Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Satur-Yay In Mumbai

The evening featured a charity auction to raise money for the construction of CITTA Foundation’s girls’ school in Jaisalmer

Saturday night saw Mumbai’s corporate, fashion and film circuits step out in style, as all roads seemed to lead to two high-profile gatherings. The first was at the sprawling Worli residence of Isha Ambani Piramal, who hosted an evening along with Sonam Kapoor, to support the Gyaan Project by architect Rooshad Shroff. The evening featured a charity auction conducted by Kapoor, with items designed by the likes of Christian Louboutin, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, and Bijoy Jain, to raise money for the construction of CITTA Foundation’s girls’ school in Jaisalmer. Those in attendance included Nita and Mukesh Ambani, Natasha Poonawalla, Gauri Khan, Anil and Sunita Kapoor and Shweta Bachchan Nanda.

Rooshad Shroff, Isha Ambani Piramal and Sonam Kapoor.

Rewant Ruia and Karishma Choraria.

The second event saw a line-up of limos heading towards Teen Batti, as the spectacular Ruia Bungalow opened its doors for the upcoming wedding of Rewant Ruia, son of industrialist Ravi Ruia, to his fiancé Karishma Choraria. We hear, besides the impeccable F&B, guests were floored by the hundreds of diyas organised for the occasion by the hosts, which lit up the Arabian Sea and delighted passers-by and motorists all the way to the other end of Marine Drive.

Two decades of snap and crackle

Farzana Contractor with her guests.

It’s been the go-to favourite of foodies across India. Last Thursday, editor and publisher Farzana Contractor hosted the 20th anniversary party of her food, travel and lifestyle magazine Upper Crust at the Blue Sea, which saw the city’s best and brightest gather. From legendary chefs Imtiaz Qureshi and Nooror Somany Steppe of The Blue Elephant, London – who released the commemorative issue along with Contractor – to business magnate Prakash Hinduja, actor Kabir Bedi, ad guru and epicure Mohammed Khan, restaurateur and foodie Camellia Panjabi, actress Poonam Dhillon, Bollywood producer Aly Morani, funny man Kunal Vijayakar, hotelier Rajiv Kaul, philanthropist Bijal Meswani, politician and designer Shaina NC (with her graceful designer mother, Munira Chudasama), author Shobhaa De, thespian Lilette Dubey and songstress Sharon Prabhakar, they were all there to raise a toast to the magazine, which had carved a niche for itself in people’s hearts.

And as guests sang a lively ‘Congratulations’, a buffet featuring 20 stand-out cuisines from different parts of India (from Rajasthan’s Lal Maas to Goa’s Xitti Kodi and Hyderabad’s Haleem, etc) which represented the 20 years of the magazine’s existence was opened up to the guests.

“Just one request though, please don’t serve yourself everything in one go,” Contractor had said on the printed menu. “Take your time, make trips to the buffet, taste each cuisine separately...”

And we are happy to report, that not only did people do justice to Joy Kapur’s carefully-curated fare but that the feasting did not interrupt the dancing, which went on till almost midnight. And as guests stepped out into the brisk December evening, there was a refreshing snap and crackle in the winter air, not unlike the spirit the magazine has maintained for the past two decades, come to think of it.

Birthday Bumps

Sharmilla Khanna, Lara Dutta and Queenie Singh

Thursday evening saw much to-ing and fro-ing for the city’s beautiful people, as erstwhile Mumbai girl (via Delhi) – global nomad and jewellery designer Queenie Singh – celebrated her birthday at her well-appointed home in an iconic SoBo tower. Many guests, such as Kabir and Shaina NC, had decided to party hop – from the Upper Crust celebration held earlier –to Singh’s. In addition to them, we spotted businessman Sanjay Hinduja, actors Lara Dutta and Madhoo Shah, lawyer Tony Jethmalani, gallerist Sangeeta Chopra and lifestyle entrepreneur Sharmilla Khanna, among the crowd pouring in to wish the birthday girl, who is the toast of the beau monde in London and Mumbai, and whose marriage four years ago to the London-based dapper Rishi Sethia had taken place on a yacht docked in St Tropez.

The last time we had run into Singh had been at a hospital while visiting an ailing mutual friend, and needless to say she’d looked as cool and composed as she’d stepped out of a Mediterranean cruise.

But for all her Herve Leger “bandage” dresses and Manolo Blahnik heels, Singh is a warm Sardarni, who has stayed close to her roots in spite of her peripatetic lifestyle. “It was an evening of all that has a meaning for me,” she said when we spoke yesterday. “Friends from older times and recent times, along with both my kids and their closest friends, and Rishi, were there to complete the birthday,” Singh said.

When asked how long she will stay in Mumbai this time, her response was characteristic. “Until the 10th and in between Dubai for a few days,” she said.

How does she do it?!

Priyanka Chopra

Spunky Septuagenarian

Talk about having spunk, erstwhile secretary to Osho, Ma Anand Sheela aka Sheela Bernstein, who had captured the public imagination as one wild, wild woman in Netflix’s ‘Wild Wild Country’, obviously has it by the truckloads.

In an epic snub to Priyanka Chopra, she said she’d rather not be played by the actress in a net series set to come out soon.

It seems soon after PC had announced on the Ellen DeGeneres show, that she would be essaying the role of Ma Sheela in a biopic, the feisty septuagenarian – who has pleaded guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault, and who has done time in a US federal prison – sent the actor a legal notice, forbidding her from doing so.

As it turns out, Sheela would prefer the younger Alia Bhatt to portray her. “I feel she has the spunk in her that I had,” she is reported to have said.

Incidentally, when we had watched her younger avatar in WWC, it had occurred to us that there was only one actress who would essay the role of the firebrand, loose cannon and outspoken Calamity Jane with effortless ease – Kangana Ranaut.

And with Ranaut’s knack of getting under her character’s skin as the Rani of Jhansi in Manikarnika, and favourable reports of her performance as Jayalalithaa in the soon to be released ‘Thalaivi’, KG as Ma Sheela might just be the casting coup made in heaven.