Lavender for the red carpet

ldquoThe lavender gown has an organza ruffled bodice detailed with a textured Swarovskiencrusted belt and highwaisted trailing fish tail crepe silk skirtrdquo says Saudamini Mattu about the striking ensemble created by the label Jani Khosla for Deepika PadukoneldquoJani Khosla is the international red carpet label from the House of Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla designed and produced in India for a global audiencerdquo says Mattu whose youthful energy and vision has seen one of Indiarsquos leading design labels grow in many directions ever since she came on board as CEO ldquoExactly five years ago to the dayrdquo as she says What are the various labels and lines that Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla own currentlySaudamini Mattu with Abu Jani and Sandeep KhoslaldquoWell at the very top is Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla the decadesold label which produces bespoke highend Indian luxury wearrdquo she informs ldquoThen therersquos lsquoAsalrsquo their diffusion line where traditional crafts and textiles are used but for a more affordable line mdash starting at Rs 18K and going up to Rs 2 lakhrdquo she says not hearing our sharp intake of breath at her last sentenceDeepika in the outfitldquoThen therersquos Jani Khosla which we launched last year currently creating a storm in LA and London by becoming de rigueur for stars like Beyonce Gwen Stefani Kesha and Carrie Underwood which we will soon retail in Mumbai And lastly therersquos the recently launched lsquoFantastiquersquo where the designers are nurturing younger edgier contemporary designersAnd does she agree that therersquos been a renaissance for the duo in well the last five years ldquoI see my job as running the business and allowing the two to be free to do what they do best mdash dream design visualise and create their masterpiecesrdquo she saysThe Poorna pinnacleldquoI made lsquoPoornarsquo because it is the ultimate real life tale of empowerment mdash a poor Adivasi girl from the hot flatlands of Telangana at 13 becomes the youngest girl in history to summit Mount Everest in 2014rdquo says actor director screenwriter and social activist Rahul Bose who devotes an equal amount of his time to philanthropy and empowering the disfranchised as he does on moviesOn location in the village at Telangana and the real hut and compound where the actual Poorna lived actress Aditi Inamdar and director Rahul Bose ldquoThis is a big heartwarming mainstream film We see Poornarsquos unbelievable journey from her hut in Pakala village to the top of Everestrdquo he says As for when it will hit the theatres Bose says ldquoRight now wersquore getting feedback from focus groups mdash all I can honestly say is itrsquos a fantastic feelingrdquoMaking a song and dance of itFormer Solicitor General of India and ace legal eagle Harish Salve one of the countryrsquos leading lawyers counts amongst his clients and friends the very top echelons of Indian society from Mukesh Ambani to Ratan Tata to Kumarmanglam Birla mdash the best and the brightest of India have sought his counsel over the yearsHarish Salve and Mukesh AmbaniNo surprises then that when the erudite Delhibased Supreme Court lawyer who has recently bought a home in London decided to bring in his 60th birthday last month in Gleneagles Scotland a host of friends including leading industrialists politicians and socialites flew down from across the worldldquoMukesh flew down in his private jet of courserdquo says a source adding ldquoI spotted Sunil Munjal and Raj Salgaocar and what looked liked Tikka Shatrujit Singhrdquo And the best part ldquoThe best part was that Salve a keen musician who plays the piano and is known to croon Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin numbers allowed himself to be persuaded by his friends to belt out a few songsrdquoTalking through his hatThe Shekhar Gupta discussion with Ruchir Sharma of Morgan Stanley and banker Uday Kotak held on Saturday evening at a SoBo restaurant and attended by the likes of Milind Deora Sunil Alagh a behatted Nisha JamVwal Ashok Advani and Suketu Shah amongst others did not lack its moments of mirthSunil Alagh Milind Deora and Ruchir SharmaThe discussion predicated on Sharmarsquos latest book The Rise and Fall of Nations Forces of Change in a PostCrisis World touched on issues such as the 10 rules to predictforecast whether a country is going to rise or fall the impact of Brexit and the end of globalisation and BRICS was well underway when responding to a point made by one of the panelists about leaders executing most of their biggest and best reforms in their first terms mdash a trend held out by factsAlagh who is fast becoming one of PM Narendra Modirsquos most ardent supporters stood up to counter ldquoIn fact during Modirsquos first term of chief ministership in Gujarat he was known to deliberately abstain from doing anything majorrdquo said the silverhaired former CEO and MD of Britannia ldquoHe was waiting and watching to learn the system so he would know where to begin the changesrdquoApparently this gratuitous praise passed without comment from the panel but gave rise to not only a pointed look from Deora who sat a few seats away but a few sniggers from the back of the room about ldquotalking through his hat as usualrdquoThat winning streakldquoIt was so heartwarming to see the support and encouragement I received from clients well wishers and friends across the world when I was nominatedrdquo says pioneering jewellery designer Poonam SoniPoonam Soni receives the awardldquoThere were Facebook posts being shared daily tagging me and requesting friends to vote which continued for weeks I felt I had already wonrdquo she says about bagging the title for lsquomost innovative Indian jewellery designerrsquo at an awards ceremony held over the weekendldquoWhatrsquos best of all is that I had all my friends with me cheering me onrdquo she says The pouring rain did not deter Sabira Merchant Abha Singh Pooja Batra Shweta Shetty Vaishali Bannerji and Pooja Choudhary from being there for merdquo