Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Gully Boy

A surprise in the gully
If you've watched Gully Boy, you couldn't have missed protagonist Murad's mentor MC Sher's girlfriend Gemma in the movie. In a small but significant role - far removed from the camera-wielding white woman on a slum tourism trip - she introduces Murad to what a class-less existence could look like.

Turns out, the character is played by Versova-based performing arts venue Harkat Studio's co-founder Michaela Strobel. "I am an admirer of Zoya Akhtar's craft. So, this was an excuse for me to see her in action and work closely with her" Strobel told this diarist.

What's cooking here?
Succumbing to the brouhaha around a popular dating app that aims at connecting people through similar interests and lifestyle choices like "drugs" and "political beliefs," this diarist downloaded it. A cursory glance confirmed that with a filtered crowd, it was definitely less tacky than Tinder and a few clicks through, we chanced upon chef Thomas Zacharias' profile. Soon after, Pablo Naranjo Agular's face popped up, too.

This was a few months ago. Then, on Sunday night, pastry chef Pooja Dhingra shared a picture with Zacharias and Agular, both of who are her buddies (and the latter the chef-partner at her popular patisserie). Dhingra captioned the photo saying, "Ladies, both these boys are single". And it got us thinking; can the F&B industry be so hectic that two talented chefs continue to be bachelors? We're just saying.

What's your fave bookstore?
An online award for services for kids organised by a parenting platform announced a separate category for Mumbai-based bookstores. And we aren't surprised that along with a few others, like Kahani Tree and MCubed Library, another favourite, Kitab Khana, has been nominated for the Best Bookstore & Library category.

Last year, the Fort Landmark had won in the pan-India category. We're keeping our eyes peeled for this year's winner, and since it's parents who will vote for it, we are hoping it encourages more kids to pick up a tome over a tablet.

Bombay local
Imagine the riveting image of a girl with Mumbai's salty wind in her hair looking on at SoBo's sprawling coastline in what is presumably an old and rickety kaali peeli as Mukesh Chand Mathur sings Kisi Ki Muskurahaton Se out of a cackling radio.

It's the kind of imagery that gives you gooseflesh, as it did when we chanced upon visual artist Gaurav Ogale's latest offering - a GIF woven with nostalgia and the little nuances that make Mumbai sapno ka sheher.

"I started animating my static works from the journals on my Instagram about two years ago to bring out their true essence by combining them with sound and motion. I created this particular one over the weekend because the visual was haunting me and needed to come out," Ogale shared with this diarist.

Farewell, Kalia
In November 1980, Tinkle's Kalia the Crow series made its first appearance. Known to channel his intelligence by always rescuing his friends, rabbits Keechu and Meechu and a deer named Shonar from the jackal Chamataka and crocodile Doob Doob in the Big Baan jungle, Kalia went on to become one of Tinkle's most loved characters. And so, it was disappointing to hear that the series will be discontinued and re-launched as Big Baan with more animals, forests, and terrains.

"Through the series, we will look at these animals and their quirks, rivalries and cliques, with a human lens," said editor Rajani Thindiath. Kalia will surely be missed but we are eager to see what is in store next.

Man and machine

Suresh Raina competes with the mobile for fellow cricketer Harbhajan Singh's attention as the two attend the launch of a virtual reality game in Goregaon. Pic/Satej Shinde

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