As is known, we are on the verge of being swept away by the Justin Bieber tidal wave, as this generation's version of Elvis, Michael Jackson and The Beatles performs in amchi Mumbai this week
Justin Bieber
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As is known, we are on the verge of being swept away by the Justin Bieber tidal wave, as this generation's version of Elvis, Michael Jackson and The Beatles performs in amchi Mumbai this week. And as it happened last evening, we were afforded an insight into one of the highlights of the concert - the role of Sri Lankan beauty and Bollywood star Jacqueline Fernandez - who has been chosen by the Bieber team to play host to the 'Boy Wonder', during his India leg of the concert.
Shah Rukh Khan
"One of Jackie's main responsibilities is that she is hosting a really cool backstage party for exactly 20 of her friends during the concert," said a source close to the star. "This will include many of her Bollywood pals like SRK, Varun Dhawan, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Siddharth Malhotra, Arjun Kapoor and many others, along with her bestie-like-architect Ashiesh Shah," she said. "They will be watching the concert in a special enclosure behind the stage, where not only will they be able to have a private party while they view the Bieber magic, but also they can step out and see the audience if they feel like," said the source, adding, "Of course, there will be food and drinks served and a real fun atmo."
Jacqueline Fernandez
Sounds like quite a party, we said. Who are the lucky 20? "We do not know who is in town and who is showing up," said the insider. "Jackie, who is currently shooting in London for 'Judwaa 2', has sent out messages to all her close pals, inviting them, and there will certainly be a turnout of some of the industry's biggest stars.
Alia Bhatt
To hang out backstage with Bieber - the biggest act in town - while he takes Mumbai by storm, while playing video games or even (the mind boggles) taking a dip in his specially requested jacuzzi, appears to be some kind of a life-defining moment for a Belieber or even your garden variety superstar, we remarked.
After all, the association can spin into major social media traction, amongst other things. How on earth did Fernandez choose her list of lucky 20 and isn't there a chance that those who did not get invited might take offence?
"Yes that's the thing!" said the source, adding, "Word had got around in the industry and Jackie's phone has not stopped ringing!" "And you cannot imagine the kind of people who are asking to crash her party," said the source. Oh boy!
Bandra's new besties
Guess who are the new besties in town? Bollywood designer Manish Malhotra and builder Imtiaz Khatri. The Bandra boys are often spotted hanging out together at different watering holes in the city. Khatri's company had also sponsored the Shabana Azmi's Mijwan show a couple of months ago, where SRK and Anushka Sharma had been the showstoppers.
Manish Malhotra and Imtiaz Khatri with members of Panchshil group
This weekend, the duo jetted off in a private jet 'PJ' to Pune together and posted a picture of themselves, while they did so. Sources say that the trip was to meet with the Panchshil group, one of the city's leading builders, who have developed a project with the current incumbent at the White House.
Does the trip mean there might be a business venture involving Malhotra in the works? Will the Malhotra, whose oeuvre is ever expanding, be roped in to design for the group's upcoming projects? Will the Orange Wonder's name be involved? Watch this space.
Archana Vijaya
The joke's on you
Good to catch up with Archana Vijaya, whose live anchoring with Gaurav Kapur on the post-match show has been attracting eyeballs. "It's always a challenge, as I was there for the entire show with cricketing legends. And this time, I had two batting superstars on the show, Sunil Gavaskar and Mathew Hayden," she said.
Archana Vijaya with Sunil Gavaskar
Any memorable incidents? "Yes. During the KXIP vs RCB match," she says, adding, "In the middle of the show, they played a prank on me, said I was going on air, and as I began speaking, Gaurav got up and wandered off. I continued, making a joke of it, only to later find out we were still on an AD break!" she laughs. "They got me, but I handled it super well. Practice makes perfect, I guess!" she says.
Yahel Chirinian
Beauty, magic, enchantment
"My creations are in direct dialogue with the environment. The light pixels that I use in my works make possible a new aesthetic," says our friend, the Goa-based French visual artist Yahel Chirinian, about this stunning portrait of her latest creations, a pair of birds which she photographed herself against a Goa beachscape and titled it simply '7.15 am'.
An environmental installation art piece
"True beauty is moving. When something is beautiful it creates an incredibly positive environment," she said, adding, "Beauty, magic, enchantment, serenity, mystery, silence, privacy, inspiration and astonishment have disappeared from art, architectural, lifestyle and design publications, but have found a loving place in my creations."
Chirinian, who lives and works in a spacious and rambling home-cum-studio in Arpora, and whose work has included private interiors, hotels, restaurants, private islands amongst other things, is one of Goa's pioneering settlers, an artist whose work and life inform each other in a synergist flow.
"Creating is a way of being, not just thinking or feeling, but being with things that are disparate, invisible, mysterious and unresolved. I create like I breathe," she said yesterday, only a few hours after she'd cast her vote in the much-watched French polls. "Tonight I will be watching TV eagerly for the results," she informed.
What price success?
The adage 'when it rains, it pours' could not be better exemplified, as in the case of Souvid Datta, once the poster boy of Indian photo journalism, feted and awarded by the international community of lensmen, who was recently exposed for his mind-bogglingly stupid plagiarism of a photograph of legendary photographer Mary Ellen Mark!
Since then, Datta has accepted his error and tried to explain his misdemeanor, but his case has not been helped by the fact that even as his apology was making the rounds, other equally unforgivable acts emerged. Out of these none has been so shocking as the one made public by one of the country's most celebrated art photographers, a lady of substance and style, who has pointed to what must surely be one of the most outstanding acts of cynicism on Dutta's part, a picture by him supposedly featuring a minor being 'raped', to advertise a major photogra-phy content.
"@souviddutta, did you really stand over a girl being raped and take a photograph? Is this true? Is it possible? Are you sick?" asked the leading photographer on a social media platform over the weekend, adding, "@souviddatta got consent from a minor girl to photograph her being raped. Was she being raped in the first place or was the whole exercise a set up by the photographer? I think the whole photo was a set up, and the rape story added to the caption to make it more appealing to a magazine/ award."
Incidentally, whereas the Datta case brings into focus the many issues that beset photojournalism in a new media environment, what it ought to also bring up for scrutiny is the tyranny of success and the depths people are prepared to sink to, to attain it at any cost. As his senior and far more sensible peer remarked about Dutta's shabby behaviour, "It makes me sick to even write this." Indeed.
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