Roving Eye

The end result of course was not reflective of the World Cup finals though. Australia was not even in the running. New Zealand, whose lam...

The end result of course was not reflective of the World Cup finals though. Australia was not even in the running. New Zealand, whose lamb had everyone8217;s mouth watering, was the winner. Interestingly, Pakistan was the runner up at the Taj and on the cricket field.

Playing the field that night were Sanjeev Chowdhury, Kishan Mulchandani the Palkhi owner was very impressed with the wide range of dishes, as well as Sonia Garware. Sitting and eating in a corner were Sherie Meher-Homji and husband Nikhil Khatau 8212; who besides being an art lover is a great foodie, he knew the name of each and every cheese on the buffet. Also spotted in deep conversation were Thomas Cook8217;s Ashwini Kakkar and Arthur Anderson8217;s Sid Khanna. We suspect it was cricket they were talking about and not food or the state of the economy.

Fragrant nights

After The Express Newsline8217;s 8216;foodie8217; cricket match held at the Taj, Friday night saw party animals heading for the Oberoi Rooftop where Carolina Herrara launched itslatest fragrance, 212. Inspired by Carolina8217;s daughter, Adrianna Herrara, the perfume and packaging is a work of art all by itself, and at the launch, almost all of Mumbai8217;s glitterati showed up to check it out. A fashion show and dance that made up the evening was mostly ignored by everyone, since people were busy circulating, eating and drinking the night away.

Seen boogeying were Suchitra Pillai, Jeh Wadia, Chicki and Dianne Pandey, Aarti and Kailash Surendranath, Neeru Nanda, Dino Morea, Mark Robinson, Anaida and Bipasha Basu. Laila Rouass, who emceed the evening was at her charming best, and also seen shaking a leg after years was Kalpana Iyer with a friend8217;. F X Billaud, Director, Asia-Pacific, of Antonio Puig, the company that owns the Herrara brand, kept everyone busy circulating and dancing. The only one, apart from Imam Siddiqui, perhaps, who was in good form. Rocky S, who is almost unrecognisably healthy8217; now, was seen hugging everyone in sight. Holed up in separate corners were SumeetChopra and Atul Kasbekar. The surprise of the evening was the very dignified newcomer Sanjay Suri, who came, was polite with everyone and left as sober as he was when he8217;d arrived. One of the few. A fun affair, the evening had everyone asking when the next perfume was going to be launched in the city.

Art brunch

Well, the next party to watch out for is the Oberoi8217;s art camp, this weekend. This is the second time the Hotel is staging this event, and artists such as Anjolie Ela Menon, Samir Mondal, Anupam Daand and Kahini Arte Merchant will be asked to conjure up a piece of art in a week. But for most part, the highlight of the week is the Sunday brunch held at their Regal room where art lovers and the cream of society will meet and let their hair down. Last year, it was attended by the likes of Shobha De and Devika Bhojwani who mingled with attending artists Manu and Madhavi Parekh, to name a few. Most people ended up on the dance floor, creating a night club atmosphere in the middle of theday.

Business front

Designer James Ferreira has been in the business for over 10 years but till now this master cutter has been wary of taking business affairs into his own hands. Well, now he8217;s ready to chop and change and bring business affairs to the forefront. James is opening his own shop at Glitterati where you can buy both his couture and ready to wear colections. Known for chic and affordable western wear, his store will also stock rather unusual furniture. And that8217;s not all! James also plans to open an another boutique in Bandra 8212; so even those who live beyond Haji Ali now have a chance to buy a Ferreira original.

And finally8230;

While on James8217; Bandra boutique, guess who will be helping him run it? Noyonika Chatterjee, the dusky, ever-so tall, ramp model.

Story continues below this ad

Previously working with Anupam Kher where she helped him manage talent, Noyonika has been itching to sink her teeth into a good project since Kher8217;s MEC shut down. James new venture is a perfect oppurtunity for her to mixfashion with business 8212; two things this lady is passionate about.

Double Matinee

Last week there were two functions aimed at promoting films 8212; one, the Kodak variety, the other, Smita Thackeray8217;s debut venture, Haseena Maan Jayegi. Kodak has launched its new Vision Film8217; in India 8212; Sanjay Leela Bhansali8217;s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam being the first film to be developed using this technology. Hollywood of course has a headstart with The Thin Red Line. quot;It was a great way to bring our product to India because Bhansali8217;s film is truly very colourful,quot; said Shankar Dutta, Kodak8217;s business manager in India.

Kodak invited bigwigs from the industry 8212; producers, directors and distributors 8212; to watch a special screening of the film8217;s songs. Lisa Ray compered this show while cinematographer Anil Mehta spoke about Hum Dil8230;. This was followed by a party at The Club with everyone from Ramesh Sippy, Kundan Shah, Vinod Chopra to producer Parvesh Sippy in attendance. Conspicuous byhis absence however, was Hum Dil8217;s8230; director who was apparently busy screening his film for a select audience elsewhere.

On Wednesday, while the skies came pouring down on Mumbai, the star-studded Haseena Maan Jayegi cast 8212; Sanjay Dutt, Karisma Kapoor sans make-up, Pooja Batra dolled up in a blue calf-length sphagetti-strapped spandex creation 8212; dutifully showed up at Sun N8217; Sand. After posing for the photographs alongside Smita Thackeray 8212; who herself walked in at 10.45 pm 8212; they left in a hurry. However, true to form, Govinda came and stayed on after everyone had left. Also spotted at the do were Bharat Shah, Tips8217; Ramesh and Kumar Taurani, music director Anu Malik, Alka Yagnik and of course director David Dhawan.