Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Atul Kamble

Junior hits the turf

A boy teaches a young child how to hold a hockey stick at the Mumbai Hockey Association Stadium in Churchgate

Into the blues in Mumbai

Big Bang Blues performs at a previous event. Pic Courtesy/Instagram

Singing the blues away at the upcoming Mahindra Blues Festival in the city will be Delhi-based blues rock band, Big Bang Blues. Following their win at the Big Blues Band Hunt, the five-member band will arrive in the city for a performance on the opening day of the festival.

"The finals featured some unforgettable performances. The highlight for us was interacting with the judges, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. They seemed to love our originals and because they had just returned from a performance in Delhi, we grabbed the opportunity and discussed the blues music scene in Delhi with them," said Sushant Thakur, guitarist and vocalist.

Cyborgs enter Bollywood

The Mughal-E-Azam poster recreated by Varun Gupta

What if Mughal-E-Azam was a sci-fi thriller? Malad-based AI artist Varun Gupta (below) presents the answer in his latest series titled Cyborgbay Talkies. The series reimagines posters of classic Bollywood movies like Don, Zanjeer and Mughal-E-Azam with a futuristic cyborg-themed twist.

"I have been fascinated with cyborgs ever since the pandemic ended and I started imagining what the future holds for us. I love the city, and Bollywood. The series is a hat tip to both my inspirations," he told this diarist. Sharing about the process behind the artworks, Gupta said, "Striking the right balance was the biggest challenge. I recreated the grungy, textured feel of the posters and retained the original fonts to evoke nostalgia. Thankfully, people have taken positively to my experiments" he laughed.

It's getting filmy in Andheri

A moment from the festival. Pic Courtesy/Veda Kunba Theatre

The recently concluded one-day Bollywood International Film Festival celebrated art, culture and global storytelling at Andheri's newly-opened Veda Kunba Theatre. "The spotlight illuminated cinematic brilliance as the film festival celebrated its fourth year at the theatre. It featured captivating talents of Yashpal Sharma and Pratibha Sharma," said Sampat Singh Rathore, founder and CEO, Veda Factory.

One step at a time

Nisarg Udyan was once a dumping ground

With an aim to make walking in the city enjoyable, the Walking Project is taking it step-by-step to study different types of roads in different areas of Mumbai. Programme manager Vedant Mhatre led its 10th community walk from Koparkhairane station (west) in Navi Mumbai to Nisarg Udyan park last Sunday.

(In white) Vedant Mhatre with the group

He told this diarist, "The roads of Koparkhairane are relatively more accessible [footpaths are wider and encroachment doesn't pose a problem for most parts] than those of other parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The park was previously a dumping ground. It was wonderful to know that something like a dumping ground could be turned into a space for public utility."

Skimmer in the sky

Indian skimmers

Look up to the sky this weekend and keep an eye out for black, white, and a bit of bright orange. Bombay Natural History Society recently released the dates for the second phase of the annual Indian Skimmer Count. "The species is classified as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, and a recent report by State of India's Birds also identified it as a high conservation priority species. The count will fill the knowledge gap that exists in regards to the population of this species," Parveen Shaikh, skimmer count co-ordinator, shared.

She added that this year, contributions to the count will come in from Pakistan and Bangladesh, where the species can be spotted. Birders and enthusiasts can head to one of the shortlisted locations and log their sightings through the ebird app or a datasheet that will be provided on request. Those interested, can log on to @bombaynaturalhistorysociety for more details.