RUBINA’S RADAR | ANCIENT SCULPTURES AND MODERN HISTORIES OF THE RAILWAY MEN

December 1, 2023December 2, 2023Leave a comment

DECEMBER 1, 2023

Humanity is but an amalgamation of ancient cultures, of the good and the great, but not without the bad and evil either. Modern histories on the other hand, are stories of yesterdays told today, with enchanting whimsy and hope, a great example being The Railway Men – The Untold Story of Bhopal 1984 on Netflix. Celebrating ancient cultures with Mediterranean sculptures is a new exhibit at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai, India called Ancient Sculptures: India Egypt Assyria Greece Rome from December 2nd, 2023 to October 1st, 2024.

MUMBAI: A new exhibition, a first of its kind, Ancient Sculptures: India Egypt Assyria Greece Rome opens on December 2nd, 2023 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (known as the Prince of Wales Museum of Western from 1905-1998) in Mumbai, India. The Ancient Sculptures exhibit explores why we must look at, and look int our ancient connected world, with curators from CSMVS, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, The British Museum and The Getty Museum coming together to tell the stories of shared cultures. They have chosen sculptures to be exhibited alongside objects from Indian institutions at the exhibit which commences on December 2nd and goes on till October 2024. The objects on display were chosen by the curators at CSMVS in Mumbai that add to the cultural and historical significance of the stories of India’s rich antiquity, making for compelling storytelling from ancient Greece and Rome. The Indian public will be able to view historical artistic achievements of the ancient Mediterranean with India’s very own cultural treasures for the first time at CSMVS.

Sekhmet: Goddess of Destruction; Mottled granodiorite, Thebes (modern Karnak),
Egypt; c. 1390-1352 BCE ©Trustees of The British Museum, London, United Kingdom.

A panel discussion at CSMVS on opening day, on December 2nd at 5:30pm, has been organised with primary support from Getty, called Why Ancient Sculptures Matter(s) – A conversation on the making of Ancient Sculptures: India Egypt Assyria Greece Rome. Joyoti Roy, Project Curator of Ancient Sculptures (Curator Art, CSMVS) and Nilanjana Som, Curator Ancient Sculptures (Curator Art, CSMVS) will be in conversation with Professor Dr Andreas Scholl, Director of Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Berlin, Germany) and Dr Thorsten Opper, Curator Greek and Roman Sculpture, The British Museum (London, UK) moderated by Renuka Muthuswami, Curator Ancient Sculptures, CSMVS on the day.

The museum was named the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India to honour HRH the Prince of Wales, as had laid the foundation stone of the museum building on November 11, 1905 in Mumbai. The Prince of Wales went on to become George V, King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from May 6th, 1910 until his death in 1936. George Wittet, a Scottish architect, was selected through an open competition to design the museum building in 1909 and the construction of the building was completed in 1914. The magnificent Indo-Saracenic architectural style of the museum building embodies elements from Hindu, Islamic and Western architecture. Interestingly, during World War I in 1914, the building was used as a military hospital and named Lady Hardinge War Hospital, and it was used as a hospital again during the influenza pandemic from 1918-1920. The museum as we know it today, was opened to the public 17 years after its ideation and construction, on January 10, 1922 in Mumbai. Wittet also designed the Gateway of India to commemorate the landing of George V, the first British monarch to visit India, for his coronation as the Emperor of India in December 1911. George V had visited India earlier in 1905 as HRH the Prince of Wales, becoming monarch in 1910.

Ancient Sculptures: India Egypt Assyria Greece Rome is on from December 2nd, 2023 to October 1st, 2024 from 10:15 AM to 6:00 PM at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya: 159-161, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Kala Ghoda, Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001.

MUMBAI: The Railway Men – The Untold Story of Bhopal 1984 released on Netflix on November 18th, 2023. The series is a spine-chilling, heart-wrenching portrayal of a catastrophic massacre of human life – the Bhopal gas tragedy in India in 1984 and the Sikh genocide in the same year. A 45 ton methyl isocyanate gas leak on December 2nd, 1984, from the US-owned chemical firm, Union Carbide Corporation’s pesticide plant set up in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh in 1969 as Union Carbide India Limited, killed thousands of people instead of the agricultural pests and insects it was supposed to. The chemical leak from the plant occurred due to substandard operating and safety procedures and understaffing at the plant. The four-part limited series, a cinematic tale of heroism and humanity in the face of imminent death and despair honouring the unsung heroes of the tragedy, is the first venture from Yash Raj Films’ Entertainment, the streaming content arm of Yash Raj Films. It also marks the beginning of a multi-year creative partnership between Netflix and Yash Raj Films.

R. Madhavan, Kay Kay Menon, Divyendu and Babil Khan in The Railway Men
©Yash Raj Entertainment ©Netflix

The Railway Men is an acting-led series. The series blazes through with phenomenal performances by every single actor in the series, but not without a flawless script, screenplay and dialogue, meticulously produced by YRF Entertainment and ably directed by Shiv Rawail. I loved Kay Kay Menon’s performance as Iftikhar Siddiqui, Bhopal Junction’s station master. Menon is an absolute acting masterclass in the series. You can read his face, expressive of every little human emotion and nuance, bereft of dialogue. And with dialogue, you can’t take your eyes off Menon’s railway station master act during the series. Dibyendu Bhattacharya’s performance as Kamruddin, a Union Carbide manager, is exemplary, as is Raghubir Yadav’s enactment of a train guard on the Gorakhpur-Bhopal Express. Babil Khan is terrific as the fresh and righteous locomotive driver Imaad Riaz as is Divyendu in his part as a multi-layered dacoit, Balwant Yadav. Juhi Chawla Mehta is a refined and succinct bad-ass in her portrayal of Rajeshwari Janglay, a railway bureaucrat. Sunny Hinduja is earnest and able as journalist Jagmohan Kumawat, as is Sunita Rajwar as Vijaya, a cleaning woman at the railway station. The Railway Men is an incredible series to come about from India, about India, and it is a must-watch!

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©Rubina A Khan 2023

RUBINA’S RADAR | A JUMMA AND A CHUMMA IN MUMBAI

November 17, 2023November 18, 2023Leave a comment

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Attention is a heady elixir in Mumbai, and rather addictive at that. With the world blowing kisses at Virat Kohli for breaking and making new cricket records at the Wankhede Stadium and football’s invincible goliath himself, David Beckham on a walkabout of the very same stadium with none other than the revered lord of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, with Kohli as an assist, it’s been a very celebratory November so far. And with India playing Australia in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 on November 19th in Ahmedabad, the attention on cricket is only going to escalate, particularly if India wins the cup.

MUMBAI: India’s colossus of cricket, Virat Kohli became the first batter in ODI history to score 50 centuries, breaking the record for most hundreds in ODIs during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Kohli broke Sachin Tendulkar’s landmark record for most ODI centuries when he hit his 50th ODI hundred in the semifinal game against New Zealand on November 15th at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India. Kohli made his ODI debut in 2008 and has played 279 innings in 291 matches to score 13,794 runs at an average of 58.69 and a strike rate of 93.62 to date. He has scored 50 centuries and 71 half-centuries in the 279 innings to date. After the 2011 World Cup win, Kohli had carried his idol, Sachin Tendulkar on his shoulders on the Wankhede grounds, and after hitting his milestone, he saluted towards the stands in the direction of his wife Anushka Sharma, and then to Tendulkar. “It’s the stuff of dreams, Anushka was sitting right there, Sachin was there in the stands. It’s very difficult for me to explain this, but if I could paint a perfect picture, I would want this to be the picture. My life partner, the person I love the most, she’s sitting there. My hero, he’s sitting there. And I was able to get there in front of all of them and all these fans in Wankhede as well, such a historic venue. It was amazing,” said Kohli of his historic moment and India’s win.

Virat Kohli at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India on November 15th, 2023.

Of course there was another sporting goliath, David Beckham, watching the semi-final game and Kohli’s record innings from the stands. Beckham was on his first visit to India as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, and caught up with the revered god of cricket and ICC Global Ambassador, Sachin Tendulkar in Mumbai, ahead of India’s semi-final match against New Zealand. People went wild seeing Beckham, Tendulkar and Kohli together, and the three legends of sport were met with thunderous applause and excitement by the fans at Wankhede, especially when Kohli played assist for Beckham’s legendary kick. India plays Australia at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on November 19th and it remains to be seen what records the boys in blue will make and break on the day.

David Beckham with Sachin Tendulkar, Akash Ambani, Kiara Advani, Siddharth Malhotra at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India

MUMBAI: The first edition of Himalayan Knot, a project exploring the textiles, weaves and crafts of the Himalayan region, namely Ladakh, orchestrated and nurtured by Royal Enfield’s (Eicher Motors Ltd) social mission, was held on November 17th at a Mukesh Mills in Mumbai. The Timeless Spirit of The Himalayas, a conversation between designer Prabal Gurung and sustainable activist and journalist, Bandana Tewari, both of Nepalese descent and heritage, spoke of their combined familiarity with the Himalayan region, and the pressing need for its rightful cultural identity on the global landscape. After all, conversations like these that stem from personal experiences, are the first drivers that action change, be it cultural, ethnic, political or climactic. The Himalayan region traverses India, Nepal, China, Pakistan and Bhutan, and is often othered and smothered by talks of the highest mountain peak in the world, Mount Everest, and not its indigenous people, their culture, their histories and the adverse effects of global warming on all aspects of their life. Tewari also moderated a panel on Empowering Communities Through Craft and Culture and Shaping Contemporary Fashion With Heritage Textiles during the course of the evening. Talking about the plurality in the singularity of our roots and our heritage is the only way forward in a world consumed with selective recognition. The Himalayan kitchen experience was crafted by culinary virtuoso, Chef Prateek Sadhu’s new restaurant NAAR (fire in Kashmiri) in Solan, and led by Chef Kamlesh Negi and a 10-member team, alongside Ladakhi home chefs in Mumbai. The Baqarkhaani, Yak Cheese Askaloo and Gucchi Pulao were incredibly flavourful and delicious. The affable Chef Negi lives in Dehradun, but he belongs to the Paudi Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, and his culinary talent for regional dishes is beyond compare. I am yet to eat something made by him that’s not wildly amazing and memorable.

©Prabal Gurung at Mukesh Mills, Mumbai, India | Photographed by Rubina A Khan

Strategically positioned on the banks of the Arabian Sea, Mukesh Mills, a favoured spot for film shootings, came alive for the night from its dilapidated, withered, barren and abandoned state of existence. Prior to this Jumma night, I had only ever seen Mukesh Mills playing shape-shifting characters in Amitabh Bachchan’s films, namely the Jumma Chumma track from Hum (1991), Khuda Gawah (1992), Agneepath (1990), all directed by the late Mukul Anand. I reckon Bachchan’s Tiger in Hum led to the spawning of many tigers in the film industry since, but Bachchan’s Tiger is an indomitably original and beloved character. I was deliciously excited to be at Mukesh Mills, a place I had wanted to visit for a long time, imagining Bachchan’s 90s era and the films he shot at the abandoned and obsolete mill. I shall go back to Mukesh Mills soon to see the jetty and the docks in all their geographical and historical glory under the warmth of the winter sun.

Mukesh Mills in Colaba, Mumbai, India

An excerpt from ©Amitabh Bachchan’s blog, marked Day 75 reads thus:
“My dear friend and producer of the film, Romesh Sharma and I had been battling for a number for a sequence for a while. On a private visit to Brussels, Belgium I walked past a music store and heard the notes of a song which remained with me. A few months later driving up to Abhishek’s school in Switzerland I heard some attractive notes of another song on the radio and it all came together. ‘Mukhra’ Belgium, ‘antara’ Switzerland and we had the song. Soon after it was recorded, there was Holi at Prateeksha and in the madness of the revelry of the festival, we played the song out to the hundreds of guests at an open house. Billu, as I fondly call Romesh, and I knew we had a winner. We sat on the design, we sat on the location, we sat on the choreography and picked Mukesh Mills. Set up a section of the dilapidated factory into a workers entertainment centre and shot the song. I have never witnessed such enthusiasm and energy in all, during the shooting of this catchy number. We had our moments though. A few months before that shooting I had been on a concert tour – Jumma Chumma in London. Wembley Stadium. 65,000 people. A first for any Indian concert. There was just Sridevi and myself and Kalyanji Anandji with Viju and his orchestra. But I wanted more artists. Two young first timers had suddenly erupted on the film firmament and had perhaps just one film to their credit. Aamir Khan and Salman Khan. It was their first stage show ever. I invited them to join us. Along with Anupam and Neelam we had the concert of our time. A film was made of it and it is available on dvd and video. The popularity of the song and the concert visual was now known to all. We had performed it on stage with exquisite Broadway dancers from New York. They had looked stunning. Would the impression of the song in the minds of the audience get disturbed with what they were now about to see on screen? It was a challenge. One that dance director Chinni Prakash came out in flying colors with. The lovely Kimi Katkar, so gorgeous in her red dress and the only lady on set in the song, incredible. In every shot, the crew, the light men, the spot boys the producer, director, the crowds, all screaming and shouting, egging us on to give our best. What an atmosphere.”

Disclaimer: Any part of the content on the rubinaakhan.com website cannot be reproduced without prior permission and crediting the website and the author. The © ahead of a name is the copyright of the subject in the photograph and not shot by Rubina A Khan.

©Rubina A Khan 2023

RUBINA’S RADAR | KOREAN KING OF POP – JUNGKOOK

November 10, 2023November 10, 2023Leave a comment

NOVEMBER 10, 2023

In the artistic landscapes of music, fashion and seemingly never-ending Netflix dramas, South Korea is an indomitable power, as is the extremely gifted singer and performing artist, Jungkook. He has reintroduced himself in 2023 as an independent, multi-genre artist, dropping three singles and a debut solo album, Golden, this year. Jungkook has been promoting and performing his third single of 2023, Standing Next To You, to screaming fans and entranced audiences in New York. The single made its television debut on The Tonight Show on November 6th, NBC’s Today at the Rockefeller Plaza on November 8th and TSX in Times Square on November 9th.

Jungkook’s third single, Standing Next To You from his debut solo album, Golden, released on November 3rd, 2023, with over 29 million views as of today, making it a winning track. I am sure it will hit a billion views very swiftly, given his stellar track record. Born Jeon Jungkook in Busan, South Korea, and mononymously known as Jungkook, the back-up dancer-turned-headliner is on his way to becoming a global pop superstar.

Jung Kook performing at the Rockefeller Plaza in New York on November 8, 2023 (Photo by Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)

A member and vocalist of one of South Korea’s most successful and popular boy bands, BTS, since June 2013, with the single 2 Cool 4 Skool, Jungkook has sung three solo songs, all chartbusters, as part of BTS’ discography — Begin (2016), Euphoria (2018) and My Time (2020). With Golden, Jungkook has reintroduced himself as an independent artist, given the name and fame he enjoys as a BTS band member. Jungkook became the first South Korean artist to release an official song for the FIFA World Cup soundtrack with Dreamers, which he subsequently performed at the 2022 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony in Doha, Qatar. His indie tracks seem to be outnumbering almost every K-pop artist’s in the world, with his debut solo single Seven (July 14) featuring American rapper Latto, becoming the fastest song in history to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify and went platinum. His second single this year, 3D (September 29) featuring Jack Harlow and his debut solo album, Golden, and his third single, Standing Next To You is steadily climbing the charts, competing with his own track record.

Jungkook’s Standing Next To You video

Jungkook’s dulcet sounds and vocal riffs on the track, with Michael Jackson falsettos and the smooth dance moves, make it a fantastic pop track. He even wore a very Jackson-esque, military style jacket for his appearance on The Tonight Show. Standing Next To You is clearly inspired by Michael Jackson, but it is all about Jungkook’s single sound energy, given he is the only vocalist on the track, without another artist like his earlier singles this year. The music video plays to his agile strengths as a terrific dancer, with every single vocal intonation of the determined love lyrics in sync with his dextrous moves. He traces a femme fatale love interest with untamed desire, through a tungsten hued tunnel and an abandoned theatre in a dusty industrial lot. The video was directed by Tetyana Robertivna Muinyo and filmed in Budapest, Hungary. Of Cuban and Ukranian descent, she is popularly known as Tanu Muino in the business. Muino directed the music video for Harry Styles’ As It Was in 2022 which was Billboard’s number one song of the year worldwide.

Jungkook performs Standing Next To You on The Tonight Show in New York on November 6, 2023 (Photo by Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)

Jungkook named the album Golden as his mother had a golden dream when she was pregnant with him and when he looks back at his decade old journey that changed the music landscape worldwide, he considers it all a “golden moment” in time. Jungkook is also known as “golden maknae”, a nickname coined by his bandmate, RM, which means golden youngest in Korean, for his exemplary talent and being the youngest member of BTS. And it’s only a matter of days for Golden to go platinum!

Jungkook on NBC’s The Tonight Show in New York on November 6th, 2023

He’s keeping it real by being “most proud of BTS and the army” of fans over the past decade, but not without honouring his mother and his family at every step of his journey as a multi-genre performing artist. What’s next for the golden maknae? A world tour by Jungkook in 2025 hopefully!

Disclaimer: Any part of the content on the rubinaakhan.com website cannot be reproduced without prior permission and crediting the website and the author. The © ahead of a name is the copyright of the subject in the photograph and not shot by Rubina A Khan.

©Rubina A Khan 2023

Chivas Glassware Alchemy 2023 In Mumbai

May 9, 2023June 25, 2023Leave a comment

Mumbai is where the fame and glamour games are at, but since March 2023, an almost impossible party métier seems to have been set in basalt by the city, upon itself. The bar was raised irrevocably by the magnitude and magnificence of French fashion house, Christian Dior’s pre fall 2023 runway show held at the Gateway of India on March 30, so much so that no one remembers or wants to remember ABCD – A Before Christian Dior era! Mumbai shows no signs of tailing off the money shots any time soon, with Chivas Glassware Alchemy 2023 shaking up the city’s May calendar with its beguiling arrival.

*MUMBAI, INDIA – MAY 06: A general view of the music stage at the Chivas Glassware Alchemy 2023 Event on May 06, 2023 in Mumbai, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)*

The fourth edition of Chivas Glassware Alchemy 2023, called the Kaleidoscope of Time, was held on Saturday, May 6th in Mumbai at Snowball Studios in Worli. Time as a construct cannot be contained, but it can certainly be felt, such was the ubiquitous theme of the haute summer night. Oscillating between the then and now, the alluring blue-hued night reiterated the universal infinitude that today’s new is tomorrow’s vintage through fashion, art, music and food in a manner most luxurious.

Five virtuosos played host in previous years at Chivas Alchemy, expressing themselves through the five senses of Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch, but this edition had eighteen this time around, dix huit being the magic number of the award-winning Chivas 18 whisky blend.

The night was separated by rooms, each echoing the spirit of the artistry exhibited in it. Eleven design minds, ranging from established Indian designers to emerging ones, showcased their fashion genres through live installations in the main room, ably complemented by the art on the walls, a very busy bar and of course beautiful people like Malaika Arora, Arjun Kapoor, Rahul Khanna, Pulkith Modi, Kunal Kapoor, Narendra Kumar, Rajesh Pratap Singh and so many more at the party. There were almost a thousand people in attendance! The second area had an art installation with a bar right by it and a mezzanine bar above. The third room was where the party was really at with an edible centrepiece and culinary experiences par excellence by Ekaa Mumbai, Koko and Eat Drink Design. Chef Niyati Rao of Ekaa Mumbai is a culinary genius! The live musical act by Delhi businessman Ajay Bijli, and his band, Random Order, had everyone singing and dancing to his dulcet sounds – he’s got some pipes – and DJ Masha from Belarus turned up contemporary beats on her turntable, with yet another open bar led by mixologist, Giovanni Depergola from Dubai. Four open bars raising the party bar in Mumbai!

The interpretation of the night was yours, and yours alone, whether you loved the vintage, heritage vibe or the modern, hedonistic one. Everything in Mumbai is now evaluated in an AD (After Dior) parameter and that’s a tall order in itself, and I think that Chivas Glassware Alchemy 2023 was a wicked success making it one of the top three events in the city so far – it was mounted and orchestrated on a lush scale, with an attendance as bold and seductive as its whisky blends!

Disclaimer: Any part of the content on the rubinaakhan.com website cannot be reproduced without prior permission and crediting the website and the author.

©Rubina A Khan 2023

Gaurav Gupta – The Indian King Of Couture Artistry

February 24, 2023November 10, 20231 Comment

Pop culture artists in the West have been wearing Indian couturier Gaurav Gupta’s future primitive phantasia collections on the most famous red carpets in the world – Cannes, Time 100 Gala, Billboards, the Oscars and of course the Grammys for the larger part of the past year. Mary J Blige wore him to the Time 100 Gala in 2022, Megan Thee Stallion wore him to the 94th Oscars in Hollywood, Maluma to the Latin Billboard Awards 2022 in Miami, Lizzo, Jennifer Hudson, Kylie Minogue, Bebe Rexha, Luis Fonsi, Ashanti, Thalia, Saweetie – the names read like a veritable Grammy nomination list! And 2023 is looking even better with the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode Paris (FHCM) inviting him to the Paris haute couture calendar, where he showcased Shunya, his SS23 debut showing at Paris Haute Couture Week at the Palais de Tokyo on Republic Day. The collection has the world lauding his genius that’s intrinsically Indian, yet imaginatively international in style and spirit.

Gaurav Gupta at his atelier in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)

On music’s biggest night on February 5th, the Central Saint Martin’s alumnus’ name was etched permanently in the couture halls of fame worldwide, with Cardi B wearing an electric blue creation straight off his Paris Haute Couture Week runway, from his Shunya collection, at the 65th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. The gown that electrified the world has its own identity and name since its outing at the Grammys – it’s called the Cardi Blue. And Cardi’s no stranger to Gupta’s indigenous sculpting genius – she wore an ivory ensemble by him, representative of air that lent a cosmic flair to her character standing in a field of roses in her No Love video in 2022.

**Cardi B wearing Gaurav Gupta at the 65th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, USA.**

Gupta is undeniably the Indian king of couture artistry today, dressing up pop royals and culturati around the world. Rock stars, pop stars, indie and underground artists in the West introduce and dictate fashion and trends in a way that’s incomparable to the impact of Hollywood stars. Of course the reverse is true for India where fashion is dominated by Bollywood stars and Gupta has dressed every major celebrity in India, the most recent international outing being Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan on the Cannes red carpet in 2022.

“I’m finally home – I was always meant to do this,” says Gupta of the worldwide blitzkrieg around him, and about him. “I have always been a conceptual couture mind and I resonate with my education at Central Saint Martin’s in London very well where I unlearnt to learn. Thirty kids from around the world are picked every year at CSM and I was one of them. My experiences in establishing and owning my label in India since 2004, with my brother Saurabh as co-director in our company, and the love and support my 350-strong team and I have earned over the years have led me to these moments. It was very difficult in the early years to find a balance between conceptualism and commercial viability as we don’t follow any rules, but I stuck to my beliefs and the brand’s aesthetic of future primitive fantasy.”

Gaurav Gupta at his atelier in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)

Indeed, all the world is but a red carpet for Gupta and his non-conformist artistry. Given Gupta comes from a family that owns a steel business, he definitely knows a thing or two about running numbers, despite his artistic bent of mind. He has a well-thought out plan for his expansion in the West, that he kicked off with the very successful cultural collaborations, following it up with Neiman Marcus in the US and Moda Operandi, also in the US, carrying his label. Alongside his e-tail business, Gupta has brick and mortar stores in Delhi, Hyderabad and Kolkata, with his Mumbai store in Kala Ghoda re-opening after a redesign on March 3rd. And when will his MET Gala red carpet moment happen? “Everything has a time and place and it will happen soon.”

DELHI, INDIA – NOVEMBER 05: Couturier Gaurav Gupta works with his tailors and embroiderers at his newly-opened five-storied atelier on November 05, 2022 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Rubina A. Khan/Getty Images)

Gupta’s international success is a first for an Indian designer on the fashion landscape and he’s changed the couture game in India a second time around, the first being when he transformed couture as a concept for Indian brides that were tied to conservative traditions when he launched his label in 2004. Indian brides started wearing him at a time when only saris and lehengas were considered bridal wear; anything else was just rebellion and anarchy against the cultural traditions of the country. But through his meticulously crafted flamboyant flights of fantasy in cloth, albeit in subdued palettes and nude illusions with some colour thrown in, Gupta, with his unwavering perseverance, brought about a radical change in the way couture was viewed and worn in India, especially at Indian weddings. Today, his contemporary garments are a must on every bride’s wedding wish-list.

“I have noticed that we are driving a non-conformist culture which is abstract, yet liberating at the same time. We nurtured this notion in the country when brides were only wearing traditional clothes, but now brides of all nationalities wear our cultural couture for their weddings. Our white wedding gown is extremely popular with African girls. What is exciting for me is not the gown, but the aesthetic that a woman is like art and she’s wearing live art on the most important day of her life. She’s breaking convention by not wearing what her mother or her sister or her aunt wore. She is celebrating the fantasy of life. I invented the sari gown which is now a staple in every designer’s collection. We pioneered a movement of a new Indian wear culture with our futuristic, contemporary aesthetic, and we make lehengas and saris our way. I like to play around with pre-conceived definitions and redefine them in my own way. I am excited when I can tickle people’s brains with the new fantasies I create – I don’t live for the applause – I live for the gasps of excitement, the goosebump moments. I love sub-cultures and new cultures and that’s really what drives me.”

The Delhi-raised Gupta believes that the celebrities who wear his label in the West get attracted to the brand organically. “Everyone who has worn us are all icons and pop culturists in all facets of their lives. Their voices resonate with us and when one is a true artist, the attraction is infinite. I mean Mary J Blige, Maluma, Lizzo, Cardi B, Sharon Stone – they are icons who have changed the world with their individualism and voices. And Sharon Stone wearing our golden gown was live art in the SNL bit with Sam Smith and the choir singing around her! And Paris couldn’t have happened at a better time for me. The love for Shunya has been incredible!”

Relieved is how Gupta feels today, having realised a long cherished dream with his Paris Haute Couture Week SS23 showing in January. “I have been waiting to make this moment happen and I have been ready for it for a while. To be invited by the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode for the 2023 couture calendar is just incredible. Couture culture and the thought process of geniuses makes sense to me. I don’t work with references, time or place but the Paris crew delivered exactly what I wanted for Shunya. Their reverence for my vision was wonderful. I wanted a new hair style for the models because the last new hair that is in my sub-conscious memory is that of Alexander McQueen’s show more than a decade ago. The show’s soundtrack was an original that comprised of the tabla, cello, tribal sounds with an electronic overlay that was specially composed for the show by producers Gaurav Raina aka Grain and Curtain Blue.”

PARIS, FRANCE – JANUARY 26: A model walks the runway during the Gaurav Gupta Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2023 fashion show as part of Paris Fashion Week on January 26, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Victor LOCHON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Gupta is a firm believer in humanitarian acts and is of the opinion that “every public figure should have a humanitarian outlook and talk about justice.” Having met Nelson Mandela when he was a youngster, he tries to bring about active change in his personal and professional life. “The Shunya show had trans models, African models, curvaceous girls – couture shows don’t do that. Togetherness and love is infinite and the image of two models walking down the runway, conjoined by the dress is an image that will stick for years to come. Zinnia, the Indian model, is an anthropologist off the runway and there is so much more to her and the other models than just the physical representations. Shunya was truly an international show. Honestly, in the last 18 years I’ve never been as satisfied with my work as I’ve been with Shunya and working with all these people. It’s wild to hear the Chinese and Russians discussing Shunya and my infinity theme that stemmed from the discovery of zero by an Indian, Aryabhatta.”

From introducing his definitive couture voice to resistant Indians, he’s taken Indian couture that is made in India, by Indians, to the world. His non-conformist expressions with fabric and form on the human body are being lionized globally. Indians have always flaunted Western labels, and now, Americans, Albanians, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Africans, Australians, Mexicans – people of all nationalities are wearing an Indian couturier with pride on the biggest nights of their lives. Just by standing his ground on his aesthetic of couture, Gupta gave himself to the world in a manner most authentic, and he’s being seen and heard exactly for who he is as a couture artist.

Gupta credits his supportive family for his rise from zero to the infinite possibilities in the world, echoing the theme of his Shunya collection which was all about a zero turning into infinity with a little shake. “I am surrounded by angels in my life – my parents, my brother Saurabh and Navkirat, my soulmate who I live with and all my friends that I meet along my path and my team. My parents and Saurabh have played a very big role in my life as they support all that I want to do. I am full of gratitude for every one that is in my life. Had it not been for Saurabh, I would still be working in Istanbul today, where I was headhunted straight after CSM! This is just the beginning for us – from here to infinity!”

This feature first appeared in Rolling Stone on February 23rd, 2023

©Rubina A Khan 2023

Hindujas Repurpose Winston Churchill’s OWO With £1.2 Billion Into Raffles London Hotel

November 27, 2022November 28, 20223 Comments

The Indian industrialist brothers – Srichand, Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok Hinduja, of the Hinduja Group, a multinational conglomerate with interests in oil, automobiles, banking and real estate, are making acquiring historic and heritage properties in London a game of Monopoly, buying not where the die rolls, but where their eye goes. In 2006, they bought 13-16 Carlton House Terrace, built in 1831, spread over 67,000 square feet in the City of Westminster, with Buckingham Palace close by, for £58 million from the Crown Estate and spent another £50 million in renovations before they could move in and call it home in 2011.

The brothers have since gone on to purchase Britain’s Old War Office (OWO) at Whitehall, for £1.2 billion in 2014. Designed by British architect William Young and originally completed in 1906, the OWO is a Grade II* listed building that has witnessed innumerable world-shaping events. The OWO’s 1,100 rooms and four kilometres of corridors, were used by Winston Churchill during World War II, leading Britain to wartime victory. Grand in size and stature both, with classic Edwardian baroque interiors, the OWO has since been renovated for over five years, in keeping with the rich legacy and the historical architectural elements of the building by the Hinduja Group at the helm of the 5,80,000 square feet redevelopment that cost a Gross Development Value of £1.2 billion. Interestingly, James Bond, the fictional MI6 icon of espionage, was conceived at the OWO when writer Ian Fleming worked in Britain’s Naval Intelligence Service, acting as key liaison with the department, overseeing Operation Goldeneye. As a result, the OWO has made starring appearances in 007 films like Skyfall, Spectre, License to Kill, A View to a Kill, Octopussy and No Time To Die over the years.

Once the planning approvals came from the Westminster City Council in July 2017, Britain’s former Old War Office went from being a government building, to a mixed-use building with a 250 year lease from the date of acquisition. After being closed to the public for more than a century, the OWO, now repurposed into a luxury hotel called Raffles London at The OWO, is all set to open in the spring of 2023.

“The OWO is my greatest legacy to London for future generations to enjoy,” says Gopichand Parmanand Hinduja, co-chairman of the Hinduja Group.

The 120 rooms and suites that comprise the OWO hotel, including a Winston Churchill Suite, have been designed by French architect and interior designer, Thierry Despont, known for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty in New York as an associate architect in the 80s and transforming landmark buildings like The Getty Centre and Maison Cartier. The 85 branded residences, a first for Raffles in Europe, come with a heady mix of history, mystery and royal glamour set in an enviable location, making them the most expensive in London to date. They are priced upwards of £7.1million for a two-bedroom residence, £10million for a two-bedroom residence designed by Albion Nord and £14.25million for a three-bedroom residence designed by Angel O’Donnell, with prices including fixtures and fittings, but not the artwork. A four-bedroom residence 5.02, on the fifth floor, is an ode to the espionage history of the building. It is accessed through the Spies Entrance, a door used by MI6 staff after covert missions, and the name has been retained from 1909 when the British Secret Service Bureau was established as a department of the War Office. It still makes for discreet arrivals and departures, but not without the 24/7 monitoring by on-site security.

The OWO residences seem to have outperformed the Prime Central London market, with a new record for values achieved on a price per square foot basis, within months of their launch. A new benchmark of over £11,000 price per square foot was achieved on one of the unique turret residences, a four bedroom duplex. It is safe to say that the OWO residences, located in an unparalleled and iconic part of London, serviced by the Raffles team, are a coveted buy.

Not only is the OWO the Hinduja Group’s first foray into the hospitality business, but it is also the first Raffles hotel in London, and the first Guerlain Spa in London, exclusive to the Raffles London at The OWO too.

Philippe Leboeuf, Managing Director at Raffles London at The OWO confirms the opening of the hotel, “This staggering piece of British history will be open to the public for the very first time from Spring 2023, thanks to the Hinduja’s tireless work in sensitively conserving this significant address, partnering with experts including English Heritage, MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) and EPR Architects. This beacon of British heritage and modern craftsmanship will also be home to Raffles first hotel in the city, Raffles London at The OWO and it’s a once in a lifetime project for the Hinduja family which will become a new icon of global hospitality. Since acquiring the OWO, the Hinduja family have overseen the meticulous restoration of Britain’s former Old War Office with a vision and commitment to preserve its heritage, all the while breathing new life into the landmark.”

The acclaimed Italian-Argentine Chef Mauro Colagreco of Mirazur (three Michelin stars) a modernist cuisine restaurant that he opened in 2006 in Menton, France, will be creating unique dining experiences set within the OWO’s most storied rooms, driven by a commitment to seasonality, local procurement, and sustainability. Chef Mauro was awarded the rank of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in the 2022 honours list by the French government.

“Chef Mauro is undoubtedly one of the world’s most recognised chefs, with a phenomenal reputation and we’re excited to see him bring his experience to Raffles London at The OWO with concepts that are tailor-made for our well-travelled guests,” says Stephen Alden, CEO of Raffles & Orient Express.

Out of the nine restaurants and bars (including a rooftop restaurant and bar with expansive views across Whitehall, The Mall and Buckingham Palace) slated to open at the OWO, Paper Moon, a family-run Italian restaurant founded by Pio Galligani and his wife Enrica Del Rosso in Milan’s fashion district in 1977, is the first independent restaurant to have been announced so far. Paper Moon is located in a space overlooking Horse Guards Avenue. There are plans to open restaurants serving Indian, Japanese and French cuisines which are still under negotiation.

“These vibrant new restaurants will be part of the dynamic dining offer which will place The OWO as a new epicentre for London’s culinary scene, and sets the stage for an entirely new hospitality experience for visitors and Londoners,” says Madani Sow of Westminster Development Services.

This hospitality venture is the first of its kind in scale, spend and historical relevance, with an Indian business family restoring the history of a British landmark. It remains to be seen if the billions that The OWO has been bought, acquired and repurposed for, tempts the Hinduja family enough to make hospitality another key business for their group.

This feature first appeared in Hindustan Times on November 27th, 2022

©Rubina A Khan 2022

Writing My First Book, Adventures Through Covid, Grounded Me, Says Author Parris Fotias

February 25, 2022October 9, 2022Leave a comment

Luxury and austerity, antithetical as they are, have never existed in the world as intimately as during the pandemic. Inexplicable, but true, like most things during this time. Parris Fotias, Regional Sales Director, Dorchester Collection hotels, was flying back home to Sydney from a work trip to Mumbai in February 2020 when COVID-19 hit, a nightmare that the world is yet to wake up from. His work life entailed checking in and out of airports and the most luxurious hotels in the world, including nine of the Dorchester Collection that have played architectural parts in films and Netflix series, and are stars in themselves. One cannot think of a London without The Dorchester and 45, Park Lane, Los Angeles without The Beverly Hills and the Bel Air, Paris sans the geranium dotted façade of The Plaza Athenee and Le Meurice, Italy without Hotel Eden Rome and Principe Di Savoia, or the beautiful English countryside without Coworth Park in Ascot. A confined Parris didn’t just work from home, he played from home too. He wrote a book – his first – Adventures Through Covid: The Art of Subconscious Travel In A Transcendental State that was published in July 2021. His ability to make people laugh in these times through his words, strung together like a bejeweled necklace of hilarious gems is literary art. Rather outré for a jet-setting luxury hotelier you might think, but not if you know Parris, who’s a contemporary Greek Coeus, with an enviable humour to match.

Rubina A Khan converses, albeit digitally, with the luxury hotelier and first time author, Parris Fotias in Sydney:

While the world was grappling with lockdowns, covid news and stagnation, you wrote a book – Adventures Through Covid: The Art of Subconscious Travel in a Transcendental State! How did the idea to write one in such bleak and dire times come by – whilst you were barbecuing at home in Sydney or in one of the umpteen hand-washing or shower sessions at home?
To be completely honest, I never consciously set out to write a book. The idea to start writing was initially born upon my return to Australia on February 29^th, 2020 from Mumbai, India, which as of writing, is still my last international trip. Throughout the month or March, as the severity of COVID-19 became apparent, I felt compelled to reach out to as many of my clients as possible, just to check in on their wellbeing. So, I started sending them a weekly email and by the beginning of April, this had somehow morphed into a Dear Diary episodic series. At first, I tried to keep each entry short and sweet, but then found I myself compelled to share my own frustrations at being grounded and in lockdown. I also began referencing many long forgotten travel journals, regaling my new found audience with anecdotes from past trips. By the time I realised what was happening, it was December and I had been writing for almost nine months.

Adventures Through Covid vacillates from sardonic to dry humour at its best, but your writing is authentic to each chapter. Is the humour an extension of your personality?
I think most who know me well would say that humour does play a big role in my life and that it is an extension of my personality. Not to say that I always try to be amusing, but more often than not, I do try and find the funny side of most things. As Oscar Wilde once wrote, “sarcasm is the lowest form of wit but the highest form of intelligence”.

The situations in the book are real to your life in Australia, but the writing commingles beautifully with the fictional reactions to each odd hurdle created by the pandemic at your home and at work…
One of the things I attempted to do was to make each entry relevant. I would pick a topic that had made an impression on me and would begin writing. I also tried to weave in personal experiences into the narrative that held relevance to what I was preaching about. I am just fortunate that I had enough entertaining tales that I could incorporate and keep the reader amused.

For someone who lived in and out of airports, traveling to some of the most glamorous cities in the world on work as the Regional Sales Director of the Dorchester Collection hotels, you have expressed your stifling existence very ably through your book. Was it a release to do so? Did the writing help you cope?
Absolutely! Writing has always been a passion of mine but one that I have neglected for many years. Being able to indulge and write again helped me forget about what was happening in the outside world for a while. Yet, it was far more than just a guilty pleasure, it was definitely cathartic. It became a form of therapy, allowing me to express my frustrations which then led to conversations and discussions. And, it also grounded me. The entire process allowed me to remember how very fortunate I have been to travel for a living and visit so many amazing destinations. It made me realise that travel is indeed a privilege and one that should never be taken for granted.

Travel is indeed a privilege. What did you abhor the most about your forced confinement in the first lockdown?
The lack of spontaneity is what troubled me the most. Not being able to make that last-minute decision to head out to dinner or catch up with friends. We were definitely just existing day to day, and not living our lives during that period.

Who read the first draft of your book? And what did he/ she/ they say?
As I mentioned above, the concept was originally a Dear Diary email episodic series so, I would hasten to say that my clients were the ones who read the first draft of my book. They were the ones who encouraged me to keep on writing and by sharing their own tales and stories with me, inspired me to relive adventures that I had not thought about in years.

How come you decided to self-publish the book? With your stellar grasp on the language and your bereft-of-emotion prose (which is remarkable given you were low-key venting!) persuading the reader to keep turning the pages till the end, you should have got a publisher!
It wasn’t until the beginning of 2021 that I even considered publishing Adventures Through Covid and so my rationale at the time was simple. This pandemic would be done and dusted by the middle of the year. As mine is a topical story relating to the pandemic, I needed to fast track the process and get my book published as quickly as possible before everyone got on with their lives and forgot about COVID-19. So I decided to self-publish. Yes, hindsight is a wonderful thing and had I known then what I know now, I would have gotten a publisher!

What is your favourite part about the writing process? Did you write a page everyday? Was there a method to the creation of the chapters?
That is a tough question. I would say that what I loved the most was when I was able to incorporate an anecdote or memory from my past, into whatever topic I was waxing lyrical on that particular week, making it relevant to others. It was a weekly diary entry so I would write every week. Sometimes I would get an idea at the start of the week and would work on it a little every day. Other times, I would struggle to come up with a relevant topic and would have to write everything on a Friday morning which is when I tended to send it out to clients.

Has writing the book been the most satisfactory aspect of life in the lockdown?
I won’t lie, writing and publishing a book was a personal milestone that was extremely satisfactory – something that I have always wanted to accomplish. Yet I always abide by the saying that one must make your favourite experience your next one. To this point, I found so much joy in creating new memories with my family during lockdown. This included tuning in, singing & dancing to Hot Dub Time Machine – the world’s first Time Travelling DJ every Saturday night, and preparing Sunday lunch where we would head outside and spend a few hours, forgetting about the world for a while.

Who were you reading whilst writing your book? And who are some of your preferred authors right now?
My favourite authors include Christos Tsiolkas, Anne Rice & Jeffrey Eugenides, although I will say that I normally read whilst travelling. I also enjoy a lot of non-fiction and during the writing process I was reading Chaos Under Heaven: Trump, Xi, and the Battle for the Twenty-First Century by American journalist Josh Rogin, which is both fascinating and terrifying.

Have you travelled since the release of the book in July 2021 and where? What feels like the most freeing aspect of life today?
I have only made two trips since the release of the book in mid-2021. One was a work trip to Melbourne at the end of 2021 and the other was a weekend away just a few weeks ago in January 2022 to the Southern Highlands to attend my cousins 50^th Birthday party. But since mid February, I am back to travelling regularly for work, new variants withstanding of course. The most freeing aspect of life today is being able to visit friends, family and clients without too many restrictions. And, being able to head out to the amazing restaurants and bars that we have in Sydney.

From writing press releases for the Dorchester Collection Group to publishing your first book in the thick of the lockdown when everyone was at breaking point, you need to write another book this year given the pandemic rages on… what do you think?
One never knows! Now that I have whet my writing appetite, the skies the limit.

Adventures Through Covid is available to purchase on Amazon

©Rubina A Khan 2022

RUBINA’S RADAR | REEL IS WHAT’S REAL TODAY

April 13, 2020June 18, 2020Leave a comment

We humans thought we lived in an adamantine world controlled by us, until an invisible contagion microbe – the Coronavirus – showed us all we obviously don’t. The virus is killing humans harder and faster than any missile across the planet, halting an extremely self-serving, consumerist world, dead in its Earth-abusive tracks. The Earth seems to have quit us, albeit temporarily, leaving us to quarantine in our designated spaces and countries for a while – a while that feels more like an infinite uncertainty than a finite timeline with each passing day.

For those of us who are fortunate enough to have a home to quarantine in, and socially distance ourselves from our families in separate rooms, with running water, food and the familiar warmth of our beds – it is an ineffable bespoke luxury, one that is incomparable to any in the world. Millions of our fellow humans across are homeless, with no roof over their heads, jobless with no money for food or clean running water to drink, let alone to sanitize and wash their hands with, multiple times a day.

Opera singer Andrea Bocelli looks on before his Easter concert at the Duomo on April 12, 2020 in Milan, Italy. Members of the public were not allowed in Milan’s Duomo Cathedral due to the ongoing lockdown to control the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by Luca Rossetti, Courtesy Sugar SRL, DECCA Records via Getty Images)

I think the Coronavirus outbreak is the biggest performance art show of all time, where all human beings are a live act, me included, going about our lives in our tangible spaces and our paces. And, the world – a large canvas of pristine natural beauty and sounds stands still, watching us – the performative art on display. The lockdown takes me back to the first ever performance art exhibit I attended in the Hamptons in New York in 2013. It was Robert Wilson’s 20th Annual Watermill Center Summer Benefit called Devil’s Heaven. This was held at his performance lab for arts and humanities at the Watermill Center in Long Island. Devil’s Heaven was an unimaginable reality for me, with Lady Gaga, who I think is the quintessence of performance art herself and Marina Abramović, the most lasting of all performance art legends, in attendance.

Lady Gaga at Robert Wilson’s Devil’s Heaven at the Watermill Centre, Long Island, New York. (Photo by ©Rubina A Khan 2013)

Trina Merry’s Enchanted Forest model and I at Robert Wilson’s Devil’s Heaven at the Watermill Centre, Long Island, New York.

Watching the various intense acts of stillness and exertion across the eight acre grounds, especially Trina Merry’s Magnolias and her Enchanted Forest silent performers slithering seductively around tree trunks, left me awe-struck, and wide-eyed. At the entrance of the event, two naked figures, stood statuesquely on a pedestal, embracing each other in silence, in glorious consonance, their male and female bodies painted with an almost Avatar-esque shade of teal with a pink floral design akin to the Indian lotus. This was Merry’s Magnolias that explored the clash between culture and nature – exactly what we are experiencing in the real world today.

Trina Merry’s Magnolias at Robert Wilson’s Devil’s Heaven at the Watermill Centre, Long Island, New York. (Photo by ©Rubina A Khan 2013)

The Earth’s revolt – a silent warzone of microbial and economic devastation – has the human race feeling endangered for the very first time since its existence. Some of the models’ bodies, painted on to look like furniture, further conflated with material objects on the performer’s naked bodies, was Merry’s way of questioning human self-identities in relation to objects and the things humans own. Consumerist attitudes and human identities based on material things was almost entirely how the world ran before the Coronavirus outbreak. Merry seems to have latently manifested today’s unthinkable reality when it was anything but, seven odd years ago, when she created the series in New York, where she is based. Her artistic expression is a dominant, painful reality today and she flipped Oscar Wilde’s ancient notion from Life Imitates Art more than Art Imitates Life into Art Forsees Life perhaps! Never did I think, ever, that I would be living out my own performance act of a lifetime in these times. And, I am a non-conformist.

Trina Merry’s works at Robert Wilson’s Devil’s Heaven at the Watermill Centre, Long Island, New York. (Photo by ©Rubina A Khan 2013)

Trina Merry’s Enchanted Forest model at Robert Wilson’s Devil’s Heaven at the Watermill Centre, Long Island, New York. (Photo by ©Rubina A Khan 2013)

Trina Merry’s works at Robert Wilson’s Devil’s Heaven at the Watermill Centre, Long Island, New York. (Photo by ©Rubina A Khan 2013)

Art has always provoked us into a reactive state – be it shock, rage, bewilderment, exultation, agony, poignancy, exhilaration or just good ol’ gladdening. The Earth seems to have taken a break from us humans, to catch its own breath, whilst we are coming to terms with a new world – one that is brought to us by the eyes and the lenses of photographers across the world. Photography is art, frozen in time – almost like an entr’acte between the time when the photograph was taken to the current time of its viewing. Except today, all the photographs that we see are in real time of a very unreal, very unknown world that has fallen deafeningly silent and empty. In due course, these pictures will make for a historical archive for centuries to come.

The ability of a photograph to let one’s mind go back and forth, with meandering thoughts and shifting perspectives, never once losing the original, intrinsic essence of its frame is incredulous – it can be as active and as passive as you want it to be. Reel life is what’s real today. Apart from our first responders being doctors and health care workers who are on the front lines saving lives, it is the photographers who are risking their lives to bring the world to us, every single day. Images of empty streets and subways, empty places of worship, planes parked like Lego blocks in airport hangars, images of the heroic, live-saving first responders across the world from Wuhan to Italy to India to the US… are a reality thanks to the photographers out there, doing their job relentlessly, and serving humanity.

An aerial view of the illuminated statue of Christ the Redeemer that reads “Thank you” as Archbishop of the city of Rio de Janeiro Dom Orani Tempesta performs a mass in honor of Act of Consecration of Brazil and tribute to medical workers amidst the Coronavirus pandemic on April 12, 2020 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Mumbai-based photographer, Satyajit Desai’s imagery of the Janta Curfew in India on March 22^nd to the stark containment zones in Worli after Mumbai’s lockdown from March 25^th to the make-shift quarantine shelters in bus stands tells you the story of my city, and how the virus is affecting our lives, and our livelihoods, wherever you might be in the world.

A bus stand in Versova, Mumbai, is converted into a temporary shelter for the homeless to quarantine and social distance in on April 5th, 2020. (Photo by Satyajit Desai / Mumbai Mirror)

SL Shanth Kumar’s shots Mumbai’s pride, the Queen’s Necklace, our Marine Drive – the most beautiful stretch of concrete, that languidly hugs 3.6kms of the Arabian Sea’s shoreline are breath taking. Gary Hershorn’s pictures of an empty Times Square and a lone Brooklyn Bridge in New York seem like the people have been photo-shopped out of it. Ollie Millington’s shots of the Shard skyscraper in London, lit up in blue in thanks and support of the National Health Service of the UK on March 28^th as well as images of all landmarks in the US lighting up in blue from Boston to Vegas to thank their healthcare workers speak volumes of the intense work being done to contain the catastrophic virus everywhere.

TD Garden is lit in blue on April 09, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts, to show support for health care workers and first responders on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Right from the handout photo provided by Buckingham Palace of Queen Elizabeth II addressing the nation from Windsor Castle on April 5^th in a special broadcast to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth nations pertaining to the virus outbreak to Abdel Ghani Bashir’s sombre image of the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, devoid of any human life and movement, on March 5^th is very telling of the Earth and the Universe calling time on humans.

Queen Elizabeth II addresses the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth in a special broadcast in relation to the Coronavirus outbreak at Windsor Castle on April 5, 2020 in Windsor, England.(Photo by Buckingham Palace via Getty Images)

The white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba, inside Mecca’s Grand Mosque, empty of worshippers on March 5th, 2020. Saudi Arabia emptied Islam’s holiest site for sterilisation over fears of the new coronavirus, an unprecedented move after the kingdom suspended the year-round umrah pilgrimage. (Photo by Abdel Ghani Bashir/AFP via Getty Images)

Lillian Suwanrumpha’s pictures of new-born babies in Bangkok, Thailand wearing mini face shields are as endearing as they are frightening of a new world, of a new reality upon us. The heart-wrenching photos taken by every news photographer, of India’s migrant workers, rendered jobless due to the lockdown, walking miles from cities to reach their homes in their villages tell you the story of India’s divided landscape of the haves and the have-nots – the have-nots that make up for the largest portion of our 1.3 billion people. Unsettling, but devastatingly true.

A newborn baby wearing a face shield at Praram 9 Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand on April 9, 2020. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images)

Before Corona, advertisers paid top dollar to creative photography for digitally altered images of an empty Times Square or the Eiffel Tower for a fashion model to strike a pose against, but editorial news photography could never ever imagine shooting any architectural or historical landmark in the world, without people milling about in hundreds and thousands. I remember trying to take a frame in Beijing, China, of the Forbidden City without any people in it, and it was exhausting, and next to impossible! I cannot imagine not seeing the world with my own eyes, and I’m ever so grateful to my global community of photographers for bringing the evolving new world to us, at a personal cost to them that’s immeasurably invaluable, and very appreciated. This is art in motion, that’s unfolding every minute and every hour of every new day.

Hagia Sophia and its surrounds are empty during a two-day lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on April 11, 2020 in Istanbul, Turkey. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)

Once there is some semblance of the familiar to our new world that none of us have any inkling of right now, there are some things that will have changed forever, that we will be seeing through the eyes of photographers and their cameras yet again. For instance, a picture of two people shaking hands or kissing in public will be a coveted, unusual image as will that of aeroplanes taking to the open skies again. We might just feel like one of the Wright brothers when they sent up their first plane into the sky! Public spaces with people jammed in or huddled closely will make for unusual imagery too as will sport stars greeting each other without backslaps and hugs on a playing field when the games come back on. Bollywood’s come hither song and dance routines and Hollywood’s sex sequences will smack of sanitized physicality at its creative best, or worst, we don’t know. Personal space will be big on behavioural social etiquette amongst the human race, and it will be a prized priority that will dictate relationships at home, and at work.

Grounded British Airways planes at Cardiff Airport on March 25, 2020 in Cardiff, United Kingdom due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

We stand stripped of our acquired behavioural nuances, our excessive indulgences, our obsessions with power and control and in the adorning of our external selves, in our raw, bare skin – bereft of any mask, in our private spaces. This reaffirms that we are all the same, never mind if you’re black, white or brown – if you are human, then you’re a locked target for the virus. We need to stop saying that we are stuck at home, and wonder when life will go back to normal because firstly, how can you feel stuck or bored in your chosen space that you call home, that you have nurtured over the years to make it a home, and secondly, life is never going back to what is was – it’s like wishing we could go back to our babyhood and giggle and gurgle at inanities with our parents. The world pre Corona has ended as we knew it, and we will all emerge as one human race, altered forever in world that will have evolved since the first outbreak, whenever that might be.

NOTE: The photograph of the Versova quarantine shelter for the homeless in Mumbai shot by Satyajit Desai (Mumbai Mirror) have been used only after procuring rightful editorial consent and permissions.

RUBINA’S RADAR | THEATRE & FASHION ROYALE

January 17, 2019June 21, 20192 Comments

India’s finest talent, Shabana Azmi is celebrating her late father, Kaifi Azmi’s birth centenary with an ongoing series of events across India, from mushairas to plays to live musical evenings at Janki Kutir. Raag Shayari is an artistic, theatrical collaboration between Azmi, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, singer and composer Shankar Mahadevan and lyricist Javed Akhtar, interpreting the works of the accomplished late poet in a contemporary, musical manner. “Raag Shayari’s an evening of archival value because Shankar Mahadevan sings a selection of Kaifi Azmi’s poems, Javed Akhtar recites them in Urdu and I recite the English translations with Ustad Zakir Hussain interpreting the same on the tabla,” says Azmi. The debut show of Raag Shayari was on January 13 at NCPA, Nariman Point. The second show was held the following evening at the St. Andrew’s auditorium in Bandra, Mumbai with Waheeda Rehman, Asha Parekh, Rekha, Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Farhan Akhtar, Divya Dutta and Madhu Chopra in attendance.

Shabana Azmi during rehearsals for *Raag Shayari*. Photo: Rubina A Khan

Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi and Zakir Hussain during rehearsals for *Raag Shayari.* Photo: Rubina A Khan

Forts are Indian fashion’s new runways du jour in 2019. Earlier this month, the Red Fort in New Delhi made for an enchanting setting for a fashion show held on its heritage grounds, organised by the Ministry of Textiles. It was a historic first for Indian fashion and a commendable one at that. After showing at the Red Fort, master couturier Rohit Bal enthralled Mumbai with Guldastah, a collection inspired by Renaissance artists and botanical paintings, at the Blender’s Pride Fashion Tour held at the Bandra Fort on Wednesday evening.

Models on the runway | Photo: Rubina A Khan

Model Lakshmi Rana | Photo: Rubina A Khan

Actor Siddharth Malhotra | Photo: Rubina A Khan

Models walked down the bedecked steps of the fort in luxurious Bal raiments in hues of ivory, black, gold and red to the dulcet sounds of Shubha Mudgal’s live classical performance. This was the best fashion show I have ever seen in Mumbai. Guldastah was an immersive experience and you could almost smell the roses of forgotten romances with the ethereal floral dominance in Bal’s impassioned collection.

Actor Sidharth Malhotra was Bal’s showstopper, but a resident dog of Bandra Fort beat him to it, wagging its tail happily on to the runway, ahead of him, much to the delight of everyone present. Malhotra seemed to have studied Amitabh Bachchan’s walk and stance thoroughly and mirrored the same quite well on the runway. But then again, mirroring is not quite like owning it! Anju Bhavnani, now more popular as Deepika Padukone’s mother-in-law versus Ranveer Singh’s mother, was all praises for her beautiful bahu when I spoke to her for a lightning Mumbai minute. “We are very happy and blessed, hashtag blessed,” she said. A family that hashtags together stays together? Insta guess so!

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RUBINA’S RADAR | MAKING FASHION HISTORY IN OLD DELHI AND CALCUTTA IN THE NEW YEAR 2019

January 7, 2019March 12, 20198 Comments

The first week of 2019 kicked off with Indian fashion making historical moves on, and off, the runway on heritage sites. The formidable collaboration of the Ministry Of Textiles Government Of India, the Archaeological Survey Of India, the Ministry Of Culture and the Fashion Design Council Of India, created fashion history with Artisan Speak, a show that celebrated India’s majestic textile legacy at the Red Fort in New Delhi on January 5. The Red Fort grounds as a fashion runway was unimaginable, till it was the past Saturday. And, what a progressive first it was!

Headlined by designers Anita Dongre, Rohit Bal, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Gaurang Shah, Rahul Mishra and Anju Modi, the ivory Sawan and Bhadon Pavilions, and the red sandstone Zafar Mahal made for a dramatic backdrop for the show. Artisan Speak turned a page in India’s history, transcendentally juxtaposing the regal era of yore with the immediate now. The show honoured six Padma Shri and seven Sant Kabir award winning master craftsmen, wherein the Union Minister Of Textiles, Smriti Irani, gave away Special Recognition Awards to the indomitable contributors to India’s textile sector.

On January 7, Anamika Khanna showed her collection at the Artisan Speak show organised by the Fashion Design Council Of India for the Ministry Of Textiles Government Of India at the legendary Currency Building founded in 1833 in Kolkata. It was a felicitous venue for Khanna’s show. Whilst most heritage buildings in Kolkata, the first seat of power of the British Empire, reflect Gothic styles of architecture, the Currency Building stood out in the city with its Italian style, particularly its Venetian windows. The building went through many hands and years of neglect and demolishment till the Archaeological Survey Of India took over and restored it to its distinct Italian architectural style recently. Archaeologists have found evidence of an underground canal from the building to the river Hooghly to cool freshly minted coins in its original avatar as a currency house.

Artisan Speak in Kolkata was yet another historical step forward for Indian fashion by showing in a protected building, creating awareness for India’s textile industry, the second largest employment sector in the country, after the agricultural industry. After the momentous fashion show, the Currency Building turned into an exhibition space, open to the public, for jute, silk and handloom crafts the following day. “India has seen a growth of 24 percent in the export of jute products in the last five years,” said Smriti Irani, Union Minister Of Textiles, a pivotal voice of Artisan Speak.

Disclaimer: Any part of the content on the rubinaakhan.com website cannot be reproduced without prior permission and crediting the website and the author.