Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Wasn't that you?
Banker-singer and Mrs CM Amruta Fadnavis shares a moment with philanthropist Neerja Birla on the sets of a TV show at a Bandra venue. Pic/Sameer Markande

Salita Nanda (in black) poses with models sporting her Ophelia collection

Indian in Paris
All designers dream of showcasing their collection at the Paris Fashion Week. And this year, the prestigious event, which begins today, will make that same dream of Mumbai girl Salita Nanda come true as she shows her collection, Ophelia. The designer, who launched her eponymous label in 2015 at a fashion week in Mumbai, gets her inspiration from the central female character in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. "She's a woman who is madly in love and her obsession leads her to a state of hallucination, where flowers and birds talk and tease her about her lover. She is empowered by her own madness," the designer said about the collection.

Museum memories
Eminent art historian and former director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, was in the city as a guest speaker at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vaastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) as part of the centenary commemoration year of Sir Ratan Tata, who had bequeathed a sizeable collection from his private ownership to the museum soon after it was established. While delivering a lecture themed around Museums, Memories and Identities, he quoted examples from establishments across the globe. Talking specifically about the CSMVS, he said that it is an exemplary museum as it was formed by the people of Mumbai and not by colonial entities. He also mentioned that the encyclopaedic collections are symbolic of multiple narratives where similarities and differences are celebrated. "Museums the world over should abstain from ideas that create a sense of 'us versus them'," he said.

A book with filmy chills and thrills
Horror, thriller and suspense movies have been staple subjects in Hindi films for many years. And a new book – A Touch of Evil – now dissects 300 such titles, including Teesri Manzil, Darr and Kahani. Industrialist Dhruv Somani, who is a first-time author, has written it, and when we asked him to share a piece of trivia from the book, he said, "Mahal [1949] was the first film that opened the Pandora's Box for films based on the supernatural. And in those days, singers' names were not mentioned on the gramophone records. So, the radio station of the time, Vivid Bharti, was flooded with phone calls from people asking for the name of the singer who sang the haunting Aayeega Aanewala."

Not a waste
Unless you have been living under a rock, you would know that the issue of plastic waste is a hot topic in Mumbai these days, what with the state government having banned single-use plastic items. Now, to further highlight the threat that this menace causes to the environment, an artist named Sage has created an installation made completely out of waste plastic, which is on display at Bandra Reclamation. It's an eerie monster, and the work is titled It Never Goes Away.

A step towards an inclusive society
Here's a move towards making India a more inclusive society. A rather unique workshop, TRANSaction: Free Acting Workshops for the Indian Transgender Community, will be held next week. The idea is to ensure that interested transgender people know how to navigate the film industry, be it understanding the casting procedure or meeting important people. The two experts conducting the workshops are actor Kalki Kochelin (in pic) and casting director Tess Joseph. We have often come across transgender people in Hindi films, but rarely have we seen such a high-profile workshop aimed directly at them. Kudos to the idea.

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