The Weekend Guide

Danish Husain and Mahmood Farooqui perform Dastangoi.

BOOKS
Powder Room Book Launches
This weekend gives you two opportunities to hear journalist and former magazine editor Shefalee Vasudev discuss her book Powder Room, a crackling account of the murky, glitzy world of Indian fashion and its many facets. On Friday, Vasudev will read an excerpt from the book and be in conversation with Godrej-India Culture Lab head Parmesh Shahani. On Saturday, she will again be in discussion, this time with Elle editor Nonita Kalra, at the Kitab Khana bookstore in Fort.
When: The Godrej Book Club event takes place on Friday, July 27, from 5pm onwards. The Kitab Khana discussion takes place on Saturday, July 28, from 6pm onwards. Where: The Godrej Book Club takes place at Godrej Industries, Auditorium (above the canteen), Gate 2, Vikhroli (East). Email fridayfundas@godrejinds.com to register. Kitab Khana, Somaiya Bhavan, Ground Floor, 45/47 Mahatma Gandhi Road, Fort. Tel: 2204 3247. Both events are free.

MUSIC
Ska! Ska! Ska! at Blue Frog
The inaugural edition of this monthly dance-friendly gig series organised by the Delhi-based Stiff Kittens Inc. will feature the country’s best-known exponents of the roots reggae sub-genre of ska, the capital’s The Ska Vengers, as well as three of the best acts to have emerged in the Mumbai indie scene over the last couple of years, each of whom will tailor its performances to suit the night’s titular theme. They are hip hop band Bombay Bassment (who will collaborate with The Ska Vengers’ vocalist Samara C), alternative rock group Blek (who will perform a special ska set) and Kris Correya of the electronica outfit Bay Beat Collective (who will play a dub-heavy set).
When: Friday, July 27, from 10pm.
Where: Blue Frog, Mathuradas Mills Compound, Tulsi Pipe Road, Lower Parel. Tel: 6158 6158. The entrance fee is Rs500.

THEATRE
Dastangoi
The next instalment of the AntiMatter series of talks, which will be held this Saturday at Bonobo, will focus on the ancient Urdu storytelling form of Dastangoi, as explained by exponents Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Husain. On Sunday, Farooqui and Husain will pay tribute to Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto—whose birth centenary is being celebrated this year—with “Mantoiyat”, a performance based on Manto’s life in the style of Dastangoi. “Mantoiyat”, which will be staged at the Barry John Acting Studio, will cover three periods of Manto’s life: his youth in Amritsar, his life in Mumbai and his migration to Lahore after Partition.
When: AntiMatter will be held at Bonobo on Saturday, July 28, at 8pm. “Mantoiyat” will be staged at the Barry John Acting Studio on Sunday, July 29, from 7pm.
Where: Bonobo, Kenilworth Phase 2, Second Floor, off Linking Road, behind KFC, Bandra (West). Tel: 2605 5050. Barry John Acting Studio, 301 Nanak Chambers, opposite Fun Republic, New Link Road, Andheri (West). Tel: 2674 2192. Entry to both events is free.

ALSO AROUND TOWN
• To celebrate its launch, South Mumbai’s elegant new events gallery Ave 29, will host free food, fashion and stand-up comedy workshops and performances starting from Saturday, July 28 until Wednesday, August 1. At 3pm on Saturday, Sabina Gupta of Not Just Desserts will conduct a cupcake baking workshop. At 8pm on the same day, Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba, the duo behind the popular comedy podcast All India Bakchod, will perform a two-hour-long stand-up set. At 5pm on Sunday, July 29, Karishma Sakhrani, a former Harper’s Bazaar stylist, will hold an open house where she will answer fashion-related queries and also share tips on how to accessorise outfits. All three events require participants to RSVP by emailing info@ave29.com to reserve a seat. Ave 29, 4, Kohinoor Mansion, in the same building as b:blunt, 29 Hughes Road. Tel: 2380 4981 and 2380 4536.

• Watch two documentaries that examine the idea of surveillance at The FD Zone, the new weekly movie club started by the Films Division, this Saturday, July 28, from 4pm. While Avinash Deshpande’s The Great Indian School (2005) captures the effect the use of 185 CCTV cameras has on the students of a Nagpur school, Sameera Jain’s Mera Apna Shahar (2010) observes how women are looked at while negotiating public spaces in their own city. There is no entry fee. RR Theatre, Tenth Floor, Films Division, opposite Jaslok Hospital, Pedder Road.

• Learn about the evolution of Western music from the seventeenth-century onwards at a workshop that aims to cover the origins of classical music, jazz, rock and pop, this Sunday, July 29, from 3pm at The Art Loft. The workshop, which has been organised by Gyaan Exchange and will be conducted by Mumbai-based piano teacher and clarinet player Leena Mistry, is priced at Rs800 per head. The Art Loft, Valentino Rest,
 First Floor, 
above Patel Store, 
near Mehboob Studios,
 Bandra (West). Call 91676 06469 to register.

• See stand-up comedians Karan Talwar, Tanmay Bhat, Atul Khatri, Brij Bhakta and Sapan Verma raise laughs and money for child welfare NGO Project Crayons this Sunday, July 29, from 6.30pm at The Bombay Store in Fort. Donor passes are priced at Rs500, Rs1,000, Rs1,500 and Rs2,000. The Bombay Store, P. M. Road, Fort. Call 99202 40073 or 9167110177 to book a pass.