Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Pic/Sameer Markande

Flut-ing the rules

As the city opens up, a flautist takes to the streets to play some tunes in Goregaon West.

A Jeannie-ration of fashion

Naoroji flanked by Lubna Adams (left) and Dolly Thakore (rear centre). Pics/Suresh KK

At a time when labels like, ‘iconic' or even ‘legendary' are used too flippantly, they need to be earned, and we believe, fashion choreographer Mumbai's Jeannie Naoroji truly earned the sobriquet of ‘legend'. The recent passing of Naoroji, leaves an undeniable void in the fashion world. "I will miss her, everyday," said former top model and fashion writer Meher Castelino. Castelino recalled being part of Naoroji's ‘inner circle' doing shows in the early '70s, when Naoroji was at her creative zenith. "She pioneered the use of taped music in shows.

Naoroji and Zeenat Aman

As a former dancer herself, Naoroji brought that aesthetic into fashion shows. There were a lot of movements and dances on the ramp, and models actually told stories, when she choreographed," recalled Castelino. Perhaps the most pathbreaking feature was that Naoroji broke the mould when it came to selecting female models for the ramp. "Earlier, we had fair, cutesy, slightly filled-out models on the ramp those days. Naoroji brought in the statuesque, sometimes dusky model, setting fire to the Indian catwalk, like Phyllis [Anjali] Mendes, for instance," stated Castelino. Castelino reminisced about a show where Mendes stepped out of the shadows, "like an Amazon Goddess, that still sticks in the mind." It showed, said Castelino, that Jeannie Naoroji had great vision.

Jeannie Naoroji with runway hits. Pic courtesy/Meher Casteino

"She certainly knew how to project what she had in mind," Castelino finished. Theatrewallah and casting director, Dolly Thakore stated, "As national co-ordinator of the Laadli Awards, we at Laadli nominated Jeannie Naoroji for the ‘Laadli of the Century' in 2016 or ‘Laadli Lifetime Achievement' award. I remember all the supermodels of the '70s, including the men like Asgar Ali, dusting off their ramp rustiness as you could call it, and modelling during those awards, held at the Tata Theatre. And there was Jeannie Naoroji, coaching her ‘boys and girls' about how the show would take place, just like the old days," laughed Thakore. While Castelino remembered Naoroji's "sense of humour that put the fun into fashion shows", Thakore said, "She, like me, is one of the few people who would message at all odd hours. I remember her sending me a message at 1 am for something she had forgotten," Thakore said.

Food for thought

Explore formats that can survive lockdowns, establish financial discipline, build a profitable online business along with dine-in - these were some of the words of wisdom that restaurateur AD Singh recently shared online for the new normal. Budding restaurateurs are likely to get access to more insights from the founder and MD of Olive Group in his upcoming biography. Word is, Singh, who's credited with many firsts in India's culinary scene - including establishing the first truly-standalone restaurant Olive - is working on the title now. Well, we'll be waiting for this one.

Books for a cause

The NGO Share A Book India Association (SABIA) is currently celebrating the Daan Utsav week, with a series of seven activities that began from October 2. All week, they had conducted book sales and workshops that promoted the idea of reading. Today, the group will host a cookie box sale with Borivali-based bakery Bake Boutique to raise funds for those in need. "The funds we raise will be directed towards donating food packages to families in Nithari village in Delhi," shared Priti Birgi, co-founder of the SABIA.

The show must go on

Here's some exciting news for theatre lovers and practitioners alike. City-based theatre space Studio Tamaasha is all set to reopen its doors to the public on October 23 and 24, with a performance titled Same, Same but Different, directed by Sapan Saran (in pic), co-founder of the space. This is the first physical event to be conducted within the space since the lockdown in April. "Like everyone else, we've been waiting for this moment. I'm hopeful about people turning up. I've received several messages from our audiences asking us when we'll start shows again," Saran told this diarist. Audiences have grown kind of used to things opening up in spurts, Saran pointed out, which is why people might be more willing to turn up now. "One of the first decisions we made post-pandemic was to move operations to our terrace space to make people feel comfortable. Besides that, we're taking all other precautions as per the guidelines," she said.