The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Hanging in the balance
Actor Rana Daggubati pulls off a stunt during a shoot for his next movie, at Film City in Goregaon on Thursday. Pic/Satej Shinde
Equal music
Valentine's Day is as much a day for couples to celebrate their love, as it has become about brands trying to cash in on all the romance in the air. But we don't grudge the advertisement that an online streaming platform launched yesterday, simply because of the inclusive message it gives out. The ad revolves around the everyday lives of a gay couple, and then ends with the possibility of a budding romance between a guy and a girl. The plot, in the process, offers both couples equal normalcy, and the background track - Everybody Dances to Techno by indie artiste Dot - fits perfectly. All in all, a job well done.
Designs on a prize
Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi's literary prowess is no secret, what with his debut novel, The Last Song of Dusk, winning several international awards, and The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay, being shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2008. But did you know that the writer is also a gifted interior designer? At the ongoing India Design ID event in Delhi, Shanghvi was among the honourees for Best Interior Design, for a house that he made for actor Lisa Ray in Bandra. "In my twenties, I spent a lot of time at the ashram of Meher Baba in Ahmednagar. The days were simple, spent in even greater simplicity... I had never been happier, which is to say I had been present in myself as myself. I was keen to bring this quality - of consolidated reflection - to all my work: to the books, the photography, the design work," Shanghvi told this diarist.
Harking back to a simpler time
On Madhubala's 86th birth anniversary yesterday, we came across this nugget of nostalgia from the mid-1950s. The gorgeous actor is seen in a print advertisement, endorsing the swadeshi soap, Vatni (from vatan or motherland). The simpler times reflect in the copy of the ad, and unlike today's OTT film promotions, there is just a line in small print at the bottom that reads, "You will shortly be seeing Madhubala in Raj Hath [1956]." A copy of the ad now lies in the records of Godrej Archives in Vikhroli.
The right move
Here's a move that was much needed. One Future Collective, a not-for-profit organisation that works towards ensuring a more empathetic world, is about to launch a queer resource centre. The aim is to raise awareness about the issues facing the community and to build a database of numbers for essential services, such as hospitals, that are LGBTQ-friendly. The online version of the resource centre will be launched on February 23, with a brick and mortar outpost following a week later.
African curator's Mumbai connect
Earlier this week, Bisi Silva - a pioneering art curator from Nigeria - passed away at the age of 52. Based in Lagos, Silva had done an exemplary job of bringing about global recognition for art that comes out of Africa. This includes making the Indian audience familiar with work from the continent. In 2009, she had curated the first ever show of African art in our country. Called Chance Encounters, the exhibition had been held at Mumbai's Sakshi Gallery.
Geetha Mehra, the gallery's director, told this diarist, "I had been meeting her previously since she was part of the jury for the Artes Mundi prize. She had already made a trip to India and was familiar with our gallery. So, she agreed to curate the show in 2009, and that was the first time that people in India were seeing some of the best work from Africa. We kept the association going even after the exhibition, which was really well-received." Mehra added, "Of course, her work in Africa, especially in the northeastern part of the continent, is really well-known, and she went on to form a not-for-profit organisation," referring to Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos, which Silva had launched in 2007.
Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and apps to get latest updates