The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Mudras by the bay
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A woman shows off her classical dance moves as she performs for a video on Marine Drive at Nariman Point.
Those magic moments with Marshmello
Marshmello with Suhani Shah
It’s not every day that city-based mentalist and magician Suhani Shah’s mind-bending acts are met with a straight face in the audience. Shah, who recently performed for masked music producer, Marshmello leading up to his show in the city on Sunday, revealed, “The greatest hurdle was the inability to see his face, depriving us of crucial visual cues,” adding that her usual approach had to be reimagined to accommodate the musician’s concealed identity. Revealing details of the performance, Shah told this diarist, “We began by discussing his India trip and then seamlessly transitioned into the magic act. I had to proceed blindly, trusting that every influence was effective. As the final reveal unfolded, Marshmello and his entire team were left in absolute shock. We couldn’t see his face, but his voice, reactions, and the disbelief he shared with his team indicated that we had done our job well. I was relieved and happy.”
The challenges of diversity
Suhail Abbasi
While the differences of India’s cultures and people are often its strength, it can also be quite a challenge. For The Humsafar Trust, the inaugural media conclave on LGBTQiA+ held in Guwahati last week was one such moment. Chairperson and co-founder Suhail Abbasi shared, “While sensitisation towards the community is easy in a city like Mumbai, it is a different story in regions such as the North East.” Over the course of the conversation, Abbasi revealed how many who covered stories about the community in the region often faced the risk of losing followers or even being trolled online. “This was news to us. The few who show courage to cover these stories continue do so despite the opposition they face,” he noted.
As delicate as nature
Reflections Of A Season by Kazuko Shiihashi
Artist Kazuko Shiihashi’s latest exhibition Crimson Lunar Tide at Snowball Studios in Worli is built around the beauty of nature, and also brings to the city the Japanese art of washi — painting on traditional paper. “By painting on washi, I find solace in capturing nature’s essence. Every stroke celebrates the tranquillity of moons, the elegance of plants, and the ephemeral beauty of flowers,” Shiihashi said.
Kazuko Shiihashi
The butterfly effect
Isaac Kehimkar at the shoot. Pic Courtesy/Instagram
Would you travel across continents for a butterfly? Not unless you are Sem Jones and Dennis Van Ooyen. In search of a subject for their documentary, the two Dutch filmmakers chanced upon the story of Mumbai’s Butterfly Man, Isaac Kehimkar. “We wanted to make a film on the connection between man and nature. We found Kehimkar’s story fascinating, and thought of telling it through the perspective of a smaller creature, something so insignificant yet important,” shared Ooyen. “We hardly knew anything about him before choosing his story,” said Jones. The duo began a conversation with Kehimkar over emails six months ago before their visit this week. “They stayed for a few days with me in Karjat, and we also travelled to BNHS at Hornbill House in Fort on Thursday to learn and shoot images of where I worked and grew up,” Kehimkar shared. As for the film, the duo shared that the project should be ready by December or January.
No kidding
The kids during a recording session for the song
The ongoing Digital Disruptions Festival at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences also features a short rap video by the kids of Shankarwadi in Jogeshwari. Nandini Kochar, co-founder, Nazaria Foundation, shared, “The rap video was part of an artist residency programme with filmmaker Suraj Katra last year. Katra collaborated with five boys Yazdaan, Sufiya, Yahya, Muzammil and Sharjeel as they shot the video around their neighbourhood, wrote the lyrics and recorded the song.” Yazdaan Ansari, one of the boys, added that the experience taught him about his abilities.
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