Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Walks into a bra

Like what you see? Swara Bhasker attends the launch of a lingerie brand's new collection on Thursday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Nani raps it up

The recent hip-hop boom in India has largely been restricted to youngsters in their 20s. Some of those prevalent in the scene haven't even left their teens, while the old-timers have barely hit their 30s. But the success of Gully Boy seems to be changing this. The movie captured the nation's collective consciousness and initiated a lot of people into a genre they might never have heard of. One such person is Rap Nani (inset). She is an unidentified senior citizen who has made a video that Ranveer Singh shared on social media. In it, the woman raps in Hindi, Gully-Boy style, about how the state of affairs in the country is so messed up right now that "zamana hi kharab hai". She falters a bit in her delivery, but makes up for that with a sharp rhyming scheme. No wonder the video has garnered 3.3 million views in a matter of hours. Some people had apprehensions about how Gully Boy had appropriated what is essentially an underground form of art. But if this is what the movie has resulted in, even the naysayers have reason to be happy.

Aaj ki taaza khabar: DD style recap of GoT

Everyone recognises the monotonous narration of a Doordarshan broadcast, including comedian Pushkar Bendre. And while everyone still has their heads wrapped around Game of Throne's latest episode A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Bendre made a video about it, in DD news style. The eight-minute clip summarises the episode in "shuddh" Hindi - which is what makes it really funny, leaving behind the deliberate mispronunciations and the narrator's unmodulated voice. We are waiting for him to come up with similar versions of subsequent episodes.

A mix and match

It was in September last year that this diarist set out on a hunt for edible shot glasses, prompted by hours of Instagramming where the dessert trend was exploding. But, she returned empty-handed and the search finally ended this week when she learnt that a new dessert parlour called Blendorama in Charni Road is where the stuff is at. Here, the adage "best of both worlds" comes to life with gusto, in the form of waffle-donuts, ice cream candy floss and other unique sweet treats. No wonder it's being billed as "India's first hybrid cafe".

This is going to be two funny

A number of Indian-origin comedians have made a name for themselves abroad, joking about what life is like in the West for a desi person. Russell Peters was one of the first people in that list, and the comedian will soon be returning to the motherland, with a show in the city slated for June 2.

Not just that, but Aziz Ansari (inset), too, will perform in Mumbai towards the end of May. Ansari, of course, had been keeping a low profile after a woman accused him of sexual impropriety over a year ago. This in fact, will be his first tour after the controversy, and it will be interesting to see what sort of a response he gets from the audience.

Jivi Sethi. Pic/Kaustubh Naik

A chef remembers his first patron

As news of Jivi Sethi's death reached his friends and well-wishers in Delhi, Mumbai, Goa and other parts of India yesterday, tributes started pouring in on social media. The designer and socialite was battling throat cancer and died of a heart attack at his residence in Assagao, Goa.

Chef Manu Chandra (inset), too, shared a heartfelt memory and told this diarist, "Jivi and I go way back. I was a 17-year-old, working part-time in a café in a tony part of Delhi, with dreams of becoming a chef. One day, this man walked in, ordered the dishes I was making, and polished off everything, declaring I would become a great chef. The world is poorer without Jivi."

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