Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Tiger Shroff

His film his sleeve

It began with banter through a series of tweets shared between Tiger Shroff and Hrithik Roshan to promote their upcoming film, where they play rivals. And now it's gone offline with Shroff wearing this cheesy tee. Film promos sure mean serious business. Pic/Satej Shinde

Jazzing it up in Bandra

Amar Sukhi

At a time when musicians are staring at shrinking spaces to perform in the city - Café Zoe, which was home to a fortnightly jazz jam, shuts down on September 30 - Mumbai-based saxophone player, Amar Sukhi, is giving a jazz club to the city by September end- first week of October. Called The Bluebop Cafe, the 75-seater is coming up on Linking Road in Bandra, and will have gigs every week from Thursday to Sunday, including during Sunday brunch. His sister Eesha Sukhi will helm the operations. "It will cover the entire period from blues to bebop, and hence the name," Sukhi, who has also played with The Bombay Chamber Orchestra, told this diarist, adding, "While our primary focus is jazz, we would still want to have folk American music, on the lines of Bob Dylan. The idea is to promote a small but intimate connection between musicians and the audience. And people will get to listen to what jazz should really be and not what it's shaped out to become today - a watered down version." Being fans of the genre and counting in the fact that it will be run by a musician, we hope for good sound to return to the city.

Health lessons for women scribes

Dr Firuza Parikh at the workshop. Pic/Suresh Karkera

At a recent study conducted at the IVF centre at Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre on the correlation between age and Anti Mullerian Hormone (AMH) - the level of AMH in a woman's blood is typically a good indicator of her ovarian reserve - showed a decrease in the hormone level in women, who are less than 30 years of age. With constant exposure to pollutants, high stress levels, lack of sleep and unhealthy eating habits being the main reasons behind the phenomenon, it was decided that an educative workshop be conducted for women journalists. Dr Firuza Parikh, director, assisted reproduction and genetics, at the hospital, helmed the workshop at the Mumbai Press Club yesterday. "In our quest to meet deadlines as career women, we are not looking after ourselves. While corrective measures are available, prevention is better than cure. And this needs engagement at the personal as well as the policy level," Dr Parikh told this diarist.

Small is powerful

Greta Thunderberg and Barack Obama

While the cause of a 16-year-old Swedish student who has galvanised 156 countries for a global climate crisis strike needs no validation, finding a fan in Barack Obama does make it a tad special. As Greta Thunberg kicks off the strike under her today, here's what the former US President had to say about her. "[She] is already one of our planet's greatest advocates. Recognising that her generation will bear the brunt of climate change, she's unafraid to push for real action." Hear, hear.

A literary treat

Murzban F Shroff

Award-winning Mumbai-based author Murzban F Shroff recently embarked on a reading tour of his books to the US. With the city being his muse, he will present Mumbai to bibliophiles in the country through his books, Breathless in Bombay (shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in the best debut category from Europe and South Asia), Waiting for Jonathan Koshy (a finalist for the Horatio Nelson Fiction Prize), and Fasttrack Fiction. "Literature that is born out of sincere intention and effort has the power to transcend cultures and can sensitise us much in the same way as a life-changing experience," Shroff said.

Of salmon confit and pani puri

Raphael Szurek

Think of classic styles of cooking and the French cuisine is likely to cross your mind first. But a host of chefs are now giving the cuisine a contemporary touch, and Mumbaikars have a chance to tuck into some new-age French dishes at a nine-day long French pop-up at a Juhu five-star starting today, helmed by chef Raphael Szurek. While his Mumbai menu marries his experience in the kitchen - he has worked at the three-Michelin-starred Le Grande Vefour in Paris under celebrated chef Guy Martin - with the 10 years he spent in Southeast Asia, it's pani puri that Szurek had on his mind when he spoke to this diarist. "I am loving every moment spent in Mumbai; it's been nothing but kind and sunny. My main focus would be discovering the local food this city has to offer. I am planning to head to Juhu beach this evening to experience the pungent pani puri and iced popsicle," he said. King crab with avocado and grapefruit, miso roasted seabass with ginger and mushroom dashi and leek, confit salmon fillet with aerated hollandaise and celeriac crumbs, along with tofu orange sanguine, chocolate and cherry with milk foam, pavlova with passion fruit and raspberries will be some of the dishes on the menu.

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