Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Family pack star power

We have written before about the All Stars Football Club, helmed by Bollywood stars Ranbir Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan and Arjun Kapoor. The team, composed of some choice celebrity testosterone, trains every Sunday in Bandra, and features well-known Bollywood personalities, a couple of businessmen and tennis star Leander Paes amongst others. But, even in these rarefied circles, it was last Sunday’s visitor who created maximum flutter, according to observers. Because, the man who chose to drop in and play a few rounds that day was none other than India’s captain cool, cricketer MS Dhoni. “Mahi was in town for Poorna Patel’s wedding celebrations and decided to drop by for our training on Sunday. He is a gifted footballer and his fitness is an inspiration for all of us,” gushed a source. “We were pretty star-struck, and it was amazing to have him play a practice match with us!” And what’s more, this is not the only instance of the Dhonis taking Mumbai by storm this weekend. By all accounts, wife Sakshi and daughter Ziva more or less stole the show with their cute dancing at the Poorna-Namit wedding too. That’s called star power — in a Family Pack.

FULL CIRCLE AGAIN

(LtoR) Chef Vineet Bhatia with wife Rashima and Biki Oberoi; Bhatia tries to recreate a 1988 photo.

Life appears to have come around a full circle for dapper London-based Michelin-starred chef Vineet Bhatia. The chef and his wife Rashima were in Delhi over the weekend and made it a point to visit the newly refurbished Oberoi Hotel, where he had begun his career 30 years ago before he’d left for opportunities in London. To commemorate the occasion, Bhatia is said to have gone to the rooftop of the hotel to recreate a photo shoot by star photojournalist Raghu Rai in 1988, which had memorably framed the Humayan tomb in the background. The salt-and-pepper bearded chef shared both the original and the recent photographs on social media to much delight. But, easily the highlight of the trip was his meeting with his former employer, the legendary octogenarian PRS (Biki) Oberoi. “Passion gets redefined when you meet the man himself,” he posted along with a photograph of the meeting. Incidentally, one of the legends around the renowned hotelier is that he has a sweet tooth, and each time he visits Mumbai, his hotel places the same order, of a ‘sugar-free ice cream from a standalone local maker’ for the aficionado.

Nope we’re not telling which one.

LIFE’S SAD-SWEET MOMENTS

(LtoR) Zoheb Hassan with sister Zehra and nephew Arez.

The post was cryptic: “Nazia Hassan’s son and my nephew, Arez, graduates from Kings College in London”, but it contained a universe of emotion and memories. After all, it had been written by Zoheb Hassan, one half of the sister-brother teen sensation Nazia and Zoheb, that had rocked the pop scene and endeared itself to hearts across India, Pakistan and many other countries in the eighties with songs like Aap Jaise Koi. Tragically, after enjoying dizzying success followed by retirement, Nazia had died succumbing to cancer at the young age of thirty-five, leaving millions distraught. Besides fulfilling Nazia’s philanthropic interests through the founding of charitable trusts in her name, her doting brother Zoheb had devoted himself to keeping their music alive through his solo career and tributes to her in songs and documentaries. Now, as a proud uncle, he was applauding his late sister’s strapping son receiving his degree. “We can imagine the poignancy and pride you felt at that moment,” we texted him by way of congratulations.

Of such sweet and sad medleys, our lives are composed.

BIJOUX EXTRAORDINAIRE

Sangeeta Khanna.

We vividly recall the first time we’d seen Mumbai-based jewellery designer Sangeeta Khanna’s creations. It was more than a decade ago at the Oberoi Hotel, in what is now known as the Vetro. We still recall being utterly charmed by her designs. Being of the firm belief that women ought to wear jewellery solely for their own pleasure, and not something as vulgar as an indicator of family wealth, we heartily approved of the beautiful beads and baubles Khanna had created with semi-precious stones and silver, through her imagination and superior workmanship. In those days, it was known as ‘costume jewellery’ and it took a woman of considerable confidence and panache to carry it off. Today, it’s known as ‘designer jewellery’ or ‘destination jewellery’ and its demand has gone through the roof! Through it all Khanna (equally impassioned about holistic healing, spirituality, solar cooking, and baking) has earned herself something of a reputation as the high priestess of the trade, with a vast circle of discerning ladies who clamour to her frequent shows in luxe hotels boutiques and curated extinctions. This week, she informs that she’s bringing her line ‘Taara: Bijoux Extraordinaire’, as part of Serendipity, a high-end, annual trunk show, where along with her signature style, she’s particularly excited about a few standalone pieces from her series Suspended in Space. “It’s a bold and unique balance of semi-precious stones with eclectic design elements, which appear almost ‘suspended’ when worn,” she says. And yes, the exhibition is being held at the same hotel where we’d first seen her work more than a decade ago — how cool a coincidence is that?“