Mumbai Diary: Wednessday Dossier

Success takes focus

Kangana Ranaut is an astute celebrity, you know, when she has her gaze trained firmly on the press photographer and not the phone taking a selfie, as a fan meets her at the airport on Tuesday. PIC/datta kumbhar

The fight off-field

Barely had the online frenzy among fans ebbed after Pakistan lost to India in the World Cup match, and we now have a new Indo-Pak war of words. This time between ace tennis player Sania Mirza and actor Veena Malik. It transpired after a pre-match video of Mirza and husband Shoaib Malik in a sheesha bar in Manchester surfaced. Malik was quick to raise concerns about junk food, and claimed that the Mirza took her son to the bar as well.And to this, Mirza delivered a fitting reply. Not only did she trash Malik's claim about her son, but also said, "I am not Pakistan cricket team's dietician nor am I their mother or principal or teacher." After Malik's tirade continued, Mirza put the spat to rest by blocking her on Twitter.

A lot's in a name for this Mumbai actor

Chances are that your surname is the same as that of your father's if you're single, or that of your husband's if you've changed it after marriage. Few people bother to question this practice. But Chitrangada Satarupa feels otherwise. The city-based actor - who's essayed strong female-centric roles in movies like Totta Pataka Item Maal, and Laxmi and Tikli Bomb - earlier had ‘Chakraborty' as her second name. But she has got an affidavit done to adopt her mother's first name as her second name. "My mum has been a single mother, and she's the one who's played all the parental roles in my life. But I had carried my father's title all along, and then came across a woman who had done the same thing [given her first name as the surname] with her children. I had thought I'd emulate her while naming my own kids. But then I thought, why wait for children? I'm going to do the same myself, since the name sounds good enough," she tells this diarist, adding that her affidavit came through the evening before Father's Day, which is when she made the announcement to the world. Talk about coincidences, right?

A musical debut

Dhaani Jhankal, actor Ravi Jhankal, who is known for his collaborations with Shyam Benegal, is all set to make her theatre debut in Mumbai with a Hindi musical called Aarohi, where she plays the titular character. "Theatre is something I've grown up with. I've always dreamt of this day," she tells this diarist. "My character Aarohi has an intense emotional graph. The play is about the learnings in life. What I learnt from this character is that life doesn't stop. She goes through many emotions that make her grow as a person," she adds.

What is Mumbai eating?

It's hard to say what the beneficial takeaways of reports undertaken by food aggregators, but their findings are surely a source of humour. Just in January, for example, one such aggregator concluded that biryani and pizza was flying off the handle on NYE. Now, a new report says "extra sauce" is a common instruction by Indian customers. It also said that the south was in love with onions, while the diners in the west, comprising cities like Ahmedabad and Mumbai, were decidedly inclined towards Jain food. And interestingly, the highest number of orders for lassi came from Mumbaikars. Now, that explains why chefs in the city, including ones in posh eateries, are wracking their brains to find satvik alternatives in Asian and Mediterranean cuisine.

It's a sunny side up in Ottawa

After making an outstanding debut with the film Lion in 2016 and making his way to the Oscars, Sunny Pawar is making waves again with Chippa directed by Safdar Rahman. The film is set in Kolkata's Park Circus and Pawar, who plays the role of a street kid named Chippa, has already won accolades at international festivals like the New York Indian Film Festival and the Dallas Fort Worth South Asian Film Festival for Best Child Actor last month. Yesterday, he bagged the accolade at the prestigious Ottawa Indian Film Festival as well. When this diarist reached out to the actor's father Dilip, he revealed that although his son is in Mumbai, he isn't aware of this achievement. "I'm waiting to tell him after he comes from tuitions," he said. Talking more about Sunny's journey, he added, "As as actor, he has been the same as he was three years ago. The only change is that he has more dialogues now. And for this film, it was a night shoot but he worked hard for it and pulled it off. I would like to thank the director and the casting team who made it possible."

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