Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Old Friends, New Friends

Bal, who had only recently made a timely statement with a sartorial dissing of Article 377 on his back, while taking a bow at a fashion week finale, had some words of wisdom for the LGBTQ community.

We chanced upon this picture posted on social media featuring the hot new couple in town, Arjun Rampal and Gabriella Demetriades, along with designer Rohit Bal in France on an influencer (influenza?) trip in Europe. And, we couldn’t help but marvel at life’s constantly evolving combinations and permutations. Rampal and Bal, of course, go back a long way to their Delhi days, when they were pals. The designer had considered the dashing model and later star as his muse and even said as much in his interviews. Meanwhile, the South African femme fatale Demetriades, herself, has been in the public eye. First, as the woman alleged to be the reason for the famous fall out between Lalit Modi and Shashi Tharoor, and later, as one of the causes of the break-up of a high profile Mumbai marriage, when she’d dated a much older man. Incidentally, Bal, who had only recently made a timely statement with a sartorial dissing of Article 377 on his back, while taking a bow at a fashion week finale, had some words of wisdom for the LGBTQ community, which found many takers on his social media account: “The LGBTQ community needs to take it easy. Lie low, let it settle in, be calm, less visible, more discreet. Wait a while. Let the dust from unlettered years rest, let acceptance creep in, let minds open, let prejudices crumble, let hypocrisy die, let double standards dwindle and then, and only then should we dance into the freedom, into the light, into our own.”

Arjun Rampal (left), Gabriella Demetriades (centre) along with designer Rohit Bal. (HT Photo)

WTS WTM
What They Say
“This is a totally unnecessary controversy created by friends in the media. I met Mr Jaitley in Parliament and told him I was leaving for London, that I want to settle loans and if he would facilitate. Mr Jaitley did not say anything.”

What They Mean
“He just stared at my outfit, my earrings, my jewellery and my Mohawk…and appeared... speechless.”

True Lies
Word comes in that this dapper NRI corporate honcho’s over-enthusiastic advances appear to have creeped out a couple of young Bollywood starlets. The publicity-hungry gent, who heads a leading automobile brand and hosts many of what are known as ‘brand activations’ involving Bollywood, is said to be, for the lack of a better term, ‘a bit too star-struck’, ever since he began his tenure, a couple of years ago, back in ‘desh’, making him a topic of discussion between nubile young actresses, when they bump into each other usually at other er… activations. Apparently, on one instance, the upwardly mobile gent is said to have hovered around a pretty actress pleading for a selfie and even after his relentless requests were ignored, had sidled up to her later in the evening, this time, brandishing a hot new pair of wheels if she played ‘ball’.
Tch Tch!

Narcos Junior

Sebastián Marroquín

Last week, the Young Presidents Organisation (YPO), the members-only club of corporate who’s whos, hosted a much anticipated event that saw Colombian architect Sebastián Marroquín visit Mumbai for the first time and take part in a discussion at a mid-city hotel. Sebastián, better known by his alias Juan Pablo Escobar, is the son of the infamous Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug lord, who controlled the notorious Medellin cartel and was killed in a shootout by police authorities in 1993, and subsequently whose colourful life has been adapted in the hit Netflix show Narcos. “The event was completely sold out. We had a long waiting list as everyone had watched Narcos and wanted to hear about Escobar’s life. There was even a long queue for photographs with him after the talk and he willingly obliged,” informs our source. Escobar Jr has condemned his father’s mistakes in a documentary called ‘Sins of My Father’ and has been living in exile, in Argentina, having made a new life for himself as an architect. And we hear, post the talk, he made the most of his maiden visit to the city and the adulation he received, visiting tourist spots like the Gateway of India, Colaba Causeway and interestingly, even making a special request to be taken to Mani Bhavan, the one-time residence of Mahatma Gandhi, in Gamdevi.