Roving Eye

Sharing the platform were luminaries like Shyam Benegal, Ahmed Abhraim, Gerson de Cunha, Bobby Sista and Kersy Katrak. But the show was either Padamsee8217;s or the admen behind the life-like under-15-seconds8217; and above-30-seconds8217; reels that dominate today8217;s small screen. But the peerless moments of the ceremony was CAG8217;s promotional Kuch creative kiya to Cag milenga film a man trying typography on the wall while taking a leak had the audience in raptures. As for the awards, while Chaitra Leo Burnett won the bronze for its cola bottle cut out on a melon, the gold mindit, real gold in these times of recession! went to the Chiclets ad. For, they are campaigns, said Padamsee, that will live much after their creators are gone. And for Cag, it was time to celebrate quot;50 years of clearing creative blocks, of padded estimates and lost creative artsquot;. Confused? To understand, don8217;t miss the Abbys! Sad, the small screen lacks the wit to air such programmes live!

Some show!

Last week, Steven Berkoff proved to be a show-stealer. At an outrageously funny, intellectually challenging and immensely powerful performance on Shakespeare8217;s villains, he left in a whirl of applause, leaving those who missed his show gasping at their loss. If the show was powerful, the audience was even more so. Strewn between Radha next-door and the rest of the world were the likes of Naseeruddin and Ratna Shah, Dina Pathak, Shabana and Javed Akhtar, Jules Fuller, with girlfriend Sophiya tucked under his arm, Rahul Bose, Lilette Dubey and a cross section of corporate biggies who made it a point toattend.

As an afternoon paper loftily noted, 8220;he enthralled viewers with his rendering of8230; Coriolaus and Titania8230;8221;. And who would they be?

Where8217;s the magic?

They can call it the Jadoo night if they like, but there was hardly anything magical about it.

Times Music, to promote their in-house DJ Akbar Sami8217;s venture, Jadoo, held a bash at the Fashion Bistro on Sunday. God help you if you went there expecting good music. For, looks like this man sounds good only on tape. Barring a few good tracks, the whole event was so thanda that the crowd had to literally be pushed onto the dance floor. Everyone seemed to be more interested in the movie on Star Movies. And that included Vikas Bhalla. Others spotted there: Sanjay Maroo, Uddham Singh looking surprisingly clean and shaven and Somesh Kumar.

Racing around

The cake of the week was the Wills Invitation Weekend, organised by ITC Limited, to celebrate the Wills Racing Awards ceremony. While on one hand there wereCyrus Madan8217;s Irish jokes, on the other, was a glam 8216;n glitzy event Racy Colours managed by choreographer-turned-event manager Prasad Bidapa, who flew down from Bangalore to light up the Turf Grounds of Mahalaxmi Race Course. Jockey Farokh Irani8217;s Ride a White Horse and one of dance group, Daksha8217;s, contemporary compositions were a hit with the audience. And by the time actor Ajit Saldana took to stage with his comic horsey8217; interpretations, people were too stoned to take a notice.

Though the list of invitees didn8217;t include all of Mumbai8217;s who8217;s who, quite a few celebs did show up. Spotted there were Dino Charge8217; Morrea, Lilette Dubey looking as young as ever in a deep blue silk saree, Gary Lawyer, Himanshu Mallik, Sagarika, Rohit Roy and the omnipresent Marc Robinson, not forgetting the rich and famous horse owners of Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. But the show-stealer was the actual awards ceremony that made many a face radiant with elation.

Style struck

And after a hectic round ofjockeying around, it8217;s style time. The Carbon-Shopper8217;s Stop Designer of the Year Contest held last week was as classy an evening. While Pooja Munshi of National Institute of Fashion Technology was an undisputed choice for the crown 8212; she won a 13-week all expense paid course at the Nottingham Trent University, what held people8217;s attention were Nayonika Chatterjee, Meghna Reddy and Rakshanda Khan sashaying down the ramp. And judges like couturiers Azeem Khan and Krishna Mehta, model Milind Soman and glam photographer Atul Kasbekar, gave their own unique touch to an already sparkling affair.