Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Early stardomActor Tusshar Kapoors son Laksshya seems to be getting a taste of what life in Tinseltown is like as he is chaperoned on Juhu Beach over the weekend PicShadab KhanA hug a story and a stageQTPs production Every Brilliant Thing which premiered in Mumbai in March has since travelled across India earning the love of the audience and critics alike for the heartwarming story of a sevenyearold on a mission to make his depressed mother happy The play a solo performance by Bengalurubased artiste Vivek Madan progresses with participation from the audience members with Madan roping them in to play small roles at various junctures The play is now back in town for another run and as is the case with performances of this kind every show is differentVivek Madan and Mr Tyeb in the play Every Brilliant ThingAt a staging held in Bandra over the weekend when Madan requested a man in the audience to play his father it turned out to be one Mr Tyeb whom every theatrewallah in Mumbai knows Hard core theatre supporter and renter of furniture to numerous groups is how director Quasar Thakore Padamsee described him adding While Vivek hugged him in character it was also a hug from all of us who are thankful to him for being such a friend of the live performing arts Madan however knew of him but had never met him so asking him to play the role was a mere coincidence Thats the beauty of performing in a city thats not home he said He went on to recall how the last time he had invited someone on stage he learnt later that it was theatre artiste and dancer Faredoon BhujwalaA quartet of debutantsWhat do former India cricketers Vikram Rathour Paras Mhambrey Venkatesh Prasad and Sunil Joshi have in common All of them recently applied for a position on Team Indias support staff However only Rathour managed to get a post mdash Team India batting coach mdash subject to conflict of interest of courseVikram Rathour Paras Mhambrey Venkatesh Prasad and Sunil JoshiPrasad and Joshi both Bangalorebased were vying for the bowling coach job along with Mumbai man Mhambrey but B Arun retained his position There was another common factor in the quartet All four made their Test debut for India in the 1996 Test against England at Birmingham where Joshi was not called on to bowl his leftarm spinRahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly made their debut in the next Test at Lords where Joshi was omitted Joshi must be the only Test player to be dropped for his second Test without bowling in his first Strange are the ways of the willow game indeedThe right tuneSome experiences are worth a lot more than the money you make musician Uday Benegal of the rock band Indus Creed told this diarist ahead of their gig at a littleknown festival called Where Have All the Flowers Gone on the outskirts of Imphal Helmed by Rohid Chingangbam former member of the band called Imphal Talkies this festival tries to raise ecological awarenessIt so pristine Locals setup stalls to sell smoked pork and rice beer Its just a great atmosphere Benegal said explaining why twoandhalf years after discovering the festival and playing a solo set there he is returning to play with the rest of his band matesOf offscreen heroesBehind the star you admire adore or worship is an army of people who work tirelessly knowing that they would remain behind the scenes all their lives One of them was Pradeep Kalgutkar Deepti Navals makeup artist for the last 35 years who passed away recentlyThe loss of Pradeep Kalgutkarmy brother will not be easy to live withHes the one who looked after me since the time I started back in the 80s I cant imagine being on the set without Pradeep next to me He was Gods good man There will be no replacing him said Naval in a post on Instagram over the weekend in which she shared this happy photograph from the shoot for a web show at a vineyard in NashikThe irony of it allDear Mumbaikars Always approach mybmc to fix the potholes It is the legal and correct way Avoid filling any potholes on your own using debris and with this appeal that the BMC made on its Twitter handle we got our dose of irony for the weekendWhile the request was made in earnest mdash given that incorrect methods of filling potholes may lead to accidents mdash what the civic authorities seem to have turned a blind eye to is that such reactions stem from the lack of timely action on their part in the first place Also is it too much to ask for roads that dont kill in the 21st century in what is not just the capital of Maharashtra but also the countrys financial capitalCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates