• Visit the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum (and take your camera) because it’s your last chance to see Reena Kallat’s cobweb of stamps strung across the museum facade. See here for details.

MUSIC & NIGHTLIFE
• See the rising stars of Hindustani classical music at Aarohi, the annual festival organised by Pancham Nishad to put the spotlight on promising young talent from the genre, at the Y. B. Chavan Auditorium on Friday, May 24 and Saturday, May 25, from 6.30pm onwards on both days. Vocalists Dhanashree Ghaisas and Aditya Khandwe, and sitar player Chintan Katti perform on Friday, and singers Krishna Bongane and Sonal Shivkumar, and sarod player Pratik Shrivastava on Saturday. Tickets, priced at Rs150 per person, are available from the venue, Rhythm House in Kala Ghoda (022 4322 2727), and the Maharashtra Watch Company in Dadar West (022 6662 5661) as well as on Bookmyshow.com. Y. B. Chavan Auditorium, General Jagannathrao Bhonsle Marg, opposite Mantralaya, Nariman Point. Tel: 022 2204 7252.

• Groove to a weekend of jazz at The Bandra Base, where on Friday, May 24, and Saturday, May 25, from 9pm on both days, the venue will host two Bombay Jazz Club gigs. Guitarist-composer Sanjay Divecha performs on Friday and the Bandra Base House Band, featuring guitarist Hideaki Tokunaga, keyboard player Jarry Singla, bassist D. Wood, and drummer Benny Soanes, on Saturday. The entry fee is Rs200 per person on each day. The Bandra Base, behind Micky Mehta Gym, next to Sigdi Restaurant, 29th Road, off Waterfield Road, Bandra (West).

• Move to the beats of Jitter aka Delhi-based techno DJ Jayant Luthra at Aurus on Friday, May 24, from 10pm. Entry, which is restricted to couples, is free. Aurus, Ground Floor, Nichani Kutir, Juhu Tara Road, Juhu. Tel: 022 6710 6666.

• Attend the finale concert of the 2013 season of the Bandstand Revival series of gigs, at Dadar Chowpatty on Saturday, May 25, from 5.30pm, when you can catch performances by the Mumbai Police Band, acoustic rock act Whirling Kalapas, and Indi-pop singer Suneeta Rao. The event, which is part of Whirling Kalapas’ ongoing multi-city promotional tour for their upcoming debut EP, is free. Dadar Chowpatty, behind the Mayor’s Bungalow, same lane as the HP Petrol Pump, near Shivaji Park, Dadar (West).

• Watch a Daft Punk documentary and sets by Delhi’s DayGloCrazie, Chennai’s The F16′s and Kolkata’s The Supersonics at Live From The Console on Saturday, May 25, from 6.30pm, when the popular gig series returns to Mehboob Studios after a brief hiatus. See here for details. 

• Dance your way through Grime Riot Disco at H2O on Saturday, May 25, from 10pm, when Moniker aka Mubir Chawla, Su Real aka Suhrid Manchanda, and Flash Hardcor aka Kerry Harwin from Delhi-based DJ collective The Grind and city-based DJ Ruskin will spin a mix of genres. RSVP via the Facebook page to get on the guest list for the event, the entry fee for which is Rs300 per person and gets you one drink. H2O Lounge, Hotel Royal Inn, opposite Khar Telephone Exchange, off Linking Road, Khar (West). Tel: 022 2648 1400.

• Sway to the sounds of Lost Stories, the trance DJ duo of Prayag Mehta and Rishab Joshi, when they play Apicius on Saturday, May 25, from 10pm. The entry fee of Rs500 gets you one drink. Apicius, Blue Wave Building, Eighth Floor, off Link Road, opposite Hometown Cafe, Andheri (West). Tel: 022 2673 4337.

SHOPPING
• Swing by recently-launched site Style Cracker’s first pop-up event The Style Cracker Borough, which will be held in Worli on Friday, May 24 and Saturday, May 25, from 11am to 9pm on both days. You can browse through nearly a dozen stalls featuring clothes, accessories and food, from, among other labels, Shehla Khan, Havaianas, The Beach Company, Le15 Patisserie, PropShop24 and more. As a bonus, Style Cracker’s stylists will be on hand to help you put together looks. Prices range from Rs500 to Rs3 lakh. See the Facebook page for details. Raitan, First Floor, 15 Worli Sea Face, near Blue Sea, Worli.

• Get up to 70 per cent off at Vinegar from Friday, May 24 to Sunday, May 26, from 10am to 10pm, in celebration of the store’s first anniversary. Vinegar, Kirabo, Ground Floor, behind Khatwari Darbar Temple
, 13th Road, off Linking Road, Khar. Tel: 022 4266 3264.

FOOD
• Test your cocktail-making skills at the Cocktail Wars at Kala Ghoda restaurant Cheval on Saturday, May 25, from 6pm to 8pm. Participants will get seven minutes and full access to the Cheval bar to whip up their concoctions. The winner’s cocktail will get featured on the restaurant’s menu for a month. Register by calling 98205 43352; the registration fee is Rs1,000 per person. Cheval, 145 V. B. Gandhi Marg, Kala Ghoda. Tel: 022 4039 6632.

• Feast on a seven-course dinner at Le Pain Quotidien’s Bandra Kurla Complex outpost on Saturday, May 25, from 7pm to 11.30pm, in celebration of the restaurant’s first anniversary. The menu, which includes smoked turkey tartine, green apple gazpacho and roast chicken cannelloni, is priced at Rs950 per person for the non-veg meal and Rs850 per person for the veg meal (prices are exclusive of taxes but inclusive of unlimited sangria or any non-alcoholic beverage through the dinner). Le Pain Quotidien, G2, North Avenue, Maker Maxity, next to California Pizza Kitchen, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (East). Tel: 022 6643 1616.

FILM
• Catch two documentaries at The FD Zone on Saturday, May 25, from 4pm. Flashback is a 21-minute film made by S. N. S. Sastry in 1974 about documentary filmmaking in India; Frederick Wiseman’s Hospital is an 81-minute film made in 1970 that captures the activities carried out in a New York City hospital. Films Division, R. R. Theatre, Tenth Floor, 24 Peddar Road, diagonally opposite Jaslok Hospital. Tel: 022 2351 0461.

• Watch four films by French new wave director Jean-Luc Godard courtesy of the Enlighten Film Society, at the Russian Centre on Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26. On Saturday, catch Vivre Sa Vie at noon and Breathless at 2pm and on Sunday, see Band of Outsiders at noon and A Woman Is A Woman at 2pm. Tickets are priced at Rs500 per person for all four movies. Russian Centre for Science and Culture, 31A Peddar Road, diagonally opposite the Films Division. Tel: 022 2351 0793.

• See the 1998 award-winning Yugoslavian movie Black Cat, White Cat at loft-like co-working venue Ministry of New at their Gypsy Movie Night on Sunday, May 26, from 6pm. Tickets, priced at Rs500 per person without alcohol and at Rs1,000 per person with alcohol (beer and sangria), entitle you to food and popcorn. To RSVP, email marlies@ministryofnew.com. 

COMEDY
• Attend The Comedy Store’s Best In Stand-Up show at Blue Frog on Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26, from 8.30pm on both days,. On Saturday, watch Varun Thakur, Anuvab Pal and Ashish Shakya, and on Sunday, Pal, Rohan Joshi and Rajneesh Kapoor. The entry fee is Rs600 per person on each day. Blue Frog, Mathuradas Mill Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel. Tel: 022 6158 6158.

FESTIVAL
• Catch Cultural Glimpses Of Rajasthan, a week-long festival celebrating the state, at the Nehru Centre, starting Thursday, May 23. For details, see here.

The new issue, which covers exhibitions and events in May and June, is now out and available at various outlets across town (see the list here). The lovely cover is courtesy of artist Amrita Bagchi. Grab your copy (it’s free!) and hit the art trail.

Righty. Balan isn’t a model, she’s a very real Indian woman with curves, and thus all the more reason to put her in something that suits her shape while also yes, embracing our heritage. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive. * As for Stallone’s endorsement, well, we can rest easy now. Nothing like getting a big thumbs up from a 66-year-old fading action star period-drama specialist to vindicate one’s selection of costumes fashion sense.

*Update: It turns out that by Sylvester Stallone, Sabyasachi might have meant Steven Spielberg, who “shared” a chat with fellow jury member Balan at Cannes. Stallone, by all accounts, isn’t even at Cannes. 

‘Only aunties wear sarees? Ridiculous!’ [Mumbai Mirror]

New mango named Nirbhaya after gang-rape victim [Zee News]

To place an order, call 98206 45789 between 10am to 5pm from Monday to Saturday. Gupta delivers for free on orders above Rs2,000 and couriers the bars and bites across India too. Prices start at Rs35 per bar and go up to Rs55 per bar. Energy bites are available on a per kilo basis, starting at Rs1,350 per kilo.

We were most impressed by the plain variety, which doesn’t have the sharpness of aged cheese, but a mild flavour and a wonderfully creamy texture. More importantly, unlike other Indian attempts at making goat cheese, this one has that unmistakable tang of cultured goat milk. Those who enjoy spice might like the herbed cheese, which is dominated by the pungency of red chillies. The fruit chèvre, however, tastes more like a creamy dessert. Jasani uses Nannies Goat Milk, a brand made by Nadur Goat Farms in Karnataka. “The tanginess, the snowy white texture and (goat milk’s) versatility are what’s appealing,” Jasani said via email. “Plus it’s healthier than cow or buffalo milk and no one in Bombay makes goat cheese (yet) so I thought it ideal to start with the beautifully simple fresh chèvre.” Currently, Jasani’s cheeses are not aged, but she plans to start ageing them as soon as she acquires a central kitchen. She picked up her cheese making skills during an internship with Murray’s Cheese, a New York institution, and a beginners course at the Vermont Institute of Artisan Cheese. “People are born with a silver spoon in their mouth,” said Jasani, “but I was probably given a slice of cheese”.

The plain chèvre is priced at Rs350 for 100 grams and the herbed and fruit chèvres are Rs380 for 100 grams. To order, call 98203 31841.

The BMC has decided that G North, which contains Dadar, will be saffron because it’s a Sena bastion. But what do the other colours say about their respective wards? For instance, blackish blue seems suited for K West, which has Andheri (West) the city’s black sheep for many reasons: illegal constructions, the high prevalence of beefy TV actors in muscle T-shirts, nasty autowallahs and so on. Colaba (A Ward) has been appropriately coloured purple as there’s a whole lot of purple prose about the neighbourhood. And Malad (P North), with its acres of mangroves, has been rightly coloured green. What do you think? Tell us in the Comments section.

Soon, you can tell a city ward by the colour it sports [The Indian Express]

A Guide To Getting Perfect Skin. It sounds too good to be true. How did you find out the true secrets of skin? 
This book has been ten years of research. I have worked closely with other experts such as pharmacists. I have checked and double checked everything. I am already researching and writing my next book, which is why I felt it important to do this book. Women need to know the truth about skincare and that can only happen through education.

What is the one truth you would like women to know?
What goes in shows on the outside. There is nothing like water, it will do more than product or treatment. Water and vitamin supplements are skin’s best friend.

What are the mistakes most women make?
Believing that you can buy hope in a jar. For instance, wrinkles cannot disappear. Through regular moisturising, you can plump up the skin so it looks more hydrated and toned. It will appear firmer, but the wrinkles cannot magically go away.

What about all these expensive creams that have special ingredients such as diamond powder, gold dust or caviar extract?
It is a big hype. To start with, creams are not the best thing for your skin. Ampules (capsules containing concentrated forms of products) are much better as they have a finer molecular balance. Serums are also better for the skin than creams.

So what is the most important part of skincare?
Cleansing. You must sweep the floor before you swab. Basic cleansing involves using both cleansing milk and a face wash. This is the most essential part of any women’s skincare regime.

It has been said you have magic in your fingers. Why do you feel facial massage is so necessary?
Facial massage is as crucial to the face as exercise is to the body. But it is important to know how to massage, you must understand facial muscles. It really is a science, and you need to keep learning. That is why I keep going abroad and have been to as many institutes as I can to learn. I call my massage “The Facial Mode” and it is a vital part of my treatment. It is based on passing good energy.

How often should you have a facial?
No two skins are the same. So you cannot have any rules about facials. Even with two sisters, the treatment will differ. You really need paramedical knowledge, naturopathy and alternative medicines, to be a good facialist. If you put your face in the wrong hands, you can break collagen and that will result in sagging. There are other problems you could face too. You need to go to someone who can read skin. It is all about staying educated. A good facialist is harder to find than than a good hairdresser.

How much of good skin is down to genetics and how much can skin treatments help?
It is 80 per cent genetics and 20 per cent skin treatments. That said, do not bank on genetics. It is up to you, how you look after the skin. Look at all the beautiful women around, they were not born beautiful. They have put in personal effort.

For an appointment with Dr. Workingboxwalla call 022 2307 3954 (Mumbai Central) or 022 2605 0580 (Bandra).

LBT strike ends but only ‘temporarily’ [The Times of India]

Photo courtesy of Gucci/Getty Images.

In keeping with her one day-Indian, one day-Western pattern, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan took to the red carpet in a teal Gucci dress. We’re feeling all kinds of blahness towards the dress, which isn’t doing much for the actress’s curvier shape post-baby A. But, the hair, we admit we love it in the kind of way we do cheese flavoured ice cream. Weird at first – it’s salty! – but then, an explosion of all kinds of sensations. And speaking of ice creams, from various angles, Mrs. B’s hairstyle reminds us of: a scoop of ice cream, a hammerhead shark, a bottle cap, Kid of Kid ’n Play, a profiterole, and a chess piece.  Anything we leave out?

Omnia

BOMB Thursday
What: Acoustic alternative rock band Dischordian headlines this edition of the usually fortnightly-occasionally weekly gig series, which will also feature sets by Hindi and English pop group Nirmika and The Few Good Men; folk-pop quartet Stella By Starlight; and folk-fusion act Flameshot Fakirs.
Where: Kino 108, J. P. Road, opposite Apna Bazar, near the Indian Oil signal, Dhake Colony, Andheri (West). Tel: 95945 22228.
When: From 9.30pm.
How much: Rs200 per head.

Leapfrog To Coke Studio
What: The third week of this month-long series of weekly Thursday night gigs at Blue Frog/auditions for a spot on the third season of Coke Studio@MTV features a trio of Hindi rock acts: city-based singer-songwriter Dilpreet Bhatia and two six-member bands, Rang from Mumbai and Highway 61 from Pune.
Where: Blue Frog, Mathuradas Mill Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel. Tel: 022 6158 6158.
When: From 10pm.
How much: Free.

DJ Uri and Big City Harmonics
What: British-Indian DJ Uri and Pune-based EDM act Big City Harmonics aka producer Rohan Hasta promise to play a plethora of genres, from funk to trip hop at this week’s edition of Chez Moi Oshiwara’s experimental electronica night, Boiler Bar Thursday.
Where: Chez Moi, Shop No.25, Link Plaza Mall, Oshiwara, Andheri (West) Tel: 77383 82407/022 6708 2788.
When: From 10pm.
How much: Free.

The Colour Compound
What: The pop-rock quartet whose members include vocalist and guitarist Rohan Mazumdar (who used to be part of Something Relevant), and drummer Aditya Ashok aka “liquid drum and bass” act Ox7gen. Their gig marks the addition of the Kala Ghoda branch of The Irish House to the list of occasional concert venues in South Mumbai, which includes Amadeus, Asiatic Society Library (well, the steps), Cheval, Cross Maidan, Ellipsis, Horniman Circle Garden, The Pier and of course, the National Centre for the Performing Arts.
Where: The Irish House, 30 K. Dubash Marg, near Rhythm House, Kala Ghoda. Tel: 022 4915 0001.
When: From 9pm.
How much: Call the venue for details of the entry fee, if any.

Architect Ashiesh Shah, who designed Le Mill, finished the elegant 3,000 square feet restaurant nearly two years ago, barring the elaborate wood-carved bar, which was illustrated with moths and inscribed in Latin by French antiques specialist Thierry Betancourt. Chef Vicky Ratnani, the executive chef for Aurus, will helm the “European-influenced” menu, which will include “slow cooked classics” and “small plates” like duck and hoisin flatbread, watermelon planks with liquid olives and goat cheese toffee, and red snapper with almond red pepper butter. A meal here, without alcohol, will set you back by Rs1,000 to Rs1,500 per person, say the people at Dish.

Click on “view slideshow” to see images of the restaurant.