The Beyoncé of the beauty business is celebrity makeup lines. Everyone’s got one or wants one, not Bey of course. Lip Kits, Kyshadows, Kylighters and what have you for that Calabassas glow-up by the 21-year-old billionairess on the block, Kylie Jenner and her company, Kylie Cosmetics, founded in 2016 to Kim Kardashian West’s KKW Beauty and fragrances that launched in June 2017 to Jennifer Lopez’s 70-piece limited edition collaboration with Inglot in April 2018 to Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line that dropped in September 2017 – every girl in the world is obsessed with these race, gender and colour inclusive beauty products that make you look like the glam goddesses pushing them. Not only do they make you look and feel beautiful, they’re selling out in seconds globally with every new collection drop! It seems like everyone wakes up to makeup with these celebrity lines!

Kim Kardashian West | KKW Beauty

Rihanna | Fenty Beauty

Jennifer Lopez | Inglot

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Kylie Jenner | Kylie Cosmetics Lab

It’s taken India a while to get on the collaborative beauty carousel aside from the passé promotional posts on Instagram where everybody’s an advertorial beauty advisor, trying to Kontour like a Kardashian. As if! Lakmé India’s stepped up its beauty game by dropping its first ever celebrity makeup line with Bollywood’s most original and enviable pout – Kareena Kapoor Khan in August 2018. Taimur Ali Khan’s haute mom’s limited edition collection – Shades Of A Diva, the Kareena Kapoor Khan Signature Lakmé Absolute Range celebrates Indian skin tones and beauty vivacity with Pout Definers (duh!), Face and Cheek Contours, Waterproof Lip Definers and the works. What’s missing though is a definitive Khan Kajal for our beauteous Indian eyes. At least some of those ghastly makeup video wanna shines can now Kontour like Kareena or Pout like Poo, with a makeup range designed for Indian skin tones, curated and endorsed by a Bollywood star, the biggest magnet of all. Let’s see if this celebrity collection is a blockbuster in the beauty market and the kind of numbers it pulls in with her name.

Kareena Kapoor Khan | Lakme

India’s grand couturier Rohit Bal’s giving “Are you wearing Rohit” a whole new essence ever since he dropped his own fragrance line for men and women in February this year. Bal launched an Arab essential, Oudh and Aab for men and Vana and Oas for women. Bal is known to experiment with his inherent talents, having collaborated on an exquisite home decor line with Good Earth in November 2016, an extension of his 2015 Husn-E-Taairat couture collection. In keeping with his indomitable spirit for artistic excellence, Bal’s velvety, luxurious fragrances add another dimension to his creative pursuits marking an impressive debut in the beauty business. Bal’s Oudh is enchanting and as seductive as the Arabian originals in the Middle East. What’s a desert country like Dubai without the exotic Oudh wafting through its architectural modernisms anyway? Wearing Rohit Bal apparel and couture is de rigueur, but the fragrance line has taken Bal to another level of luxe altogether. What’s next? A makeup collaboration?

Rohit Bal | Photo: Rubina A Khan

Rohit Bal’s Oudh Fragrance | Photo: Rubina A Khan

Whilst on all things glamorous, flying to exotic locales is quintessential to fashion forwards worldwide. The Wadia Group’s domestic airline, Go Air, is all set to go international come October 2018 with direct flights to two of the world’s most fashionable and luxe destinations – Male, Maldives and Phuket, Thailand from Mumbai and New Delhi. Go Air’s direct flights to both Male and Phuket from Mumbai will definitely put an end to the stretched nights spent at the Mumbai airport flying into Male via Colombo at unearthly hours on SriLankan Airlines. In this demonetised Indian economy, I had to read the tempting introductory fares twice over to believe them. The Wadia Group launched Go Air in November 2005 as a low-fare domestic airline operating over 230 daily flights across 23 destinations. Taking flight as an international airline in October 2018 after 14 years of domestic operations, is a great move forward for the company and one of great pride for India.

Go Air | Photo: Rubina A Khan

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©Rubina A Khan 2018

RUBINA’S RADAR | JULY HIGH

July 16, 2018March 12, 20192 Comments

RUBINA’S RADAR

The world’s been running on a baller adrenaline rush during FIFA 18 that finally came to a head with France winning the coveted trophy against the very able Croatian football team in Russia. Life seems to be quieter without the hysterical screams and words like game, Alireza, Portugal, goals, Ronaldo, England and the like being thrown about like chump change. While on sports, 18-year-old Hima Das from Assam won a gold medal at the IAAF Under-20 World Athletics Championship in Tampere, Finland clocking the 400m event in 51.46 seconds. Das made history as the first Indian woman to win gold at an athletic meet on a global level. This Indian girl is definitely going to run the world!

Hima Das at the IAAF U20 World Athletic Championship

A chance encounter with a Bond girl in an elevator turned into a whale of a good time. Her name is Bond, Lisa Bond, and she works with Whale Watch in Kaikoura, New Zealand. Whale Watch was formed in 1987 at a time when Māori were casualties of Kaikōura’s declining economy. At the time, Ngāti Kuri leaders like the late Bill Solomon believed the local sperm whales held the answer to the unemployment problems of the Māori community. The Māori community’s ancestor Paikea had journeyed to a new life in New Zealand on the back of the whale Tohorā. It seemed appropriate for Paikea’s descendants to again ride on the back of the whale to a new life and prosperity. Due to the phenomenal success of Whale Watch, Kaikōura is now one of New Zealand’s leading eco-tourism destinations. Bond is in love with her job, her country and whales obviously.

Kaikoura Peninsula

Sperm Whale

Kiwi Link at the Taj Mahal, Agra

Humpback Whale

Lisa Bond

Bond’s travelling in India with a Tourism New Zealand contingent, Kiwi Link India, that started with Mumbai and went on to Bangalore, Delhi, Nagpur, Kolkata and Ahmedabad promoting their beautiful country. “It has been amazing to travel to India over the years and see the changes that have been taking place especially in regards to taking steps to caring for your environment especially with the recent move towards reducing the amount of plastic being used. New Zealand is a very sustainably-minded country so to see this is wonderful. Two highlights from this trip were taking part in an Indian cooking class – 24 of us did this and it was so much fun and so delicious. Then 10 of us took a day trip to the Taj Mahal on Saturday which was amazing! What an incredible piece of architecture,” says Bond.

It was wonderful talking to Bond about my love for whales as I reminisced about my time whale watching on the Nā Pali coast in Kauai, Hawaii. I can still hear the humpbacks singing from that trip – it’s a sound like no other. But the best memory of my life in Hawaii was watching a humpback blow under me whilst I was parasailing in the Kewalo Basin in Oahu (Honolulu) about 750 feet in the air. I don’t need a picture to remind me of the serene silence in the sky and the gush of water from the magnificent blue Pacific that thrust heavenwards towards me. I love humpbacks and I’m aiming for a “whalefie” the next time I’m in the Pacific waters.

Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, he of Ra.One directorial fame, sent me the trailer of his latest film, Mulk, that sees a theatrical release on August 3. Rishi Kapoor has lent his stellar acting skills to the film alongside Taapsee Pannu.

mulk-poster

“I thoroughly enjoyed playing Murad Ali in Mulk. The film is about the atrocities Muslims are facing the world over and the repercussions. It’s a voice waiting to be heard all over. People have taken to the trailer in a big way – at least we have made a bang which was necessary. Rest, of course, is upto God. As a matter of fact, this is the right kind of film that can be called an ensemble film. All the actors in it contribute to the film; none are hanging about loosely,” says Kapoor of the film even as Sinha takes on naysayers on social media.

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 2018

Shah Rukh Loves My Work The Most, Says Design Virtuoso Gauri Khan

March 18, 2018December 13, 20181 Comment

Whilst her husband Shah Rukh Khan is the uncrowned king of Bollywood, Gauri Khan seems to have come into her own as a design virtuoso, befitting her status royale as the celluloid sovereign’s wife. Gauri Khan Designs, her eponymous design studio, is headquartered in Mumbai, but her visual representational percipience is swiftly traversing worldwide.

Gauri Khan at Chivas 18 Alchemy in New Delhi

The modernist designer couldn’t resist turning into an alchemist of sight at the second edition of the quintuple sensory Chivas 18 Alchemy experience in New Delhi, transforming the space with her definitive luxe aesthetic. As much as her husband is the alchemist of sound with his unequivocal eloquence, she seems to speak (the reluctant conversationalist that she is) through her alluring and arresting visual artistry. Khan makes for relaxed, affable company when she’s talking business, but turns a deep, love blush when SRK Face Times her during our conversation. “It’s Shah Rukh,” she says, tossing her hair into place and arching her frame into a flattering angle to talk to him.

Rubina A Khan caught up with Gauri Khan in New Delhi for Gulf News tabloid!

You entered the world of design in 2011 and have been making enviable headway since designing homes, restaurants and pop-up events…
It wasn’t a planned effort to get into interior design. I’ve been an artist all my life, in school and college, and even after I got married to Shah Rukh, I used to do a lot of charcoal paintings at home. There’s a lot of connection to art in my life – I bought a lot of art and was intrigued by artists and read up on them extensively. Then I started designing my own home, Mannat, with my architect. A lot of people walked into the house and asked me to design for them. My friends, Yash and Avanti Birla opened Yantra about 15 years ago and they asked me at the time to join them and so did my friend, Kajal (Anand), as she knew I was passionate about art and design. But I wasn’t ready for it. Then Sussanne (Khan) asked me to do a collection for her store launch. So, it’s been a slow and steady pace for me into the world of design with friends.

What draws you to design – the creative pursuit of it or the final outcome?
Creating a first impression is what I set out to achieve when I start designing a space. Being creative and imaginative in my everyday life is tremendously exciting. All aspects of design, right from my drawing board to the actualization of it all enthralls me. When the thoughts in my headspace integrate seamlessly and are realized into tangible and tactile reality, from the inception stages to the final outcome, it gives me a great sense of accomplishment and it’s the most wonderful feeling.

How did you turn into an alchemist of sight for Chivas 18 Alchemy?
Fashion designer Ashish Soni approached me with the idea to participate in the second edition of Chivas 18 Alchemy as the alchemist of the sense of sight as the concept is based on the five human senses of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. Given that I love the creative space that Alchemy mounts their campaigns and the way they format and execute them with immense style and finesse, I was immediately attracted to it and now I’m an alchemist too! I added the touch of blue velvet drapes to turn the outdoor garden space of Alchemy into an indoor one, akin to a palatial living room. It was challenging, but it turned out rather fluid as the velvet lent an indoor vibe to the space and the artisanal glass bottle chandeliers, custom made especially for Alchemy, added the molten hue of inviting warmth. Lighting is the key to all my spaces. It’s been a fantastic experience with Ashish, Pulkith and the Alchemy team and it was a joy to work with them. This is one of the best events I have attended and now, participated in, right from the venue to the scale and the exceptional invites… everything about it is extraordinarily stunning.

Gauri Khan at Chivas 18 Alchemy

Gauri Khan and Ashish N Soni at Chivas 18 Alchemy

Gauri Khan’s artisanal chandeliers made from empty Chivas 18 bottles for Alchemy

What is the key component to the alchemy of sight?
The key component for me is when I design a space on paper. When the eye visualizes what can be, which then manifests into a real space – that’s a visual delight for me. Subsequently, for it to then come to life exactly the way I envision it, to becoming the heart and soul of the design endeavor – that’s the key to my alchemy of sight. What I did for Alchemy on paper, and to now see it come to life in this luxurious and seductive a manner, makes me extremely happy.

What is your signature design move?
It depends on the project really – if I’m doing a restaurant, a young boy’s room, a nursery, a middle-aged couple’s home – each space is different. But I make sure every space I design is warm, easy, inviting and comfortable. That’s the quintessential design move that I adhere to in all my GKD work. I absolutely abhor cold, model homes.

How many hours do you work everyday?
I don’t work all the time. It is an artistic pursuit wherein I can create anytime and anywhere, whether it’s at home or at a site visit or a set. I spend a lot of time at home and I don’t have any fixed hours or schedule per se. That’s the beauty of my job.

Some Gauri Khan Designs’ tips for homes?
When I am doing up a residence, I try to make the elements come together in such a way that the owners feel comfortable and at peace in their home. My design aesthetic is luxurious and glam as I love these aspects of good living, but that doesn’t mean the home loses its warmth and comfort or that I’d put chandeliers in a baby’s nursery.

a) Make any space your own, where you belong, with your own distinct individualism. It could be anything from lights to an art piece, something that tells the story of your personality.

b) Don’t try to make a touch-me-not home where it becomes more like a museum and less of a warm, inviting home. When a home has super fancy elements with a trying-too-hard feel, the fear of disturbing the elements keeps you from enjoying the space and creates an uncomfortable aura in the home for you as well as your guests.

c) Luxurious and glamorous homes should be designed such that the owners should not find the comforts of their own homes even in luxury hotels. Despite all the luxe elements, the comfort of a home should never be compromised.

Who loves your work the most?
Shah Rukh loves my work the most. I have been attending award functions with him for 30 years and now, I’ve won my very first Excellence in Design Award this month; we both couldn’t be happier.

Shah Rukh Khan

What’s the biggest love of your life?
Design is my biggest love! It consumes me.

What’s your dream project?
My most exciting dream project is Karan Johar’s new home. I’ve done the nursery for his kids and the terrace in his current home. Karan’s always been my inspiration and he’s been my support, in my personal and professional life, so I’m super excited to start this project. He’s a creative being himself and when I create something for him, and he appreciates it, it makes me feel like I’ve got an ‘A’ in a school report card. It makes me very happy when Karan “approves” of my work.

Any plans of opening a store in Dubai?
Dubai is home to us and I love coming to our home in Dubai. I’m looking forward to bringing Gauri Khan Designs to Dubai very soon. It’s already in the works.

This feature first appeared in Gulf News on 18 March, 2018

©Rubina A Khan 2018

RUBINA’S REVIEW: PADMAAVAT IS THE NEW PADMAVATI

January 24, 2018June 9, 20186 Comments

Padmaavat, with Deepika Padukone playing the valorous Queen Padmavati of Chittor, finally releases on Friday with a gender swap in its title from the original Padmavati to Padmaavat. From a film on periods (Padman) being pushed to a February release by its lead actor, Akshay Kumar, to give the period drama that is Padmaavat more theatre play due to the fiscally debilitating off-screen histrionics around it, the ongoing PMS (Padmavati Movie Stress) hasn’t abated just as yet.

I saw the film on Tuesday evening at journalist and author, Shobhaa De’s screening in Mumbai. 120 minutes into the film, I simply couldn’t fathom why the director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali would even call his film Padmavati in the first place; he very well could have called it Khilji as it’s a glorified, and almost one-directional ode to Alauddin Khilji’s insatiable lust for immortality, battle and sex. And, his relentless desire to possess Queen Padmavati of course. The film highlights the Rajput and Kshatriya codes of honour and living in a manner most celebratory, Bhansali’s chandeliers, diyas and picturesque frames notwithstanding. In no way does it demean Indian culture and its customs, and no Indian will be affronted with the film. Though Bhansali does seem to unnecessarily lionise Khilji beyond his omnipresent pillaging fame.
images As the antagonist Khilji, Ranveer Singh looks menacing and monstrous physically, but his wavering accent that switches from Arabian to contemporary Hindi to Afghan, along with an inept enunciation of the language of his Sultanate, makes it difficult to believe he’s a 14th century imperial Sultan. Singh’s performance is flamboyant, loud and open to interpretation sexually, but he is not convincing as an erstwhile ruler or wannabe Alexander the Great in the making in the least. And, as for the costumery, when Singh ascends the throne of his slain uncle, Jalaluddin Khilji (Raza Murad) he wears heeled boots with the royal regalia on his person! Sure, high-heeled boots for men were in use as early as the 10th century for equestrian sports, but it seems highly unlikely that Khilji would have had access to those during his time in India.

Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh of Mewar is ineffectual in the film. But in his regal dhoti/lungi, he makes for an exquisite kohl-eyed, eight pack ab-fab model that Calvin Klein needs to add to its brand new Kardashian-Jenner spread immediately! As Queen Padmavati’s paramour and subsequent husband, he is rather rigid and impassive, which is very unlike Kapoor’s able celluloid skills. Padukone is flawlessly beautiful (more so in 3D) serene and poised in every single frame, looking as cinematically desirable as she possibly can, but Kapoor meets her stellar, restrained performance with a face bereft of any emotion, romantic or otherwise. There are no subtle layers or nuances to his performance as a royal in command and especially so in the intimate scenes with Padukone. And no one does the neck quite like Shah Rukh Khan, in Khan’s own words. The only time Kapoor shines in the film is during his duel in the desert with the lust-lorn Sultan. His quiet resolve and aggressive battle moves speak volumes here.

Padmaavat plays on Khilji’s self-serving megalomania and his obsession with Padmavati’s beauty. Padmavati is his unattainable dream in the film till Padukone takes on her role as queen in the last hour of the film’s screen time. In effect, the film is a take on Khilji and his obsession with her luminous beauty that is a mere catalyst to his narcissistic lust. The battle scenes are reminiscent of Troy (2004) as is the story line pertaining to the quest and conquest of a beautiful woman. The dialogues are rife with varying language styles – in some scenes, Kapoor says waqt in a Rajasthani accent when the word samay would have worked just as well for his character. The Ghoomar song is basic, nothing extra really. It is just another well-choreographed Bollywood number and incomparable to the greats Bhansali has orchestrated in the past in films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999) and Devdas (2002). But then, who knows what the uncut version of the song looked like! The film is based on the legend of Khilji and Padmavati, assuming everyone is aware of this historical obsession, and that does not suffice for 180 odd minutes on film. The screenplay does not offer any backstory to Khilji’s temperament or his dynasty’s reign, or take cinematic licence with Maharawal’s and Padmavati’s romantic interludes or add more authenticity to the time period the film is set in, besides heavily embroidered clothes and Bhansali-esque sets. Language, both verbal and body, is terribly askew in the film.

Padukone is the only actor who stays in character, in language and poise, and costume throughout Padmavati-turned-Padmaavat’s over three hour runtime. It is her aura and acting prowess that Padmaavat will be remembered for, not to mention also taking home the highest fee for any Indian actress to date for the film. And just for that, I am glad the film was named after her central character, with or without an “I”.

Did I like the film? Well, let’s just say I was forced into a massive historical throwback and it’s not even Thursday yet!

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 2018

Dilip De’s Smartphone School Of Art Exhibit, Celebration Of The Unexpected, In Mumbai

January 16, 2018December 13, 20182 Comments

Dilip De is an adventitious artist, but with no less an ardour and depth in his paintings than any creative being in the world, with his Picasso-esque digital imagery on smartphones revolutionising the art world globally. Transcending his love for art from collecting art to creating art today has been the most serendipitous turn De’s life could have taken. And all it took was an innate desire to paint an orchid on his smartphone for the love of his wife, author and columnist extraordinaire, Shobhaa De. His first solo show as a digital artist, Celebration Of Love, was held at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai in 2016 and his second show, Celebration Of The Unexpected, opens on January 26, 2018 at the same gallery.

Rubina A Khan in conversation with Indian shipping magnate and digital art trailblazer, Dilip De:

How did you chance upon an alternative creative stream of a smartphone artist, not to mention being recognised as the first person in the world to ever do so?
It is indeed wonderful to be accorded the honour of being the first smartphone artist in the world. In 2015, as I was standing in my orchid gardens in Alibag, I felt the urge to draw the beautiful flowers on my smartphone for my wife, Shobhaa. It took me a while to learn how to use a phone stylus as a ‘brush’ and ‘dip’ it in the colour box, my purported palette, which is an integral part of the smartphone. Soon, much to my delight, I started drawing the outlines of an orchid flower on the tiny screen – 5.2 x 4 inches which came to be my ‘canvas’! Regrettably, in my initial enthusiasm, a few of my paintings disappeared from the screen forever as I had unknowingly put extra pressure on the screen whilst drawing on it. Gradually, I mastered the required skill and surprised Shobhaa with a painting of a Japanese sakura! I discovered, through my accidental foray into digital artistry, that art is omnipresent; an artistic expression can be realised at any place and at any time. Art is no longer just confined to a studio, but is truly the product of spontaneity and creativity achieved at one’s leisure.

Businessman and artist, Dilip De

Dilip De’s artwork

What kind of smartphone did you use for your first art creation and what do you use today?
My initiation into digital art was with a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and then I graduated to the Note 5 and I am using the Samsung Note 8 nowadays.

What do you enjoy most about this medium?
I have been an art connoisseur and collector for a while but I was humbled when I realised I’d inadvertently pioneered a new school of art, aptly called the Smartphone School Of Painting, with the orchid flower painting I’d created on my smartphone for Shobhaa. This is a painstaking process and requires extreme concentration and control over the stylus, which I seem to have mastered and enjoy tremendously. The largest global platform launched by Intel and VICE Media, www.creatorsproject.com to celebrate creativity featured my paintings. I have secured Copyright registrations of my paintings in this “new school of art” from the Union Commerce and Industry Ministry of India. My point was, and remains simple today – an artist cannot produce art on an empty stomach. My new dream is to make every budding artist in our country realize how easy it can be to follow a dream and turn a hobby into a joyous reality. Smartphone art is yet another frontier in technology that has made things more accessible and affordable to those who love art. I want my fellow Indians to start loving and collecting artworks easily in their lives. This will also teach them to respect and cherish beauty.

What do you do with the money generated from this “new job” of yours as a smartphone artist?
As you know, I gave away the proceeds from my first exhibition, Celebration Of Love, which was held in Mumbai on August 16, 2016 to the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA). I respect the devotion of YK and Rekha Sapru and their dedicated CPAA team. My wife Shobhaa is also associated with them. This time around, I have decided to contribute the proceeds to the Jehangir Art Gallery – the iconic art establishment in Mumbai – for the promotion of art and the modernisation of their galleries.

Your second exhibit, Celebration Of The Unexpected, alongwith a charity auction of your work, opens on 26th January 2018, at Jehangir Art Gallery, with Amitabh Bachchan as your chief guest in attendance again. Why him?
Amitabh and I met in the 60s in Kolkata as young mercantile executives engaged in the business of international shipping. I suppose we have an old “Calcutta” connection and bond that formed many years ago. At that time, I found him to be an immensely gifted stage actor who went on to scale dizzying heights in his career, and continues to create new frontiers in his field. We also share a warm Bong vibe as his wife, Jaya, is a Bengali. I’ve known him for 51 years now. For me, and the multitude of his fans across the world, Amitabh is undoubtedly the ‘Ultimate Superstar of Bollywood’! His achievements make me proud. There’s a surprise pertaining to Amitabh in this exhibit of mine which he has, in his own words, described as “outstanding”.

Amitabh Bachchan

Your wife is of the written word and you seem to be visually inclined…
Shobhaa creates and tells stories through the magic of her words and I express my emotions and inspirations through my images. We express ourselves in different disciplines, but we are both storytellers nevertheless. One day, I must attempt to reproduce the essence of one of her stories in the form of images. That’s a colossal ambition, but I will definitely give it a try.

Celebration Of The Unexpected is on view from January 27 to February 3, 2018 at
Jehangir Art Gallery, 161 Kala Ghoda, Mumbai 400001 from 11AM to 7PM.

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 2018

RUBINA’S RADAR | THE FIRST WEEK OF 2018

January 8, 2018January 16, 20184 Comments

RUBINA’S RADAR

2017 ended with a thunderous affirmation of Salman “Tiger” Khan being more than just alive with ₹300 crore and counting at the box office with Tiger Zinda Hai. 2018 opened with a worldwide reverberation of Oprah Winfrey’s acceptance speech, in Atelier Versace in Time’s Up black at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles. Add a celebrated Sri Lankan/Japanese masterchef to that and the first week of 2018’s been all about film, fashion, food and fiercely female.

Sri Lankan chef, Dharshan Munidasa of the famed Ministry Of Crab in Colombo, Sri Lanka, is finally bringing his restaurant to Mumbai in May 2018. Munidasa, of both Sri Lankan and Japanese descent, owns Ministry Of Crab, one of the World’s Top 50 Restaurants 2017, alongside business partners and cricketing legends, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakarra in his home country. The masterchef was in the city for a day with Jayawardene to announce the opening of the restaurant, in collaboration with Gourmet Investments Pvt Ltd at the newly opened, The Runway Project, in Phoenix Mills. The signing of the partnership amidst flashbulbs was rather unfashionably Trump-esque, but aside from that, it was a mirthful evening. There’s always a story behind everything and everyone famous today, including Munidasa. India’s best known wine connoisseur, Sanjay Menon, chanced upon Munidasa’s culinary skills at his standalone Japanese restaurant, Nihonbashi in Colombo, about a decade ago, when Ministry Of Crab did not even exist. Menon is a friend Munidasa values highly as his word of mouth, and a private pop-up dinner at the ITC Parel that he organised with Munidasa in the kitchen some moons ago, created the Munidasa magic that subsequently led to the opening of the first Ministry Of Crab. Mumbai will be the second outpost of the restaurant, the location of which still being a classified secret, and the third is slated to open in Bangkok, Thailand later this year. Mumbai is ready for some “crab excellence” Munidasa style, this summer.

A new resto-bar, Mashhad is opening this January at a first-of-its-kind location in Mumbai. Mashhad is situated right inside the entrance corridor of the Taj Santacruz hotel at the city’s domestic airport in Santacruz. Comprising of Persian-Lebanese-Indian cuisine, it is an unusual spot to open a fine-dining, only by reservation, restaurant and lounge. Mashhad was scheduled to open on Salman Khan’s birthday on December 27th, with him as the guest of honour, but it had to be postponed to January due to unforeseeable circumstances. Khan will be at Mashhad on opening night, supposedly on the 10th of this month, alongside a smattering of celebrities and wannashines who’d like to reaffirm their own existence in the presence of the elusive Tiger.

Sanjay Menon, Dharshan Munidasa and Mahela Jayawardene

Salman Khan

Mashhad

Oprah Winfrey at the 75th Annual Golden Globes

And the United States created fiercely female history that stands testament to the fact that America is a land where dreams and aspirations come true. Oprah Winfrey received the Cecil B. DeMille Award Lifetime Achievement Award at the 75th Annual Golden Globes in LA with an acceptance speech that will reverberate for years to come, not to mention the long standing ovation she received from everyone in the room at the Beverly Hilton. Winfrey is the first African-American woman to receive this award, bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment”. “In 1964, I was a little girl sitting on the linoleum floor of my mother’s house in Milwaukee watching Anne Bancroft present the Oscar for Best Actor at the 36th Academy Awards. She opened the envelope, and said five words that literally made history: ‘The winner is Sidney Poitier.’ Up to the stage came the most elegant man I had ever seen. I remember his tie was white and, of course, his skin was black. And I’d never seen a black man being celebrated like that. But all I can do is quote and say that the explanation in Sidney’s performance in Lilies of the Field, ‘Amen, amen. Amen, amen’. In 1982, Sidney received the Cecil B. DeMille Award right here at the Golden Globes, and it is not lost on me that at this moment, there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this same award. I’d like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association because we all know that the press is under siege these days, but we also know that it is the insatiable dedication to uncovering the absolute truth that keeps us from turning a blind eye to corruption and to injustice, to tyrants and victims and secrets and lies. I want to say that I value the press more than ever before as we try to navigate these complicated times, which brings me to this: what I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have. And I’m especially proud and inspired by all the women who have felt strong enough and empowered enough to speak up and share their personal stories,” said Winfrey on stage.

If the rumblings of Winfrey running for the US Presidency 2020 are true, and she does run, I will be the happiest girl in the world. I too, was once a little girl, watching The Oprah Winfrey Show every chance I got, being mesmerised by her work, her kindness, her humour and laughter and her unflailing faith in the fabric of humanity. I learnt a lot from her talk show – right from serious issues plaguing the world, exposes on the macabre practices of mankind, every fun fashion and makeup item on her favourites list, what books to read, Maya Angelou poems, her philanthropic work across the world and every celebrity I should know of, and wanted to meet, through her show. She made me believe I could do anything I wanted to, and in the greater tomorrows to come.

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 2018

Christmas Brunch At Tiqri, Taj Santacruz Mumbai

December 25, 2017December 13, 20181 Comment

Rubina A Khan reviews the Christmas Brunch at Tiqri, Mumbai: “the delectable turkey, carved beautifully, turned a sunny Christmas Day brunch into an exceptionally merry and indulgent one.”

Roast Butterball Turkey

What’s Christmas without roast turkey, plum cake, mulled wine, gingerbread houses and Santa Claus bumbling around with merry ho-ho-hos? Tiqri, the all-day dining restaurant at the Taj Santacruz Hotel in Mumbai had all that and more. Watching the turkey being carved onto your plate in the sun-dappled restaurant, with its glass ceiling rising 60-foot upwards into the airport skies, alongside an inlayed mural of the Tree of Life was delightful, with the anticipation of it all adding to the excitement. The bird was succulent, with just the right amount of crackling and glaze with accompaniments ranging from the classic Brussels sprouts and carrots to panko-crust fried haricot beans and snow peas. The cranberry sauce and turkey gravy was exquisite in taste and texture, enhancing the intrinsic flavours of the roasted butterball turkey, a definite star of Christmas Day Brunch. Joy to the world!

Only in India can a Christmas menu comprise of Indian favourites like Mutton Biryani, Keema Kaleji, Appam and Vegetable Stew, Dahi Kebabs and Multi-grain Chillas, alongside Oysters, Cold Cuts, Caviar and Beetroot Ravioli and holiday essentials. But everyone seemed to have a favourite from the expansive menu. The fluffiest and most delicious appams, like clouds on a plate, made by Chef Subodh Katre, distracted me from the turkey so much so that I made a little Christmas Turkey Appam Wrap of my own. It was so good!

The dessert station, which was literally a mile long, was sinfully sweet. The Stollen, inspired by the traditional German holiday bread, was wonderful with a marzipan centre akin to Niederegger Lübeck, a favourite of mine. The Christmas Plum Cake was extremely addictive, and you just couldn’t stop at a single slice. That would be a travesty in itself to the hard work and innumerable hours put in to making it, along with the rest of decadent sweet heaven by Pastry Chef, Pankaj Chauhan.

Tiqri’s band of chefs did justice to a bird that most often than not, goes cold turkey in India, turning it into a memorable part of the decadent feast. With all that food and hotel staff warmer than the Mumbai sunshine, it was the happiest place to be on a Monday afternoon celebrating a joyous holiday with food, laughter and a fit and cheerful (albeit carb-starved) Santa.

Tiqri is open 24 hours, except Monday when it is closed from 11.30PM – 6AM
Taj Santacruz Mumbai
Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Domestic Terminal)
Off Western Express Highway, Santacruz (East) Mumbai 400099 India
+91 22 62115211 Tiqri

@Rubina A Khan 2017

RUBINA’S RADAR | SHOBHAA DE’S BOOK LAUNCH IN MUMBAI & A CELEBRATORY FASHION MILESTONE IN LUTYENS DELHI

December 19, 2017March 12, 20191 Comment

RUBINA’S RADAR

The magnificently restored Royal Opera House a historic address in Mumbai since its inauguration by King George V in 1911 and India’s only surviving opera house relegated to redundancy in the 90s, is now open to the culturati. It is no longer just a geographical landmark on the Uber app, but a live destination that’s marking up newer glories contrasting from its original, sepia-toned ones today. This vintage Baroque edifice was where author and columnist, not to mention “ready-to-be-lynched-for-anything” Shobhaa De launched her latest book, Seventy And To Hell With It on a fine December evening last Wednesday. At the garden gathering amidst family and friends, De was on fire, as a discerning hostess in a cobalt blue, custom couture blouse by Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla and a real zari Jaipur Kota Doria sari greeting her guests, with her luminosity lighting up the de riguer photo-ops and selfies. She then went on to breathe fire in her role as a celebrated author on stage, in conversation with journalist Barkha Dutt and Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut.

Shobhaa De at her book launch

Seventy And To Hell With It

The conversation revolved around sex, the celebration of age and beauty in every stage of a woman’s life, the empowerment of women and the power of speaking up, changing the patriarchal guard and living your life wholly on your terms to a full (Opera) House. De’s quintessential ability to turn anything on its head without so much of an arch of her eyebrows or her “De resting face” with a diverse point of view that could swing from radical to pure nonchalance is what makes her one of the most read and heard “Made in Mumbai” voices in India. Had I been in conversation with her about the book on stage, my opening question would have been “How is sex at seventy, Shobhaa?” because her immediate response would have been far more entertaining and memorable than the latest Bollywood film!

In Delhi, designer Ashish N Soni celebrated a milestone in the fashion business, with a Lutyens lawn gig at The Lodhi. The mannequins looked exquisite in Soni’s all-black Spring Summer 2018 line in a contemporary hard-metal open-air installation tent, alongside a white garment installation which was as enchanting as it was dreamy, exhibiting his structured and minimalistic design ethos beautifully.

Ashish N Soni SS ’18

Yuvraj Singh and Ashish N Soni

There was Artificial Intelligence to talk to Soni nd Saif Ali Khan (Taimur’s father!) about all things fashion which was interesting, but the Glam-Cam was a monster fail. A garden gig on a Saturday night in the freezing cold temperatures of Delhi surprisingly brought out the warmth in all its glamorous guests, well, almost all. To attend an alfresco cocktail event like this is a Game of Thrones gamble – you either winter wing it in Uggs and cashmere or you whinge all night about the cold, over endless drinks, which is rather unfashionable.

©Rubina A Khan 2017

Wendell Rodricks On aLL Primero, His First Ever Runway Collection For Plus Sized Fashion Forwards

August 17, 2017December 13, 20181 Comment

Wendell Rodricks is a cultural revivalist with a cause. Conferring the sole status of just a fashion designer to Rodricks, a Padma Shri winning Indian icon, would be a tad indecorous. His is a career of many fashion firsts – from exhibiting a sustainable collection, that’s du jour today, back in the 90s, to being an advisory voice and key player in the first edition of LFW (2000) to working with white cottons and linens to reviving the Goan Kunbi cotton sari weave to writing incisive books on fashion. Rodricks was the first Indian designer to open Dubai Fashion Week (2001) and today, he’s turned into a museologist, converting his private residence into the Moda Goa Museum for all things fashionable and cultural to the state. This Goaphile is doing it all, the aLL Primero collection for plus sizes this season being yet another first in his exemplary career.

Ahead of his August 19 showing at Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2017 in Mumbai, Rodricks spoke exclusively to Rubina A Khan | Gulf News tabloid!

Wendell Rodricks with his Creative Director, Schulen Fernandes

The aLL Primero show is the first of its kind in India for plus-sized people at LFW in Mumbai. Does the line adhere to the minimalistic métier of your label?
The aLL Primero Collection by Wendell Rodricks is the first Plus Size line to be shown in a Main Show Area at Fashion Week, bringing it to the public’s attention. The line is similar to our label in terms of minimalism. There is no embellishment, very little sparkle and the aesthetic is in harmony with the Wendell Rodricks philosophy of design. I believe in fashion democracy – it is for everyone, no matter what age, colour or size. In fact, when we showed the sketches to some of our clients, they wanted to buy them in regular sizes too. I am confident of the Primero line doing very well at LFW and in the aLL Plus size stores. When I see the unnecessary drama and chaos in fashion, I’m amazed and amused. The sycophancy, paranoia and insecurity are surreal. For God’s sake, we are just glorified tailors, not Messiahs of a new religion!

How did you and your label’s creative director, Schulen Fernandes, go about setting up the aLL Primero line, which is in sharp contrast to the vibrant, geometric silhouettes of the AW17 Cubist Rose runway collection?
Primero was conceived entirely by Schulen. She has imbibed my method of working without a mood board as I find them restrictive and they “lift” old concepts and one tends to copy past eras, fabric treatments and colour combinations. I prefer keeping a clear mind.

What is the essence of you that Fernandes has brought into the aLL collection?
Schulen has my DNA very firmly in our collections. It is for this reason that I appointed her my successor. When the media and public look at the new collections, they can’t tell that there is a new person spearheading the collection. It looks like Wendell Rodricks all the way from colour to concept, styling and silhouette.

Exclusive Sketches of the aLL Primero Collection

How does designing for plus sizes vary from a runway collection for slim and lithe bodies?
It’s easier to make runway clothes for regular models as they’re almost factory produced at 34-25-36. With Plus sizes, I love the challenge. People imagine that curvy is all there to Plus sizes, but that’s not true at all as there are hour-glass, apple, pear, carrot and rectangular shapes too. For the aLL show, we chose models that fit every one of these shapes so that voluptuous people can find clothes that suit their shape.

The Cubist Rose collection was loved instantaneously. Do you think Primero will hit a fashion frontier for plus-sized fashion forwards?
I’m certain she will score a hat trick with Primero. She did so with Trapezoid and Cubist Rose. Now it is time for the aLL Primero collection to shine and send out a vibrant, fashion statement. I’ve chosen the music, and the backdrop and I think curvy will be the next trend from LFW. This collection has a happy vibe, quite like the happy people that will wear them.

Cubist Rose by Schulen Fernandes | Wendell Rodricks

Will this collection break runway stereotypes in India and encourage more designers to design plus-sized fashion?
There are many myths that we will shatter with the aLL Primero collection. Whites, bright colours, colour blocking, neutrals… most people feel that Plus sizes should stay away from all this. Not at all! We made it a point not to include black in the collection. Black is boring and safe. When I first said ‘white’ for Plus sizes, people gagged. After the show they won’t be gagging, but applauding.

It sounds like you’re bringing voluptuous to the fashion fore with Primero, where skinny takes to the shadows…
Whoever said dogs like bones and men like flesh knew what they were talking about, and 60% of the world’s population of Plus size women will agree. This is a real show for real people and therein lies the strength of the collection. This is real, not virtual fashion fluff.

Who selected the models for the aLL Primero show and was there any training involved for their “runway strut”?
aLL and IMG Reliance had an audition where we chose 21 models from almost 300 entries. We chose them based on their confidence with their own bodies. They are a happy, excited lot. I loved them at first sight. Our choreographer Anu Ahuja, doesn’t want them to do a runway strut. At the fittings she told them, “At the end of it all, comfortable models are happy models”. I second that.

Have you ever had a muse?
Malaika Arora was my first and only muse, till I made all women a collective muse. I have a job to do and I’m obliged to please the public muse. My job is to make them look slimmer, taller and feel more beautiful – that’s all women want.

Jerome Marrel and Wendell Rodricks at the Poskem book launch in Mumbai

You have the Moda Goa museum opening end 2018, you’re an impassioned traveler, author, you’re designing silverware, gourmet coffees and the Goa Police Band costume and you love food. How do you maintain your fit persona and sense of self with your diverse creative pursuits?
I am a creative spirit. I guess some people are just made this way. People ask me how I do so much all the time. It really is no effort. I am a Gemini and an expert at multi-tasking. But I am also extremely disciplined. After IHM, a career in hotel management in Mumbai and my sweat and blood years working with the Royal Oman Police, handling Sultans, Sheikhs, Presidents, Prime Ministers et al, I realized one can take on the world in a disciplined, restrained and orderly manner. I learnt discipline from a young age. Give me a 24-hour challenge and I will strive to deliver it in 12 hours. As for loving food, I am an epicurean for sure. Since I lived in Paris, I learnt to ‘indulge in limitation’. Do not believe that I eat everything I post on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter. I taste, but don’t gorge, except for dark chocolate.

What achievements in your life are you most proud of and what do you love the most?
I don’t think about myself or my past glories at all. For that, there is google and my website, wendellrodricks.com to refresh my memory. There is much to do without thinking of one’s self and developing an unnecessary ego. I would like to learn Sanskrit and Latin. After aLL Primero, I will be focussing on Moda Goa Museum. I live in a real world in a small village in Goa. Life in an ivory tower is just so not my vibe. Apart from my partner and my dogs, I love this journey called life. I am on a constant high with life and this big, beautiful world.

This feature first appeared in Gulf News on 17 August, 2017

©Rubina A Khan 2017

RUBINA’S RADAR | FDCI’S INDIA COUTURE WEEK 2017

August 1, 2017July 2, 20223 Comments

RUBINA’S RADAR

The 10th edition of the Fashion Design Council of India’s (FDCI) India Couture Week 2017 (24th-31st July), was a splendacious celebration of India’s fashion vanguards at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi. India Couture Week has earned its laurels for the past decade of being the best in the country with its marked excellence in fashion. And what’s a fashion week in India without some Bollywood stardust thrown in? ICW 2017’s couture catwalk had actors like Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Aditi Rao Hydari, Shilpa Shetty and many more walking for the participating couturiers.

TARUN TAHILIANI | Tarakanna:
Tarakanna was an alluring experience with an “evolved vocabulary of design” befitting the legendary status of Tahiliani and his majestic consummation of couture. His design constructs were fluid, almost seamless, in silk, velvet, brocade, Italian tulle and georgette, in hues of burnished rose, gold, olive, black, ivory, midnight blue and the de riguer bridal palette of red. The unparalleled artistry of Tahiliani’s craft shone on the runway. As the models glided on to the breathtaking autumnal leaved set, designed to semble the end of autumn, Central Park in New York perhaps, the earthy tones came alive with the shimmering Swarovski crystal-embellished ensembles, all 85 of them, taking over the runway. The line alluded to a bride’s lightness of being, akin to her dancing in the glory of her marital coupling in bespoke designs, fitted not just to her body, but also to her soul. Scenographer Sumant Jayakrishnan’s visual aesthetic lent itself beautifully to the magnificent confluence of the Tarakanna line and the buoyancy of the human spirit it embodied. Throughout its duration, the show appeared to have suspended the audience in the most exalted place of happiness and wonderment, that stayed on long after it had ended.

Tarun Tahiliani’s Tarakanna collection

MONISHA JAISING | Opera:
Sexy is a vibe Jaising shoots for consistently, and her Opera collection wasn’t left wanting in the least. The clothes were tantalising and edgy, and a tad theatrical too, primarily made in lamé, velvet metallics, Italian organza, banarasi brocade and metallic satins. The light and set design of the runway didn’t really take you into the world of operatic tenors and high octaves that inspired her line this season, as the models walked in her evening dresses and gowns, cocktail saris, crop tops and ball skirts. The multi-faceted actor-turned-businesswoman-turned-yoga-guru, Shilpa Shetty – a flawless showstopper who nails it every single time, tripped on the brocade train of her gown, not once, not twice, but four times, as it kept getting caught on the runway floor. To say that the runway nailed Shetty, rather than the other way around, would be an understatement here. Shetty of course, let it slide and slayed it forward on the runway, with a strut only her enviable body is capable of, coupled with the radiance of her persona.

Monisha Jaising’s Opera collection

Shilpa Shetty walks for Monisha Jaising’s Opera collection

Monisha Jaising’s Opera collection

ANITA DONGRE | Tree Of Love:
Anita Dongre is a relatively new entrant in the Indian couture and bridal wear landscape, having started her couture line, Bridal, only six years ago. But, she is a veteran player, and a very successful one at that in the prêt-à-porter business of fashion for the last two decades, with her labels – AND, Global Desi, Pink City and Grassroot. Dongre opened her first Grassroot store in Manhattan, New York, recently and will be opening the doors to her Bridal store there subsequently. Her Tree Of Love collection was inspired by the Bishnoi community and their spiritual reverence for nature. Dongre married her “love for trees, rich Indian craftsmanship and music into one joyous collection” with dominant shades of blue, green and red. Beautiful SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) embroidered tabards, paired with tulle skirts, mushroo and hand-embroidered tea-length dresses with gottapatti lehengas, obi belts, embroidered flat shoes and cross-body potli bags made up the very desirable contemporary bridal line. The uncut diamond jewellery from her Pink City line as stunning. Dongre’s runway felt like an Indian summer wedding, with the metallic trees adding dramatic flair to the aureate mood board.

Anita Dongre’s Tree Of Love collection

GAURAV GUPTA | Moondust:
Gaurav Gupta’s knows how to haute couture the runway up. Structure and form are Gupta’s forte and he plays that well, like a consumed installation artist, with “blurred boundaries of traditional and modern couture”, choosing to “sit on the cusp of both worlds”. The Moondust collection is Gupta’s interpretation of a surreal ball Cinderella went to, in sculpted ensembles created from translucent textiles in pale tones of grey, blue, green and teal, playing with shadow and light. Handcrafted embroideries and silhouettes accentuating one aspect of the body – either the legs, the back, the arms or the shoulders – but never all at once, kept the collection elegant and sassy. Though he was going for an immersive experience with this line, it was anything but immersive. Aditi Rao Hydari was Gupta’s showstopper and surprisingly, she was one of the best ramp walkers in the lineup of Bollywood stars.

Gaurav Gupta’s Moondust collection

Aditit Rao Hydari in Gaurav Gupta’s Moondust collection

Gaurav Gupta’s Moondust collection

MANISH MALHOTRA | Sensual Affair:
Manish Malhotra’s exceedingly mirrored runway for his Sensual Affair collection, seemed to be asking, “Mirror mirror on the wall, on the ceiling and on the floor, Who is the grandest couturier of them all?” Satin organzas, silk tulles, satin velvets made up the fabric for Malhotra’s lehengas, sherwanis, voluminous skirts and gowns with trains and the gorgeous fitted corsets, in ivory, soft grey, vintage rose, burgundy and teal tones. The models swirled around on the gleaming catwalk, left, right and centre in a fast-paced, synchronised rhythm, showing off 85 ensembles, with not a second to breathe. It left you wanting to see more of the clothes, with just a little bit of stay. Rapturous glamour is what Malhotra does best, be it sensual, sexual or unusual. There is no one grand couturier of them all, but the grandest finale to a decade of couture at the India Couture Week 2017 was undeniably Malhotra’s, with Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh walking for him. The raucous screams that erupted throughout the show area were deafening and most definitely burst an eardrum or two amidst the audience in the excitement of it all. Tears were shed at not meeting Singh, who seems to be the star, no, superstar of Delhi. Sure he’s popular, but really? Bhatt was an enchanting delight on the runway as always, looking like the Bollywood belle of the ball.

Ranveer Singh walks for Manish Malhotra’s Sensual Affair

Manish Malhotra, Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh

Alia Bhatt walks for Manish Malhotra’s Sensual Affair

Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt walk for Manish Malhotra’s Sensual Affair

Manish Malhotra’s Sensual Affair

Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh walk for Manish Malhotra’s Sensual Affair

Manish Malhotra’s Sensual Affair

Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh walk for Manish Malhotra’s Sensual Affair

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

Journalist | Photographer

Tag: India

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