Bougie brigade
Rakul Preet Singh served up sunshine in Bandra on Wednesday, stepping out of a cosy café with husband Jackky Bhagnani. While her logo-loaded shades and crossbody made their statement, her Birkenstocks quietly stole the show — flats are Rakul’s new go-to since a spinal injury last year, and she’s wearing them with unapologetic ease
History served hot
While Mumbai was awash in the signature blue of Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14 — complete with a glowing tribute in lights across the Sea Link — a similar gravity was felt thousands of miles away in Manhattan’s East Village, albeit on a smaller scale. Chef Vikas Khanna transformed the glass facade of his acclaimed NYC eatery, Bungalow, with a floral tribute to Dr BR Ambedkar, marking the milestone with a resonance that transcends fine dining. It is a bold, beautiful move that anchors the restaurant’s soaring ambition in the very foundations of Indian democracy and social justice.
Vikas Khanna
“Ambedkar’s ideals have deeply shaped my journey — both in life and in the kitchen,” Vikas notes, his usual high-energy charm giving way to a grounded solemnity. While the words are wonderful, Vikas truly leads with action. He has long been our most eloquent culinary diplomat, but with Bungalow, he has graduated from merely serving food to curating culture. With a blue lotus designed lovingly, petal by petal, on the roof of his restaurant in honour of Babasaheb, he asserts that the India he represents is as progressive as it is flavourful.
Bungalow — a space already heavy with sentiment, dedicated to his late sister Radhika — has quickly become the premier flagbearer for the subcontinent. Whether it’s the impossible-to-get reservations or the Michelin-nodded menus, Vikas proves that for an eatery to be truly world-class, it must first have a soul. And that, he appears to deliver in spades.
Cyber Sabotage?
In the high-stakes arena of Bigg Boss Marathi, the drama has officially spilled off the screen and into the digital trenches. On April 13, the Instagram handle of fan-favourite Vishaal Kotian went dark, deactivated after a coordinated blitz of ‘rights violation’ reports. Vishaal’s PR machinery immediately went into overdrive, screaming sabotage and crying foul over what they claim is a desperate attempt to derail his momentum during the final, frantic days of voting.
Vishaal Kotian
To keep the ‘Kotian Cult’ from scattering, his team scrambled to launch a backup account, proving that in the world of reality TV, traction is more precious than oxygen. Vishaal isn’t the only victim of this alleged cyber-hit — Ruchita Jamdar reportedly saw her account vanish in a similar puff of ‘community guidelines’ smoke.
Whether this is genuine digital warfare or a coordinated coincidence, one thing is clear: the knives — and the report buttons — are out. As of April 15, Vishaal’s original account is back, but the saltiness remains. As the SoBo set will tell you (from the lofty heights of their ivory towers where they’d sooner admit to a botched filler than to watching Marathi reality TV), keep your friends close, and your login credentials closer.
Reel romance
In a world where some stars orchestrate ‘leaked’ coffee dates to manufacture chemistry for the cameras, we hear of a Gen-Z pair playing a much more discreet game. They’ve already tasted box-office success together, but while their professional partnership is public record, their private life remains strictly off the grid. In a classic case of ‘reverse PR,’ these two aren’t faking a romance to sell tickets — instead, they are hiding a very real one now that the promotional heavy lifting is over.
Insiders whisper that ‘just friends’ doesn’t quite cover the current situation, but that’s about as much as these young lovebirds are willing to admit at the moment. While the world waits for an official ‘hard launch,’ these two are busy keeping their best scenes for a private screening.
Apex predators and April bunnies
From the snow-draped slopes of Gulmarg in February to Rajasthan’s sun-scorched sands in April, Lisa Haydon — the quintessential boho-chic cover star — seems to be on a spirited quest to curate the ultimate family scrapbook. Trading red carpets for rugged landscapes, she and her husband, British businessman Dino Lalvani, have embraced a more untamed rhythm of life, with Lisa seamlessly evolving from style icon to chief architect of her family’s adventures.
Lisa and Dino with their three tots
Their latest chapter unfolds at Sujan Jawai, a remote jewel tucked away within the Aravalli hills. There, guided by a seasoned ranger, the couple experienced the rarest of safari sightings this month: a mother leopard with her two cubs. For Lisa, the moment was a stirring reminder of the universality of maternal instinct — though the leopard’s piercing gaze felt almost like an unspoken, high-fashion standoff.
Lisa goes leopard on safari
And yet, in true parenting fashion, it was a simpler encounter that stole the show. Amidst the drama of apex predators and the luxury of the wild, Lisa’s four-year-old remained most enchanted by a humble local rabbit. A gentle reminder that whether you’re raising little Lalvanis or leopard cubs, children have an uncanny way of keeping life grounded.
