Brew March 2018

THINK. CREATE. LIVE

VOL-2 ISSUE-9 `100 I MARCH 2018

A TRIBUTE TO

SRIDEVI KAPOOR AN EPITOME OF ROYALTY & GRACE

WOMEN’S ISSUE 1 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

2 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

CONTRIBUTORS

Dr. RAJESH JEGANATHAN

& ADVISORY BOARD

A young and dynamic medico. He runs the prestigious Billroth Hospitals based in Chennai.

THOTA THARRANI This year we enter a bigger dimension, planning across a wider reader base with a big step forward, this was ignited with a logo designed by the one and only Thota Tharrani. Brew Lifestyle extends a heartwarming thank you note to the legend himself for his incessant contributions.

VEEJAY SAI An award-winning writer, editor and a culture critic. He has written and published extensively on Indian classical music, fashion, theatre, food and art.

ASHOK VERGHESE He is the director of Hindustan group of institutions, one of the pioneering educational groups in the country. He is a big supporter and cause for promoting young talent in art and music.

VITA DANI Passionate about grassroots development of sport in India. She co-owns Chennayin FC, Chennai’s football team in the ISL and Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT), India’s firstever professional table tennis league.

ANIL JAIN An Intensive desire to succeed and redefine the parameters of success, Anil Jain was always cut out to be an Entrepreneur, taking an active interest in Business right from an early age. He is the promoter or Refex industries Ltd; Refex Trading(s) Pvt. Ltd, and Anil Jain Investments.

G VENKET RAM A leading Indian fashion photographer who has shot principle photography stills for several notable films. He quit his engineering studies to work with cinematographers for a while, after which he joined a course in visual communications at Loyola College.

He then worked with photographer Sharad Haskar and in 1993, started his own studio.

NEERU NANDA A graduate of Delhi University and a passionate writer. She was a free-lanced feature writer for ten years before switching to publishing. Author of a collection of short stories titled “IF”, she has also worked on novels and short stories for children.

ARUNA SAIRAM A winner of the prestigious Padma Shri award. She is the vice-chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi which is India’s premier national institution for music and dance. Ms. Sairam is one of India’s most renowned ambassador’s for music, successfully taking Indian music to the international arena.

INTERNAL TEAM TEAM INTERNAL EDITOR & CEO EDITOR & CEO

EDITORIAL Editorial EDITORIAL TEAM TEAM

Sameer Bharat Sameer Bharat RamRam Sameer Bharat Ram

Akshaya Aishwarya Akshaya G GVijayaraghavan Aishwarya Sridharan Sridharan Yoheswari Devaraj Nanditha Sheeba Grace

DESIGNER DESIGNER DESIGNERS

FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS FEATURE / CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Dhinesh Babu S S Dhinesh Babu

Nanditha Vijayaraghavan Janani SuriGanesh Nanditha Vijayaraghavan Janani Suri Vidhya Anand Sanjana

Elumalai V V Elumalai

Sadakshi Kalyanraman Aishwarya Kanchi Aishwarya Kanchi

Karthik Keramalu Akila Sridhar Sadakshi Aarathi ArunKalyanaraman

Veejay Sai

John PaulPaul S S John

Aarathi Arun Pavithra Babu Aarti Aney

Padma Murugahappun Akshay Ramesh Aasha Sriram

SS TT RR AA TT EE GG YY

&& DD EE SS I I GG NN

Published Publishedby bySameer SameerBharat BharatRam Ram and andowned ownedby bySM SMBrandmuni BrandmuniConsulting ConsultingPvt. Pvt.Ltd. Ltd. Printed Printedby byVivek VivekSachdev Sachdev atatNPT NPTOFFSET OFFSETPRESS PRESSPvt. Pvt.Ltd. Ltd. Published Publishedfrom fromNew NewNo. No.68/Old 68/OldNo. No.63, 63, Cathedral CathedralRoad, Road,Chennai Chennai- -600 600086 086 Tel: Tel:+91 +9144 444208 42089392 9392

3

3

CIRCULATION CIRCULATION Aishwarya NandithaKanchi Vijayaraghavan Silambarasan Silambarasan

Vilani Senthamil

Write to Write to editor.thebrewmagazine@gmail.com editor.thebrewmagazine@gmail.com for editorial queries/feedback for editorial queries/feedback for advertisement queries/feedback for advertisement queries/feedback

BREW LIFESTYLE QR CODE

DECEMBER 3 I BREW LIFESTYLE2017 I MARCH 2018 BREW ER LIFESTYLE 2017 BREW LIFESTYLE NOVEMBER 2017

ISSUE-9

CONTENTS

08 14 18

30 34 40

46 52

58 24

THINKLIVE CREATE FROM THE ARCHIVES WHATS BREWING

65 61

BREW LIFESTYLE

JANUARY 2018

5

5 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

BREW BREW LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLEAUGUST JULY 2017 2017

GOLD, DIAMONDS, PLATINUM & SILVER

G.N.CHETTY ROAD, T.NAGAR, CHENNAI

101, G.N. Chetty Road, T. Nagar, Opp. Hotel Accord Metropolitan Chennai - 17. P1 +91 44 2834 5001/5010 Email: info@jcsjewellers.com I :jcsjewelcreations Gold . 916 BIS Hallmark I

EF/IF - VVS1 Certified I www.jcsjewellers.com

GIA certified solitaire available 6 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Timeless GRACE

GOLD, DIAMONDS, PLATINUM & SILVER

G.N.CHETTY ROAD, T.NAGAR, CHENNAI

101, G.N. Chetty Road, T. Nagar, Opp. Hotel Accord Metropolitan Chennai - 17. P1 +91 44 2834 5001/5010 Email: info@jcsjewellers.com I :jcsjewelcreations Gold . 916 BIS Hallmark I

EF/IF - VVS1 Certified I www.jcsjewellers.com

GIA certified solitaire available 7 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

8 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

“CHASE THAT DREAM, LET NO ONE STOP YOU” says Dipika Pallikal, the celebrated Indian squash player who brought honour to her home country. Having achieved myriad feats that will go down in the nation’s sports history, she thrives harder for bigger dreams. By Vidhya Anand and Sanjana Ganesh Photography : Jitu Savlani

9 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Though knocking the ball out of the park isn’t an option in squash, Dipika Pallikal seems to have achieved this in all other facets of her life. Buried under the shadow of cricket, sports such as squash find a niche audience.

Somehow, this 24 year old seems to have enamoured an entourage into following the game. After fostering a hunger to strive for greatness since childhood, everything now seems to have fallen in place. Having setup an exceptional career, a loving marriage and a beautiful home, Dipika looks forward to conquering greater heights.

This Chennai girl grew up seeing the splendour of the 90s. With a supporting family continuously cheering for her victory, she worked her way to the top. Her undying and committed practise paid off as she soon broke into her career best ranking- World Number 10. Eventually the Commonwealth games came along and so did Midas’ touch. Striking gold there became her crowning glory and Dipika Pallikal became a household name. Medallions decorate her household as she continues to train harder each day. What sets this victor apart? How has she changed with the tides? Dipika answers these questions in an interview with The Brew Magazine.

After fostering a hunger to strive for greatness since childhood, everything now seems to have fallen in place. Having setup an exceptional career, a loving marriage and a beautiful home, Dipika looks forward to conquering greater heights.

10 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

How did it all start? Has playing squash always been your dream?

It started off with a summer camp and from there on things have just fallen in place. It was my best friend who introduced me to the sport. I used to play tennis before, so being a professional squash player wasn’t the dream I grew up with. But as soon as I was done with my summer camp, I knew there was no turning back. I had most definitely fallen in love with the sport and since then it had become my dream.

As a player, what is your ultimate goal?

Of course every athlete wants to be No.1 in their respective sport, so do I. But as an athlete my goal is to produce the best squash I’m capable of and just going out there and enjoying myself while I do my best.

Who or what inspires you?

Coming from a sporty background, my grandparents and parents have inspired me to stand for everything I believe in and do what I love to the best of my ability.

What are the challenges you face in terms of improvising or sustainability and how do you manage them?

Fortunately the love and passion for the game gets you through all the negativity, so much so , challenges become few or nothing at all!

What according to you has been your biggest breakthrough?

I think for me breaking into the top ten was definitely a dream come true. It has only made me want to strive for more. Also, I had taken a couple of months off from training during my wedding, but getting back on court this year and making my way through my first quarterfinal after having beaten World No.5 at the US Open is another break through.

“It started off with a summer camp and from there on things have just fallen in place. It was my best friend who introduced me to the sport. I used to play tennis before, so being a professional squash player wasn’t the dream I grew up with” Do you have any views about general societal issues that we face as a country. It could be with regard to sports, the environment or culture. If so, can you share it with us?

Indian society has so vastly changed its view towards young girls taking to sport be it an indoor or an outdoor sport. So, kudos to that! Women achievers in sport in our country have multiplied in the last five or six years and with it parents have been encouraging girls to take up sport at a young age. And, that is a really good way to progress in the realm of sports as a nation.

What do you think sets you apart from other players?

The uniqueness that makes you, you. I think all of us have our own sense of individuality that we bring to the table. I’m a big believer of being true to yourself and what you believe in.

As an achiever who can inspire those in pursuit of dreams, what do you think keeps one going forward in hard times?

There’s a point in every athletes career where the going gets beyond tough but it is in those trying times that we have to go back to the start and think of everything we’ve been through to get to where we are. For me those hard times have only pushed me to strive for more. Also, the faith my family has in me has only made me want to work harder and keep going.

Do tell us a little about squash, your love for the game My love for squash is paramount. It has made me what I am today. From holding the position of world No.1 in the junior circuit for over a year, the only Indian to have achieved this feat, then racing to world No.10, again the only Indian man or woman to have climbed to this spot, being awarded the Arjuna and Padmashri, it’s been a journey I will cherish forever. To all sports lovers, chase that dream, let no one stop you, you’ll be surprised where it can take you.

11 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

“Women achievers in sports in our country have multiplied in the last five or six years and with it parents have been encouraging girls to take up sports at a young age. And, that is a really good way to progress in the realm of sports as a nation�

12 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

13 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

The Persistent Crusader Sanjna Kapoor is Indian theatre’s most recognised personality. After running Prithvi Theatre for over two decades, the beautiful and effervicent Sanjna has started Junoon. She talks to Aarti Aney about her plans, hopes and vision for the future of Indian theatre.

So, after all these years, Prithvi Theatre and you have parted ways.

Yes (laughs)! I always said I thought of Prithvi like a baby, and someday it would grow up and leave home. So it has finally grown up, and it was time I left. I was at a stage where I had emptied myself of everything that I could have given to it, and I was bursting at the seams to do more. The dream of realisation of Junoon had to happen.

How is the Junoon workshop for kids different outside of the space of Prithvi Theatre?

The Summertime at Prithvi is exactly the same program as the Arts At Play with Junoon. I have now brought Summertime under the Junoon umbrella. If anything its consolidating and getting stronger. For instance, for the last two years we’re doing peer-sharing workshops where we are brainstorming with the conductors, and we have gathered this incredible, delicious crop of 25 conductors. They, and what they bring to the foray, are our USP. Each conductor learns from the other. These are our internal processes. So Prithvi Theatre is now one of the venues (among others in Mumbai), but the program belongs to Junoon.

You have always maintained that there’s a space for all sorts of theatre – traditional, contemporary, urban, and vernacular.

But you are all about the urban; Junoon is for the urban environment. How important do you think it is to take it down to the rural?

That’s not our focus. We don’t have the wherewithal to go to Dharavi, let alone to rural India! Someone asked me this at a talk, what sort of music would you teach slum kids visà-vis creativity in the arts? Bollywood, or popular music? And I told them that I wouldn’t even know where to begin! I don’t have the arrogance to believe I have the answers. But I do have inspirational stories. In Venezuela a man, Jose Antonio Abreu, who’s a musician, went out and started teaching in the flavellas (slums). This gave birth to El Sistema, and with the blessing of their government they now train hundreds of underprivileged children inn music. It proves that there’s a certain excellence and professionalism written into the system. So these kids get exposure and training with musical instruments of a huge variety. Back here in India, if you visit Bal Bhavan you will see these children banging out music on cheap Casio’s - its not

uplifting, the kids have no insight, and they are getting the lowest common exposure. Today kids from El Sistema are sought-after musicians working in celebrated symphonies.

Antonio had the inspiration and figured out the means to do something about it. But that’s not our focus, and we’re not going to pretend that. But our focus is still self-worth for the urban kids. So, of course we want to change the world, but we are not foolish enough to say it, and then try and achieve it.

We’ll do it step by tiny step.

The urban scenario is the world we know and are familiar with. And we truly believe there’s a two-tier city out there which is ignored. If you simply take the map of both my grandparents (the Kendal’s), they went to the tiniest of places and performed; no metro group goes to these places anymore.

And I believe now is the right time to reconnect. People are open to the arts, and with the idea of their children engaging in the arts. It’s a tough battle, because how do you explain what the intangible benefits of a thing are? But it’s interesting, because now parents aren’t asking that second question about how the arts will translate into marks et cetera. There are many programs we are introducing to fuel this change.

Could you elaborate?

Arts At Play (Summertime at Prithvi Theatre), will carry on through the year in different forms. We offer school packages where we bring the professional arts to schools. And we want to reach municipal schools, NGO circuits, and the IB bunch…a broad range in an urban environment. Three specific things are on offer: a trip to a theatre (watching a professional group perform) this involves the whole theatrical experience, the world of a play, and an engagement with the director and actors, along with a little study pack which helps them delve deeper into what they have just witnessed. In the second, we take an artist into the school, and we have this person interact with the children in whatever it is that they do – mime, bol, kathak, whatever it may be. We create an interactive space, and then we have the artist perform a short tight piece so the children are wowed! The third is our teacher workshop program. We encourage them to use these arts as an experience, much like in our program with the kids

14 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Sanjana Kapoor 15 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

In a recent interview with The Brew, Naseeruddin Shah expressed his admiration and gratitude for the work your grandparents, the Kendal’s, did.

Naseer would love to do something like that! And this is what Junoon is creating and trying to make happen. We are trying to create our own infrastructure (we aren’t producing our own shows though), and making the access available to school to bring their kids to the performance. We are trying to bring the audience to the show, and the show to the audience, so we are the facilitators. We also completely believe that the art and theatre should be professional as that is the only way to create viable opportunities. The cost of a space must be subsidised, as that is the real killer. Prithvi Theatre runs at a loss every year and that’s the sad and shocking truth. Indians are great imitators, but there is no one running to copy a Prithvi, because it’s not a successful model.

But Arundhati Nag did borrow from Prithvi Theatre, and Bengaluru has the Rangashankara.

Yes there is, and on our 25th Anniversary we celebrated the birth of Rangashankara. But that’s now two such spaces in all of India. Amongst over 1.2 billion people, it’s absurd.

Mumbai alone has the capacity to house 10 Prithvi-like spaces, because it has the artists and the audience. I was reading a an influential McKinsey-type report, which said Mumbai was on its way to being the next Shanghai, but there was no mention of the arts. How is it that in a city filled with talent and artists, we do not create spaces for

them? How do we have the arrogance to believe we can be a world-class city when we have no space for the arts? In places like Singapore they are building state-of-the-art spaces, and when they are ready they realise they don’t have enough talent and artists, and so they import them and shows and allocate lots of money to all this. Why have they discovered culture and the arts is important, while here we have a surplus of artists, but no brain space or vision in our policy makers to create and nurture the arts. But in places like Singapore they are making space for the arts as they believe its part of being worldclass cities. So instead of complaining and doing nothing about it, in steps Junoon. We are trying to inculcate the arts in our own small way and make it a necessary part of the framework, one step at a time.

How much do you think government policy can change the way the arts are conceived, and influence their growth?

Hugely! El Sistema began with a person, but the government supported him and his vision. In India we have lots of people coming up with ideas everyday, but the government does everything to block them and not support them.

I stupidly went out 10-15 years ago and tried to cultivate Horniman Circle Garden (in Mumbai) as an alternate space for the performing arts, thinking it should become the norm. But fifteen thousand rupees in licence fees alone, out of which you only get a receipt for three hundred rupees? Plus you have to go to 7 offices for permissions et al. We failed, nobody else joined in. And when I went to the commissioner I realised within minutes of interacting with him that there was a whole corrupt system in place., but nothing changed.

Do you think the scenario is changing despite these hurdles?

Yes, I think its changing. There are people who are now more travelled; coming back from abroad, having seen how things work there, and they are coming back wanting. Even corporates like Mahindra and Mahindra with their Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards have come into the fray. What awards associated with big daddies like these do is, they up the value. They put the arts on the map, on a pedestal. The point is that the overall look of things amongst the media, and even the

theatre world, is creating prestige.

And that’s all you need. You need something you value. Anand (Mahindra) has sustained it, and he’s doing it. And you need people like him who have the vision and the means to make it happen.

And one day the government will wake up and say, “Ah! We’re missing something”.

Theatre is no longer seen as just a stepping stone for the movies or television. What’s your take on this shift?

Yes, I have seen this huge shift over the last six-odd years, especially in the metros. I see young professionals trying to make theatre viable, whether they are technicians or writers or actors or directors. This is what they want to do.

And ironically that’s what breaks my heart, because I hope we can keep them, and that they don’t end up as bankers or stock brokers in another couple of years. We’ll lose them because they have to earn a living.

But it’s changing and there are ebbs and flows. For instance, 20-years ago parallel theatre in Bombay suddenly became viable. And then it snowballed in to commercially viable junk, and that was sad.

Does that really matter, so long as there is theatre that people are coming to watch?

Yes it does. Because how will one create a critical, discerning audience, and a community of people who want theatre in their lives, if we are churning out rubbish? We need, even within the theatre community, to critique each others work, instead of just slapping each other on the back. Everyone is everyone’s pal, and it’s dangerous, incestuous, and not healthy. An arena for critiquing is essential. Even the media has backed out; there are no stimulating, thought-provoking, studied reviews of the plays.

So when you say the media has backed out, can you remember a time when there was actually an intelligent theatre review section?

Oh yes! About a decade and a half ago, The Times of India had a fabulous section for the arts. And it’s shocking how it’s all gone now. It must be brought back by the media fraternity.

16 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Also the corporates are now stepping in, and are offering sponsorships, tie ups et cetera. Do you think it’s dicey as sometimes they want to control the content?

I take it, laugh in their face, and say no!

They can’t control anything. I think people in positions of power totally misjudge their power. And, I think if we cater to their power then we’re foolish. So the onus is on us. And if we’re going to bow down, then we are stupid.

But I’m not sure how long this corporate interest will last, because most don’t understand what they are putting their money in to.

With the youth re-engaging with theatre afresh, do you think there are enough theatre spaces being built?

Actually there are at least three spaces being built every year in big cities. They are very commercial. There’s nobody building spaces like Prithvi, or Chabaldas, or Rangashankara. Nobody seems to have the vision to build spaces that are nurturing, towards developing something.

For example in Delhi you have Mandi House where most of the theatres are located. And there’s Kamani Auditorium, where they seem to be booked all year through, and they very proudly tell you that! But if you probe further you can see that they are booked out for weddings, receptions, corporate programs….hardly anything cultural! They charge exorbitant prices, and theatre isn’t subsidised.

Prithvi is an adda, and for a lot of people going to Prithvi is like going home.

There’s an intangible magic to that space, so everything that happens there is tinged by that magic. Now with Junoon operating out of multiple venues, how do you think you will create that intangible magic and sustain it?

We are very clear that the Prithvi-type magic is the environment we want to move with. So we need to create a lot of “homes” Always two things are essential: One, which the management is on the same page as us, and understands what we are doing. And two, every place must feel like a home to the kids and their parents who come here. Of course, we cannot recreate the magic of Prithvi but it’s the learning we go with it. It’s about creating an atmosphere, and Junoon definitely wants to seed these hubs, and seed ideas for similar hubs and addas across the cities. Most of

these institutions are keen to create an environment for artistic engagement. To seed a program to make it sustainable, it must have an aesthetic core to it.

The mahaul has to also go along with whatever space we occupy. The bottom line the space must be open and welcoming, it shouldn’t make you feel small, and it must let you be who you are.

We wish we could fold up Prithvi and put it in our pockets, and carry it everywhere with us, but we can’t! But we can do the best we can with the spaces offered to us.

Could you tell us more about the India Theatre Forum?

It again came from an enormous feeling of isolation. Like in Prithvi’s 25th year, when we should have been celebrating, it ended up being a year of great contemplation for me personally. I sat back to take a look at what we had set out to do all those years ago, and if we had achieved it. A resounding ‘no’ came back to me. If you say it was set-up to become a home for professional Indian theatre, then no it has failed. There isn’t one single entire group that makes their bread and butter from theatre.

So how has Prithvi Theatre failed at that, directly?

Well, if we say that that’s what we had set out to do, then we should have done it, or made a big enough mark to make that change happen. I believe Amitabh Bachchan has a huge responsibility toward film. And he hasn’t done enough to impact his own world, which is cinema.

Prithvi is like the Amitabh Bachchan of

theatre. When you reach that level of success, you have to bear a responsibility.

In my books, there is no excuse or option.

Thus Prithvi bears a responsibility. It started with certain goals, and it wasn’t meant to become this Mecca, and even management-wise it’s not professional enough, and even what it demands from its groups isn’t professional enough. It should have pushed groups and upped quality. And I know why it didn’t make it, because I was a part of it. Maybe in 50-100 years it will achieve that! But my personal isolation was huge; I didn’t even know what was happening across the country. So that’s where my impetus came from to pull people together and form the India Theatre Forum (ITF). It has been a struggle; its main purpose is to get people to share their experiences, and to give strength and energy - and very practically, not just academically. And it came from a space which says we have to stop complaining, and get off our butts, and help ourselves since the government will not help us. Every civilized country should create a service like this, interlinking connections and experiences to share work.

You have spoken of creating an eco-system of theatre that involves an audience, the theatre, and the performing space. But these are vast areas. So how do you plan on going about building this realistically?

Everything we do is toward building that eco-system. When we go into a school we are touching an audience, when we create the teacher programs we are touching an audience; all these people will hopefully get a discerning taste for the arts and what they can engage with. So next time there is a kathak performance, they aren’t going to say we don’t follow that, but will go try it for the enjoyment and joy of it. Bringing in an audience is the biggest challenge, especially in a city like Mumbai where there is so much noise and chaos, and choices. It’s tough to gather numbers. Thus when we say impacting the eco-system, we are referring to every minute detail, such as even our partners who give us their space to transform, our fantastic volunteers who ensure processes run like clockwork - it’s all about managing the arts, and guiding the experience. The world of rich experience has to be equal for both the performers and the audience. The culture of how we work can make a difference, and will rub off on others, and in turn we can learn from all our partnerships. We want to form lasting relationships

17 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

WHAT ’S COOKING? Former Masterchef Australia’s contestant, successful cook, international model and loving mother, Sarah Todd is all set to open India’s first modern Australian restaurant in Vagator Beach, Goa. In conversation with Vilani Senthamil, she describes her new venture and inexplicable love for the country.

18 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

19 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

It’s been one and a half years since her stint with Masterchef Australia, and Sarah is already well on her way to success. Busy setting up a 400-seater restaurant and shuttling between Australia and India, she is full of energy and barely concealed excitement.

ALL NEw eatery Named the ‘Antares’ after the brightest star in the constellation Scorpio, Sarah’s restaurant is an all-new culinary marvel. Ashish Dev Kapur and Joydeep Singh (the men behind Yo China, dimsumbros and the Cyber Hub No. 1, The Wine Company) have partnered with Sarah Todd for this venture. With their entrepreneurial expertise and her skills, the restaurant is sure to drive in a flock of Goa’s hungry tourists. “I grew up by the beach and that’s why I decided to set up my restaurant in Goa, rather than Mumbai”, explains Sarah.

Antares has a modern Australian menu with Indian influences. “The restaurant is themed to be a natural and wholesome one. The ambience will be bright, minimalistic and light. My cooking is natural, but my dishes are modern. I guess my restaurant is in sync with that”, she claims.

HER CALLING During her days as a model, Sarah was not much of a foodie. “I never experimented on food. I was totally absorbed in a grounded fitness regime”, she says.

Only when she began dating Devinder Garcha, a UK born Indian, she began cooking and trying out different cuisines. “I owe it all to him. We used to cook a new dish everyday! Upon participating in Masterchef Australia, I realised I wanted to pursue food. I put all my heart into cooking and creating healthy, tasty dishes”. So where does she see herself ten years down the lane? “Oh gosh! I don’t know. It’s been a year and a half since Masterchef and I have achieved what I wanted to achieve until this point of time. As of now, I am really enthusiastic to get my restaurant up and running. Chef Angela Hartnett is an inspiration. I love the fact that she is a woman and has worked her way to being one of the most respected chefs across the globe. She is one of the toughest chefs to work for, and every time I see her cooking away in her kitchen, it tak es my breath away. I look up to her and I want to be like that someday. That’s my goal”.

20 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

“My cooking is natural, but my dishes are modern. I guess my restaurant is in sync with that”

ON LEISURE & LIFE Touring back and forth between two countries, setting up her restaurant and taking care of her son, how does Sarah de-stress? ““To de-stress, I go out to different restaurants to experiment different food. I love cooking! So I guess my work is by itself quite a leisure”, she laughs. “I’ve been away from my son Phoenix for a few months now. I am going to see him in a few days, so I am really excited. He is a huge devourer of Indian cuisine! Phulkas and Rotis are his favourite. I love cooking for him”. Coming from Australia, it is astonishing to note that she decided to set up a restaurant in India. Her love for India is limitless, she shares. “My favourite cuisine is definitely Australian because it has influences of every other cuisine. We are lucky that way, we have a little bit of everything in the cuisine. Some of the world’s best restaurants are in Australia, so I guess that speaks a lot about Australian cuisine.

When I visited India after Masterchef, there was so much excitement! Different dishes are welcomed with fervour here and a lot of respect is showered upon chefs. Indians are passionate about everything, especially about food. That’s why I decided to set up my restaurant here”, she wraps up.

21 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

“When I visited India after Masterchef, there was so much excitement!

Different dishes are welcomed with fervour here and a lot of respect is showered upon chefs”

BREW LIFESTYLE SEPTEMBER 2017

22 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

BREW LIFESTYLE

JANUARY 2018

31

23 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Photography Credits : Shiva Balaswaminathan

24 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

HER JOIE DE VIVRE

Kalki Koechlin carries within, a disposition that is unique, exquisite and hard to come by. Iridescent as she speaks, she is unbelievably sorted in her perception of life, career and everything in between.

Thriving with many critically acclaimed roles to her credit, she is among those few performers who leave an eternal mark in the pages of history, unhindered by time.

By Vidhya Anand

25 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

26 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Photography Credits : Shiva Balaswaminathan

Kalki resonates with an underlying vibe of positivity that cannot escape your eye. Her demeanour is casual, yet powerful. She converses with a strong sense of philosophy and grit, however manages to have a hearty laugh as the dialogue tapers to a closure. It’s alluring how a woman can mean business and remain vivacious, all at once. Read on as Kalki Koechlin talks about her life, love for acting and much more in a conversation with Brew magazine.

Why did you choose theatre? Did you have any other plans to pursue, if not for theatre?

No, much to the fear of my parents I did not have any other plans. I went to study theatre in London for three years –Travel and theatre studies BA. For me, it was just a natural progression of that. I came back and I wanted to continue doing theatre. It’s not that I did not want to do films, I wasn’t interested in becoming famous, I was just into acting. So, I kept in touch with whoever I knew here, from theatre such as Rajit Kapoor, Atul Kumar and Ajay Krishnan. So I was in Bombay… you know you are auditioning five times a week, you’re going for ads. That was part of the process. I got lucky in the sense that, I think it was Rucha Patel from UTV at that time, she went through my CV and she saw that I had studied theatre and stuff and she was pushing for me to come to the audition for Dev.D, of course.

How was it auditioning then? Did you really think you will make it?

No I didn’t. Because, I went for the audition and it was in Hindi, the script. It was in Devanagari also. I told them I can’t do this properly, and that I can’t do the audition. So then they were like, we have a script in English as well. Do it in English for now. So I did it in English. A few minutes later I got a call from them saying, ‘Come back, Anurag wants to meet you.’

He wasn’t at the audition; it was only the casting team. So I went back and he said, ‘You can act. Do you think you can learn Hindi in two months?’ I said, ‘Yes I can!’

Tell us a little about ‘The Printing Machine.’

That actually came about through a friend of mine, Jayashree Jeganathan. She used to be the editor of India Today. She was making a book of poems on women in a basically very angry perception, with regard to the state of women in India today and she wanted some guest writers. So, printing machine originated for that. And then I felt that it was a piece that was very good for performance. So I asked her, ‘There’s a performance poetry session happening at the Hyatt, do you mind if I use these poems there?’ She said, ‘No no, please do.’ So, I performed it live, and ‘Culture Machine’ came up to me and were really interested in making a video. They came up with the whole idea, the newspaper clippings and everything else.

You know different languages, have you ever wanted to explore South Cinema?

Yes, I’d definitely like to do something here; I’ve just not been offered anything. I have always been offered the foreigner girl role, the Russian girlfriend. Not that there is anything wrong with that, just that it wasn’t very substantial as a role in a film. Because I’d already kind of become established, I’m a bit greedy now. When and if the time comes, it will happen organically. I’m not someone who is a go-getter. If I don’t find work, I start writing, I start creating my own work, picking up a play, doing something. So I think these things happen on their own a little bit.

What do you do outside of acting, when you are not performing?

I write, especially when I’m unemployed and depressed (laughs). I’ve written a play which I’m touring with, it’s called the ‘Living Room.’ It’s a comedy on death. And, I wrote another play long back called the ‘Skeleton Woman,’ a friend and I cowrote that. I’ve written like a lot of these poems and short poems. I write articles once in a while as well. I enjoy writing, but it’s not a fulltime job for me. They are more like, things that need to get out of my system, it’s like therapy!

Do you very consciously pick out your scripts? If not, is it something that just happens to you?

I think that it is a bit of both. Because people also start picking you. They have an image of you, so they come to you. So now, I get all those scripts with women oriented issues or all those scripts about child abuse. It’s because I talk about these issues, so there is also that trap where you get stuck in an image. For me I’m an actor and it is really important that I diversify all the time. I don’t want to be boxed in any sort of image. That’s the fun of being an actor. But having said that I have gotten some exciting roles because of whatever image I’ve formed. So yes, I don’t know how much I really choose. Of course I do decide this is something that could excite me. Usually I try not to repeat what I have already done before. I do not want to get stuck in a rut of doing the same things over and over again. And then, if the story is original and I feel like it is something that hasn’t been done before or told before, I’d go for it. So, that’s exciting.

27 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

What’s the most exciting role you have done so far?

A role that sort of changed you as a person. ‘Margarita, with a Straw’ is a big one for me. The subject it talks about, bisexuality and disability. But it was also the rigor of working that way. I mean for six months we trained and did workshops, it’s rare for a film that you get that kind of practice. It just changed the way I am as an actor; in the sense that the idea of riyaz, the idea of daily practice really frees you. Because you are not thinking about the lines, you are not thinking about how your character should move. Your soul memorises it, rather than your brain. Only when you don’t have the time, and you jump into a role, your brain is still translating it. It’s like your mother tongue, if it is a different language it takes a while to process. So when you work for six months on riyaz of a character then it’s like your mother tongue.

Who has been your most favourite actor?

I watched a lot of Tabu’s earlier work. I think she is incredible. In the contemporary world, I think Kangana Ranaut is really amazing. Also, Paulet Julio Bueno’s work, I think she is really good; Daniel de Louis and Irfan Khan. Nazir, of course. I’ve worked with him and he is incredible. He’s amazing and I love him. He’s my favourite.

What would you have become, if you had not gotten into theatre?

A criminal psychologist. I’ve always been interested in psychology and the way the mind works. I think maybe that’s why I’m also an actor. I think that would be a really interesting job.

“It just changed the way I am as an actor; in the sense that the idea of riyaz, the idea of daily practice really frees you. Because you are not thinking about the lines, you are not thinking about how your character should move.

Your soul memorises it, rather than your brain. Only when you don’t have the time, and you jump into a role, your brain is still translating it. It’s like your mother tongue, if it is a different language it takes a while to process” Did you have a culture clash growing up?

Yes (laughs), I was very confused, I was this blond haired, white kid, in the middle of a South Indian village called Periyamudaliyar Chavadi in Pondicherry and I was quite a run-around, barefooted, tom-boy sort of kid. I always felt I was Indian and Tamilian, I didn’t really feel like an outsider. As I grew up, I started feeling the differences, especially after I went to boarding school and everyone started speaking in English and English was the cool language, you know. I had to get rid of my Tamil and my French. So all those things started happening, overtime. So yes, I don’t know what my identity is now when people ask me because, I say I’m Indian and they say I don’t look Indian. I say I’m French, they say I don’t sound French. I don’t know, I’m just like, I’m Kalki, the last avatar of Vishnu (laughs).

How is Showbiz? Does it intimidate you sometimes?

I guess you take it with a pinch of salt, I’ve learnt with time how to handle it. Of course, in the beginning I used to get really upset if a critical article came out about me or if rumours were going on about me, which weren’t true. So I’ve learnt to handle it, I just don’t read them anymore. Because there is so much that comes out on a regular basis. There’s no point fighting those battles, those aren’t the important ones. I think that the only way to counter that side of fame is to let your work prove itself. The more work you do, people realize that you are a more established person and that you do quality work.

28 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Photography Credits : Shiva Balaswaminathan

Do you have any fears?

Yes! I fear every time I do a role, ‘Will I get it? Will I pull it off?’ Many times we don’t get to rehearse with our co-actors, we are just thrown into the scene and this might be your husband you are playing opposite to, and where is that connection?

There’s nothing! But I do have those fears, but they are good fears. They make you stand on your toes and work harder. I think this fear of being an image which make people exult you for is the same reason they pull you down. Irom Sharmila right now, you know, she’s spent 16 years of her life dedicated to a cause and now when she, I mean she is still going to fight for the cause, but when she chooses to live her life and marry her boyfriend, everyone’s criticizing her. I think these things, like martyrdom and stardom, we shouldn’t don’t do too much of that, that we don’t exult people to some godly level. We are all human beings, I think that is how I try to stay a little more real. Working in theatre and travelling, these are things that put you back into reality where you are not in five star hotels or your vanity van all the time. Because if you don’t keep getting those new and real experiences in life then you also have nothing to get inspired by in your job.

How do you balance working for art and making a movie a commercial success?

Promotion is like my punishment for loving my job as an actor. When I’m promoting a film, it’s like going to war, you are going to get all the controversial questions thrown at you and you find humour or whatever way to deal with it. That’s like a 15 day period which you have to suffer. I used to be like, I’ve done my work, I’m an actor I’ve done by job in the film, now I’m done. But painfully I learnt that people need to know that your film is there, so I need to balance it out.

“I don’t know what my identity is now when people ask me because, I say I’m Indian and they say I don’t look Indian.

I say I’m French, they say I don’t sound French. I don’t know, I’m just like, I’m Kalki, the last avatar of Vishnu”

29 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

The first time you see her, you are left wondering what is this fairly aged woman doing, drenched in a riot of so much colour, unlike anybody around? Is it supposed to be the new trend? Is it a fashion statement? For she has in the past, constantly re-defined the European sense of style and popular perceptions about what fashion is. If the devil wears Prada, what does Agatha Prada wear? Trying to seek answers to a weird set of questions and mixed emotions, an extremely awestruck Veejay Sai interviews Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, the queen of European high fashion in this exclusive chat.

“I started in a very crazy set-up.”

Where does one start with someone who has accomplished so much? Visiting Asia for the first time in all these decades, she comes with rather strong affirmations for a first-timer. ‘I love Asia. I think in the future of fashion, Asia and India have a strong leading role to play. I am also looking at China as a market but one of the dreams of my life has been to produce and manufacture in India. Let us see. I would love to spend some of my working time in India also’ she says.

While we wish she arrived sooner than that, it is important to go back to see how this one woman shaped the entire history of European fashion with her brand. ‘I come from a family which was always into architecture. If I had actually taken to it, I would have been the 9th generation of architects in our family. Our family was one of those families instrumental and closely involved in the making of Spanish history,’ she recollects talking about her earliest exposure to design. Her mother’s side was very close to Antonio Gaudi, (who belonged to the modernist style art nouveau movement and was famous for his unique and highly individualistic designs) and several reputed architects. ‘My father himself was a rather well known architect of his times and was one of the most important collectors of art in the country. When I was a little girl, I always wanted to become a painter. I was always painting. And that lead me to take on to mixing of media of design, art and colour and that I guess lead me to fashion’, she adds talking about her early childhood memories. Like one knows how the earliest influences in one’s life always have a long-lasting effect, it is not impossible to see them in this case with Agatha. Having said that, nothing came easy for Agatha in a highly patriarchal world where women, forget working women, seldom had any say. ‘When I started designing, there were hardly any women designers. There were hardly any good schools to go and train in. It was almost impossible to get any work anywhere for a young woman who wanted to start off on her own. I started in a very crazy set-up. It was those years when Spain was just about beginning to be a democracy after the death of General Franco.

It was the freest period in the history of Spain and the likes of Pedro Almadovar were trying their own ways of expressing through their film medium. So I was very lucky because I think it was sheer co-incidence that I was there during those years. I began to do my fashion shows. I became popular overnight with the people there and with the media’, she says recollecting her initial years of toiling and hardship.

30 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Being at the right place, at the right time.

She grew from fame to fame and there was no looking back for this young girl. ‘Though I was accepted widely, I was seen as a crazy woman.

I was still looked down upon as someone who makes dresses for a clown and that nobody was going to buy any of my things. For years I tried to get the right shapes and colours and that got me a lot of recognition with the Spanish population. It was very difficult to sell.

I was selling in private circles to friends and family. Most of the sales I did in this period were private. I was almost convinced that I could never sell. I had made my studio which was my own world. But because of places like ‘La Movida Vilena’ and the Olympics, Spain became the focus of the world press for some time. When they came here, they wanted to visit five or six people who were the most important part of Spanish cultural life. I happened to be amongst those five or six people alongside the likes of filmmaker Almadovar, singer Alaska and so on. While I was amidst all this international attention, I was happy, but I was not selling a thing,’ she says remembering how she shot to instant fame without much effort

as luck favoured her and she happened to be at the right place in the right time. ‘During that period I was with a journalist who told me that I have an idea but not a product. I never knew much about having a product. Coming from an architectural background I was very fascinated by industrial design. I began to work for a lot of companies. Today you call it ‘co-branding’.

For years I worked for Swatch and Absolut vodka’, she adds. One must not forget, many decades later Absolut vodka came out with a special designer collector’s edition bottle as a tribute to Agatha’s design legacy, an honour no living designer ever got from any company.

Her associations payed off in the long run and today Prada does co-branding with over 200 important companies worldwide including some big names like Air Europa, Audi, DHL, Absolut. ‘This became my favourite pastime to go and do co-branding with so many more companies. At that time I launched my first perfume in the shape of a heart shaped bottle and I also tied up with El Corte Ingles, which was one of the world’s biggest departmental stores. This was a landmark development in my business’ she adds.

31 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Towards a democratic design In no time, Agatha had so many products which all the designers in Europe put together didn’t have as a collective.

‘I have always wanted to become a democratic designer and not just a luxury designer. In a way Swatch represents a lot of what I am.

There is a little bit of something for everyone. And in a way that is also my philosophy’ she says. Finding more about her signature designs for her latest collections ‘My signature is my colour’, pats comes the reply. ‘For decades and decades in the fashion industry worldwide it has been the tyranny of black colour. So there was this assumption that if you are in the fashion world, you have to be dressed in black, all your life. It’s very crazy and sad. For me black is a colour that brings in a lot of bad energy and there is a huge spectrum of colours that give you a good energy’, she adds. Today you can look at a garment and make out if it’s a Prada product by seeing the bright lively colours it comes in.

‘Initially I tried to be very avant-garde and serious. But that is just not me. For years and years I have always made my collections for the common man in colours. For Europeans I needed to tell them what colours were. But speaking to an Indian is different, for India is a country of colour. You perhaps will not easily understand because across Europe, from Paris and Milan, everyone is dressed in black always!

Everyone who sees my colours asks me to go to India and see how different and close to my philosophy it is. Also, the family of my grandmother is from Guatemala so I think a lot

of my colour comes from that part of the world’, she says.

Going by the veracity of her collections it is impossible to ignore Prada. ‘You can like my work or hate it, but you can recognize it instantly. Initially I had done some women’s wear which didn’t work much. During my stint with El Corte Ingles, they told me to do a children’s wear collection. At that time I had two thoughts in my mind. I had a daughter who was three years old and so it felt nice to have a children’s wear collection but I was angry because I never wanted to do a children’s collection. Once I was in Madrid as a part of the jury of the carnival, and they kept directing me to somewhere else till I told them I was a jury member.

I never liked to do children’s collection because I felt it was like a failure of my women’s wear collection. But I was mistaken. It was one of the biggest successes ever for me, in fact, for any designer I think to come out with a children’s wear collection. I couldn’t believe we were selling as much as we sold’, she says in utter surprise about her work and how it took on a different trajectory.

Such high name and fame comes with its own set of disadvantages, but Agatha knew how to deal with them as well, taking everything that came by in her stride with a dash of colour. ‘Now they make Prada fakes in China and other markets but when I go there , I hear stories of how people talk as if Agatha has copied some Chinese company called foo chi Choo or some such name. It makes me want to laugh out loud’, she says with a giggle.

So what is her sense of fashion?

‘I think fashion is all about communication. What you wear says a lot about the kind of person you are. Fashion surely can have its political ambitions. Fashion in the future has a lot to do with ethics and ecology. We need less and better.

There is a famous shoe brand which says ‘If you don’t need it, don’t buy it’. We need to know conservation’ she says. The post-war Sri Lanka woke up this year to a glitzy Colombo International fashion week arranged at a larger venue attracting the likes of Agatha and in turn she finds Asia as the next big promise, enough to venture here after decades of making a name in European fashion houses. ‘I hope to work with India sometime soon.

It is a large country with such vast superior cultural experiences, history, heritage and traditions. I would like to come there, stay there, learn and understand there and work there’, she says about her future plans with India.

Colourful, lively and yes, the diva of style and substance, the ultimate czarina of vibrancy, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada is a name to reckon within international fashion. For decades to come, one only needs to wait and watch how she might bathe the rest of the world in her colours.

32 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

31 31

BREW LIFESTYLE

JANUARY 2018

35

33 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018 ERBREW 2017 ER 2017 BREW LIFESTYLE LIFESTYLE NOVEMBER NOVEMBER 2017 2017

34 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

SRIDEVI KAPOOR AN EPITOME OF ROYALTY & GRACE Aarathi Arun

QUEEN. That is what comes to our minds when we hear her name or get to be around her. She owned her aura that was nothing short of love. Sridevi didn’t need a hashtag to be known. She was her own brand. She lived the life that many women dreamed of. She had the perfect looks. She had a beautiful and loving family. She had all the fame in the world that even the International OSCAR Committee honoured her with a tribute at the 90th Academy Awards recently. She wore the best of couture, flew to the most exotic locales, ate culinary wonders; all of this and more that we, the public got to see of her life as portrayed by the media. But there was another side to this beautiful story of her life. A side that only a chosen few, a circle that she always kept within her loop knew of. Though she made her life up north, her heart and soul were always pulled back to her hometown down south, Chennai. The connection she shared was quite strong and permanent given that her family and roots traced back here. Her fame when she ruled the south Indian film industry as the leading lady superstar, her best memories of her life were all created here.

35 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Sridevi was a devoted daughter to her parents, a caring sibling, a loving wife and a doting mother just like many of us out here. And when asked to write a tribute on her, I wanted every reader to wear a smile as they get to know small things about her that made delightful memories rather than meaningless controversies.

Every woman is definitely a queen in her own capacity in her own life. But to be accepted as one by the entire world is quite an achievement.

For having been born to parents from a normal family and started acting from a tender age of four, she was an early bloomer who decided to make an era out of her life. Though she started her career under the guidance and consent of her parents, she slowly started developing her own niche in the field. Movies were being made for her. For an industry that was majorly male dominated, she etched out her own space high on top. She was respected for not just being an actress but for being a woman! She owned her popularity with such panache.

Her talents were unmatched and one to appreciate, undoubtedly. She kept nurturing that gifted talent by continuously rediscovering herself with every single movie that she featured in. The grace with which she accepted the Padma Shri Award and many such proved her decorum.

Language was not an issue for this multitalented woman. She did not feel caged in a new front. And neither did she accept movies from the other south Indian industries just for the sake of getting her movie count, up. She dedicated herself to the art and the numerous State Awards she won from all these industries proved her worth. She took on every challenge that came her way and built a step out of it to make it to the very top. The name that she holds today is from the empire that she built single-handedly.

Having known her I am at a loss for words as the grief has not faded away. She was a totally devoted, hands on mother for her daughters. She quit her active career to raise her children the right way. She knew that a normal upbringing was the only way to teach and inculcate family values, having given the glitz and glamour that surrounded them. She wanted to give or best put, gift her children the luxuries of being a child that she was denied.

Devotion was her way of finding peace. A pious person, she would often visit the Tirumala, her favourite abode to thank the one above for all her blessings. This showed that she appreciated the fact that she was reaping the benefits of hard work and did not take them for granted. She knew to thank for what she had and continued getting.

36 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

37 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

I have been told that she yearned for a normal life far away from this flashlight, without being focused upon.

But that was not her choice to make. That was the price she paid for her fame. That was the life this world gave her and now that was what that took her away from all of us. Numerous baseless allegations may be debated upon, but to watch her being butchered on national media as she waited in silence for her final return home was heart wrenching. Humanity seems to have long vanished from the people of the world today. The pain her family would have gone through is unimaginable. All this came as a shock for them to accept the fact at the loss of their loved one and to having to deal with these shaming bullies is a sad story.

She was a very protective mother, like an eagle over her young ones. She took so much care and ensured that not a single bad shadow be cast on her daughters. Yet, she was strict where she had to be. And now her soul would definitely continue to fear for them and guide them even from up above. The void that she has left can never be filled. She was truly one in a million.

May her legacy live on. May her soul rest in peace.

38 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

BREW LIFESTYLE

JANUARY 2018

39

39 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Photography credit : SHIVAJI STORM SEN 40 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Of Petillant Poise, Prose & Panache

By Nanditha Vijayaraghavan

A dreamy sea has a rhythmic pulse to it unmatched by any other part of nature. It forges its own sounds, strings its own music and kindles its own symphony. Much like that untouched, untamed and undaunted dreamy sea, is the alluring Actress Aditi RaoHydari. Her peaches and cream complexion, lithe frame, shiny black tresses and gorgeous sparkling eyes, emboss an exquisite picture of grace, compassion and innocence, on your mind.

She is beautiful, but not like those girls in the magazines.

She is beautiful, for the way she thinks. She is beautiful, for the sparkle in her eyes when she talks about something she is passionate about. She is beautiful, for her ability to spread her positivity and happy vibes.

She is beautiful, deep down to her soul. She is beautiful because she makes broken look beautiful and strong look invincible. She walks with the Universe on her shoulders and makes it look like a pair of wings.

41 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Photography credit : SHIVAJI STORM SEN

Her exuberance is unswervingly infectious. She has a kind of understated beauty, perhaps because she is so disarmingly unaware of her prettiness. No flowing golden curls or ivory skin and no piercing eyes of green, but in her own kind of ordinariness, she is a picturesque stunner. Something radiates from within that renders her irresistible to anyone who gets acquainted to her.

Aditi Rao Hydari has royal blood coursing through her veins. Her paternal great grandfather, Sir Akbar Hydari, once served as the Prime Minister of the Nizams of Hyderabad and her maternal grandfather, Raja J RameshwarRao, headed the administration of Wanaparthy State back in the day. Aditi, a princess in her own right, is surprisingly modest about her illustrious lineage, despite her family also owning one of India’s biggest and renowned publishing houses, Orient Blackswan. Aditi made her acting debut in 2007 with Sharada Ramanathan’s acclaimed Tamil film Sringaram, in which she played the lead character, as a devadasi. Since the film predominantly revolved around classical dance, Ramanathan handpicked her for the role after being enthralled by one of her Bharatanatyam dance performance at a conference. However, it was only later, starting from 2009 when Aditi’s character roles in movies like Delhi 6, Yeh Saali Zindagi and Rockstar, got her the much-needed fraternity recognition and acclaim. Her performances were catalytic in getting her the lead role in London Paris New York (LPNY) opposite Ali Zafar. From a supporting act which got lost, in RakeshOmprakashMehra’s ensemble Delhi-6, to being Mani Ratnam’s leading lady in Kaatru Veliyidai today, Hydari has indeed come a long way, as a person and a performer.

Both barrels of her double last name are loaded with pre-Independence history, from Assam to Andhra Pradesh, but as the Hyderabadi beauty tells us, her family pedigree has only, if anything, humbled her more. She talks to us about her city connection, her royal lineage, her cinematic experiences thus far and her latest Kollywood escapade.

42 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Q: TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR GROWING UP YEARS AND HOW THAT HAS SHAPED YOU INTO THE WOMAN YOU ARE TODAY. Growing up, my life predominantly revolved around a lot of strong women starting with my mother, VidyaRao, who is an extremely talented and compassionate person. A gentle dignified personality with a quiet core strength, she has always given me the freedom to create my own destiny, to live free and independent, to question things and to always remember that my family is around to protect me. Another strong woman in my life who literally conditioned me was my grandmother, who, till her last breath, was actively involved with the school she founded, based on the teachings of the famous philosopher, J. Krishnamurthy. Ather core, she was a 5-year old at heart, always learning new things, writing amazing books for children, sort of like a free spirit with a twinkle in her eyes. And then there was my dance teacher and guru, Leela Samson, from whom I learn much more than just dance. In addition to the people influencers in my life, there were other things that played a huge part in my growing up like books, stories, and the classical arts. I think I have had the best of both worlds in the sense that today I feel extremely rooted to my culture and tradition but also have a liberal open-minded upbringing.

Q: YOU ARE A TRAINED CLASSICAL DANCER. DO YOU STILL PRACTICE? WHAT DOES DANCE MEAN TO YOU? Dance is in my pulse literally and so is music. I can never separate myself from dance and music. My mum says I sang in tune before I talked and I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t going to dance class! I don’t practice much or perform now because I would need to give it my time and respect before stepping on to a stage. But whenever I can, I spend time with Leela Akka in Chennai, I do my yoga, some Kalari, and practice my Abhinaya. I miss it so I try and do as much of it as time allows me. Fortunately, acting is an amalgamation of all the art forms that I love, so that’s a huge blessing in disguise.

Q: WHAT, ACCORDING TO YOU, IS THE BEST AND THE WORST THING ABOUT BEING AN ACTRESS TODAY? The best trumps the worst of course. I know we all crib and complain at times about how we are judged and the amount of scrutiny that exists and yes one does feel bad at times but honestly the unconditional love that you receive from the audience is so much more powerful that it outweighs all the other discomforts. I think it’s a choice you make, to tune out of the discordant noise and tune in to the music and that according to me is always a happier way of living.

Q: WHICH OF YOUR CINEMATIC ROLES IS CLOSEST TO YOUR HEART AND WHY? Honestly, I’ve never been able to answer this question because when I’m working on a film I become invested in it

completely. You come a full circle living through the entire journey of the film, embodying the role that you are required to play and then move on to the next story and character.

But if I must pick one today then I will have to say the role of Dr.Leela from Kaatru Veliyidai has got to be the closest to my heart. As I speak, I am at the far end of the journey with it, but Leela, the character and everything about her still resonates with me, and perhaps always will.

Q: WHO IS YOUR ROLE MODEL OR SOMEONE WHOSE WORK YOU IMMENSELY ADMIRE IN THE FILM INDUSTRY TODAY? I don’t have a single role model in the film industry to be specific. I believe we all must create our own unique path and cannot emulate anyone for the time we invest and build a life here. However, I sure am inspired by many in the fraternity today such as Rani Mukherjee for her spontaneity and effortless delivery of any character she essays. I also love and respect Vidya Balan for the way she has carved a niche and space of her own in this industry. I think Alia Bhatt is another upcoming actress who is constantly making amazing choices of scripts and roles and doing great work. I also love Ranbir’s work for he can make me believe anything on screen.

Most recently I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Karthi in Kaatru Veliyidai. He is someone who works extremely hard and strives to do something different by stepping out of his comfort zone almost every time.

Q: WAS IT A CONSCIOUS DECISION FOR YOU TO MOVE FOCUS TOWARDS THE SOUTH INDIAN FILM INDUSTRY? As a performer, I’m largely driven by the work of amazing directors and as a person I’m always up for new experiences and challenges whether it is to learn a new language or understand a new culture. I think being in this field, these kinds of opportunities are a blessing to receive. Every story or script you are associated with impacts you and makes you feel in a certain way, and these feelings are not defined by geography or language or even religion - they are universal and so is cinema.

Q: TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH MANI RATNAM AND DEBUTING IN KOLLYWOOD. It’s been my childhood dream to be a Mani Ratnam heroine and Kaatru Veliyidai helped me realize that dream of mine.

Mani sir is a mentor in the true sense of the word, for he will never tell you what to do and clip your wings but instead he would encourage you to discover the character and role together. As a director, he gives you wings to fly, the freedom to explore, and all the while you know the best mind is still watching you, guiding you, and making sure you deliver your best. Mani sir creates an amazing environment wherein he writes and stages scenes in a way that everything feels real.

His passion for every frame, every scene, every nuance and his energy are extremely infectious.

43 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

C

Photography credit : SHIVAJI STORM SEN

M

Q: HOW WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH YOUR CO-STAR KARTHI IN KAATRU VELIYIDAI?

Y

CM

MY

Karthi is really the best co-star I could have asked for. Mani sir wanted him to change his look completely for the movie and he worked extremely hard for it. Personally, I think he has great perseverance and will power. We would end up eating all sorts of things in front of him but that never deterred him from his dietary goals and restrictions. Also, despite our long hours of shoot schedules during the movie, he was very disciplined about not missing out on his workout sessions.

Karthi’s character in the movie is very different from the real Karthi but I never felt that because Karthi became the character very seamlessly. He is an amazing actor, seldom satisfied and keeps thinking of ways to improve and reinvent himself so it’s inspiring to work with him. I trusted Karthi completely from day one so it felt effortless to be in the same frame as him.

CY

CMY

K

Q: CAN WE EXPECT YOU TO FORRAY INTO TELEGU CINEMA TOO, SOON? What drives me to be part of a film project is the script and the director. I was born and raised in Hyderabad and at heart I’ll always be a Hyderabadi girl. In that respect, it would be fabulous if the right script and project in Telugu cinema came my way.

Photography credit : SHIVAJI STORM SEN

44 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

BREW LIFESTYLE

JANUARY 2018

45

45 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

THE RISE & RISE OF COMEDY SHEROES

By Nanditha Vijayaraghavan

Literally and metaphorically: when you tell a joke, you are in charge.

You are the one delivering the reveal, the delight, the fresh take. You’re wielding the massive power of surprise. You’re expressing your point of view in an especially potent way. Or, as Joan Rivers put it: “You’re commanding them to listen to you.”

That power is especially key for girls and women. Things are changing (if selectively, and glacially), and there are a zillion exceptions, but girls and women are still socialized to be quiet, acquiescent, and polite, while boys and men are encouraged to be loud, opinionated, even combative. Know what can help break those habits—for you and those around you? Humor. Whether your style is aggressive or subdued, humor means owning, expressing, valuing— and sticking to—your point of view. But it’s not only about fighting for screen time in the moment. Comedy gives you a powerful new way of speaking, making yourself heard, and taking up space, in the first place.

A powerful wave of women in comedy has gained major traction in India over the last few years. From female desire, to unplanned pregnancy; from menstruation to arranged marriage, a new breed of female comedians in the country are giving voice to important issues previously considered taboo for public discussion -- and they’re being heard. Not only is their content itself radical -- demolishing stereotypes, challenging biases and demanding equality -- but it’s also empowered by the speed and scale of the internet, able to wield a radical impact. Their work is reaching hundreds of thousands of people across the country as soon as it’s uploaded online, and thus has the potential to become a major driving force for change in the way that society sees women here.

We spoke with one such changemaker, Sumukhi Suresh, whose brand of humor is rewriting the rules of the game and who believes in engaging social issues that are otherwise either too contentious or too personal to be discussed.

46 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

47 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Q.Tell us a bit about when and how the stand-up bug caught you and why you chose this profession.

I started with improvisational comedy. In 2013 I joined the ensemble of The Improv in Bangalore. I was working then and I took up Comedy as a distraction. Naveen Richard and I then wrote our sketch show “Go Straight Take Left” and I started doing YouTube videos with Sanjay Manaktala.

Naveen, Sanjay and Vamsi urged me to hit the open mics and start stand up comedy. When all of this started coming together, I quit my job and started doing comedy full time.

Q. Tell us about your experience so far as a comic, writer and more importantly as a performer.

I am learning something everyday. I studied food science, was working at a food laboratory so if you ask me about E. coli and salmonella I can speak for hours. But with comedy, writing and performance, I am learning on the job, watching movies and content and trying to catch up! So it’s been very exciting.

Q. What inspired you to create web series like ‘Behti Naak’, ‘Pushpavalli’ and the recent ‘Beauty and the Feast’?

I have always believed that kids aren’t all rosy and sweet.

They are brutally honest and that pricks more than adults attacking you. Behti is a lot like my older brother who’s humour is acidic. Also I am tired of seeing pretty things on screen. A lower middle class household looks grungy.

I am tired of women being portrayed as either black or white. They can never be grey when actually women are always grey. Aren’t we all fighting about how flawed the “sati savitri” phenomenon is? That and events from my personal life helped me create Pushpavalli, who is an anti-hero you feel for.

I love to cook for people. I have worked as a chef and I wanted to put those skills to work! Also making friends is not easy. So I exaggerated that thought around what if beauty kidnaps her friends and forced to be friends with her.

Q. Of all the roles you have essayed so far, which one is your favourite and why?

Sumukhi Chawla from better life foundation. That character changed a lot for me. I was given older characters to play before Sumukhi Chawla. After better life foundation things started looking up.

Q. Where do you see stand-up in India heading in the near future?

There are more of us coming up so now being stand up comic is not the novelty. Better content will make the cut and that’s good. Also comics will start writing more shows so hopefully digital web series will pick up more than now.

Q. How easy/difficult in your opinion is it for a female comic to find her place in the Indian stand-up scene today?

There are more number of us now and that helps. Yes there are times when your joke isn’t accepted as easily as when cracked by a male counterpart but we need to get past that so that we are out there and women/girls from non-metros also start doing comedy!

Q. Tell us about some of the comics who you draw your inspiration and fuel from.

Sarah Silverman, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler Q. What can the audience expect next from Sumukhi?

Naveen and I are working on the second season of our sketch show “Go Straight Take Left”, 2 web series and I am working hard to finally release a stand up special.

Q. Words of wisdom for people aspiring to venture into stand-up comedy.

Hit the open mics, bomb, eat ice cream. repeat.

48 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

49 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

There have always been funny women, but only a handful made it to the mainstream, and so history has written them off as outliers.

But things are different now, thanks to artists like Sumukhi who have managed to take their creative experience and spin it into something even men consider universal. So let’s start by telling girls that it’s good to be funny. That they’re already funnier than they think. Let’s tell them that being funny means being exactly who they are already, just with a few more punchlines. Let’s show girls that comedy is not the thing dudes do that girls laugh at. Let’s show girls that comedy is theirs. That whether they want to be standup funny, or YouTube funny, or improv funny, or disarm a bully funny, or Snapchat funny, or just funnier stump speech for class president funny - comedy is power, and that power is theirs.

50 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

5BREW LIFESTYLE

JANUARY 2018

61

BREW LIFESTYLE

DECEMBER 2017 51 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

52 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

NISCHINTA AMARNATH WRITING WITH

HEART &SOUL “While it is important to think of the consequences of one’s actions, it is more important to embrace who you are and do what you’re doing from the heart and soul.

And believe in it all the way through.”

Born in Delhi and brought up in places like Kolkata, Bangalore, Nigeria, Rome and last of all Chennai, Nischinta Amarnath grew up as a precocious child, a keen observer of the world. Having travelled a lot during her childhood and having lived and seen different ways of life while growing up, it was natural for her to have varied perceptions of things and wanting to express that.

She was equally fond of words and numbers as a kid; and starting from story recitation competitions and Enid Blyton books, there was no looking back for Amarnath as she started her journey into the world of literature.

YET there is one other factor that drew her only closer to words and numbers - synesthesia. Every alphabet, word and number having its own colour, shade, texture, radiance, pattern, shape, etc. For instance the word “this” is coloured in cobalt blue, maroonish, red or copper and shaped like a shirt. She has had this since early childhood and due to the numerous possible ways in which she could see words and numbers, she only got more and more curious.

53 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

The real writing began when she moved to Chennai from abroad in the late 1990’s. She was ten years old then. And this was the time she picked up her first Enid Blyton, as per a rule at school which said everyone should read one Enid Blyton book a week. Amarnath didn’t like the idea much at first; she didn’t think she would be enthusiastic enough about it. But there was no stopping once she started. She was so hooked on to it she that she read her books between classes, during meal times, while going in a car, at relatives houses, late into the night and pretty much all the time.

Her favorite is probably the Magic Faraway Tree series, her own versions of which she fantasized and produced. She has been writing fiction as a hobby in the form of short stories inspired by her father’s stories. Her father would make up stories for her in a spur of the moment, given the creative person that he was. He even added catchy elements of surprise and made them even more interesting. So her father’s stories, The Enid Blyton books, memories that have been part of her childhood and also having travelled to a lot of places helped her evolve to a state sufficient enough to explore on her own.

Talking about Enid Blyton, she couldn’t find a single book in New York City. She was travelling in UK and the rest of Europe in late 2017 (for the book she is currently writing), and it was a pretty packed trip. She remembered to buy gifts for her family and friends but forgot that she also wanted the original Magic Faraway Tree series.

Assuming that one can get the books in NYC, she returned from her trip only to be shocked to find that the city didn’t have a single copy of an Enid Blyton book. There were numerous other children’s books in various languages and by many authors, but no Enid Blyton. Hence she ended up ordering online from a bookstore in London, via Amazon. But, when she received the copies it disheartened her all the more to find that they were Americanised: Bessie’s name was changed to Beth; Fanny’s to Franny. So since then she has been reading multiple authors (like John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon, Julian Flint and more recently Janice Pariat), reading voraciously and across genres.

Her first book, titled “The Voyage To Excellence”, was published in 2005 when she was 18 years old and this established her as the youngest nonfiction business author of her time.

54 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

55 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

She nearly lost her mother to tumour around this time, and less than a year later she had a near-death experience (NDE) herself. It took her a while to open up and muster enough courage and talk about it in 2016. Amarnath extended her writing to freelancing for The Hindu, starting with celebrity interviews. Sachin Tendulkar was one of the first celebrities she interviewed and later came along A. R. Rahman, actor Madhavan, Anita Pratap and ShwetaShetty to name a few. It has been a journey since then for her. The diversity of her cultural experiences influenced a lot on her personality right from childhood. She likes to believe that God has planned great things for everyone and at the present moment she just goes with the flow of life, seeking to keep faith in who she is and being true to herself. Writing has taught her the importance of being true to oneself and standing up for that truth, and Nischinta Amarnath keeps that up all the time.

Her first book, titled “The Voyage To Excellence”, was published in 2005 when she was 18 years old and this established her as the youngest non-fiction business author of her time. Given her developed interest in business and entrepreneurship, she took up subjects like Economics, Business Maths, Sociology and Psychology in High School and enrolled for a Bachelor’s in economics from Stella Maris College in Chennai. Before her first book came out, she was writing for a regular weekly column for The New Indian Express for which she interviewed different entrepreneurs in different fields.

So the first book became an extension of that, wherein the objective was to bring to light the stories of 21 women business leaders, in terms of the challenges they faced, social conditioning, family backgrounds, etc. The first copy was presented to Sonia Gandhi, and it was officially launched by Renuka Chowdhury, former Union Minister of State for women and child development. Although Amarnath has had a keen interest in business for a long time, and the idea of becoming a businesswoman herself now seems good, she believes that it takes a different class of people to be entrepreneurs and now may not be a good time to do so, yet saves the thought for the future. She has always wanted to be a journalist, to write towards her passion in Economics and Business.

The idea for her recently published book ‘Victims For Sale’ came up when she heard of certain instances of a family in Coimbatore had faced. Based on which she fictionalized it into a novel, more specifically a psychological thriller. It took her more than a decade to write this book, juggling between full-time jobs, constant travel, relocating and studying. She does not have any fixed favourites when it comes to genres, but among others she likes to read Psychological Thrillers, Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction and love stories.

Two more feathers to add to her hat - she is also an amateur filmmaker and music composer. She is trained in Hindustani Classical music and took up video production classes at Columbia University during graduate school. Combining these two, she produced a short video (titled “Fallen Angels”) for the launch of Victims For Sale in Chennai. It could be called a trailer for the book, but more of a musical an attempt to bring the characters to life.

Her next book - Twin Flames - is a transatlantic love saga about two teen prodigies who win the Nobel Prize in their chosen fields. It will be a story of spiritual awakening, enduring love, unyielding compromise and resilience against immense adversity as these two people try to find their way back to each other against all odds. Writing this book has made her more connected to herself and shown her new facets of herself about which she was unaware of. Currently, Amarnath’s focus is mainly on her writing, to write with heart and soul, and believe in herself and have faith in what could be God’s plan for her. Relocating to Chennai or anywhere else in India from NYC is on the cards. She feels the glowing swell of warmth, pride, love and acceptance in India and also interesting opportunities. She may probablyl move back to India in the near future. While it is important to think of the consequences of one’s actions, she says, it is more important to embrace who you are and do what you’re doing from the heart and soul. And believe in it all the way through.

56 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

57 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Photography Credits : BHAVESH BHATI 58 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

“I’M NOT A CELEBRITY. I’M FOCUSING ON MY GOALS FOR THE FUTURE” As Babe Ruth established rightly about how hard it is to beat a person who never gives up, Dipa Karmakar proves to be the essence and spirit of it as she trail blazes her way to the pinnacle of success. The first Indian female gymnast to ever compete in the Olympics, Dipa Karmakar has not only put India on the Vaulting map, but has created history. In conversation with Aasha Sriram, she opens up about how this is just the beginning to a long journey ahead of her.

Dipa Karmakar’s execution of the produnova earned her a score of 15.066 and she finished fourth in the Women’s Vault Gymnastics event at the Rio Olympics. Her wave of success at the Olympics, her passion and fire for the sport has helped redefine the future of India’s potential.

With the constant support of her family, Dipa’s love affair with gymnastics began when she was five years old. Hailing from a family that has always been involved in sports, Dipa was guided in that direction. Her father, a former weight lifter propelled Dipa towards gymnastics and shaped her passion.

“My father loved gymnastics and encouraged me to give it a shot. From the very beginning my parents were very supportive, and encouraged me to play sports. When the other parents asked their children to study instead of

playing, my parent always told me to follow my heart,” says the 23-year-old champ.

After winning the bronze medal in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Dipa finished fourth in the Asian games, and from there she has been unstoppable. Her career began with her participation in the National Games of India, where she won gold medals in all four events: floor, vault, balance beam and uneven bars.

“It was never about the medals for me. I enjoyed Gymnastics, and I felt like I wanted to do something. I wanted to prove to myself that I can achieve what I want to, and after Rio, I feel like I can definitely reach greater heights,” she says.

Qualifying for the Olympics wasn’t an easy task says Dipa, who had to make many sacrifices to make her dream come true.

59 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

“From the very beginning my parents were very supportive, and encouraged me to play sports. When the other parents asked their children to study instead of playing, my parents always told me to follow my heart.”

Photography Credits : BHAVESH BHATI 60 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

“Three months before qualifying, I spent hours practicing and working hard. With the support I received from the government as well as Gosports foundation, I was able to buckle down and focus on my training. I trained for about 8 hours a day before Rio, and I worked hard and finished in fourth place,” says the gymnast.

Facing challenges isn’t new for Dipa, for she has only become stronger and emerged to be one of the most inspiring sports icons of the nation. Turning obstacles into opportunities, she has truly proven that nothing is impossible.

“This sport is very challenging, because every move has the potential to break you. The final seconds of the execution are very important, and even though I could have given up easily, I didn’t let the fear get to me because I wanted to keep doing this.”

In addition to taking the gymnastics arena by storm, Dipa is also pursuing her masters in Political Science.

As a gymnast and a woman, Dipa has created ripples across the country, but according to her, this is just the beginning.

“I’m immensely happy to be the first Indian woman to have qualified for the Rio Olympics in an event that is so close to my heart. It would have been great if I had come back with a medal for my country, but this is just the beginning.”

Excerpts: From competing in the National Games of India to the Olympics, how has your journey been?

My life has completely changed. Even after winning three gold and two silver medals, I kept continuing out of interest. I constantly feel like I should do more and that fire in me keeps me going.

When times were hard, what inspired you to keep going?

There was a point when training had become very challenging, but after qualifying for the Olympics, all of that evaporated. I’m very grateful for the support I’ve received from the government, Gosports and the love of the country. My coach has been the constant guiding force in my life. Even when I had doubts, he kept telling me that I could do it. It’s only because of him that I have achieved whatever I have.

What was going through your mind when you were executing the produnova?

I was aware of the difficulty of the produnova, but I practiced it until it became easy. I remember feeling the intensity in the moment, and with my whole country rooting for me, I knew I could do it.

On being a celebrity When asked about how she is handling all the attention Dipa says, “I don’t think I am a celebrity or a famous person. I haven’t won a medal, I’ve come fourth. When I win a medal, I’ll see what happens. For now, I’m very grounded and focused on my goals for the future.”

On women’s involvement in sports When asked about her message to young women, Dipa says, “I only wish for women to come forward, practice and achieve.”

61 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

Photography Credits : BHAVESH BHATI

“This sport is very challenging, because every move has the potential to break you. The final seconds of the execution are very important, and even though I could have given up easily, I didn’t let the fear get to me because I wanted to keep doing this.”

62 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018

63 I BREW LIFESTYLE I MARCH 2018