Boman birthday pranked

Boman Irani (standing second from right) with family and friends in Shillim

Trust the funny men to come up with the best pranks. Actor Boman Irani, who celebrated his birthday this week found himself at the receiving end of a well choreographed gag under the guidance of his wife Zenobia, and his son the actor Kayoze Irani, his manager had booked him a speaking gig at a weekend ‘corporate event' to be held at a hotel in Shillim.

Of course, Irani had no clue that instead of a boring old corporate gig for out of town (and often out to lunch) executives, it was his surprise birthday party. "Dad opened the door and saw all of us staring silently at him," says Kayoze, adding, "I think he just stood there shocked. Not knowing what the hell was going on as he thought he was coming for a show. After the surprise he still asked if there was a show or not. It just worked out beautifully."

Incidentally, the reason why Irani saw a group of silent faces staring at him when he opened the door of his room was for an even more hilarious reason. "We'd been cautioned that yelling "Surprise!!' with so many elderly Parsis around might result in heart seizures - so we all respectfully stared at him when he opened the door," says close buddy Kunal Vijayakar. Imagine the sight!

A few of her favourite things
"Beautiful gardens and flowers are so therapeutic and healing," says Dr Swati Piramal about one of her pet projects: the second installment of The Vaikunth Flower Show, which was billed among the ‘Top 5 Flower Shows in the World' last year. "We need them so much, especially in these times," she says.

Dr Swati Piramal

"At Vaikunth Piramal we have a display of over one million flowers, 22 themed-gardens, 5,000 hand-painted lanterns by children to entertain guests of all ages," she says she said about the show opening this weekend.

Piramal, who is a scientist involved in healthcare, and is married to industrialist Ajay Piramal, is passionate about some of life's finest things: desserts, horticulture and the arts. "This year's theme is ‘Blue Gold - Indigo, the Flower of Freedom' to serve as a fitting tribute to the ‘Champaran Satyagraha' championed by Mahatma Gandhi," she says.

Who was the loveliest...?
Word comes in that there was a big bash thrown in honour of a famous fashion designer to celebrate a landmark occasion at a suburban five-star hotel recently. And though the designer had ensured that all his star friends were in attendance and posed for the shutterbugs in a show of star power, he seemingly forgot to make sure they all attended wearing his creations.

Thus you had some of the fairest and most celebrated names show up in creations by another er ... equally celebrated designer label. And though we would not be so foolish as to hazard which guests shone brighter, the talk of the town the next day was which designer has stolen the show...the one who the party had been for, or his peers (and good friends) who'd inadvertently stolen the show.

As they say: there's no business like show business!

From the outside in
As is known the mannequin challenge has taken the world by storm and is this season's answer to the ‘ice bucket challenge,' and other viral initiatives endorsed by celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and Adele etc.

Pernia Qureshi and Roohi Jaikishan

This past weekend saw Mumbai take its own mannequin challenge at a glamorous dinner put together by Roohi Jaikishan in honour of visiting internationally celebrated designer Bibhu Mohapatra (currently America's designer du jour having dressed both Michelle Obama and Melania Trump) Mohapatra's exquisite curation of the ambience and the whimsical quotes he'd scattered on post-its of his bon mots, along with Jaikishan's famous cuisine, saw the likes of Pernia Qureshi, Smriti Kanoria and Asheish Shah gather around the table.

Subodhâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Gupta and Bibhu Mohapatra

And the edgy mannequin challenge video shot by Shah and posted on social media where it's already received much attention, was one of the evening's high lights with the hostess and her husband Chetan turn statue in a striking embrace, while others like Subodh Gupta, Surily Goel, Laila Mallaya Singh struck equally arresting stances!

Michelle Obama and Melania Trump

The evening's best takeaway? Mohapatra's comment that when as a little boy he'd visit Bombay from Orissa, and fantasise about the people living behind those impressive doors, he'd never imagined that someday they'd be hosting soirees in his honour...

Have jodhpurs, will travel
A most delicious serving of the capital's well-heeled, middle-aged and restless, along with a few leading lights from across the country, spent the weekend in Jaipur, celebrating the birthday of the Delhi-based Monish Bali, one of the cherished of their tribe. Bali and his family are said to be amongst the capital's best hosts, with a sumptuous private lounge in their basement with hospitality said to be king size too.

AD Singh, JJ Vallaya and co. at Yuvraj Singh's wedding and (right) atâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Bali's do

They are reported to be in the spirits business with an abiding interest in cricket. No surprises then, that the weekend which featured much wining and dining saw the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, JJ Vallaya, the brothers Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan, and AD Singh attired in full modern Maharaja regalia: Polo Tees, brocade Nehru jackets and of course, jodhpurs.

"The highlight was the black tie dinner at the Bali owned restaurant at the Fort, and the fact that actor Bobby Deol regaled the guests with an all night (impromptu) singing session," says a source. No surprises either, that more or less the same individuals just packed their party clothes and their Alka Seltzers, and moved on the morning after to the other big event on their social calendar - the Yuvraj Singh-Helen Keech nuptials in Goa (see pictorial evidence).