Thanks to Bhawna Sudhir :)
-Sumita Sheth

"NEW DELHI: Making it clear that he was not much of a book reader but was here in the Capital only for a friend, Bollywood star Akshay Kumar on Saturday released fashion designer Ritu Beri's maiden book, "`Firefly: A Fairytale", at Hotel Hyatt Regency.

Dressed in an immaculate white shirt and jeans, Akshay said: "I am not a book lover but am here for my dear friend Ritu. This will be the first book that I will read. But I have been instructed not to open the book right now as it will be officially released early next month."

Thanking Akshay for giving the Filmfare awards function a miss to attend her book launch, Ritu said the actor had shown that he has a "super heart''. "Dressing up Akshay has been very easy for me as he is a clotheshorse and a trendsetter."

About her book, Ritu said: "I cannot be presumptuous enough to write down my own autobiography. Fashion has been portrayed in a casual yet in a fun sort of way. Earlier, I was commissioned by Penguin to pen down the book but it turned out to be too costly so I decided to publish it myself." Stating that the book was about those things that give her creativity a spark, Ritu said: "The book is about all creative things like architecture, history, women and their beauty. It illustrates unbelievable similarities of various cultures of the world and is about innumerable influences on fashion like the intrigue of history, the drama of architecture, the experimental play of photography, the magic of Paris and refined art. There is a chapter on Paris that has played an important part in my evolution as a designer." The designer said professionally she was having a great time as she recently got an opportunity to dress Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman. So far, only 100 copies of the book -- which deals with Ritu's dreams to conquer the global fashion world -- have been published and will be available at her store and at various book houses at an unbelievable price of Rs. 1 lakh."

Courtesy The Hindu