Read, eat, watch and listen
Get your list of what to read, listen, eat and watch from the proven experts in the field.
Music
Tulsi Kumar, Singer
Tujhse naraz nahi zindagi (R D Burman): This song is from the movie Masoom (1983). Lata Mangeshkar has sung it beautifully. I’m an ardent fan of her and the way she has rendered this is especially amazing. The lyrics and feel of this song are too good. This song emotionally touches my heart.
Naam gum jaayega (R D Burman): This song is from Kinara (1977). The song says that a person’s voice is his identity. Being a singer, I can connect very well to it. The voice is eternal while name and fame will fade. So, though I have just started out, I would like to be remembered by my voice.
Baawri piya ki (Aadesh Shrivastav): This one is from Baabul (2006). The composition is too good. I love the fact that this song is based on a raag. These days, you hardly find raag-based songs, unlike the olden days when songs were mostly classical. Sonu Niigaam has done full justice to this song.
Dil hai chota sa (A R Rahman): This is a song from Roja (1992) that Chitraji has sung in a very innocent manner. I can completely relate to this song. Whenever I listen to it, I am motivated to work hard. This really inspires me.
— Manali Shah
Food
Kishore DF, Owner of WTF!
Soul Fry (Bandra): I often go here because it’s right next to my house. It’s not a typical Indian restaurant, rather it serves Goan and Mangalorean coastal cuisine. I like their Prawn Loncha and Mutton Sukha (a Mangalorean dry preparation). The prices are very affordable and the ambience is not in your face. It’s a comfortable, cute little eatery. The service is great, the food consistent and it’s value-for-money.
Café Goa (Bandra): I like their Goan sausages, which they serve with Goan bread. It’s not that I’m a Goan fan, I’m from Tamil Nadu, in fact. But I don’t really like north Indian food like Butter Chicken, Naan and other such heavy stuff. I like things not done in too much oil and masala. I also like the mutton dish they do which has okra and lamb in a soupy textured curry. It’s a pretty chilled out, unpretentious place that lets you be and is priced fairly.
Salt Water Café (Bandra): This is a great place to take guests to. It’s a must visit, a pretty hip place. The drinks are nice and the service is great. I generally go for their Roasted Leg of Chicken in Classic Brown Gravy Sauce. It’s like a modern deli café and it’s so Bandra. If you put it somewhere else, it would not have the same vibe. It’s understated cool. It gives you all the trappings of an uppish experience without having to go to a five star. Their kingfish steak is amazing.
Celini (Grand Hyatt): I love their Sunday brunches. I always have Carbonara Pasta, Caesar’s Salad and Pepperoni Pizza with a couple of Martinis. I love hanging out there on a Sunday afternoon. There are very few places in Mumbai where you can go, where there is lots of sunshine and the food is decent. Most brunches resemble a mela and the food is of poor quality. The brunch at M used to be spectacular, and since Celini is also at the Hyatt, it is great as well.
— Naomi Canton
Books
Dr Rekha Shetty Author of Innovate! 90 Days to Transform Your Business
The Life of Pi (Yann Martel): Yann Martel’s The Life of Pi is a metaphor of modern life and how one should resolve conflicts. If you read between the lines and understand the underlying meaning, it is actually a very interesting book. The zoo almost comes alive because of the way he writes it.
Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore): For me, reading Tagore’s poetry is like looking at a painting. He is a painter with his words. His poetry is so real, so earnest, that the last time I went to Shantiniketan, I could picture him writing his poetry.
Short Stories by Leo Tolstoy: Tolstoy’s short stories give me a glimpse of reality. One of his short stories, How Much Land A Man Wants, is touching. Tolstoy had a knack of writing the acute truth in a small space.
The Story Of My Experiments With Truth (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi): Personally, I love Gandhiji. I love his honesty and sincerity. Even in his autobiography, he has made himself so vulnerable to his readers. He speaks only the truth, whether or not it is pleasing to him.
— Anusha Venkatram
Movie
Sanjay Gadhvi, Film Director
Pulp Fiction (1994): This movie’s director Quentin Tarantino is my favourite director in the world. The style in which he has shot the movie, especially the action scenes, is fantastic. He is the ideal combination of a writer and director. The writing of this movie really stands out.
Schindler's List (1993): The understanding of history demonstrated by Steven Spielberg, the director is outstanding. This movie is subtle in the sense that it does not have too much melodrama and is not over-dramatic. There are loads of movies based on holocausts but this one stands out.
Bobby (1973): This Raj Kapoor-directed movie is amazing. It is the first of all love stories. So, this movie started the trend of all the love stories that we see today. He made this movie after the debacle of Mera Naam Joker. He did a lot of self-analysis and made a comeback with this superb movie.
Sholay (1975): This movie is perfect in all aspects. It is a very progressive movie showing the character of Basanti as a working woman. It also touches upon a lot of issues like widow remarriage. This movie has drama, action, comedy, songs, romance, friendship, sacrifice, everything. It is a masala movie, but unlike the ones made today.
— Manali Shah
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