Kajol Turns Ms. 'MasterChef'?

What's brewing and cooking on the professional front as regards Padmashri winner Kajol? Quite a mouth watering bit… if "highly placed" sources are to be believed. Word has it that Kajol could well be the next MasterChef host, if she does decide to bite the telly bait.

Akshay Kumar who'd anchored the premier season of the MasterChef cookery show made it amply clear that he would not be playing host in season two, since it clashed with a daredevilry TV show that he was committed to.

Certain reports also hinted that Farhan Akhtar was also a possible contender for the anchor's post in the cookery show, though the odds seem highly in favour of Kajol if she does take the telly plunge.

Reveals a channel insider, "Although Farhan Akhtar is also being considered, Kajol has the upper hand because she is a woman and mother and has a 'family' image. Besides, Farhan has a multi faceted image and the show that he last did on television had nothing to do with cookery. Akshay Kumar was a chef earlier and so that went well with audiences. Kajol has a stronger mass appeal than Farhan and will blend better with the idea of a kitchen and food."

MF Husain passes away in London

MF Husain, India's best known contemporary painter, has died in London. India should grieve for two reasons. At 95, he was active and had lots of painting left in him. And he died in exile, unhappy with the way his home country had treated him.

Husain had been in exile since 2006, when he was attacked by rightist groups angry with his portrayal of Hindu deities. Last year, he was offered Qatari citizenship. But his heart remained in India, and in interviews, spoke fondly of what this country meant to him.

CNN-IBN reported from London that he was admitted only two days ago for fluid retention in his lungs, and but had otherwise been"in fairly good health".

Arun Vadhera, a friend who visited him at Royal Brompton Hospital yesterday, said he had been cheerful, talking about eating out at a restaurant soon after his discharge. "He really really missed India a lot," he told a TV channel.

He popularized modern art in India, painter S G Vasudev told a Bangalore news channel.