Friday, April 5, 2019

The Audi PeakLife Fashion Capsule along with Nora Fatehi

It was the Audi PeakLife Fashion Capsule deme by the Model, Actor, and Designer Gabriella Demetriades & Actress Nora Fatehi as the Show stopper at the Shangri-La hotel. Amazing jam-packed location, in the open Cafe Lawns, amidst two beautiful AUDI designer sedans. 


The event was hosted by Mr. Rahil Ansari, Head, Audi India, and Ms. Parineeta Sethi, Chief Editor & Publisher of PeakLife & Millionaire Asia. A grand evening along with Snacks & Drinks, of course, Soft drinks too for people like us who don't drink & are purely vegetarians.


It was a sizzling performance by Gabriella Demetriades as well as Nora Fatehi, the show stopper of the evening. It was a grand Fashion Capsule by Audi India as well as the PeakLife.

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Must read the debut fiction novel - Silver Hair Sins - by Saumick Pal

By Saumick Pal
Can I be-‘a Hindu devotee + a Muslim believer+ a Christian devout’ at the same time?
taubatauba,kaisibaatkehdiya- hey Bhagwan, God buramaanjayega.
I say Insha’Allah…



The headline is what we call- social commentary, provocative and powerful- it’s a challenging take on the reality ofreligio-politico divisive vote banks strategy of the recent past and the upcoming elections.

It challenges our understanding of Bharat and our social reality of being surrounded by everyday keyboard-extremists; trigger-happy and harboring intolerant thoughts and fanatic actions, often driven by deep-rooted personal religious misbeliefs and misplaced convictions- fueled by a few fawning religious, political and media influencers, mostly for biased gains.

It seems many amongst us have become self-deemed social media jury-judge-executioner, infecting our digital world with our version of black and white, aka, right and wrong, judging every day, basis our biased misbelief set, to shame or glorify humanity in real life.

These are dangerous times- when many of us seem to be forgetting the context of grey, especially when we saffron, green or white paint our brains to stop ourselves from thinking intelligently and questioningly- ‘maybe’, ‘perhaps’, ‘biased’, ‘point of view’. Our grey-reasoning seems to be turning all white. Winter in really coming to Bharat- it seems.

I wrote ‘Silver Hair Sins’ to bring back the grey- the silver= ‘the intelligent logical reasoning’; back into our everyday lives and WhatsApp groups.

‘Silver Hair Sins’ is my fictional window to social commentary. In this story, I have tackled the narrative commentary through an equalizer- what if- today’s religio-politico divide reaches its tipping point, and technology steps in to save humanity- an Artificial Intelligence (AI) merges all religions to create the One God AI.

Then does our everyday lives change? Will then the definition of right/wrong, sins/virtues, paap/punya, taqua/gunnah change? Is religion- which today we all seem to be obsessing about- even the correct parameter to measure our humanity?

The story revolves around a middle-class family- Mary, Azad and Aasma, living in the utopian/dystopian (depends on your perspective) world of Murder, Manipulation, Sacrifice, and Love. And of course, with an all-pervasiveshining silver biometric chip on every human’s wrist, which constantly validates actions, running it through the Sins-and-Virtues One God AI subroutine.

‘Silver Hair Sins’ is a stark social commentary about today where aspects of religion are being selectively chosen by political and religious leaders, only to create and then exploit our differences.

Today, we need an excuse to flare an unsensational debate on Fanaticism, Intolerance, Apathy, Patriarchy, and Hypocrisy, in our very own drawing rooms and office cafeterias. ‘Silver Hair Sins’ begs to be that very excuse.

by Saumick Pal
 .

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

The battle of Saragarhi - 1897 - KESARI - Must view the movie !

Must view the latest blockbuster - KESARI - the battle of Saragarhi - just 120 years ago in 1897 - at the Saragarhi fort - which was attacked by over 12000 Afghan Infantry - while there were only 21 Sikh Soldiers of the 36 Sikh Regiment, under the command of Havaldar Ishwar Singh



After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the entire area came under the control of the British Army and the Afghans used to attack to gain the control. British knew that only the brave Sikhs can save the area from the Afghan army & hence deputed a small force there, as it was a communicating fort between the two other forts & the attack was not anticipated. But the Afghan Army attacked the Saragarhi Fort to break the communicating link between the rest of the two forts. 

Must view - KESARI - with the record collections, it's the worth viewing. Great Acting, perfect direction, you will just keep on clapping every minute. The first half looks normal but the second half is mind-blowing. We were surprised to see the heavy rush and the people were sitting even in the front lines. Must appreciate the entire team - Akshay Kumar, Anurag Singh, Karan Johar as well as the Dharma Movies.

MG Hector SUV - MG Motor India's First Car | Launch Details

Fashion designer Ameira Punvani !

The well-known fashion designer Ameira Punvani who is credited for styling the cast of films like Bunty Aur Babli, Guru, Zinda, Teen Patti, Rustom, Raid among others has her upcoming film RAW where she has dressed John Abraham, Jackie Shroff, and Mouni Roy along with the rest of the cast. Being a film set in 1971, Ameira had to meticulously design the costumes keeping the period in mind. This very precision and meticulousness had won her a Filmfare nomination for GURU and Rustom. 



Apart from films, Ameira has also styled for music videos in films like Fukrey, Rock on 2, Cheat India to name a few.



List of celebrity Ameira has styled for boasts of some of the biggest names in the industry- Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Akshay Kumar, Kangana Ranaut, Aishwarya Rai & Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Jacqueline, Shahid Kapoor, Ileana D'cruz, Shraddha Kapoor and Directors like Farhan Akhtar,Sujoy Ghosh, Farah Khan and Mani Ratnam.
Currently, Ameira is working on Richa Chadda starrer movie 'Section 375'



Ameira has done her higher studies from Modern School and Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi.



She has worked for the famous series ‘Inside Edge’, one of the highest viewed series on Amazon Prime Video. She styled and produced the costumes for the entire Web Series including the principle cast - Richa Chaddha, Vivek Oberoi, Sarah Jane Dias, Tanuj Virvani and Angad Bedi. She has also worked for the Reality show ‘Zara Nachke Dikha S2. 



Working for the ad world, she has styled and produced costumes for famous commercials like ‘Head&Shoulders, Facebook, Colgate, Horlicks, Godrej, Reliance Jio, KFC, Standard Chartered, Ponds, Nestle, TATA, Maruti, Pepsi, IPL, Whisper, Spicejet airlines, Vaseline, Kelloggs , Volkswagen, Jet Airways, UNICEF, SBI, Wipro, Hero Honda, Santro, Sunfeast to name a few.

She has also worked for a Chinese short film ‘Déjà vu’

Tata Hexa Real Time Rough Road Experience @vohrabs

Thursday, March 14, 2019

DAY 2 - Designer Sanjukta Dutta, Inspiration The Curve by Prerna Adsul, Julie Shah and AOM by Gauri and Kunal @ FDCI LMIFW AW 19 in association with Liva










DAY 2 - Samant Chauhan at LMIFW AW 19 in association with Liva






Do you believe
In endless miracles
Do you believe
In the impossible
Do you believe
Sleep is a time machine
Do you believe
In curiosity
Do you believe
In what you cannot see
Do you believe
Life is a lucid dream
A life that manifests the reality of woman making her choices and daring to live her dream.  Samant garbs her in layers, capturing the myriad hues of her existence, the conflicts and harmony, the distortions and the truth weaved in detailed embroidery in jewel tones and shades of pink, orange, rust, and burgundy on structured silhouettes in whites and ivories. And he details the triumph of her spirit as she emerges from the chimera and walks her path holding aloft her essence …the flowery being that she is..casting her spell and enigmatic fragrance… the signature of her soul. 

Pledge against Child Labour by FDCI designers at FDCI LMIFW AW 19 in association with Liva




DAY 1 - Designer Rahul Mishra at FDCI LMIFW AW 19 in association with Liva





10 Years of Rahul Mishra: Retrospection. Metamorphosis. Reinvention.

I grew up in the sleepy village of Malhausi, some 83 km from Kanpur City. I set out in life armed with a degree in Physics. But, the scholastic facts that stimulated the mind of a young man, did not compare to the grandmothers’ stories that nourished the soul of a young boy. What was simply a delightful recreational activity in childhood, became a precious treasure trove of inspiration to deal with existential philosophies of adulthood. The artistic genesis of life, the spirituality in its pre-ordained symphony, the role of change in igniting its versatility – they all began to captivate me.

This collection looks back on a decade-long journey, that began with the exploration of an important fact of life – metamorphosis. I didn’t consciously intend to make the concept a brand signature when I launched ‘The Butterfly Effect’ back in 2010. Maybe, it has become one, because that first exploration was honest, straight from the heart; and steeped in the metamorphosis of the Artist from the Physicist.

Since I’m learning something new every day, this metamorphosis is continuous – both within me and within the brand.

I have tried my best to progressively build a crafts-based lineage that empowers the artisan. This lineage, at the heart of my brand DNA, is, in turn, a tribute to the universal DNA that has created a kaleidoscopic lineage of thriving life on this planet. In elevating the artisanal spirit and honoring the creative spark that gives it shape and form, I hope I am paying my dues to a beautiful life.

Embroideries hold instinctive appeal for me. I feel the holy forces of creation become meditative, magical poetry in the way the artisan’s needle and thread move through the fabric. This celebratory collection would be incomplete without a tribute to embroideries. They have come alive through intelligent separates. The separates themselves have a strong aura of dynamism because of the interplay between architectural silhouettes, vibrant colors; as well as prints and motifs inspired by the unapologetic, unbridled beauty of Nature.

My sacred relationship with metamorphic memories fuelled the shape-shifting level embroidery that defined my debut collection. Inspired by the tessellated prints of MC Escher’s woodcuts, these changing embroidery patterns seem to give the garment a life of its own. The depiction of life in motion remains to tell the tale of the hands that made them. As time passed, I found that the Physicist within me awoke from his deep slumber and produced the 2018 Spectral Forest Doppler dress. The Physicist-turned-Artist also metamorphosed into a Father. Growing up, I knew little of the world I saw and more of the world I imagined. I want my daughter Aarna to develop a fertile imagination too. I teach her how, through the only way I learned myself – spending time in Nature.

Once, Aarna and I sat sketching in a village near Nainital. Bold blue hydrangeas of varying sizes and distinctive tints inspired me to create life-like renditions for the 2019 Spring/Summer collection. It took months of arduous research and development to achieve a refined surface. But, the hand-embroidered organza petals in shades of blue, appliquéd onto light fabrics and embellished with Swarovski crystals are a story in themselves, of how the flawed perfection of the human hand can imitate and imbibe divine perfection. A private tour of Musée d'Orsay in 2016 brought me closer to the surrealist magic of Van Gogh. His ‘Sunflowers’ series reminded me of the flowers growing wild and free in Malhausi. The sweet nostalgia manifests itself in the diaphanous silk gown from Fall 2017-18 gracing the runway tonight.

Many of the looks in this collection have never been showcased in India. They are reminiscent of the 10 Paris Fashion Week collections, that have given me the privilege of presenting the best of Indian handicrafts on an international platform. The collection includes a range of fabrics and techniques, from gossamer tulle and organza to plush velvets; and traditional aari work with resham threads, to French knots inspired by pointillism art. The idea is to combine Eastern mysticism with Western meticulousness and highlight the overlap; so as to demonstrate that the world shares common ideas of timeless intricacy and elegance in fashion.

With the ‘Rahul Mishra in Retrospect’ essence of this collection, I wish to share with you a message that is very close to my heart – coming full circle and returning to the source is a celebration of our roots and a testament to our ever-evolving aesthetic. As Rumi once said, “Let the beauty of what you love to be what you do.”