Scene and Heard

Marcellus Baptista

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

Going places

Annerieke and Michael Owen at the Las Vegas night at ITC Grand Central

Sometimes you can go places just by sitting in Mumbai, or rather by attending destination-themed evenings in the city. There were two such events on one evening. It was time for the One Love Jamaica, a bowled-out evening at Taj President with Courtney Walsh, ambassador-at-large of Jamaica, looming large over the crowd that included our very own cricketer Dilip Sardesai who has played in the Caribbean Islands. Also present were David L Shields, deputy director of tourism (marketing) for the Jamaica Tourist Board along with Robert Bryan, head, and Pauline Nelson, director (communications) of the Local Organising Committee of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.

Meanwhile, at ITC Grand Central it was fun and games at the Grand Las Vegas Night hosted by Atul Nishar to celebrate the 38th Foundation Day of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce. Guests included a sizeable American presence including US Consul General Michael Owen and wife Annerieke, and US Trade Consul Jim Cunningham. Bollywood's Urmilla Matondkar added a glam element as did dancers Shveta Salve and Longinus Fernandes.

Art of partying

Hariharan and Paresh Maity at the Chivas Art Experience at Hilton Towers

After last year's successful Chivas Art Experience with The Oberoi and Chivas Regal combining in a heady mix, party people were eagerly awaiting for this year's edition. They were not disappointed by the experience with the breezy poolside of Hilton Towers - the venue for the arty hearty party. Titled 'Tales, Constructs and Reflections' and curated by Arun Ghose, it attracted the usual interesting and intoxicating mix of guests, all art lovers and collectors. It was no surprise that most of the works were sold out even before you could go to the bar for your second drink of Chivas Regal. Guests included Diana Hayden, Pankaj Udhas and wife Farida, Minissha Lamba, Harsh Goenka, Hariharan, Simone Singh and Dolly Thakore who had a good look at the works by celebrated artists like Akbar Padamsee, Yusuf Arakkal and F N Souza. Meanwhile, Paresh Maity and other artists were busy demonstrating their different strokes on a blank canvas at the entrance.

Over the Edge

Reshma Bombaywala and Megha Kawale at the Edge launch at Taj Lands End

Getting you into a high energy mode was Edge, the newest energy drink in town that was launched with great fanfare at Taj Lands End with a long bar offering the energy drink, with or without your favourite spirit. Model-DJ Megha Kawale was in the mix, getting the crowd to shake a leg. The party, hosted by Krutin Chaturvedi, Kedhar Gawde, Hemant Thacker and Rakshanda Khan, saw the likes of actors Upen Patel, Ameet Gaurr, Sudhanshu Pandey, Chetan Hansraj, Aftab Shivdasani and Shraddha Nigam, models Shamita Singha, Reshma Bombaywala, Kavita Kharayat, Mridula Chandrashekhar and Tejaswini Kolhapure, designer Arshiya Fakih, dancer and choreographer Terence Lewis, film director Ken Ghosh and television's Ekta Kapoor and Mona Singh. And everyone was living on the edge!

Bond with the best

Anil Kapoor at the Casino Royale party at JW Marriott

Smirnoff has been busy these nights. The vodka brand, along with Sony Pictures, hosted a post-premiere party of the latest James Bond movie, Casino Royale, at JW Marriott. Incidentally, Smirnoff first made its appearance with Bond in Dr No. There was a sizeable Bollywood presence with Anil Kapoor, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Feroz Khan, Manmohan and Pooja Shetty, Ramesh Sippy, Rakesh Mehra, Bobby and Sunny Deol, Govind Nihalani, Shatrughan Sinha, Sharmila Tagore and Tara Sharma.

Packing a punch were cocktails with names like Shaken not Stirred, the classic 007 Martini, Vesper, Smirnoff Secret Agent and Smirnoff Royale Flush. Asif Adil, MD of Diageo India and Uday Singh, MD of Sony Pictures were also present. A few nights earlier it was time for the Smirnoff Experience. 'Life is calling, where are you?' was what they asked you at Taj Lands End. The dance trance was very much on with international spin master DJ John Digweed in the mix along with music by Bhavishyavani, Shiva Sound System, DJs Ivan and Nikhil Chinapa.