Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Amitabh Bachchan

String theory
Don't let this accompanying photo fool you into thinking that there are hidden talents that the Big B has. For, looking at it, it's easy to think that Amitabh Bachchan is a master sitar player. But that's not the case. In fact, the instrument on the megastar's lap is not even a sitar.

It's an electric "zitar", that Indian classical music exponent Niladri Kumar built himself, and then gifted to the actor earlier this month. The latter thanked him on social media, putting up this photo with the disclaimer that he's only posing here. But don't worry. Given how much of a natural he looks, we were fooled for a second, too.

Step up in Andheri
When a city-based studio started out in 2004, it was only to cater to dance and theatre enthusiasts. Now, 14 years later, the owners have expanded it to incorporate fitness and music, too. Offering 20 different styles of dance lessons under the same roof, the studio opened it latest outlet in Andheri.

Aanchal Gupta flanked by Ranbir Kapoor and Ayan Mukerji at the launch of the studio in Andheri

It's presumably a location that's likely to work in their favour, what with the suburb being home to scores of aspiring actors and performers. To inaugurate the space, actor Ranbir Kapoor and director Ayan Mukerji, known to be friends (just take a look at Alia Bhatt's Instagram profile), dropped in. "We could not have asked for a more talented and glamorous opening for our space," Aanchal Gupta, director of the studio, told this diarist.

A titbit from the film world
Suniel Shetty has done it, as has Jacqueline Fernandez. And so has Dino Morea. Now, joining the list of film personalities who have launched eateries is actor Mandana Karimi.

We hear that she is all set to launch a takeaway in Bandra, and the news was confirmed when she put up a teaser on social media, announcing gleefully that she will soon turn into a "proprietor".

An unusual chapter for F&B industry
Here's some out-of-the-box - or should we say not-by-the-book - news about the city's F&B landscape. Next month, author Haimanti Bhattacharya will launch what is being touted as India's first ever restaurant themed on a novel.

The interiors at Bombay Tales are inspired by Bhattacharya's next novel, which has the same name. Speaking about it, she told this diarist, "Who doesn't like dreams to come true, and I endeavoured to make my work of fiction come to life. No love story is complete without eating and drinking anyway, so what better way to marry the two." The restaurant and bar is slated to launch in January.

Tributes pour in
The contribution that Dr Verghese Kurien - the "Father of the White Revolution" - has had on India's dairy industry can't be encapsulated in words. So, it follows that ahead of his 92nd birth anniversary today, Amul, the pioneering company that he helped set up, put up a series of videos where the doyens of Indian industry paid glowing tributes to the man. But of the list of people, who included Adi Godrej, Mohandas Pai and Prahlad Kakkar, the one whose recollections of Dr Kurien we loved was Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw.

She recounted how awed she was when she met him years ago as a young entrepreneur, and lamented the fact that there were no cell phones back then, since she would have surely taken a selfie with him.

These ears don't fit

We love Mandira Bedi's reaction as she and her son Vir try out ear props for a fitness event that the two attended at Bandra Kurla Complex on Sunday. Pic/Rane Ashish

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