Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Nikhil Chinappa, Malaika Arora and Cyrus Broacha

Rewind and roll: VJs recall glory days
We remember the wide-eyed wonder with which we would watch MTV when the channel arrived on our TV screens back in the '90s. It was our first brush with international music videos, before other competitors entered the picture.

And a photo that Nikhil Chinappa, the channel's erstwhile DJ, posted on social media brought all those memories rushing back. In it, Chinappa poses with ex-colleagues Malaika Arora and Cyrus Broacha, after wrapping up a recording for Broacha's podcast in which they reminisce about their 20-plus years with the channel. Those were simpler times for sure, and we, for one, wish we could relive them again.

Here's a fashionable memoir on the cards
At 51, Manish Malhotra has spent more than half his life in the world of Indian fashion, shaping it, redefining it and making Bollywood and couture inseparable. There couldn't have been a better time then for the ace designer to announce his autobiography. The untitled memoir, the rights to which have been acquired by Rupa Publications, is set to come out next year, and will be co-written with journalist-author Sonal Kalra.

Manish Malhotra

From tracing his foray into modelling to Malhotra's introduction of the concept of styling in Bollywood, the book promises to have it all. Readers can also expect liberal doses of star trivia - think stories behind dressing up leading ladies, from Rekha to Alia Bhatt, and his interactions with international celebs including Michael Jackson and the Princess of Saudi Arabia.

Suvari's sole is from Mumbai
Here's someone we didn't foresee modelling for a little-known Mumbai-based firm. Actor Mena Suvari, best known for playing a sultry seductress in the film American Beauty, recently put up a photo of herself on social media endorsing an Indian brand of vegan footwear.

Mena Suvari

We always knew that she was a proponent of vegan lifestyle choices that go beyond food. But to see her helping out someone from our neck in the woods is a pleasant surprise for sure.

The silent treatment for Agnihotri
Vivek Agnihotri has been in the news quite a lot recently, and not exactly for the best of reasons. First came the #MeTooUrbanNaxal trend, which left him with egg on his face. Then came an interview with an online media outlet that didn't paint him in the best of light. And now, a recent tweet of his attacking Swara Bhaskar has been deleted for being in violation of rules, with the micro-blogging channel even locking his account till he made necessary corrections.

Vivek Agnihotri

The tweet was in response to Bhaskar calling out a Kerala MLA for making objectionable remarks against a nun who has been allegedly raped. And it read: "Where is the placard #MeTooProstituteNun?" Bhaskar wasted no time in reporting it, and Twitter rapped Agnihotri on the knuckles. But our guess is that this won't be enough to silence him, since he seems to have made a business out of shooting from the lip.

One day in September
Opposite the Lion Gate is the site on which the Bombay Natural History Society is located. This landmark is the largest NGO in the Indian sub-continent engaged in nature conservation research. In 1883, eight residents of Bombay formed a society to study natural history.

These six Englishmen and two Indians met for the first time on September 15, 1883 at the Victoria and Albert Museum (now Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum). Together, they constituted themselves as the Bombay Natural History Society. The intent was to exchange notes related on natural history, exhibit interesting specimens and share ideas. The rest as they say, was (natural) history.

The lord nose best

Anushka Sharma holds a Ganesha idol endearingly, even as Varun Dhawan seems distracted with something else during the launch of a green Ganesha campaign, at a mall in Goregaon East on Tuesday. Pic/Sameer Markande

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