Remembering Rajni-bhai

Tomorrow marks the centennial anniversary of one of the cityrsquos tallest citizens the late great barrister Rajni Patel who had been a dear friend of our familyrsquos and of ours In his life Rajni bhai had worn many hats that of a leftist a legal luminary a Congressman and close confidante of the Nehru family and an avowed patriotHe had been known for his progressive secular and liberal views and had done much to promote art science and civic values in the city And fittingly tomorrow will see the launch of a slew of programmes and initiatives in his memoryBakul and Rajni PatelldquoSeveral projects by the Rajni Patel Memorial Foundation including a book on Rajni Jail Reforms a joint project with the Tata Memorial Hospital for cancer care school education assistance projects and free legal aid amongst others will be implemented throughout the yearrdquo said his doting wife Bakul herself a student of the TISS who has devoted her life to propagating the values that she shared with RajniSoli SorabjeeThe day will start with tributes and garlanding of the striking statue at the Rajni Patel Memorial Garden of the statesman as his admirers in billowing legal robes remember him his head erect And in the evening eminent jurist amp former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee will speak on lsquoFundamental Rights and Fundamental Dutiesrsquo at the Rajni Patel Memorial Lecture at the Nehru Centre to a hall filled with exactly the crowd Rajni bhai would have loved to engage with lawyers doctors scientists artists journalists and intellectualsOf course had he been alive the discussion following the talk would have undoubtedly carried on late into the night on the verandah of his elegant apartment across the road the scene of much electric intellectual discourse But alas in his absence his friends and admirers will have only the stars in the sky to aim their questions to the brightest one tomorrow undoubtedly being that of the late great Rajni bhaiThat magic momentldquoI saw him enter the plane but I wasnrsquot exactly sure if it was P C Sorcar Jr illusionist who had in 2000 made the Taj Mahal disappearrdquo said noted photographer Chirodeep Chaudhuri about this striking portrait of the iconic Bengali illusionist and magician he had recently shotPC Sorcar Jr PICChirodeep ChaudhurildquoThere was no accompanying fanfare or even a minor flutter amongst the passengers and so it took the matteroffact confirmation by my friend who was travelling with us to settle the matter it was P C Sorcar JrTravelling with his family My wife joked about his moustache and we speculated whether it was part of his makeupone that is painted onrdquo said Chaudhuri who after delighting his many fans with his sensitive and elegiac portraits of suburban railway commuters is currently working on a series of pictures of air travellersWhat made him capture the effervescent and flamboyant Sorcar in such a startlingly still pose ldquoIn the tiredness of a 25hour flight and the chaos of deplaning at Bombay I forgot about Mr Sorcarrdquo says the photographerldquoAnd then I spotted him again waiting behind two trolley loads of luggage outside the menrsquos washroom just below the face of a moustache sportingturban wearing man drawn on the wall I just had to shootphotographerrsquos instinct you could sayrdquo says ChaudhuriSheer magic is what we sayRoasting Seth nowThose who were present canrsquot stop talking about the ultra glam noholdsbarred AllIndia Bakchod Roast of Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor held in Mumbai last month featuring Karan Johar and Rajeev MasandRanveer Singh andKaran JoharWe hear it was strictly PG18 with nonstop jokes about both the starsrsquo alleged girlfriends who were in the audience and even saw Ranveer planting a big kiss on KJorsquos lipsSuhel Seth andVir DasNow word comes in that Delhi will also have its very own roast next month where the none other than funny man Vir Das and his posse of roasters will have a go at the maverick Suhel Seth To be held at Siri Fort on February 1 it promises to be another laughathon Just hope Seth doesnrsquot insult any national sportspeople on stage this time thoughAnother Shroff in filmsldquoThe documentary is called Black Sheep The title was thought of by my director Reshel Shah Kapoor It basically identifies something or in this case someone differentsomeone who is seen as an outcast within society because they are different in some wayrdquo says young Krishna Shroff daughter of AyeshaJackie and sister of teen heartthrob Tiger about the 70minute long feature length documentary shersquos recently coproduced featuring Mumbairsquos transgender community which is already garnering raves from those whorsquove seen itFrom left Ayesha Shroff with son Tiger and daughter Krishna The documentary by Reshel Shah Kapoor Black Sheep PicDivina RikhyeldquoWe followed the lives of a group of transgender women for one month in order to portray them as the women that they are individual powerful and beautiful beings We filmed this over the course of a month in October last year and are planning to release it this yearrdquo says the poised young woman a student of cinemaldquoIt was a huge learning experience for me And by the end of it I began to view these women so differently and had formed great friendships with each and every one of themrdquo she says adding ldquoThis was my first official step into the world of filmrdquoAnd will the attractive lass follow her brotherrsquos successful foray in to actingWatch this space