The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Riteish Deshmukh receives a warm hug from filmmaker Milap Milan Zaveri
Jaadu ki jhappi
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Riteish Deshmukh receives a warm hug from filmmaker Milap Milan Zaveri during the trailer launch of an upcoming film at an Andheri multiplex, as Tara Sutaria, Rakul Preet Singh and Sidharth Malhotra look on. Pic/Satej Shinde
Where the anti-socials will gather again
Todi Mill social will make way for antiSOCIAL
The shuttering of antiSOCIAL — Impresario group's popular bar chain's indie alter-ego that had become a haven for music lovers and artistes alike — in January 2018 had broken many hearts. This January, when we reported that the space will not only be coming back, but also as a standalone in its second avatar, those broken hearts had found some comfort. They'll now be happy to learn that it will be reopening early in October, and will be replacing the Social that stood inside Todi Mills. "After three years of being the epicentre of the local scene from an underground basement, the idea of antiSOCIAL had become bigger than the space it was confined to.
Riyaaz Amlani
With a state-of-the-art AV set-up and a heady (almost mythical) calendar of Indian and international artists planned, this Lower Parel venue will be the new beating heart of India's subculture. We can't wait for people to experience it," founder of the hospitality group, Riyaaz Amlani, told this diarist.
27 and going strong
When Shernaz Patel, Rahul DaCunha and Rajit Kapur formed Rage, they didn't call the theatre company so because they were "angry or overly political or in vogue. We're definitely not Dylan Thomas-eque where we want to go gently into the good night. We're three peeps who wanna create good theatre together," wrote DaCunha in a post yesterday, marking Rage's 27th anniversary. And that they certainly did, changing the definition of English theatre for Mumbai, giving it I'm Not Bajirao, Love Letters and other memorable plays. Here's to many more.
Jain the group
Promoter Aditya Kilachand, chef Nooror and CEO Samir Chhabria
Sure, the street food in Thailand is so outstanding that some might even prefer it to the glorious tradition of Indian chaats. But the country also has some excellent high-end restaurants. One of these is The Blue Elephant, and chef Nooror Somany Steppe, who helms its kitchen, is visiting Mumbai to whip up a special meal at Worli's Happy Thai over the weekend. But when in India, do as the Indians do. So, she will be making a Jain-friendly Thai curry paste. Chef Nooror told this diarist, "The idea came due to the demands at Indian weddings [where I have earlier] catered to a large audience of Jains and vegetarians."
Mumbaikar on the art map
City-based art consultant Abhinit Khanna has been selected as one of the 50 participants at the prestigious Salzburg Global Seminar's Young Cultural Innovator Forum. Founded in 1947, it is an international non-profit and one of the oldest arts institutions. With support from the Shalini Passi Art Foundation, Khanna will be representing India next month. Speaking about the seminar, Khanna told this diarist, "It is building a global network of 500 competitively-selected changemakers in 'hub' communities who design collaborative projects, build skills, gain mentors, and connect to up-and-coming innovators in their cities and countries. This year, the programme is specifically looking at empowering cultural leaders from the Global South and I'm looking forward to learning and exchanging ideas with other important cultural workers from around the world."
A win to be proud of
The team behind the film with Jayati Vora (third from right)
While we'll know if Sacred Games and Lust Stories made the cut for the International Emmys on November 25, an Indian who has worked on a project that's already an Emmy winner is Jayati Vora. Born and raised in Mumbai, Vora, who is now US-based has co-edited Adoption Inc. Made for Al Jazeera English channel's Fault Lines, the film investigates how the demand in American families seeking to adopt from Uganda has paved the way for fraud. The film won in the Outstanding Investigative Report in a Newsmagazine category. "When I was involved in the documentary, I was managing editor at a non-profit newsroom for investigative journalism... My role in this story was developing the proposal, working with the reporter, Anna Cavell, on the reporting, editing the print story, which was a cover story in The Nation magazine, and editing the script for the documentary...It's a much smaller team than these kinds of productions generally have, which is one of the reasons I'm pleased that Adoption Inc won in this category against heavyweights such as 60 Minutes and HBO," Vora told this diarist.
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