Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Will Smith is in the House

As is known, Will Smith is in the country. The Hollywood A-lister was in Delhi last week as one of the marquee speakers at the 16th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, where he spoke with Farhan Akhtar and rubbed shoulders with the likes of other speakers, including football legend Pelé at the after-party. But, word comes in that the energetic star was spotted in Mumbai on the next night, at a party hosted at the soon-to-open Soho House in Juhu. “Will is part of the Soho house international family. He, his wife Jada Pinkett and son Jaden are freq- uent visitors to the houses in Malibu and Miami. He was excited to see the house in Mumbai and even did a photoshoot along with Ranveer Singh,” informs our source. Others present at the bash included Alia Bhatt, Karan Johar and Ayaan Mukherjee. The 10-storey beach-facing house, which will mark the group’s entry into Asia, is said to officially open next month and will be limited to 1,000 members, spearheaded by general manager Joe Eva and memberships manager Priya Sharma.

True Lies
If there is one thing India’s major designers have in common, it’s that the biggies all have their close family members in charge of their highly successful brands. From Mumbai to Delhi to Kolkata, this appears to be the case, and insiders describe it as vital to the brand’s success. “A designer needs to concentrate on their creativity and maintain relations with clients etc. Who else, but their trusted family members to take care of the back end?” said one insider. Now, one more equally popular practice has come to light. Call them muses, loyalists, party girls or fellow travellers, but they all serve the same purpose, a well-networked and high-profile tribe of women, who act as the designer’s frontrunners and who give them social currency. It helps that they are photogenic, can be counted on to make a pretty picture in the designer’s creations at events and can stay back, after everyone’s left the party, for some breakfast prime gossip and b****ery. So, for instance, you have this pretty, not-so-young thing, whose show biz career never did take off, who is a fixture at all events hosted by her designer BFF. “These girls are bright, well-spoken and articulate. They have become a necessary part of any self-respecting major designers’ entourage,” says a filmy insider. “Of course, in the old days, they were known as part of the industry’s ‘camps’”. Or chamchas?

WTS WTM
What They Say :
“Oh, tu badi cute hai!”
Best-selling Indian author Chetan Bhagat, while trying to woo a female reporter

What They Mean:
“Hear my soul speak. Of the very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly at your service.”
(Shakespeare in The Tempest, Act 3, Scene 1)

Chalo Doha Now

Manish Malhotra (left) with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Doha.

So, it’s official: Last week, we had noted how Indian fashion appears to be on the verge of a major boom in the Middle East, with designers like Rohit Bal and Raghvendra Rathore amongst others, spearheading serious retail trunk shows and pop-up ventures in the region. Of course, it’s not a new initiative. For long, it has been noted that the aesthetic preferences of Indian and Emirati women are not dissimilar, both preferring flowing, unstructured silhouettes with rich embroideries and colours (and God knows , Bollywood has had a big role to play in the marketing of our wedding wows). Only this time, the onslaught appears to be more strategic and significant. Following on the heels of Atelier India’s launch at Robinsons in Dubai last week, word comes of Manish Malhotra unveiling his Middle Eastern inspired couture from his collection, ‘Zween’ (beautiful in Arabic), at his premiere show in Doha, Qatar with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as his show stopper. But as always, it’s the show’s after-party which saw the action turning out to be a double celebration, with makeup artist to the stars, Mickey Contractor bringing in his birthday. Held in the sumptuous presidential suite assigned to Malhotra, it boasted an assortment of stars and lissome models from India with Pakistani actors (one so hot that he was described quite inappropriately by a Mumbai Cougar, who’d been present as ‘dishier than pork vindaloo’). Incidentally, from the dangerously plunging necklines in some of those ethereal gowns seen on the runway, perhaps more than just ‘Middle Eastern inspired couture’ got unveiled.

First Published: Oct 07, 2018 22:29 IST