Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Talk to the hand
Deepika Padukone seems to accurately represent what her jacket says as she is spotted in Bandra Kurla Complex on Tuesday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Calling out to all the shopaholic men
The first floor of the iconic Rhythm House in Kala Ghoda, which downed its shutters in 2016, is now set to get a new resident, and no, it has nothing to do with music. Much like the rest of the neighbourhood, which is turning into a gentrified locale, the much-loved record store will now be home to Mumbai-based menswear designer Kunal Rawal's flagship store on January 25.

"It was probably the first location that came to mind. It conceptualises a destination that embodies the design sensibility and philosophy of my label with the fusion of heritage and industrial and glamorous grunge elements," says the designer, who got interior designer and architect, Rooshad Shroff, on board to revisit the heritage building and design the space. Rawal's signature collection of festive wear will showcase an anti-trend approach, and include multi-functional designs featuring stripes, texture play, tone-on-tone thread work, contrast applique and metal work and modish colour blocking. "We'll have over-shirt sherwanis and sleeveless jackets, signature cusp silhouette, etc," Rawal informs.

Mural in Mahim
Board a train on Western Railway Line, and look out as you cross Matunga. We can bet it's hard to miss a powerful portrait of a young boy with a cap turned sideways, stretched across a building. The mural was part of St+art India foundation's Art for All project.

So far, 11 murals have been painted by international and nationally renowned artists in Mahim East. Yesterday, the foundation in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute invited Italian street artist Francesco Camillo Giorgino to officially inaugurate the Mahim East Art District. Popularly known as Millo, the artist is known for his large-scale murals in Italy and has painted in the US, Netherlands and Australia. Millo will be creating a piece that is reflective of the spirit of the community in Shahu Nagar, and will also deliver a public workshop and talk.

How much are these words worth?
HaikuJAM, a Mumbai-based social writing app, seems to be hitting all the right notes, as its CEO Dhrupad Karwa was in Sweden last week meeting with researchers at Örebro University. "They are now formally exploring the app's impact on wellness. Their initial findings are incredibly exciting and a paper will be published later this month. I will then be returning to Sweden and other universities and research institutions across Europe and America to present the results," Karwa told this diarist.

Biryani boom on New Year's Eve
The night of the biggest party of the season would have definitely seen booze overflowing in the city, but it also revealed what everyone's favourite party food - before, after or along with the drinking - is. Biryani was the clear winner, with 20,000 portions being delivered to customers across India on December 31, in a survey conducted by a food aggregator. Over 300 portions were delivered in the last 30 minutes leading to 2019, and other popular food items included chicken rolls, burgers and fried rice. There was also a customer in Mumbai who went all out and ordered food 22 times on the last day of the year! The survey also revealed that the dish makes for one of the most ordered lunch items.

Are you for real?
That's the question actor Jim Sarbh, who goes by @jimsarbhforreal on Instagram, seems to be asking at the time this piece was being written. The actor, who is known for putting up posts with captions featuring song titles, hit 200k followers. He then put out a post featuring portraits created by his fans and said, "Thank you, all.

For the love, support, and pick-up lines. Don't dream it, be it. 'Fanfare / Don't Dream It' by Tim Curry." And soon after, his follower count dropped to 199k, with Sarbh commenting with his characteristic humour, "about a hundred people unfollowed me since this post so... it will be relevant again, perhaps [sic]." Well, welcome to the Internet, Jim.

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