Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

Baby steps in stardom?
Actor Shah Rukh Khan waves to fans on the occasion of Eid with son Abram from the balcony of his home in Bandra yesterday.

Vir Das

Vir's words for the legit legend
Anger has been brewing online for comedian Sunil Pal among the younger community of stand-up comics in India, after his recent comments on a TVâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088debate show. Pal, who shot to fame after winning a comedy reality show in 2005, had been invited to discuss censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani's reservation against the use of the word intercourse in an upcoming film. When Pal ended up trashing comics for using sexual innuendos in their gigs, it didn't go down well with them.

Sunil Pal

While clips from the show are doing the rounds, Vir Das, who called Pal a legit legend, posted, "For someone to be a part of that community and to be so negative to a generation that has looked up to you baffles me... If something ain't your cup of tea or vibe, quit whining...write a bloody joke, and perform it for the people who like your stuff."

On wheels, for a cause
The arrival of monsoon in the city commenced with a noble cause as over 450 enthusiasts strapped on their roller skates over the weekend for a worldwide connective skating event, 24skate for UNICEF. Organised in Mumbai by a skating academy, the fundraising event for UNICEF saw people between three and 35 skate an average of one-hour each without any breaks, from 4.30 pm to 6.30 pm in the evening. The brainchild of Clemens Suerbaum of Germany, who thought of fusing his passion for skating with a cause, this 24-hour worldwide skating initiative is taking place across countries including, Australia, China and Kenya among many others.

Bipasha's Eid feast with friends
Eid is a special occasion for Bipasha Basu. Every year she eagerly looks forward to gorging on a sumptuous feast prepared by friend and actor Ayaz Khan's mother. This year was no different, as the actress with husband Karan Singh Grover gathered at Khan's home for the feasting ritual. Now, that looks like a well-fed, happy bunch!

When Hirani met the Mamuli Aadmi
On a rainy Sunday evening, as the city's theatre lovers made their way to Bandra for the staging of IPTA's recently revived play, Ek Mamuli Aadmi, they were pleasantly surprised to spot a well-known face seated amidst them. Unlike most industrywallahs who headed out for the fun weekend, filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, with his wife and son, dropped by to watch the moving story of a head clerk and his new-found motto for life unfold on stage. "It was very nice of him to come. Mr Hirani's films are a reflection of his progressive mindset," veteran actor Aanjjan Srivastav (second, left), who plays the clerk and fights against a public garden from being misappropriated as a plot for illegal temple construction, told this diarist. Hirani, who was all praise for the performance, also promised Srivastav to source for him the main prop of the play, a wind-up toy, when the latter told him how difficult it was to find such toys today. "You can leave this to me," said the resourceful man.

Adventures inside a cool boarding school
While growing up, this diarist recollects seeking company of the O'Sullivan twins (in Enid Blyton's St Clare's series on a boarding school) to get through the initial days of school re-opening. If you're keen to introduce your kid to a cool boarding school with a desi backdrop, pick up a copy of NOIS. A new series launched by Tinkle, it is set against the backdrop of Nilgiri Orchid International School, a fictional boarding school. It revolves around 10-year-old Nadia, a curious, hyper-energetic girl who loves life away from home, and her classmate, Aadi, who aspires to be an actor and attends the boarding school due to his parents' wishes. There's also Freya and Sahir, seniors who play pranks on them.

A publishing house that makes a boarding school look cool? We're piqued.