AR Rahman in the house

>> And word comes in that Jodhpur's Umaid Bhavan (which in the past has witnessed performances by the likes of international musicians like Sting who sang at Maharajah Gaj Singh's Head Injury Foundation's gala recently) will see Grammy award winner and one of the world's most respected musicians, none other than AR Rahman perform next month at what is undoubtedly going to be the mother of all birthday celebrations.

Sting

After all, it is for a lady whose husband wants nothing but the best for her and what's more has the means to provide it. Our source tells us that 40 rooms have been booked for the occasion, and planeloads of her favourite flowers and friends are being flown down. What is gladdeningu00a0is that whereas other billionaires choose foreign locales and international artistes to mark their celebrations - this couple (who could easily do the same) has chosen to champion an Indian locale (the Umaid Bhavan palace is known to be one of the world's most glamorous destinations) and an Indian artist of unrivalled caliber.

AR Rahman

Now what remains to be seen is what gift she will receive from her doting husband. After all, with what can you top a luxury jet liner… perhaps a space ship?

Chandon comes to town
>> News comes in that luxury alcohol company, Moët & Chandon, whose top brands include Dom Pérignon, Krug and Belvedere, is busy preparing a mega party to launch their new sparkling wine brand - Chandon in India.

Gaurav Bhatia

The party organised by the lovely Nandita Mahtani promises to be a grand affair and will be hosted by MD Bruno Yyon and Marketing Director Gaurav Bhatia at The Four Seasons Hotel on the 19th of this month. Invitations are soon to go out and rooms have already been booked for the in-flying attendees at the hotel.

Nandita Mahtani

The interesting thing about the new bubbly is that unlike the multinational's other brands, which are imported from around the world and then sold in India, Chandon is said to be fully produced in Nashik! A little bird also mentions that it is not the name but the price that has got our own Indian wine companies (read Sula) nervous: Chandon is said it be priced around Rs 1,000 a bottle, which is sure to get the young and restless SoBo/Bandra nightlife abuzz. Now, let's just hope it lives up to the international quality!

Nothing but the truth, please!
>> Yesterday, in an attempt to bring readers' notice to the many new eateries opening in SoBo, we carried an item about the launch of the restobar Town House Café, by Avi Mittal. While this was true, after some investigation, what we now learn is that the young man has nothing whatsoever to do with the highly reputed ‘Mittal Builders and Developers,' as we had been led to believe by his PR agency. Needless to say, we regret the inconvenience caused to the Mittal Builders and Developers family. When we contacted Avi Mittal for an explanation, he said that since his family owns a property in Chembur which uses the Mittal name, and since it has been in the real estate business, people refer to them as, ‘developers and builders'. But then, why does he call himself ‘MD Mittal Builders & Developers' on his Twitter page? And what about the PR company? Surely they ought to have known better before sending us information in a manner that is economical with the truth? Whither professionalism? Whither the truth?

Salaam Mumbai:u00a0Acting funny
And now that Central Casting has achieved its most awesome coup - that of getting Paresh Rawal to play Narendra Modi in a soon to be launched biopic, word has got around that members of the Rahul camp are at this very moment planning to produce a film on their leader starring a popular actor.

"Yes, we are busy drawing up lists of major actors, who will be able to portray our great leader," said a prominent spokesperson of the Congress.

Interesting, I said.

"Ranbir Kapoor, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir, and Imran - all of them are being considered," he said.

That's great, I said.

"The scene that they are auditioning for is the one in which our leader barges into the Delhi Gymkhana and declares that the ordinance concerning criminal members in Parliament is ‘nonsense' and needs to be ‘torn up'.

A difficult scene, I said.

"So far, we have not found any actor who has been able to do justice to this. Not Aamir, (who looks like our leader) not Imran (who has his gentleness) nor Ranbir (who has similar pedigree).

Sad, I said.

"And time is running out! We would like to announce the name of the actor very soon so that we can print cards for the mahurat," said the spokesperson.

Just then, there was a commotion in the adjoining room; much clapping and celebration, and another Congressman came running in with a box of mithai.

"We have found our actor! He's perfect for the role! No one can do it better!" he said.

And who is the person? we asked.

"Johnny Lever," he said. "After all, only he can do justice to the scene at the Press Club where Rahul denounces his own party's decision and questions the credibility of his Prime Minister!" u00a0