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Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Yummy Mummy and Baby

Hindustan Times | ByMalavika Sangghvi
Jul 23, 2019 12:43 AM IST

New mummy about town, the popular publicist and marketing consultant Nikhila Palat, brought in her birthday at her home in Mumbai on Sunday night. Palat, who had

New mummy about town, the popular publicist and marketing consultant Nikhila Palat, brought in her birthday at her home in Mumbai on Sunday night. Palat, who had spent six years with the Taj group, making her way to the post of director of public relations for the hospitality major in Mumbai, had recently launched her own boutique firm, Katalyst. And, if that wasn’t all for this busy communication executive, Palat and her husband, actor Vivan Bhathena, welcomed their baby daughter Nivaya (it’s an amalgamation of both their names) earlier this year. And, this Monday evening, it appeared to be roses all the way, when the couple’s close friends gathered at their home in Bandra to bring in Palat’s birthday. Those at the party included actress Bipasha Basu and her husband , actor Karan Singh Grover; actress and Big Boss contestant Tanisha Mukherjee, and celebrity make-up artist TJ Shah along with the birthday girl’s sister, actress and theatre impresario Divya Palat and husband Aditya Hitkari in attendance. And, Nikhila, who in the past has shared pictures of herself carrying her daughter while attending to work, is seen holding her baby while cutting her cake in pictures of the celebrations that Bipasha Basu shared on social media the next day.

He’s Got The Powers

Divya and Amit Burman.
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It was a double celebration for Delhi-based industrialist and restaurateur Amit Burman this weekend. Burman, the son of Gyan C Burman of the Dabur family conglomerate, was promoted to the post of chairman of the group, becoming the youngest member to hold the high post (he previously helmed the role of vice chairman) and replacing his cousin, Anand Burman, in a generational shift at the group that also saw another of his cousins, Mohit Burman (co-owner of an IPL franchise), appointed as vice chairman. For Burman, who is also a successful restaurateur and runs more than 100 restaurants in India, including the Punjab Grill franchise, the news coincided with his 50th birthday and celebrations ensued over the weekend at his restaurant, Tappa, in Delhi, where an ‘Austin Powers’-themed birthday was organised. We are informed guests were dressed as characters from the popular Mike Myers movie franchise, and Burman cut a five-tiered cake that read “Happiest 50th Birthday AB Baby”.

Not So Dim?

Imran Khan (HT File)

For all those rolling gleefully around the aisles over the alleged snub meted out to Pakistan PM Imran Khan by the US administration, a word of caution — yes, photographs of the swarthy Pathan sharing greasy elbow room in a grubby “airport people transporter” have become the subject of much hilarity by Pak-bashers, being a far cry from the pomp and pelf afforded to important state visitors, but according to those in the know, in fact this workmanlike approach to diplomacy has been the brainchild of the Pakistan PM himself. “Being an astute politician, who is trying hard to endear himself to stakeholders across the world, the last thing Khan wants to do is project a false sense of ceremony and ostentation when everyone knows what the state of his country’s economy currently is,” said one foreign affairs commentator about Khan’s on-going state visit to the USA. “Rather than come across as a Gaddafi or Idi Amin-like tin pot ruler, the world-travelled Oxonian sophisticate has deliberately kept his visit low-key and light on the public exchequer.” As for the so-called “cold shoulder” that he is being afforded by the White House and its chief occupant, the source was sceptical: “No one can say what will happen following his meeting with Donald Trump. After all, we all know how quickly Kim Jong-Un went from being Enemy No.1 to Trump’s Cuddle-Bud No.1 — in the blink of an eye!” As for Khan’s rock concert-like public address at a Washington stadium, where iconic Pakistani rock band Junoon, led by its frontman Salman Ahmad revved up the crowds with the legendary 1996 hit ‘Jazba-e-Junoon’. Will this be followed by India’s own Salman Khan being co-opted to rev up the crowds when our own PM visits next? Who knows, after all, ‘hum kisi se kum nahin…’

Smiling Buddha, Crispy Pork

Chefs Hussain Shahzad and Bawmra Jap (left) in Goa.

Die-hard Goan foodies are familiar with chef patron Bawmra Jap, the affable gent with the demeanor of a windblown Buddha, and his charming al fresco restaurant Bomras in north Goa’s touristy Candolim which has been around for decades, consistently dishing out delicious south-east Asian dishes like crispy pork salad and the eatery’s signature spicy prawn curry served with coconut rice. Only recently we found ourselves being offered an impressive martini made with feni by the charismatic chef, on a visit to Goa. Now, word comes in that Jap will be in Mumbai to take part in a couple of dinners at the Goan- themed O Pedro in BKC this week. And, we are informed it will be a kind of jugalbandi between him and O Pedro’s Chef Hussain Shahzad, whose training included stints at Eleven Madison Park and the Bombay Canteen before his latest gig. Of course, all this bodes well for foodies, but it also begs the question over Jap’s much hyped connection with a recently opened Colaba restaurant, heavily promoted using his name, where Mumbai diners believe they still get Bomras’ authentic fare. When asked about this connection, the chef is reported to have said quite emphatically: “I was only a consultant during the restaurant’s opening. I have nothing to do with it now, and it’s not my food.”OK then…

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