If you thought only Azeem Khan, the new bare-all couturier, didn't believe in the summer-spring concept, well you were wrong. Shaina NC is another fashion designer who not only believes that the idea is alien to our tropical climate, she also prefers to do without the term `collection'. For Shaina, it's always the `range' -- and her latest was displayed over lunch at Fashion Bistro last week. Achla Sachdev, Svetlana Casper, Pooja Mishra and Moushmi sashayed down one of the most informal ramps of recent times in tissues, lycras and satins -- cut both formally and informally. Apart from western wear, there were sarees and double sarees in peuter, silver, icy-blue, mint-green, burgundy and black. But the show-stopper was a black velvette with a burgundy zardosi border. And over it drooled the likes of VP Singh, Sharmila Khanna and the Chhabrias. A sumptuous afternoon indeed!

If you like Japanese food, then Friday night should have been spent at the Regal Room, in the Oberoi. The hotelalong with Cathay Pacific had organised a Sushi, Sashimi and Saki dinner. To say the food was divine -- all the ingredients and chefs had been flown down from Japan -- would be an understatement. Every dish was lovingly prepared and the desert platter was so filled with calories that people were putting on weight just looking at it. Not that guests were avoiding the sweetmeat trays -- laden with chinese tea ice-cream and sticky rice-packed mango delights.

It was interesting to note that most of the Indian guests stayed near the fried food section. Cathay, in deference, to Indian tastes had a table that served vegetable and prawn Tempura -- a good idea given that most desis found the raw fish unpalatable. With the exception of S P Godrej who really seemed to be enjoying the sushi and sashimi. He stood in the queue with the Japanese and filled up his plate with several kinds of raw fish. It was interesting to note the Japanese code of conduct. A very polite race, there was a lot of head bowing,and deference according to age. But when Cathay announced free tickets to several destinations, the winners collected their awards amidst much jocularity.

Overheard at the dinner: "Some of the Cathay hostesses are so beautiful, that if I were a homosexual, I'd be tempted to convert."

The new CEO

AD Singh, the man who gave us Just Desserts, Copa Cabana and Soul Fry has a new baby. But on delivery, it was evident that the baby was on on the large side. This Saturday, he hosted the launch of the 30,000-sqft entertainment complex at the Phoenix Mills, in Lower Parel. Simply called the bowling company (please note the use of the lower case), AD looked over the moon. Well, the birthing was relatively free of labour pains and papa got to be CEO (yes, finally AD succumbs and takes on the mega-title that corporate czars love to wear). But seriously, he has reason to be a proud papa. His palace includes a 20-lane 10-pin bowling alley, a sports bar, a video arcade, a jazz cafe, afood court and even a child care centre.

But there was one thing AD overlooked. The dress code for the night was `Sporty', but he was so busy with the preparations that he forget his own dress regulation. But all this same he managed to look very suave and sophisticated and every bit the CEO in a black Nehru jacket.

Music channel

Most of the 1,000-odd invitees did make the time to dress gamely. Standing out was Suchitra Pillai wearing army pants and a short crop top that showed-off her washboard flat stomach. Suchitra by the way looked incredibly fresh as did her beau Andrew Carnegie -- this despite the fact that they had hosted a party the night before. Held at Carnegie's Pali Hill residence, the party according to one invitee, "was an evening of relaxed fun". Andrew had cleared most of his furniture out from his elegant apartment to make room for the guests. Most of whom came from Channel [V], so much so that the bash resembled the music show at one of its road shows. Among thosespotted there were Marc Robinson, Jules Fuller and Sophia Haque.

Back to bowl

Of course, Suchitra and Andrew were not the only celeb friends of AD's from Channel [V] to come and check out the place. Also seen there was Mel D'Souza. This young man from Canada joined Channel [V] a few months ago and he evidently took sporty to mean short -- he showed up with a trendy, cropped hair cut. Also seen giving the place a once over were Sangeeta Chopra, Tarun Raghavan, Svetlana Casper, Alison Kanuga, Sonia Garware, Rahul Bose, Atul Kasbekar, Sheetal Malhar .... the list goes on. Though the place was packed, it was interesting to notice that hardly any of the glam girls tried their hand at bowling. Perhaps they were too scared to break a nail. But for those of who are intrested in the sport, there will be a resident bowling coach at all times to help out first timers.

The pool room too seemed to attract more men than women. Sumeet Chopra sweated it out, showing off his skills on the table. Theair-conditioners in the pool room and jazz cafe are yet to kick off. But don't let that deter you, this complex has something for everyone.

And finally...

Keep an eye for Rahul Bose and Laila Rouass. Rahul goes to London for the premiere of Dev Benegal's Split Wide Open to join the film-maker and his wife, Anuradha, who are already there. But that is not the only reason why this young lad is off to the Land of the Queen. He may be making his debut on the stage there. And after that, he is planning to direct his own film. Why all these maybes? Rahul does not want to count his eggs before they hatch so he is not talking about either of his new projects.

His co-star from Split Wide Open Laila too seems to getting some pretty big career breaks. She is going to replace Meghana Reddy in the Kingfisher Mangta Hai. This high-profile Channel [V] veejay has quite a cult following with her show The Juice. We have just one question: How is she going to make the time for thisnew show? Isn't she running a clothes label Tramp, opening a new restaurant in the Mediterranean and looking out for acting options? Has Laila bitten off more than she can chew?

The Social Register

Where have they gone? At one time there was no escaping these faces. Now, the only way to catch a glimpse of them is to flip through backdated issues of glossies and rag mags:

Kamal Sidhu

Among the first foreign-born Indians to give a drawl class, Kamal was one of Channel [V]'s first veejays. Then she and boyfriend Danny McGill shifted to MTV. And, boom! Shortly after, they vanished.

Now we hear she is doing a slick show on AXN. Given that nobody watches that channel we don't think that qualifies as a comeback.

Helen Brodie

Undoubtedly, one of the loveliest faces in the Indian modelling arena, Helen stood out by not getting involved in backbiting and bitching. May be she stood too far out. After her Lakme moisturiser ad, Helen's face has disappeared. We hear she is backhome in London, escaping the Indian summer. It's time she came back and faced the heat.

Samir Soni

This Cadbury's casanova met his watergate with China-Gate. It seems one Bollywood flop and the film offers, ad campaigns all dry up. But Samir is a good actor, in fact, he even looked good in the awful Mouthful of Sky. And we think he's incredibly dishy. Mangta hai!

Anu Kuttoor

Now, who remembers her? One-time model, MTV veejay, Anu of the incredibly worked-out bod was best known as the girl Chunkey never married. But hey! We remember her as an anchor and she was not bad. So, where is she now? Originally a Delhi girl, could she have gone back to the capital?

Chunkey Pandey

While on Chunks, where is the man famous for being the host with the least. His stinginess legend, every party Chunkey threw ended because the food and liquour ran out. After marriage and becoming a father, he seems to have lost his zest for fun and frolic. Come on now, give us a party,lad!