Her Striker co-star Siddharth had said "…I remember Padmapriya walking into location on the first day as a vegetarian and eating raw fish within the first day because she plays a fisherwoman." This passionate actor has not only found her place in the hearts of many, but also in Bollywood.

Padmapriya has worked with big names like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Cheran, Vishnuvardhan and has bagged some of the most coveted roles down South. Her army upbringing has taught her discipline and a penchant for an open mind! A trained Bharatnatyam dancer and an MBA graduate, her love for nature is evident with her Environmental Law degree from National Law School.

By Aparajita Bose

"My background of having been detected by a Physical Training teacher, Mark Bolland at school, I know the importance of accessing sports at school", said the 39-year-old Chief Executive of Chance to Shine, Wasim Khan to Media Voice.

Wasim who was the first British-born Asian to make his debut for Warwickshire as a left handed opener in county grade in 1995 is the CEO of Chance to Shine is a 50 million pounds national campaign that was set up on a ten-year period tying up with the 39 cricket county clubs.

It was Mervyn King, the Governor of Bank of England, who was instrumental in naming and launching this unique campaign in a private chat with his friends almost five years ago. Since then, Chance to Shine has reached around 800,000 boys and girls and now works through 400 cricket clubs, involving 4,000 state primary and secondary schools throughout the country.

By Cynthia Chandran

Shyam Benegal, pioneer of Middle and New cinema in India has been making waves in and out of the country since his first film, 'Ankur' released way back in 1973.

Benegal, now a member of the upper house of the Indian Parliament, recently was in London to promote his latest comedy film, 'Well Done Abba', when he spoke at length to Media Voice, on a variety of issues.

While in London he also took part in the launch of India Media Centre.

Every March, most people of the world eagerly watch the Oscar Ceremony in Los Angeles, USA. There are even contests to guess who would win the Oscar each year. So far the Oscar has eluded the Indian films but not Indians, especially Indian in the technical field. Unfortunately, the amount of media coverage given to technical people who have won Oscars in the world is almost nil. Therefore, only a small minority of people know that an Indian woman from Trichy has won an Oscar. Only a few know the name of the young woman, Vanitha Rangaraju-Ramanan. She who won it for her technical work in the animation movie, Shrek in 2002. Vanitha has also worked on Shrek sequels and the Madagascar series.

Deepa Kandaswamy spoke with Vanitha Rangaraju about her road to the Oscar – from Trichy to Tinsel town.

Deepa Kandaswamy: Tell us about yourself - your family, place of birth, childhood, etc.