Ratan Tata receives Lifetime Achievement Award at Giants International awards

Ratan Tata, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudeo and Shaina NC

At the private, closed door wall-to-wall celebrity high tea for awardees, before the public presentation of the annual Giants International awards for excellence on Sunday evening (declaration of interest: we received one for journalism) we were witness to a delightful instance of Ratan Tata's shy wit and bashful humour, not something that he has been noted for before.

Tata was being presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and Cyrus and Adar Poonawalla had won theirs for business. "Good to see you looking well," Poonawalla had said to his fellow awardee, Tata. Thanking him graciously, Tata had shrugged, "I don't know about that. As you know I have been through hell recently," he said, referring, of course, to the recent headline grabbing battle he'd been having with another equally well-heeled and high-profile Parsi.

"Of course, not to mention your namesake..." he said softly, a statement which had brought forth a guffaw not only from the Poonawallas, but from others in the room, including the evening's guest of honour Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudeo.

This wryness and gentle humour embodied Tata's address too. In response to Giants International Chairperson Shaina NC's warm speech about first spotting the legend at a traffic light, and being pleasantly surprised to see a man of his stature happily chatting with a street urchin, Tata quipped, "What else does one do to pass the time at a traffic light? Everyone knows that Mumbai's street urchins are the best source of news and gossip." He added, "But I recall that on one occasion when the boy asked for money and I handed over the only note I had in my wallet, which was a 10-rupee note, the boy had said, "10 rupees? That's all you've got? You better keep it then. It might come in handy."

As can be imagined, this earthy dialogue between an unknown street urchin and India's most celebrated industrialist, worthy of the best of Salim-Javed dialogues, won the celebrated septuagenarian many an appreciative round of applause from the packed to the rafters hall.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Like many others, we have been anguished by the recent death of brilliant musician Karan Joseph. But nothing brought home the full blow of the profound tragedy as much as a chance viewing we had of the young man at his prime a few years ago: accompanying singer Suneeta Rao on a grand piano at the NCPA's Tata Theatre, while she belted out that anthem for aching hearts, "Somewhere over the rainbow' in a tribute performance to Barbara Streisand.

Karan Joseph and Suneeta Rao

She had posted a clip of this on social media in tribute to his genius. Can the lyrics of a song be so eerily foretelling? As Rao's husky silken voice floats over the poignant, heartbreaking words, accompanied by Joseph's stirring soaring notes:

"Somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly Birds fly over the rainbow Why then, oh why can't I? If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbowWhy, oh why can't I?" As is known, Joseph had fallen off the 12-storey window of the apartment block he'd been staying at in Bandra last week. "Fly blue bird fly" a grieving Suneeta Rao had said.

Nostalgia and memories
Far more than a structure has been lost in the tragic fire that consumed R K Studios recently. Our friend and former colleague, photographer Pradeep Chandra was one of the few, who had actually spent time going through the treasure trove contained in that venerable institution.

Amitabh Bachchan at R K Studios. Pic/Pradeep Chandra

"When I heard the news that RK Studios had caught fire, I prayed that it was not the building that contained the property and costumes rooms," said the man who'd spent many hours scouring the site while scouting for a location to shoot Ranbir Kapoor there a few years ago.

Chandra with Ranbir Kapoor outside Rishi Kapoor's office at R K Studios

"I was given a bunch of keys to the inner chambers by an old R K hand," he says. "On the first floor was a huge corridor where a number of the original paintings of iconic R K heroines hung. The property room had wall-to-wall cupboards where all of Raj Kapoor's personal costumes were neatly stored. In its centre was a piano which Kapoor had hired, but later purchased for the princely sum of Rs 64000, and on which he would compose the notes that would become the chartbusting hits of his films," he says.

"The famous dafli which was used in Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behati Hai was also here, and in the extreme corner on the right, was this huge life-size Joker, which was used in Mera Naam Joker, while a bit further hung portraits of Raj Kapoor surrounded by memorabilia statuettes of Abraham Lincoln and Sai Baba..." he says.

As for his shoot with the young Kapoor scion, Chandra says, "He came dot on time and was very friendly. I asked him to pose with the R K dafli and then with the iconic life-size Joker doll," he says. Yes, the same dafli and life-size doll now lost forever to the flames. Memories die. Only celluloid lives. Hopefully, forever.

Making a racquet in Srinagar
It is not only badminton star P V Sindhu who is making a racquet with a bat and ball. Alia Bhatt who has been shooting in Srinagar for an upcoming film, has also been enjoying rounds of the game according to sources.

Alia Bhatt and Akanksha Ranjan

"As a lovely surprise, Bhatt was joined over the weekend by her BFF Akanksha, daughter of Shashi and Anu Ranjan, and an aspiring actress herself, whose birthday fell that week," says a source. "What could be better than bringing it in with her bestie? So a group of the duo's close friends jetted down and made merry at the scenic resort.

There was a sunset boat cruise on the Dal Lake before the cake cutting followed by many high spirited rounds of badminton at the courts at a five-star where they were all staying," said the source. "A million unforgettable memories, a gazillion inside jokes and a trillion shared secrets! Happy birthday my soul friend," Bhatt had posted about the occasion on social media.

Shaking up Shakespeare
"This was dad and me last night at the premiere show of 'How I met your father'. I think he's looking great!" said Rael Padamsee about this picture yesterday when we spoke.

Raell and Alyque Padamsee

"To mark the 75th year of the theatre group Bombay next year, dad, one of its founding members, is celebrating in style, with a brand new avant garde production of Julius Caesar," she says excitedly. The production will star stalwarts Gerson Da Cunha, Sabira Merchant and Alyque himself, according to Padamsee, and is slated to open in January 2018.

"This is dad's tribute to Shakespeare and to women..." she says. How so? "Well, none other than Sabira Merchant will be playing the role of Julius Caesar," says Padamsee. Nice!