Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce

The centre of attention

We can't tell what's more gorgeous — Jacqueline Fernandez during an event in Lower Parel or the gerberas in full bloom that she's posing with. Pic/Shadab Khan

From a bawa to a scribbler

It was Bombay in a picture, when we spotted the ultimate bawa, Cyrus Broacha fooling around with Jerry Pinto. It turns out, Broacha managed to rope in the writer for his podcast and got him to share anecdotal nuggets that more or less cover his life span, from being a teen and a Mathematics teacher, to dealing with tutoring a celebrity student, to becoming a writer worthy of a national award.

"In the second half he traces his writing career — from writing 28 pieces in one paper to putting his experiences with his mother into his novel, Em and the Big Hoom. He even puts Cyrus' writing through a critical lens," it read. We are intrigued by this and will wait to find out if Broacha's sense of humour remained intact while his works were under a critical lens.

Get lounging

"Ever since the launch of the first outlet, we wanted to explore and entertain the crowds from the suburbs," Divesh Thakkar, co-founder of Trizen Hospitality, told this diarist, while speaking about Play, a lounge that will open to public on July 5. The original venue was shut down in December, 2018, after the Kamala Mills fire tragedy, setting the team back for a year.

"We chose Andheri , because it has potential as a spending market and the location is apt for such a venture. We are excited and are hoping for a successful outcome this time," he shared.

Putting India on the global art map

Akshita Gandhi dons many hats — artist, entrepreneur and philanthropist. By day, she is the director of an infrastructural firm started by her father, who is a leading entrepreneur.

However, the Mumbaikar is essentially an artist who works with mixed media.

Her artworks that often rely on social, mythological and literary linkages, will now be showcased at the Bridgehampton Museum in New York as part of the Market Art + Design. And with this, she becomes one more artist who is putting Mumbai on the global art map.

Mujh se frandship karoge?

"He's you're friend yaa... she's your best friend yaa," has got to be one of the most popular lyrics in Bollywood. And while the film went on to becoming an iconic love story in the '90s, it also made the definition of a "best friend" in India a memorable one. More light is shed on it in a recent survey conducted by a multimedia messaging app.

For it, the multinational conglomerate conducted the Friendship Report which included a global study of 10,000 people from countries including Australia, France, Germany, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and India. Besides suggesting that friendship is the most celebrated human relationship in India, it also pointed to the fact that Indians have more best friends than citizens of most other countries, except Saudi Arabia. Other findings of the report concluded that Gen Z is turning away from large friendship circles and that the positive emotion of love was central to friendship.

Sound on, please

While many of us maybe acquainted with silent parties — called so because even though the parties and the music are equally banging, it's all limited to your headphones — a similar format for a musical gig and that, too, a non-electronic one, has been unheard of in the city so far. Ushering in such an experience, is the Shubhangi Joshi Collective, a four piece indie pop/alternative band from Mumbai who are playing inside a studio in Thane this Friday, where you can enjoy the performance on your earphones.

"Our full-length debut album, Babelfish, is slated to release in the next couple of months, and this is perhaps the last gig we will be performing before a short gap," Joshi revealed to this diarist, adding, "What drew us to this gig is the way it breaks down any barrier between the artiste and the audience. It's a refreshing new way to connect to the listeners with no distractions."

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