Capital capers

Its become something of a big ticket annual event on Delhis social calendar and so this year when Suhel Seth celebrated his birthday last week with usual aplomb along with the usual suspects of top ministers bureaucrats media mavens and industrialists insiders were curious to know who from the new dispensation would attendAfter all Sethrsquos soireacutees are known to be uberpower events And sure enough there was Sethrsquos old friend Arun Jaitley Minister of Finance arguably the second most powerful man in the country and there was the newly appointed Attorney General of India Mukul RohatgiSuhel SethBut besides these two prominent names the rest of the crowd was more or less the same faces that had dotted Sethrsquos parties before politicians Jyotiraditya Scindia Jay Pandey industrialists Analjit Singh Pawan Munjal media folk like Tavleen Singh Shobhana Bhartia and Rajdeep Sardesai ldquoYou must understand that everythingrsquos changed regarding Delhi social scenerdquo explained an insider when asked why there were not more faces from the new regimeArun JaitleyldquoThe new lot is just not the socialising type and the ways to get to know them will have to be developedrdquo he said about a city that is known to change its loyalties as easily as it does its curtains Mercifully from the looks of Sethrsquos guest list hersquos still hung on to his old friends But thatrsquos the result of his Calcutta chromosomeFree hug to PreitylsquoSomeone please give Preity Zinta a hugrsquo we posted on a social networking site when we saw Preity Zintarsquos face crumple like a childrsquos discarded toy when she realised her team had lostPreity Zinta and Shahrukh Khan after the match PICPTITo be sure there had been many whorsquod wanted Kings XI Punjab to win for nothing else but the energy and infectious enthusiasm that Zinta had displayed during this IPL season ldquoShersquos been at every match rooting for her teamrdquo many said ldquoAnd we hope for her sake that they winrdquoWhich is why in our book one of the most graceful gestures in victory was SRKrsquos who chose to wear the Kingrsquos XI Punjab Tshirt and spend a considerable amount of time talking about his affection for the actress during his postwin interview Not his somersaults cartwheels nor his loopy childlike grin could have endeared him more and indisputably proved his superstar stature for millions of IndiansShotgun shoots from the hipWe hadnrsquot been familiar with his celebrated style of dialogue delivery but this week when Shatrughan Sinha put up a masterful rendition of injured pride for not having been given a berth in Modirsquos cabinet and was seen as mounting the first stage of attack by the Advani loyalists from within the BJP we could not help but applaudShatrughan Sinha PICPTIIt was all there wounded dignity overweening patronage and veiled threats communicated in the best Bollywood thespian style And for those who think that Bollywood is a lightweight when it comes to politics think againFrom time immemorial Bollywood has played an active part in politics From Shivaji Ganesan N T Rama Rao Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand to Rajesh Khanna Raj Babbar Nana Patekar and Jaya Prada If we were the powers that be wersquod attend to Shotgunrsquos grievance before it festersDiageo takes BangaloreAnd whereas all eyes were on the finalists of the IPL those who glanced at the Royal Challengers Bangalore box were struck by the notable absence of Vijay MallyaVijay MallyaOne theory doing the rounds is that the flamboyant UB group chairman had more or less been compelled to hand over his share of ownership to Diageo along with its foreign investors ldquoDiageo also has primary ownership of Force India nowrdquo is what one source saysPrime fashion folkFriday night saw us attend a gathering of some of the men and women whorsquod set the fashion ball rolling in India at Vikram and Nisha Raizadarsquos party for international media maven Fern Mallis Mallis a colleague and friend of Vikramrsquos both from his IMG days and now at Tara Jewels is credited as being the woman who put New York Fashion week on the international mapFrom left Vikram Raizada Fern Mallis Anil Chopra and Narendra KumarAn Indialover she is said to have nurtured India Fashion Week in its early days and so it was not unexpected to see Former Lakme Head and India Fashion Weekrsquos creator Anil Chopra at the dinner Also present were Vogue Indiarsquos editor Priya Tanna designers Narendra Kumar and Sangita Kathiwada and stylistas Mandira Bedi and Simonne Singh and banker Manisha Girotra amongst othersThe Raizadas are a couple who exemplify postreform India Stylish sociable and involved in professions that were born as a result of liberalisation Nisha is an investment banker and Vikram has worked in the fashion luxury and TV industryIncidentally standing out in this collection of fashion folk was Ravi Mantha the man whorsquod translated Narendra Modirsquos poems into English recently for publishers Rupa ldquoThat was just a side thingrdquo said the dapper young man a resident of Hyderabad and Singapore ldquoIrsquom more interested in policy formation and thinktanksrdquo