With the mind of a deft German and the heart of an emotional Indian, Bollywood actress and fashion philanthropist Evelyn Sharma gave her first international speech at US president Donald Trump’s ‘National Prayer Breakfast’ in the Hilton’s International Ballroom at the Washington Hilton hotel in Washington DC this week.

Representing the Christian faith, Evelyn joined the high ranks of leadership from various countries and religious backgrounds giving inspirational speeches, at the massive event hosted by members of the United States Congress and organized on their behalf by The Fellowship Foundation, a Christian organization.

She gave a touching speech after King Abdullah of Jordan and was followed by another from Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe from Uganda, amidst humongous security. “Evelyn called and spoke to me immediately after her speech and described it as a huge honour and the most humbling experience of her life so far,” informed her publicist Dale Bhagwagar.

“Evelyn shared the story of her own faith, urging the world for acceptance, unity and peace, which brought her a standing ovation by the thousands of guests present at the event. From a PR point of view, the Indian actress has bypassed many, by opting for an intellectual speech at an event for world unity of religions, instead of a flashy photo-op,” he remarked.

The event was attended by more than 3,000 guests, including politicians, religious leaders and other international invitees from over 130 countries.

German-born Indian Bollywood actress and fashionista Evelyn Sharma will attend American president Donald Trump’s high-profile event — the ‘National Prayer Breakfast’ — in the Hilton’s International Ballroom at the Washington Hilton hotel in Washington DC this week.

“Evelyn has been keeping this trip under wraps under the garb of vacationing in Los Angeles, California from where she even posted some gorgeous beach pics on her Instagram. But the secret is, she has just taken a flight from LA to Washington DC where she will attend Donald Trump’s National Prayer Breakfast,” revealed her publicist Dale Bhagwagar.

And what will Evelyn be doing at Trump’s event? “She will be representing the Christian faith,” he informed. The National Prayer Breakfast, a yearly event held in the capitol of USA since 1953, is hosted by members of the United States Congress and organized on their behalf by The Fellowship Foundation, a Christian organization.

It is typically attended by some 3,500 guests, including international invitees from over 100 countries. Wikipedia describes it as an event designed to be a forum for the political, social and business elite to assemble and build relationships.

She might have the ‘godwoman’ tag attached to her, but when it comes to attire Radhe Maa can sure surprise many.

Normally clad in a typical red gown, this week Radhe Maa turned up for one of her charity events in a fashionable frilled red mermaid dress, replete with a red purse to match… the kind of attire one normally sees models and film actresses wearing at premieres and glam parties.

We don’t know if Radhe Maa bought this chic dress from a store or got it as a gift from one of her thousands of devotees, but the lady sure fit quite well in it. In fact, she carried it off with amazing grace, almost appearing like an angelic doll.

So much so that if one didn’t notice the long tikka on her forehead and her bhakts walk besides her, one might have found it difficult to spot if it was indeed the ‘godwoman’ or a fashionista!

Now now! Even fashion designers may call that kind of a transformation truly divine. Thing is, for Radhe Maa, its hardly a transformation, but an extension of her persona. And it gets more and more intriguing with time.

“The whole of Jodhpur seems to be more alive than before,” says actress and fashionista Evelyn Sharma who happened to land in the blue city the very same hour superstar Salman Khan was acquitted by a local Jodhpur court in the 1998 Arms Act case this week.

Though Evelyn is a fan of Being Human, she quips, “It is coincidence that I came to Jodhpur at the same time. Suddenly, the city seems to have an air of frenzied inquisitiveness with everyone talking Salman Khan.”

Evelyn is there for the launch of a new store of the clothing brand KASHANA which she endorses. So much is the hoopla that she was almost run over by the crowd and press reporters when she landed at the airport.

Actors Emraan Hashmi and Vidyut Jammwal were on the same flight, travelling for their Baadshaho film shoot. They too are said to have been flabbergasted by the hullaballoo, as all the three celebrities were hounded by the media on landing in Jodhpur.

Often called the best bikini babe in Bollywood, screen scorcher Evelyn is famous for her Sunny Sunny song in Divya Khosla Kumar’s Yaariyan and other hit films like Rohan Sippy’s Nautanki Saala opposite Ayushman Khurrana, David Dhavan’s Main Tera Hero with Varun Dhawan and Illeana D’Cruz, and Ayan Mukerji’s Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani alongside Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone under Karan Johar’s banner Dharma Productions.

Amid thunderous applause, reigning megastar Aamir Khan’s first cousin Tariq Khan, who was tagged the ‘dancing rockstar’ of the ’70s, released the current edition of the popular book R.D.BurMania, authored by senior award-winning journalist Chaitanya Padukone from Mumbai.

The release took place in Pune at a grand musical event convened by PanchamMagic Group; a popular R.D. fans association, to mark the 23rd death anniversary of the celebrated Bollywood composer R.D.Burman; an all-time great the Indian music industry has ever produced.

“It’s my honour to soft-launch this classic book of R.D. memoirs, as I also owe my stardom during the ’70s mainly to the genius composer, besides my uncle Nasir Hussain saab,” remarked Tariq, who has had a string of iconic R.D.B. retro-chartbusters picturised on him, including ‘Tum Kya Jaano Mohabbat Kya Hai’ sung by R.D. himself,  ‘Chand Mera Dil Chandni Ho Tum’ and ‘Kya Hua Tera Wada’ from Hum Kisise Kum Naheen, plus ‘Aap Ke Kamre Mein Koi Rehta Hain’ and ‘Lekar Hum Deewana Dil’ from Yaadon Ki Baaraat.

“Tariq Khan has been publicity-shy all these years. Although this was his formal public appearance after a hiatus of 15 years, he made a startling entry on stage, ‘dancing’ to one of his songs and sporting his trademark sunglasses of the ’70s movies. The public was charmed hearing his classic iconic numbers,” informed Bollywood publicist Dale Bhagwagar.

The actor was joined by eminent composer Anand (of Anand-Milind fame) who scored chartbusting music for Aamir Khan’s debut blockbuster film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak.

Many feel that Bani J is being projected as the winner of Bigg Boss 10. Her close friendship with past BB winner Gauhar Khan is also said to be a reason she is being preferred. However, chess master Dhyani Dave who analyses Bigg Boss just like a mind game of chess, feels Bani winning the reality show could bring a bad name to Salman Khan and the show.

“Over the years, both Salman Khan and Bigg Boss have been seen as righteous. Salman always encourages good behaviour on the show and supports the morally correct. And Bigg Boss, through his commanding yet affectionate voice, has also always stood for good,” Dhyani points out.

She explains, “Banj J has been a very strong contender on the show. She has made a lot of right moves to stay put and reminds one of the way Gauhar played a very smart game. However, unlike Gauhar, Bani has been one of the most foul-mouthed contestants on Bigg Boss. We cannot deny this fact. Through her beeped lip-movements bachcha-bachcha understands that Bani has been giving the choicest of gaalis to those who she hasn’t vibed with.”

“If Bani is made the winner, then the show may send out a wrong message that swear words are cool. That would be very ironical for a show, which inspite of seeking eyeballs through the concept of voyeurism, has taken pride on supporting the good in people.” Dhyani does have a point.

Even as the world rages with issues about ‘fake news’ on social media, India has a new unique example. This week, a Facebook parody account of politician Subramanian Swamy has released a picture of prime minister Narendra Modi having lunch with some people and added its own conspiracy theory about the PM siding with “liquor mafia.”

Within an hour of it being uploaded, the post already has more than 2,200 ‘likes’ and 720 ‘shares’. What’s more! The parody account has gone one step further to compare the PM with ‘godwoman’ Radhe Maa, with a line stating, “Lol Pure & pious Like Radhe Ganga Maa.” (sic)

Sanjeev Gupta of Global Advertisers, the patron of Radhe Maa, has taken a strong stand on such propaganda. He says, “Conspiracy theories on social media defame people. The government as well as the social media sites should find out ways to stop and even dissuade mischievous people from spreading information that unnecessarily targets celebrities and spreads dissent.” Gupta believes that, “apart from Facebook taking stringent measures, the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) should also take note of such matters.”

“Social media often takes a dig at the ‘I am pure and pious’ comment Radhe Maa had made once. We are in a democracy and constructive criticism is not a problem,” adds Global Advertisers’ publicist Dale Bhagwagar. “However, turning and twisting words and unethically linking them to the honourable PM’s name, is stretching things a bit too far,” he remarks.

It can be noted here that just last week, Hillary Clinton claimed that ‘fake news’ on social media spread through email leaks by Russians, was partly responsible for her defeat against Donald Trump in the recent US elections. Among other reasons, she argued that Russian president Vladimir Putin had personally directed a hacking operation that lost her the US presidency. Her emails leaked on Wiki Leaks are said to have been misconstrued and then widely discussed on social media.

There are concerns about the impact false information and hoaxes may have on elections in Germany, France and other European countries next year. The role of Facebook in particular, in the dissemination of ‘fake news’, has been the subject of increasing debate. Last week, Facebook rolled out some preliminary steps to combat ‘fake news’, enlisting third-party fact-checkers to assess the veracity of posts flagged by users.

Radhe Maa helps poor people in Salman Khan style

Bandra ki andheri raaton mein, sunsaan raahon par, ek maseeha nikalta hai, jise log Salman Khan kehte hai. The Being Human megastar is often heard of helping poor people in the middle of the night, on streets around his house in the Mumbai suburb. What’s more! He is also said not to seek credit or attention for what he does.

Now it seems Salman has inspired ‘godwoman’ Radhe Maa to do the same. Last week, the lady was spotted with some of her disciples, distributing blankets to poor people around the streets of her abode in Borivali on a strong winter night.

Radhe Maa even went a step ahead in secrecy. She walked up to a few people sleeping on the pavements, quietly wrapped a blanket around them and moved away. If it wasn’t for her tika, bangles and disciples around her, Radhe Maa dressed in her patent bright scarlet-red attire, could almost be mistaken for Santa Claus.

Her patron Sanjeev Gupta of Global Advertisers confirms that Radhe Maa has indeed been doing a lot of charity, including distribution of blankets. “She has distributed more than 3,000 blankets to the underprivileged. And as the winter increases, she will try and help more and more people,” he says.