Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

One for the stars
It was Madhuri Dixit Nene, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan who turned audience for an enthusiastic fan and Radio City staffer when the trio arrived in Bandra for their film's promotion on Friday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Naseeruddin Shah

When elections take centrestage
In a display of unity that's characteristic of the theatre community, practitioners from across India got together to issue a statement that appeals to fellow citizens "to vote out divisive politics from power".

Sameera Iyengar

Issued in 12 languages, the statement had been signed by over 700 artistes, including Girish Karnad, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Mahesh Dattani, Makarand Deshpande, Lillete Dubey and almost every well-known name in the field. "Since colonial times, Indian theatre makers have celebrated India's diversity through their work... Today, that very idea of India is under threat... Our appeal - vote bigotry, hatred, and apathy out of power.

Mahesh Dattani

Vote against the BJP and its allies," it read. Sameera Iyengar, co-founder of the theatre movement Junoon told this diarist, "It's not that we live in a perfect country. But the kind of divisive politics being played out for the last four to five years and the impunity with which people get away with violence is not the country we want."

Jab they met
After delivering a powerful performance in the city last weekend, Internet personality Lilly Singh also collaborated with actor and singer Diljit Dosanjh. In a quick, but hilarious video, they act out what typically happens when two Punjabis meet - where the conversation goes from 'Sasriyakaal' to weight, health, family, and everything under the sun while everyone around just stands in silence. While we can't say we can relate to it, the video does capture the fun-loving community in an endearing way.

Dhruv Rathee, reporting from Varanasi
Since the time the current government came into power, young YouTuber Dhruv Rathee has been its vociferous critic. From calling out false claims backed by statistical data to analysing political statements, Rathee has been an important voice outside the realm of mainstream media. In an interesting move, he has recently been roped in by BBC Hindi for a documentary called Ground Reality from Varanasi, where he is seen speaking to residents of PM Narendra Modi's constituency about the degree of development they have witnessed in the last five years. And we must say he does a good job of it!

Shreyom Ghosh and Arjun Chatterjee

Making it in Bollywood
We're in a phase when we are drowning in a sea of original Indian TV series, each with an important societal message and high entertainment quotient. Another new series to look out for is Bhak, winner of HOOQ's flagship Filmmakers Guild programme. Tagged as a colourful dramedy, it follows the adventures of two ambitious young filmmakers who get pushed around in Bollywood when they decide to take matters into their hands. The media streaming service, which received 500 entries from across Asia, will fund the full season of the series, which is based on the journey of its filmmakers Arjun Chatterjee and Shreyom Ghosh. "We came up with Bhak after a bad client meeting. He had kept us hanging for a really long time and then the project finally didn't happen. We were sitting at a café and talking about how difficult it is for new filmmakers to make it in this industry. And then we thought how funny it would be if we had a show about that," the duo told this diarist.

A selfless warrior passes away
Yesterday was a sad day for India's independent music community. Rishu Singh, 41, founder of the events and artiste management company Ennui.Bomb - and a person who nurtured the scene as selflessly as possible - passed away after a prolonged bout of illness. We say selfless, because Singh's ethos was such that fans always came first, while brands and sponsors could go jump in a well. Proof of this lay in the annual album that he personally compiled, called Stupiditties. It gave a platform to young artistes, and was available to fans for free. He also organised the New Wave festival, an event that made lesser-heard genres accessible to Indians. When this diarist had spoken to him about it in 2017, he'd confessed that it had always been a loss-making enterprise. But then, Singh was someone who always stood up to the "man", embodying a punk ethos impossible to mess with. His demise led to an outpouring of grief among the city's indie community, with well-wishers congregating at Mira Road for his funeral. They don't make them like him anymore, and we doubt there will ever be a second person like Rishu Singh. May he rest in peace.

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