(From Top)Zafar Hai, Ila Arun, Shabana Azmi, Anand and Anuradha Mahindra at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards; Azharuddin and wife Sangeeta Bijlani at the Carnival for a Cause; Indrani Dasgupta at the OMAS pen launch;

You’ve seen movie stars preening and putting on a show of false modesty at one awards night after another. So, how about an awards night for theatre artistes? Finally, Mahindra & Mahindra has come to the rescue with the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META). The big winner at the first awards night was Sammy, a production directed by high-profile theatre personality Lilette Dubey. The play won three ? out of the 11 ? awards, for best director (established theatre), best actor (Joy Sengupta) and best script (Pratap Sharma).

Other winners included Sarhad Paar Manto from Calcutta, which received the best theatre production award in the established theatre category. In the emerging theatre category, the best theatre production went to Translations. Vikram Iyengar won the best director award in the emerging theatre category for his play Crossings. Shahid Siddiqui won the best actor award in the emerging theatre category for Witness for the Prosecution.

The awards were presented at the ballroom of Delhi’s Imperial Hotel which was filled with well-known names from the theatre fraternity along with TV, film and fashion industry personalities. The vice-chairman and managing director of Mahindra & Mahindra, Anand Mahindra, played host with wife Anuradha. The compere for the evening was veteran actor Kabir Bedi. The jury included famous names like Ila Arun, Shabana Azmi, Zafar Hai, Shyamanand Jalan, M.K. Raina and M.S. Sathyu. Artists like Nandita Das, Rageshwari Sachdev and Farooque Sheikh were also spotted at the awards.

It’s carnival time!

A Saturday brunch and carnival on a fine spring day at the Olive Bar & Kitchen in Delhi saw the fashion and Page 3 fraternity joining hands in the fight against breast cancer. The fundraiser titled A Carnival For a Cause saw everything from buntings on the roof, to candy floss, popcorn, hoopla, nail art and beauty treatments like massages and foot scrubs. The atmosphere was one of bonhomie, with pink brooches by Swarovski being sold for the Breast Cancer initiative.

Adding to the spirit of fun was the limited edition merchandise ? created by 14 top designers like Abraham & Thakore, Anamika Khanna, Ashish Soni, J J Valaya, Kavita Bhartia, Manish Arora, Narendra Kumar, Rocky S, Neeta Lulla, Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna, Satya Paul, Tarun Tahiliani, Shantanu & Nikhil and Varun Bahl. The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) also chipped in for the cause. Everything at the venue ranged between Rs 500 to Rs 5,000.

And the host of faces included the Who’s Who from the Page 3 circuit ? former cricketer Azharuddin and Sangeeta Bijlani, actresses Malavika Tewari and Simone Singh, designers Tarun Tahiliani and Kavita Bhartia and Marut Sikka and others.

Everyone had heaps to try out including games like Nine Pins and dart-throwing. The hoopla stall had prizes like Vivienne Westwood and Calvin Klein perfumes.

Simone Singh, dressed in a summery outfit professed to having had a great time. “What a nice way to start a morning! I bought a stole by Varun Bahl and had a foot scrub,” she exclaimed.

(From Top) Malaika Arora Khan, Shaheen Abbas and Suchitra Pillai (left to right) at the launch of Abbas’ Drama Queen jewellery line. Florian Hanhausen, international operations marketing director and Karen, marketing director, Asia Pacific, Beaute Prestige International at the launch of Gaultier2.

All about Drama

It’s the latest from jewellery designer Shaheen Abbas. Shaheen, who’s the wife of television personality Roshan Abbas, launched her newest collection Drama Queeen at Cypress in Mumbai last week. Shaheen’s collection represents a bohemian mix of funky jewellery with a feminine touch. She primarily uses semi-precious stones and beads, coloured glass and crystals and she’s a great hit with the Page 3 crowd who turned up in large numbers for the launch.

Shaheen’s label Flower Child retails out of a number of boutiques and her clientele includes big names like Suchitra Pillai, Mini Mathur, Maria Goretti, Raveena Tandon, Sandhya Mridul, Mandira Bedi, Alka Yagnik and others. Says Shaheen, “Accessories play an important role in highlighting and styling one’s look. And this collection helps to match any outfit.”

So what made her collection special? The collection is bolder, as it is targeted for the woman who chooses to be noticed in a crowd. It sports a strong Indian influence in terms of use of peacocks, age-old motifs intricately handcrafted to translate into designs like paisleys, stars and moons and abstract shapes for those bold enough to experiment. Her collection sees pure silver take on new shapes with an interplay of stonework in colours like pinks, blues and whites. The line comprises jhumkas, anklets, chandelier earrings and more. Spotted at the do were Sandhya Mridul, Suchitra Pillai, Mini Mathur, Rakshanda Khan, Gauri Pradhan and Malaika Arora Khan.

Write on

Is this what they call the write stuff? You’ve got the most expensive bag in town and all the other toys of the hopelessly affluent. How about getting a handcrafted pen from OMAS, an Italian company that’s part of the LVMH group of companies. The pens were launched by model Indrani Dasgupta recently at Delhi’s India International Centre.

And what’s different about these pens? Interestingly enough, in a world ruled by technology, OMAS pens are still made by the human hand. And the pens on display were made from materials like titanium, silver, gold, diamonds and rhodium. That explains why 100 days or more are needed to make one OMAS pen.

Signing her name with an OMAS pen, Indrani Dasgupta posed for the shutterbugs. “These pens are like colourful jewellery that I can match with my clothes. Plus they are really smooth.” These pens are available in a number of designs and colours ? from fountain pens to interchangeable ball-points to mechanical pencils in red, yellow, black, blue and orange. Well, there is also a Rhodium Finish Ball-point pen based on ergonomic principles which makes for an uninterrupted writing. The price range for these pens are from Rs 8,400 to 26,000.

The smell of success

You don’t need a reason to party in Mumbai. A few nights ago, the city’s party animals rocked louder than ever at the Taj Mahal Hotel. The reason: the launch of the Gaultier2 fragrance from the house of Baccarose. The fragrance is the baby of well-known international couturier Jean Paul Gaultier. And even though he was not present at the launch (Mumbaites got to see only his black-and-white picture on the big screen at the do), his product was clearly a hit with everyone who was boogieing the night away.

So what’s the fragrance like? The fragrance has been designed for both men and women and so goes beyond gender differences. Guests who came for the party too enjoyed its notes consisting of amber, musk and vanilla, which produced a sweet tender smell. And true to its theme Gaultier2 comes in two attractive geometric shaped bottles. Enjoying the whiff of this perfume were designers Narendra Kumar Ahmed with Kadambari, model Pooja Mishra and socialite Kishen Mulchandani and Niketan Madhok.