Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Ashish Rane

Return of the king

Prasanna Paranjape readies to play the role of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj for the 1,119th show of the play, Janata Raja, at Shivaji Park, Dadar.

First love with the local

Quick Style performs on the Mumbai local. Pic Courtesy/Instagram

The Norwegian dance group, Quick Style, has been burning up social media since their arrival in India. After a Reel with India's cricket superstar, Virat Kohli, the group decided to get a taste of Mumbai's fast lane by hopping on a local train. To celebrate their first train ride in the Maximum City, they grooved to the remixed tunes of Leke pehla pehla pyaar from the Dev Anand-Waheeda Rehman classic, CID (1956). While their moves were impeccable, as always, this diarist was left with the typical Mumbaikar question - How did the group find such an empty compartment? Nasir Sirikhan of the group, shared that they were drawn to the train to sample the experience of the city's lifelines. "Local trains are such an integral part of Mumbai. We enjoyed experiencing that part of the city and sharing our dance with people of the city in this way," he said, adding that they didn't really remember the stations. With a performance at a Kurla venue, as well as events across the city over the week, the hip-hoppers might want to do an encore of their trippy train adventure.

One community, one voice

The East Indian community will take to the streets this Sunday for their annual rally that presents petitions to the state and central government, Municipal Corporation and the Archdiocese of Bombay. Alphi D'Souza (inset), global head, Mobai Gaothan Panchayat, told this diarist, "The petitions voiced in our Mumbai Bhumiputra Policy highlight various demands including compensation for lands owned by East Indians that were taken away under various laws." Other petitions mentioned include acknowledgment of the community's history, culture, and heritage. The peaceful rally will begin with the slogan - Aaplaa Gaav! Aaplaa Raaj! (Our village, our rule). The rally will culminate outside a Bandra church.

Signing his inked creations

Sid Kotian; (right) A panel from the Gambit series. Pic Courtesy/@sid_Kotian_art on Instagram

When visual artist Sid Kotian first spotted The Comic Book Store in Bandra last year, it was love at first sight. For Kotian, the store's presence in the same neighbourhood as his former college was a piece of nostalgia. Now, the Marvel and POW! Entertainment artist will return to the venue with his own personal collection to share with the city's collectors. Owner Hamza Syed told us, "It's an exclusive hellfire gala variant of Gambit. This has never been seen before in India." Kotian has been busy travelling in the United States since the launch of his Gambit and Elektra mini-series. But the signing will be a first for the artist, as well as the city, to host a personalised comic book signing session. Syed admitted, "Book signings are common, but comic book signings have never happened before in India. There is no better place to have it than in the city's comic book store." While the dates have not yet been confirmed, the entrepreneur assured us that the event will take place next weekend. Syed shared that the store plans to expand into new territories. "We are on the verge of opening our second store in Bengaluru. It'll be a bigger store, hopefully," he revealed.

The butter chicken sacrifice

Harmanpreet Kaur of Mumbai Indians Women against UP Warriorz Women. Pic/Ashish Raje

While the ongoing Women's Premier League has opened the doors for new on-field experiences for India's women cricketers, it has also offered TV viewers insightful trivia from the sidelines, courtesy commentators who tend to go off-script during their post-match chat sessions. This holds true especially of the Hindi broadcast. From getting Shikha Pandey to shake a leg to offering nuggets about Harmanpreet Kaur's fitness regime, there's plenty of on-air gupshup. After another clinical win by Mumbai Indians (MI) over Gujarat Giants on Tuesday, where India skipper and MI captain, Kaur showcased another fine batting display, former cricketer-turned-commentator Reema Malhotra revealed how her one-time eating buddy had sacrificed a great deal when it came to eating habits. "Being a huge fan of butter chicken and aloo paratha, we'd always order it together, but she's cut down on these cravings with reduced portion sizes." She complimented Kaur for maintaining supreme fitness levels. Little doubt that she remains one of the fittest players in the Indian cricket team.