Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Frieda Pinto

Disney goes desi
In some good news for Disney fans in the country, the entertainment conglomerate has announced a new animated TV show, its first inspired by Indian culture. Called Mira, Royal Detective, the show is set in the fictional land of Jalpur, and revolves around the feisty protagonist Mira, who lands the job of a royal detective after she saves the kingdom's prince from trouble.

With the world of animation grabbing more eyeballs with celebrities lending their voices to characters, the series is no different. While Mira's voiceover is by a newcomer, the rest of the cast includes well-known names. Actor-comedian Kal Penn and Utkarsh Ambudkar (from The Mindy Project) will be the voices behind a pair of mongooses, and Freida Pinto will voice Queen Shanti.

They're gonna give Mumbai the blues
Asia's largest blues celebration, the Mahindra Blues Festival, is back with its ninth edition. To be held in Mumbai in February, the just-announced line-up includes blues experts like Beth Hart, Charlie Musselwhite, Sugarray Rayford, Brandon Santini and Arinjoy Trio.

"We could not ask for a better audience than the one at this festival. It's a great mix of being appreciative and encouraging in nature. It's an opportunity for us to showcase our music and also have the experience of interacting, learning and listening to the blues artistes of our time," Arinjoy Sarkar of the Arinjoy Trio, comprising Sounak Roy on drums and Aakash Ganguly on bass, told this diarist.

While Hart is a Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter who has been performing for two decades, Musselwhite has won 35 blues music awards, was nominated 12 times for the Grammy Awards and won his first in 2015 for his collaboration with Ben Harper.

Kochhar is a jolly good fella
The Roots Premier League, a community football tournament which takes place across Mumbai, recently entered its second season. But few know that apart from doctors, lawyers, engineers and business professionals, the league also includes a cricket presenter among the players.

A known sports enthusiast, Samir Kochhar owns the team Good Fellas FC, and is also a striker in the centre-forward position in the team. "Last season, we ended up taking the silver trophy home. Hopefully, we are only five matches away from glory," Kochhar said.

A walk in the woods
With Goregaon's Aarey Colony coming increasingly under threat in the name of development, support is pouring in from all quarters to save the green lungs of the city. While chef Michael Swamy has been working towards popularising the food of the resident tribal communities of Aarey, a tree walk has now been organised there on Sunday.

To be conducted by naturalist Renee Vyas, who has secured special permission for the same, the trail will acquaint Mumbaikars with the grand old trees, like Kailashpatti, Kate Sawar and Asan, that stand tall in the colony.

Another one bites the dust
The last few months have been bittersweet for Mumbai foodies with a bunch of restaurants closing (Flora, Shiro and Rs 2O) and some others opening with great promise (Uno Mas and Tygr). Imbiss, Colaba, too, had shocked patrons by abruptly downing shutters in July.

Now, its outlet in Vakola is readying to close doors. Sunday is the last day of service. "The restaurant was deep inside a lane and we didn't get much footfall. Our tie-ups with food delivery apps meant we could cater to customers in those regions from our Bandra outlet itself. It wasn't making sense," Bruce Rodrigues, owner of the Santacruz branch, told this diarist, adding that they are considering Malad, Borivali or Vashi for the next outlet.

No skirting this issue

Radhika Apte's billowing skirt seems a tad too much to handle, as she negotiates a flight of stairs at the launch of a jewellery store in Santacruz on Friday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

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