On our table was the hotel owner Adarsh Jatia, effervescent actress Jacqueline Fernandez, and celebrated architect Ashiesh Shah.

Others spotted at the event were chef Vicky Ratnani, oenophile Sanjay Menon, and TV host Aneesha Baig. Jacqueline, who knows Dharshan from her Sri-Lanka days, also co-owns a restaurant with the chef in Colombo called Kaema Sutra, and no surprises that the beatific Dharshan, more Zen monk then ersatz foodie, hovered around her, expertly cracking crustaceans, and feeding her sweet delicious morsels of meat, so she did not have to do all the hard work!

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Post the dinner, everyone headed up to the rooftop bar Aer, where the hotel had invited leading bartenders from the city's most popular standalone bars to put on a show, and where Jackie sportingly posed for selfies with fans. Quite a Monday night!

Boman Irani, Soli Sorabjee, Shernaz Patel, Sooni Taraporewala and Cyrus Broacha

Parsis and why we love 'em
And so, yesterday, it was that time of the year when we gathered to praise and celebrate the Parsis we know and love on the occasion of Navroze, which fell on the Spring Equinox.

We might be left wing or right wing, hardliners or liberals, misogynists or feminists, Modi haters or RaGa baiters, gourmets or gourmands, regressive or progressive, but if there is one thing that unites us, it is our love for Parsis — those colourful, brilliant, maddeningly eccentric, and altogether fascinating men and women, who by their existence, have edified and enhanced our lives, be it renowned Parsi jurists Nani Palkhiwala, Soli Sorabjee, HM Seervai and Fali Nariman, eminent Parsi doctors the Udwadias, the Soonawallas, and the Banajis, talented artists who dazzle us on stage and film, namely Boman Irani, Shernaz Patel and Sooni Taroporewala, industrialists known for their philanthropy (the Tatas, the Godrejs, and the Petits), humourists who tickle our funny bone, such as Cyrus Broacha and Cyrus Suthankar, and of course, dashing entrepreneurs who have gone on to carve great names for themselves in their chosen fields through the dint of their vision and hard work, Ronnie Screwvala, Noshir Talati, and Maneck Davar.

We have benefitted hugely in our growing years through our proximity to a Parsi philanthropist by the name Jer Jusswala. Unmarried and childless for many years (she later adopted a daughter), she had taken it upon herself to shepherd a flock of children in a Juhu colony in the finer things of life. From classical music to contemporary dance, from Shakespeare to Tagore, and from high-spirited camping excursions, to visits to living sages like Muktananada and Chinmayanada, Jer aunty, as we called her, gifted us a world of magic and laughter. We think of her a lot, but most on Parsi festivals as an embodiment of all that the community is cherished for.
'Nuff said. Go forth and procreate guys. We need more of you!

High five for Khandwala!
This week, artist and designer Payal Khandwala, celebrates five years of her label with an elegant private soiree for her fans and friends. The designer, who has always been regarded as hat ke because she assiduously follows her own muse and pays little heed to market demands, true to type is marking the anniversary with as little hype as possible.

"There will be no media wall, no photo-ops and no sound byte moments, just a genuine celebration," says her spokesperson.

"As a philosophy, we have never focused on trends or even fashion for that matter, because my impetus to establish the distinct grammar of our label has always come from within. External factors do not drive or inform my design decisions," says Khandwala.

Nice!

Eagerly awaited Sonata
Aparna Sen's newest film, Sonata, starring the director, Shabana Azmi and Lillette Dubey, and slated to release next month might just be what her debut 36 Chowringhee Lane had been to an earlier generation. That poignant and delicately told tale of an old and lonely Anglo-Indian teacher using colloquial language (English, Bengali and bits of both), and made on a shoe-string budget, had shown us how our ordinary lives were worthy of telling. This had been a breakthrough, because until then generations of Indians had grown up reading Shakespeare and Dickens, and watching Hollywood and Bollywood, and had seldom found their lives reflected in them. Sen's film, however muted, however slight, had proven different. In Jennifer Kendall's Violet Stoneham we saw our own past. Sonata too appears to be imbued by the director's talent to eke out stories from the everyday.

Adapted from the play Sonata by Mahesh Elkunchwar, it follows the lives of three unmarried friends facing a mid-life crisis, and how their lives intersect. When we had met the director at Aveek and Rakhi Sarkar's home in Kolkata last month, Sen had spoken of the film with pride.

A nuanced film about modern, urban, middle-aged women in Mumbai starring three exceptional actresses? We can't wait.

There's no business like show business
Bollywood seems to be raking in the moolah, if a recent high-profile endorsement deal between a tourism board and an A-list, big Bollywood star is to believed.

According to insiders, this recent engagement has raised the bar in the industry considerably as far as remunerations go. The star in question is considered one of the biggest, and in a quick span of years has carved a niche for himself with his brilliant performances, a quirky individualistic style and inexhaustible energy. "The deal works out to 6 cool ones, with a cheque of 4 given on the day of signing," our source informs us. And that's not all, he also gets to take a group of six of his buddies to an exotic location for a holiday and has been given a private jet for the duration of his trip

Now, that's a deal.