Malavika’s Mumbaistan: The Shape of Him?

We are beginning to suspect that singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is far more obsessed with India than previously known. We’d met the talented Grammy winner a few years

We are beginning to suspect that singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran is far more obsessed with India than previously known. We’d met the talented Grammy winner a few years ago in Mumbai at a star-spangled party, hosted in his honour by director Farah Khan, on the eve of his Mumbai debut concert, where, between his characteristic sweet smiles and endearing mumbles, he’d told us that it had been his dream to discover India, but we’d assumed that was PC. Since then, we’ve reported on these pages about Sheeran enjoying a meal cooked by chef Gaggan Anand in Bangkok (and posting that it had been the best meal of his life) and also his involvement in Danny Boyle’s Yesterday, which had featured an Indian lead, Himesh Patel. This weekend, word came in that Sheeran’s love for Indian food saw him visit London’s popular Kutir in Chelsea, where he was joined for lunch by his BFF, the singer James Blunt. “Ed loves Indian food and I have served him a couple of times before as well,” said Kutir’s chef patron Rohit Ghai, when we spoke yesterday, adding, “He came with his friend James and they ate prawns masala, aloo tikki, lamb chops, chicken tikka masala, truffle khichdi and sea bass kokum.”
Nice.

(From left) James Blunt, chef Rohit Ghai and Ed Sheeran at Kutir, London.

Tweet Talk
“For the uneducated – No one is against the Metro. The Metro is most welcome and needed. Just change location for parking lot is all what Mumbaikars are asking.”
-Tweeted by actress Raveena Tandon

True Lies
The oolong tea-serving hostess friend was looking ashen-faced as she clutched her new iPhone (with three cameras she informed us) to her ear. Every now and then she made sympathetic noises, as if to console the person at the other end. After a suitably lengthy goodbye and many platitudes of “Don’t give up hope” and “This is not the end”, she hung up, turned to us and said soulfully, “That’s the second Bollywood star wife who has called me in despair in the past two days. It’s a very serious situation”
Huh? we said, not following the trajectory of the conversation.
“Where have you been?” said the OTSHF, adding, “Don’t you know the anxiety and distress that Bollywood is undergoing currently? How will they spend summers in Mykonos and Ibiza or lunch at Mayfair and shop at Bond street or have a Birkin to match every sunshade of theirs.”
Huh? Why? What’s happened? we asked.
“Besides, there are no direct flights between Mykonos and Mumbai,” she continued, “From now on, no dabba service from Wasabi, no getaway shopping trips or New Year bashes in Dubai, no more cases of Armand de Brignac champagne on their birthdays. And of course, no access to clubs like Annabel’s and Loulou’s. And not to forget their entrances into parties in Rolls Royces surrounded by body guards from Israel and Russia, kaput, poof it’s all gone.”
What’s gone, we said exasperatedly.
The OTSFH looked at us pityingly. “Don’t you know what is happening? The recipe for trouble these days is if you own a PJ and hang out with Bollywood stars, think about the all the recent industrialists in trouble with the law, it’s more than a coincidence that they all had PJs, extravagant lifestyles and Bollywood friends, and now that they’re all going bust one by one, who do you think is bearing the brunt of it all? The stars, their wives and families of course! Let’s face it, the party’s over…” she said in a low voice.
And then her phone rang.
“It’s another one of them,” she said sadly.

Fashion Frieze

Domenico Dolce and Satyam Abhishek Advani in London.

As is known, London’s Frieze Week is attracting a considerable amount of Indian presence with an impressive roster of collectors, gallerists and curators camping there. As a consequence, the weekend saw erstwhile Mumbai boy, now London-based designer Satyam Abhishek Advani, presenting his label Advani London to none other than Domenico Dolce, one half of the label Dolce & Gabbana, on the sidelines of the artsy extravaganza. “It was an event for Frieze Art Week called Drinks with Domenico at The Dolce & Gabbana store on Bond Street, and I was invited by the organiser to present the collection to him,” said the young designer, whose clothes have been worn by Eddie Redmayne and Coldplay. “Domenico appeared touched by my design sensibility and immediately noticed my shirt and coat,” he added. Incidentally, for the occasion, Satyam says, he was wearing an Advani London Nepal Shirt in white, a blue Cashmere Robe Coat, and black sari trousers, while Domenico was wearing a Dolce Gabbana velvet dinner jacket, matching trousers and velvet slippers.”
“He’s become a mentor since then,” said a delighted Advani.