It's movie time for the Guv

RBI Governor Urjit Patel Left Tom Hanks RightIt might be just a coincidence but the dashing and highly qualified RBI governor Urjit Patel was spotted at the movies in Mumbai over the weekend watching Hollywoodrsquos latest mystery thriller the omnisciently titled Tom Hanksstarrer Inferno But no we are not insinuating that Patel who recently took over his responsibility from the towering Raghuram Rajan is in any way presiding over an economy that is hellish However many in the biz community admit to being a trifle underwhelmed by the way things are going and with war clouds gathering on our western borders his choice of film could be seen by those more jittery to be prescientldquoIt could also be surmised that hersquos doing such a fine job of managing the economy and has ensured such a peaceful phase ahead that he has to seek outside stimulation in the form of cliffhangers like Inferno to keep his adrenalin goingrdquo says a longtime admirer of the governor And neither is there any point in reading too much into the fact that Patel went to the movies alone The RBI governor after all is a man who often has to walk a solitary path as he balances the economy between all kinds of interestsSome real hilarious gaffesGuests at a wellheeled glamorous awards ceremony over the weekend yes they are breaking out like a rash and often result in the same aggravation were amused to see the compere model and actress Sarah Jane Diasrsquo travails with the teleprompterRuby Bhatia Sarah Jane Dias amp Manmohan SinghldquoLet us just say that they were not quite interacting eye to eye which often resulted in some unintentionally hilarious gaffesrdquo says a source And apparently Ms Dias was pretty upfront about her inability to decipher the script that shersquod been expected to deliver with much goodhumored teeth gnashing accompanied with rolling of eyeballs and asides which had the audience in splitsldquoA few seasons ago a similar disasterprone performance by a predecessor of Dias the svelte hostess and TV anchor Ruby Bhatia had put paid to the poor womans careerrdquo say sources Apparently as the hostess of a prominent business awards ceremony Bhatia who was at her time one of the most prominent comperes for such events had requested the eveningrsquos chief guest the countryrsquos prime minister to come up on stageThings turned a bit sour when she went on repeating the request blithely unaware that the man had come up on stage and was standing right beside her ldquoShe made matters infinitely worse when after her oversight was pointed out she turned to the hapless gent saying quite audibly into the mic ldquoOh so YOU are the prime minister of IndiardquoOf course the fact that the gentleman happened to be Dr Manmohan Singh a man generally regarded as not too strong in the personality stakes was no excuse and poor Bhatia watched her compering career evaporate soon after Dias we are told didnrsquot go as far as not recognising the Indian prime minister but her antics with the teleprompter added much hilarity to the eveningrsquos proceedingsA piece of Punjab in MayfairIf you had any doubts that a certain part of England will always remain Punjab this will be the clincher recently the robust balladeer Sukhbir is said to have regaled key members of Londonrsquos NRI community with a highvoltage performance for an early Diwali celebration at mdash hold your breath mdash the iconic Claridges HotelSukhbir performs at Claridges HotelThe hotelrsquos longstanding connections with royalty has earned it the unofficial title of lsquoannexe to Buckingham Palacersquo You could call it cultural assimilation or of course the Revenge of the RajGlittery award night for Sussanne KhanThe thing about the Juhu Khans is that not only are there so many of them but they all appear to be involved in so many different and interesting things that most of them seem to be newsworthy or high profile Hence more often than not they make an appearance in columns of this natureSussanne Khan with her awardAnd so it was this weekend when Sanjay and Zarine Khanrsquos youngest daughter interior designer Sussanne Khan won an award at a highpowered ceremony hosted by a media group Though the Khans are a muchfeted lot Sussannersquos absolute and undiluted thrill while delivering her acceptance speech made her all the more endearing for the gathering which liked her unabashed childlike candorldquoThough my family is no stranger to awards and has won many such recognitionsrdquo said the pretty and diminutive lass ldquoThis is the first award that I have won and I am thrilledrdquo she is reported to have said So nice not to be blaseacute and to wear onersquos heart on onersquos sleeve we sayA show just for animal loversFew cities wear their hearts on their sleeves like Mumbai does when it comes to animals From princes who start stateoftheart vet clinics and NGOs that lobby for animal rights Mumbaikars sure do like their fourlegged friendsComedian Cyrus Broacha at the showNo surprises then that the weekend saw much singing dancing and celebrations at the St Andrewrsquos Auditorium when soloists musical ensembles and standup comedians namely Cyrus Broacha put up a show for an auditorium full of animal lovers that benefited the Welfare of Stray Dogs ldquoIt was a truly heartwarming affairrdquo says an attendee Nice