Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

Mona jaisi koi nahin
Meherzad Patel's theatre company, Silly Point Productions, completes 10 years. To mark the occasion, Patel has written a new comedy, Laughter Therapy, for which he has roped in actor Mona Singh. Interestingly, each of the actors - the other cast members include Sajeel Parakh, Danesh Irani, Danesh Khambata and Siddharth Merchant - play seven characters each on stage.

"Theatre usually takes up a lot of rehearsals and time commitment. This is the second time I am coming on stage for a play and this time around, I tried my hand at comedy. I am playing characters ranging from an 18-year-old college girl to an 80-year-old Parsi aunty. I hope people like it," Singh told this diarist.

Collections from the heart
As part of International Museum Day celebrations last weekend, apart from day-long events at the city's main museums, Nehru Science Centre also joined in with a three-day exhibition that was in sync with the International Council of Museums theme for this year, Hyperconnected Museums: New Approaches, New Publics.

Tasneem Zakaria Mehta

They organised My Own Collection, an exhibition to enable senior citizens, housewives and the public to showcase their collections, ranging from postal stamps and toys to cameras, wood art, watches, antique utensils, cotton sculptures and maps. Around 45 people participated in the exhibition that was inaugurated by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Managing Trustee and Honorary Director of Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum.

A Ritesh Das's camera collection. Pics/Atul Kamble

Housing aamchi Mumbai's issues
The city's sky-high real estate prices and the many ensuing problems have become synonymous with life in Mumbai. Such that the crisis of affordable housing has lent itself to many pop culture adaptations. But can the dream of owning an affordable house in Mumbai ever become a reality? That's the question a new book by urban planner and architect PK Das, economist Ritu Dewan and journalists Gurbir Singh and Kabir Agrawal answers.

"The book is the result of our last 35 years of work, including work done through the organisation, Nivara Haq. It addresses the 10 lakh deficit in affordable housing," Das told this diarist, adding that the city is in urgent need of legislation for real estate price control. The book, published by Bombaykala, releases in June.

Silent angels for the filmwallahs
This diarist happened to meet actor-filmmaker Rajat Kapoor recently, where the conversation veered off to the crowd-funding campaign for his upcoming film. Though Kapoor admitted that the campaign was going slow, it was the generosity of people unknown to him that touched him deeply.

Rajat Kapoor

"There is a TV actor. I have never met her. Her name is Sriti Jha. She contributed R25,000 in September, and then the same amount in October and November. I wrote back to her asking her why she was doing this, and she said she liked my work," shared Kapoor, recalling another incident, "Someone wrote to me on Twitter and said that he was watching Aankhon Dekhi on TV and happened to tell his father about my campaign. The father, mother and three other members of the family pitched in with R500 each. Something like this happens every week."

Principles and all
We can't put our finger on whether the massive Kamala Mills compound has always gone by this tagline or if this is something new, but either way, it's hard to miss. Under the property's massive branding in Lower Parel are the words "Built on principles".

One can't but view it in the context of the inferno that engulfed it in December last year, which led to the loss of 14 lives. The property's owners, Ramesh Gowani and Ravi Bhandari have recently been granted bail. If this is a way of rebranding the property, we hope the principles are adhered to this time around.

All hail the champion

Fans of Sachin Tendulkar acknowledge his presence at an event in Navi Mumbai on Sunday. Pic/Sameer Markande

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