By Prasun Sonwalkar
A Bollywood enthusiast here has paid tribute to Raj Kapoor by opening a new Indian restaurant full of memorabilia and music associated with the master showman.
Guests at the restaurants can taste choice Indian delicacies while reliving the life and work of Raj Kapoor, and listening to lilting melodies such as ?Mera Joota Hai Japani..? and ?Hothon Pe Sachchai Rehti Hai…?.
The restaurant, called Shreejee Chopatti'sBageecha and located in the Asian-dominated Melton Road-Belgrave Road area, is a dream come true for movie buffs and Raj Kapoor fan, Dipesh Majithia.
It was inaugurated on September 18 by Aditya Kapoor, Raj Kapoor'snephew. Aditya is the son of yesteryears heartthrob Shammi Kapoor, younger brother of Raj Kapoor.
At the opening, guests were invited to dress up in attire from any of Raj Kapoor'sfilms.
Majithia told IANS: ?The restaurant is distinctive in that it is a garden restaurant?a novelty in keeping with the tradition of the film maestro Raj Kapoor, who was ahead of his time.
?Bageecha is decorated with Raj Kapoor portraits, film posters and of course features his music?the entire venue is a homage to the showman.
?We chose Aditya for our grand opening because we thought he is among the closest of kin of Raj Kapoor?it is a real honour that he agreed to oblige.?
Majithia, who also works as a film promoter and producer, said Raj Kapoor was his inspiration, and was mainly responsible for his interest in films. Majithia has been instrumental in bringing a number of Bollywood movies and film serials to Leicester.
?Raj Kapoor is a name that no one can forget,? he said. ?He was an actor and filmmaker of international stature who never used to make films but rather created films.
?I am so pleased that a member of his family was associated with this venture and dined at the restaurant.?
?Demise marriage? in UK by 2031
Bachelors and single women will dominate Britain'spopulation by 2031, official predictions say.
In what is being called the ?Demise of marriage?, official studies into social norms reveal that married people will be in a declining minority by 2031.
Since records began, the married population has vastly exceeded the never-married, but this is set to change dramatically as the inevitable result of social changes already underway, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
Over the next 25 years, many people in the usually married older generation will die. They will be replaced by a new generation of pensioners, a lot of whom preferred cohabitation to matrimony.
With the trend for cohabitation likely to continue among younger people, a tipping point will be reached during the 2020s when the number of never-marrieds will exceed the married population.
In 1990, 60 per cent of males over 16 were married, while 30 per cent had never married, with the rest either widowed or divorced. Among women, the proportions were stacked even more heavily in favour of marriage.
A higher proportion was widowed, but 56 per cent of women alive in 1991 were married, compared with 23 per cent who had never married.
According to ONS projections for 2031, 42 per cent of men will be married while 46 per cent will never have married. Among women, the married (40 per cent) will still slightly exceed the never married (39 per cent). But adding men and women together, the never-married will exceed the married by about 65 lakh.
The ONS said the number of cohabiting couples is projected to almost double from two million to 3.8 million by 2031.
In 2003, only 21 per cent of men and 18 per cent of women in cohabiting relationships were over 45.
Russian to overtake Mittal
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich?better known here as the owner of Chelsea football club?is all set to overtake India-born L.N. Mittal as Britain'srichest man. Mittal had topped the Sunday Times Rich List 2005 with a fortune estimated at a ? 14.8 billion. Reports say that Abramovich has now doubled his ? 27.5 billion fortune.
He raked in another ? 7.5 billion pounds after flogging his 72 per cent share in the Russian oil giant Sibneft?taking his worth to ? 15 billion pounds. His shares were bought by state-controlled gas company Gazprom in the biggest deal in Russian business history.
Abramovich, 38, is now close to becoming Britain'srichest man, snapping at the heels of steel tycoon Mittal. Abramovich, a father of five, built his enormous fortune through oil trading, cashing in on the collapse of the Soviet Union to sell the country'sreserves to the rest of the world.
The Russians sold off Sibneft in 1996 for around ? 55 million and it ended up under Abramovich'scontrol.
He has received enormous payouts from his investments, including a recent ? 780 million pound bonus from Sibneft and ? 1 billion when he sold shares in Russian aluminium company RusAI.
Two years ago, Abramovich paid ? 140 million to buy Chelsea and has forked out millions on a luxury lifestyle.
He'sspent ? 220 million buying top flight players such as ? 21 million Shaun Wright-Phillips to help Chelsea clinch the Premiership. And he spent ? 300 million on a state-of-the-art training ground in Surrey.
Abramovich lives with wife Irina, 37, and family in an ? 11 million Grade II-listed Georgian mansion in swanky Belgravia, London, and has a ? 5 million house down the road from Harrods in Knightsbridge.
There'salso a 450-acre country retreat in Sussex as well as a ? 10 million holiday home in St Tropez.
Wealth expert Philip Beresford said: ?He could become the richest person in Britain.?
(The writer is a UK-based journalist and can be contacted on sprasun@hotmail.com)
