That Chauhan Girl Again #Review: Those Pricey Thakur Girls

20 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Art, Literature & Culture, Publication: Verve Magazine

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Published: Verve Magazine, March 2013, Nerve/Reviews

As her previous two books roll on the floors as films, ad and screenplay writer, Anuja Chauhan is out with a third novel, which also promises a sequel

Image

For any chick-lit fan, Anuja Chauhan is a breath of fresh air. She set the stage with The Zoya Factor, ensuring that we get her milieu of razor-sharp wit, desi mise en scene, irreverent metaphors and vivid character sketches. She took it a notch further by moving away from the city grime into rural dust with Battle for Bittora, her second novel. Those Pricey Thakur Girls arrive in small-town Delhi, with middle-class morality and the desire to be strong independent women. But here she places the story in the 80s, where at every stage you are familiarising yourself with a time that seems far removed from today. It’s the time of Doordarshan, tweaked to be Desh Darpan, a time when the Emergency is still fresh in everyone’s mind, when free speech is something to be treasured and fought for. Her protagonists are a newsreader and an investigative journalist, which makes them snooty about their respective jobs as well as their differing personalities. In the midst of revolutionary thoughts, careers and salary slips, a budding romance blossoms where Debjani Thakur, the feisty but incredibly shy newsreader falls prey to Dylan Singh Shekhawat’s charms.

Chauhan treats the light-hearted women’s fiction genre with remarkable personality. There is no rallying to western chick lit; there isn’t a desperate desiness, she has made it her own with a mix of gentility and local rootedness, which she claims is nothing but “the space we all live in! This is life in India aaj kal. I’m just writing down what I see around me, every day.” After all, Chauhan grew up in a house full of girls and has two of her own. It’s not hard to see that she leans towards the darkly determined men, who are at the heart of the matter, decent. Chauhan’s wickedly humourous romances are always marked with a foray into something new while being strangely, and comfortingly, familiar. Until the sequel, then.

Q & A – ANUJA CHAUHAN

Fame – either accidental or unsolicited – accompanies the stories of your protagonists.
I just enjoy a big fat public declaration of love. When it finally happens, everybody should see, everybody should know. And so Zoya (in The Zoya Factor) dates the cricket captain, Jinni (in Battle For Bittora) embraces her political rival and makes the front pages and Debjani does… um, what she does. Maybe that’s very cheesy of me – but I think a little cheese is required in our daily diet. I like putting my protagonists in peculiar predicaments and seeing which way they’ll jump.

Why is the book set in the 80s?
Nostalgia I think. I found I was spending a lot of time telling my kids (11, 14 and 17) how life was ‘back then’ when I was growing up. No Pepsi, no pizza delivery, only DD on TV. Besides, something about this book, about five sisters growing up in a big old house with a walled garden, just felt right in the 80s. Also, maybe this was just a reaction to the kind of snappy, sassy, glossy books that are flooding the bookstores, full of ‘bold’ girls and ‘jerk’ guys, I felt like I wanted to write old-fashioned romance – no texts, only letters, no sex, only kisses.

And the darkly determined young men going after your girls…?
I do admit to the darkly determined. I don’t like fair men – I can’t write them. And I detest ditherers, so that’s out too.

A Focussed Affair: Mumbai’s on-going Focus Festival

19 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Art, Literature & Culture, Publication: Verve Magazine

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

,

Published: Verve Magazine, March 2013, Framed

This month, the hotbed of Mumbai’s arts and culture scene throws its doors open to still visuals. Verve gives you a preview of the frames to come

Image

Image

Hot on the heels of the Kala Ghoda festival, where the lay person creates magic with his camera phone, snapping away at the thought-provoking installations on display, comes, FOCUS, Mumbai’s first free photography festival to be held in the last two weeks of this month. Not surprising then, is the theme of The City, where a range of budding and established photographers, both local and international, make their lens-way over to receptive centres in South Mumbai. In a bid to throw a deeper net and engage a wider audience, the exhibition runs with the usual suspects in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai, like the Terrace Gallery (Jehangir Art Complex) and the Max Mueller Bhavan Gallery (Rampart Row) and onto fresh faces like Bombay Electric, Bungalow 8, Design Temple, Filter, Good Earth, Hermes and Kala Ghoda Café.

From early Bombay images (1850-1890) curated by academic Susan Hapgood to contemporary photography by women curated by photographer Sunil Gupta and curator Veerangana Solanki, from Risham Syed’s Metropolyptical: A Tale of a City to Sooni Taraporevala’s Parsis: The Zoroastrians of India, from talks, workshops, photography books and magazines to portfolio review sessions…FOCUS, co-founded by Nicola Antaki, Elise Foster Vander Elst and Matthieu Foss, promises to be a dynamic vision of the future.

Image
Q&A WITH MATTHIEU FOSS

WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THE CITY AS A POWERFUL VISUAL METAPHOR?
The City, as a backdrop for the lives of the majority of the word’s population is a tremendous source of inspiration for photographers. We wish to present photo projects from the very local, to much wider global contexts – from a photo-journalistic point of view as well as from more artistic interpretations, from issues pertaining to local routine, as well as more aesthetic studies on architecture and urbanism. Images from Mumbai will co-exist with some from cities around the world thus encouraging constructive dialogue.

YOU’VE OPENED UP NON-GALLERY SPACES LIKE CAFÉS AND STORES TO A PHOTOGRAPHY DIALOGUE….
A festival is the ideal way to create bridges between communities on a particular subject or art form, and with exhibitions and events taking place throughout the city in traditional spaces as well as alternative ones, we will benefit from an exciting cross-pollination of audiences and create true synergies.

Image

The $50,000 sanctuary

11 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by in Musings

≈ 1 Comment

Yesterday, I came across a lady who received an award from the Jain community in America for gathering $50,000 in funds – to build a temple. Now, as I have been informed by someone on Twitter, “Temples are spiritual centers, protectors of an ancient civilisation  They provide peace of mind to people.”

Yet, I wonder if that money couldn’t have been used for creating a better life for people. For instance, it could have supported villages with sanitation, better infrastructure, solar power facilities, water and irrigation, and even a school or two. It could provide livelihood via skills to many, it could improve the lives of thousands in real and measurable terms.

When will we stop using our money to create inanimate structures that in turn create emotional and psychological dependencies and instead just use the money towards the actual betterment of living things, towards making this a better world?

If temples were the answer to all our problems, we would have been a heavenly planet right now. Apparently, it’s not that simple – our world is not exactly a great place to live, and disparities only keep growing. Do temples solve any problems? Or do we hope that in it’s escapism we can find moksh?

A Man of Substance

22 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in Art, Literature & Culture, Publication: Verve Magazine

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Published: Verve Magazine, February 2013, Verve Diaries
Illustration by Wyanet Vaz

They may not all be tall, dark and handsome, but they have the ‘It’ factor that makes women swoon as they stride across the pages of fictional offerings through the years. The Verve girls pick their literary soulmate – men who have made them go weak at the knees. Mr Darcy apart!

diaries03A MAN OF SUBSTANCE
Richard Kane;
The Prodigal Daughter
Oh, those that weep over Heathcliff and turn into mush over Darcy and get all hot-and-bothered over a Grey or a Cullen, haven’t really met a regular guy – a banker-type person. Or really, a guy who had everything going for him and gave it all up to be with the girl he loves. Remember Jeffrey Archer’s Kane and Abel? Well, think about William Kane’s son, Richard, who appears in the sequel, The Prodigal Daughter. Tall, good-looking and ridiculously rich, he is the modern American Romeo, screwed over by a family feud. He falls in love with a Bloomingdale salesgirl – so much so that he goes in to buy gloves every day until he can muster up the courage to ask her out. In the midst of the courtship, he discovers she is actually an heiress to a fortune. Florentyna Rosnovski is the daughter of his father’s arch-rival and nemesis. After incurring the wrath of both families, they are forced to marry before he’s even finished with Harvard Business School.

He becomes an out-of-job, would-be banker, with nothing but a cello and $100, who has the gumption to tell his furious father, ‘You suffer like generations of our family, Father, from imagining money can buy everything. Your son is not for sale.’ While charting a banking career for himself, he joins forces with his entrepreneurial wife to make her the brand she is destined to become – quitting his job to come on board her venture. He has the courage and will to be independent of obligatory wealth and prove himself to the world and society…and he is secure enough in his own self-worth to help his wife become successful!

Oh, I can’t feel my knees.

Waiting for the gang….

22 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in Publication: Verve Magazine, Social Chronicles

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Published: Verve Magazine, February 2013, Nerve>Society

Cliques are strange circles, providing the ability to extend your own sense of self with a soulmate. But what happens when you get stuck with the one person whom you don’t get and one who just doesn’t get you?

You are the person looking in, waiting to be a part of the camaraderie, the shuffle, the Cha-Cha-Cha of conversation and friendship as if it were a graceful routine you can master. But then, on occasion, you may get stuck with a foolish wit, the Ernest kind, or daresay…a doppelgänger – someone who must be having a nefarious purpose in being a part of the universe, but appears unnaturally, and to be a part of yours.

One fine day, a major plan is made, wine and dine you must, to celebrate a special occasion, for which reason, the group plans to meet at a designated spot. Unfortunately the Wit and you are the only ones to arrive so far. Both of you sit in absurdist silence; manage to jerk out a few syllables on the day, the lateness of the others, irritated noises, frustrated gasps and a whole lot of grunting. It’s not too removed from the first time you have inexperienced sex while you are drunk and want to throw up. No one really knows what works. And it mostly doesn’t.

As most young women of today are trained in yoga for situations like these, deep breathing may work – and if you concentrate really hard, the unpleasantness of the creature in front of you can be ignored. And just when you are able to block him out of your radar, he chooses to launch. Into an involved conversation – to fill the nervous tension in the air. He’s grandly describing his immense and far-reaching connections – for a man with connections must be in want of an unfortunate sod to show them off to. He blathers on and you attempt to tune him out, painting mental pictures of a rose water bath or a peppermint scrub. And then you visualise his hairy arms soaking in the bath. Shudder.

You inadvertently look up at him and see a green leaf stuck in his tooth, and balk. Wondering whether you should mention it – for the sake of the group and everything. But that may mortify him further and create more nervous conversation. You suddenly notice he’s going on about lizards and earmuffs…what did you miss? You begin debating whether abandoning your gang at this stage in your life would be appropriate. Beat a hasty retreat, cut your losses et cetera.

While you never spent much time with this person when meeting in a group, you would never have anticipated being so incredibly out of sync. Do you all really work well together or are you merely victims of degrees of separation? Do you all exist as characters of a musical and the sounds of discord happen when each sur is heard separately. Perhaps you haven’t cultivated an individual identity – you are nothing more than a sum of all people. You hear a sound. The others have arrived. Snap.

Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola – Review

15 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by in Musings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola – a review

305308xcitefun-matru-ki-bijlee-ka-mandola

From the moment the promos hit the air, it promised to be a strange movie. But you hoped it was a good strange, or interesting strange. It suggested dark comedy, satire, farcical elements with a popular star cast and a winning director.

But when the time came to deliver, it could have been so much more. While one must admire Vishal Bharadwaj for making a film like this, which stemmed from his love for dharti mata, the hinterlands and Shakesperean tradition all combined, he stumbled in areas that he normally shouldn’t have. With Omkara (his Othello), Maqbool (his Macbeth) etc., he had clear direction. He took an Elizabethan setting and converted it to the darkness of a village in rural India. A milieu he understands well, a tradition he can well expand. With Matru…, he took the technique of social satire and farce and moved it to his familiar rural India. Without a strong Shakesperean story to fall back on, he flounders with a premise. Is he merely picking at the problems of rural farmers and their rich zamindars who are out to looto them? He deals with the topic with unwarranted superficiality. If one chooses not to be serious about a serious problem, then one must at the very least attempt to show some depth while plotting around it.

A good student of Shakespeare always has powerful characters and can sketch them well. Bharadwaj hasn’t failed before and doesn’t falter here either. All the characters come alive, are stand out performances and are believable, even if occasionally caricaturized on the premise of satire. Pankaj Kapur as the Jekyll-and-Hyde Mandola is brilliant, if a little too easy to manipulate towards a happy film ending. Bijlee is a free spirit and plays her role faultlessly. Matru is what the actor, Imran Khan, has described as a desi Che Guevara. Matru’s sophistication is obvious, but then we write it off as a Delhi-education that has softened the expected rough edges. Shabana Azmi’s politician and her witless son played by Arya Babbar appear the most caricaturized, but in the space of the film and it’s intentions, the OTT treatment is forgiven, in fact even acceptable.

For someone who should be a stickler for details, Bharadwaj seems to have ignored quite a few things. Why must Bijlee run amok shouting for Matru, when we are later shown Matru wielding a cell phone? How does Matru conveniently manage to pull a favour, get a check of money for his village, and then never have to worry about making the delivery 5 days later of the crop which is ruined? There was a chance to create pressure — those 5 days one would think would have been mentioned for a reason — but it never comes up, as time stands still and the village gets busy with Bijlee’s sudden wedding. Mandola has a remarkable change of heart, we don’t really understand why…and that’s a shame because everything seemed to be building up to him and his idiosyncrasies. It’s all very convenient, but it’s not sharp.

The dialogue on the other hand, is sharp. It’s witty and layered and the delivery is pretty good from all the characters, who show wonderful comic timing all the way. For once, the onus of comedy isn’t on the comic relief but is on all the characters, which is great thing for Indian cinema, especially when it comes to satire. However, the failing was language. With farce and dark humour, one would need one clear, easily decipherable language. Bharadwaj has used three: Hindi, English and Haryanvi, of which one is entirely alien to the multiplex audience and another alien to a single-screen audience. While Kapur is playing his character perfectly, slurring the words like a drunk, he is inadvertently making it harder for the audience to grasp all of what he’s saying, often having the viewer miss key points of humour. The director should have caught that. On the flip side, Khan with his crisp diction is actually easily understood even in his learned Haryanvi, making the experience lighter and easier for the multiplex audience.

All in all, a clever attempt but a near miss. It will go down in the books as something to be dissected, analysed and categorized. It is a film of no small significance, it’s just unfortunate how close it came to being a serious contender for something special. Not to mention, slash 20 min off the run time, it would have read as well and tightly as Delhi Belly, another mad caper film. And Matru… could have retained it’s rather good music.

 

Angry Bashers

15 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by in Humour, Publication: Verve Magazine, Social Chronicles

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Published: Verve Magazine, December 2012, Musings
Illustration: Wyanet Vaz

For the guests to be left dry and not high would be the death wish of a host trying to throw a successful party. 

At a very chic soiree on Malabar Hill recently, we arrived bearing gifts, an appetite and a desire to while the day’s annoyances away with a quencher. As we air kissed and settled into the plush little seating arrangements dotting the landscape, we pecked on a canapé (corn and mushroom tartlet, if you must know), as a waiter arrived with a tinkle of delicate glasses, swirls of orange rind and whiffs of lemongrass. The eyes of the general populace lit up in anticipation – wine or pink champagne is generally the order of the day, after all we were toasting the arrival of someone special – but if our hosts meant to serve up a unique cocktail, so be it. After all, many hosts try to create a unique stamp of their own. In their personalised branded brandy glasses come concoctions of intoxication brewed under their eagle eye – a special mix that can only be served in their home. We reached out for the glasses filled with pale grey liquid in unison, swishing about with promise; and as we touched it to our lips I could see eyes widen in confusion, shock and then distaste in one fluid motion.

Musings02

Coconut water! In whatever way it is served up, in however a fancy method of presentation, it isn’t rum. And as much as one pretends, one can’t get buzzed on it. The unfortunate truth about the parties of today is that it is less about the delicately-flavoured food and sharp repartees and more about the strength and calibre of the inebriating substance preceding or accompanying it. I could see the rumble of restlessness float through the guests, shifting eyes darting for an escape, some disbelieving glances flickering around for the host to come out and cackle, ‘Gotcha!’ and bring out the real stuff with a flourish. The men, whose throats suddenly went dry without their favourite tipple, found that their ability to hold the bejewelled lady next to them in witty conversation also faded away. A sudden appalling silence filled the room – and the brave ones continued whispering as they do when someone has passed away. The ambience of celebration and merriment became one of stilted sentences and uncomfortable silences. The charming hosts flitted from one gathering to another, in complete oblivion.

Bruschettas! They became the saviour of the party. Without the safety net of a drink in hand, the harried attendees began to stuff their faces. It would keep them safe from awkward conversations, for no polite company will talk with food in their mouth. If the servers appeared surprised that their trays replete with tasty little servings were getting depleted before they even reached half-way across the room, they were well-trained enough to not show it. And of course, they ran out of starters.

Meanwhile, as the older gentlemen bravely bore the no-show of their favourite buddies, Jack, Jim and Johnnie, and their wives tapped their arms comfortingly, the younger lot assumed that the youth of the house would have a bar tucked away in their part of the apartment. In fierce determination, the skinny little things and the six-pack guys flounced to the other side of the house in search for a better life. Their astonishment wasn’t quite as well masked, as they discovered that there weren’t even any miniatures tucked away under a silk cushion somewhere. After all, they were all game to pretend they were drinking nariyal paani – this was the generation adept at deception. At this stage, I could sense the beginnings of a rumbling – the signs of a no-booze-brawl were all there. The girls shifted uneasily in their sky-high strappies, the boys muttered angrily under their 8-o’clock-and-no-drink shadows.

The remonstrative voices seemed to get louder and louder until I was sure even the neighbours would soon realise that there was a teetotaller party happening on the premises. What if they called the cops? We wouldn’t even have a bottle of alcohol to gift them with! (In case you aren’t aware, the good man will meekly look the other way if you hand him a nice one over the security grill.)

As reality set in and everyone realised that there wasn’t much left to this party and even the toasties had run out, dinner was a quick affair. By 8:30pm dinner was served and by 9:00pm dinner was wrapped up. Everyone was now on a mission, with all the BlackBerrys and iPhones out and frantic messages being sent back and forth to find a place to drink to make up for the precious hours lost. Those who could bear eating on an alcohol-free stomach, piled their plates up high and freely commented on the delicious food. The hostess beamed with pleasure – she felt that she had, once again, nailed the party. The irony was possibly lost on her.

I salute the host who attempts to bring in a certain amount of sobriety to a social gathering. It’s become too much of the norm of polite society to have alcohol-laden veins to muscle butterfly evenings. Are we unable to conduct a decent conversation or enjoy the company of friends without generous splashes of booze? Is it our own inadequacies we need to overcome or are we suggesting that people around us are so intolerable that we need the crutch of intoxication? Shouldn’t it be the choice of the host to serve or not serve? Is a successful party one that lasts into the wee hours of the night where guests teeter and titter on pointlessly? Is it one where you can discuss the shenanigans of the evening with great zest all of the next day while nursing hangovers? Or is it popularly one where you can’t recall anything from the previous night, even how you got home?

At this particular one, I ate with great relish, enjoying the first party I had been to in a decade that actually laid out its meal at an earthly hour. At most others, we bravely nibble at the hors d’oeuvres trying to quell the loud hunger pangs that must surely be audible to all and sundry. Being soberly full is so much my choice of gathering than inebriated and hungry. But, as I observed with some amusement the various reactions to this party, I grimly made a mental note to pack in a punch at my own little do. Salt-laced Margaritas, I’m thinking. And apparently, nowadays, no one likes a virgin.

Musings01

 

Storytellers of 2012

15 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by in Art, Literature & Culture, Publication: Verve Magazine

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Published: Verve Magazine, January 2013, Features.

Evocative novels, edgy film scripts, gut-wrenching plays, gripping small screen plots, eye-catching ad campaigns, soulful inspired music and more…. A look at the ‘tales’ that hogged the headlines last year

JUHI CHATURVEDI
Dialogue, story and screenplay writer, Vicky Donor

The summer release, Vicky Donor, was set for disaster at the box office, with a bunch of unknowns and has-beens gathering together to talk about a subject like sperm donation and infertility, using humour as a base. The latter has never been a strong point with Indian cinema – either it ranges from the atrociously caricaturish and slapstick to the deeply offensive and crass. Vicky Donor’s scriptwriter, Juhi Chaturvedi, hails from an advertising background – and maybe that’s what gives her an edge and the confidence to tackle something different in a clever way. The humour in the film is nuanced and keeps in mind the sensitivity of the topic; it is never over-the-top or annoying. In fact, it manages to make a naturally taboo topic into a coffee-table conversation piece. The audience who fails to understand where a sperm donor is coming from is as close-minded as the girl who slaps Vicky when she discovers what he does for a living, and yet you sympathise with her state – because she has to date a sperm donor. Every situation is dealt with, with depth and a realistic understanding of human nature. The characters come alive as true and believable, identifiable even in their Delhi-Punju-ness. The local area becomes relevant to any metro, the dialogues have punch, the story has character and every character tells a story. For a big screen debutante, this is no mean feat.

ADVAITA KALA AND SUJOY GHOSH
Storywriter and screenplay writer, Kahaani

An unexpected hit at the box office, the primary factor in favour of this movie is its thriller of a story with a gripping screenplay. While there may have been enough people who could have predicted the end – and it’s shocker of a twist – it can be safely said that this is a film that will be remembered for some time to come. A pregnant woman roaming the by-lanes of Kolkata in search of her missing husband sounds scary in itself, but the very fact that no one appears to remember her husband pushes the suspense up many notches. This could have gone wrong in so many areas – the pace could have been just too slow, not enough happening to hold interest, too much violence, too few characters…but the script kept a tight grip on the correct formula and produced a good film, ably brought to life by the cast, particularly the lead, Vidya Balan.

SALMAN RUSHDIE
Author, Joseph Anton

‘“How does it feel,” she asked him, “to know that you have just been sentenced to death by the Ayatollah Khomeini?” It was a sunny Tuesday in London, but the question shut out the light.’ This, in a nutshell, is what Rushdie’s latest offering is about. After taking us through the sordid world of religion and life, weaving wands of historic fiction and magic realism, he has now turned autobiographical, talking about the years of his life following the fatwa that had been issued by the ‘spiritual’ and political leader of Iran. Angered by Rushdie’s apparently blasphemous novel, The Satanic Verses, Muslims had been ordered to kill Rushdie in 1989. The moments that followed, the incidents that transpired and the breathlessness with which he lived has been documented, rather unconventionally, in the third person. Including a rather sharp account of his marriage to the American novelist Marianne Wiggins and a glimpse of his married life with model and TV star Padma Lakshmi, which was after he came out of hiding, the memoir with a Conrad-and-Chekov-inspired alias, makes for fascinating – if sometimes depressing – reading, in no less part due to Rushdie’s evocative flair.

ANJUM HASAN
Author, Difficult Pleasures

Anjum Hasan’s collection of short stories is full of interesting snippets of time, tipping – without warning – into the surreal. The flavours of the cities and places – ranging from Mumbai’s Promenade to Paris’s Rue de Seine – are so sharp, and yet, you feel the characters’ sense of loss and desperation to belong. Can you live in a place that you feel, understand and can describe in the minutae, and yet not feel like it’s your own? Are you always looking for something? Her characters are mysterious, sliding between the known and unknown, and a metaphor for modern living. Hasan’s snapshots are powerful, and a lens into the world as we know – or are attempting to unravel – today.

ABHISHEK MAJUMDAR
Playwright, The Djinns of Edigah

Early this year, Verve carried a review of this edgy and gut-wrenching play about the manic situation in Kashmir. From the story of 12-year-old Ashrafi, who is shattered emotionally and psychologically when she travels with her dead father in her lap to the football-playing dreams of her brother Bilal, the mediating force of Dr. Bilal and the senselessness of the soldier, we come to terms with the reality that lives in our country and its violent and horrific face. While battling her own demons Ashrafi manages to help her doctor deal with his own. The angst of the battered land folds together in a story that is evocatively written and brought to the stage by Richard Twyman, a British director who has never been to Kashmir, but can visualise its tragic impasse. The play was selected to perform at the Royal Court last month. The Bengaluru-based playwright, who has previously acted in theatre, said in a recent interview with a daily, ‘Writing a play is a bit like travelling. One really has to enjoy the journey.’

SWATI KAUSHAL
Author, Drop Dead

After writing two novels, Piece of Cake and A Girl Like Me, Swati Kaushal set her sights on creating a detective fiction heroine, Niki Marwah. Smart, savvy, a good looker and dresser, she sounds suspiciously like a character inspired from American Television – Castle’s Kate Beckett. Kaushal’s writing is crisp and refreshing – and while it’s set in an Indian milieu, she pulls from the classic detective tradition. It’s not an Agatha Christie suspense, but it is a story that’s fun to read, and a promise of many more – as Niki Marwah has a lot more detecting to do. What Kaushal does well is master the popular fiction category, or maybe it’s time we had our own grown-up, Indian, Nancy Drew.

MUSICIANS OF THE DEWARISTS
TV Series

Soulful, inspired and constantly evolving, The Dewarists, the musical series running currently on national television (in its second season), is part music documentary and part travelogue. Musicians hailing from different parts of the world jam together to create fresh beats and lyrics while travelling through India. By itself, it’s a concept that popularises the creativity of the Beat artistes. The Cannes Lions award-winning series is hosted by Monica Dogra and packed with musicians like Anoushka Shankar, Trilok Gurtu, Salim-Sulaiman, Shafqat, Amanat Ali and Shaa’ir + Func. With a sense of the culture of the world, nuances and fragrances of India and the strong musical foundation brought by the various musicians, the show makes for the unfolding of a great musical story, with satire, political barbs and the crises of society today finding their way into the chapters, for example the one a few weeks ago titled, Tom, Dick and Harry (Piyush Mishra feat Akala).

HAPPY CREATIVE SERVICES
FlipKart Ad Campaign

You start by thinking, ‘Are they serious – are those kids with a bad voiceover and too-big clothes?’ And then you get drawn in, and are slightly incred
ulous, wondering who thinks up this stuff? And then, bam, you are cackling with laughter at the campaign from ‘No Kidding, No Worries’ to ‘Shopping ka naya address’. In a world of jaded ads and Katrina Kaif’s mango-flavoured lips, the innocence of this campaign is refreshing. The worldliness of the children – so much like the tech-savvy kids of today, the simple wants, the back-to-the-basics sort of philosophy all comes together in a clever way in the FlipKart trust-building ad campaign that started with ‘No Kidding, No Worries.’ The third installment released last September and in keeping with the flavour of the previous ones, continued the story of two kids dealing with adult jobs, dressed like adults and with child-like wish fulfillment wants. Of course, FlipKart can make that happen; it’s as easy as child’s play. The Bengaluru-based agency acquired the account last year and has continued the saga to make it memorable.

SABYASACHI MUKHERJEE
Fashion designer, Spinning yarns through textiles

He’s become a household name, and his threads are distinctive, classic and woven with nostalgia. But what really makes his fashion ideology iconic is the fact that he carries it forward into the distinctive ambiance of his stores. With the clocks and the traditional cluttered tiles, his stores make time stop, and make you retrace your steps to a time forgotten – of knotted hair, big bindis, the feminine grace of beadwork, delicate gold and bold contrasts in a classic palette. Keeping up with the tradition of his other stores, Sabyasachi has recently launched a new store in Hyderabad: with hundreds of clocks on the walls, evidence of his art foundation and beautiful lampshades. It’s as if he wants time to stop and rewind every time one enters his store.

MILBURN CHERIAN
Artist, Story Weavers, series of paintings, Acrylic on Canvas

Milburn Cherian’s detailed works build narratives of life, pulling from relationships, religion, carnival and daily life. There are textual narratives in every minuate, woven into the brush strokes. In a world of abstract expressionism and post-modern art, Cherian’s works are reminiscent of Peter Brueghel, Dali and German expressionism, with bold colours, slanted lines and strong perspectives. And through these strokes, lie truths – masked or otherwise – that reflect upon religion, society and the mundane rituals of daily living. While Cherian pulls from her own life, in her works one sees the recurrence of certain faces, with differences – possibly denoting the afterlife and rebirth, which the artist is known to believe in, creating a strong central narrative that binds her works together, despite the carnivalesque mise en scene and distorted brush-strokes.

Verve Man: The mysterious appeal of these men…

16 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Features & Trends, Publication: Verve Magazine

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

Published: Verve Magazine, October 2012, Verve Man supplement

The Mysterious Appeal of These Men: Salman, Chetan, Rahul, Karan and Sachin. (Admit it – you knew their last names as you read it.)
In a perfect world, we want to see people who are famous because they know their craft exceedingly well – the ones who are untouchable because you can’t surpass their talent. It puts them on a pedestal of excellence and it silences detractors. Sometimes there are those who may or may not have talent, but have an x-factor, which makes them incredibly appealing to a large number of people. Sitanshi Talati-Parikh decodes the controversial appeal of five successful men across industries

 

Salman Khan, actor
In a recent TV interview, Salman Khan said something that sounded ridiculously ostentatious. But if you take it in context of who he is as a person – simple and direct – you would understand that he was just stating the obvious. Ek Tha Tiger’s release and people’s reaction to that movie and others before it, Dabangg and Bodyguard in particular, lend complete strength to the fact that Salman Khan exists in the industry for his fans. (And he has many of them.) As he points out, if you need an actor to play a role, there are many people to choose from. A director and producer will think of Salman Khan, only when they want the full Salman-Khan-ness in a particular film. He’s unapologetic about who he is or what makes him popular among the masses. He’s also matter-of-fact about his popularity, without being self-propagandizing. It doesn’t matter whether the movie has a story, or whether the film is completely OTT, or even that the character does the strangest things – like manage to pop the buttons of his shirt as he struts. His style of dancing – not updated over the years, but true to form with certain pelvic thrusts or iconic hand gestures; his action sequences, where he isn’t a hero, he is a super hero; his romancing – which is stilted and subdued; are all aspects of the Salman Khan phenomena that his viewers expect. It’s suggested that he dresses like James Dean and picks nuances from Dharmendra; two actors he believes should be closely watched. And in his smile, lies his resemblance to Dean, though he doesn’t smile enough – off screen and on it. While his cinema may be regressive in it’s form, it’s appeal – rather his appeal – remains eternal. He has consciously chosen to be a performer and entertainer, and removed himself from being an actor. And yet, maybe it was his cleverest move, the secret formula to being one of the biggest movie stars of the Indian film industry. Behind his rather simplistic appeal, quotes and choices, lies a sharp brain that has managed to find a bankable spot in the industry. He has, very possibly gauged his strengths and weaknesses, and put his money in just the right place.

 

Chetan Bhagat, writer
Some time ago, on an episode of Love2HateU, the celebrity guest was Chetan Bhagat. The poor girl – the ‘hater’ – stood no chance against Bhagat’s generous Gandhi-ism, so beatifically patronizing and condescending. But that’s Chetan Bhagat – a huge icon and idol to some and an even huger eyebrow raiser to others. Bhagat’s success – and he is astonishingly successful – is because he has crawled through the cracks and found his target audience. And what a target audience that is. The non-readers. Instead of churning out a highbrow book filled with beautiful metaphors and aiming for the Booker-reading intellectuals, Bhagat does what he does best – appeal to those that have admittedly never read a book before. And therein lies his claim to fame. Bhagat has automatically found his safety in numbers. While Bhagat makes no pretentions about his literary aspirations, he basks in his own stupendous success, often lying on a raft of self-appreciation. And what irks people is that his raft never, ever capsizes. Top models can have a bad hair day, brilliant directors can have a box office flop, the Sensex can crash, but Chetan Bhagat only goes from strength to strength. As he smugly states, ‘I’m happy to be on this show (Love2HateU) because my new book has just released and I want to know that there are people who don’t like what I do, not just people who enjoy my books.’

 

Rahul Gandhi, politician
Is it possible to bank a country’s future, its political aspirations on a set of irrepressible dimples? While our democracy is far more discerning than that (we hope) it is true that as the younger Gandhi scion grew up, a great deal of hope was vested on his future. He had the political pedigree, and most importantly he looked the part. It didn’t really matter what he said – or didn’t say – he was just so easy on the eye. Every woman could imagine him at the helm of India, attending the topmost international discussions and global summit roundtables looking stupendous representing India. And yet, that hasn’t really played out well for him – while remaining a member of Parliament, he hasn’t proven himself as a strong candidate for the topmost office of the country – despite the looks. Whether he manages to get any further, we can only wait and watch, and hope that there is more depth to him than his dimples, or India may end up having her own frat-boy-politician in the making, served up American style.

 

Karan Johar, director
You watch Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and you see that plump friend of the hero, put there so that the hero can shine. A school misfit, no one would have guessed that Karan Johar would become a phenomenon. Johar has lived his high school misses through his films – creating the candy-floss make-believe world that he would have liked to be a part of, making his protagonist (more often than not played by his buddy Shah Rukh Khan) the popular kid in school. The kid Johar should have been, going by his current personality. What he may have been unable to achieve in his school years, he’s more than managed in his adult life. He is the force behind one of the biggest production houses in Hindi cinema, Dharma Productions, his movies do record business, he can make or break an actor or director, and often can control the future of a movie star, as evidenced by his power over the future of one top actress who wound up in his bad books. His talk show became an iconic talking point at every Koffee-table conversation. His rapid-fire questions allowed for his sharp wit, humour and personality to shine through, even if he did demonstrate that he lives happily in his own industry bubble. Only on Simi Garewal’s show did any of his vulnerability come to the fore. Johar is a complex animal, but his success is because of these complexities and layers to his personality. With Student of the Year in the offing, we wish we would move beyond the chasm of his youth to the brilliant success of his grown-up years in his directorial offerings. But would that be a cathartic story worth telling?

 

Sachin Tendulkar, sportsman
The Master Blaster. Anything said against him is akin to blasphemy. How did a supremely talented teenage kid manage to bear the weight of a nation’s hopes on his young shoulders? One who should just concentrate on the game is made to feel like the savior of the country. Every poor man’s hopes, every rich man’s dreams are with Sachin Tendulkar as he takes strike after strike. As if that were not enough, he had to attempt captaining the Indian cricket team. It’s a wonder he didn’t retire early, just to find inner peace. He has dealt with it all with equanimity – reminiscent of great players like Roger Federer in tennis – where nothing sways him. Victory brings a smile
, and when he’s down, he’s generally outwardly calm. Children are named after him in quick succession, he is revered to the point of blind faith, and he can do no wrong. Even if he gets out in duck thrice in a row, it’s okay because he has given us many centuries before. People cannot be logical around Tendulkar, he is more than human, he is God. With anyone else it would be dangerous, this blind idolization. As Wright Thompson in an insightful study on his charisma pointed out – Tendulkar’s meteoric rise took place in parallel to India as a country and economy opening up. He symbolizes everything we dream and wish for, all that is balanced and good. He steadies our racing hearts; he lives our greatest hopes. And he does it all with a clean chit. He makes people feel good – about themselves and their country, and he gives people a sense that we can be better, that we can be the best. And he forms the bridge – between the insecurity of the past and the brash confidence of the future.

Verve’s Best Dressed Issue 2012

15 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in Fashion & Style, Interviews (All), Interviews: Lifestyle, Publication: Verve Magazine

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

India’s Best Dressed List 2012
Text and Interviews by Sitanshi Talati-Parikh
Published: Volume 20, Issue 10, October, 2012
 

The eagerly awaited annual Hall of Fame for India’s Best Dressed women is finally here! There are some new entries on the list, some have been here before and then there are the Perennials – those who rarely put a sartorial step wrong.

(For the complete list of the best dressed women with interviews including the ones done by Shirin Mehta see Verve’s site.)

PAYAL KHANDWALA
For reinventing herself, but remaining true to form

 

A FASHION NO-NO
Wearing clothes that are two sizes too small, too tight, too short, too uncomfortable and especially with the wrong type of undergarments. Clothes have to work for you, not the other way around. It’s always nice to leave something to the imagination, a little mystery is nice.

 

WARDROBE STAPLES
Well-fitted pair of blue jeans, a long multipurpose scarf I can wear many ways, one comfortable pair of heels and a pair of flats, a Benarasi sari, palazzos, colour blocked separates to mix and match so I can curate my own wardrobe, one wide leather belt, aviators, a string of beads and some vintage silver jewellery.

 

STYLISH ICONS
Audrey Hepburn, Gayatri Devi.

 

YOUR FAVOURITE FASHION ERAS
The grace of the ’20s, the freedom of the ’70s with the androgyny of today.

 

KIND OF ART (ERA/STYLE) THAT YOU CONNECT WITH YOUR FASHION STYLE
Without a doubt abstract expressionism and minimalism. Dramatic but subtle at the same time.

 

AN OVERDONE TREND
Evening gowns, ballroom dressing and the eternal princess/doll hangover.

 

YOUR FASHION SOUL CITY
New York.

 

YOUR FASHION INSPIRATIONS
Orchestrating a palette of colour is central to my designing process, therefore especially art and some architecture. Tribal costumes and jewellery from across the world, origami and the minimalism of Japan, weaves and colours of India, flea markets and street fashion.

 

DO YOU LOVE DESIGNER LABELS OR HATE THEM?
I think it’s pointless being a slave of any brand. You must be your own brand. I don’t see the point in wearing something because someone made it, you must only buy it because you love it and it speaks to you in a special way.

 

===========

 

ANUSHKA MENON
For standing tall in her boots

 

YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE
Skinny jeans (jeggings) a loose tee and a pair of military boots.

 

YOUR CURRENT WARDROBE FAVOURITE
Faded and ripped denim shorts from Zara.

 

THE KIND OF ART/PHOTOGRAPHY YOU WOULD CONNECT WITH YOUR FASHION STYLE
Strong and edgy.

 

BLACK AND WHITE OR COLOUR?
Both, but I prefer black and white.

 

YOUR FAVOURITE FASHION ERAS
Now.

 

DRESSING RULE FOLLOWED BEFORE LEAVING HOME
Try not to look like you are going to the gym!

 

AN OVERDONE TREND
The geek look.

 

YOUR FASHION SOUL CITY
New York.

 

YOU’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT
Living.

 

=========

 

IRA DUBEY
For switching over from rock chic glam to just chic

 

YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE
Comfy stylish with a statement accessory, less is more. I play with bright colours or lots of whites, nudes and blacks, depending on the season. I don’t like figure-hugging clothes so I generally wear looser silhouettes teamed with tights or skinny jeans.

 

A FASHION NO-NO
Fur in Mumbai! Sequins from head to toe. Red lips and red nails with a red outfit.

 

A FASHION EXPERIMENT THAT WENT WRONG
Palazzo pants (wide leg trousers) that I tried elongating with sky-high heels – which still looked all wrong because of my petite frame.

 

FITNESS MANTRA
Yoga three to four times a week, a walk twice a week, eight hours of sleep, lots of water and a happy healthy positive state of mind.

 

A FASHION SECRET
A statement accessory on only one body part. Keep the outfit simple and focus on letting that accessory shine, balance the look with killer heels and an embellished clutch and you’re good to go.

 

DRESSING RULE BEFORE LEAVING HOME
Perfume, well-ironed outfit and quick hair fix (which needs nurturing as it is wavy, thick and long).

 

CHANGES IN YOUR DRESSING IN THE LAST YEAR
Simpler, cleaner, lot more nudes, hint of sequins, longer silhouettes, more feminine. Three years ago I was more rock star chic/glam – now that’s changed!

 

PRECIOUS INHERITANCES
A beautiful topaz antique ring my mother bought with her first pay cheque when she was 18 and my nani’s pearl and diamond earrings.

 

FAVOURITE DESIGNERS
Tom Ford, Stella McCartney, Anamika Khanna, Sabyasachi, Ritika Mirchandani, Chloe, Alexander Wang, Shahab Durazi.

 

==========

 

POORNA JAGANNATHAN
For adding a new dimension to the Bollywood look

 

YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE
Things that are really comfortable.

 

A FASHION SECRET – SOMETHING THAT WORKS LIKE A LUCKY CHARM
Double-sided tape: it lets me wear more edgy outfits without the risk of a wardrobe malfunction.

 

A FASHIONABLE MOMENT LAST YEAR
For the Filmfare awards, I wore this regal looking dress from Chanel’s Byzantine collection. The fit was impeccable.

 

YOUR FASHION CRINGE MOMENT
Delhi Belly success party. Thanks for taking me back!

 

RECENT SPLURGE BUY
A beautiful and classy dress from Drashta.

 

RECENT BARGAIN BUY
80 per cent off Charles Kammer shoes in Paris.

 

STYLISH FILMS
Hands down, the movie Grease. (Did I just date myself?)

 

FASHION ICONS/ INSPIRATIONS
I love Keira Knightly’s fashion sense. And I like Skylar Grey’s take on dark.

 

ARE YOU A PLANNED OR SPONTANEOUS DRESSER?
In my head, I’m a planned dresser, but the way it actually works out is last minute and spontaneous.

 

SOMETHING THAT DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU BUT YOU WISH IT DID
Nine inch heels. It’s not that I wish I could wear them, it’s more like when I wear them, I wish I didn’t topple over.

 

YOUR CURRENT WARDROBE FAVOURITE
Combat boots by All Saints.

 

FITNESS MANTRA
Stay calm and drink coconut water.

 

YOU’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT
Good theatre.

 

===========

 

SANA REZWAN
For treasuring chiffons and leather equally

 

YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE
Minimal with a rock chic attitude.

 

A FASHION NO-NO
Tight mini dresses showing excess cleavage.

 

FITNESS MANTRA
Yoga three times a week combined with walking twice a week.

 

A FASHION SECRET
A pair of skinny jeans and ankle boots always work for me – night or day.

 

A FASHIONABLE MOMENT LAST YEAR
A one-shoulder 3.1 Phillip Lim dress that I wore to the launch of Maison.

 

DRESSING RULE BEFORE LEAVING HOME
I never walk out of the house without applying kohl in my eyes.

 

PRECIOUS INHERITANCES
My grandmother’s very trend-forward sari that I cherish to this date, which is an electric blue chiffon with badla embroidery.

 

WARDROBE STAPLES
A pair of heels from Giuseppe Zanotti, jeans from Acne, jersey basics from Alexander Wang and a leather jacket from Rick Owens.

 

FAVOURITE DESIGNERS
Cedric Charlier, Azzedine Alaia, Rodarte, Celine and 3.1 Phillip Lim are a few favourites.

 

AN OVERDONE TREND
Bling is no more in!

 

A RECENT SPLURGE BUY
A pair of black suede ankle booties from Giuseppe Zanotti with a gold metal heel.

 

A RECENT BARGAIN BUY
Leather leggings from Topshop.

 

THINGS YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT
Food, art and my cat, Alex.

 

====================

 

PRATIMA BHATIA
For having a staple for every occasion

 

YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE
I don’t have one – imagine losing the spontaneity because you have to conform to a definition!

 

A FASHION SECRET
Really high heels, Mumtaz Deluxe Kajal, Jo Malone Red Roses, a blow dry and I could rule the world.

 

YOUR CURRENT WARDROBE FAVOURITE
A Maison Martin Margiela dress with a feather vest – it’s fashion foie gras! Also a yummy colour-block cami dress from Marni and an Abu-Sandeep sari with a peek-a-boo blouse that I wore to the launch of the duo’s India Fantastique.

 

YOUR WARDROBE TREASURES
My Jay Ahr gown, a Jason Wu Daphne satchel in ivory and Tabitha Simmons pumps. A rangkaat sari from Benaras from my trousseau, my grandmother-in-law’s heirloom laadli necklace with Basra pearls and Sabbia Rosa lingerie.

 

A RECENT SPLURGE BUY
A diamond ring from the early 1900s from a vintage boutique Au Vase de Delft on Rue Cambon in Paris.

 

A RECENT BARGAIN BUY
A 1960s fawn and coral Emilio Pucci kimono I got in a little boutique in Rome. And a jewel of a petit point little clutch I found in Chor Bazaar for a steal.

 

YOUR FAVOURITE FASHION ERAS
Today. Fashion is most empowered today – there are no rules and you can borrow bits from past eras. Imagine living with rules that dictated a whole era – how depressing!

 

DRESSING RULE FOLLOWED BEFORE LEAVING HOME
Madonna, a glass of Moët and a mambo in my walk-in closet.

 

ARE YOU A PLANNED OR SPONTANEOUS DRESSER?
I decide in the shower and it’s madness thereafter. Unless of course it’s a black tie or a sari moment. Then I plan.

 

================

 

DRASHTA SARVAIYA
For her no-nonsense attitude to style

 

YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE
Cat eye liner.

 

A FASHION NO-NO
Underwear over pants.

 

A FASHION SECRET – SOMETHING THAT WORKS FOR YOU LIKE A LUCKY CHARM
The ’50s silhouette.

 

YOUR CURRENT WARDROBE FAVOURITE
Drashta’s printed pantsuit.

 

A RECENT SPLURGE BUY
An iPad.

 

A RECENT BARGAIN BUY
None!

 

ARE YOU A PLANNED OR SPONTANEOUS DRESSER
Spontaneous!

 

AN OVERDONE TREND
Hipster glasses.

 

YOUR FASHION SOUL CITY
Paris.

 

WARDROBE STAPLES
Trousers.

 

WARDROBE TREASURES
Currency quilted winter coats from my AW2010 line.

 

==============

 

SUHANI PITTIE
For always thinking vintage and always looking inspired

 

YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE
Relaxed. Generally layered with a waistcoat or jacket or something that completely offsets it. Lots of whites and blacks. Clean and crisp. But almost always embracing India in some way.

 

A FASHION NO-NO
Skimpy sari blouses with all that bling!

 

A FASHION SECRET
An A&T waistcoat with my jewellery, laced with oodles of sense of humour!

 

YOUR CURRENT WARDROBE FAVOURITE
Two. An amazing embroidered waistcoat from Anamika Khanna that I wear with everything! And a really old charms necklace that my grandmother gave me. The charms include a lantern, horse carriage, cannon, a mini clock and a mini pen. The craftsmanship gives me goosebumps!

 

RECENT SPLURGE BUYS
I’m not a shopper. But I did buy nearly eleven kilos of Rajasthani jewellery from Jodhpur last year. Also recently, eleven books on architecture, two on bar designing, three on light design and one on the future of car design.

 

RECENT BARGAIN BUY
An enamelled eagle ring from a mela in Hyderabad. It’s brilliant!

 

FAVOURITE FASHION ERAS
Men’s fashion from the Regency era. So dapper with their cravats and tailcoats.

 

DRESSING RULE FOLLOWED BEFORE LEAVING HOME
To always check myself sideways. I once walked around an entire sangeet with my skirt not properly worn. Someone asked me if I was wearing a tutu!

 

CRAZY ABOUT
Vintage things. I can spend all my money on old fabrics and old garments and history books. And also on Anamika’s clothes, but those I never have to pay for! (That’s what sisters are for.) I’m also passionate about my DSLR and Casio watches.

 

==============

 

KULSUM SHADAB
For making pretty chic

 

YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE
I tend to focus on simple elegant silhouettes and add a statement piece of jewellery that always stands out.

 

A FASHION NO-NO
Never wear an outfit that’s smaller than your size and never go for a look that isn’t your age.

 

FITNESS MANTRA
Fitness is a way of life for me: I combine my 10k run with weight training and yoga.

 

A FASHION SECRET
My smile! It instantly brightens my face.

 

DRESSING RULE FOLLOWED BEFORE LEAVING HOME
I always make sure I’m wearing comfortable shoes.

 

PRECIOUS INHERITANCES
My mom’s emerald necklace, which was passed on to her by my grandmother – it’s priceless. Also, a beautiful traditional waistband from my mother-in-law, which was passed on to her by her mother-in-law…it’s timeless.

 

WARDROBE STAPLES
A great fitting white shirt – it’s classic chic and goes with everything, a pair of well-fitted pants, a timeless black dress, a pair of sexy yet comfortable shoes… and bold accessories. They always give your outfit ammunition – for me it is a bracelet and a standout handbag.

 

TOP DESIGNERS
International designers are Alexander McQueen, Emilio Pucci, Issa and Dries Van Noten. Among the Indian designers, my favourite is Gaurav Gupta.

 

AN OVERDONE TREND
Juicy Couture.

 

A RECENT SPLURGE BUY
A stunning pair of rose-cut earrings.

 

A RECENT BARGAIN BUY
A Chloe party bag from Maison.

 

THINGS YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT
My family, exploring new cultures, food and fashion.

 

=============

 

NIAMAT BAKSHI
For knowing the difference between day and night dressing

 

YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE
I have two very distinct signature styles. Day: quite conservative; slim-fit jeans, flats and well-fitted button down shirts. Night: I love to ‘dress up’; body-conscious dresses that have sharp silhouettes and very high heels to finish off each look.

 

A FASHION NO-NO
Wearing stockings with sandals.

 

FASHION FAUX PAS
Trainers with cocktail dresses à la Kristen Stewart.

 

YOUR CURRENT WARDROBE FAVOURITE
A Haider Ackerman gold peplum jacket.

 

A DRESSING RULE FOLLOWED BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME
As Coco Chanel said, ‘Less is always more’. Before I leave the house, I look in the mirror and remove one accessory to ensure that I am not over doing it.

 

AN OVER-DONE TREND
Sequinned shorts, sheer baby-doll tops, metallic mini skirts and beaded jeans are all done to death.

 

ANY CHANGE IN YOUR DRESSING IN THE LAST YEAR
I don’t think there has been any significant change. But, I have started to wear more prints than I used to. I usually wore monochrome or two-tone dresses but I have started experimenting with designers such as Peter Pilotto and Michael Van Der Ham who are known for their digital/floral prints.

 

A FASHIONABLE MOMENT LAST YEAR
It was at a fashion show organised by the Taj for the revival of the Benarasi sari. I very rarely wear saris and here I wore a very traditional, hand-woven ethnic one!

 

YOUR WARDROBE STAPLES
Balenciaga leather jackets in black and brown, Lanvin ballerina flats (cannot have enough!), J Brand jeans in all colours, Yves Saint Laurent blazer.

 

A WARDROBE TREASURE
My wedding lehenga designed by Rohit Bal which was a deep red and covered in salma and crystal work.

 

=============

 

KALKI KOECHLIN
For establishing different looks for her on-screen and off-screen persona

 

YOUR SIGNATURE STYLE
High-waist loose trousers, T-shirt, waistcoat, brockets and hat (basically Annie Hall).

 

A FASHION EXPERIMENT THAT WENT WRONG
As a teenager, I wore really tight leopard print pants…I thought they were really cool. Disaster!

 

A FASHION SECRET – SOMETHING THAT WORKS FOR YOU LIKE A LUCKY CHARM
A little black dress I found in a flea market in London for two pounds. I’ve worn it on red carpets and to formal dinners and it always works.

 

A FASHIONABLE MOMENT LAST YEAR
I had to make an effort for Cannes this year…I wore Dior and Sabyasachi: kind of represented my French and I
ndian background.

 

A RECENT SPLURGE BUY
A dress by Thierry Colson.

 

A RECENT BARGAIN BUY
H&M shoes on sale for 15 pounds.

 

FAVOURITE FASHION ERAS
Twenties’ flapper girls and the ’60s.

 

STYLISH FILMS
A Single Man, Pretty Woman, À bout de souffle, Sin City.

 

ARE YOU A PLANNED OR A SPONTANEOUS DRESSER?
Mostly spontaneous, except when I’m very nervous about an occasion. Then I plan from head to foot.

 

DRESSING RULE FOLLOWED BEFORE LEAVING HOME
Must carry lip balm, flat shoes and sunglasses.

 

FAVOURITE DESIGNERS
Sabyasachi, Nimish Shah, Preeti S Kapoor, Marc Jacobs, Thierry Colson.