Armed with a fashionable fundraiser and a luxury hotel

The showcase,called ‘Mai Mumbai’ and taking place at the Grand Hyatt on Saturday,is Chatwal’s way of showing solidarity against the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and will take place as part of the Lakme Fashion Week that commences today.

“It’s a concept that both Naomi and I,along with IMG,discussed,” Chatwal reveals,seated casually in his suite at the Grand Hyatt. “The attacks on Mumbai revealed that terror is a problem that plagues us all and I feel that by coming together in this way,on an international platform,we can move towards healing our wounds.”

Chatwal is closely tied to the fashion world; he was himself once a Vogue model and has dated supermodels Kate Moss and Gisele Bundchen,before marrying Indian model Priya Sachdev. “I went to the Wharton School of Business and even worked as a financial analyst with Morgan Stanley,so it seems odd that I should end up working in the fashion industry.” But then,Chatwal has always done things his way. He had the option of joining the family hotel business after graduating,but he reveals,“I wanted to make my first million on my own.”

The president of Vikram Chatwal Hotels has more good news. He is launching his third edition of Dream Hotels in Cochin next week,the first two are in New York City and Bangkok. “The design is simply beautiful — it’s avant-garde and very surreal and goes perfectly with the lush beauty of Cochin. We aim to provide the best hotel experience in the world,” he says. The hotel,which took two years to realise,will be launched on April 5.

Chatwal was last heard of when he acted in Reema Kagti’s hit film Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.; he has also had a recent but unnoticed release,Karma and Holi. “It’s not just a hobby anymore,” he declares,“I consider myself to be a professional actor. As for filmmaking,if an interesting project comes along,then I’ll definitely want to do it.” His dream project,he says,would be to film Paulo Coelho’s Brida. “I’m reading it right now and it’s such a beautiful book. I’d love to film it,but Coelho’s works have an elusive quality which is difficult to translate to the big screen.”

Despite society tongues wagging,Chatwal insists he has given up his wandering reputation and is rooted,courtesy his wife and daughter Safira. “Family and friends are the most important. Your career and your professional life might be dispensable,but there’s nothing in the world that can replace your family.”