The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
When Kat had to duck
Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif negotiates the bamboo cordon while making her way to a Saraswati puja at Anurag Basu's (left, partially hidden) residence on Sunday. Pic/Satej Shinde
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Kapur gets a prize for his gift of gab
Gaurav Kapur's show, Breakfast with Champions, which has featured the likes of Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Dwayne Bravo, has entered its third year. And in some happy news, we found out that the popular sports commentator and host has won a prize for the Best Talk Show at the Talent Track Awards 2019, which is the country's first content awards for digital platforms. "Thank you everyone for all the love," Kapur wrote, while fans like well-known film critic Rajeev Masand chimed in with, "Nobody deserves it more. Such a terrific show. And this is coming from someone who isn't a huge sports fan." Well done.
Bovelander during his peak in the '90s
When going Dutch wasn't fun
It was a meeting of two hockey rivals at Otters Club last week, when legendary Dutchman Floris Jan Bovelander met India's Edgar Mascarenhas at the India Netherlands Business Association-organised Value of Sports in Work, Life and Business' panel discussion. Serious talk aside, both players recalled the fun part of Indo-Dutch hockey relations in their heyday, back in the 1990s.
Dutch hockey legend Floris Jan Bovelander and former India player Edgar Mascarenhas at Otters Club
"We never quite enjoyed playing against the much taller Dutchmen, who were an intimidating sight even during warm-ups, at the 1990 World Cup in Pakistan. We particularly feared Bovelander for his dreaded drag flicks. He had the same grip for flicks and hits, so at penalty corners, he had our defence confused, always guessing what he might execute. And I'll never forget the whirring sound of his powerfully flicked deliveries," Mascarenhas told this diarist. Interestingly, the strapping Bovelander revealed that his players had fears of their own too. "We were always fearful of the skilful and wily Indian and Pakistani hockey players. They would dodge you so effortlessly that it could make you look pretty silly," he confirmed.
Now, music takes a queer shape
The landmark Supreme Court ruling that decriminalises sex between same-gender couples allowed the LGBTQI community to make itself heard in different ways, without fear. And one of these ways is through music, or more specifically, through an album called Queerism, which is in the works. Navi Mumbai-based Pragya Pallavi is the musician behind it, and she will release Lingering Wine – the first single from it – tomorrow. "The track's retro, Latin flavour gives a taste of the feast of musical styles that feature on Queerism," Pallavi tells this diarist, adding that a pre-Valentine's Day date is the best time to release any song that celebrates love and equality.
Picture-perfect start for Kumar
The life of a writer is consumed with words. The sort of discipline needed to write a novel means that they have to put pen to paper - or fingers to keyboard - almost on a daily basis.
But now, author Amitava Kumar has added another art form to his list of daily activities. Kumar shared recently that he's taken to drawing at least one picture a day. And the quality of his work is good enough for publisher Chiki Sarkar asking if she can use some of Kumar's pictures for book covers.
Frame-worthy
Advertisements in a Mumbai local have always been entertaining. If you're hooked to the jingle about spices already, then it's safe to assume that you're a certified local train commuter. But when this diarist boarded a Dahanu Road train from Grant Road station over the weekend, the ladies compartment sported many giant wooden frames featuring posters of a television show on every edge. Now that's a definite step up from the tacky ads printed on paper and simply stuck on the walls. We like.
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