Nets Before Nuptials
Not quite the rehearsal we were expecting! With his wedding only a week away, Arjun Tendulkar (left) gets some net time in, with none other than dad Sachin (far right) providing the world’s most elite sideline supervision at Bandra’s MIG Cricket Club on Wednesday
Next-Gen notes
Ananya Wadkar
Proof that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree came earlier this month, courtesy of Ananya Wadkar. Padma and Suresh Wadkar’s amiable elder daughter made her debut as a playback singer with Vaada Hai from Shahid Kapoor-starrer O’Romeo — and we took note. What could have passed as an inconsequential act actually set the stage for Ananya’s dream debut with a Vishal Bhardwaj film. Two years ago, she dropped a single titled Baarish, which mum Padma happened to share with Bhardwaj. We hear the filmmaker was so moved by it, he asked Ananya to submit some scratch tracks. Then, in December last year, one recording was followed by another, and last month, the final track for the film took shape. There’s no doubt Ananya has a bright future ahead of her, but let’s look to the past for a moment. If you dig deep enough, you’ll discover she was credited as a playback singer almost two decades ago too — for Mera Jahan from Taare Zameen Par. “One can hardly consider that a debut,” she says with a smile, “My voice has transformed. I was a different person.” Given that Ananya hadn’t even hit double digits then — aged about eight — that seems fair.
Elegant, Exclusive, and under wraps
Saaniya Chandok and Arjun Tendulkar
Quiet luxury is the theme of the season, and it doesn’t stop with bag brands. Privacy is the new currency of style. If you need an example, here are several. Acclaimed artist Satish Gujral’s grandson, Armaan, married sweetheart Mehr in an intimate Anand Karaj ceremony in the capital this week. From Kalyani Saha Chawla to Priya Sachdev Kapur and Pinky Reddy, famous friends flocked in to bless Feroze and Mohit Gujral’s gorgeous son on his big day. While wishes were welcome, paps were not — so we hear precious little about these nuptials. Next up was the wedding of Janhavee Joshi to Satchit, son to Anita and Harsha Bhogle. Their well-attended reception at the Taj Lands End last night was another ultra-private affair. And then, of course, are the upcoming nuptials of Arjun Tendulkar and Saaniya Chandok. We know invitations were hand-delivered to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, but beyond that, details are sketchy. In an era where cameras follow every move, these celebrations prove that discretion is the ultimate extravagance. From cordoned-off venues to no-mobile ceremonies and curated guest lists, it’s all par for the course in celebrity circles.
From Tarmac to Tome
Sanjay Manjrekar
The most mundane events sometimes spark the most interesting conversations. And so it was that Sanjay Manjrekar found himself stuck on a plane for longer than necessary earlier this week, waiting to disembark on arrival in aamchi Mumbai. “Typed this as we sit forever inside the aircraft after landing in Mumbai, waiting for the step ladder. Might as well write a book now,” the former India batter wrote on X. Almost immediately, he received a response from Tim Crow, who is currently working on the biography of South Africa cricket legend Clive Rice. “I would very much like to chat with you about your memories of him on the historic first SA tour of India,” came Crow’s appeal. Rice played against Manjrekar when he led the Rainbow Nation on a three-match ODI series tour to India in 1991. Whether Manjrekar contributes to Crow’s book remains to be seen, but the book idea itself is a brilliant one. Our in-house cricket nut suggests a tome on the several commentators Sanjay has worked with since he started commentating regularly in 1999. A potential cricketing chronicle birthed during delayed disembarkation. Sometimes all it takes is a grounded flight to set new stories airborne.
Bad Romance
Some stories are so shocking, they seem to land straight in cold storage. It has taken a few years for this tale to thaw out, yet it remains too raw to name names. A still-stunning former actor finds herself single at the moment — something we find hard to stomach. Asking around, we discover she was tormented so terribly by her last lover that she hasn’t bounced back yet. “He tried to sell her house out from under her. The list is long. It was awful,” we’re told. It seems unbelievable, given the illustrious image of the gent in question. He is literally a national treasure — and, one imagines, loaded too. “Who knows where his money went? Now he’s just famous, without funds.” The mind boggles.
