<h2>The Ultimate &lsquo;Partner&rsquo;ship</h2>
Salman Khan plays the perfect real-life wingman for longtime friend David Dhawan at a celebration of the director&rsquo;s cinematic journey in BKC on Saturday
<h2>Graduation Giggles</h2>
Trust Farah Khan to turn a generally mellow moment into the perfect setup for comedy. This past weekend was thoroughly graduation-packed, with a host of industry heirs trading textbooks for diplomas. Malaika and Zayed Khan&rsquo;s son Zidaan graduated from Kodaikanal International School, with his proud parents cheering from the hills.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/may/Zyad-Khan_e.jpg" alt="Malaika, Zayed, and Zidaan Khan" width="1280" height="720" /> Malaika, Zayed, and Zidaan Khan
But the real buzz was right here in aamchi Mumbai, where the Dhirubhai Ambani International School (DAIS) hosted its stellar commencement ceremony. The Class of 2026 saw a high-profile wave of famous faces walking the stage, including Farah&rsquo;s triplets &mdash; Czar, Anya, and Diva Kunder &mdash; and Perizaad Zorabian&rsquo;s daughter Zaha Irani, all flashing proud smiles in their signature blue gowns.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/may/PV-Sindhu_e.jpg" alt="PV Sindhu with Farah Khan&rsquo;s kids" width="1280" height="720" /> PV Sindhu with Farah Khan&rsquo;s kids
The absolute highlight of the evening, though, belonged to badminton maestro (and DAIS graduation speaker) PV Sindhu. In a heartwarming moment alive with laughs, she was handed an honorary graduation certificate by Nita Ambani, prompting Sindhu to joke, &ldquo;I came in as a guest, but thanks to Nita Aunty, I somehow left as a classmate and an alumna too.&rdquo;
Which brings us right back to filmmaker Farah, where our story began. Reacting to PV&rsquo;s ceremonial debrief, the undisputed queen of the quick-witted caption commented, &ldquo;Sooo happy ur now my kid&rsquo;s batchmate&hellip; pls cm for a playdate PV.&rdquo;
Leave it to Farah to bypass the standard, teary-eyed &ldquo;my babies are growing up&rdquo; boilerplate for an immediate pivot to plotting a playdate with an Olympic medallist. With Sania Mirza already among her best buds, that is bound to be one high-stakes playground!
<h2>Kejing Up With Kumble</h2>
If you thought the action on the pitch was high-stakes during Sunday afternoon&rsquo;s clash at the Wankhede, you should have seen the social chess being played in the air-conditioned corporate boxes. It was an absolute do-or-die playoff thriller for the Rajasthan Royals against the Mumbai Indians, but for the VIP suites, the real battle was surviving the brutal, late-May Mumbai humidity. The crowd happily traded their usual heavy glam for crisp white linens, oversized designer sunglasses, and an endless supply of iced lattes.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/may/Kumble_e.jpg" alt="Ricky Kej with Anil Kumble" width="1280" height="720" /> Ricky Kej with Anil Kumble
The suite circuit also saw some serious cross-country star power fly in. Three-time Grammy winner Ricky Kej made the trip down from Bangalore just for the match, having secured a coveted seat through cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar for his very first live Wankhede experience. As it turned out, the sports talk began long before touchdown &mdash; Ricky happened to bump into Anil Kumble on his flight in, ensuring the cricket chatter officially started at 30,000 feet.
<h2>Firangi Toli</h2>
Graduation season also took a few familiar faces out west this month, including the Panday clan. Bhavana and Chunky Panday&rsquo;s younger daughter, Rysa, officially graduated from NYU, with big sister Ananya there to cheer her on.&nbsp;
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/may/Chunky-Pandey_e.jpg" alt="Rysa, Bhavana, Chunky and Ananya Panday" width="1280" height="720" /> Rysa, Bhavana, Chunky and Ananya Panday
The milestone trip also doubled as a sweet Mother&rsquo;s Day celebration across the pond. But while the family had endless reasons to rejoice, close friend Sanjay Kapoor jokingly pointed out Chunky&rsquo;s main reason to party: finally being done with college tuition!
As the Empire State Building lit up in NYU&rsquo;s iconic colours &mdash; a proud moment shared by international and local students alike &mdash; Rysa found herself in star-studded company. The Class of 2026 also includes Reese Witherspoon&rsquo;s son Deacon Phillippe and Kate Hudson&rsquo;s Ryder Robinson (both at NYU Tisch). Still, Hollywood royalty aside, we&rsquo;re inclined to agree with Sanjay. The ultimate winner that weekend? Chunky&rsquo;s wallet.
<h2>The Art Of The Encore</h2>
Every encore is a double-edged sword. Call it the curse of the sequel, but when one goes on to launch a second of anything, comparisons to the first may well be the hardest barrier to cross. Or perhaps, shatter. And so it has been for chef Alex Sanchez, the main man at Kala Ghoda foodie favourite, Americano. When Alex launched Otra with wife Mallyeka Watsa two years ago, the Latin American eatery gave us a glimpse into what it could be, but it gave Alex more than his fair share of anxiety.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2026/may/Otra_e.jpg" alt="Mallyeka and Alex Sanchez" width="1280" height="720" /> Mallyeka and Alex Sanchez
Celebrating the journey with a brutally honest and impossible-not-to-appreciate Instagram post on Sunday, Alex laid it all bare. From the crippling pressure of living up to Americano&rsquo;s ghost, to the sleep-deprived chaos of navigating newfound parenthood, he admitted that the first year and a half of Otra was a &ldquo;maddening game of whack-a-mole.&rdquo; The menu didn&rsquo;t quite hit the mark, the reviews were mixed, and the comparisons were relentless.
But if there&rsquo;s one thing Mumbai&rsquo;s social circuit respects, it&rsquo;s a clever course correction. Instead of throwing in the towel, the duo doubled down last October, closing for a blink-and-you-miss-it two weeks to completely rewrite the script. Alex ditched the overthinking, cooked from the gut, and magically shifted the restaurant&rsquo;s entire frequency.
Now, celebrating its second anniversary month &mdash; the official date was May 15 &mdash; Otra isn&rsquo;t just surviving; it has officially stepped out of Americano&rsquo;s shadow. And because a true culinary heavyweight never stands still, Alex is already gearing up to launch a brand-new SoBo restaurant at the end of this month. Talk about a masterclass in the art of the comeback.

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