Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Pic/Ashish Raje

Carrying the rainbow with pride

A young man and his rainbow-coloured umbrella stand out amidst the crowds near Dadar railway station.

The tale of a legacy in print

(From left) An oleograph of Goddess Saraswati; an advertisement for Sunlight soap

The city of Mumbai has always been a fertile ground for artists. Ask Raja Ravi Varma. The great Indian modernist turned to the Maximum City to establish his famed Ravi Varma Fine Art Lithographic Press in the 19th century. "The press was started in Girgaum in 1894, just two years before the Black Plague arrived in the city. That forced him to move it to Malavli in Lonavla," Radhi Parekh (right), founder director of ARTISANS' Centre, told this diarist. The gallery will host an exhibition of Ravi Varma's oleographs (oil paintings) till July 9. These include an iconic image of Goddess Saraswati from Varma's Mumbai press. "The exhibition has prints dating back to 1920, almost a century old that were collected over the last six years," she said. The gallerist pointed out that these prints were often recreated or overprinted as calendars giving birth to the famed Indian ‘calendar art form'. "In fact, one of the exhibits is a Ravi Varma print that is an ad for Sunlight soap," she revealed.

The desert is set to bloom

Munbir Chawla; (right) Dame Imfala during a performance at Magnetic Fields in 2022. Pic Courtesy/Shrey Gupta

Concert fans better be ready. The first big music festival of 2023 to announce their dates is the Magnetic Fields Festival at Alsisar, Rajasthan. The three-day music spectacle will take place from December 15 to 17. Festival co-founder Munbir Chawla shared that the festival will highlight its theme of preservation this year. "From the decor and design elements to the activities, workshops and music - showcasing artistes who advocate for preservation and environmental protection - it will reflect the diversity of cultures and traditions that we aim to preserve."

Getting K-popped in Mumbai

Aoora on the streets of Bandra

K-pop idol Aoora released his new music video Auva auva yesterday, which is a remake of Bappi Lahiri's Koi yahan nache nache that had a twist where Mumbai played a key role. "After Jimmy jimmy, where we retained the disco beats and introduced only a shade of the K-pop sound, we wanted to experiment more. As Auva auva was also set in the disco genre, we felt it would be a good idea to see what more can be done to ensure it vibes with GenZers. The entire sound and look of the song is very K-pop. But my reason for this Indo-Korean collaboration was to showcase the energy of India through my music," he told the diarist. Telling us why the city became his muse in the track, he added, "I chose these locations [Bandra, Fort, Kala Ghoda and Powai] after a lot of thought. They had that colour and character that attracted me. These locations had both a modern and a raw vibe that made them stylish and interesting."

Mastering checkmates

Sagar Shah and Vidit Gujarathi record their analysis of the game

Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi recently released a five-hour-long video as part of an online course by ChessBase India. It revealed the thought process of grandmasters by asking them to explain their moves as they play. "Generally, masters do not like to be put in a spot because if they are unable to solve these positions, they will end up making a fool of themselves. But Vidit was open to the challenge," shared Sagar Shah, its founder, adding, "Every player wonders: what do the grandmasters think? These videos show how they calculate their moves and when they rely on their intuition."

Spanish meets desi

(From left) Chefs Hussain Shahzad and Sameer Taneja

Chef Hussain Shahzad has been cooking up a storm in the Basque countryside. The chef spent the last week in Bilbao with Michelin-starred chef Sameer Taneja of Benares, Mayfair cooking up Indian-inspired Spanish dishes for an India Shining event. Shahzad said, "Together we showcased the deep-rooted diversity of India-inspired cuisine." The idea, he explained, was to showcase the diversity of Indian ingredients and their adaptability to different cuisines. "We used produce which was indigenous to the Basque country like Galician octopus, jamon (local ham from Basque), piparra chilli peppers, and locally sourced meats that we paired with Indian flavours and style of cooking. We made a nihari with locally sourced short ribs, and served it with asparagus grown in the neighbouring villages. The octopus was served along with Goan chorizo from India." Now, that sounds delicious.