Scene and Heard

Marcellus Baptista

What's happening in Mumbai hotels? A peek into the party circuit and events in the city...

Double dose

Sheetal Mallar with Matan Schabracq and twin brother Timir

The art nights at Zenzi continued with a special screening of the award-winning Dutch film called 'Simon'. Causing a double-take was restaurateur Matan Schabracq with identical twin Timir. Passion and poignancy plus a keen sense of humour were seen on the big screen in the upper level of the restaurant and lounge bar. The film touched on the topics of soft drugs, gay marriage, relationships and euthanasia.The film director Eddy Terstall was there speaking about the film and discussing the finer points and the liberal life in Holland.

A delightful Dutch dinner awaited the guests like theatre actor Alyque Padamsee, Farid Currim and Denzil Smith, photographers Ashok Salian and Sharvini Patel, and models Sheetal Mallar and Carol Gracias. Luckily, model twins Tapur and Tupur Chatterjee were not there. Otherwise seeing them plus the Schabracqs would have been too much for one night.

Making waves

Shabbir Ahluwalia, Manasi Joshi, Ekta Kapoor and Ronit Roy at 11 Echoes

To further strengthen its presence, 11 Echoes, the restaurant and lounge bar strategically located at the curve of Juhu beach, held another party - this one hosted by television stars Rohit Roy and wife Manasi Joshi. Silver and white was the theme of this party held just before the year could come to an end.

It attracted a whole lot of television personalities. There was Samir Soni, Sudanshu Pande, Mouli Ganguly, Apurva Agnihotri, Shilpa Saklani and Nigar Khan who took the dress code seriously, wearing a fairy white ensemble, while Rajeshwari and Varun Badola sported Lucknowi outfits. Guests also included Tanya Kumar, Perizaad Zorabian, Vivek Agnihotri, Bijon Das Gupta, Sanjay Gupta and Ronit Roy. Arriving late were Subhash Ghai and Ekta Kapoor who adhered to the dress code by wearing a silver T-shirt under her long black jacket. Hiten Tejwani, Gauri Pradhan, Natasha, Chetan Hansraj, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Niki Aneja, Ruksar, Narayani Shastri, Sandhya Mridul and Shaan completed the guest list.

And everyone looked forward to the year 2006, though not all deciding to make New Year resolutions.

Star power

Shah Rukh Khan with Baba Siddiqui and Ranjit Bindra at Aziano

The young men behind Aziano, one of the newer nightspots in Mumbai, could not have been happier when Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan walked in to check out the place. He was accompanied by politician Baba Siddiqui. Both seemed to appreciate the place filled with lasers, flashing lights, images on three big screens and two bar areas with a DJ perched high up on what looked like a golden sailing vessel.

The young men behind the club - Moksh Sani, Yogesh Manwani, Mihir Desai, Ranjit Bindra, Karan Purohit and Vivek Chawla - are the same team that gave the city Monza, that fine Italian eatery and bar, located in the bustling Phoenix Mills complex. Besides SRK, spotted that night were fashion designer Neeta Lulla, models Niketan Madhok, Shahwar Ali, Tarun Arora, Zulfi Syed, Shivani Kapur, Pia Trivedi and Mehek Chahal. Also at the club were Akashdeep Saighal, Naved Jaffrey, Kishen Kumar with wife Tanya, and actors Ashmit Patel and Upen Patel. Yes, the Bollywood beat was very much on.

Arty party

Louiz Banks at Vie Lounge

Vie lounge is a happening party venue, especially during the day as witnessed at the brunch hosted by keyboard wizard Louis Banks along with Foster's. We made a couple of discoveries that Sunday afternoon - Louis Banks now spells his name with a 'z'. Yes, its' Louiz, and he is an artist, as you viewed his paintings displayed all around. There was a picture of bold strokes and hues, complementing his music. Art and jazz made a heady combination with chilled beer striking the right balance. Of course, there was also some fine cuisine.

The cheerful faces included singer Suneeta Rao in a sky blue sari, artist Arzan Khambatta and wife Khushnuma, model Aditi Govitrikar, makeup artist Marvie Beck, hairstylist Leona Noronha and Teejay Sidhu with boyfriend Manoj Bohra. Just the right mix of people for a cheery, beery Sunday brunch.