Mumbai Diary: Sunday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Kiss, don't tell

We want to know what actors Deepika Padukone and Vikrant Massey were whispering about at a college festival in Powai on Saturday. Pic/Satej Shinde

Rhythm divine

Artist and Sanskrit scholar Ameya Dabli, who does the interesting job of reciting hymns at high-profile weddings, recently performed at the iconic Shrinathji temple in Nathdwara. He's the only singer after the late Jagjit Singh to perform inside the sanctum, he says. "It is a rare opportunity for a performer to receive the invitation.

The event was well received, with an audience of over 1,000. It was surreal to see people all over the place, some even standing on the rooftop!" said Dabli. The crowd was treated to rich folk music with chants.

Of sketches, Sportsweek and Vikas Sabnis's genius!

The amalgamation of art and humour took a bad blow on Friday with the passing of Vikas Sabnis, the Mumbai-based cartoonist. Sabnis, 69, who succumbed to a brief illness, sketched an array of personalities. But it seemed he enjoyed drawing cricketers the most.

Many of Behram Contractor's (aka Busybee) satirical Buzzing Around columns in Sportsweek magazine published alongside this newspaper, were embellished with Sabnis's sketches. Behram, who departed in 2001, now has some artistic company in Elysian Fields.

And there's a good chance they'll soon buzz around up above with those faithful Sportsweek readers and editorial staff cracking up laughing. Savour the above Sabnis sketches
used in Buzzing Around in the early 1980s.

All well with Magna?

In Bombay of the 1980s and '90s, magazines like Stardust, Society and Savvy, all publications from Nari Hira's Magna Publishing Co., were a staple at most homes. They were read not just in India, but elsewhere too - this diarist remembers poring over Savvy's cover stories about women who made it, as a teen, and finding her first role models there. But, like many before it, Magna too seems to have had a struggle holding up this year.

A disheartened reader, who had a five-year 'combo' subscription, first told us how he had stopped receiving the magazines in March this year. An insider confirmed, that there's indeed trouble with the business, but Magna's social media handles are still alive and kicking. We'd like to believe that a comeback is on the cards.

Look, who has found love!

Our favourite roaming expat chef Pablo Narango Agular seems to have found a lady love. Going by his Instagram posts, and hers, the lady in question is actress Mariette Valsan, who was recently seen in Hotel Mumbai.

In April this year, Agular had spoken to mid-day about his experiments with a dating app, and we wondered how the lovely Pablo was still single. Well, going by the fresh pictures, it seems that he is off the market. They have been attending weddings in Goa, and Christmas day was spent with Valsan's parents over a Goan feast. We know some single women out there are dissing their fate, but we wish the happy couple good luck.

So close, yet so far

Mumbai girl Anjali Bhushan's feature-length documentary, My Home India, is one among 159 films that were submitted under the Documentary Feature category for the 92nd Oscars. The film pays a tribute to Kira Banasinska, wife of the Polish Consul General, and revisits India's contribution to ease the Polish refugee crisis of the late 1930s. When the nomination was announced, Bollywood actors, including John Abraham, had congratulated Bhushan for "making India proud".

Unfortunately, when this diarist spoke to the filmmaker, she confirmed that her film did not make it to the final 15. "While we made it to the 160 entries, we could not make it to the final 15," Bhushan, who is three films old, said, adding, "This is my first solo project; I did everything from producing to researching to funding. So I am glad it reached this far." The film has already bagged awards at the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival, Impact Docs Awards, Kolkata Shorts International Film Festival and River to River Florence Indian Film Festival.

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