This anecdote narrated by a recent visitor to the fabulous Carlton House Terrace, a 67,000-square-foot, 25-bedroom dwelling in the heart of London's Westminster neighbourhood near Buckingham Palace, owned by the Hinduja brothers, made us smile
Ashok, Gopichand, and Srichand Hinduja
This anecdote narrated by a recent visitor to the fabulous Carlton House Terrace, a 67,000-square-foot, 25-bedroom dwelling in the heart of London's Westminster neighbourhood near Buckingham Palace, owned by the Hinduja brothers, made us smile.
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The iconic address, the 18th-century boyhood home of King George IV, had been bought by the brothers in 2006 from the Crown Estate, which handles the royal portfolio, for $95 million on a 125-year lease. Today, after having spent another $95 million restoring it to its past grandeur, it is widely regarded as London's grandest home, replete with Greco-Moorish ceilings, a half-ton Murano-glass chandelier, six formal sitting rooms, 25 bedrooms, a leisure zone, and a gold room with a gold-leafed ceiling.
"When I entered, I was asked if I wanted to have breakfast in the 'gold, diamond or emerald room'?" says the gob smacked visitor. "The fact that I was eating a shuddh and satvik vegetarian Indian breakfast made it even more surreal."
Interestingly, for all its opulence, the mansion is not occupied. The brothers, the elder two, of whom Srichand and Gopichand - have lived in London since the seventies, with the third Prakash - living in Switzerland, and the youngest Ashok - living in Mumbai, are still to move in. They currently live in a four-floor, 25,000-square-foot pad right across the street from Carlton House Terrace, and in keeping with their celebrated asceticism (vegetarians and teetotalers) give no indication that they are in any hurry to shift.
Sanjayâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Dutt and Arjun Khanna
Pali Hill boys
There's a whole subculture of Pali Hill male bonding that has been captured quite delightfully in Murzban Shroff's 'Waiting for Jonathon Koshy,' a coming of age book about a group of friends set in Mumbai's leafy suburb. A few months ago, restaurateur Kishore Bajaj, who ran the go-to tailoring establishment for Bollywood, Bada Sahib, had shared fascinating tales of growing up in the vicinity where the likes of Sanjay Dutt grew up. Something of this was validated when designer Arjun Khanna spoke about a recent evening he'd spent with his Pali Hill neighbour and fellow rock music and motorcycle enthusiast, Dutt. "Sanju and me go back ages as Pali hill boys," said Khanna. "My building overlooks the lane to his home. Earlier it was a bungalow but now it's been redeveloped into a building and he stays at the top," he said. "Him, Owen, and I (Roncon, the actor's brother-in-law) were catching up over music and laughing about the old days," he said, adding, "With Sanju playing us some of his favourite African tribal music. The evening ended with Qawwali!"
Incidentally, Khanna besides engaging in nostalgia with chuddy buddies, is fresh out of his latest style intervention. "I redesigned the entire uniform for both the Inox and the Inox insignia multiplexes last month, the making of which has been released as a movie clip 10 days ago. Before showing any movie they play it and it is also playing on TV," he said.
Rohit Bal
Clear and present danger
Rohit Bal's cherubic petulance and golden curls make for some very interesting portraits, something akin to performance and installation art, so no surprises that when the Capital's perennial enfant terrible posted this picture of himself leaning dangerously close to a nuclear site with the single word atomic, he received a flurry of responses. From the 'This is iconic,' to 'You always were a bomb!' Top this witty exchange, when one comment 'You are no longer bio-degradable,' saw him respond with 'I'm Bi-gradable!!!!' When we asked the designer about this extreme form of industrial chic, Bal informed that it had been shot at a uranium mine in South Africa.
"It belongs to my friends there, whose wedding I was doing," he said. As another commented, 'BombBalistic!'
Yudi Jaisingh, Prateek Gaba, Karan Jaisingh and Karan Johar
Daddy cool
Has Karan Johar's new found daddy status afforded him a…er somewhat 'senior' image? We wondered about his older persona when a spokesperson for a newly opened, bar & bistro run by Ashok Datwani, spoke about his visit. "Karan Johar along with ace designer Monisha Jaisingh and her sons, Yudhishtir and Karan, were spotted at the newly launched bistro. Karan and Ashok have known each other for 15 years, as KJo was quite the regular at Shatranj," she said, adding, "It was nostalgic to see him spend an evening at his old favourite, but this time with the next generation. Some people truly remain timeless." Nostalgic. Old favourite? Timeless? Is that what daddyhood does? Just sayin.'
Twinkle Khanna
Paris in summer
Word comes in that Twinkle Khanna has taken off to Paris with her friend Bindya Lulla, a fashion designer from NYC. What's more, eschewing the usual star wife practice of checking into one of the city's more sumptuous seven-star luxe hotels, the friends, who first visited the place together 15 years ago, are opting to stay at an Airbnb. The columnist and author has been sharing a slew of attractive pictures of their antics - most of them peppered with her celebrated wit.
"Airbnb couldn't have asked for a better endorsement," remarked one wag. "Soft focus portraits of a superstar's wife with a gal pal accompanied with excellent copy. What a combo!"
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