Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Mirror Mirror on the wall

Actor Soha Ali Khan interacts with children at the inauguration of a new facility at a Khar hospital on Friday. Pic/Sameer Markande

Art meets food
Last week when this diarist met Michelin-star New York-based chef Daniel Humm, while he was in the city to host an exclusive dinner, he excitedly showed us an email conversation with Indian artist Subodh Gupta.

Pic courtesy/Instagram.com/Subodh Gupta

The Swiss chef, who is an art connoisseur. was keen on taking in as much Indian art while here, and met Gupta at his Gurugram studio between his busy schedule. Do we see a collaboration?

Sabya challenges copycats
Imitation is not the best form of flattery, Indian couture genius Sabyasachi Mukherjee has decided. On Thursday, his brand Sabyasachi Couture became the first Indian design house to win the National Intellectual Property (IP) Award 2018. At a ceremony held on Thursday in New Delhi, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Suresh Prabhu applauded Mukherjee's work by conferring on him the Top Indian Company/ Organisation for Designs & Commercialisation award.

Sabyasachi Mukherjee

The Kolkata-based designer won the honour after registering close to 700 designs under Design Act 2000, making this a landmark announcement for the Indian fashion industry, typically dismissed as a fringe community.

One among the 700 designs from Sabyasachi Couture registered under Design Act 2000

"Our brand has been a victim of piracy for quite some time. When people started copying our logo to sell fake designs, it became too close for comfort," Sabya told mid-day. One of India's most copied designers, he has a legal team that looks into rip-offs, but he admits it's a drain on money and time. "I've been called a bully for registering my designs. I don't understand why it's a bad thing. When you're building a community for a community, we have to protect our creative contribution and retain exclusivity in artistry," he argued.

One floor over
Back in 2015, chef Kelvin Cheung opened Bandra's popular restaurant One Street Over with chef Boo Kim. The restaurant has now rebranded as One Street and moved above Cheung's popular restaurant Bastian.

Kelvin Cheung

It features a complete new menu which includes classics such as pork spare ribs, spiced mustard barbecue sauce, Cajun spice; sweet and sprout, sweet potato butter, sprouts, sour cream, almonds, radish, beets; truffled nacho cheese sauce on brioche toast; and vegetable chips.

With several new restaurants concentrating on healthy dishes, One Street will also feature vegan and gluten-free preparations. There is also a section dedicated to wings, with varied spice levels. The bar menu has been curated by Arijit Bose, with cocktails inspired by Cheung's travels.

Murder, Agatha Christie style
After a wrongly convicted woman dies in prison, it is up to her daughter to recreate the scene of the crime and exonerate her memory. Go Back for Murder is a gripping thriller by the queen of crime fiction, Agatha Christie. And now, Mumbai's theatre audiences will get a chance to live the lives of these characters. Director, Laura Mishra gives us a sneak peak into what to expect.

"The play has a dark, humorous, quirky plot which shows us multiple facets of a human being. At the soul of it is drama, like Nikel Miranda says, 'These people seem to revel in all this drama.' It's a thriller but unlike other Christie's plays, the thrill is in the interpersonal drama amongst and within the characters."

A permanent reminder
The next time you drive by, jog, walk, or simply venture out to eat momos on Lokhandwala's Backroad, a newly-painted mural is bound to catch your attention. It is a painting done in protest of the Kathua rape. Next to it is a symbol that says "no child abuse" with the message, "We are the world, we are the children."

"This wall is here to serve as a permanent reminder," said Vineesha Arora, a resident of Lokhandwala who is a writer, director, and producer by profession. She is also the founder of Wings Art Academy that aims to promote artistic education and has a database of over 200 students in the suburbs.

Arora came up with this idea of protest art to goad passers by into spending a moment to think about child sex abuse. "With this, I want to awaken not just the people but also the judiciary. I want them to remember this horrific incident - and the ones before this - every time someone passes by. I am sure that when they walk along this wall, they will take home the correct message," Arora said. She had started a petition on change.org last year to call for swift punishment and hanging of rapists; it has garnered over 50,000 signatures till now. The mural will be officially unveiled next week.

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