Malavika’s Mumbaistan: When Reel meets Real?

Actor Dalip Tahil speaks about his memorable visit to the Yerawada Central Jail.

“I went to jail in my film Qayamat se Qayamat Tak, that too for 14 years. And when I was shown leaving it, I recall delivering the famous dialogue in which I had referred to my son Aamir Khan and said ‘Ki mein wahi Dhanraj hoon, jo chauda saal pehle hua karta tha…” says actor Dalip Tahil, about his memorable visit to the Yerawada Central Jail, the noted high-security prison in Pune, which is the largest jail in the state and houses over 5,000 prisoners. He’d gone as a special guest to facilitate and entertain the inmates on Republic Day, which he describes as an “amazing experience”. The son of an Air Force officer, the actor, who had attended a leading public school and is active on the English theatre scene, says that among the other things he had told the inmates, some of the country’s most hardened criminals, was “not to do what films recommend but (instead) you should reform”.

Actor Dalip Tahil with UT Pawar, superintendent of Yerawada Central Jail.

“The police person with me during my visit was none other than UT Pawar, the superintendent at Yerawada, who had been the one who had signed Sanjay Dutt’s release,” says Tahil. “He told me that it’s a fact that Dutt had started a radio programme which he had personally jockeyed to entertain his fellow inmates. It was a riveting experience. I even saw the famous ‘Anda Cell’ at the Yerawada Central Jail which is the egg-shaped high-security block which had been constructed in 1990 to house terrorists Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha.”

Tahil admits to a bit of trepidation on the eve of his visit. “Before I went in, I was worried that they should not keep me there,” he laughs. “I was in for two hours and honestly, I felt a huge sense of freedom when I left.”

Chalo, he didn’t have to deliver the dialogue again.

TRUELIES:

Word comes in that it was not only the Capital’s cultural czarinas and grande dames who swanned around during its recently concluded Art Fair, with their lethal doses of artsy prattle (as in “One has been to so many great shows. I remember when President Sarkozy guided me personally around the Louvre after I’d lectured at the Centre Pompidou, Élysée Palace and the top of the Eiffel Tower, on the red earth of Hanoi.”)

This Mumbai-based, dyed-in-the-raw-silk art maven, who runs a local Lah-Di-Dah institution, was no slouch when it came to establishing her formidable artsy credentials. Sources say that at a celebrated Capital eatery, where its world renowned Indian chef was being fawned over by a slew of visiting American MoMa delegates, the Mumbai grande dame is said to have gone up to the chef, amidst his admirers, and declared airily: “Oh, I remember you! You cooked in my kitchen! I am Mrs XX! Mr XX is my husband!! And I have organised all of this…” This, with a sweeping wave of her hand over said delegates.

In the room the women come and go…

A red letter day for racing

(From left) Zinia Lawyer, Simone Pundole, her daughter Aryiana, Malti Jain, and Behroze Poonawalla at the derby.

“It was a fantastic derby, a great crowd, elegantly dressed ladies, lots of attractive hats and many new faces and everyone having fun,” said Zinia Lawyer, chairperson, marketing, RWITC, about the derby which took place at the RWITC this weekend. A red letter day in the lives of race-goers, its organisers had left no stone unturned to popularise the sport, with a weekend of music, food, fashion and entertainment. The sport is said to have been reeling under the twin blows of GST and demonetisation and Lawyer had been particularly keen to get millennials to embrace the racing lifestyle.

And what’s more, her efforts might have been successful; when we spoke on Monday morning, she indicated that there had been many new faces that she hadn’t recognised, which coming from the daughter of an old racing clan perhaps points to newer audiences. In this picture, wearing fascinators which would do Ascot proud, are some of the guests at the derby this weekend; from left to right: Lawyer, Simone Pundole, her daughter Aryiana, Malti Jain, and Behroze Poonawalla.

Guru Gyaan

(From left) Radhanath Swami, Yash Birla, Nisha JamVwal and Avanti Birla.

The first time we’d had any inkling of Birla scion Yash Birla’s spiritual inclinations had been when, during a Buddhist workshop at Cumballa Hill, Rhea Pillai had spoken about it. This had been in the late eighties, and since then, much water flown had flown — and many gurus had entered the enigmatic impassioned body-building businessman’s life. We had attended exquisite Art of Living satsangs at his sumptuous Birla House at Malabar Hill, which had been one of the early hubs of the Quit India Independence Movement, when it had played host to leaders like Gandhi and Nehru, and were aware of Birla’s frequent visits to the holy city of Rishikesh.

And this weekend, the Birla mansion was host to another spiritual teacher, when the Mumbai-based Radhanath Swami, the Bhakti Yoga practitioner and spiritual teacher from the ISKCON movement dropped in for a kirtan.

According to sources, the Swami, who has a way with story-telling, took the assembled devotees on such a “transportive” (sic) journey that the garden full of people pulsated in anticipation about what would happen next as he asked his riveted audience: “Would you like to know what happened next?”

And besides this palpable spiritual vibe, the other highlight of the evening is said to have been Birla’s son, Nirvaan Birla’s soulful singing of bhajans and chants.