As expected, the wedding blessing ceremony of Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal featured wall-to-wall celebrities from all walks of life and all corners of the world. Business leaders like Ratan Tata, politicians like Mamata Banerjee and Hillary Clinton, and film stars like Amitabh Bachchan, they were all there, marking their presence and adding their sparkle. But the person whose presence drew considerable interest was American singer-songwriter and guitarist, Joe Walsh, member of one of the most influential and bestselling bands of the 70s – The Eagles – fitted out in a cool sherwani and looking very much like he was to the manor born.
What was one of rock’s most enduring legends doing there?
Sarod maestro Ayaan Ali Bangash, who was photographed with his father, sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, his wife Neema Bangash, Walsh, and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, had the answer to that. “Walsh is a friend of the Piramals and a great fan of Indian classical music and of the sarod,” said the classical musician, who, having lost a ton of weight looked every inch a rockstar himself! “Last year, we’d jammed together at the Taj in Mumbai privately, on one of his frequent visits to India, and in fact, we are trying to set up a session this week to jam again. He is a great musician and his rapport with dad is one of mutual admiration,” said Ayaan.
So yes, along with the rest of the celebrity universe, you had one of rock’s biggest stars also at the Ambani residence on Wednesday night.
As they say, you can check in any time you want, but you can never leave.

Bouillabaisse Rhapsody?

Gaggan’s self-styled Freddie Mercury look. (HT Photo)

To tell you the truth, we were a tad underwhelmed by the runaway hit and much-acclaimed biopic on Freddie Mercury’s life, Bohemian Rhapsody, being of the opinion that it had turned him into something of a caricature. Having spent weeks in advance of seeing it, reading up everything we could find on him and watching endless videos of his spectacular stage performances, the shock and dazzle we’d expected from Rami Malek’s reprisal was more reminiscent of a fairy biker at a college social. If only Sacha Baron Cohen had brought his forceful-physicality to play Mercury.
Be that as it may, there’s no denying that we are in a minority on the film and it has won fans and admirers across the world.
And in this mercury rising phenomenon, could our very own rock music lovin’, hell raisin’, Punjabi super-chef from Kolkata, transplanted to Thailand, be far behind? This week, Gaggan Anand (rated this year as World No. 5) decided to demonstrate his own rockstar quotient by shearing off his famous long hair and fashioning his beard into a Freddie-like mooch and donning Freddie-like glasses in a paean to his hero Farrokh Bulsara. Of course, Gaggan shares more with the late international megastar than just his supposed new outward likeness and a passion for rock (he is an impassioned percussionist). With an award-winning documentary episode on Netflix’s popular Chef’s Table series made on him, and multiple accolades in the international arena, Anand is an international star in his own right. Very much in the footsteps of Mercury, the Indian boy who took the world by storm. For all you know, we might be watching a Hollywood blockbuster on Gaggan’s life too, in the near future…Bouillabaisse Rhapsody anyone?

Another Feather In His Cap

Dr Cyrus Poonawalla (centre) received the award in Abu Dhabi. (HT Photo)

There appears to be another feather in founder of Serum Institute of India and Chairman of Poonawalla Group, Dr Cyrus Poonawalla’s much-decorated cap. This week, at a glittering ceremony in Abu Dhabi, the billionaire-businessman and philanthropist was awarded the first-ever Vaccine Hero award by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, for supplying more than one billion doses of vaccines per year to children in 170 countries around the world at affordable prices.
“Since Gavi’s inception, Cyrus has been a steadfast supporter of its mission,” said Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which was launched to celebrate global figures whose dedication to its mission has played a key role in protecting millions of children across the world. “Under his leadership, Serum has become the largest supplier of vaccines to the developing world, protecting millions of children in the world’s poorest countries against killer diseases like measles, diphtheria and meningitis,” said Berkley.
“It is recognition, such as today’s, that gives me and my team the strength to commit and continue our humanitarian work,” said the feisty 70-year-old, who’d founded Serum Institute of India in 1966 and built it into the world’s largest vaccine-manufacturer by volume, adding, “Especially now, for much-needed newer vaccines for pneumonia, rotavirus, meningitis, HPV and dengue.”
And what’s next for the Pune-based business leader? If his old friend and fellow Pune-ite Sharad Pawar is to be believed, an imminent nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Yes, that’s what the NCP leader had announced a few months ago, when he’d hosted a reception in Pune for his much-awarded friend.

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First Published: Dec 13, 2018 22:57 IST