The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Anurag Ahire
Just hanging around
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A man takes up a unique vantage point as he hangs off a tree branch in the morning at Nariman Point.
After Zara, who?
The Zara showroom in Ismail Building at Fort. Pic/Ashish Raje
Even as the Spanish fast fashion retail brand shut down its flagship store in Fountain, this diarist has learnt that its sister brand Bershka will open its first store at Phoenix Palladium later this week. It’s been brought to India by Inditex Trent, which is a partnership between Inditex that owns both Zara and Bershka, and Tata Trent, the retail arm of the Tata Group. The invite for the opening read: “This marks a major milestone as the brand continues its expansion into one of the most dynamic and fast-growing fashion markets in the world.” Daniel Bret, communication director at Bershka-Inditex, will also be in Mumbai for the launch. Now, we could just be speculating, but maybe, the space at the over-110-year-old Ismail Building, the heritage site that housed the brand could become a Bershka store in the future? A senior fashion writer contextualised it for us, “Bershka may not have the budget for the same.” Rumours are also floating that Galeries Lafayette, the upmarket French department store chain, may move in instead. Given the sensitive restoration of the building into a swish, five-storeyed space by conservation architects Kirtida Unwalla and Mona Sanghvi with Zara’s in-house team of architects in 2017, we’ll be closely watching to see who the next chic occupant of this prized address is.
Laughter rewind
The note detailing his BlueFrog gig
Stand-up comedian Joel D’Souza’s little pink notebook sent us down a nostalgia rabbit hole recently. The comic shared snippets from his journal, a practice of his early years, on his social media last week. “It was a notebook given to me by a friend. I started doing stand-up sets in December 2015. I used to journal as a habit. This was my way of noting down the experience, and keeping a record. I never thought I’d be doing this 10 year down the line,” he admitted. From crowd reaction to co-performers, D’Souza’s notebook also carries memories of venues that were once hallmarks for performances in the city. “There was BlueFrog, Hive and AntiSocial [the Khar branch]. They were fun gigs. But then, not all of them were shaped specifically for stand-up comedy,” D’Souza reminisced.
Canvassing for the king
Rahul Maurya works on the graffiti mural of cricketer Virat Kohli
You don’t need us to explain what cricket-mania means in a city where tennis balls are hit for sixes in gullies every day. Chakala’s new Classic 7 Sports Turf is hopping on the bandwagon with a mural of cricketer Virat Kohli in time for his 51st ODI ton last weekend. City-based graffiti artist Rahul Maurya aka Alchemy told us, “With Kohli’s mural completed, we’re planning to paint a tribute to the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant and other top athletes on the 28x10 ft wall soon.” Owner and footballer Leonardo D’Mello added, “For young footballers who will visit us soon, I hope the new space with the visuals serves as a reminder to give the game their 100 per cent effort.”
Masterful shuttle service on court
Sandeep Mohan (in purple) at practice
Filmmaker Sandeep Mohan is shuttling hard across the city this week. The Shreelancer (2017) director finished runners-up alongside Ashish Khedikar at the Maharashtra State Masters Badminton selection tournament held at CCI (Cricket Club of India) last weekend. “This is the selection tour for state representation in the National tournament to be held in March. We won the first leg, but finished runners up in the second leg. Now, we have to play a final match to qualify for national selection,” Mohan told this diarist.
Aussies’ April takeover in SoBo
DJ FISHER during a performance. Pic Courtesy/Instagram
Come April, the buttoned-up business suit brigade at Ballard Estate might need to carry a hip dress change. The city will get a few new visitors from Down Under keen to turn the business district into their dance floor. House music pioneers DJ FISHER (above) and Chris Lake will be hosting an adaptation of their Hollywood Boulevard set titled Bollywood Boulevard on April 20. The concert is a reimagination of their acclaimed ‘Under Construction’ series for the Subcontinent tour. FISHER shared, “Chris and I are bringing the ‘Under Construction’ mayhem to Mumbai, and it’s going to be absolutely mental. Expect the unexpected because we are going to turn Ballard Estate into the biggest dance floor you have ever stepped into.”
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