Roving Eye

Love potion

The Avdhi food festival at the Oberoi, which calls itself Mumbai’s answer to Viagra, has attracted many of the city’s best known faces. Among those who have been spotted there are Shobha and Dilip De, Anil Ambani, Moon Moon Sen who came with her daughter, and `foodie’ Karen Anand. It seems that they all want to know what effect the food would have on them! Apparently, the festival came about when Chef Jiggs Kalra was going through archival material on Indian food and stumbled on the fact that food and sex have a direct relation. So, while Viagra may be dominating the headlines, his Avandhi food festival comes at a time when arousal of the sensesis on everyone’s mind. And what is this chef’s secret concoction, his answer to the heart-shaped blue bills that have Pfizer laughing all the way to the bank? He uses crushed pearls and coral. Often the total cost of the masalas alone takes the tab to Rs 4.5 lakh.

Art debate

Sangeeta Jindal’s Art India held its first debate at Jindal Mansion, on Saturday. The topic up for discussion was whether group art shows should have a thematic focus or not. Saying `no’ was the Art Trust’s Vickram Sethi and saying `yes, they should’ was the artist from the Baroda school, Rekha Rodwitta. Also airing their views were Harsh Goenka, Jehangir Sabavala, Jehangir Nicholson and Lakshman Shresta. The debate — which started and finished on time — was summed up by the new editor of Art India, Girish Shahane, who stood on the fence.

Gym dance

Idea, the gym at Hughes Road run by the glam duo of Sunita Kapoor and Anita Shivdasani, held a lunch for all their members on Sunday. And it turned out tobe a rocking affair with former CNBC correspondent and now gym trainer, Lopa Kothari, singing to the tune of work-out fiends letting their hair down and enjoying a glass of beer or wine. The exercise studio was turned into a dance floor with Sunita Kapoor and Anita’s husband, Juggy, dancing away. But the real highlight was the appearance of Anil Kapoor, dressed in all black and still wearing his sunglasses. He may have made a fleeting appearance but he really seemed to enjoy the live music. Other members spotted there were Rita Dhody and Vineeta and Anish Trivedi.

Music mayhem

The audio cassette of Feroz Khan’s magnum opus (at least that is what they are telling us) Prem Aggan was released by Sanjay Dutt and Manisha Koirala on Saturday night. The bash, held at the grand ballroom of The Leela, was everything that befits a man of Feroz Khan’s style, flash and dash. Resplendence and opulence reigned, while a whole host of singers and music directors rubbed shoulders with the handful of starsthat made the evening glitter. There was also a live performance by Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sadhana Sargam and Udit Narayan. They sang to the walls while people devoured the feast they had been waiting for — for a whole two and a half hours. The funniest part about the evening — and you must know this — was Meghna Kothari’s (the film’s heroine) rounder-than-a-ripe-plum mother, rolling at Anu Malik’s feet. Wonder if it was too much euphoria or too much liquor drunk to celebrate beti snagging the coveted role opposite baby-face Fardeen Khan. Probably both.

Close up

In sharp contrast was the Kareeb premiere, on Thursday night. It started by 8:30 pm and finished by 11:30 pm. The stars all showed up and the newly-renovated Liberty Theatre was truly sparkling. Among those spotted at the hall and associated with the film were Vidhu Vinod Chopra and his wife Anupama — to whom the film was dedicated, Vir Chopra (his brother), author Vikram Chandra, his mother and writer of the film, Kamna Chandra,Anu Malik, Bobby Deol (with wife — apparently for her first premiere) and Neha (Chopra’s find who is even prettier in real life), Johnny Lever and Saurabh Shukla. Other film industrywallahs there were Mira Nair, Ramesh Sippy and Dilip Kumar. Incidentally, the yellow dupatta that was there in the film’s promos was also draped in the movie hall.

And on the first floor there was a show window that exhibited the clothes that the hero and heroine wore. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s marketing ability reigns supreme.

Writer’s nite

Dom Moraes turned 60 yesterday. And to bring in his birthday, on Saturday, two close friends — Sarayu Ahuja, editor of Indian Architect and Builder and Jeet Thayil, literary editor, Gentleman — threw a surprise party for him at the Artist’s Centre, Kala Ghoda. Those who turned up to wish the poet were Vikram Chandra, Daryl DeMonte and Malvika Sanghvi. It was a typical gathering of poets, writers, film-makers and architects, where along with booze, waiters were alsoserving cigarettes on salvers. Though the air hung heavy with wine and smoke, it was quite a retrospective evening. A nice touch was a collection of Dom’s poems framed and hung on the walls.

And finally…

Model Marc Robinson and Aditi Govitrikar were seen walking in to the Oberoi’s rooftop together. Now why are we mentioning this at all? Apparently, it is not surprising to see this couple together all the time. And so what if Aditi is meant to be engaged to someone else. An old-time boyfriend. It seems that the vibes between these two models is so hot — that even they are finding it hard to handle the chemistry. Everyone is talking about this and even people at the function commented on how cosy they seemed.

Now, that finally explains why Marc cannot stop raving about Aditi. He always prefaces "most beautiful woman" before her name, whenever the word Aditi is mentioned.

More longing in Mumbai

On Saturday afternoon, Canada’s vice consul Sanjeev Chowdhury persuaded the city not tosleep. He had organised an intimate get together to meet the author Vikram Chandra. Over tea, fresh juice and endless canapes, Chandra’s parents, Rati Godrej and Jaideep Mehrotra mingled with media personalities Manjit Kripalani, Society’s Lalita Abreu, Shernaz Dinshaw and Farzana Contractor. After an hour of conversation, Chowdhury invited Chandra to read from his work in progress. An introduction, he read a tract from Love and Longing in Bombay, and then from the second chapter of his second novel. The main protagonist is the police officer Sartaj Singh and from the sections that he read, it was obvious that the city has claimed Chandra once again. In return the author gives Mumbai prose that is stark, terse and close to home. Chandra’s new novel is more violent than his earlier works but then so is the city.