Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Glitz 'n' glares
Rajkumar Hirani, Jackie Shroff and Dharmendra share a warm moment at a Marathi film awards ceremony held in Worli on Tuesday. Pic/Sameer Markande

Pic/Hashim Badani

Adieu, Mr Kohinoor!
This hasn't been a good week for the city's landmark restaurants. We were still reeling from the shuttering of Colaba's Indigo, when we got the news yesterday that Merwan Kohinoor, senior partner of the iconic Irani eatery, Britannia & Co. Restaurant, is no more. The octogenarian, we hear, had been unwell for a week. "Mr Merwan had worked at Sailor Restaurant at PM Road in his early years, moving on to run the now shut Bastani & Co. at Dhobi Talao. In his final years, he sat at the entrance of Britannia, greeting customers, while his elder brother, Mr Boman, moved around and chatted with them. If someone from his community visited the restaurant, Mr Merwan always bade them goodbye with the Persian greeting, Khoda Hafiz," Dr Simin Patel, who runs Bombaywalla Historical Works and is working on a book on the Irani cafés of Mumbai with Hashim Badani, told this diarist.

Such a sport!
An organisation that promotes tourism in Canada has off late turned its focus on young Indians. As part of the initiative, it has got lifestyle and fashion blogger Aashna Shroff on board. Just before she left for a familiarisation trip to Vancouver yesterday, the organisation felt it was good idea to get the Consul General of Canada in Mumbai, and a native of Vancouver, Jordon Reeves, to share some travel tips. And to convince Shroff to dress warmly on her visit, the diplomat decided to don the ice-hockey player avatar. Sweet!

Headshot to die for
Tweeple always find a way to have fun together. This time it was #oldheadshotday. Everyone from Jake Short to Lou Diamond Phillips posted old photographs of themselves, most of which looked like it took a lot of digging in the closet. Then our very own Tara Sharma Saluja shared a gorgeous photo her 16-year-old self, taken by famous photographer Adrian Stevens. It left us thinking, maybe the hashtag wasn't purposeless, after all!

Illustration/ Ravi Jadhav

The man who took Rama to Russia
The immense popularity Raj Kapoor enjoyed in Russia is the stuff of legend. Unbeknown to many young Indians, however, is the highly acclaimed work of veteran actor and director, Gennady Mikhailovich Pechnikov, who for 40 years, introduced the children of Russia to the Ramayana by portraying Lord Rama on stage. Pechnikov, 91, passed away on April 27 in Moscow.

The Indian epic was translated into Russian by renowned indologist Alexei Petrovich Barannikov in 1948, and Pechnikov co-directed it for Central Children's Theatre (now known as The Russian Youth Theatre) in 1960. Among the many theatre connoisseurs who admired his portrayal of Rama were the then ambassador of India to Russia, KPS Menon and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. In fact, when Nehru watched the play, he was supposed to be at the staging only for the first act. But when his assistant tried to remind him about it, he brushed him off saying, "Please, for once in my life, let me do what I want." At the end of the play, the then Prime Minister gave Pechnikov a compliment he held close to his heart for life. "You are our Rama," he said. Later on, he was also invited by Indira Gandhi to visit India, where he gave performances in Russian, which were well received by the audience.

During the celebration of the completion of 50 years of the play, Pechnikov said that the role of Rama had changed his life. People who knew him closely say that he turned vegetarian and used to eat seated on the floor. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Shri. This is one stage exit that will be difficult to replace.

Snitch a bite
The joy of Gryffindor winning a Quidditch match at the last minute when Harry Potter would grab the Snitch is one of our favourite moments from the Potter movies. Now, SoBo eatery Henpecked has made it a lot easier to catch one with their new dessert, golden snitch. "We wanted to connect people with a story that they grew up with. This dessert was devised after trying different combinations of berries with chocolate. It's a mix of four types of mousse and warm brownie paired with a special raspberry gel. To add a dash of whimsy and to balance the dessert, there is caramelised chocolate. We have used edible flowers and for an exquisite golden touch, we have 24 carat gold purified powder," says chef Sandeep Rane.

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