Mumbai Diary: Thursday theme

Duplicate style
Masaba Gupta has lived for long with copies of her prints being sold in saree shops outside railway stations; and now AartiVijay Gupta is left with the bitter aftertaste of success.

The design

A client, we hear, found a copy of the mosaic dress she bought from Gupta's Summer-Resort 2015 collection on one of India's leading fashion portals. "She was angry that I was selling the dress for Rs 1,000 online when it had cost her some Rs 15,000," says the Mumbai designer.

Aarti Vijay Gupta

"I assured her I don't sell online, but she sent me the link and insisted it was the same. I eventually gave her a refund." That sundry small designers and merchandisers are now online makes it hard for portals to cross-check if a design is original, says Gupta adding, "And, I am travelling too much to take this to court."

Birthday tunes with Ashatai
Melody-queen Asha Bhosle who turned an energetic 82 on Tuesday, stuck to her staunch tradition of ‘privately' celebrating the occasion.

Asha Bhosle is flanked by her son Anand, singer Talat Aziz with wife, Bina in New York

The ageless Asha currently on her iconic concerts tour across the US along with ghazal maestro-cum-film singer Talat Aziz discreetly ushered in her janamdin at a famous Thai restaurant in uptown New York, with only a handful of guests.

"We relished a variety of sumptuous sea-food starters like dim sum and Thai curry with steamed rice. We were ecstatic when Asha-ji said that being with us, she felt as if she was at home with her family," informs Aziz from NY. Incidentally, besides singing, Bhosle's leisure passion is cooking.

Blessings in Bandra

A devotee prays at a crucifix facing Mount Mary's Basilica in Bandra on Wednesday, which was celebrated as the birthday of Mother Mary. Pic/Sayed Sameer Abedi

The message board at St Andrew's Church, Bandra, seems to target the youth with this engaging word-play of SMS language. Blasphemic or simply engaging, you decide. Pic/Suresh KK

Mrs CM in singer mode
Wife of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Amruta, was spotted at Yashraj Studio last evening where she made her debut as a playback artiste for a song to be featured in a biopic in Marathi.

Amruta Fadnavis. Pic/Nimesh Dave