Our friend, Rahul Bose, is one of the most impassioned individuals we know. Whether it is his excellent work in the field of philanthropy, or his sensitive performances in some of the best films to come out of India, Bose throws himself into his work
Malavath Poorna, Aditi Inamdar who played her in the film, Amitabh Bachchan and director Rahul Bose
Our friend, Rahul Bose, is one of the most impassioned individuals we know. Whether it is his excellent work in the field of philanthropy, or his sensitive performances in some of the best films to come out of India, Bose throws himself into his work. No surprises then that we have not met him in a while.
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Ever since he began directing and producing, Poorna: The Girl Who Conquered Everest, a biopic about Malavath Poorna - a tribal girl from Telangana, who became the youngest girl to climb Mt Everest, he has, as is his wont, been completely consumed by the film, his second directorial venture.
Now the film is to be released tomorrow, we are fittingly informed that both Poornas - the real and reel - accompanied Bose to seek blessings from the film industry's Mt Everest himself - Amitabh Bachchan.
"You could hear the excitement in the room although both, Poorna and Aditi Inamdar (who plays Poorna in the film – a performance of a lifetime) said nothing. Talk about awe. And then the ice broke and all was warm and flowy. Thank you, Sir. Grand, gracious gesture." Bose had tweeted to the superstar.
To which AB, as is his wont, was gracious as ever. "What an incredible feat ... 13-year-old tribal girl from Telangana conquers Mt Everest!! 'Poorna,' now a film by Rahul Bose! Watch it!"
The action off stage
At a recent high-profile star-studded awards ceremony, the action in the audience was often more riveting than that on stage. Our Oolong tea serving hostess friend who had attended it was chuckling away about the antics of Bollywood and high society at the event.
"Many a nubile actress appeared to develop sudden hearing loss when being politely requested by organisers to make room on their table for some of their fellow stars," she said. Then, the usual scramble for attention, especially by this posse of raucous women who had accompanied an awardee, was highly amusing. From screaming and hooting, to ambushing stars for selfies, their antics had us all riveted."
But she reserved her most stringent comment for one of the main sponsors and his alleged insistence of presenting an award to the biggest, most glamorous actress present. "He was besides himself fawning over the celebs," she said. "Who would have thought he'd be so star-struck?"
How young is young?
What's a little mutual admiration between two of the country's most respected financial leaders?
Uday Kotak and Anand Mahindra
Following recent news reports that 'Kotak Mahindra Bank (had) surged past (the) country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank in market value,' Anand Mahindra, frequent tweeter and chairman and managing director of Mahindra Group, tweeted his congratulations and admiration: "1985. Young Uday Kotak enters my office & offers financing. He's so smart, I ask if I can invest in him. My best decision."
To which Kotak, another frequent tweeter, replied, saying "Thank you Anand. You are my friend, mentor, guide in this journey."
What struck us about the exchange, however, is: with Mahindra born in 1955 and Kotak in 1959, and barely a four-year age difference between the men, Mahindra was pretty 'young' himself way back in 1985 when he spotted the Kotak genius!
Oh, come, all ye...
"It all started with a few of us Elphinstonians who meet regularly discussing the possibility of connecting with others. That's where the bean sprouted and the initiative was then taken up by Milind Wagle, Atul Rajadhakshya, Anuradha Shah-Gandhi, Maneck Daver and myself," said industrialist Vaman Apte about the imminent reunion of that venerable old education institution named Elphinstone College (Declaration of interest, gentle reader: we attended it!)
"We believed that Elphinstone had never had a reunion before. Therefore, we have collectively decided that there should be no restriction on the year that one graduated," said Apte who had graduated from the college in the early 1970s. "We are hoping that some ex-students who were in the college in the '50s and '60s will also grace the occasion."
Vaman Apte and Maneck Davar
To be held at the NSCI on April 21, commencing at 7.30 pm, the event has caused a fair amount of flutter amongst the alumni, many of whom have been overcome with nostalgia on receiving the invitation, which evoked such past delights as 'Bhatt's Canteen', 'Samovar', 'Log Cabin', 'Rhythm House' and 'the Chikita Cubicles' (don't ask). "We are hoping some candles get lit as old flames meet again," said one of them.
But can there be an Elphinstone reunion without an act of subversion? After all, the college was known for its cheeky anti-establishment Woodstock vibe. "I am organising the first 'Elphinstoned reunion'. Only stoners and friends of stoners..." announced one bemused member of the alumni, tongue firmly in cheek. "Any Rhodes scholars and other brilliant people are disinvited, as are people who knew the difference between the lake poets and fake poets."
Nice!
Mama Mia!
She might have dedicated her first book to her famous superstar father, but there's no doubt, that best-selling author Twinkle Khanna is Mama's girl. And Tuesday evening saw the most glamorous (and zany) mother- daughter team take a turn together at the wall-to-wall star awards presentation of a glossy magazine.
Dr B Valsa with Twinkle
Twinkle was there to receive her second award in the spate of a fortnight: the Best Woman Writer Of The Year at the earlier India Today Woman Summit and The Woman Of The Year at the Hello! Hall of Fame Awards, which she dedicated to her mother, Dimple Kapadia, who sat glowing with pride in the audience.
Twinkle with her mother Dimple Kapadia
Incidentally, sources say that Khanna's witty speech delivered while receiving the award at the summit had fellow awardee Dr B Valsa, deputy director, Vikram Sarabhaiâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088Space Centre (SR), and the person widely believed to be the force behind India's successful Mars Mission (who received the Scientist of the Year honour that evening), giggling.
"The satellite only reached Mars because it was called MOM. If it was called DAD it would be still circling the Earth, lost but not willing to ask for directions," said Twinkle. "My team had joked about the same thing," said the renowned scientist.
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