Lifestyle & Arts

Screen + Sound + Stage Text by Ranjabati Das. Photography by Ali Monis Naqvi. Art Direction and Styling by Akanksha Pandey. Hair and Make-Up by Seerath Sheikh Kabir; assisted by Dixita Dhargalkar. 1. On Vibhav Sawant (Oberon): net dress and ball, from Savio Jon.2. On Shreya Mukund Prabhu (Hermia): dome body dress, from Quod; bandhni scarf, from Savio Jon.3. On Prajakta Kavlekar (Titania): top with box pleats, from Fool Dost; front-zipped black skirt, from Margn; red handloom scarf (tucked into the skirt), from Sirohi; green yoga gear (used as sash), stylist’s own.4. On Keatan Jadhav (Demitrius): front knot shirt, from WIP Clothing; carved wooden face, from Savio Jon.5. Mandar Jog (Puck)6. On Shiv Pranav Damodar Alavani (Nick Bottom)...

Spaces Text by Mallika Chandra. Photographs courtesy Sean Davidson | Yabu Pushelberg Left to Right: Dome rug; Glenn Pushelberg and George Yabu Inspired by the idea of “impossible structures” that were exclusively created for Montreal’s Expo 67, Yabu Pushelberg — the multidisciplinary practice founded by George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg — developed the forms for Memento. In this limited series of art pieces that was unveiled recently, the international design studio, that has offices in New York and Toronto, referenced the experimental output of the decades-old expo. The designers then selected memories and experiences that continuously inform their studio practic...

Text by Avani Thakkar, with inputs from Asad Sheikh. Photography by Raajadharshini. The artist, Nirbhai “Nep” Singh Sidhu, in front of a textile installation from Unstruck Melody. On an overcast morning so typical of London, I find myself at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) to explore Unstruck Melody, Canadian artist Nirbhai “Nep” Singh Sidhu’s latest exhibition curated in collaboration with the UK-based arts organisation Without Shape Without Form (WSWF). As soon as I step into the museum, my weather woes are replaced by a sense of serenity — for the interiors of the space where the exhibition is on show are awash with gentle blue lighting, and tranquil acoustic instrumen...

Screen + Sound + Stage Text by Prachi Sibal. Photographs by Rose Tommy. Tina and Pratheek Thomas at their workspace in their Kochi home. Tina and Pratheek Thomas were born on the same day, four years apart. And this is just one of the many coincidences that ties them together. Both storytellers at heart, the two first exchanged glances while furiously scribbling away in their individual notebooks on a train journey from Bengaluru to Kochi in 2010. At the time, she was writing a script for a television show, he was working on a comic book. They would get married in the following year. By happenstance, their small venture, a comic book publishing house, was launched on February 14,...

Wine & Dine Text and Photography by Mallika Chandra. Anushka Malkani, 27 and Nariman Abdygapparov, 24Masa BakeryLocation: AndheriSpeciality: Baked goods, pastries Tell us about your journey as chefs before Masa. What led you to start a cloud kitchen and how were you intending to stand out? Anushka Malkani (AM): I studied in Switzerland, and then I moved to Paris, where I was working with the Ducasse group. I learned a lot about the importance of good ingredients and how you source them. In fact, it inspired Nariman and me to open Masa because we felt like there was a space for ingredient-driven pastry in Mumbai. There are a lot of ingredient-driven restaurants in Mumbai, where they ...

Spaces Photograph by Naomi Shah When I first traversed the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, it was also the first time I had come so close to the Arabian Sea. Although it had been within reach all my life, I had never been surrounded by it so, while still staying on land. For those who live in and love Mumbai, as I do, the rippling, muddy, grey waters of the Arabian Sea are the only constant among the changes in the city, natural or man-made. The sweeping arc of Marine Drive and the celebrity-lined Bandra promenade kiss the waters we are so grateful for but continue to neglect. Joggers on Worli Sea Face, keeping time with the ebb and flow of the tides, probably think of it as no more than a familiar shorelin...

Spaces Photograph by Naomi Shah I noticed the sky becoming overcast, grey clouds throwing shadows on my restive mind — and then, it didn’t rain. The cloudburst that would clear the air with the new smell of earth didn’t arrive. I remained hanging in suspense about what the future would bring. If only I could hear the pitter-patter on my parched terrace, I would know where to begin. The dull, lingering humidity cast a pall on my brain, and began to weigh on me like a nameless, yet ominous, premonition. I didn’t think a delayed monsoon would leave me so desperate, with such unfound or unknown expectations of a life that I wasn’t able to meet or find. ...

Text by Shirin Mehta. With Photography by and Inputs from Asad Sheikh. 1. The entrance to the exhibition featured multiple red arches.2. The sindoor-red walls of the opening lobby were covered with a scanned brocade weave. The recently-concluded India in Fashion: The Impact of Indian Dress and Textiles on the Fashionable Imagination, at Mumbai’s spanking new Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), was a powerful reminder of India’s influence on European fashion. Curated by fashion journalist and editor Hamish Bowles and blueprinted by Patrick Kinmonth, a designer of sets for opera, and Mumbai-based architect Rooshad Shroff, the displays sprawled across a ...

On the last Saturday in May, as the sun set over the azure waters of the French Riviera, the Croisette would have worn a deserted look, as tourists, media and celebrities packed their backpacks or Louis Vuitton luggage, as the case may be, and bade farewell to the 76th Cannes Film Festival, held every year at the resort city that hugs a neat curve of France’s south-east Mediterranean coastline. The red carpet, mottled with stiletto jabs, would have been rolled up, denuding the renovated Palais des Festivals building of the pomp and grandeur it had sported since May 16. But as life plods back to normal, the kaleidoscope of images generated during that fortnight remains embedded in our consciousness, making us, in fact, view celebrity life re...

It might be a little late in the day to enter the discourse around the Met Gala. Reams have already been written, and the internet and Instagram have hit it out of the park with their relentless coverage. But, I have a concern: it’s been over two weeks since the party, and I am still ‘doping’ on the papped and snapped. Why? It’s doing something fuzzy to my brain, this red-carpet thing, and shutting down my soul, just as the dazzling celebrities had “shut down the red carpet”, to borrow from MC La La Anthony’s lingo, as she interviewed the A-listers from her perch on top of the Met stairs. I’ve been desperately searching for my own verdicts, my own judgement, and indulging in some serious existential reflection, over and above all of those...