The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
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Two women chat with each other on a road in Kurla
Poster perfect
A poster of Yaarana on auction
The arrival of the digital medium has killed a beautiful aspect of Hindi cinema — hand-drawn posters. The art-house, deRivaz & Ives has put up the largest collection of Hindi film posters under auction since Osian’s The Historical Mela:The ABC Series that was held some 20 years ago. From Awara to the iconic images of Mother India and Mughal-e-Azam, a rare collection of these print works will be auctioned on their website today and tomorrow. Revealing such a large collection of rare first-release original posters has never been put together for public sale, Niranjan Desai, its spokesperson, shared, “The main expectation is that the film and art fraternity takes another step forward in recognising their larger responsibility towards respecting and preserving India’s cinematic heritage.” For the love of art, we certainly hope so.
Taste of Awadh
It bothers chef Sima Ahmed that people mistake Mughlai fare for Awadhi cuisine. “Awadhi fare is more refined, with lesser spices and more herbs,” shared the chef who hails from Faizabad, UP, ahead of a pop-up at Byculla’s Magazine Street Kitchen today and tomorrow. Ahmed will be setting the record straight by doling out a feast of egg pearl-studded moti pulao, sabz galawati, stuffed khajoor, pepper-spiced chusta kebab, and more. “My ancestors hail from Yemen and I grew up around khansamas and my aunts cooking up a storm. I’ll be walking diners through the history of the dishes.” To relish a slice of family-style meals, head to Byculla or @magstreetkitchen.
LA calling Mumbai
A screengrab from Lalanna’s song
The 20th edition of IFFLA (Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles) will have a healthy Mumbai contingent in Amrita Bagchi’s The Succulent, Gitanjali Rao’s Tomorrow My Love, and Megha Ramaswamy’s Lalanna’s Song in the short film lineup. Her third stint at the festival, Ramaswamy told us, “Films at IFFLA represent India with the change that is happening in the country as well.”
Megha Ramaswamy
Mumbaikar Ramaswamy’s film reflects her observations on life in the suburbs. An intimate portrayal of characters and tensions, she shared with this diarist, “The film is like my own observation of the suburban spaces I grew up in. It culminated in a story that I ended up writing many years later.” For now, the news of the Mumbai film circle’s rise does make for some joy!
Sweet comfort
The groundsmen of MCA (Mumbai Cricket Association) are enjoying five-star treatment. Sponsored by Mondelez International of Cadbury fame, the MCA ground staff will spend this IPL season in the laps of luxury at the Intercontinental hotel in Mumbai. MCA treasurer, Jagdish Achrekar (below) tells us, “For the groundsmen, the pandemic has been difficult. This was our effort to make them feel valued. They are the unacknowledged heroes of the game.” Achrekar elaborated,“We have three grounds — Wankhede, Kandivali and BKC. Our ground staff will be rotated and take turns staying at the hotel.”
Colour of money
Tyeb Mehta’s Untitled (Bull on Rickshaw)
The art world in Mumbai has a new record to marvel at this week. Saffronart’s Spring Live Auction on Wednesday ended up breaking some big record numbers as 55 major contemporary works were auctioned. The glory went to the old legends with Tyeb Mehta’s Untitled (Bull on Rickshaw) selling for a whopping R41.97 crore and Raja Ravi Varma’s iconic Draupadi Vastraharan was sold for a bid of Rs 21.6 crore. MV Dhurandhar’s homage to Ravi Varma, another Draupadi Vastraharan, also fetched a handsome R8.04 crore. It was the highest sale achieved by the artist in an auction globally. Dinesh Vazirani, CEO and co-founder, Saffronart, told us, “What sets each of these three works apart would be the manner in which they all represent the artist’s skill and expertise. Take Tyeb Mehta’s Untitled (Bull on Rickshaw) for example. It’s an incredibly skilful culmination of the various icons and subjects that have been a part of the artist’s oeuvre.” He added, “Then, you have have the works by Raja Ravi Varma and MV Dhurandhar. Though both depict the same critical moment from the Mahabharata, they are each unique in the way they bring forth the artist’s style and manner of interpreting a scene. In addition, all three are rare works in the art market, making them excellent additions for any art collection.”
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