Down Town : The Delhi-Mumbai Gazette

Talk about her claim to fame and Mandira Wirk is at pains to explain that itgoes beyond the "cuts with a difference" on her ensembles or the "bikiniblouses" the chatterati is crazy about. Being one of the youngest designers in town,the spirit of youth, she says, is as essential as the silhouettes or the embroideries.Mandira is now busy preparing to open her own retail outlet, M&N, besides the alreadyavailable Mandira label in stores across the metros. A graduate from the Pearl Academy ofFashion Designing, and a product of the London School of Fashion, Wirk announced herbaptism in the fashion world when she lit up the catwalk during the Bridal Asia show lastyear, followed soon by the Fall Winter Collection, Dawn to Dusk. Fusion, shesays, is her mainstay and her "designs exude class and wearability reflected in theeasy silhouettes, minimal embroideries and the straight-lined instructed cuts."Perfect, we say.

Well-Groomed and bejewelled, this 65-year-old grandma of six could well be mistaken for akitty party regular. But Hena Rahimtulla instead prefers Ikebana, the Japanese art offlower arrangement, and through her Ohana Concept raises funds for charitable causes. Theorganisation’s Friendly Flower group recently held its fifth Ikebana exhibition andraised Rs 2 lakh for Mumbai’s Vivekananda Youth Forum that works for educational,food and medical support of street children. Charity is a passion for Rahimtulla. "Weliterally go with begging bowls to friends and family to raise money," she says.    

Just when it’s becoming politically correct to wave a flag for women, BireshwarGautam, a fast rising star of classical dance and music, goes ahead to showcase maletalent via Purush, the two-day classical dance fest held recently inMumbai’s Prithvi Theatre. M.V.N. Murthy from Chennai presented Kuchipudi, RatikantMohapatra, son of the legendary Kelucharan Mohapatra, danced Odissi while Kalamandalam C.Gopalakrishnan performed Kathakali. Gautam himself is an exponent of Kathak. The conceptof dance in Indian history and lore is of masculine origin. Nataraja is the king ofperformers and Krishna symbolises the sringara rasa. The writer of Natya Shastraand its great commentators have also been male. "But today classical dance is losingits importance and significance in the country," feels Gautam. Hence his efforts.  

Parvez Damania is flying high again. His latest passion happens to be a nightclub inMumbai which he aims to make the favourite hangout of the city’s young and therestless. Located in Landmarc City, Worli, Mikanos, named after the famous Greek partyisland, is virtually a piece of art, a monument created by sculptor Arzaan Khambatta.Size, they say, matters. All of 40 ft in height and spread over 8,500 sq ft, Mikanosoffers multiple dancing levels and can house about 2,500 people. "The reason thatmost clubs in India cannot invite well-known international DJs is because they can neveraccommodate a big enough crowd to perform to. We can do that easily," claims Damania.He has made up his mind on the musical repertoire as well. "Our club will not playtrance music. We will play a lot of Euro club, Euro pop, house and undergroundmusic," says Damania. If that’s music to your ears, get set to shake a leg;Mikanos throws its doors open this month end.    

She promises to take you where no man has gone before: into the unfathomable mind of awoman. TV’s latest veejay Pooja’s hot new show on Channel V, What Women Want,makes women celebs speak their minds about the most personal aspects of their lives, be itmen, moods or madness. So Raveena Tandon boldly tells you that her erogenous zone is thebottom of her feet. That she prefers to wear comfortable, cotton underwear but on a hotdate opts for the lacy, decorative ones. That’s alright, but what does Pooja herselfwant? The second year English literature student at Delhi’s Lady Sriram College wantsto pursue media studies in England. Till then she’s content doling out moretripe’n’trivia.

This could be Star Plus’ weakest link. Launched close on the heels of its blockbusterkbc, the channel’s much publicised brand new show Kamzor Kadi Kaun has beenmost disappointing. Though based on an interesting concept, it fails to impress, thanksbasically to a dismal showing by Neena Gupta who, despite her chequered record on thesmall screen, proves she is not cut out for the anchor’s role. While the peoplemaking the programme say Gupta’s antics were intended to be part of the game, as isthe case in the original programme, The Weakest Link, many—including some ofthe participants—don’t agree.Far from being witty, Gupta’s wisecracks andreferences are inane. A participant making an animated reply was asked not to do a"Bharatanatyam" while speaking. Or worse, things like: "Kaun hai joaapke sar pe tabla baja raha hai?" All right, the compere is meant to be meanand insulting but it doesn’t come naturally to Gupta. She is more studied thanspontaneous in her nastiness. So are the participants. Could we get some real bitchinessplease?