Inside, there’s a new ebonysand dual-tone interior with leatherette seats and door trim. There’s ambient lighting in the footwells and more chrome trim bits.

There’s a new ‘Drive’ system

diesel motor. Both get options of 6-speed manual or automatic transmissions (5-speed manual for the petrol) while diesel models can be had in 2WD and 4WD. The top-end diesel automatic outputs 177PS and 450Nm, while the petrol generates 166PS and 245Nm. This is the second-generation Fortuner for India, and Toyota has stepped up its game significantly in all spheres. The interior, for instance, is a marked improvement.

While the outgoing model was a bit like an Innova on the inside, the new interior takes things upmarket with a 7” touchscreen, TFT screen for the multifunction display, wood and metal accents and the now-obligatory cabin mood lighting combined with a dark brown interior colour scheme.

The exterior is far less plain as well. There’s an imposing front fascia, generally more muscular lines ala the Landcruiser, 17” or 18” wheels depending on variant, and a powered tailgate. LED headlights and DRLs are present,

as are LED taillamps.

Safety is up with 7 SRS airbags, pre-tensioners for the front seat belts, Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) and ISOFIX support for child seats.

We’re impressed with the

New Skoda Rapid launched at Rs 8.34 lac

Prices (ex-showroom Maharashtra) 1.6 MPI MT

Active 8,34,906

1.6 MPI AT 1.5 TDI MT 1.5 TDI AT

9,57,335

Ambition

Style

9,26,728

10,44,163

10,38,841

11,46,187

10,49,157

11,66,590

11,71,471

12,78,590

pricing of the new Fortuner, which we expected to take a jump upward in line with what we’ve seen from some other Japanese manufacturers. This takes the fight aggressively to the Ford Endeavour’s corner. with a 6.5” infotainment touchscreen.

It includes ‘MirrorLink” tech to pair with your smartphone, but no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

Other features include climate control, a cooled glove box and rain-sensing wipers.

Skoda’s toeing the company line by providing ABS and airbags as standard across all variants. There’s also electronic stability control and Hill-hold control, something we haven’t seen in this segment thus far. Rear parking sensors, auto-dimming rearview mirror and anti-pinch on all windows round out the safety features.

The new Rapid will come with an uprated 1.5 TDI four-cylinder diesel, now generating 110PS and 250Nm of torque. The diesel will be available in a 5-speed manual or 7-speed DSG automatic.

The venerable 1.6 MPI fourcylinder petrol remains in the old guise, generating 105PS and 153Nm. This too will be available in a manual or traditional torqueconverter automatic.

The new Skoda Rapid is available now in Brilliant Silver, Candy White, Cappucino Beige, Carbon Steel, Silk Blue and Flash Red colours in three variants: Active, Ambition and Style.

TGS LIFE NOV 12-18, 2016 PUNE

BUZZ

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hraddha Kapoor says she looks up to her Rock On 2 co-star Farhan Akhtar for being so versatile. The 29-year-old actress feels that the multi-hyphenate star

Shraddha shares screen with brother knows how to bring out the best in others. "I really admire him for being so multitalented but aside from that he is a really amazing person, which I think is the biggest quality of them all. He encourages everyone around to reach their best potential," Shraddha told PTI. Shraddha, who is a new addition to the sequel to the 2008 hit Rock On, says she was a little anxious while working with Farhan as he is so good at what he does. "I was nervous on

sets as he's absolutely brilliant at what he does. But at the same time I was hoping that I could be my best around him."

The actress, meanwhile, is looking forward to her next releases, which include Ok Janu, Half Girlfriend and Haseena: The Queen of Mumbai.

When asked how was it working on a remake of veteran director Mani Ratnam's fi lm, Shraddha said, "It's great to be in that fi lm. Also I'm coming back with Aditya (Roy

Kapoor), which is just great."

The star will share screen space with her brother Siddhant Kapoor in Apoorva Lakhia's Haseena: The Queen of Mumbai and she is excited about it. "I'm really looking forward to it. It's very exciting to play an on screen sibling when we're actually real life siblings. We're very close to each other."