(From top): Monica Oswal and Mausmi Gogoi (seated) at the Monte Carlo calendar launch; Zila Khan in performance at Osho World Galleria; Skinny Alley belts it out at Landmark; Bose Krishnamachari and Minal Damani at the latter’s exhibition; Tania Zaetta shows off a Hidesign Couture jacket and bag

How does a celebrated brand like Monte Carlo mark 25 years? In high style! Monte Carlo launched its Calendar 2006 in Delhi’s Climax Lounge recently and featuring in the calendar are photographs by ace photographer Rohit Chawla. Chawla was commissioned by Monte Carlo to create 12 beautiful images for each month of the year. The calendar features eight models in swimwear and is shot in six exotic locations including Cambodia, Italy, Maldives, Thailand, Zambia and of course, India. While the calendar features six international models, the two Indians models who posed for Chawla are Neha Kapur and Mausmi Gogoi, both of whom were present at the launch. Also present on the occasion was one of the owners of Monte Carlo, Monica Oswal who happily posed with the models and Chawla for eager shutterbugs.

Said Kapur, “It was a magical experience for me to visit Zambia. We were at the Victoria Falls after all.” Monte Carlo has previously shot in other exotic corners of the world like Tuscany and France.

Ace lensman Rohit Chawla who has been reproducing his work in calendar format since 1995 said, “The calendar shoot wasn’t as easy and fun as it looks. It was scary at the Victoria Falls. My pictures are not about the display of flesh but about beauty being reflected in the entire composition including the ambience.”

Singing his praises

Osho once famously said, “You need not renounce his creations in order to reach him”. On the occasion of the mystic’s 75th birthday, singer Zila Khan’s performance sent the very same message to the audience at Delhi’s Osho World Galleria at Ansal Plaza. The event was just one of the many to be presented by Osho World throughout 2006, as part of the celebrations.

The galleria was swarming with fans who’d turned up in droves to enjoy the evening of Sufiyana Kalam. Zila who is the daughter of the late sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan is the only singer in the Imdad Khani gharana and also the first woman from her family to give public performances.

“Osho’s teachings, like Sufism, ask you to celebrate each relationship in life. The message of Sufism is that the most supreme being that God ever made is the human being. God wanted us to choose him over the evil,” said Zila.

High on Hidesign

This one is for the couture conscious! Hidesign launched its premium brand Hidesign Couture at its Mahatma Gandhi Road store in Delhi recently. Present on the occasion was the company president, Dilip Kapur accompanied by model Aditya Bal and Australian model and actress Tania Zaetta. Zaetta showed off a number of Hidesign Couture jackets and even put up an amusing short skit to mark the launch.

While Bal showed off the softness of his jacket and the belts to emphasise his weakness for the brand, Zaetta posed for shutterbugs with her laptop bag from Hidesign. “I usually shop for Hidesign products in London. I simply love their stylish bags. I’ve noticed some that I like especially the chocolate brown bag with studs and the beige one with fur trim,” she said.

The colours in the collection came by way of chocolate browns, pinks and greens. What you had to look out for, as Kapur pointed out, was the quality of the leather. Also, the belts come without synthetic bases. But the price for such quality is high. The bags, jackets, wallets and belts cost about 40 to 100 per cent more than the other Hidesign products.

Said Kapur, “For the fashionable lot, luxury is opium. The leather goods and accessories category is perhaps the most crucial in the luxury goods sector. It is therefore becoming essential for any luxury brand to offer a regularly updated, fashion-conscious accessories range.”

Rocking on

Among the large number of ‘rock’ bands that have emerged from Calcutta in recent years, the name that stands out for its originality, virtuosity and skill is rock band Skinny Alley. Using a metaphor and a sound that’s distinctly different from that of the Bangla bands, Skinny Alley takes the English language route with their brand of music that’s a mix of funk, jazz-rock, progressive and alternative rock.

The band performed in Bangalore recently in the Landmark bookstore at the busy Forum mall to a select audience, bringing the roof down with its energy and enthusiasm. The band, comprising lead vocalist Jayashree Singh, guitarist Amit Datta, Gyan Singh on bass and vocals, Jeffrey Menezes on keyboards and vocals and Jeffrey Rikh on drums and vocals, visited the electronic city for the first time.

They performed both covers as well as foot-tapping original numbers. The covers, true to Skinny Alley’s reputation, spanned many decades and genres, including compositions by cult rock group Screaming Headless Torsos, the sophisticated arrangements of Steely Dan, the music of Joni Michell, songs of Neneh Cherry and Yousson N’ Dour, Maroon 5, Robben Ford and Bozscaggs. The original compositions played by them included How it is and Clumsy from the band’s first album Escape the Roar.

Bangalore has its fair share of rock aficionados, and they seemed to be right at home with Skinny Alley’s eclectic, energetic brand of music. In other words, the two-hour performance was a chart-busting success.

Art talk

Is this the new frat pack of the art circle? Well, it just may be. After all, when painter Minal Damani opened her first solo exhibition, Refilled, at Gallery Beyond in Mumbai recently, her J.J. School of Art batchmates Prajakta Palav and Prajakta Potnis were there to lend her support. The three graduated from the J.J. School in 2000 and even did their masters together in 2002. Also present was senior Riyas Komu.

Damani’s oils and gouaches are based on the notion of emptiness as the dynamic principle of transformation. Her images emerge from ? or grow to cover ? an empty black background, like shapes gathered from a primordial darkness. The human being is cut down to size or covered by a haze of light or mist in Damani’s representation.

The wine-and-cheese opening also saw artists like Bose Krishnamachari, Anjana Mehra, Chintan Updhyaya and Anant Joshi.

Photographs by Rupinder Sharma and Jagan Negi