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Journalism of Courage
Drinker8217;s day
Thursday was really the day for alcohol promoters. To start with, Foster8217;s beer was launched at Geoffery8217;s at a small lunch do. This beer has just won a gold medal in the 1998 Brewing Industry International Awards. And in the evening, Famous Grouse promoters Anil and Vivek Singh held a bash at Copa Cabana. Among those present were Nikhil Chibb, Arjun Khanna and Sumeet Chopra. Ace lensman Sumeet made his entrance past midnight with buddy Pooja Bhatt. These days he cannot stop talking about his new ad-film, which he is currently shooting in Ladakh with model Rahul Dev. Also spotted was Sagarika and brother Shaan. And model Sushma Reddy looking all legs in a tight pair of hipsters.
Football rowdies
And that8217;s when the evening started to unravel. It seems that Mumbai has its own version of football hooliganism. And Copa bore testimony to that rowdy behaviour. At one stage, during the night, a couple of guests decided to use balloons as volleyballs and sent glasses crashing to thefloor. That was not the only thing that fell. But let8217;s start at the very beginning. Copa was rocking. From cries of quot;Ole, Ole!quot; to quot;One more, Margaritaquot; 8212; it looked like another night in party city. But suddenly, it all started to unwind. In a moment of drunkenness, one Copa regular started to grab the ladies around him. When he got particularly obnoxious, he was ticked off and guess what he did? He socked the lady who abraded him. And she landed on the floor. That8217;s when all hell broke loose and the offending drunk was physically ejected from the place. By then though the face of Copa had changed. Glasses had been broken, people had tumbled down stairs and worse still, reputations and relationships had plummeted. Another night in the hot spots?
Well, given how we tend to protect our own, the only reprimand the drunk groper is going to face is closed doors. Copa will not let him in for a while and then all will be forgiven and forgotten. After all, that is what happens to this person time and again. Hehas been banned from most pubs in Mumbai only to be let back in a few months. Why? Well, when he is sober, there is no denying that he is one of the most charming people in the city.
Close call
That one night at Copa has given so much grist for the rumour mill that tongues haven8217;t stopped wagging all weekend. Take the case of singer Sagarika. Yes. The one who appeared on the scene with a cheesy song with her brother. And is back with an even worse song titled some thing like Maa do you think she was inspired by Spice Girls Mama? Anyway, we all knew she was married. In an interview with a tabloid recently she sang praises about her husband who quot;really helped her with the albumquot;. Obviously, he did not do a good enough job. She was spotted at Copa getting rather cozy with a man who was definitely not her husband. How cozy? Too close for comfort!
Not sporting
Also spotted in the city 8212; at the same bar, where else 8212; was tennis doubles champion Mahesh Bhupati. Quite the centre of attentionin the early part of the evening, the sportsman is even better looking in person. He was sporting a trendy ear ring and an even more trendy girl friend. But he was also sporting a chip on his shoulder that screamed quot;MCPquot;. His glossy girl friend passed her handbag to Bhupati 8212; she wanted to put it behind the bar counter. And guess what he did? He refused to hold it. Maybe he thinks that after gripping a racket, a handbag would not look kosher. Or, maybe he thinks that women should do all the fetching and carrying 8212; after all, he is a big star.
Fashion flop
Urvi and Ajay Piramal may be the perfect hosts for the Morarjee Mills fashion show on Thursday but that could not make up for the lacklustre event. Designers Hemant Trevedi, Krishna Mehta, Rocky S and Jay Ramrakhrani had been asked to use Morajee fabrics to launch a special range for the mill. While the designers did the best they could with the rather drab fabrics, the whole show was made worse by its bad organisation. Two new models were used,and while one was wearing a low-cut Hemant Trevedi lehengha, her underwear was sticking out. And the other had no idea of how to carry off Krishna Mehta8217;s fusion-kameez and had to be corrected on the ramp by Hemant. Fashion shows have to be taken more seriously. They are not just events but a business venture and coming from the House of Piramals and the old association with textiles, the show was even more of a disappointment.
For Frank
On Saturday night the Oberoi hosted a tribute to Frank Sinatra and it seemed that everyone who was invited and some more came there. The Oberoi quickly adjusted to the extra numbers and extra seats were added to accommodate the party people. Seen there were Partiv Kilachand and Aneesh and Vinita Trivedi. Everyone really tucked into the dinner 8212; the main course was a chicken dish inspired by the New Orleans style of cooking 8212; and ELLE8217;s new food editor gave the entire meal a thumbs up. We are talking about Aneesh Trivedi who has joined the fashion monthly toadd an extra dash of spice.
Though the dinner was a success 8212; and Louis Banks and Gary Lawyer8217;s singing was appreciated 8212; the sit-down dinner gave the place a rather formal ambience. And no one really let their hair down and jumped on tables. And we thought that the Oberoi bashes always had to end like that.
And finally8230;
The Janam Samjha Karo girl, Helen Brodie, is all set to make her comeback to the small screen with ex-Colonial Cousins Leslie Lewis8217; debut solo video. Helen8217;s last video for Asha Bhonsle was well received by the audience, we wonder if her latest venture with Leslie will have the same impact?
If the name of her associates in this venture are anything to go by, then this video should catapult Helen to the top of the charts. Teaching the half-Mangalorean, half-Scottish girl to dance was Bollywood choreographer Saroj Khan. And her clothes were designed by model Lascelles Symons.
