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Journalism of Courage
Dazzling designs
To announce the winner of this year8217;s Indian Jewellery Design Awards, DeBeers hosted a lunch at the Taj. But before the food was laid out there was a show with leading models like Malaika Arora and Aditi Govitrikar showing off the designs. Wearing simple black satin dresses, Malaika almost outshone the jewellery. She seems to have shed a few inches off her hips and is looking stunning.
Model high
There are two model veejays whose careers seem to be on therise. Both Meghna Reddy and Marc Robinson are hogging the headlines. Marc other than scandalising the Censor Board at the Savage Garden show has been very busy travelling all around India putting together fashion shows with the help of Prasad Bidappa. Last week, he organised a show in Bangalore for Citibank and took with him model Jessae and her husband Inder Randhawa. Dino Morea and Tarun Raghavan were also part of the show. The two boys are of course originally from Bangalore but moved to Mumbai to further their careers. But their greatest benefactor remains Prasad who cannot resist pushing his South Indian friends. That also explains why the ramp was choc-a-bloc with Bangalore beauties, including his personal favourite Nafisa Joseph.
Anyway, Marc8217;s show went off smoothly with no hitches. Perhaps his Bada Din lies in an alternative career fashion choreographer! Meghna Reddy too seems to be on a high. Since Ruby Bhatia decided to call it a day, it seems that Meghna has become Channel V8217;s blue-eyedgirl. First she got to do a one-on-one interview with Cindy Crawford she even got an Omega watch after that. And now, the music channel has sent her to the US to interview the Backstreet Boys. It does not look like Ruby Bhatia is going to missed by the channel, at all.
Eastern ticket
This weekend, Arjun Khanna left for Dubai. Not because the weather is nicer there he8217;s heading eastwards to check the climate of the couture clientele. Arjun is displaying a line of his clothing in the Gulf as Indian designers seem to have become very popular there. Just last fortnight, Delhi8217;s Ritu Beri was there. And apparently, J J Vallaya is also having a show there, this week.
But our fashion gurus are not the only ones in favour in Dubai. Last week, Boman Irani the fashion photographer who is also an actor and the cast of I Am Not Bajirao held a couple of performances at the prestigious Inter-Con Hotel. Apparently, the play ran to full houses on both nights.
Producer-director Rahul Da Cunha however wasmissing as he was busy with agency work in Hong Kong.
Design debut
Last night, another fashion glossy was launched. Design Aakarshan, however, is a magazine with a difference. It will be without editorial and will carry only one advertisement. quot;It is a basically a fashion catalogue displaying designs of both established and up-and-coming designers,quot; says Usha Kejriwal, the woman behind the magazine. Her husband, Sunil, runs Parkson Graphics and previously was involved with another popular catalogue Dressage.
This catalogue will be a quarterly costing Rs 500. For the first issue, all the photography was done by Dilip Bhatia and the co-ordination by Rasna Behl. Shaina NC and Rocky S are among the designers whose clothes are featured. On the cover is Helen Brodie in a Rocky S sari. The Kejriwals8217; hope to market this magazine abroad as they believe the NRIs will be very interested in a product that displays designs in vogue in India. Future issues will have a special section for students andsome designers, like Lascelles Symmons, will do special collections just for the catalogue.
Lasting alliance
Dandy diplomats and the arty crowd mingled elegantly at the 60th anniversary bash of the Alliance Francaise of Bombay. The sit-down dinner, after the movie on the famous scientists The Curies8217; was simply fabulous. The director of the Alliance, Pierre Emmanuel Jacob led the elite crowd towards the dance floor to jive to the music of the 80s. Sanjna Kapoor danced bare foot with film-maker Arun Khopkar. Charles Correa, Sunil and Maya Alagh, Shyam Benegal, Devika and Suresh Bhojwani, Dodo Bhujwalla and Sohrab Ardeshir were all there, and evidently enjoying the French meal.
And finally8230;
There is no doubt that one of the most-talked about star sons in Bollywood is Abhishek Bachchan. Everyone was speculating about who his heroine would be in J P Dutta8217;s Akhri Mughal. Well, according to the grapevine that lucky lady might be another much-talked about model Bipasha Basu. Thisbeauty from Bengal is currentlythe object of cynosure for the Calida underwear ad with boyfriend Dino Morea. The city8217;s thought police has now deemed that quot;obscenequot; and the two models and the agency are being lambasted for their bare-all act. Will all this publicity have a negative impact on her filmi talks? We hope not.
