Bollywood’s birds and the bees

This weekend, actor Jackie Shroff invited actor Manisha Koirala along with her parents, and Sufi singer Zila Khan, and others, to experience life in the slow lane at his farm

The last time we’d spoken to the enigmatic actor Jackie Shroff – one of the few genuinely good human beings in Bollywood – believe it or not, it was about bees. We had written a piece on an innovative bee farmer and the actor had got in touch with us, as he had wanted to connect with her. It was then that we had got to know about Shroff’s private and long-standing passion for organic farming and preservation of natural life, something that he rarely talks about, but is said to devote much of his waking hours to.

Actors Jackie Shroff and Manisha Koirala, and singer Zila Khan (extreme right) at Shroff’s farm.

And this weekend, word comes in that the actor invited some of his like-minded friends from the industry who shared this interest, including actor Manisha Koirala – whose tryst with and triumph over cancer has set her on the path of healthy living – along with her parents, and vivacious Sufi singer and actor Zila Khan, amongst a handful of others, to experience life in the slow lane at his farm. We hear the group spent its time in activities such as yoga and pranayama, pottery, singing and savouring organic, freshly-grown food. To top it, all there was even a Kathak performance in the evening.

And you thought that the topic of birds and bees meant something totally different in Bollywood!

Business leaders at a meeting with CM Uddhav Thackeray (not seen in pic).

Gen next is here

Never mind if Bollywood gave it a slip, but it appears to be an open season for India Inc‘s schmoozing with the powers that be. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Monday summit with business leaders in Delhi – which had included the country’s top corporate bosses such as chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons Ratan Tata, Reliance Industries’ chairman Mukesh Ambani, Adani Group founder Gautam Adani and Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, among others, ahead of the Union Budget 2020-21 – Tuesday saw some of the same faces joining a larger group of approximately 45, in Mumbai to meet Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. And whereas this group too, included the usual suspects such as Tata and Mahindra, what was interesting to note is that there was a significant addition of members of Gen Next invited to sit at the table. These included Anand Piramal, the executive director of the Piramal Group, who oversees his family’s real estate business, and Mansi Kirloskar, chief executive officer of the Kirloskar Group, whose marriage to Tata scion Neville Tata had taken place in Bengaluru and Mumbai recently. The presence of these two putative business leaders, along with that of Maharashtra’s newly-minted minister for tourism and environment, Aaditya Thackeray, was seen as a potent heralding of Gen Next’s advent to the corridors of power.

Sonal Dabral (left) with fellow delegate in Cannes this week.

The jury’s in

It is known as the festival that brings together the world’s biggest brands and the most creative people at an annual event in June, to learn, network and celebrate the power and effectiveness of creativity in advertising; and word comes in that this year, four of the jury presidents for the upcoming Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2020 hail from Asia, with Mumbai’s own Sonal Dabral, chief creative officer, south and southeast Asia, and vice-chairman of India Ogilvy, selected to head the prestigious ‘Direct Lions’ jury. Dabral, an alumnus of National Institute of Design, who went on to forge a brilliant career, heading agencies in India and abroad, belies his brilliance behind a laid-back boyish charm. Along with wife, the erstwhile model Beverly Soares, he is a popular figure on the city’s social scene, and has also been a television host and a Bollywood scriptwriter. To fulfil his responsibility as jury head, we hear he is currently in Cannes, reviewing the creative output of the past year for the upcoming festival.

Incidentally, unlike their counterparts in Bollywood, we are happy to note that delegates to this other big Cannes jamboree, concentrate on the work at hand, leaving their red carpet gowns, dinner jackets and tiaras at home!

Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo with their daughter, and writer Anil Dharker.

Starting young

An interesting sidelight on the margins of Literature Live’s recent launch of Nobel prize-winning couple Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo’s ‘Good Economics for Hard Times’ on Sunday at the Rendezvous was brought to our attention. Apparently, in the overflowing hall, which featured the likes of Godrej Industries’ managing director Nadir Godrej, Blue Star’s Suneel Advani, Hikal’s Jai Hiremath and actress and activist Nandita Das, following the lively conversation with the authors moderated by eminent economist Ajit Ranade, the latter didn’t see a little hand go up during the Q&A. It had belonged to the Nobel laureates’ daughter. What was she going to ask? “There’s so much poverty in the world. What caused it in the first place?” she shared with Literature Live’s Anil Dharker.

“Are you going to be an economist when you grow up, Dharker asked her.

No, I will be an engineer, she said. “Oh well, there goes the chance of another family Nobel,” thought Dharker, who we believe was trained as an engineer himself, until he discovered the more salubrious climes of journalism and literature.