Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pic/Satej Shinde

Net Gains

German beach volleyball player Britta Büthe practises on Juhu beach

Reviving a lost school

How can one of the most important artistic movements of the city be forgotten? This question bothered artist Suhas Bahulkar for over 20 years. It resulted in his latest book on the Bombay Revivalist School; Kaleteel Bharatiyatvachi Chalwal (Rajhans Prakashan) that was released earlier this month. While the Bengal Revivalist School is displayed prominently in galleries, the work of the Bombay iteration is hardly documented, he noted. "The revivalism took place in the background of the Indian national movement. They sought to apply the principles of Indian traditional art to their works, moving away from Western practices," Bahulkar explained. Artists such as GH Nagarkar, J Mahiwasi, RG Chimulkar and Laxman Pai are among the masters explored in the book. Despite the movement fading away post the 1950s, Bahulkar said it influenced artists in cities across India. The research for the book will soon be translated into English. "It will help the knowledge reach art lovers on the national and international stage," Bahulkar noted.

Gastronomic high from Singapore

Even before this diarist could recover from the five-course set menu by Singapore-based Italian chef Denis Lucchi, the man behind the country's Michelin-star Buona Terra who was in Mumbai, we received some more good news. The Singapore's Diplomatic Missions in India, in collaboration with the Singapore Tourism Board and The Soul Company, will host Taste Obsession - a pop-up series that will bring down some of the island nation's finest chefs to Indian cities, including Mumbai. Cheong Ming Foong (inset), Consul-General of the Republic of Singapore in Mumbai, told us, "The series is aimed at offering Indian consumers an eclectic fare from some of Singapore's best restaurants, cafés and bars." Chef Alan Chan (right) of Rempapa, a restaurant known for contemporary Peranakan fare, will flag off the series. Peranakan refers to Chinese who emigrated centuries ago to Singapore/Malaysia, intermarried with Malays, and adapted their cuisine using local produce and herbs. Chan shared that he'll give diners a taste of Rempah, a unique spice blend that's also the inspiration behind the name of the restaurant. "Given that Singapore is such a melting pot of cultures, we want to showcase that through the food we serve, such as ayam pelencheng, lamb rendang, and singgang. Some of the other commonly used ingredients include sambal, kansan leaves, kalamansi and buah keluak paste," he revealed. Considering it's his first visit to India, the chef added he's excited to explore Mumbai's culture and cuisine.

Winning narratives all the way

This diarist spoke to two winners of the Laadli Media Awards 2022 for gender sensitivity, writer Nu Misha (left) and author Shormistha Mukherjee. Nu's article on disabled bodies navigating abuse won under social media campaign. They shared, "This article discusses the abuse I've faced in relationships, and abuse from an able-bodied world that is so deep-rooted, it goes unnoticed and invisibilised." Their campaign, Disabled Women Riot, on probing disability-based violence, too recently received a grant from Point of View. Mukherjee, whose book Cancer, You Picked The Wrong Girl won Best English Autobiography, said, "There's so much taboo around cancer, and more when it has to do with breasts, that it gets neatly packed away in a ‘warrior' narrative that erases the rough edges. But this book is all rough edges and I'm happy that a book which isn't a neat motivational one was recognised."

Monkey business

A chimp hanging out of a photo frame, pouting for what seemed to be an attempt to click a selfie caught this diarist's eye on a Lower Parel sidewalk. The mural is part of a selfie point - a drive by municipal authorities, we were informed by the artists at work. The idea is to give the growing tribe of shutterbugs an Instagrammable backdrop while brightening up the walls. The other side of the mural depicted a wave of notes spilling out of a giant speaker mic. But it's the click-happy chimp that really stood out. As we fished out our phone camera to capture the moment, we couldn't tell if the primate was aping us, or if we were copying him. Now, that's a question as old as time.

Where filmmakers and writers unite

Have you written a film script that you keep editing in your mind? Are you pondering ways to access a filmmaker to translate your story on screen? Turns out that director and cinematographer Kabir Khan was listening to your thoughts all this while. He recently launched Storiescope, a platform dedicated to connecting fresh writing talent to filmmakers in the industry. About the initiative, Khan told this diarist, "The site is my associate director, Rahul Vohra's, brainchild. My company has a script division where assistants read and pick good stories. Vohra has worked on the technology and structuring of the website. In the last 10 hours alone, we have received as many as 80 scripts. There are people out there waiting to share their ideas with a director." Khan added that the website will be open to other production houses.