Actor Lara Dutta, who was last seen in a lead role in her home production, Chalo Dilli (2011), says that she’s waiting for a nod from producer Boney Kapoor, to re-enter Bollywood with a bang. The former Miss Universe is expected to have a lead role in Kapoor’s upcoming film, No Entry Mein Entry, a sequel to No Entry (2005), that also starred Lara. “Whenever I ask Boneyji about the film, he says ‘abhi kuch dino mein shuru karenge…now we are ready…now we are ready… Salman Bhai has given his dates.’ He tells me this every month,” she laughs.

Actress Lara Dutta unveiled her second sari collection Friday in association with Chhabra 555 and says the new range is much more “traditional” compared to her inaugural line. “I launched my first collection last year, but the unique thing about this range is that it is bit more traditional than the initial one. My whole idea was how different can a sari get in the modern way and this is what I have tried to do,” Lara, known for her roles in “No Entry” and “Chalo Dilli”, told IANS.

“The designs are not something that we choose to wear once in a blue moon, but it is something that we want to bring out every time when there is something special,” added the actress, who wears many hats. Apart from acting and designing, she is also into film production. The collection was launched under the label “Lara Dutta – Chhabra 555” and includes outfits ranging from traditional Benarasi silks to contemporary net saris.

The colour palette varies from coral, red to midnight blue, and Lara feels that Delhi`s divas can do wonders to her collection with their style sense. “I’ve always associated Delhi with style and I know women in Delhi are very good at putting together a look, especially with Indian wear. I am excited to see the response to the new, festive collection and look forward to interact with our customer base there,” said Lara. The price of the collection ranges between Rs.10,000 and Rs.35,000.

Chhabra 555, one of the known brands in the country, offers a stunning range of saris, salawar-kurta, lehengas and bridal collections through its network of 60 stores spread across the nation.

> Here you can see pictures from this event <

After spending a decade in front of the camera, Lara Dutta has taken a break from acting and is putting her designing skills to test by launching her own sari collection.

The former Miss Universe, who has acted in movies like ‘No Entry’ and ‘Partner’, has a two-year-old daughter, Saira, but says designing is her ‘new baby’. “I have done films for 10 years. This (designing) is something new that I have forayed into; so it’s my new baby. I am excited about the response from the customers,” Lara said.

Lara was in Delhi to launch her second sari range in association with Chhabra 555. The 35-year-old started designing last year and created a whole line of saris for women who are keen to strike the right balance between traditionalism and modernity. “The second collection is far more traditional. Personally I am a big fan of Benarasi saris and many other old-age fabrics; so I wanted to make those weaves younger and contemporary. Normally, we associate Benarasi saris with our aunts and our mothers, but I wanted to give it a younger and trendy feel,” she said.

The model-turned-actress, who won the coveted Miss Universe title in 2000, made her Bollywood debut in 2003 with ‘Andaaz’ and went on to do films like ‘Masti’, ‘Housefull’ and ‘Don 2’.

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The members of Bangalore’s swish set kicked off the weekend in style, when they attended the launch of The Ritz-Carlton Bangalore. The hotel — which is owned by Nitesh Estates and is located on Residency Road — officially opened its doors to several of the city’s A-listers on Friday night at an event hosted by Nitesh Shetty, founder and chairman of Nitesh Estates, along with his wife Sujata and Shane Krige, the general manager of the hotel.

The chief guest for the event was Deepak Parekh. The evening began with Bollywood actress Lara Dutta introducing Nitesh, who thanked everyone on his team for making the hotel, which is the first Ritz-Carlton in India, a reality.

Shane then came up and introduced a video that chronicled the various stages of the hotel’s construction and the orientation process that the employees underwent before the launch. Later, Lara introduced Cyrus Broacha, who did a quick stand-up routine in which he took digs at everyone from Manmohan Singh to Sachin Tendulkar. Actor Boman Irani came onstage and chatted with Cyrus about his journey from managing a chips stall to being one of Bollywood’s most popular character actors. He ended the session by singing Frank Sinatra’s My Way.

Everyone then headed off for dinner, where they spent the rest of the evening sampling the various cuisines that the hotel’s chefs served up. Also spotted at the event were tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi and sports commentator Charu Sharma, as well as Deepak Parekh, Sujata Shetty, Sonjoy Chatterjee, Avinash Vashisht, Kavita Sabharwal, Vinita Chaitanya, Jaya Virwani and Ila and Vinod Naidu.

> Here you can see pictures from this event <

A lot of Miss Universe contestants say that they want world peace, but how many work towards it every single day? Former Miss Universe Lara Dutta, for one, is doing her part. She maintains, “Even seemingly small choices can have a big impact on our health, our community and the world around us”. So she does yoga regularly and never eats animals because she refuses to support the violent meat industry. “Going vegetarian”, Lara says, “is one of the easiest ways to improve our health, help countless animals and protect the Earth”.

Tathaastu magazine, which is devoted to meditation, holistic healing and serenity, took notice of the Bollywood star’s peaceful lifestyle and featured her full-page PETA ad in its September-October issue free of charge, thereby promoting cruelty-free vegetarian eating to its many readers.

Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. Anyone who wishes to see more peace in the world can simply stop buying the flesh of animals who were cruelly tormented on factory farms and painfully slaughtered.

Tathaastu also featured an article by Benazir Suraiya, PETA India’s lead media and celebrity coordinator, about Lara Dutta and other celebrities who are vegetarian.