Scene and Heard

Marcellus Baptista

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

Alright with white

Deepti Gujral, Atul Kasbekar, John Abraham, Vijay Mallya, Shruti Agrawal, Melissa Mehra, Preeti Desai and Sheetal Menon at the Kingfisher Swimsuit Special 2008 launch at the Taj

The lawn of the Chambers at the Taj was the breezy venue for the launch of the much awaited Kingfisher Swimsuit Special 2008. Everyone stuck to the specified dress code of white, including host Vijay Mallya who arrived flamboyantly late. But the party was very much on with the steady stream of Kingfisher, Black Dog and other spirits. Bollywood actor John Abraham was the chosen one to unveil the calendar shot by Atul Kasbekar in locales throughout India from the mysterious Ladakh to the emerald isles of Andaman and Nicobar, from the majestic palaces of Udaipur to the beautiful beaches of Goa. Creating a pretty picture were six out of the seven models featured in the calendar: Deepti Gujral, Sheetal Menon, Shruti Agrawal, Preeti Desai, Melissa Mehra and Tamara Moss. The seventh model, Monikangkana Dutta, could not make it for the sunny brunch. Guests viewed the calendar with the girls sporting swimwear from La Perla, shoes by Jimmy Choo, sunglasses by Roberto Cavalli, watches by Watches of Switzerland and accessories by Christian Dior. Also keeping their date with the glamour calendar were Gautam Singhania, Yash and Avanti Birla, Queenie Dodhy, Esther and Raju Daswani, Randhir Kapoor, Laila Lamba, Monica Vaziralli, Narendra Kumar, Arjun Khanna, Manoviraj Khosla, Tina Tahiliani Parekh, Arti Surendranath, Prahlad Kakar, Aditi Govitrikar and Kalyani Chawla.

Twenty times over

Dino Morea, Milind Soman and Arjun Rampal at the Ensemble show at Grand Hyatt

The beautiful ballroom of Grand Hyatt was the happy venue for the 20th anniversary celebration of the haute couture store Ensemble. Making a huge impact at the event was the presence of our male supermodels Milind Soman, Dino Morea and Arjun Rampal who walked the ramp at Rohit Bal's finale. The night began with fashion collections by Tarun Tahiliani, Varun Bahl, Surily Goel, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Monisha Jaising, Anamika Khanna and Rajesh Pratap Singh. The high-energy show, choreographed by Mehr Rampal, attracted the likes of Priyanka Chopra and Madhur Bhandarkar and other designers like Wendell Rodricks, James Ferreira, Nandita Mahtani and Narendra Kumar. Host Tina Tahiliani Parikh and Rajiv Jain, MD, ICI looked happy as they welcomed the merry mix of guests during the pre-show cocktail hour with champagne and cocktails in the quadrangle and mannequins dressed up in garments created by designers over the past two decades. The majestic Christmas tree all lit up was the centre of attraction, making you think of a winter wonderland.

High tea flighty

Roohi Jaikishan, Farah Oomerbhoy and Natasha Poonawala at the Jimmy Choo high tea at Galleria

The Galleria at Hilton Towers is blooming with the latest entrant being Jimmy Choo with a red carpet reminiscent of the international luxury brand's presence at the Oscars at the high tea soiree. Décor in pure white, long flowing drapes, elegant flower arrangements and music by violinists and cello players from the Bombay Chamber orchestra set the mood for the English high tea with as many as fourteen varieties of macaroons flown in from La Duree, fruitcake from Harrods, finger sandwiches, tea scones, mini-pastries, mince pies and home-baked cookies. The drink of choice was Kir Royale (a cocktail with champagne poured over Crème de Cassis). Host Vijay Murjani, MD, Murjani Group along with Mohan and Guni Murjani, Vijay and Arti Murjani were there to ensure that you had an unforgettable experience. Doing so were Vinod Khanna and wife Kavita, Sonia Garware, Komal Wazir, Nisha Zaveri, Queenie Dhody, Radhika Ruia, Natasha and Adar Poonawala, Yohan and Michelle Poonawala and Madhoo Shah, who were shining inside this 69th Jimmy Choo boutique in the world.

The good life

Sangeeta Assomull and Tanishaa Mukherjee at the Judith Leiber soiree at Articullate

The famous Judith Leiber brand made its presence felt at a cocktail party at Articullate art gallery that was transformed into an exquisite and elegant boutique. Then, now, always - that was the theme with matching décor setting the tone to view the beautiful bags. Hosts Sangeeta Assomull and Madan Assomull made sure you lived it up with Moet & Chandon champagne, Belvedere vodka cocktails, Glenmorangie single malt along with some tasty vegetarian hors d'oeuvres. Pictures of Hollywood stars and Indian women adorned the walls, all proud owners of some sensational bags and clutches, some of them classics handed over by their mothers. Sangeeta Assomull presented a stunning picture in a Suneet Verma sari embroidered in the identical red rose motif of her clutch. Tanissha Mukherjee was in sky blue, Bonita Bulchandani in bright yellow and Lata Patel in silvery grey. The other wonderful women present were Anju Taraporevala with a lips motif clutch, Hasina Jethmalani, Ekta Raheja, Meena Raheja, Soniya Mehra, Debbie Hitkari, Sabira Merchant, Mona Narang and Pallavi Jaikishan. There were also a few good men like Yash Birla and Chakor Doshi.