Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Draping Mrs Gandhi
Love or hate her style of politics, but one can't ignore the importance of 'Made in India' power dressing the late Indira Gandhi followed. And of the many handloom sarees worn by the former PM is the Puja Saree from the south of India.

The story behind the revival of this saree is equally interesting. "My mother [textile revivalist Chimmy Nanjappa] was a close friend of Pupul Jaykar. She was the one who encouraged my mother to go to the World Fair in New York back in 1964 when no one was interested in sarees. She used to source several sarees for Mrs Gandhi and one such was the Puja saree that was revived by us. That piece was an uncommon mix of checks and ikat," says Pavithra Muddaya of Bengaluru's Vimor. You can now meet Muddaya and buy the saree at ARTISANS' in Kala Ghoda, this Thursday and Friday.

Indian art, London canvas
There seems to be a growing league of Indian artists making a mark on the international art scene, with three more names added to the list. Contemporary artists Soghra Khurasani, Rithika Merchant and Ronny Sen will showcase their work in London as part of Mumbai gallery Tarq's exhibition in the UK capital.

Rithika Merchant's Modes of Displacement (Migration) Pic courtesy of the artist and Tarq

"Having studied in both London and India, I find it fascinating how often artists in both countries are concerned about very similar social and political issues relating to the environment, migration and the persecution of minorities," said gallery director Hena Kapadia.

Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Sab Golmaal Hai!
In sync with their upcoming film's title, this cast (left to right) of Arshad Warsi, Shreyas Talpade, Tabu, Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty seems confused about which camera to pose for at a Malad studio on Wednesday.

City museum has a new admirer
She recently made her love for Indian culture known when she asked her Twitter followers to help her pick a saree for Independence Day celebrations.

And now, Charge d'Affairs of the US Embassy in India, MaryKay Carlson, seems to have fallen in love with the collection at Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum.

"Strongly recommend the treasure trove to my friends in Delhi and USA," she said on a recent visit to the city. For the oldest museum in the city that has preserved its collection, we say it's a well-deserved compliment.

Setting the record straight
For those who followed the TVâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088news coverage of the 2002 Gujarat riots, the image of Rajdeep Sardesai reporting from violence-stricken areas would perhaps still be fresh.

Yesterday, the senior journalist called out former colleague Arnab Goswami through a series of tweets with a link to a video, where the latter supposedly mentioned in a speech that his car had been attacked next to the then CM's residence.

"Incident which Arnab speaks of did happen. Only he wasn't there, some of us who actually were on ground zero were!" he wrote. Other colleagues of Sardesai corroborated what he said. The video he had shared, interestingly, became unavailable later.

Sound of musical
June 2018 is still a while away, but remember that you read this here first. The country will get its first ground-up original musical next year, called #SingIndiaSing. Rahul Da Cunha, the co-writer, tells us that work on it is still in a nascent phase. "Clinton (Cerejo) will compose the music by December, before we begin choreography rehearsals," he says, while also revealing the cast to us.

And what a cast it is, considering that the legendary Uday Benegal, apart from stalwarts like Brian Tellis and Siddharth Basrur, are all part of the roster. "A singing contest meets a TV reality show," is how DaCunha describes the plot line. Want to know more? Keep watching this space to find out.