Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

What's cooking Down Under?

The two pioneering young names from India excelling in the West - Ali Fazal and Freida Pinto - are now joining forces. The duo will soon fly down to Australia as key guests for the upcoming Indian Film Festival Of Melbourne to be held next month. The duo have, in their own way, been making a unique space for themselves in the West, and will now be delivering a talk to Australian audiences about the topic of Indian actors making big in Hollywood. This cross-cultural discussion will have them doling out their views and opinions on the challenges and need to overcome the stereotypes associated with being a non-American actor working in the West. Pinto, who's flying in from Los Angeles, her current home, will also be attending the Australian premiere of her film, Love Sonia, and Ali has been elected as a jury member for the Short Film Awards category at the festival.

A field-good event

Vinod Shekhar, general secretary of Mumbai Congress and a SoBo man, will be there in spirit when a football tourney being held in his memory, is kicked off. The former Colaba corporator passed away last year. And now, South Mumbai is all set to host a Vinod Shekhar Football Cup, over two weekends in August. His sister, Anita Shekhar Castellino, told this diarist, "A football tourney is a wonderful way to keep his memory alive because Vinod was such a sportsman. He dabbled in football, but was passionate about wrestling."

The beginning of a new story

Here's a welcome tidbit in this day and age of fake news, biased journalism and what not. The Editor's Guild of India, a professional body set up in 1977 under the shadow of the Emergency, has launched a new website, editorsguild.in. It is divided into different sections, one of which lays out the constitution of the EGI, formed mainly to safeguard the freedom of the press. There is another one on the code of practice advocated for all journalists, be it in print or electronic India. And there is also a section on the history of journalism in India, which starts with The Bengal Gazette, published all the way back in 1780. The EGI's current president is Shekhar Gupta, who was appointed earlier this year. Here's hoping that he and the organisation do everything they can to uphold the cause of the fourth estate.

Here's why Rahul has the write idea

It seems that Rahul Bose has headed off to the mountains not just for his birthday, but also to get his creative juices flowing. For, the actor announced on social media that he is going back to the drawing board with a screenplay he's been struggling to finish for over a year. And what we loved most was the self-deprecatory humour he displayed in the video message where he revealed this information. Sporting prominent facial hair, he said into the camera, "Can't think of a better way to celebrate my birthday than to write the 13th draft of my new film. Of course, by the time I finish, this beard will be down to my knees."

This Stone stops Rolling

We remember how happy we were when 10 years ago, Rolling Stone launched its India edition. It had given us validation that the West had finally woken up to the country being more than a land of sitar players. Now, the magazine has announced that it will stop publishing the print version.

The June issue was the final one. Rolling Stone India will still exist as an online property, of course. While there has been criticism from some quarters about the magazine being too commercial and less avant garde, we, for one, will miss leafing through its pages.

No hanky-panky

PIC/Sayyed Sameer Abedi