Scene and Heard

Marcellus Baptista

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

Cause and effect

Abhishek Bachchan at the Khushii India night at Hilton Towers

The Oberoi is always one hotel to support a cause and this time it teamed up with Hello! magazine that collaborated with Abhishek Lodha to present Khushii India on Canvas, a charity event with personalities from various walks of life coming together to raise funds towards creating a better tomorrow and a safe future for the underprivileged, homeless youth and the elderly. Works of art by M F Husain, Satish Gujral, Tyeb Mehta, Atul Dodiya, Satish Gupta and Jehangir Sabawala were on view at the Malabar Room of Hilton Towers and the cocktail chatter was pronounced with the arrival of Abhishek Bachchan who happily signed a colourful painting that he had worked on along with his cousin Namrata Bachchan. The six street children who would benefit from the proceeds of the sales of the painting were also there along with high-profile guests like Jaya Bachchan, Ajitabh and Ramola Bachchan, Harsh Goenka, Dilip Piramal, Kapil Dev, Jaideep Mehrotra, Sangita Kathiwada, Sabina Singh, Niranjan Hiranandani, Pheroza Godrej and Cyrus Poonawalla.

Gym and tonic

Leena and Nikhil Mogre at the gym's fitness night

To further popularise the launch of LM Specialized Fitness at Linking Road, fitness star Leena Mogre and husband Nikhil hosted a special fitness night. Spread over 8,000 square feet, this 24-hour gym with the latest fitness equipment, dedicated trainers, an open-air wi-fi enabled terrace, floor-to-ceiling glass walls, a tropical café offering low-cal muffins, sandwiches, protein shakes, juices and health foods, was the perfect place for a fit and healthy party. McDowell's Diet Whisky (in keeping with the fitness mood) was the drink of choice. A fun tug-of-war and arm-wrestling even among the women spiced up the night. Guests who came to the gym were Neeta Lulla, Ananya Dutt, Bharat Dhabolkar, Peeya Rai Chaudhary, Shayan Munshi, Anita Hasanandani, Eijaaz Khan, Shwetaa Kawatra, Manav Goel, Pia Trivedi, Jimmy Felix, Siddharth Kannan and Nisha Harale. Body fat analysis, cardio respiratory capacity, strength assessment, muscular endurance, strength, flexibility, lung capacity and specialized sports training were some of the topics discussed.

View from the top

Vidisha Pavate, Tanya Vakil and Mugdha Godse at the Jaikishan preview at Hilton Towers

The rooftop of Oberoi Towers has always been the happy venue for the mother-daughter designer duo of Pallavi and Bhairavi Jaikishan to stage their festive collection. And so it was this time, too, only thing the invite read: Hilton Towers. It was a high-tea affair with the golden gleam of the setting sun bathing the room and enhancing the creations on view. Over bubbly and hors d'oeuvres guests viewed the bridal and festive collections on the rack and on the bodies of models Vidisha Pavate, Mugdha Godse ands Tanysa Vakil. What you saw were some seductive saris, lovely lehengas, churidar kurtas and tunics in old brocade, wispy chiffon, shimmering silk and gossamer net, embellished with floral embroidery, geometric motifs, crystal, ribbon, lace and pearl. Sangita Jindal, Tania Dubash, Gauri Chandok, Vasundhara Ruia, Chhaya Momaya, Farah Oomerbhoy, Jimi Kapur, Bijal Meswani and Jyoti Hinduja were among the many guests who enjoyed the exciting evening.

Second helping

Rakesh Roshan and Shailesh Agrawal at the launch of On Toes

Twenty long years after making its presence felt loud and clear in Juhu, the popular On Toes restaurant and pub launched its second outlet in Mumbai, this one located above Croma in Malad. The success setting of the original On Toes still stood, with its double whammy of a restaurant offering Indian and Chinese cuisine and the pub with an excellent choice of music, plasma screens and high spirits at the bar. Host Shailesh Agrawal teamed up with his friends Akashdeep and Sheeba to host the On Toes launch party in Malad. It attracted quite a few guests from the television and glamour world. Spotted were Rakesh Roshan who was more at home in the restaurant rather than the pub, and the pubbers like Dipsshikha, Sonia Kapoor, Sanober Kabir, Aman Varma, Kanwaljit Singh, Shveta Salve, Parmeet Sethi and Archana Puran Singh, Varun Badola and Rajeshwari, Bhagyashree and Himalay, Amit Behl, Anupam Bhattacharya, Murli Sharma, Ashwini Khaslshekar and many, many others. The verdict was that the new On Toes would rock.