"I am a swimmer and have swum competitively at state levels. However, I had to have a scuba diving instructor give me a quick one-hour lesson on how to hold my breath for a maximum amount of time underwater whilst I sank in," says heiress, musician and business woman Ananya Birla about her single 'Livin' The Life', officially remixed by world-renowned Dutch DJ Afrojack
A video of Ananya Birla performing underwater is all set to be released today
"I am a swimmer and have swum competitively at state levels. However, I had to have a scuba diving instructor give me a quick one-hour lesson on how to hold my breath for a maximum amount of time underwater whilst I sank in," says heiress, musician and business woman Ananya Birla about her single 'Livin' The Life', officially remixed by world-renowned Dutch DJ Afrojack. It will be released today along with a video of her performing underwater with three dress changes and various make-up and hair styles!
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A CD cover of the remixed version of ‘Livin’ The Life’
This had required her to spend almost three hours underwater (with one shot lasting around 40 minutes without a break), as phantom cameras shot her in slow-mo. "Scarily enough, I am very claustrophobic," says the preternaturally driven young lady, adding, "They had tied 20 rocks/ boulders to the ends of my dress, which gave me the sudden overwhelming feeling of being stuck."
However, in the end it was all life affirming, according to the lady, who appears to be as committed to the advocacy of mental health and positive thinking as her music. "It was a raw experience that made me appreciate life as it is, every breath that we take...and a stronger advocate of living each moment to the fullest," she says.
Bollywood-themed luxe cruise
It's finally happened. Weddings are now announced through press releases issued by PR firms. This week, we received a well-packaged brief about the forthcoming wedding in the family of a wealthy UAE-based Indian clan with every detail of the planned celebrations, from the name of the luxury liner on which it would be held over four days, the itinerary of the trip and the guests who would be coming.
What's more, it was touted as being a Bollywood-themed four-day European cruise replete with performances by top Bollywood stars! Is this the ultimate destination wedding? Dil Dhadkane Do meets Hum Apke Hain Kaun? Oh boy!
Life's a beach
"It's crazy trying to cobble together an event this size," says Umesh Jivnani, one of the moving spirits behind India Beach Fashion Week, which presents its fourth edition this weekend in Goa and promises a 'three-day fashion extravaganza featuring designers like Arjun Khanna (left), Shyamal & Bhumika, and Suneet Verma amongst others.
Arjun Khanna
Jivnani was referring to that maddening bane of contemporary living - the issuing and reissuing of tickets. Ever since modern civilisation woke up to the fact that you can change your travel plans at the last minute for a small fee, organisers of events expend almost 80 per cent of their energy trying to keep up with the whimsies of celebrity guests, who just cannot make up their minds when to make an appearance or a departure. However, all this will be a thing of the past once the show gets going.
"Arjun Khanna will be opening the Week at an exciting off-site and that is being looked forward to, as he has not participated in a fashion week for almost five years since his motorcycle accident," says Jivnani. "Likewise, there are other interesting beach preview shows, fashion pop-ups, grand exhibit arena, live experiential music and the event will also feature some top names from Bollywood as showstoppers across the three days," he added. And then he hung up before we could enquire why 'Beach Fashion Week' did not last for seven days. Maybe he will need the next four to recover?
Gulzar wins hearts in Delhi
This week saw Mumbai's resident poet (well, the film industry's certainly) Gulzar meet and conquer the hearts and minds of a slew of Delhi's chatterati and cognoscenti.
Designer Ritu Beri with Gulzar at the exhibition launch
The occasion was the launch of the art-an-art exhibition by Renu Varma, wife of author, diplomat and politician Pavan Varma, at the Capital's Habitat Center where we are informed one of the poet's ardent admirers, designer Ritu Beri was particularly chuffed to meet the wordsmith.
"Since childhood, he has been the ultimate concept of life's romance and my favorite poet," is how she described the encounter and added, "That's why meeting him was an ultimate dream. I felt 100 per cent fulfilled yesterday." As for her favourite lyrics by the 'Stubbled Sonneteer' she said, "It is a tough call between 'Tum Aa Gaye Ho'... 'Is Mod Se Jaate Hai' and 'Tere Bina Zindagi'..."
The original Juhu girl
She's known as the shyest amongst the three Khan sisters, the one who shuns public exposure, but next week designer Simone Arora will be taking invited guests on an individual guided tour of a bespoke four-bedroom apartment designed and accessorised by her.
Designer Simone Arora
The show flat happens to be ensconced in a luxury building in 'Upper Juhu' (which sounds like the location of Rahul Da Cunha's latest play on the foibles and fragilities of upwardly mobile Mumbaikers or a phrase from one of Alyque Padamsee's TV sound bytes).
Arora, like us, is a proud product of Juhu. Not upper, nor lower, but a before-the-building- boom and the fly-by-night developers and the overly gentrified suburb but the leafy sleepy once was Juhu. As for the show flat, we look forward to visiting it to see which Juhu it takes its cue from.
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