Roving eye

Among Chirag8217;s friends were Akshaye Khanna, who was among the first to arrive, and Rinke Khanna. Now she is one star child who has a firm head on her shoulders. While we are speaking about her head we must add that she has inherited her mother Dimple Kapadia8217;s lustrous locks. Though Rinke is delighted about Columbia Tristar buying the rights to her debut film Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi, she is not counting her chickens before they hatch. She is waiting to see how the film does 8212; to be released this summer 8212; before she signs any new films. In the interim, she may even do theatre. Rinke made her debut in Satyadev Dubey8217;s The Magic Pill and she still cannot get over the director8217;s genius.

Golden days

The next day it was Kishen Mulchandani8217;s turn to host a do 8212; in celebration of his parents 50th anniversary. Held at the Juhu Hotel, it was more like an all-day affair than just an evening of revellery. The festivities began at 5.00 pm with a mehendi party and then a veritable mela unfurled, complete with fortune tellers and chaat stalls.

Spotted taking advantage of the fete-like atmosphere were Mira Hingorani wearing a black and green outfit perfectly complimented by emerald earrings, which must be part of the Dianoor collection 8212; you do know that she is the India rep, Sonia Garware and Punita and Vikas Bhalla. The Canadian vice-consul Sanjeev Chowdhury also seemed to be having a blast at this typically desi affair. It has to be said that Sanjeev, unlike most diplomats, is really open to adventure 8212; no stiff, upper lip for him!

Mood indigo

This weekend also saw the start of what Rahul Akerkar calls The Experiment. The restauranter, who first broke in to the gourmet scene with Under The Over, hosted a series of trial dinners 8212; the last one was last night 8212; to test the waters of his new restaurant, Indigo. In place of what used to be Vintage next to Cotton World in Colaba, Rahul and architect Bijoy Jain have taken an old bungalow and created a veritable haven for food lovers. Serving what can only be called fusion cuisine 8212; one guest called it quot;food that has travelled all over and picked up the best from each jauntquot; 8212; this 160-cover restaurant is tastefully appointed, plays jazz and not that hideous muzak and has a terrace space to die for. But even if the space was a shack, the food, personally prepared by Rahul he spends so much time in the kitchen that he keeps his chef8217;s jacket on all the time, would draw in the crowds. And making sure that they came in the first place was Rahul8217;s wife Malini. Eight months pregnant, she belied hercondition by rustling up the who8217;s who of the city over four days to sample the fare. Spotted licking their lips in appreciation were Dev and Anuradha Benegal, Jaideep and Seema Mehrotra, Prahlad and Mitali Kakkar, Devika and Suresh Bhojwani, Jamal and Pravina Mecklai and Rashmi Uday Singh. By the way, the restaurant opens on April 30 initially only for dinner 8212; make your reservations fast.

And finally8230;

Cricketers are probably the hottest stars at the moment, what with the World Cup round the corner. So when Tissot held a press conference to announce that Mohammed Azharuddin was their new brand ambassador, it came as no surprise. Least of all to the jam-packed hall 8212; crammed to the brim with fans, followers and the media. Looking sharp in a grey suit, Azza seemed to find his shirt collar a bit tight while fielding journalist8217;s questions. Nonetheless, he caught every question thrown at him.

Watching him speak off the bat was his wife Sangeeta Bijlani. She looked as stunning as ever in an unusual outfit which she carried off with flair. What was she wearing? A grey Nehru jacket with satin trousers that had a piece of net draped on top like a long skirt. She watched him make his endorsements but chose not to wear a Tissot. Sangeeta sported a Chopard instead 8212; quot;I am not the ambassador.quot; You will be happy to know that the ambassador will be wearing his Tissot to the World Cup. We hope it will help him mark time to victory.

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