Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Look who's here

The long wait for Christopher Nolan to arrive in the city is finally over, as the director walks into a SoBo five-star on Thursday with his children in tow. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Dutt's the way to make a mark
Which actor comes to your mind when you hear the word "eeeeeesh"? The answer, of course, is the inimitable Utpal Dutt. One of the finest actors of his, or any other, generation, Dutt could handle a variety roles with ease, be it a comic turn or as a sinister villain in Satyajit Ray's Joy Baba Felunath. And yesterday was the late actor's 89th birth anniversary, which made us reminisce about how he remains one of the most enduring character actors not just in Bengali, but also in Hindi cinema.

Utpal Dutt with Satyajit Ray

After all, who can forget the expression of bewilderment writ large on his face when he found out that Amol Palekar's character in Gol Maal was just one person? It's the stuff of comedy gold, for which we doff our hat to his incredible talent.

Prize-winning short film tackles a tall order
One of the many reasons why India is still a "developing" nation is because female infanticide remains ingrained in our social fabric, like a thorn embedded so deep inside your foot that you can't take it out.

The Manliest Man

The stigma is also the subject of a short film called The Manliest Man. And now, after being nominated for and winning a host of international film awards, director Anuj Gulati has added another feather to his cap - The Manliest Man has won in The Best Film category at Los Angeles Feedback Film Festival.

Anuj Gulati

"I didn't want the script to be too heavy-handed or melodramatic. So, I eventually came up with this premise of a village where the blame of having a girl is taken by the man. That's the irony I wanted to present instead of directly talking about the problem," Gulati tells this diarist, about a social evil that continues to hold the country back despite the PM's ambitious Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign.

History in danger
Preserving history is not just about building statues. It is also about ensuring that every piece of urban heritage in the city is kept in immaculate condition, so that future generations can get a glimpse into the origins of their cities and towns.

That's why it saddened us when we heard that a stone marker-plaque dating to 1846, which still stands on Mahim's Lady Jamshetjee Road, has a noticeable crack in it. Here's hoping that the civic authorities are listening and will mend it before further damage is done.

Junior delegates at work
Water scarcity, poverty and inequality, weaponisation of natural resources and terrorism were only some of the global issues that a group of teenagers from the city brainstormed to find solutions for at Harvard Model United Nations China conference held recently in Beijing.

The delegation - comprising students from NSS Hillspring International School, who participated in the conference as part of the Worldview Future Leaders Programme - seems to have left quite a mark, considering that it not only won individual awards in 12 of the 14 committees that were simulated at the event, but also bagged the Outstanding Large Delegation award. Here's to the future Shashi Tharoors of Mumbai.

Band, baaja, fashion
Fashion can be fun and path-breaking when people not related to the field become part of a design project. Be it designer Manish Arora dressing up the widows of Varanasi for a fashion film by Bharat Sikka, or in this case, a contemporary menswear designer creating a collection inspired by the kitsch brass bands of the city. Kalakar is a street-style take on Astik Brass Band (established in 1959) from the city by designer Mitesh Lodha.

Created in collaboration with the ongoing Design Fabric Festival 2018, Lodha has redesigned the band's uniform using a palette of blue, white and red. The collection incorporates the athleisure trend with bomber jackets, truckers and slim pants layered with asymmetric shirts as well as kurtas. The band will also perform at the festival.

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