Alicia Silverstone: Madam in the Middle

He’s the creator of hit television shows like Beverly Hills 90210 and Sex and the City. She’s the star of Hollywood films like Clueless and The Crush. Executive producer Darren Star and actress Alicia Silverstone have come together for the show Miss Match.

In her first small-screen appearance, the blonde beauty, who also once starred in the Aerosmith video Cryin’, plays a divorce lawyer-cum-matchmaker. In the show, the 28-year-old is Kate Fox, working in her father Sid’s law firm. Sid, played by Ryan O’Neal, is exasperated with her juggling the conflicting worlds of divorce and marriage.

What started off as a hobby to help a friend find her soulmate turns out to be a money-spinner when she discovers her matchmaking talents after a socialite bride spreads the word. And although her own personal life is a mess, there’s a potential love interest in the handsome Michael, another of her “projects”.

In the next episode, at 10 pm on Tuesday on STAR World, a high school friend comes to Kate looking for help.

The NBC show was shortlived in the US, but popular while it lasted. In fact, the lovely lady is set to star in her second television show, Queen B, a comedy on the Fox network. Not surprisingly, Alicia will play a similar character as Bea, the queen bee of her world and a successful professional who suddenly wakes up to the reality that she’s not as loveable as she thinks.

n Kisna’s flute may not have played the tune he wanted but Subhash Ghai is steadily whistling a different note. Whistling Woods International (WWI), the film school initiative undertaken by Mukta Arts, is on the road to completion. A state-of-the-art infrastructure has been erected in Film City. The construction of the massive structure that began in 2000 is almost over and the school will start functioning from October 2005. Ghai’s office claims WWI will be one of the biggest film institutes in Southeast Asia catering to diverse courses in the field of film and television.

Earlier this month, the school played host to Lord Puttnam, chancellor of the University of Sunderland. Ghai has roped in the former chairman and chief operating officer of Columbia Pictures (1986 to 1988) as one of the patrons of WWI. Lord Puttnam has been producer of films such as Midnight Express, Chariots of Fire (Oscar winner for Best Picture), Local Hero, The Killing Fields, The Mission, and Memphis Belle.

After being shown around by Ghai, this is what Lord Puttnam reportedly had to say: “I have visited over 50 film schools across the world and I can genuinely say that this matches international standards.” The producer pointed out that it is not enough to have a film industry hub; there should be ambitious training programmes to support and develop young artistes and technicians as well.

After the visit to WWI, the group proceeded to The Club to be joined by producer Manmohan Shetty, film-maker Satish Kaushik and actor Om Puri.

Critic-turned-film-maker Samar Khan would never have imagined that he would celebrate his birthday with a party where he would be the only person not to be present. It happened in Malaysia during the shooting of his debut Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye, whose promos are on air now.

Once the shooting unit learnt that it was Samar’s birthday, plans for a party began. So, after a long day at work, they all went to his room for the birthday bash and to their surprise they saw a tired Samar fast asleep. That however didn’t stop the film’s stars Mahima Chaudhuri and Arshad Warsi from dancing, drinking and making merry, while poor Samar slept through it all.

Something more bizarre happened on the sets of Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye, which releases in the month of April. For a particular shot, Arshad and Mahima were on the top of a water tank in Mumbai when the crowd below thought that some couple was actually attempting suicide. Some of the onlookers were even thinking of calling the cops over, after having alerted the building secretary.

n With ground events like the Sting and Mark Knopfler concerts tasting super success, international music channel VH1 is jazzing up its programme content, too. March has a few biggies lined up, starting with Michael Jackson’s Secret Childhood on March 25, 11 am.

The VH1 programme tries to explain how the beloved child entertainer became such a bizarre public figure and uncovers a life filled with abuse, hard labour, relentless ambition and conflict between his religious upbringing and growing fame. A look inside Jackson’s family homes, never-seen-before home movies and interviews with people close to him form the highlights.

VH1 India’s first home production sees Sting speak his mind minutes before taking the stage for his Bangalore show. Deeper with Sting on March 25, 10 pm, sees Sting talk about his career so far, his love for India and the road ahead.

Fabulous Life of Jennifer Lopez, March 26 at 2 pm, looks at, among other things, the “incredible indulgences” that come with the career and businesses of JLo. A fleet of cars, massive mansions, multi-million dollar extravagances and much more.●