Mumbai Diary: Tuesday Dossier

Cakewalk for jadhav
Indian cricketer and birthday boy Kedar Jadhav gobbles cake as banker Dilip Atre looks on, at an event in Dadar on Monday. Pic/Ashish Raje

A protester addresses the gathering. Pic/Facebook

Walk of concern
With the Kisan Long March tasting sweet victory in the city of dreams, we've noticed a sudden upsurge in protests such as the rail block last week that stalled commuters for a long time. That done, the city recently witnessed another march by a section of its residents - this one in solidarity with victims of gun violence in the United States. But while those who gathered in front of the US Consulate in BKC had something macro in mind, those who read about the march on social media weren't that generous. Lashing out at the March for our Lives, Mumbai, were a number of posts that highlighted the real problems of the country which actually need to be talked about. "The place where a more pressing concern should be [is] to get better school infrastructure for children in the first place. Can we just stop degrading real, raw causes to the level of one-shot-at-going-viral bandwagons? Please," says one. Even writer Amish Tripathi was left a bit confused. According to his tweet, he said, "But why are they marching/protesting in Mumbai? India has among the strictest gun control laws in the world. #MarchForOurLives." This debate is yet to be resolved.

A desi green day
There are days, and then there are those that leave you speechless. Like a mail that reached our inbox announcing the most recent addition to the never-ending list of special dates. This one, to celebrate veggies, is called #SubziTarkariDin and it falls on March 31. The mail went on to spell out the virtues of fresh produce and promoting local veggies, along with sharing several handles and groups extolling bloggers, vloggers and junta to participate in events around this new day, including one that coaxed you to take a selfie with your local bhajiwallah! Now that's what you call a true marketing gimmick.

(From left) Ashutosh Gowariker, Vikram Gokhale and Waman Kendre at the inauguration. Pic/Shadab Khan

Stage set for action
The eighth Theatre Olympics has come to town and it looks like the torch is burning bright. Filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker, veteran actor Vikram Gokhale and director of the National School of Drama Waman Kendre were present at the inauguration of the 15-day dialogue among thespians from around the world that was kick-started by Kendre's Hindi play, Mohe Piya. The festival is set to stage entries chosen from over 1,000 applications that were selected through a stringent two-tier process. To make the craft of theatre-making accessible to young thespians, the Theatre Olympics also have an array of allied activities being coordinated by veterans. Here's hoping Greek theatre director Theodoros Terzopoulos's 1993 initiative bears fruit in this country.

A step closer to the real deal
In July 2017, this page had repo­r­ted on Rajat Kapoor's (in pic) decision to take the crowd-fun­d­ing route for his next film, rk/rkay. The online campaign is still on but the good news is Kapoor has got on board some of most talented names from the industry. While the sound will be designed by Resul Pookutty, who won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing in 2009, Natio­nal-Award win­ning artiste Suresh Pai will edit the film. Another National Award-win­ner to join the crew is cinema­togr­apher Rafey Mahmood. We can't wait for this one!

Tikli and Laxmi Bomb

Indie honour in UK
After winning The Best Film at Ber­lin Independent Film Festival award, author and filmmaker Aditya Kripa­lani's Tikli and Laxmi Bomb has now won The Best Film for Gender Equa­lity at the recently concluded UK Asian Film Festival. Fifty per cent of the film has been crowd-funded and tells the story of two sex workers, who form a cooperative that runs the business for and by women.

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