Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Cuteness overload
If those chubby cheeks are calling out to you as much as they are to us, blow a kiss to Taimur Ali Khan. Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan's son was spotted leaving the car with his nanny in Bandra Thursday.

Martyr of concern here!
The dangers and perils associated with social media rumours were in full view yesterday in the Gorai area of Borivali West when a politically affiliated group put up this stage and banner asking people to recall and mourn for freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, who laid down their lives for India's independent struggle.

On Wednesday morning, among the barrage of anti-Valentine's Day messages on social media, this diarist noticed one particular message that called for people to remember these three martyrs, who, the message claimed, passed away on this day. However, the trio was actually martyred on March 23, 1931, when a British court ordered them to be hanged till death. The day is also marked as Shaheed Diwas or Martyrs Day. Unfortunately, ignorance and the hunger to steal the limelight, led them to make a mockery of a historically significant moment.

The season's last song
American multi-genre artiste Anderson .Paak.'s (in pic) Wednesday gig at the Backdoors Festival in Mumbai effectively marked the end of a season that has featured a host of top-notch international artistes coming down to these parts, such as Incubus, John McLaughlin, John Mayall, Sean Paul and Major Lazer, among others.

With the (pseudo) winter coming to an end, there is a bit of a lull in the musical calendar, with no big-ticket draws lined up yet over the next few months. But with the benchmark being set this high, we are keeping our eyes peeled for what the next season throws up.

All about her
Having seen a successful debut last year in cities across the country, the second edition of SheThePeople.TV's Women Writers' Festival is back.

With its line of eminent speakers that include journalist Sagarika Ghose, authors Meghna Pant (in pic), Sujata Dev, Koral Dasgupta and Anjali Kirpalani, and entrepreneur Preeti Vyas among others, the festival aims to bring to the fore issues surrounding women that need discussion.

It also aims to form a safe space for women to create, nurture and interact. The festival, which, according to founder Shaili Chopra is about "writing across genres, way beyond literature" will be held in Mumbai next week.

Vegan butter chicken, anyone?
So, there are experiments in an adventurous chef's kitchen, and then there is plain madness (in a good way, that is). Little wonder then, that when entrepreneur-chef Saransh Goila decides to whip up something hatke se, it almost always makes news.

This time around, the chef made a splash when he posted on social media that he has created a vegan version of his trademark butter chicken. He admitted to being "shocked" that the dish tasted good without the use of any dairy.

The innovative Goila, who's got Mumbaikars all weak-kneed over his butter chicken, shared how he worked wonders with the twisted version. Milk was replaced with almond milk and the cream had extra cashew nuts. The surprise, he revealed, was the peanut butter that was used in it instead of the butter. Vegans, time to do the bhangra, no?

Doing FTIIâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088and Mumbai proud
Last year, her film Afternoon Clouds became the first from the FTII to be selected for participation in Cinéfondation, held under the aegis of the Cannes Film Festival. And now, Payal Kapadia, a final year student of direction at the Pune institute, has done her alma mater proud once again.

Her documentary, And What Is The Summer Saying, shot in the Kondwal village in Maharashtra's Bhimashankar, will be screened in the short film segment of the Berlinale festival in Germany, which opened yesterday. An advertising professional before she found her calling in filmmaking, this Mumbaikar is going places already.

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