Curtain Call

In Bollywood,Salman Khan’s Being Human charitable organisation has almost become like a cult. From actors Aamir Khan to girlfriend Katrina Kaif to brothers Sohail and Arbaaz,everybody has been seen sporting the tees in an endeavour to promote the cause of the foundation instituted to help the under-privileged. So,as a co-sponsor of the first ever Van Heusen Indian Men’s Week (VHIMS),it was expected that Khan would make an appearance during the week,probably as a show-stopper for a participating designer. What was not expected though,was that the finale,with designers Ashish Soni and Rohit Gandhi-Rahul Khanna would begin almost on schedule,and that Khan would reach on time,and walk the ramp twice,once each for the two designer labels,despite being down with flu. Of course,each of the designers played to their strength,putting together a look worthy of the urban professional,but it was Khan’s charisma that drowned everything else. Even as dialogues from the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Don played in the background,Khan walked the ramp dressed in suits which had Being Human emblazoned on the collar and at the back of his suit,while director Madhur Bhandarkar and model Mugdha Godse applauded from the audience. If Khan’s appearance was expected,designer Rajesh Pratap Singh took the audience totally by surprise earlier in the evening,when he had 16 men from various professional domains walk the ramp. While his friends,designers Manish Arora and Gaurav Gupta got the fashion fraternity on their toes,the showstopper among the lot was undoubtedly ace artist Subodh Gupta,who did a confident walk-through looking dapper in a red and white chequered suit. The other men who made Singh’s designs inspired by native wear look good included artist Chintan Upadhyay,musician Karsh Kale and set designer Sumant Jaykrishnan among others. So where does the men’s fashion week go from here? “This is only the beginning. We wanted this event to be like a brand building exercise and now we shall ensure that it has its due,” said Van Heusen COO Shital Mehta. Clearly,the show is far from over.