Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

The queen is back
Kangana Ranaut smiles and put her game face on while getting out of the vanity van at Filmcity on Friday. Pic/Satej Shinde

Dicky Bird

Never too early to strike a deal, ask Dicky Bird
One look at an T20 cricketer and you'll know why his franchise and he are so wealthy - there are brands all over his attire. Plus, there are other endorsements which don't figure on the arms and other parts of the body. But have you ever heard of an umpire being required to endorse a high profile product?

It happened way back in 1977 when a call from Sydney was made to the umpires room at Nottingham where England and Australia were doing battle in an Ashes Test match.

The caller wanted to speak to umpire Dicky Bird. The eccentric Yorkshireman refused to take the call and decided to call back later in the evening. At the end of the day's play, Bird asked Australian wicketkeeper Rod Marsh what would be good time to call Sydney. Nine o'clock would be fine, said the mischievous Marsh. Bird duly called around that time from the Trent Bridge Inn's office. The recipient of the call in Sydney exclaimed, "Who is it? You've just got me out of bed." Bird was then told that it was 6 am in Sydney. Anyway, the man turned out to be the head of a large advertising agency in Australia and said he wanted to use Bird in a television advertisement for Volkswagen cars.

It was a £1000 deal and Bird would have to fly down to Australia immediately. So in between two Ashes Tests, Bird was in Sydney for the promotion shoot and was paid the agreed sum. The sore point, however, was that he ended up paying £450 in taxes.

Asad Durrani

All eyes on the spy
Looks like Asad Durrani, former ISI chief, is in trouble. On Friday night, according a tweet by Major General Asif Ghafoor, official spokesperson of Pakistan Armed Forces, Durrani has been called to the General Headquarters on Monday. His book, the Spy Chronicles, which he co-authored with AS Daulat, former secretary of RAW and Aditya Sinha, a journalist, has come under the scanner. It chronicles the conversations that the three had, about issues such as Hafiz Saeed and 26/11, the deal for Osama Bin Laden and more. He will have some explaining to do tomorrow. Is it time to face the music or feign ignorance?

Evelyn Singh with Avina Shah

A model playboy
British Indian singer/songwriter Avina Shah is trying to woo the Indian audience with her new single Playboy, which has already hit two million streams on Gaana. "I wanted to come up with a bold and playful song and I thought Playboy was such a cute word. The song has a cheeky twist that's basically saying that 'girls just want to have fun!'. We are in a new era now where gender roles are equalising, and so, it's keeping with that theme." What's also interesting is that the video has been directed by model Evelyn Sharma. "I love to help out my friends and see their dreams come true. I thoroughly enjoyed being behind the camera this time, and brought my acting experience forward to direct a unique video," she told this diarist. She also said that future plans include directing a movie. "It's so fulfilling as a creative person to see your vision become reality."

Rohini Devasher

Art cargo on board
Artist Rohini Devasher is on an exciting course of events, having got spot with a unique residency called The Owner's Cabin. The artist residency involves travelling on a merchant ship around the world and Devasher will be doing so for three weeks on a cargo ship, hitting Fiji, Pago Pago and Singapore. We certainly think such a residency is right up Devasher's alley, for the multimedia artist's former projects have been driven the spirit of scientific inquiry, taking her to observatories and the Jurassic period. We wish her bon voyage, and shall await news from these distant horizons.

Suhani Parekh and Prerna Goel

The ladies style blog that cocks a snook at age
Age is just a number. It's totally irrelevant unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine," said legendary actor Joan Collins. Prerna Style File on Instagram is home to such delightful aspirations, where fashionista Prerna Goel (in green in pic), teams up with 27-year-old friend and jewellery designer Suhani Parekh to allow an inside out, intimate take on fashion, and of course, a rooted personal style. "She is one of the most fashionable women I know. At 45, she embodies #goals," says Parekh, whose role is to artfully convey the imagery, which she sometimes, photographs as well.

The first social media post went up on April 16, and the 55 posts that followed see Goel offer us picturesque looks from London in spring, and a shoot done at Sanjay Garg's Raw Mango store in Mumbai. The end goal, Parekh says, is to speak of style that's not prisoner to age. Not everything is borrowed, neither is it featured because it's a plug. More often, Goel curates a look from her personal wardrobe. "There was a lacuna in the blogs market, especially ones that spoke to the 40-plus woman. It's brave of her to put herself out there in the public domain," Parekh says about Goel.

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