RUBINA’S RADAR
If anything is hotter than the summer of 2017, it’s Drake! The Canadian Grammy award winning artist who swept the Billboard Music Awards with 13 honors earlier this month in Las Vegas, Nevada, surpassing Adele’s record of the highest BBMA wins, is allegedly headed eastward to Mumbai for a concert. The legitimacy of this claim is as thin as paper, and damp too, in Mumbai’s humid weather forecast, but this seems to be the trend du jour. After Justin Bieber’s live gig in the city, anyone, and I mean anyone with a bank account (the many advantages of PM Modi’s demonetisation in the country) is dropping big tickets names like Drake performing in Mumbai, akin to these artistes’ dropping their platinum selling hit tracks! Except their music is real, but these flighty murmurings, not so much. Such is the residual fever of Bieber’s Mumbai trip that getting Canadian, Barbadian and British pop icons to perform in the country is now a conversation opener that can at best be described as delusions of pop grandeur of the highest kind. Vague as the conversations might be, with ambiguous overtones that could throw serious shade on US President Donald Trump’s speeches, they’re definitely in vogue, riding on names like Drake, Ed Sheeran, Rihanna and gasp, even Adele!
Drake at the 2017 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada with his 13 honors
It is suffice to say that May has been all about one nights in Mumbai as far as Hollywood goes. Brad Pitt flew in on Wednesday, May 24th to promote his film War Machine on Netflix, along with his director David Michôd. The visit was so short that even calling it a quickie feels abusive to the word itself. It was almost a guerilla surprise, with the film being screened at PVR Phoenix Mills, and Pitt and Michôd’s subsequent interaction with Shah Rukh Khan. Pitt had promoted the film earlier on in the month on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in New York by lying down with Colbert on a blanket on the CBS set to talk about the film, which was unusual and weird, but very entertaining nevertheless. Before he landed in Mumbai, Pitt posed for selfies and signed autographs for his fans at the film’s premiere in Tokyo, Japan but chose not to interact with his fans in Mumbai which was rather strange. Unless of course the one night in Mumbai was a part of some sort of nouveau stealth strategy, which is extremely doubtful.
Justin Bieber was all set to explore Mumbai on his first trip to India for his Purpose Tour concert, but his visit lasted a mere 20 hours with him spending one night in the city at the St Regis Mumbai, despite being booked for four nights and five days. He came, he performed and went straight to the airport to fly off to South Africa for his next show from the concert venue right after his gig. Confidential details of Bieber’s contractual asks and obligations made their way into the press as a “leak” prior to his arrival in the country and that wasn’t exactly the smartest move, making Bieber look like an extremely demanding artiste, not to mention it was a total breach of trust too. Bieber chose to respond to the screaming headlines of his exaggerated tour demands and party plans by staying on in Dubai post his gig there, enjoying the decadent Arab hospitality at the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel, arriving in Mumbai only past midnight on May 10th, the day he was scheduled to perform and left before the date changed to May 11th. Touché Bieber!
Justin Bieber exiting the Mumbai airport at 1.20AM on May 10, 2017
Mumbai has always had Hollywood and celebrities from around the world falling in love with the city, and definitely for more than just one night. Pitt was visibly charmed when he’d visited Mumbai back in November 2006 with Angelina Jolie and their adopted kids, Maddox and Zahara. So if Champagne Papi Drake does come to Mumbai for a live concert, despite all the ambitious conversations that do not seem conclusive in the least, I hope it’s third time lucky for Mumbai this year and the Hotline Bling singer stays on for more than just one night only, and One Dance.
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He’s booked in two hotels in the city – the St Regis Mumbai in midtown Mumbai (where his team and tour manager have been staying in since May 7th) and The Oberoi hotel in Nariman Point. Now, it remains to be seen where, (not with whom!) Bieber will be sleeping tonight in Mumbai! But first, can he land in the city already?
Justin Bieber’s hitting Mumbai with his Purpose World Tour 2017 concert in a week from today and it is the conversation du jour in the city. It’s the summer’s biggest gig as Bieber, one of the world’s biggest pop icons, performs live for the first time in India in Mumbai on May 10th at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. His platinum set list for the Purpose tour comprises of tracks like Purpose, Cold Water, Where Are You Now, Sorry, Baby, Boyfriend, Let Me Love You and the like. The coolest retort to the “What’s Happening in Mumbai?” line is now “Bieber’s happening in Mumbai!” The Purpose concert feels like a wild, hysterical night already, wherein his Indian fans will be screaming hoarse for encores. The hysteria on show night will just have to be seen, and heard, to be Beliebed!
THE FATTY BAO, a subsidiary of the legendary Olive Bar & Kitchen, is Mumbai’s latest obsession and rightly so, given its vibrant and innovative Asian fare is everything, and more! Behind the Fatty Bao’s red entrance door in a Bandra bylane, lies a tantalizing food haven created by Chef Manu Chandra, with a painted, surreal Eastern dreamscape on its walls, adding to the exemplary Asian culinary experience. The Patty Bao with Lamb Mince is just-to-die for, or rather, worth living for, as are the Lamb Shanks braised in a Massaman Curry, Prawn Tempura Sushi Roll, Brie Tempura with Plum Sauce, Gochujang Lamb Chops, Crab Meat and Prawn Dimsums, and the interesting Duck Hoisin Bao, paired exquisitely with terrific cocktails like the Beach Blonde, Bora Bora and Made in China, rounded off with delectable desserts like the Fatty Hill, Japanese Cheese Cake and the Green Tea Chiffon Cake with Yuzu Cream. The menu is expansive, with every kind of Asian dish imaginable cooked to perfection, making every plate on the menu someone’s favourite! The Fatty Bao is consummate for any time of day or night, whether you’re looking for some sugar or spice!
YUUKA, located on the 37th floor of the St Regis Mumbai, is where stellar Japanese food is at, under the culinary direction of the award winning Chef Ting Yen from Boston, Massachusetts, (of the Oishii restaurants) with the most spectacular views of Mumbai city. The interiors draw inspiration from Japanese tatami mat seating with raw silk chairs and wooden block tables. Mirrors and brocade set off a deconstructed origami pattern, lending the space its decadent, sexy vibe. Avocado Tartare, Moullard Duck Breast, Naan Taquitos, Hot Sizzling Sake and Hamachi or Yellowtail Salmon on Fire and King Crab Leg Tempura are some of the special dishes crafted at Yuuka, that showcase contemporary Japanese cuisine at its best, paired with Yamazaki single malt cocktails and more. The elaborate sushi menu leaves no space, almost, for the delicious Green Tea Layer Cake (40 layers!) with aged rum-soaked raisins and matcha dust — such is the indulgent food experience here.
SERAFINA, situated in the Kala Ghoda district of the city, is New York’s most famous Italian casual diner’s first Mumbai outpost. With its signature yellow signage and the faint whiff of lava-stoned pizzas beckoning you in, the Tartufo Nero (Truffle Pizza) is an obvious favorite. Even a non-pizza eating person (they do exist!) will turn into a Truffle Pizza convert after a slice of this cheesy creation! The Penne Alla Vodka, Truffle Ravioli, Farfalle Limoncello, Beetroot Carpaccio and the D-Salad — named after spiritual guru Deepak Chopra- – paired with endless flutes of Prosecco and Bellinis and the most delicious Tiramisu ever complete your Italian experience here. And if you want to make your own pizzas and pastas, well then, you can do that, too!
The PALLADIUM SOCIAL is located inside the Palladium Mall, with a state of the art Craft Beer Tasting Room — the first of its kind in India — with 12 craft brews on tap sourced from India and Europe’s finest breweries. The solid rough-cut wood log tables and low-light mood make for a perfect beers-and-burgers bash, for work or play, at this cafe. With 15 different types of burgers paired with craft beers in over 215 different ways, and house favourites like Keema Pao, Awesamosas, Prawn Sesame Toast, Naga Chilli Cheese Toast, Akoori, the humourously named Ramesh and Suresh deep fried 5-star chocolate dessert, the Gadbad Shetty icecream delight, SMS burger (Spinach, Mushroom and Swiss Cheese) –Social is the place you have to go to, at any of their four outlets in the city – Colaba, Todi Mills, Palladium and Khar – to try out the best of Mumbai’s diverse food fare on Indian prison plates.
THE IRISH HOUSE pub feels like a little bit of Ireland in the island city, with its dominant green lights and rustic wooden decor, barring the beloved Irish accent. of course, given the pub’s Indian origins, where music, beer, kidney pies, fish and chips, nachos and an exciting array of pub eats come together for a fabulous time out in the city. It is a great place to just hang and laugh out loud with friends, eat your favourite foods like Drunken Fettuccine Prawns and watch ball games on the big screen, any time of the day or night. With six outposts in Mumbai – Kala Ghoda, Palladium Mall, Bandra, Andheri, Kurla and Malad, The Irish House is the best way to get a feel of the city and make new friends over pints of beers (over 40 varieties), wines and cocktails.
Rubina A Khan 