Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

A gala affairIt was a morning of shared stories and laughs over coffee with a touch of surprise At a gathering organised by the American Wives Club at Sarita Goswamy Dimple and Amit Ahujas lifestyle store in Girgaum Chowpatty Anuradha Mahindra dropped by as a surprise guestNot only did the better half of industrialist Anand Mahindra address the women there but she also spoke of how overwhelmed she was upon learning the stores history through its founder Laura Hamilton The store which was located at the Taj in Colaba was reduced to dust during the 2611 terror attacks and may we add rose from the ashes like a phoenixHeres a slice of the Big Apple in MumbaiUp until 1940 Paris remained the capital of the art world That changed when the rise of fascism and Nazism provoked many European artists to emigrate to America and New York became the new capitalThe Rockefeller fund initiated in the 60s enabled many Indian artists to visit the US on grants mdash SH Raza VS Gaitonde and Bhupen Khakhar includedTheir iconic works will now be displayed in Kala Ghodas Delhi Art Gallery DAG today Speaking more about the exhibited works curator and vicepresident of DAG Kishore Singh told this diarist Because these artists went on grants and not scholarships they had the freedom of choice So you can see a diverse range of artwork that was very much influenced by the American art scene and artists like Mark Rothko But they still retained their styleUniting them allAt a time when politicians all over the world are busy maligning the reputation of journalists one man in his death has managed to coax words of praise out of people across the political divide There was an outpouring of grief earlier this week when TV journalist Radhakrishnan Nair passed away at the untimely age of 54 And everyone from Arun Jaitley of the BJP to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal posted heartfelt social media updates remembering NairRadhakrishnan Nair and Shashi TharoorBut the most personal ones were from his colleagues Bahar Dutt for instance recounted how Nair once asked her to take her time in returning to work after a long illness She added Radha was a kind fair man in a mad crazy TV world RIP Mr NairThis cat bags a spot at a film festivalA group of desperate brown sugar addicts with disparate lives head out on a rainy night in Kolkata to get their fix And what transpires in that period based on the experiences they have had in life makes it eventually seem as if its a night that will never endThat in a nutshell is the story of Cat Sticks photographer Ronny Sens directorial debut And now the film has made it to the list of movies that will compete for top honours at Slamdance Its a Utahbased festival that Sen says is by filmmakers and for filmmakersThere is no a licking there is no celebrity business and there is no pushing of friends films here And people like Christopher Nolan showed for the first time at Slamdance Sen told this diarist revealing how this is a nomination he can definitely be proud ofA starry surprise for a book sellerThey say piracy is an artistes nemesis But actorturnedauthor Twinkle Khanna seems to think otherwise Recently she shared an image above of a hawker at a traffic signal selling her books This is an image were often affronted with on our daily commute We often wonder what these pop literature pieces might have in store But whatever the writers stand on piracy may be her message on social media about the incident was sweet nonethelessA memorable commute yesterday where I meet a gentleman selling pirated versions of all three of my books and who then proceeds to give me feedback on which one is the best she wroteThe big wig clubFrom left Radhika Apte Akshay Oberoi Shilpa Shukla and Siddhant Kapoor try out some funky props at the trailer launch of their upcoming film in a Juhu theatre on Wednesday PicSneha KharabeCatch 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