Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Anurag Ahire

We're in this together

Deepika Padukone, who plays acid attack survivor, Laxmi Agarwal, gives her muse a hug during the promotion of her upcoming film at a Juhu hotel on Friday. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Colourful conversation

British artist and colour expert Annie Sloan will be coming to the country for the first time on January 14. Sloan, inventor of chalk paint, has found global appeal because the paint is quick-drying and non-toxic.

This month, she will be presenting a demonstration in Byculla. Akshita Patel, who runs Artsy Nest, the exclusive distributors for Sloan's chalk paint, told this diarist, "We're expecting people who are acquainted with her work and those who have no idea, too. While painting furniture, she will also highlight different techniques. She's actually coming down on a holiday but in the future, she might do a work-related trip gauging the response to this event."

Brush with Bollywood

Bollywood Art Project (BAP) is responsible for some of the most stunning cinema-themed murals in the country - like the one of Dadasaheb Phalke on the MTNL Building in Bandra. And starting today, the project's founder Ranjit Dahiya is organising a workshop to help people paint a portrait of the stars they love.

The sessions go on until January 26. "I will teach them the process step by step - from making a grid to using acrylic paint on canvas," Dahiya told this diarist, adding that the response for Bollywood art over the years has grown. "I am surprised that youngsters can also relate to veteran stars. And so, this three-hour session will be filled with classical music, too."

Sunshine and rainbows

There was a time when the Indian attitude to homosexuality was so regressive that people from the LGBTQ+ community would be routinely lampooned on screen and, what's worse, bullied in real life. Sure, the abolition of Section 377 went some way in changing attitudes. But we still have a long way to go before we can say that we are a truly inclusive society.

That's why events like the Sunshine Festival scheduled for today are important steps in the right direction. In it, people will attempt to break stereotypes about the subject through panel discussions, stand-up comedy, music gigs and theatre performances. Special guests include activists Ashok Row Kavi and Harish Iyer.

Madhurima Mazumdar, founder of Sunshine In You Initiatives, which is organising the fest, told this diarist, "The objective of this edition is to spread awareness, enable and empower the LGBTQi+ community, and help everyone understand about inclusion from different segments of our society."

Of sweet beginnings

Starting the decade on a sweet note, pastry chef and entrepreneur Pooja Dhingra put up a post on Instagram, inviting her 3.9 million followers to tell her something about themselves, when they started following her and her personal wish for 2020.

Heart-warming responses started pouring in and Dhingra has been busy, trying to reply to most of them. While many students asked her for advice on culinary studies, a user, who said she was Dhingra's schoolmate's wife, wrote that she heard of Dhingra through her niece and requested her to send a clip saying, "Hello," to which the chef happily obliged. In another account, a follower said a friend gave her a few of Dhingra's recipes and now she bakes with her five-year-old, who dreams of having her own bakery one day.

Binge on ballet

The Kala Ghoda Arts festival is just around the corner and like the rest of the city, this diarist can't wait to soak in everything it brings.

While keeping track, we discovered that the US Consulate in Mumbai announced yesterday on its Twitter handle, "Hey Mumbai, we have some news! The Luminario Ballet of Los Angeles is coming to the #KalaGhoda Arts Festival this year. Don't miss their performances on Feb 4th and 5th!" Look out for their aerial feats.

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