Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Geeta Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Anurag Basu. Pic/Satej Shinde

Centre of attraction
Shilpa Shetty Kundra's skirt is clearly an eye catcher at a press conference she attended for a dance show with fellow judges Geeta Kapoor and Anurag Basu.

Wedding bells in the Amlani house
This year can very well be called one of celebrity weddings, what with DeepVeer and Pic-Nick having tied the knot at exotic locales, followed by the grand Ambani-Piramal shaadi. Others like comedian Kapil Sharma exchanged rings in relatively quiet affairs.

Now, we hear that Rizwan Amlani, co-founder of Dope Coffee-Roasted Today, and brother of restaurateur Riyaaz Amlani is getting hitched this weekend to Shahzeen Porbanderwala, a dentist. Amlani first laid eyes on his ladylove at the age of 13. "I used to message her on ICQ Messenger [this is even before MSN came around] and asked her out several times.

She made me wait for 20 years till she finally said 'yes' three years back which is when we got engaged," the coffee connoisseur told this diarist even as he struggled to contain his excitement. "I'm just relieved I don't have to drop her home anymore," he joked. When he routed the diarist to an ecstatic Porbanderwala she said, "I am excited, and we are having a great time." Well, we sure hope so and here's wishing the happy couple a blessed married life.

Every drop counts
It's at least four months to go until summer, and Mumbaikars are already facing a water cut. But with climate change impacting rainfall pattern, it is the districts in the interiors of Maharashtra which are bearing the real brunt. With an aim to make the state drought-free, the Paani Foundation - started by the core team behind the television show, Satyamev Jayate - recently announced the launch of the fourth edition of the Satyamev Jayate Water Cup for the year 2019.

The announcement was made at a meeting, where CM Devendra Fadnavis, and Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, Satyajit Bhatkal and Dr Avinash Pol from the foundation were joined by district collectors from across Maharashtra via a video conference. The 45-day long competition will see participation by 76 talukas from 24 districts, and the village that does the best work for watershed management and water conservation will win a cash prize of '75 lakh. This is what we call a win-win all around.

Beautiful music
Mexican beauty Vanessa Ponce was crowned Miss World 2018 when the annual beauty pageant was held in China earlier this month. But not many people know that an Indian composer was responsible for the event's theme music. Chennai-based C Girinandh runs a studio called Aura, and gets regular calls from an American production house, Zero Point, for projects, including this one.

"I felt while composing the piece that it should have contemporary elements and we incorporated the sitar to introduce an Indian touch to the music. We also used an urban tabla, along with contemporary beats and a couple of ragas layered under the instrumental piece," he told this diarist.

Candy shower
When it comes to famous faces celebrating life events, wardrobes are all the rage. But we were recently fighting the urge to binge on a cake when we spotted the one designer Nishka Lulla had ordered for her baby shower from The Sassy Spoon.

Called the explosive cake, which has also been trademarked by the brand, it's a hollow cake filled with sprinkles, candies and gels. "As the shower was unicorn-themed, we customised it for Lulla and did ombre, lavender, pink and purple shades," says owner Rachel Goenka.

In memory of Paul Taylor
When American dancer and choreographer Paul Taylor passed away earlier this year, it marked the end of an era, for he was considered among the last living members of the third generation of America's modern dance artistes. While most Mumbaikars may not have had the chance to watch the maestro in motion, connoisseurs in the city can now learn some of Taylor's dance techniques.

Richard Chen See. Pic/Tom Caravaglia

Fullbright-Nehru grant recipient Richard Chen See, who has been staging Taylor's choreographies since 1999, is in town for a two-day American modern dance workshop at Sumeet Nagdev Dance Arts. The workshop is open to all, something that ties in with Taylor's philosophy.

Paul Taylor in the dance Aureole. Pic/Jack Mitchell

"He loved observing people, dancers and movement and he was very good at translating it into movement and choreographies. [Such that] audiences, irrespective of their knowledge of dance, understood what he was trying to communicate," Chen See told this diarist.

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