By all accounts Aamir Khan's fiftieth birthday was celebrated in Lonavla by doting wife Kiran Rao, in much the manner of his being: with genuine warmth and a certain wholesome realness
Anil Kapoor and Aamir Khan
By all accounts Aamir Khan's fiftieth birthday was celebrated in Lonavla by doting wife Kiran Rao, in much the manner of his being: with genuine warmth and a certain wholesome realness. It was full of his old school friends, his family, his industry colleagues and his well wishers, who'd gathered at the modest hill station on what was a momentous day in the Life of India when the first of her three fabulous Khans turned fifty.
“It was a true family celebration with the kids of the family putting up a play for Aamir,” says a source. “Everyone famous or not, old friends or new was made to feel cherished,” she says of the guests who apart from famous names like Mukesh and Nita Ambani, Anil Kapoor, Karan Johar and Ayan Mukherjee, were made up of many close friends of the couple.
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Aamir Khan
But this is where our glam friend's voice turned emotional. “There were speeches of course. Many people like Anil Kapoor cried as they spoke about the birthday boy. But what most stood out in an evening of so much celebration and happiness was the respect and warmth Aamir bestows on the women in his life.
Anil Kapoor
After first thanking his mother and grandmother, he thanked his former wife Reena who was present and very much part of the festivities,” says our source, who is as at home at parties in Gstaad as in Lonavla. “That demonstrated such depth of grace and emotional intelligence on his part and that of his loved ones that we were staggered and moved by it.”
But was there dancing, we enquired, for what is a celebration without a bit of dancing, especially for a man as iconic as Khan on his fiftieth birthday? “Yes!” said our friend, “after the speeches, Anil Kapoor said enough of all this emotional drama. Let's dance and so we did.” No doubt to 'Aati kya Khandala', we thought.
Annals of the young and restless
Saturday saw Mumbai's young and restless gather midtown to kick up their heels. The event termed 'A Day of Slick' was hosted between two Lower Parel venues Cafe Zoe and it's neighbouring Blue Frog - it began as early as 4 pm and went on into the night.
The electroverts and DJ Joshi
We hear that the organisers had brought down a good mix of international big names and underground artists such as Magdalena, Jeremy Olander and Sharam Jey who spun different genres of music including deep house, trance and trap between the venues.
But what pleased us the most was that the Indian artists on the list were the ones who roped in the biggest crowds and appreciation. Some of the top Indian artists who participated included Kohra, Joshi, The electroverts and Anish Sood who had the crowd, which included a mix between SoBo big names and Bandra models, on their feet!
Let there be light
Saturday's launch of the Indian edition of mondo*arc, rated among the top design magazines published in the UK at the Bhabha Theatre NCPA, which began with talks by some of the world's most towering personalities from the field of lighting design, was by all accounts, well...a glittering affair.
Malini Akerkar and Sumant Jayakrishnan
Attended by nearly 400 invitees, the guests included eminent personalities from the architecture and design fraternity such as Kamal Malik, Brinda Somaya, Abha Narain Lambah, Alfaz Miller, along with artists like Sudarshan Shetty, Chintan Upadhyay and GR Iranna.
And with international lighting Gods such as Charles Stone (World Trade Centre Memorial), Andre Tammes (Golden Temple in Amritsar), engaging with Indian stalwarts of the visual world, like our friend, the Delhi-based scenographer Sumant Jayakrishnan (whose repertoire not only includes some of the most glamorous Indian destination weddings but also the design of Tim Supple's outstanding production of A Midsummer Night's Dream) the evening, which was co-hosted by aesthete and design maven Malini Akerkar and Hardeep and Amit Gupta, publishers of mondo*arc India, was a milestone on the city's design almanac.
“I'm proud to be associated with an initiative that showcased international standards and the latest in lighting technology and interactive visual arts. The evening was presented with a sophisticated élan par none,” said Akerkar post event.
One million on Twitter
“Having a million Twitter followers I gotta say, is quite cool,” says our friend and neighbour Vishal Dadlani who, in the great tradition of rockers like Bruce Springsteen and Bono, regards himself as a troubadour and activist too. Dadlani, to coin a neat phrase, is something of a 'head banging liberal'; his politics - quite separate from his music - is in your face, left of centre, and hence naturally pro-Aam Admi.
Vishal Dadlani
This, of course, has won him not only fans and admirers but also a fair share of haters. And so, when we heard that this, one of Bollywood's most successful music composers, had reached the all-important rubric of one million Twitter followers, we asked for him for his reaction.
“I love the interactions I have with my followers and their love and support for the music, the activism, the political opinions,” said Dadlani. “Of course, there are trolls too, some funny, and some just plain obnoxious, but for the latter, there's always the block button,” said the man known to often begin or end his tweets with a 'bwahahaha'.
“Like someone said to me on Twitter yesterday, if I unblock all the haters, I'll probably have 2 million followers! Hahahaha!” he said. And if you don't know what 'bwahahaha' means, Urban Dictionary describes it as a 'phonetic spelling of a burst of maniacal laughter indicating triumph, scorn, and evil scheming.' We like!
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