Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Vivaan's got the spooks
Actor Vivaan Shah is ready with his theatre directorial debut, Comedy Of Horrors, which will be performed as part of Tata Literature Live at NCPA on October 29.

Vivaan Shah

The piece is based on two of Edgar Allan Poe's works and one by Ambrose Bierce. "I have directed plays in school before, so, that doesn't count. I am a huge fan of classic literature, actually literature till World War II. This is my attempt to present classic literature to a contemporary audience. Poe's works were way ahead of his time," he tells us.

Ask him about his parents' (Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak) reactions, and he replies,"They are generous with their praise but if there is something wrong, they can be brutal too. They haven't seen it yet. Theatre is an ideal medium for horror. If an audience member screams, the play is a success!"

Another chef comes to Kamala Mills
Chef Ranveer Brar is quite the man of the moment. When he is not busy juggling his television shows (you might just see him hula hoop in the adventure reality show, I Can Do That), he is busy finalising details for his business ventures.

Ranveer Brar

Early next year, the chef will open Tag Kitchen and Cellar at Kamala Mills. "It is a 40-seater, niche, high-end eatery serving only small plates with global flavours. So, expect single malts, reserved wines, cigars and cognacs too," he informs.

Also, in the pipeline is a restaurant titled Flip that will first open doors in Delhi, later in Bangalore and in our city too. If this wasn't enough, the chef is also keen to leave his mark in Madrid.

"I'm opening a restaurant there, but we're still trying to figure out the name," he shares. This also marks his third international outing post opening two eateries in Boston - Soul of India and India Da Vinci.

Pic/Ajinkya Sawant

Koli folk and funk tunes
(Left) Rohan a.k.a JAMM (Just Another Masked Man) drummed on a bucket; (below) Koli singer Chintamani along with his band (from left) Kavish (guitar), Jignesh Patel (drums), Rajeev Prasanna (flute) and Sanglap Sengupta (bass) enthralled the audience at a performance for Zubaan, a music project connecting independent artistes to the mainlands of the country, on Sunday evening.

Q is back
Kolkata-based filmmaker Q's recent film is about Nabarun Bhattacharya, one of Bengal's contemporary literary greats.

The 83-minute film tries to get into the mind of the writer and bring out the essence of his writings, bouncing between pure documentary and fiction. Q was not able to shoot with Bhattacharya extensively due to the author's illness.

This film will be screened at Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) early next month.

Common Man goes online
RK Laxman's works find an audience in every generation. And to mark his 94th birth anniversary, a website, www.rklaxman.com was launched by Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis. The website features life and work of of the legendary cartoonist.

A statue of RK Laxman's Common Man at Worli Sea Face. Pic/Bipin Kokate

It was conceptualised by his daughter-in-law Usha Laxman and friend Nandu Gupta. The website has been designed by family friend, Tejas Taori and Laxman's grand daughter Rimanika Laxman.

The website has many interesting stories about Laxman that most people would not know, including one incident about his father having collapsed inside a bathroom, with the door latched. The story reveals that Laxman took to a ledge that was above a 50 ft drop and unlocked the door. That day transformed him from a child to a man.