Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

Pic/Anurag Ahire

Fiddler on the boot

A commuter plays a tune while getting a shoe shine at Churchgate station.

Art call in Prabhadevi

Brinda Miller (left) Prakash Bal Joshi with his artwork

After a hiatus of over three years, the Artists' Centre Gallery is returning to a new space in the city at the end of the month. Having shuttered the old space at Kala Ghoda, the gallery will move to an intimate location in Prabhadevi, shared chairman and trustee, Brinda Miller (inset). "The Artists' Centre boasts a rich history and heritage. We have eagerly awaited the relaunch. It's a quaint, intimate little space in Prabhadevi, which we have acquired, and are calling it Nitya Artists' Centre," she revealed. The centre will open with a showcase of another veteran, Prakash Bal Joshi's show, River Returns, on March 2. While the inaugural show is a throwback, Miller remarked that the space will be a platform for all artists. "It will be open, just as it used to be, for all artists to come and establish themselves, whether they are young and new or already established," she stated.

Peek into the past

(Left) Josef Wirsching (right) Saroj Borkar and the child artiste Gulbadan in the opening sequence of Nirmala. Pic courtesy/JW Archive/The Alkazi Collection of Photography

The golden age of Indian cinema's silver screen will return to the city through the showcase of cinematographer Josef Wirsching's works, A Cinematic Exhibition starting March 1. Presented by CSMVS and Jehangir Nicholson Arts Foundation (JNAF) in collaboration with the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, the exhibition offers a rare peek into the era.

"The exhibition is an education in the cinematic arts of India, a glimpse into its Indo-German links, and innovation of the early 1900s," said Dr Sabyasachi Mukherjee (inset), director-general, CSMVS Museum. Puja Vaish (right), director, JNAF, added, "It prompts further thought into cross-cultural connections and the slippages between art and film in imaging India of the time."

European invasion

Manuel Olveira at the new restaurant

Classic European aromas have been wafting across the business district of BKC. After the success of La Loca Maria, chef-restaurateur Olveira with wife Mickee Tuljapurkar have opened La Panthera, a 100-seater restaurant. With a culinary style that offers flavours from across the continent, Olveira remarked, "Our ethos has always been simple, refined cooking where we let the ingredients shine."

Built for the road

The restored 1935 Cadillac Fleetwood. Pic Courtesy/@allan_almeida

There's nothing like watching a vintage car grace the road. When the 1935 Cadillac Fleetwood V12 made an appearance at the Oberoi Concours in Udaipur last week, it caused a stir. A project by Viveck Goenka, the car was the reproduction of a concept that Cadillac had put out in the 1930s, but never saw the light of day. "We worked on the concept and built the car from scratch," shared city-based restorer Allan Almeida (right), who worked on the project.

"The concept car was expensive, and therefore never made it to production. But we found a V12 chassis, and went from there. The effort was always to stay true to the period, using the body, and the streamlined Art Deco style," Almeida remarked. In fact, he noted that the objective was to create a car that a Maharaja would prefer to own today.

Let's jam in Karjat

A band performs during the competition

The distant suburb of Karjat has been echoing with music over the last few weeks. The True School of Music is conducting an all-India band hunt as a prelude to its music festival, Jamrung. "This is the premiere of our main festival that will take place in October," shared Shayne Gomes (inset), festival coordinator.

The top three bands will have a chance to perform at the Vijaybhoomi University in Karjat on March 2, as part of their Kanyathon, an initiative to raise funds for girl child education. With a selection panel that includes Mahesh Tinaikar of Indus Creed and Dhruv Ghanekar, the bands can expect a tough check. "The competition is genre-agnostic. Even if it is a band that plays Hindustani classical music, they can take the stage," Gomes said.