Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

A late bloomer
'A girl always prefers roses, Mr Hiranandani', Amruta Fadnavis seems to be telling real estate developer Niranjan Hiranandani at BMC's 24th flower show at Byculla's Rani Baug on Sunday. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Bandra's izakaya relocates
In August 2018, Nooresha Kably's unassuming ramen joint, Izumi, opened up, and within weeks, serpentine lines were forming outside the matchbox eatery. The verdict was clear; everyone loved the food, but few were getting a seat.

That is why the izakya-style joint downed its shutters a few days ago, promising patrons a grand comeback at a larger space in the vicinity. Eager to find out more, this diarist reached out to her husband, Anil. "We closed this location and are moving to 24th Road in Bandra. The new space is bigger, but we are not quite sure yet about when we will launch it." We wait.

Keep up the sass, Neha
It's common knowledge that Neha Dhupia doesn't mince her words. And if the actor wore her pregnancy like a crown, she is owning motherhood like it's her kingdom. So, when a publication dared to fat-shame Dhupia, she gave it right back.

With a post amusingly captioned after Ariana Grande's 2018 smash hit, Dhupia responded, "I don't owe anyone an explanation because fat-shaming like this doesn't bother me one bit. But I do want to address this as a larger problem because fat-shaming needs to stop for everyone...for me 'fitness' is a priority and not 'fitting into' society's standards regarding looks [sic]," she wrote.

Friends from the industry like Atul Kasbekar then chimed in saying, "That's an enduring low even by the generally abysmal journalistic standards," while filmmaker Onir remarked, "Stupid insensitive comment on what is a part of a life giving process." Well, while the support of peers is always welcoming, we'd like to think Dhupia has enough sass to take this on alone.

SoBo's RTI cafe gets a makeover
The cutesy little eatery on Hughes Road that is better-known by all as RTI cafe or the Ratan Tata Institute cafe, has gone through a facelift. A staff member told this diarist that the popular place had been under renovation for the past two months, while operations shifted base to the adjacent property and functioned out of a stall.

Now, we hear, the quaint eatery has freshly painted walls and three to four more cold counters. "We could seat only two or three people earlier, but we have now added more chairs and tables and can accommodate seven to eight customers," a sprightly voice said, urging us to take the next Uber straight to town!

When India K-popped
Indian fans of the popular Korean boy-band BTS went berserk on Twitter when the India premiere of their second film, Love Yourself in Seoul, based on a concert in the Korean capital was postponed from January 26 to February 2. And no theatre in India was equipped to screen the film in the original ScreenX format. But that did not stop fans from flocking in large numbers on Saturday. They even posted videos of themselves dancing to Love Yourself tracks inside malls and theatres, and repeatedly chanted the names of the band members, going viral on Twitter.

A still from Cat Sticks

Slamming it with indie films
We had reported in these pages last year about Cat Sticks, an indie film, being nominated for Slamdance 2019. And now, in happy news for the cast and crew, the movie has won the honourable mention accolade in the category for best narrative feature. "Slamdance is one festival where you feel comfortable in your own skin. It was really cold outside, but the warmth of the people more than made up for it," Sumeet Thakur, who has acted in the feature, told us over the phone while in transit from Utah, where the event was held. But Cat Sticks is not the only Indian film to win at Slamdance this year. Mumbai-based director Rishi Chandna's Tungrus, which is about a rooster living with a middle-class family, won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Short. These are two big steps for non-commercial Indian films. Is it time then to make a real shift away from Bollywood's hegemony?

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