The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Jaden Smith
Hey, I love you too!
Hollywood actor Will Smith's son, singer Jaden Smith, who arrived in Mumbai yesterday to perform at a music festival, seems to be as fascinated by the Indian paparazzi as they are of him. Pic/Satej Shinde
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A silver celebration for Christie's
Christie's is getting ready to celebrate its 25th year in India this year, and celebrations have already begun. As part of their engagement with the Mumbai audience, they have invited Nicholas Lambourn, head of the topographical pictures department, Christie's London, to talk about Thomas and William Daniell, the famous uncle-nephew duo, who travelled extensively in India nearly 200 years ago, and painted scenes from ordinary life.
Sonal Singh, director, Christie's India, says, "Having just completed a preview of highlights of our upcoming auction in New York of South Asian Art, we now turn to our first talk of the season, and I cannot think of a better way to start. than with a talk on the paintings by Thomas and William Daniell. Our focus remains on celebrating India and I hope this illustrative journey of the artists during their time in the country will capture the interest of our collectors and art lovers alike."
Gulzar, the showman
We can never get enough of Gulzar, and fans even more so. In a big treat for admirers of the veteran filmmaker and lyricist, HaperCollins India will be releasing a box set, Three Classic Films by Gulzar, containing three separate books, each of which will provide an insight into his masterpieces Aandhi, Angoor and Ijaazat.
While for Aandhi, author Saba M Bashir will write a textual analysis of the film and its songs, for Angoor, well-known columnist Sathya Saran will trace the evolution of the comic tale, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. In the book on Ijaazat, Mira Hashmi will highlight Gulzar's skill as a storyteller. "These are Gulzar's most accomplished films, and it's great to have three very interesting studies on these films with inputs from Gulzarsaab himself," Udayan Mitra, publisher (literary) with HarperCollins India, said.
Underarm delivery ordered, bowled and then slammed
It took the sports-inclined producers in Australia 38 years to bring out a documentary of the Greg Chappell-ordered underarm delivery that his brother bowled to New Zealander Brian McKechnie in a B&H World Series Cup game at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 1981. Cricket's ugly episode has been part of a lot of films on Australian cricket, but 'Underam — the ball that changed cricket', produced by Channel 7, is unprecedented. To prevent McKechnie hitting a six, captain Greg ordered his younger brother Trevor to deliver the grubber.
Australian cricket captain Greg Chappell holding the B&H World Series Cup on February 3, 1981, two days after the underarm incident. Pic/Getty Images
Australia won because underarm bowling was not prohibited in the tournament's rules, but it was against the spirit of the game. Doubtless, the former India coach regrets his decision. He also gets emotional in the film when it comes to talking about the kind of negative impact the incident had on Trevor. It's a fine film, but our in-house cricket nut threw in his two bits. According to him, the producers missed out on a anecdote that emerged from the Sydney Cricket Ground net area a few days after the incident.
Greg's mid-day columnist brother Ian who was in his first year as a permanent member of the Channel Nine commentary team, had slammed Greg in his column for the Sydney Sun the following day. In an effort to break some ice with his brother, Ian went near the net area where Greg was training. When Greg indicated his displeasure over what was written, Ian turned to him and said: "Greg, what you don't seem to understand is that one brother ordered the underarm, one bowled it and if the third agreed with it, they'll think we (Chappell family) are all mad." It's highly unlikely that Ian's dry sense of humour was lapped up by Greg.
Being Insta #bffs with Bollywood
If you are bored and just need a good laugh, might we suggest you check out the Instagram account, @unseenfriend. As the bio reads: "Just an ordinary guy who is Bollywood's favourite friend. I post pictures with my celebrity friends that the media won't show you."
Pic/Instagram
And the pictures are hilarious. From jamming with Shraddha Kapoor, to being held by Saif Ali Khan in his lap, to working out with Kareena Kapoor, lying in bed with Alia Bhatt, or being a part of Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli's Karva Chauth's celebrations, this guy is everywhere. With 82k followers, it would seem that the "unseen friend" is just as popular as the celebrities he copies, until someone takes offence, of course. We really hope that day never comes!
Baking hero
Shivesh Bhatia is only 22 years old and already a social media star, owing to his baking skills, for which he thanks his maternal grandmother. As the Delhi University graduate readies himself for a talk at St Xavier's College next week, this diarist asked the secret behind his stardom, and he said, "My grandmother introduced me to the concept of baking.
Shivesh Bhatia
She often baked a simple chocolate or vanilla cake and till date, it is the best I have had. I took to baking when I was only 16, and the fact that a young boy documented all his recipes on Instagram caught everyone's attention," he says, adding, "When I started getting responses from beyond my friend circle, I was grateful. While there are many food bloggers trying to make the cut, I feel that I stand out because I try to introduce a little bit of me in every recipe." Bhatia, who released his first book Bake with Shivesh last year, has over 1,65,000 followers on Instagram.
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