BANDRA IS MY LUCKY CHARM

Superstitious as I may sound but Bandra has actually been a very lucky area for me. Whenever I’ve launched anything in Bandra, it’s always gone on to do well. Whether it’s my play When God Said Cheers that was premiered in Bandra in 2003 or my short film club journey… I’ve never looked back since.

Of course the area has changed drastically in the last decade with the old, small buildings giving way to monstrous looking high-rises, perpetually dug up roads resulting in endless traffic jams, simple joints being replaced by malls, et al. I still remember the first McDonalds in the city (or was it the country) was launched in India. Ditto with KFC.

By virtue of being right in the middle of the city and the suburbs, Bandra is an interesting pot-pourri of culture, more like a testing market. If something works in Bandra you can be assured it should work with the rest of the city!

I’ve lived in SoBo all my life but if I had to live in any other place besides town, it would be Bandra. The cute lanes of Pali Hill, the calming air around Mount Mary Road, the picturesque view of Bandstand and Carter Road and the hustle bustle of Hill Road all add up to the making of magic called Bandra.

Some of my closest friends stay here and now with the Sea Link making travel really easy, I love coming to Bandra at least once a week. Usually townies hate traveling too far but if there’s a meeting in Bandra, I make sure I come over for the meet.

– Cyrus Dastur

NOT SO HAUTE

When you think designer wear you think rich if not regal and stylish if not suave. So we thought the mention of Abu Sandeep would do the same. However, we were disappointed. Each ethnic Indian wear garment had a price tag of no less than
Rs 25,000 but the clothes didn’t match up. With the signboard etched in wood and neat smoked glass; you must remember not to let the neat exteriors fool you. The patterns are nothing new, they appear dull and boring. The ceiling holds chandeliers; masterpieces for sure, and a carpet dons the walls that you see just as you enter and you will be greeted by two lovely ladies. But that’s the where the bright side starts and ends. Even if you didn’t mind spending a whopping amount of money on ethnic wear  we guarantee you won’t find it here. Where: Waterfield Rd, near Kaya Skin Clinic

– Shilpa Rao

SALMAN VS BABA

It’s time for some great football action as Bandra residents Zeeshan Siddique and Stephen Naronah organize a Bandra exclusive football tournament. The tournament will have 30 teams competing for a whopping grand prize of Rs. 50,000(no entry fee for the tournament. Spread over 4 days the tournament has teams like Bandra Packers, Companeros, All Stars, Celtic Athletic battling it out along with a special match featuring Salman Khan and his star team vs Baba Siddique and his team. Zeeshan Siddique says, “This is a tournament where the oldest, youngest and the best football players of Bandra will be playing as well as a few senior citizens. Head to Supari Talao this weekend and catch the star match between Salman Khan and Baba Siddique next Saturday at 3:30(approx). Where: Supari Talao; When: 8:30am to 5:30

SALMAN VS BABA

WHAT WOMEN WANT

Writer:  Miro Gavran Director: Hidayat Sami Cast: Gauri Balaji, Shivani Tanksale, Indu Sinha, Ratnabali Bhattacharjee, Girija Oak, Poulomi Ghosh & Sanghamitra

This play consists of women who through the course of the play bring to life 18 characters in five different stories based on Miro Gavran’s ‘All about women’. The first story has two bitter sisters trying to be reunited by their mother, the second, a story struggling relationship, the third story is about two secretaries trying to climb up the corporate ladder using any means necessary, the fourth is about three old ladies living in a retirement home while the fifth is about little girls in kindergarden. The play fluctuates from being hilarious to absurd. Where: Rangsharda auditorium, near Lilavati hospital, When: 9th August, 7:45pm, Contact:26430544

HOW ART THOU

Pradarshak is back this week with another art exhibition in a series of shows, all a part of their annual student exhibition ‘Vidyarthi Vishesh 2009’. Breaking away from the previous weeks exhibition on abstract works, this week their showcasing semi-abstarct paintings by student artists from all over Maharashtra. Featured this week are works by  Sachin Kumavat, Tina Doshi, Yashpal Kamble, Ajay Meshram, Mukta Bapat, Sujata Sah, Shrunal Tembhurne, Sujata Sah, Namdev Kakde and Hetal Gada. The two I like the best are the Buddha and one depicting a mothers fear of her childs wellbeing within her womb(the picture to your left). Take a short walk down to take a look at more works like these. Where: Pradarshak, 100 Kalpana Bldg, 12th Road,

When: Till 14th August , 11am-7pm, Contact: 26462681

CD’S RS.100 AT MOSS

A rolling stone gathers no moss but Moss certainly has gathered a lot of Rolling Stones… Def Leppard, Queen, Temptations and much more….records we mean. The newly opened music store makes a brave attempt to open up when people usually just prefer to download music. Swapnil Mazumdar says, “We stand out because we also cater to the niche market. You will also find a lot of less mainstream artists here as well as classics.” Moss does have a lot of older bands such as Mamas and Papas, Earth, Wind and Fire etc as well as a good selection of live concert DVD’s and movie, TV show soundtracks. Their promotional offer is extremely tempting: International CD’s for Rs.100, DVDs for Rs.150 and Hindi CDs for Rs.50. Till stocks last. The store however, could be more organised. Where: Adjacent to Baskin Robbins, Off Carter Road

– Glynda Alves

MIXED BAG

A combination of food and accessories might not be the most obvious choice when starting shop but it seems to work for the owners of Annabella. Like their food court, the bag, jewellery and accessories shop is very reasonable. Ideal for college students as they have bags in all shapes and sizes from Rs.100 to about Rs.2500. A good range of laptop and good looking travel bags are well priced at Rs.750 while clutches and women’s purses are around Rs.400. Check out their painted Geisha purses for Rs.175. Very pretty. They also sell plain leather belts (sans the dinchak), pretty girly hairbands and a vast collection of imitation jewellery. You can also get a custom made piece if you place an order at least 20 days in advance.

Where: Passion Flower, at Pali Naka; Contact: 26489937

OOOOH-SUUUSHHI

Old lovers of all things sashimi will sit around the robata-yaki, swigging sake and talk about the sushi-pang or the ohhhh-suuuushiiii. We talk about ‘our first time’ (in Soho with a Scotsman who post-alcohol couldn’t pronounce the word ‘noodles’ – handy for a Japanese restaurant). Or that trip to Tokyo where with no forks anywhere, it was eat-with-chopsticks-or-starve at a small Japanese version of a dhaba under a railtrack that shuddered each time a train went past and we dropped the sushi again!

Of course, now, for birthdays there is the honourable Morimoto at Wasabi. Or one of our posh friends sneaks us into the fancy-pantsy Joss brunch (much better than the regular Joss). Or if you’re feeling a bit fly, Tetsuma. But the fact is it’s expensive to get good sushi or sashimi.

Enter Sushi-Spice. They know the ohhhh-suuuuushiiii pain. We ordered the pink salmon sashimi and the avocado nori-maki (sushi roll). The bad news is that sushi doesn’t take well to sitting in a Styrofoam tray and our soy sauce dabba opened and it could have been a disaster. The sashimi was also kinda tasteless until you wasabi’ed and soy’ed. Also the ‘gari’ (pickled slices of young ginger, gets tinged pink) was a little too pink and left tell-tale pink juice in the little packet so someone has been playing with food colouring, naughty naughty.

The good news is that it hits the spot. Sushi-spice claims to use authentic Japanese rice and they probably do. The sushi is beautifully rolled. The flavours were perfect. The wasabi comes in a little packet and it’s milder than we’re used to but excellent. The sashimi tasted safe and smelt absolutely fresh. Slightly on the expensive side but very good and assuages the ohhhh-sushi pang.

Contact: 9833650503

Place an order at least an hour in advance because they make everything fresh.

– Genesia Tahilramani

BOUNCE AIN’T AN OUNCE OF FUN

Just a hop, skip and bounce (or ten wobbly steps) away from Hawaiian Shack and bang opposite Pals, is the newly opened hip-hop club called Bounce. Friday the 31st saw the inauguration of the club and it was all set to kick in the good times.

Greeted with the smell of fresh paint and the sight of good friends, Bounce makes a good first impression. All the comfy nooks and corners were already spotted and conquered so we had to make do with the bar… a massive one, easily the biggest in Bandra. Sadly though there were no barstools to complement such a thing of beauty. The bar may not have a specific “look” but it’s a mix between fish tank ‘things’, coloured glass tubes with bubbles and a blue and red lighting all through. Definitely not something that would go down well with the average Club 9 (R.I.P) or Shack frequenter.

The rest of the décor comprised of smoke emitters, neon red piping that ran throughout the whole club and all the clichéd club contraptions.

The sound quality was average with the DJ playing everything from Retro to Hip-Hop and a ounce of new age Hindi as well. The wine menu was impressive, drinks delicious and potent. The food however left a lot to be desired. It would not be fair to judge a place on opening night but Bounce needs a whole lot more to compete with “The Shack” and they could start by changing the outside look and the sign of the place which looks quite shady.

The biggest upside of the place is the fact that all you need to do is crawl out of the door and you will find your self engulfed in the best smelling sea food in Bandra…pronounced “Pal’s.”

– Sherwyn Rodricks