Taking his master’s voice far and wide

Taking his master’s voice far and wide
Taking his master’s voice far and wide

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut is producing a movie based on the Sena’s ideology. Directed by Atul Kale, the Marathi movie is expected to release on January 23, which is Bal Thackeray’s birth anniversary.

Box-office bestseller

He may have told some of the most endearing celluloid stories when alive, but there would be as many untold stories about the late Yash Chopra that may find their way to your nearest bookstore sooner than later. The diarist has picked up the buzz in the publishing circles about the memoir of the filmmaker that is slowly but surely taking shape. Sources say, the memoir, details of which were narrated by him to someone close (no points for guessing who that may be) till he was active, is in the making. The official response to this diarist’s query was, understandably, guarded though the spokesperson confirmed that the memoir is indeed on the anvil. Given Yash Chopra’s long and illustrious life and career, we are sure this one’s going to tick all the right boxes for a bestseller.

No country for good cars

It is a thought that must have crossed almost any Mumbaikar after a bumpy monsoon ride on the city’s crater-filled roads – should we just sell prized cars and settle for some other form of transport? But Remo Fernandes has gone one up and followed through, selling his prized sedan, which he had gifted himself on turning 60 last year. In a post titled ‘Goodbye, Ingrid’ on a social networking site, Remo wrote a few days ago: “This afternoon my red-hot German beauty rolled out of my gate for the last time. I thought she’d be the last drive of my life. But after just three months of rains, I didn’t have the heart to make her suffer these lunar craters we call roads, or this chaos we call circulation. The appropriate vehicle would have been a bullock cart; but making bulls walk through these potholes would amount to cruelty to animals. So I let her go. Auf Wiedersehen, Ingrid!” Aww.

Up one storey

​If there was any doubt (in a Bandra-ite’s head) that Colaba isn’t rocking, here’s some more proof. The SoBo neighbourhood that comes to life, especially after dark, is set to get a new drinkand- eats pit stop. It will sit on the first floor, but we think it’s going to be worth the trudge up considering the guys behind it are the seasoned lot that runs Colaba’s iconic beerand- juke box pub, Café Mondegar. Spread across around 2,000 sq feet right above Mondy’s, the resto-bar is expected to wrap around the semi-circular building beside Regal, offering an interesting view of the busy street below. The menu is still being discussed, but it’s possible that it may have a smattering of Mexican and Thai flavours, and wine and beer could win over hard drinks. This may, we think, be a blessing in disguise for Mondy regulars who happily wait in clusters outside for a table. Now, there’s the chance to grab a table one storey up, provided you are game for a new experience.

Tailpiece
They are without doubt one of the coolest couples in Bollywood. Which is why it came as little surprise to us when at a luxury conference over the weekend, Kareena Kapoor revealed one of Saif’s most treasured purchases. Her husband who often whisks the actress off for vacations to Gstaad and suchlike, has bought the first edition of Kipling’s Jungle Book for their unborn child, Kareena disclosed. But before you start looking at Bebo’s waistline closely, relax, the actress is off to shoot Kabir Khan’s next, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, with Sallu. Reading out loud the marvellous adventures of Mowgli and Shere Khan will have to wait.

PS: Rather ironically, in the week it has emerged that Mukesh Ambani wishes to buy out the prestigious Financial Times, the weekend section of the Londonbased pink paper has a story on the ugliest buildings around the globe that deserve to be demolished. And guess which one the paper’s Mumbai correspondent James Crabtree has picked? The building formerly called Antilia. “It seems to be the design itself that most irks observers, with the building’s unusual cantilevered facade towering above a city, half of whose residents are said to live in slums,” he writes. Hmmm.