Coffee with KJO followed with a round of golf?

Karan Johar

The last time we had witnessed a film personality interview him, was when writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar went man o man with Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, the motorcycle riding, golf playing savant of the Isha Foundation. It had not been a happy encounter. The left leaning Akhtar's contempt for god men and their spiritual mumbo jumbo was barely concealed, and by the end of it the Sadhguru's familiar beatific smile was strained at the edges. This time round, things might be a bit jollier when His Groovy Holiness gets to be interrogated by this Gen's version of a Bollywood influencer: Sri Sri Karan Johar himself. The event, billed as part of the 'In Conversation with the Mystic' series, will take place over the weekend at the NSCI Dome, and is expected to draw a sizable following of Sadhguru's devotees.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

"Whether it's filmmaking with Shekhar Kapur, business with KV Kamath, or whacking sixers with Virender Sehwag, Sadhguru offers refreshing and unique insights on every aspect of life," informs a spokesperson of the guru.

Oh, one more thing. Given its proximity to the Willingdon Club and its undulating golf course, there's every chance that the creator of inner engineering for mankind's salvation will nip across the fence for a quick game of golf. He's been known to have done so before.

Parth and Anushree Jindal, Sangeeta and Sajjan Jindal, and Uday and Nunu Jasani

Round of celebrations
We bumped into young industrialist Parth Jindal, on the eve of his 27th birthday last week, at a food event at a five-star. Jindal was hosting a table for a few close friends to bring in the occasion, before flying out to celebrate his party the following day. The alumnus of Brown, who divides his time between working with JSW Steel and his responsibility as CEO of Bengaluru FC (a football club in the I-League), was joined at the table for the cake cutting by his parents, Sangeeta and Sajjan Jindal, who had dropped in after dining at the Japanese restaurant next door. And the following day saw the whole family join the birthday boy and his wife Anushree for a celebratory dinner, with in-laws Nunu and Uday Jasani joining in the fun. "Besides his birthday, the couple were also felicitated for their first wedding anniversary," said one of the guests.

Suhel Seth and Robert Vadra at the former's birthday party at Delhi

Old friends and some aam aadmi too
As expected it was a well-heeled crowd of Delhi's movers and shakers that had gathered to bring in Suhel Seth's 54th birthday on Sunday afternoon. From UPA heavy weights like Sheila Dikshit and Natwar Singh, ad guru Piyush Pandey, sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan with wife Subhalaxmi, tycoons Sunil Munjal and Rajan Mittal, publisher Shobhana Bhartiya, press secretary to the President of India Venu Rajamony, and TV magnate Rajat Sharma, to a flurry of long limbed lasses who appeared to hang on to the bouncing bachelor's every word, it was a brunch to remember.

"It was the same guest list I've always had," said Seth the next day from Mumbai where another flurry of parties awaited him. "Unlike the usual practice of updating lists to factor in who's in and who's out, I don't change my friends," he said.

"Arun Jaitley would have been there too, as always, but he had an out of town commitment to attend. In fact Sheila ji and Natwar joked that they meet every year at my place on the same occasion and the only thing that has changed this year is the sofa set!" he said, referring to his recent change of address to Gurgaon.

However one man appeared to be a new face amongst the crowd. That of Robert (Mango Man) Vadra. "I've known Robert for 20 years," said Seth. "And he's come many times before too. As you can see, I don't change my friends for political expediency."

Shah Rukh Khan and Suneeta Rao

Unfair and not beautiful
Kudos to singer Suneeta Rao for her spirited stand against her popular song, 'Paree Hoon Main', being used without her consent in a TV commercial featuring SRK endorsing a fairness cream.

"The song has been misused and placed in the wrong context, and I'd like to make it very clear, at the very outset, that I do not endorse the views of the brand or the ad in any way whatsoever…," she posted on social media this week.

"When a high-profile brand, a reputed agency and an intelligent superstar come together and create an ad, that can at best be described as prejudiced, narrow minded, and insensitive, knowing fully well that there are a million impressionable minds out there who are believing blindly and lapping up what is being offered up on the screen, one wonders whether the 'influencers' really care about the influence they have, or whether it's just a purely greedy business that generates money without a thought for the social implications of their actions," she thundered.

Rao's diatribe did not limit itself with objectionable colour discriminations and went on to herald an end to all manner of prejudices and inequalities. "This is also the coming out age," she said. "Gays and lesbians are coming out of the closet, women are speaking out against abuse, women workers are demanding better pay… there is outrage against injustice and a demand for dignity. So anything that goes against this belongs to the dark ages," she ended. We agree except to add a further point : phrases like 'dark ages' used in a pejorative way should also go.

Ashok and Reena Wadhwa

Hello Bollywood?
Reena and Ashok Wadhwa who we met at the launch party of 'Hello Guppy,' AD Singh's zeitgeist pop Japanese café, are among a handful of SoBoites who've recently relocated to BKC. "I don't miss Cuffe Parade at all," said Reena emphatically about her erstwhile neighbourhood. "There are enough restaurants in BKC. Soon we are going to have world class shopping malls and entertainment centres with state of the art multiplexes," she said, adding, "But more than any thing else, living here means that I can get to work and back much faster. I'm out of the house at 9 am and back late in the evening."

It might get even later than that. When asked by a fellow diner if the tv and film producing owner of the Gucci franchise in Mumbai was still producing movies, she replied, "Yes. But I'm also planning to act in them soon."