31 August,2025 12:25 PM IST | Mumbai | Team SMD
Pic/Atul Kamble
While humans battle it out over kabootars, their four-footed friend shares a snack with the birds at Bandra talao, one of the city's prominent pigeon-feeding spots
Payal Khandwala's film heroes Mumbai in its rare moments of quiet
For artist and designer Payal Khandwala, Mumbai has always lived up to its name as the âCity of Dreams'. It's where her dream of setting up a label for the modern Indian woman's fit - blending India's rich textile heritage with an architecture-inspired design language - first took birth with a flagship store in Colaba. So it makes sense that she'd pick this city as the muse for her latest short film, Bombay.
The one-and-a-half-minute homage tunes out the constant shor of the city. It's a strange kind of pleasure to see the city in rare moments of quiet - the skyline before dawn, an empty theatre, the city's gorgeous Art Deco buildings and coastline undisturbed by milling crowds. "When I'm away, I miss the comfort and stillness I can find here amongst the chaosâ¦the pockets of quiet amidst the orchestra of its sounds. My version of Bombay is a never-ending love story, between the concrete and the coastline. A dance between two lovers, unyielding yet patient. And this is the version I hope people will see," she says.
Sijya
Delhi-based composer, producer, and graphic artist Sijya is gearing up for a big month. She performed on Saturday at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) as part of her India tour for her upcoming EP, Leather & Brass. The EP releases on September 12 via One Little Independent Records. Her third single, I Only Want To Crash, also released on streaming platforms earlier this month. With this EP, Sijya becomes the first Indian artist to release on UK-based label One Little Independent (which has been Björk's label for the past three decades. Leather & Brass explores weight, density, and distortion - both sonically and emotionally. Guided by Matthew Herbert (Accidental Records) and Hugh Jones aka Crewdson, the EP follows her earlier singles Tabla and Do I Know. "This EP feels like the beginning of me trying to find a sound," says Sijya.
Our in-house cricket book scavenger is delighted with his new find - a 2001 book on aboriginal cricketer Eddie Gilbert from Queensland, Australia. The cover of the book calls him an "Aboriginal Cricketing Legend". And he was. He once bowled Don Bradman for a duck in a 1931-32 Queensland vs New South Wales Sheffield Shield game at the Gabba in Brisbane. Gilbert was branded a chucker, but as the back of the book says, "this powerful and moving tale transcends cricket". Gilbert, born in 1905, was believed to be dead, but cricket historian David Frith persisted with his search and found him in a Queensland mental hospital at Goodna, Queensland in 1972. He died six years later. The book promises to be a delightful read for our man. He urged us to look up YouTube for the track, Eddie Gilbert's Dream. You'll be driven to tears, he promises.
A still from What We Wrote Together, an Argentinian film
The Internet melts borders faster than an ice cream in scorching heat. Some of its biggest features are the accessibility and anonymity it gives people. That is precisely what the Kashish 2025 Pride Film Festival is counting on as it has moved online. The LGBTQ film festival, which has become a fixture on Mumbai's queer calendar is now accessible to those who may have been unable to attend the fest for various reasons. The film festival is online till September 15. "Kashish will reach a much bigger audience," said festival director Sridhar Rangayan. Besides geographical constraints, those who did not want to be seen attending in person also can now watch it. The online festival is screening 102 films from 29 countries at an online platform on their festival website kashish2025.mumbaiqueerfest.com. "By making these stories accessible worldwide, the festival expands its conversation around queer lives and rights into a year-round movement", said Saagar Gupta, artistic director. This year's in-person, on-screen Kashish film fest was held from June 4 to June 8. Missed it? That's fine, now it is online.
