The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Sushant Singh Rajput and Bhumi Pednekar
Statue!
With what seems is a fresh round of more weight loss, a svelte Bhumi Pednekar hopes to be as statuesque as the inspiration behind her as she poses for the cameras at Mehboob studio with Sushant Singh to promote their film. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
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Sabya's show of strength
Designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee cancelled his Instagram-only show scheduled to launch yesterday at 9 pm, and instead dedicated posts to Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, held by the Pakistani army after his plane crashed across the LOC. For over 3.4 million Insta-nuts, Sabya's exclusive IG-only campaigns are nothing less than a visual treat, a staged communion of couture and digital.
A heady concoction of young and confident India is what one has come to expect of Sabya, and the sneak peek of Fiza, his Spring/Summer 2019 collection teased the idea of #NamasteEasy. The campaign was scheduled to launch last night, but instead of haute-bohemian images, there was a black screen with the poignant words: "Send Abhinandan Varthaman back with dignity"; "Hoping for a dignified resolution without war. Jai Hind."
Yuvi has a fantasy
Fantasy sports in the country got a boost when Yuvraj Singh was recently announced as the brand ambassador of a sports-tech start-up known for its skill-based sports predictor gaming platform, across cricket, football and kabaddi.
Not many people know that Singh is a fan of fantasy sports and has loved football since he was a kid, cheering for Manchester United. "My friends and I would predict the winners of the English Premier League matches. In fact, I told them all that France would win the World Cup and they did! It's fun to fight about who is going to win and who isn't. And fantasy sports are a great way to further engage fans," the cricketer said.
The numbers book
Leading not-for-profit children's book publisher, Pratham Books, has been a platform to discover the most innovative titles — they just launched three books in GIF format on Children's Day last year.
And yesterday, the publishing house announced that its digital repository of open-source multi-lingual stories, called StoryWeaver, has crossed 150 languages. The latest title, Era Lua i era Casqueta, is in Gascon, a language spoken in parts of France and Spain. The title is based on the story The Moon and The Cap by Rohini Nilekani, translated by Sévan Rakön and illustrated by Angie and Upesh. The digital library stands at 12,000 books today and we won't be surprised if they hit a new milestone in the near future.
Arora takes one for the Indian team
In November last year, chef Garima Arora of Bangkok-based establishment Gaa fame turned a lot of heads as she earned her first Michelin star. Arora's culinary lineage is a formidable one, too. Having trained under Noma's René Redzepi, as well as Gaggan Anand, Arora's gastronomical sorcery is hardly little known.
Now, the chef has been honoured as elitTM Vodka Asia's Best Female Chef 2019 by Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. Speaking about the accolade, Arora told this diarist, "This one's not about me, it's for my country. It's about taking the focus back to India's rich culinary heritage."
No language barrier here
For Colombian Pablo Naranjo Agular, executive chef at Le15 Cafe, watching Bollywood movies is his way of picking up the local language and settling into the city. And that's what he's been doing for the past three years. "As a foreigner, when you come to India, you get a culture shock. But watching local films is a beautiful way to get to know more about the culture and artistic side of the city," the 30-year-old told this diarist. He started with Dabangg and Neerja, with Pooja Dhingra, owner of Le15 and his movie partner, translating the dialogues for him. And on Wednesday night, he watched Gully Boy.
Putting up posts about how much he loved the rap in the movie, the hip-hop fan said that he could also relate to the message of how difficult it is to follow your dreams — something he himself has done. "I thought, 'Chalo, let's go for this movie. I'm here because I believed in my dream of becoming a chef when I was just 14. And though my parents supported me, I had relatives who questioned my decision. My father even fought with a relative who was against my becoming a chef. The movie reminded me that it's tough to be able to do what you love, but you can do it [if you try]," Agular said.
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