Wedding Blacks

 Not blues, because it wasn't my wedding! On tour to Mumbai, managed to attend a friend's son's wedding. It was in Juhu area, at the Sea Princess Hotel. And a sangeet/cocktails at The Club in Andheri West. 

Tushar Gandhi was the friend, whose son Mihir was marrying his long time friend Devika. These are some pics from the proceedings, and us posing away. 

The host, his sis-in-law Timira Shukla, and her daughter. Timira knew me through my book, and surprised me with the fact.

A vintage car, similar to the one my parents had.

Signs to choose from.

Uma and Rajendra Pankar, and Tushar Gandhi (host and father of the groom) on the right.

Heavenly poses.

Dances, and THE couple in the audience, enjoying them.

Tune maari entriyaan. Devika and Mihir are the entrant celebs.. below.

Meeting Sheetal and Abha from IMT

 We have had some meetups (IMT students and I) at different places on multiple occasions. So this was a continuation, of sorts. Sheetal and Abha are both talented and accomplished ex-students that I never taught in a class, but maybe have learnt from by just talking to them. We meet when we can, and chat about everything under the Sun. This was at the iconic Prithvi theatre yesterday, after a Covid-induced hiatus. Some pics-

The Juhu beach nearby

Locations

A great (business)man once said that in Retailing, three things are important- Location, location and location. I would say the same for film shoots, dates, and much more...

Iconic locations often used for Hindi film shoots -

Juhu beach road, Queen's Necklace (Marine Drive), Malabar Hill in Mumbai.

Switzerland and Mahabaleshwar/Panchgani for song sequences/dream sequences. Austria in the case of  The Sound of Music- the charming locations added a lot to the film. The Bond films usually have exotic locations, because the story remains more or less the same. A Kannada film, Mungaru Male, had charming locations and songs as its main attractions.

St. Xavier's college for college sequences

Outdoor sets are sometimes constructed and used to great effect as in the Ramgarh village for Sholay, built near Bangalore. Are O Sambha would not be half as effective in any other place.

Similarly, if you are going on a date with someone, the location and ambience can make a lot of difference..try it out (this is not a dating consultancy-figure out the location on your own).