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MASABA WANTS
TO OWN IT ALL
SATURDAY, AUGUsT 20 2022 Masaba Gupta discusses the
growth of her fashion label,
the launch of her beauty
brand in a crowded
skincare and wellness mar-
ket, how privilege can only
take you so far, and her great
fear of being mediocre
SEE PAGE 12

SYRMA SETS STAGE FOR IPO MARKET REVIVAL | PAGE 16

LAST
ACTOR
STANDING
TEN YEARS AFTER HER BIG-SCREEN
DEBUT, ALIA BHATT IS BRACING
HERSELF FOR HOLLYWOOD. COULD
THIS 29-YEAR-OLD ACTOR CHANGE
THE RULES OF THE GAME YET AGAIN?

TAsTE
What’s taking the fizz out
of your craft beer?
TRAVEL
A night in the
London Zoo
sMART LiViNG
Solving the MacBook Air
conundrum for you
CULTURE
How Ilaiyaraaja’s
music hooks Gen Z
02 SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi FIRST

WEEKEND
A NOTE FROM
THE EDITOR
NEW ON SCREENS TO-DOs
Thrillers from Spain and India and a charming musical
SHALINI UMACHANDRAN from Turkey are among this week’s releases

HEARTSONG

Growing
This romcom follows a group
of Dom musicians—the
nomadic community is one of
the most marginalised in Tur-

into a role
key. It’s a quirky bunch, but a
close-knit one. Piroz (Erkan
Kolçak Köstendil) is perform- POWERFUL MOMENTS
ing at a wedding when the
groom calls it off and takes the

R
ajyashri Goody, an artist
bride, Sümbül (Hazar Ergü- and writer who docu-
çlü), back to her father, who ments the life and culture
decides to kill her. Piroz, who of the Dalit community through
has fallen in love with the her work, will be unveiling a solo
bride at first sight, must find a show, Is The Water Chavdar?, at
way to save her. (Netflix) GALLERYSKE in Delhi. It’s
inspired by the transformative
incident in 1927 when B.R.
Ambedkar and 10,000 others
marched to a water tank, Mahad,
in Maharashtra and drank its
water. Dalits weren’t allowed to
do so, even their shadow touch-
ing it was considered impure.
This came to be known as the
Mahad Satyagraha. Goody’s
show pays homage to this
moment through ceramics,
printmaking, paper pulp, and
adapted recipes. On view from
20 August-1 October, 11am-7pm
DOBAARAA (closed on Tuesdays, Sundays by
Taapsee Pannu and Anurag Kashyap appointment)
After the disaster that was Student Of The Year, I had decided to re-team after the excellent Manmarzi-
steer clear of anything featuring Alia Bhatt. No matter how yaan. Dobaaraa is a thriller about a
often her Highway, Udta Punjab and Raazi came up in woman who connects with a boy who
conversation, and despite the fact that I had Gully Boy’s music witnessed a murder years ago. It’s a
on repeat for a few weeks, I am not proud to say I didn’t watch remake of the Spanish film Mirage
her work. I followed her career through interviews and the (2018). (in theatres)
news, curious about her evolution as an actor and a public fig-
ure, but without a real understanding of her range.
With the great reviews for Darlings following so quickly after
Gangubai Kathiawadi, I decided to fix that, and
realised what I had been missing. The 29-year-old has had a
busy year—carrying a film like Gangubai Kathiawadi, making
her debut as a producer with Darlings, getting married and pre-
paring to be a mother—and when she agreed to sit down with
Lounge for a chat, we were all excited. She tells Raja Sen about CODE NAME: EMPEROR NaTURE’S bOUNTy
her approach to work, the messages she sends through it, chal- Juan (Luis Tosar) is a state intelligence agent—his job is to find evidence, fabri-

T
lenging herself, and the roles she hopes to take on in the future. cate it if required, against powerful people. While Juan is morally conflicted, he he Bombay Canteen’s new
This is an issue with a bit more sparkle than usual. We meet rationalises it by saying, “Someone has to do it.” This Spanish spy thriller is tell- menu is an ode to the
fashion designer, entrepreneur and actor Masaba Gupta, ing in its depiction of how the state uses surveillance to its advantage. (Netflix) monsoon, celebrating the
who has just launched her beauty brand, Love Child, into a local produce currently availa-
market crowded with similar skincare and wellness products ble in Mumbai, from white corn
in the ₹100-900 price range. She discusses creating and RECLAIM and banana blossom flowers to
building brands, the responsibility and privilege of being a Ms Yeh (Hee Ching Paw), an art teacher, monsoon greens like cassia tora,
child of celebrities, her work as an actor, and her mother’s juggles a lot of things and is always sorrel leaves, morning glory and
role in her life. picking up after her husband and water chestnuts. Curated by
We are stirring the pot by asking whether Tamil composer daughter, while her retired husband can executive chef Hussain Shahzad,
Ilaiyaraaja’s new music is as fabulous as the old—the hook from be seen sitting in his high-backed the menu includes red cabbage
his 1985 hit Unakkum Enakkum Anandam often forms the tangerine leather chair, in front of the thoran served with charred
background audio for Reels, he seems to go viral every year TV. In the middle of this hectic life, she’s white corn, ravai cutlets served
with a sample or a remix, and has collaborated with Netflix to also house-hunting to accommodate her with Parmesan and banana blos-
promote the Telugu and Tamil versions of Stranger Things. mother, who has dementia. While this som salad, raj kachori with mon-
Even if you don’t agree with our argument, the songs featured Taiwanese film is confusing and slow in soon greens, and roasted pump-
in our piece make for a great playlist. And, as always, we have parts, it is also realistic and relatable, the kin kulcha. If you want to satiate
reviews of books you should be reading, ideas to help you make story of a middle-aged woman who your sweet tooth, order the cof-
travel plans, and suggestions on what to wear, eat, watch and decides to reclaim her agency. A lot is fee rasgulla sundae. At The Bom-
do this weekend, and through the week. channelled through gestures—one bay Canteen, Kamala Mills,
memorable scene is where the husband Lower Parel, Monday-Friday
Write to the Lounge editor [email protected] returns home to find Ms Yeh sitting (noon-1am) and Saturday-Sun-
@shalinimb quietly in his chair. (Netflix) day (11am-1am)
—Compiled by Jahnabee Borah
Compiled by Nipa Charagi and Uday Bhatia. and Avantika Bhuyan

LOUNGE VISIT DINE MOVE LIVE

ONLINE
A trip to Morocco’s Breaking bread with Building muscles on How ‘mom qualities’
YOUR Chefchaouen a giant ‘paratha’ a plant-based diet? help at work
FAVOURITE
WEEKEND READ
C S T C
ocooned in Morocco’s Rif Moun- haring food is always a way to forge he meat versus no-meat question ompanies often hold a subcon-
tains, Chefchaouen dazzles with connections, and communal meals comes up frequently on a health scious bias against hiring women
NOW THROUGH its beautiful buildings in shades are a custom in many cultures. journey, especially when one is with children, believing it affects
of blue, ranging from indigo to aquama- Madhumita Gupta tastes the Sarpanch trying to gain muscle or lose weight. As productivity. The reality is very differ-
THE WEEK rine. Founded in 1471, the medieval city Paratha, a ginormous paratha that can always, there is a middle ground, and Jen ent, finds Divya Naik. She writes that
with its walled kasbah is known as the be shared by four-six people, served in Thomas speaks to experts to find out women are able to multitask as well as
Blue Pearl of Morocco. Chefchaouen is Gurugram, Haryana’s local Pancha- how to gain muscle without eating meat. manage multiple projects. Among the
The best of Mintlounge.in from known for traditional gaon—Proudly Desi res- No matter what and how reasons why women do so
handmade souvenirs, taurant. The 20-inch we eat, we all need protein well at juggling so much
the week gone by and what to from carpets and crockery paratha, served with chut- in our diet. The National are a crystal-clear aware-
look forward to in the one ahead to clothing; its narrow neys, curries and sabzis, is Academy of Sports Medi- ness of values to make
streets are full of shops. a star dish at the restau- cine (Nasm) tells us that effective decisions; the
The fortified city, origi- rant, and the staff roll out the recommended daily ability to understand and
nally built to protect its residents from about 40 of them every day. Gupta goes allowance is approximately 0.8g of pro- act with a sense of urgency; impeccable
Portuguese invaders, is home to several behind the scenes to learn all about the tein per kilogram. Be mindful of what discipline and organisational skills; the
ethnic groups, including Jews and work that goes into kneading, rolling you eat. Ultimately, choosing products ability to invest time and effort into
Moors, lending it a unique cultural iden- and transferring the massive paratha on that have more natural nutrients is the delivering their best; a zest for work; and
tity. The city is a car-free zone and easy to to a skillet, flipping and serving without first step to making dietary changes that the ability to drive the workforce
navigate, finds Sugato Mukherjee. the whole thing coming apart. improve health. through effective leadership.

[email protected] In News >> Big Story In Food >> Discover In Health >> Fitness In Relationships >> It’s Complicated
@mint_lounge
@livemintlounge

ON THE COVER: ALIA BHATT, PHOTOGRAPHED BY PSUDO (STYLIST: AMI PATEL, MAKE-UP: POMPY, HAIR: AYESHA)
 FIRST SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi 03

The freedom
of plotlessness
Amit Chaudhuri’s Sojourn too allows for such thematic con-
cerns.
ventional sense, what is often margina-
lised by a plot or story is life. In stories that
latest novel, ‘Sojourn’, It could seem that Chaudhuri’s con- are directed by a plot, other things…get
cerns are becoming repetitive. But while marginalised in pursuing the story of what
is an exploration of there are incremental improvements to happens with the protagonist.
thought, there is also a case to make for a You write that we “have an appetite
belonging, home and meta-comment on the iterative nature of for home as flies do for food”. It seems
displacement meaning-seeking, and life itself. There is
no denying the poignancy in thought or
like home is a place we don’t ever fully
have but also, as you write, “find
the artfulness of sentences: Sojourn is unerringly”. Can you reconcile this ?
Vangmayi Parakala most enjoyable and meaningful when Home here connects to history and pol-
[email protected] read as a flâneuristic account of displace- itics but not in the usual way that these
ment, with vignette-like observations. relate to the novel or to the idea of home.

A
line in Amit Chaudhuri’s The unnamed protagonist, an aca- One part of history and politics that we
new novel has the demic, arrives in Berlin as a visiting profes- don’t talk about is what it means to live in
unnamed protagonist say- sor and meets Faqrul, a Bangladeshi Mus- a globalised world which has emerged
ing he “woke up to words lim poet living in exile, and Birgit, a woman from the dualities and options and range
and didn’t bother with the to whom he is attracted. He of experiences that a particu-
language”. Sojourn is only 136 pages long develops a comfortable, lar world—of a place of both
but it is thoughts like these that make its if linguistically incom- socialism and capitalism—
quality a toss-up between vague and com- patible, domesticity offered to us. The novel is set in Berlin, Germany. It’s difficult for me to bring to my con- saying in) German. I wanted to do this for
plex. This also makes it both interesting with a cleaning lady What I am looking at is a ISTOCKPHOTO sciousness right now what is only part of a us to be comfortable with the idea of
and unsatisfying. named Gerta and strikes person who has been made kind of semi-conscious experience or inti- becoming familiar with something—
One gets the sense that the latter isn’t a friendship of sorts with homeless by having fallen off mation. But I believe history can be knowing...doesn’t only come through the
necessarily a bad word for Chaudhuri, Geeta Roy, another Indi- from that world, because accessed and experienced through these ways in which we think it does.
who has been aware of this quality to his an-origin academic, and that world ceased to exist. semi-conscious moments which open out The book notes that Faqrul, the poet
work since his 1991 debut novel, A Strange her white husband. But by undertaking one’s into an epoch—and these can be quite in exile, has an enthusiasm for exag-
And Sublime Address. Sample this bit from Throughout, though, daily life in Berlin, by taking ordinary moments. It could be that we geration. At the same time, “to access
it: “And yet the story would never be a sat- there is a sense of detach- trains, by walking streets, have led multiple lives without knowing it, history in this way you had to access
isfying one, because the writer...would be ment. Like a person who one feels that the separa- in separate narratives, not only in our his- him”. Why would you want history in
too caught up in jotting down the irrele- has been displaced and tion between the post-glo- tory but in histories in different places, this way at all?
vances and digressions that make up exiled many times over—a balised and pre-globalised which are secretly joined. That’s the kind of question, or the realm
lives...rather than a good story— till the lot of us are, whether emo- world is wavering; that it The protagonist watches a German of possibility, the novel is exploring: not
reader would shout ‘Come to the point!’— tionally, politically, socially even might be illusory; show he doesn’t understand “just as history necessarily as exaggeration or
and there would be no point…” or geographically, and, as that you might at certain one might look out a window”. He untruth, but having access to it in new and
But there is a point to his preoccupa- Chaudhuri would specifi- moments, in certain cities, and certain seems to be looking at his own life, fresh ways without even realising it. It is
tions— Sojourn, like most of his work, is an cally bemoan, even from our own histo- parts of the world, not just re-live, but, as it too, like this. Some might say this is part of the unfolding of moments and
exploration of belonging and home, and, ries—the protagonist tends to be okay were, inhabit history again. dissociation and others, that it’s the their proximity to history that this novel is
this time, it is specifically about the loss with finding home, intimacy and belong- You might be in a state of slight confu- wisest way to live. What does a char- looking at.These are all happening at that
that the self experiences as a historical ing in fleeting moments in his present. For sion at that point but in a way that doesn’t acter like this achieve in the context point of time, which includes Faqrul, his
being. As times change, so do sociopoliti- times when the anxiety of being disturb you—like the protagonist’s loss of of everything you have said—and tall tales, an experience of something, the
cal and economic realities. How does a unmoored coexists with an aversion to memory, which causes no anxiety. He’s what of readers who do not share the loss of memory, and sense of intimacy. All
person born into, or one who grows up in, being defined (or worse, boxed), this is the exploring his space, in which the fall of the history you are talking about? of these are showing us that we have to
one point of history understand or handle best-case scenario. Edited excerpts from Berlin Wall, the markers that separate the In stories that are directed I am interested in exploring what it then dispense with what we know already
this change in another epoch? an interview with the author: immediate past, the historical past and its means to be at ease with, and be illumi- about how history comes to us…in order to
This underlying concern in his oeuvre is politics from the present, are becoming
by a plot, other things…get nated by, what one doesn’t understand; to understand the story of how we feel and
notable. In his 2017 novel, Friend Of My The first, most obvious thing to talk irrelevant. Which is why he is in a state of marginalised in pursuing not be anxious about that and to almost experience something we ostensibly call
Youth, the protagonist says, “I’m unde- about is the plotlessness of your work. exploration rather than anxiety. the story of what happens take it as natural. That is happening, foreign.
cided about the time we live in.” In Odys- It’s not that I aim not to have a plot but You say one can find or inhabit one’s maybe not in a conventional sense (say, of
seus Abroad, his 2014 novel, a 20-some-
with the protagonist.
I find other things more interesting. I like formative histories in parts of any understanding the language)…. I want to Sojourn, by Amit Chaudhuri, published
thing Bengali wanders around London plotlessness in that sense because it frees city. What is it about these moments share this experience with the reader, by Penguin Random House India, 136
with his uncle, thinking of the geographi- things up, it allows me to look at things that takes you back to a certain point where (they are) also content not to pages, ₹499. Available on pre-order, it’s out
cal and emotional nature of belonging. which plot marginalises; and in the con- of belonging? understand (for example, what Gerta is early September.

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New Delhi HOW TO LOUNGE

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Salman Rushdie in a 2017 episode of ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’.

n the ninth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm (Disney+ Hotstar), creator and
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I star Larry David—who plays an irascible version of himself on the show—
announces that he has written a musical. His Broadway comedy is called
“Fatwa! The Musical” and it is about the disrupted life of novelist Salman
Rushdie after the ayatollah of Iran announced a prize on his head. It is a buzzy
with a flowery printed fabric in an unusual idea, well-suited to David’s satirical stylings, and the writer has no trouble
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makes fun of the fatwa and angers an ayatollah. Soon the comedian—who
co-created Seinfeld and now grumbles over social niceties—has a fatwa on
his own bald head. The possibility of being assassinated sends David spiral-
ling, and, after hiring a bodyguard and hiding behind a ludicrous wig and
moustache, he realises that friends aren’t showing up to his poker games
because of the death threat hanging over his head. Only one man, David
says, can help him.
This is when Larry David goes to visit Sir Salman Rushdie. The 2017 epi-
sode, A Disturbance In The Kitchen (season 9, episode 3), contains a most sen-
sational—and pivotal—cameo featuring the iconic and controversial novelist,
where Rushdie has a blast sending up not only himself but also the fatwa.
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patiently explains that for all its danger and inconvenience, the death threat
comes with two massive pluses. One is the ability to get out of any social com-
mitment, like picking someone up from the airport, merely by shrugging and
mentioning the fatwa. The second is that the fatwa acts as catnip to glamorous
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After ripping David’s Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis (BookMyShow
wig from his head and Stream) is an excessive, unsubtle
declaring that “fatwa sex” celebration of the Elvis Presley
is the best kind of sex mythology. It features sensational

LOUNGE LOVES there is, fraught with

danger, the two satirists
go out to lunch, calling
performances from Austin Butler as
the far-too-sexy Elvis, and Tom Hanks
as his wicked manager. This may all
themselves the Fatwa Boys. be smoke and mirrors but it’s
As they eat—while striking dazzling. Luhrmann has not
Things to watch, read, hear, do—and other curated experiences from the team women gaze at them, fasci- yet left the building.
nated—Rushdie asks which
actor David is considering to play
Rushdie on Broadway. “The guy I had in
mind was actually Jason Alexander,” David says.
“You mean like ‘George’ Jason Alexander?” Rushdie says, declaring the Sein-
feld actor a lot shorter than himself. “I am thinking about Hugh Jackman,”
suggests the novelist, to David’s derision.
It’s a smashing guest appearance, allowing Rushdie not only to be riotously
funny—and show off significant swagger—but to draw attention to the daft-
ness of the whole fatwa situation. David, it must be remembered, has long had
Rushdie in his sights. In the Seinfeld season 4 episode The Implant—an epi-
sode where Jerry obsesses over whether a woman’s breasts are natural or sur-
gically enhanced—Kramer is convinced he has seen Salman Rushdie down at
the health club. “Yeah right, Salman Rushdie,” laughs Elaine, before admit-
A REFRESHING VIOGNIER HAUTE TALES A MUST-HAVE SNEAKER PET COUTURE ting the possibility: “Ah well, I could see that. You got five million Muslims
behind you, you want to stay in pretty good shape.”
f there’s one thing I learnt after osted by fashion historians inding a comfortable pair of t started with a friend calling to tell Kramer continues to insist that the bearded man he keeps running into is

I drinking—a lot—of wine, it’s this:

Warmer climates produce sweeter
and fruitier wines than colder regions.
H April Calahan and Cassidy
Zachary, Dressed: The History
Of Fashion explores the history of the
F sneakers has seemed like a never-
ending quest. Till now. I find the
Arc Racer shoes from Mumbai-based
I me what she was going to get me for
my birthday—glitzy tags for my cats.
One of the tags is a deep red and the
Rushdie, and this intensifies when he finds out the man is a writer—and that
his name is Sal Bass. “Sal Bass!” he says to Jerry Seinfeld excitedly. “Instead of
Salmon he went with Bass! He just substituted one fish for another!” Seinfeld
On a muggy June day, I discovered a clothes we wear. While the podcast Elevar Sports just right for me. The other a bright pink; both are heart- corrects him—“It’s Salman, not Salmon!”—and more than two decades later
luscious white wine made with Viog- covers a gamut of topics, do tune in to Arc Racer uses a cushioning material shaped, sprinkled with funky glitter. in the Curb episode, David, who also pronounces the name like “Salmon”, is
nier grapes from Australia’s Yalumba the 21 July episode on Valentina called eTPU. It also features an That is how I came to know of Furva- corrected by Rushdie himself. “Salman,” David says, marvelling as he finally—
winery. It’s grown in the country’s Schlee, a leading couturier and innovative 3D “Aeroknit” upper, nity, an Instagram store offering cus- from a 1993 episode to a 2017 episode—learns how to say the writer’s name
warm Barossa Valley; naturally, it pro- theatre costume designer from 1928 to giving it a comfortable and flexible tomised clothes and accessories for right. “There’s an accent on the second syllable.”
duces fruit-forward wines. With notes the 1950s. Born in Kyiv, she arrived in feel. The eTPU not only offers a light your pet. Think bandanas, kurtas, tux- Throughout the run of Seinfeld, David and Seinfeld set up many almost-
of apricot and muskmelon and distinct New York in 1923, fleeing the running experience but some good edos, bows, tags and shirts. But while I cameos, punctuating their New York series with celebrities plucked from the
aromas of orange blossom, the Viog- Bolshevik Revolution. Much about shock absorption too. The shoes have personally am not a fan of animal zeitgeist, those the creators would admire or mock. Rushdie stood alongside
nier has a refreshing mouthfeel. Some her was shrouded in mystery—it a double loop lace mechanism as well clothing, the tags are simply gorgeous: other unseen but prominently mentioned guests like Woody Allen, John F.
would say it has hints of elderflower seems she deliberately liked to as a protective foam lock inside and a blingy, sequin-laden, customisable in Kennedy Jr and Saddam Hussain. Today, it seems appropriate, even neces-
but I have not seen or tasted it, and mislead. She modelled her own heel counter that give your ankle and various colours and shapes, including sary, for David—who recently wrote a fearless Curb episode about a polite
wouldn’t know. Despite my limited clothes and draped celebrities like heel more protection. In all, the Arc bones and hearts, and emblazoned Klansman—to lionise Rushdie, who has a price on his head for laughing about
exposure, the bottles that catch my Greta Garbo, Lillian Gish and Racer is a stylish, comfortable, all- with your pet’s name and your phone things. He is Midnight’s Comedian. The fish jokes in The Implant are fun but
attention as I navigate the bewildering Katharine Hepburn. Her designs were purpose sneaker—be it for a short run number. To order, you need to DM the true pay-off comes years later, when David sits across from the genuine
world of wines are the ones I greatly minimalistic, structured and made to or a casual night out. It comes in five Furvanity on their Instagram account, article. Salman Rushdie is real, and he’s spectacular.
enjoy and instinctively think of shar- measure. She famously said: “Fit the colours: My pick is the Carbon Black. @furvanity. And yes, it is worth stop-
ing. Yalumba’s Y Series Viognier ticks century, forget the year.” Her close Women’s Arc Racers come in four ping by just to window-shop—the Raja Sen is a film and TV critic, screenwriter and the author of The Best
both boxes. Pour yourself a glass while friendship, and eventual falling out, colours. The shoes cost ₹6,490 but the page is filled with some of the best Baker In The World (2017), a children’s adaptation of The Godfather.
listening to a Mark Knopfler song. with Greta Garbo is another story. company often runs discount deals. models ever.
—Jahnabee Borah —Nipa Charagi —Nitin Sreedhar —Preeti Zachariah @rajasen
 THINK SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi 05

Translator nerds remind you how big the world is

Then something happened. As I was ing in the opposite direction is a giant students. Between them, they spoke,
on my way, a friend, G, who has been my scoop of the sublime. More than with varying degrees of skill, Tamil,
CHEAP combat buddy in many recent domestic
and intellectual battlefields, sent me a
enough to lift a dozen people out of
their state of inertia and I-don’t-care-
Kannada, Malayalam, Tulu, Paniya,
Telugu, Bengali, Marwari, Haryanvi,
THRILLS photograph. She was driving her family about-anything-any-more-ness. Marathi, Urdu, Gujarati, French and
from Bengaluru to Trichy. Hello, I was in a new place! A Japanese. It is possibly the only time in
NISHA Blue sky springing up like a district G had crossed off my life that I have felt any possible
SUSAN high, perfect wall on the side her bucket list but which word that strayed out of my brain
of the road. “Just a random was new to me. A town full would be comprehended by someone
spot on the highway. Much of signs for pizza and one in the room. As I have taken to doing in

I
had to travel this week and I prepared of the world is really like this. big neon sign for a sex cure. the last year, I texted folks at home,
grimly. I want to say stoically but Wish I realised that more in The dome of gloom was airlifted. “Translation nerds are the best nerds.”
there may have been a small half-ton daily living,” G texted. Migration and mobility data indicate They really are.
of complaining on the way. I could not Here are two things I didn’t know an odd combination of events for Sometime over the course of the
convince myself that my flying to until last week. One, that G has a women in India. If you read India weekend, my highly accomplished
another city to teach a three-day course bucket list of visiting every Moving, Chinmay Tumbe’s brisk translator friend asked me what I liked
is as bad as celebrity Kylie Jenner’s now one of India’s 773 dis- and informative book on migration, about translation. I thought about it. I
infamous 17-minute private jet flight. tricts. And that close to you realise women are the big was going to go into my spiel about lan-
For context, Jenner’s journey would Trichy is a gem of a migrants in India, constantly leaving guage nerds. G, for instance, learnt
have taken 40 minutes by car and the Chola temple, the Bri- home for marriage. Unlike male Korean by osmosis. And right then, as if
flight generated one ton of carbon diox- hadisvara. I was informed of this migrants, they do not circle pinged by telepathy, G started sending
ide emissions, which, according to The fact by an elderly neighbour I was back to their natal homes me messages from a temple she had
Guardian, “is about a quarter of the speaking to for the first time. when their working lives end found in Trichy where the male devo-
total annual carbon footprint of the He first wanted to know why (also because their working tees arrive dressed as women. And then
average person globally”. But I don’t half my family was crouched lives never end). Women I knew it. It had nothing to do with the
have a horse high enough to make a on the side of the street (we leave forever. Once they quizzer, winner, exam-cracker instinct.
pro-environment argument to myself were looking at a snail). And arrive in their new homes, they Translator nerds were exactly like that
about this trip. from the surprisingly speedy remain on a short leash. Women can wall of sky G had found on the side of
The first time I flew alone, I was trail of the snail, we rose to the live and work in cities for decades with- the road. Translators remind me of how
seven. From then till now, it has meant heights of his kindly archaeology lec- out leaving the rough perimeter of big the world is. And with every passing
leaving behind someone I didn’t want to ture. Thanks to him, at this moment I their neighbourhood. If by chance their year, as I grow older, that realisation is
leave behind right then. I am familiar had a picture of G speeding past a wall of cities and jobs allow and demand long harder to get to and more relaxing when
with my gloomy behaviour around sky towards a Chola dream. commutes, the travel is limited to those I do get to it.
departures. So I packed and prepared Later that day, about 10 minutes after long and dark stretches, never looking
and grumbled and indulged in some arriving at a town in Gujarat, I saw an left or right. Nisha Susan is the editor of the webzine
magical thinking of non-catastrophic elephant. Or I think I saw an actual live I spent the long Independence Day The Ladies Finger and author of The
reasons that would prevent me from elephant as I was driving past. But even weekend with several brainy people Women Who Forgot To Invent Face-
having to travel. a speedy glimpse of an elephant head- and two dozen impressive translation book And Other Stories.

A PORTRAIT OF A ‘Majnu Ka Tilla Diaries’, a

photo book by Serena
Chopra, chronicles the
hopes and anxieties of

COMMUNITY IN EXILE Tibetans living in this

Delhi neighbourhood

Avantika Bhuyan
[email protected]

“My impeccable Hindi shocks people; my

gentle Punjabi invites appreciative smiles;
my attempts at Bengali receive nods of
approval; only I notice Tibetan leaving my
tongue.”

T
hese poignant words by
Tenzin Nangsyal were
recorded by photographer
Serena Chopra in 2010, (clockwise, from top) A mother and child
along with a photograph of sit with their possessions on the road
the young Tibetan living in Majnu ka Tilla. bordering Majnu ka Tilla (2012); Rinchen
Today, they feature in Majnu Ka Tilla Dia- Norzon at home (2009); a page from the
ries, a self-published photo book chroni- book; and Kalsang Dorjee (2009).
cling the hopes, insecurities and notions
of identity of the Tibetan community liv- place to reinvent lives, while firmly photographs of homes, everyday environ- almost as if you are taking a virtual walk ment of their identity.
ing in this north Delhi neighbourhood. embracing their culture. To give the word ments and portraits taken on Chopra’s through the area, with stories unfurling at Kunchok Dolma Deukhan, who was
Chopra first visited the area in the ‘temporary’ a definitive time scale belies Hasselblad. These accompany the each step. born and raised in India, writes about
1970s, as a Delhi University student in authentic probabilities. Without such thoughts of members of the Tibetan com- The entries by members of all ages— moments of insecurity while growing
search of momos and dzi-bead jewellery. predictable future prospects, belonging to munity, etched in their own handwriting from octogenarians to youngsters— up—a sense of not belonging anywhere.
In 2007, when she revisited the Tibetan a community and a designated strip of and preferred language. present different aspirations. Some of the As the years passed, though, she grew up
refugee neighbourhood, she was no land takes on para- In each image, the sub- individuals she photographed wrote in to be proud. “I first realised I was different
longer that carefree student and had spent mount importance,” jects look directly at the the Tibetan script, so she enlisted the help when I stood last in the row to get admis-
a fair amount of time in McLeodganj, says Chopra. camera. To the viewer, it of Norsang to translate the words into sion to a class. They told my parents we
Himachal Pradesh, and Tibetan settle- The photographer almost feels as if they are English. At times when a person didn’t were refugees,” she writes. This has made
ments around the country. Karma Tsetan (2009). enlisted the help of her telling the accompanying know how to write, Norsang would jot Deukhan want to learn about her commu-
She has long been inspired by Buddhist PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY SERENA friend, Tenzin Thardoe stories. “It was important those words down in the diary. nity’s history and why it makes her stand
philosophy and the Dalai Lama, who CHOPRA/’MAJNU KA TILLA DIARIES’ Thar, and his brother, to me that the protagonist The older ones—the first few inhabit- out. “I make it a point to have something
“invests the word freedom with profound Tenzin Norsang, to in the book was the per- ants of Majnu ka Tilla—are more wistful, with me that is ‘Tibet’ or ‘Tibetan’,” she
meaning”, she writes in the introduction into the lives and hearts of the residents I build portraits of mem- son in exile. By stepping chronicling the arduous journey to India adds. This includes wearing a chupa to
to the book, launched earlier this month. had spent time with. It aroused a visceral bers of the community. out of the frame myself, I and reminiscing about their villages and work even in Delhi’s summer heat or just
“...I wanted to understand the Tibetans response, which seemed to propel me into “I focused on each per- hoped to give each indi- home-towns in Tibet. Take, for instance, sporting a small badge depicting the
fully. Perhaps I would gain an insight into wanting to tell a story that needed to be son as an individual, to vidual a voice, to enable the words of 83-year-old Dolkar, who Tibetan flag.
what the word ‘freedom’ truly meant to told,” says Chopra. pull them out of the iso- them to speak intimately arrived in India in 1959 and even worked Tsewang Khangsar, who was 61 when
Tibetans. How did they respond to the As she navigated the lanes of Majnu ka lation and anonymity of a and directly to the in the 1997 Hollywood film Seven Years In his entry was recorded in 2009, has
message of their spiritual leader?” Tilla between 2007-15 for the book, she collective abstraction, reader,” says Chopra. Tibet—it reminded her of home. “Now closely observed the challenge young
As she delved deeper, Chopra realised realised that even younger members of and to retain the integ- The book opens with a that I am old and all my children are set- Tibetans face in holding on to their cul-
that in spite of having lived in India since the community considered Delhi a tem- rity and beauty of each black and white image of a tled, all I wish is I can see my village Phari tural identity. “As long as the Tibetan
1959, the community—nearly 100,000, porary destination and continued to har- person’s life,” she writes in the introduc- bridge that connects two refugee colonies in Tibet,” she writes. identity remains alive in living, breathing
spread around the country—continued to bour hopes of returning to their country tion to the book. in Majnu ka Tilla. The next image is of a Younger Tibetans, many of whom were Tibetans, Tibet will never perish,” he
grapple with issues of identity and nation- one day as free Tibetans. “The bustling Majnu Ka Tilla Diaries draws from the mother and child, sitting with their pos- born in India, are holding on to the idea of writes. “Tibet will live in India, Nepal,
hood. “My frequent trips to Majnu ka Tilla lanes and alleyways of Majnu ka Tilla, diaries Chopra built over eight years and sessions on the road bordering Majnu ka Tibet, a place they could belong to, and America for as long as it takes, so long as
and conversations with people of the filled with the business of living and sur- has been presented as a replica of the Tilla. In a way, the photographs act as a which would belong to them. Nangsyal, the Tibetans do not forget their cultural
community gave me different insights viving, are nevertheless a sanctuary, a three journals she compiled. It features navigation tool for the neighbourhood— for instance, is particular about every ele- recognitions.”
06 SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi TASTE

WHEN COSTS FLATTEN

THE CRAFT BEER HIGH
A war, pandemic and
climate change have
disrupted the happy
hour of craft
breweries in India
Jahnabee Borah
[email protected]

hat has the Russia-

W
Flagship meads from Moonshine Meadery. MOONSHINE MEADERY
Ukraine war got to
do with your
neighbourhood
craft brewer? Quite
a lot, as you may know by now. But so do
changing weather patterns and transpor-
tation and supply disruptions triggered by
Lighter, fizzier,
covid-19. For it’s all about malt, the one
ingredient that determines the quality of
beer, from flavour to froth.
It’s essentially barley, and some wheat,
that lends the beer body and gives it a nice
mead in India
creamy head, says Nakul Bhonsle director The oldest tipple in the world is the latest entrant
of Great State Aleworks in Pune, Maha-
rashtra. Good malt yields great beers, and into the low-alcohol beverages segment in India
home-grown craft brewers had been rely-
ing on barley from Europe.
Six months into the Ukraine-Russia Shrabonti Bagchi
war, already battered by covid-19 disrup- [email protected]
tions and changing weather patterns, they

M
are finally beginning to look elsewhere, to ead is making a comeback. One of the oldest alcoholic beverages, by all
countries like Australia, to retain their accounts first made and consumed in the pre-Neolithic era, mead pre-
share in a competitive market and cope months ago, Great State Aleworks Craft brewers say the cost time soon due to the global supply chain dates agriculture. There are references to it in several mythologies and
with the rising costs of Indian draught. increased prices by 10-15%. of producing one litre of challenges as prices for raw materials like early religious texts—from the somarasa of the Rig Veda to mentions in the Bible,
Ironically, at least some craft brewers may The war still shows no signs of ending. craft beer has gone up barley and packaging materials continue to Norse and Greek myths. Modern-day mythologies like The Lord Of The Rings
be suffering more than the large-scale Each brewery has a different strategy to by 1.2x this year compared to remain high; that leads to a higher man- (LOTR) and the Harry Potter books also reference mead. And now mead is seeing
firms, since the kind of barley the latter tackle inflationary pressures. But it isn’t to 2019. ufacturing cost of beer,” says Kak. a worldwide revival as a modern drink, flavoured with spices and herbs possibly
use is grown in India. The kind that craft always possible to raise prices, since state PHOTOGRAPHS FROM ISTOCKPHOTO In fact, the global shortage in barley unknown to the ancients but essentially the same drink—fermented honey.
brewers use, with certain proteins and governments have a say in alcohol rates. preceded the war. In the two years before In the US, home-brewed mead would sometimes be found at Renaissance fairs,
other nutrients, isn’t. “The beer industry has limited options to the pandemic, barley farms across Europe and, unsurprisingly, at fantasy conventions, till modern meaderies started crop-
Mumbai-based Salil Palkar, co-founder adjust to increased costs as liquor prices were hit by drought. “Resulting losses in ping up around the early 2000s. Their number has now grown to over 600.
of 2 Down Beer Co., explains that “the are routed via state excise departments in cereal yield pose a major risk to the global In India, too, mead is seeing a revival. Pune, Maharashtra-based Moonshine
cost of barley has gone up around 40% for India,” says Ashwin Kak, procurement and supply of barley, as more than 60% of Meadery was the first to set up a commercial meadery in India. Co-founded by
us”. They have been depending so far sustainability head–India & South East global production is based in Europe,” Rohan Rehani and Nitin Vishwas in 2017, it started selling small batches in 2018
largely on Belgian and British malt and Asia, AB InBev. noted a July 2021 article on the US-based and has grown to selling around 5,000 cases of the drink every month now.
American hops. So far, 2 Down Beer Co., launched in National Library of Medicine website. It all started when Vishwas was travelling in Europe and read a story in an
Bengaluru-based Narayan Manepally, 2019, has largely managed to hold on. As This affected the raw material supply in-flight magazine about the UK’s first meadery in 500 years. “We had always read
co-founder and CEO of Geist Brewing Co., the strain begins to tell, Palkar’s concern for breweries like Geist. “It was almost about mead in LOTR, and in Norse mythology, but didn’t know exactly what it
notes that the shortage began even before is the intense competition in the a 15% jump in rates of wheat and was,” says Rehani. Intrigued, they started experimenting. Rehani applied for
the war-related supply crunch, owing to microbrewery space, with newer barley. We import both from Ger- internships at US meaderies and snagged one, spending six months working with
unfavourable weather conditions in players with deep pockets offer- many. For us, it was the adverse a leading US meadery.
Europe. Manepally points out that the cost ing beers at competitive rates, weather conditions, more than They found that while mead was more wine-like (it is licensed as honey wine
of producing one litre of craft beer has undercutting the current market the war, that added to our cost,” in the US, in fact) in the US and Europe, this wouldn’t work for the Indian palate,
gone up by 1.2x this year compared to price. He hopes restaurants will says Manepally. The war just which needs a more flavourful, refreshing and slightly sweeter drink. They made
2019. be “more sensitive to cost pres- made things worse. their meads lighter and a bit fizzier, positioning it closer to beer than wine.
Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France sures and don’t mind paying The other factor that inflated “We wanted to make a delicious drink because we had always wondered why
are some of the largest producers of bar- more to their brewers”. costs is the disruption in global beer is an ‘acquired taste’. In fact, our anthem is ‘make better, not bitter’,” says
ley. India grows it too, but, as Bhonsle The primary business model of shipping due to covid-19. Geist Rehani. They also started harvesting their own honey, which they sell under the
explains, craft brewers need two-row bar- 2 Down Beer Co., like most micro- imports hops in large, 20ft ship- brand name The Moonshine Honey Project. Besides their flagship meads—Apple
ley, whereas India cultivates six-row bar- breweries in Maharashtra, is B2B, ping containers from Europe and Cyder Mead, Traditional Mead and Coffee Mead, which are available round the
ley. “A craft brewer is looking for a certain with craft beers being supplied to the US and their prices became year—Moonshine also offers seasonal meads like Hopped Mead, Salted Kokum
amount of proteins to give a good head to bars and restaurants. In Mumbai, it “prohibitive”. “One container Mead, Grilled Pineapple Mead, Guava Chilli Mead, Chocolate Orange Mead,
the beer, and other nutrients to give a works with about 21 restaurants would cost us $900 (around Mango Chilli and Bourbon Oaked Apple Mead.
good body. Two-row barley has these and bars, like The Bombay Can- ₹71,000 now) about three years Moonshine is not the only meadery in India today—there is a small but growing
characteristics, six-row barley pales in teen, Woodside Inn and The Sassy ago, which shot up to $3,500 now,” cottage industry of mead-making, it appears, especially in Maharashtra. There
comparison,” Bhonsle says. Most of the Spoon. In the immediate short says Manepally. Costs overall rose are meaderies like the Nashik-based Cerana, an all-woman team which makes
barley produced in India is made for the term, Palkar’s team is attempting to by 15-20%. meads with added fruits, like Jamun Melomel, Pomegranate Melomel and Chenin
big players so we have no option but to ride the inflationary wave by Geist hasn’t increased prices. “I Blanc Pyment (a pyment is a mead with grape juice). In Pune, Portside makes
import, he rues, adding that two-three big increasing footprint and volumes. don’t want to pass on the burden to “stronger” meads with 10% alcohol by volume (ABV) as opposed to the 5-7% in
malting companies in Europe, like The This has helped margins, even if our customers, with the hope that other Indian meads. Two companies launched this year: Karnataka-based Stump
Boortmalt Group from Belgium, control slightly. the war is going to end, inflation is Meads, which makes Coffee Mead and Apple Mead, and Delhi-based Bored Bever-
70% of malting in the world. Industry experts don’t believe going to cool off and things are going ages, which is bringing Original Mead to the market soon.
Within a month of war breaking out in pressures will ease. “We do not to get better.” There is a lot of interest in low-alcohol beverages, and this is inspiring new
Europe, Bhonsle’s distributors were tell- expect commodity and non-com- Whether that hope will be realised mead-makers, says Rehani. “The world over, low-alcoholic beverages outsell spir-
ing him of the shortage in malt. About four modity price challenges to abate any- remains to be seen. its but in India it’s just the opposite. Maybe that’s changing now,” he says.

Should you buy that bottle of avocado oil?

Avocado oil is racing up ranges from ₹2,500-4,000 a litre. lot of character and flavour.”
While research on avocado oil is still in What concerns him, though, is
the popularity chart as
the preferred oil to cook.
the nascent stage, in terms of health bene-
fits it is close to olive oil, with one signifi-
A swirl and authenticity. “There are multiple reports
about adulteration of avocado oil in

How good is it?

cant difference. Refined avocado oil has a
higher smoke point than olive oil (about a drizzle countries like the UK and US. Mislabel-
ling is rampant and heavily incentivised
270 degrees Celsius), which makes it one by the high prices that such premium
of the most efficient oils for sautéing, u Use it instead of olive oil in products command. I am not sure how
Nivedita Jayaram Pawar roasting, searing, grilling and drizzling. your favourite salad dressing. well we will be able to regulate that here.”
Coconut oil has a similar smoke point. His advice is to source the oil from coun-
u Use it to make mayonnaise.

I
f hashtags are any indication, avocado tries that traditionally have huge avocado
oil is having a moment. For the creamy, HOW DOES IT COMPARE? plantations, like Mexico, Colombia, Chile
magical fruit which used to dominate “Avocado oil is healthier than other seed u Drizzle it over fish before bak- and South Africa.
toasts and tacos and turn guacamole into or vegetable oils as it has monounsatu- ing or roasting. Avocado oil also works well for baking
a luscious dip is just as impressive as an oil rated fatty acids , which are responsible for as the mild flavour doesn’t overwhelm the
to cook with. The green oil has over many health benefits.” But it’s not the best u Mix it up with sea salt or red finished product. Self-taught chef, baker
20,000 mentions on Instagram and is in every use scenario. “Humans need both pepper flakes for a simple dip. and F&B consultant Ayushi Gupta-Mehra
trending on Pinterest, with tons of ideas saturated and unsaturated fats to function has been using it in her toddler’s diet and
for using it in recipes. optimally. And one can get both the fats u Drizzle it over hummus and for baked goodies such as almond flour
So what exactly is avocado oil and is it from coconut oil, ghee or butter. If you are Avocado oil, which is largely imported, is expensive. ISTOCKPHOTO
serve with crudités. fondants. “The mild buttery taste does not
time to replace your regular oil with this looking for a healthy oil to cook with, then overwhelm the rich chocolatiness of the
new, green entrant? coconut oil, butter and ghee, which we THE TASTE TEST to mess with the flavour,” says Urvika u Add a swirl over hot or cold fondant the way a coconut or olive oil
Avocado oil is simply oil pressed from have been using for centuries, have far While its steep price may well be a big Kanoi, chef and owner of Café Duco in soups, such as gazpacho. would. The subtle creamy flavour adds to
the pulp, after discarding the seed; it takes more benefits than avocado oil. Coconut deterrent for most, one of the advantages Bandra, Mumbai. the deliciousness. You can substitute
15-20 avocados to make 250ml. The oil oil is inherently anti-viral and antibacte- of avocado oil is the neutral taste. Unlike Another chef who loves cooking Indian u Sprinkle a teaspoon over root melted butter with avocado oil for baking.
comes in two types: virgin and refined. rial. But if you find the flavour of coconut strongly flavoured oils, it’s light. “Avo- dishes in avocado oil is Karishma Sak- vegetables and roast for 40 min- Just swap it 1:1 with the millilitre quantity
The oil made from the first pressing, oil too overpowering, then use ghee or cado oil tastes slightly earthy, somewhat hrani, a MasterChef India 4 finalist and utes at 400 degrees Celsius. of melted butter. Not only is this a great
referred to as “extra-virgin”, is bright butter, which are both high in saturated grassy. I prefer the cold-pressed version culinary and operations director at Acme vegan substitution, it also brings a mix of
green and has a rich, nutty flavour. fats, the kind of fats our cells really need,” over the refined one as it’s rich and mild Hospitality, a restaurant consulting firm. nutrients to your final bake,” says Gupta-
Refined oil is made by filtering the virgin explains functional nutritionist Mugdha in flavour. It tastes wonderful when driz- “Avocado oil is a great option for Indian Chef and restaurant consultant Mitesh Mehra, who also uses it to make hot oil
oil to remove particles of pulp and other Pradhan, CEO and founder of iThrive, a zled over salads or topped over bread, in cooking considering we tend to use high- Rangras, who recently picked up a bottle noodle recipes.
impurities. This process also removes the health and wellness startup. dips and smoothies. Where this oil really heat cooking methods for most dishes. I (imported from South Africa) from Coon- The truth remains, however, that avo-
green colour, along with much of the fla- Avocado oil also contains lutein and adds value are the Indian dishes. Leafy use it for a tadka (tempering), to make a oor in Tamil Nadu, tried to use it for a vari- cado oil is not easy on the pocket. Can you
vour; it becomes light yellow. vitamin E, but, according to Pradhan, the veggies like saag, when cooked in avo- crunchy kurkure bhindi or fry aloo tuk ety of dishes, from aglio olio style pasta to afford the investment in health, high
It is expensive, though, which may be quantities are minuscule. “You will get cado oil, taste fabulous. Even a mutton (Sindhi spiced potato snack) and tikkis. salad dressing and even stir-fries. Rangras smoke point and flavour?
the biggest deterrent. Given that most of more lutein and vitamin E from eggs. Why rogan josh, fish curry and anda bhurji The neutral flavour works really well for is impressed with the oil’s versatility. “It’s
the avocado oil in the market is imported, would you want to spend so much on a taste fantastic when cooked in avocado Indian dishes which are masala-heavy,” a great-tasting oil and lends itself beauti- Nivedita Jayaram Pawar is a Mumbai-
it won’t come as a surprise that the price fad?” asks Pradhan. oil. Just don’t let the oil smoke as it tends says Sakhrani. fully to dishes. The raw oil especially has a based food writer.
 SMART LIVING SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi 07

The MacBook Air conundrum Look, ₹1.2 lakh isn’t a small amount for
a new laptop, so if you are looking to get
M1 versus M2: at a glance on the Apple Silicon bandwagon without
breaking the bank, the M1 Air is still an
excellent option. Even a year and a half
after its launch, it continues to leave simi-
larly priced competitors trailing in every-
day workflows. Using the base M1 Air and
the base M2 Air interchangeably over the
past month for everyday browsing, light-
weight video editing and streaming con-
tent, I found no perceptible difference
between the two in daily use.
Sure, the revamped design and the mar-
ginally larger, brighter screen with
smaller bezels on the M2 Air are a joy to
MACBOOK AIR M2 MACBOOK AIR M1 behold, but that could be matched by sav-
ing all that extra cash. And if you are com-
Processor Apple M2, 8-core CPU Apple M1, 8-core CPU ing from an older MacBook without Apple
and 8- or 10-core GPU and 7-core GPU Silicon, the M1 Air itself would yield a mas-
sive improvement in performance.
13.6-inch, 2560x1664 13.3-inch, 2560x1600 …you prefer the older wedge design.
Display pixels, 500 nits pixels, 400 nits There’s a reason the wedge-shaped
brightness brightness design of the original Air has inspired a
generation of me-too ultraportables—the
Memory 8GB/16GB/24GB 8GB/16GB unified iconic design still has some life left in it
unified memory memory (plus it’s the only one available in a gold
colour variant!). The keyboard is great, the
Storage 256GB/512GB/1TB/ 256GB/512GB/1TB/ screen is sharp and bright enough, battery
2TB SSD 2TB SSD life is good for a day’s worth of work and
macOS runs swimmingly well on the lap-
top. What’s not to like?
Camera 1080p FaceTime HD 720p FaceTime HD
MAKING YOUR OLDER MACBOOK
2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x Thunderbolt LAST LONGER
Ports MagSafe charging, 4, headphone jack If you want to hold on to a 2017-18 Air,
headphone jack you could start with caring for the laptop.
It may sound obvious but all the protec-
tive cases and sleeves cannot replace
Up to 18 hours, Up to 18 hours, treating your laptop with that little bit of
Battery 52.6-watt-hour LiPo 49.9-watt-hour LiPo respect and care—for example, opening
Should you spend far from obsolete M1 Air? speaker setup with support for Spatial life battery with 67W fast
charging
battery the lid in a rough manner or tossing the
Audio and Dolby Atmos. The 3.5mm laptop carelessly on a couch can, over
wisely on the far from PICK UP THE NEW M2 MACBOOK headphone jack now has support for high- time, lead to a loosening of hinges and
AIR IF… impedance headphones, which does away 0.44x11.97x8.46 inches, 0.16-0.63x11.97x8.36 parts. Avoid harsh cleaning agents to
obsolete MacBook …you want the new ‘mini MacBook Pro’ with the need for an external amplifier for Size/weight
1.24kg inches, 1.29kg wipe the screen; use a microfibre cloth to
design. high-end headphones. wipe it down and use a mild cleaning
M1 Air or is the M2 Let’s face it—the tapered wedge design …you need the extra port, fast charging. solution for the body. Brush the ports
₹1,19,900 onwards ₹99,900 onwards
Air’s extra oomph of the M1 Air (and many Airs prior) was
getting a little long in the tooth so the
A hugely underrated feature on the new
M2 Air is the return of the MagSafe charg-
Price down ever so often.
Use the battery wisely: It can last for
worth the premium? switch to the modern, squared-edge ing port, which, like earlier, can easily a good four-five years, the trick is not to
design à la the iPad Pro, the iMac and the snap on magnetically or detach as easily. memory option for large media files, you drain the battery needlessly, particularly
14-inch/16-inch MacBook Pro was long That way, if someone were to trip over the will have to spend another ₹40,000 over all the way down to zero per cent. Con-
Tushar Kanwar overdue. The older model may have been power cable, your laptop wouldn’t be the base ₹1.2 lakh price point. Then there’s sider enabling Optimized battery charg-
thinner than the M2 Air at its thinnest but hurled across the room. Using the Mag- the issue of the slower storage on the base ing on your Mac, which learns your daily
the latter’s uniform thickness (0.44 Safe port for charging also frees up the M2 M2 Air variants, with Apple using a single charging habits and delays charging past

T
he MacBook Air is Apple’s inches) is thinner overall and 20% smaller Air’s two USB-C ports, so you could con- 256GB SSD chip instead of a pair of 128GB 80% when your Mac is plugged in, to save
most popular laptop, for by volume (not to mention 50g lighter), nect accessories, an external monitor or a SSD chips, as was the case on the base M1 battery health and reduce charging
good reason. For years, the while packing in a marginally bigger dis- hard disk—on the M1 Air, you would have Air. stresses on the battery (you can, of course,
wedge-shaped device has play. The MacBook Pro inspiration con- to sacrifice one of the ports if you needed Those two chips on the base M1 Air ask to charge to full if you know you are
remained the category-de- tinues on the screen, with a notch on top to plug into a power outlet. While battery could be accessed simultaneously, making going to have a full, unplugged day
fining standard for ultraportable design, a of the display, so you will have to make life isn’t significantly different on the M2 read and write operations nearly twice as ahead). If your workflow allows, you could
go-to choice for anyone who needed a your peace with that. Air, the ability to charge to 50% in just 30 fast as the base M2 Air. The M2 chip on the also try using the Safari browser, which
solid, reliable everyday laptop…if you had …you care for a better display and audio. minutes with an optional 67W (or higher) Air occasionally runs hot enough that the uses much less energy than the gas-guz-
the budget. In 2020, when Apple updated The M1 Air had a perfectly usable dis- power adapter is certainly welcome. computer has to throttle performance zling Chrome browser.
the 2020 MacBook Air with the first-gen- play with support for the P3 wide color …you need the gains in performance* (due to the Air’s fanless design) till tem- Some more housekeeping: Try and
eration M1 chips, the performance and gamut but the M2 Air amps it up by thin- (*conditions apply) peratures are reined in, which somewhat avoid filling the SSD storage on your Mac
longevity gains saw the Air top practically ning out the screen bezels to fit in a mar- Unsurprisingly, the M2 chip on the new negates the performance boost one would to the brim. Not only does write perform-
every “best of” list yet again. The 2022 ginally bigger display (13.6 inches vs 13.3 Air, which is based on the A15 Bionic chip expect from the newer, faster chip. And ance suffer when there’s insufficient
ground-up redesign around the new M2 inches on the M1 Air) in almost the same from the iPhone 13, sees performance while this doesn’t necessarily impact usa- space, you also squeeze the machine on
chip shows the MacBook Air juggernaut is physical footprint. Crucially, the M2 Air’s improvements in benchmarks over the bility on a day-to-day basis, ever so often, virtual memory (when the laptop uses
in no mood to slow down. screen gets 25% brighter (at 500 nits) than M1-equipped Air, but those differences There’s a reason the wedge- the older M1 model could run cooler and storage as RAM), further slowing down
Interestingly, Apple hasn’t discontin- the M1 Air, which makes it better for use are marginal when you compare the M1 faster (for a sustained duration) than the your MacBook. Installing the latest soft-
ued the M1 MacBook Air, retailing a sin- outdoors or in bright environments. The Air base variant (7-core graphics) with the shaped design of the original new M2 Air base variant…while also cost- ware updates brings performance and
gle base variant M1 Air (₹99,900) along- notch houses a much improved 1080p 8-core graphics on the base M2 Air. You Air has inspired a generation ing ₹20,000 less. security improvements even to older
side the base variant M2 Air (₹1,19,900). webcam (over the M1’s 720p), an overdue would have to upgrade to the higher spec of me-too ultraportables—it’s Macs, so don’t skip these.
Therein lies the MacBook Air conun- upgrade for video calls, particularly if the (₹1,49,900) variant to see the big jump in OPT FOR THE OLDER M1 MACBOOK
drum—is the new model worth it or ambient light is less than ideal. The sound graphics performance. If you want to take
an iconic design that still has AIR IF… Tushar Kanwar, a tech columnist and
should you spend (and save) wisely on the setup also sees an upgrade to a fuller, four- advantage of the M2’s new top-tier 24GB some life left in it …you prefer more bang for your buck. commentator, tweets at @2shar.

REVIEW | XIAOMI SMART AIR FRYER

A fine package but the chicken wings didn’t fly

Xiaomi’s Smart Air Fryer chicken or mutton tikka and Amritsari Xiaomi claims the air fryer can do it in a THE VERDICT
fish. You get the drift. few hours. Priced at ₹9,999, the Xiaomi Smart Air
looks good and gets the Now Xiaomi is challenging Philips’ Overall, the Xiaomi Smart Air Fryer Fryer is a pretty good package. It gets the
job done. The marquee hegemony in the category with its very offers hit-and-miss results but practice job done, looks quite good, and the com-
own air fryer. plus time, and being reactive on frequent panion app is a nice add-on. However, if
highlight: the smart visual checks, helps you use it to the best you have used an air fryer before, you
features, including voice THE BASICS
First up, the Xiaomi Smart Air Fryer is a
of its ability. might find the experience a hit-and-
miss—with chicken wings, certainly.
command controls nice-looking appliance with a glossy finish THE SMART EDGE Also, since this one has a “3.5L” suffix in
and minimalist design. It’s also very com- The marquee highlight of the Xiaomi the name itself, I am hoping Xiaomi will
pact, and ideal if you have constraints of Smart Air Fryer is, well, its smartness. The launch a larger variant for bigger families.
Abhishek Baxi space in the kitchen. But the quality of the air fryer supports Google Assistant, so you The basket is considerably smaller than
casing and cooking basket is middling. I can remotely control the appliance via the 4.1L capacity that the Philips one

T
hese days many are prioritising die- often struggled to fit the basket in the slot. voice commands. And the fryer can also be offers (Philips even has a 6.2L model). It
tary changes to improve overall Not a good first impression. controlled via the Xiaomi Home almost looks inadequate for baking, one of
health. This, combined with a surge Instead of an array of buttons or indica- app. The app also includes the pitches of the appliance. It works for
in cooking at home (thanks to the pan- tor lights, there’s just the power button over 50 recipes for quick couples and small families.
demic), means many people are looking and a dial, which also acts as an OLED inspiration for your next And, lastly, it isn’t “cheap”. Usually, the
for healthier cooking alternatives. touch display. The dial allows you to scroll XIAOMI meal. company undercuts pricing in a segment,
While I am not a fitness enthusiast, I do through the eight presets for cooking. Of SMART AIR It’s also possible to delivering exceptional value for money.
like my experiments with food. I also course, there’s a manual mode allowing FRYER schedule the air The Xiaomi Smart Air Fryer, however, is
warm up easily to newer technology that you to select the cooking temperature and The Xiaomi Smart Air Fryer features a minimalist design. XIAOMI fryer to start cook- more expensive than the entry-level Phil-
claims to transform traditional cooking. duration. There’s also a grill rack which Sensors: Temperature sensor, ing up to 24 hours ips Airfryer, which retails at ₹8,499. Of
It was about a decade ago that we got can be used to create two shelves inside browns. The home-made fries didn’t Fryer is very quiet, Overheating protection sensor in advance but the course, Philips variants can cost as much
the first air fryer—Philips had just the frying basket. The lower section isn’t come out so well. Maybe I should have making as much Weight: 4.9kg; Colour: White food will need to be as ₹17,099. That said, Xiaomi’s pitch is the
launched its product in India. What does tall enough but should work for cutlets, parboiled the chips but that defeats the noise as the gentle Temperature range: 40- left in the frying bas- “smartness” of the appliance, and it
an air fryer do? It circulates hot air at high tikkis, chicken wings and such. The grill very purpose of a quick snack. hum of a refrigera- 200 degrees Celsius ket. doesn’t disappoint there. In the case of
speed around the food to cook it, ensuring and the basket are easy to clean, and dish- While cooking fries, I also got a tor. Purely on the basis Xiaomi manages to Philips, only the top-end variant is com-
Price: ₹9,999
the same crisp finish you get from deep- washer safe. I found it more convenient reminder to turn the food over (shake the of observation, my Phil- pull off the smart shenan- patible with Amazon Alexa, while the
frying, but using far less oil. So, fried food than the double-basket implementation fries, essentially). As a pro air fryer user, I ips air fryer is definitely igans of the air fryer quite companion app is only for checking out
without conventional frying methods. on my Philips air fryer. know this needs to be done midway in the noisier. well. It’s quite handy to tap on a recipes.
The marketing imagery led a lot of people frying cycle but this is a useful feature for One of the highlights of the Xiaomi preset setting or select temperature and It’s understandable that the firm prefers
to assume, wrongly, that an air fryer works THE FRYING those who are starting with an air fryer or Smart Air Fryer is the wide range of tem- cooking duration on the phone instead of to focus on the value or the differentiators.
only for frozen food like French fries, nug- I could make crispy, crunchy French fries are sticklers for recipes and processes. perature settings that it offers—between fiddling with the dial and the display. The Xiaomi’s got that right. Nevertheless, it
gets and cutlets, and Western meat dishes. using the frozen fries available in the mar- For chicken wings, the preset cooking 40-200 degrees Celsius. So, one can use it voice commands are a neat touch. But it may need to push harder to dent Philips’
In my experience, it’s very useful to fry ket. That said, the preset for fries (15 min- duration wasn’t enough. Even after add- not just for air frying but also defrosting, takes a while to get the hang of the dial mindshare in the category.
vegetables like bhindi, arbi, etc., dishes utes) wasn’t enough, it took me about 5-10 ing 10 minutes, though, the texture wasn’t baking, dry meats, etc. You can even fer- operation. Philips’ rotary dials for temper-
like aloo tikki and baingan bhaja and even minutes more to make them the way my crisp. The meat, however, was succulent. ment yogurt, although my attempt wasn’t ature and duration are much more intui- Abhishek Baxi is a technology journalist
samosas, as well as desi meat delights like four-year-old would like. Same for hash Interestingly, the Xiaomi Smart Air successful. Drying meats takes days but tive and straightforward. and digital consultant.
08 SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi COVER

LAST
actor
STANDING Even as the Hindi film industry stumbles from failure to
failure, Alia Bhatt appears to be making the right moves.
Ten years after her big-screen debut, she is bracing
herself for Hollywood. Could this 29-year-old actor
change the rules of the game yet again?

Raja Sen

H
indi cinema is bleeding. Big
films, empty theatres, unim-
pressed audiences. Uncer-
tain, unforgiving times. In
the midst of box-office car-
nage, Alia Bhatt stands tall. This year, the
29-year-old actor has fronted bona-fide hit
Gangubai Kathiawadi, played a small part in
the worldwide sensation RRR, and debuted
as a producer with the critically acclaimed
Darlings. (She has also gotten married and is
weeks away from becoming a mother.) This
is not an actor biding her time, but one in a
hurry. Like her brothel-ruling character in
Gangubai, Alia Bhatt intends to keep going to
the next level.
I believe Gangubai Kathiawadi has a lot in
common with the testosterone-fuelled Tel-
ugu superhit Pushpa: The Rise. Both are linear
stories of heroic progression, where an infal-
lible protagonist takes on different villains
one at a time, as in video-game levels. No fall,
no stumble, only a climb. These are films
made with the unadulterated intent of cele-
brating a hero—only that one hero happens
to be a young woman. Bhatt, sitting across
from me in a Mumbai hotel, is thrilled that I
noticed. through the crowd to give them roses, those who may write her off as too young to
“I kept using the word ‘front-foot’ during because Gangubai used to give out roses, and play a certain character, or too small to
that performance,” she says, only under- I bumped into my teachers who taught me take over a screen. After playing
standing director Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s how to act for this very big play we did on the a Veronica Lodge type in Stu-
intent after she hoisted her leg on to a chair. annual day, Fiddler On The Roof. That was the dent Of The Year, Bhatt
“When we were shooting the sequence where first time the school got theatre profession- was truly noticed after
I challenge Raziya (the character played by als—Yashwant Singh and Salone (Mehta) her second film,
Vijay Raaz), that whole section where I say Ma’am. That was my only formal training in Imtiaz Ali’s Highway
‘zameen pe baithi bahut achchi lag rahi hai tu’, acting.” A delighted Bhatt took the micro- (2014), where she
and I put my leg up on the chair, that is when phone to announce that these teachers impressed as an
I realised it.” It was a realisation born out of taught her to act, and the theatre veterans abducted rich girl
sudden, unfamiliar enjoyment, and when she received an ovation from the audience. “It who falls for her
went home, she wanted to share the thrill was unreal. Unreal.” kidnapper.
with actor husband Ranbir Kapoor. “I told She was 16—and possibly still memorising Directors and never far from a (clockwise, from above) Stills from
him it’s a face-off, and it’s so stylish and so this Fiddler—when she auditioned for Karan colleagues sud- stance. “I think ‘Raazi’; ‘2 States’; ‘Gully Boy’; Alia
and so that, but… I’m so small!” Johar’s Student Of The Year, released 10 years denly sounded seri- even my father Bhatt; Bhatt on the set of ‘Darlings’;
It was while lighting the beedi—she sparks ago. I revisited clips of the film, particularly ous. “They would has imparted this stills from ‘Dear Zindagi’; and (far
an imaginary one as she describes the scene— her bright pink introduction shot, set to a come up to me and say, advice to me that right) ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’.
that it clicked. “Then everything changed for Gulabi Aankhen remix. To this she loudly, ‘Very honestly I didn’t the world has so
me,” she says. “The way I was walking, the theatrically, says, “Ugh!” Then she admits think you were an actor many opinions it can
way I was talking.” Once she knew the that was for effect. “I think it just sounds cool after your first film,’” she really do with one less opin-
amount of swagger required, she leaned into to say I cringe at my own work,” she smiles. laughs. “All the honesty started ion, especially now,” she
it and used even dance sequences as power “Maybe I don’t.” coming after Highway.” explains. “It’s not about being outspoken.
moves, her character posturing to intimidate, Bhatt is ambivalent about that audition. “I Of course speak-speak-speak, but what are
archly—and unsubtly—conquering the don’t know about the scene because I ***** you speaking for? Who are you speaking to?
screen. Front-foot. remember I was touching my hair a lot, but I Who’s listening? And what are you adding (to
The footwork began early. “I decided to was very confident about the song.” It’s more Three years ago, in an interview to pro- the conversation)?” I feel very comfortable just
become an actor before I knew anything telling how she narrates the scene after the mote the film Gully Boy, Alia Bhatt and co-star Saying that one’s films speak for one’s poli- being known for my work and
about life,” Bhatt says. “I knew I wanted to be audition, when she first met director and Ranveer Singh chose silence. “I am apoliti- tics seems a bit like a dodge…until you look
inside the television in my room.” On that TV future mentor Karan Johar. Johar suggested cal,” Singh had said with misplaced noncha- more closely at Bhatt’s filmography. Her 2016 not what I say. Not my
set, she watched Govinda and Karisma she go watch his forthcoming production I lance, and Bhatt followed up: “I don’t think film Udta Punjab came under fire for painting politics, not my preferences. I
Kapoor, entranced by colours and songs. “I Hate Luv Storys in theatres, go have fun at the we give out a very strong political vibe as art- an unflattering portrayal of the drug prob- kind of explain through my
would naturally gravitate towards anything movies with her boyfriend. She recounts her ists.” Hearing the word “apolitical”, Bhatt lems plaguing Punjab—it would certainly be
that required me to perform, to be centre own reaction with shock. “I was, like, ‘I don’t very nearly does a spit-take, then smiles. “I boycotted with furious hashtags today—and work what I believe in and
stage,” she says, explaining her attraction to have a boyfriend’,” she mimics, shyly, morti- feel very comfortable just being known for in movies like Raazi, Gully Boy and Darlings, what my morals are.
plays and singing competitions throughout fied by the suggestion. “I was that young.” my work and not what I say. Not my politics, she has played intelligent and determined
school, and the dances she would perform for Bhatt, who is young and looks younger, not my preferences,” she says. “I kind of Muslim protagonists at a time when the ALIA BHATT
grandparents on Sundays. and is petite compared to her contemporar- explain through my work what I believe in mainstream appears increasingly eager to ACTOR
“When Gangubai released in theatres,” she ies, often brings up her age and physicality. I and what my morals are.” other-ise minorities.
recalls, “I went on Day 1 to do a theatre visit, believe she embraces her girlishness and Her father, Mahesh Bhatt, is a highly out- Gully Boy sees her particularly incandes-
and, in one of the theatres, I was walking diminutive size because she likes astonishing spoken film personality, a radical director cent as Safeena Firdausi, a practising-Muslim
STORY SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi 09

PHOTOGRAPHED BY PSUDO (STYLIST: AMI PATEL,

MAKE-UP: POMPY, HAIR: AYESHA)

NETFLIX

director, you are handled, you are managed, post-covid, and the critically acclaimed Dar-
you are aided, you are comforted.” Bhatt lings, which—made for a modest budget and
speaks gratefully of being hand-held by Johar digital release—may reportedly have been
and Ali and can’t wait to work with “Sanjay more profitable for her than Gangubai was for
sir” again: “I can’t put into words how quickly its producers. Can Bhatt bring audiences
time would fly on that set because of how back, again?
chooses films like a member of the audience. impatient and restless, and one recognises mentally engaged I was.” “Brahmastra is an attempt to really shift
She’s making the films she wants to watch. those traits in another instantly.” While shooting RRR with S.S. Rajamouli, something, for the better,” she says. “So far
“Nothing’s wrong with what you may be try- “It was very important for me that Kaira she was thunderstruck by his unique process. whatever we have put out there is connecting,
ing to say,” she clarifies, eager to leave feath- was a young, ambitious professional,” says “It’s about enhancing every beat on paper,” so far the response has been great, but you
ers unruffled. “It’s just something that I Shinde. “Also, her uniqueness and self-chal- she says. “So you could be feeling it (as a per- can never be too confident. So we are still
wouldn’t naturally feel excited by.” lenging attitude to choose something that not former) but it doesn’t matter if it’s not reach- keeping our heads down.” At this she hangs
many women had been doing so far. I hadn’t ing me (as a viewer). So you have to her head, folds her hands.
***** seen many female DoPs (directors of photog- really…elevate.” Rajamouli told her, on set, When we speak about films that didn’t find
raphy). I thought Alia’s delicate, small-built that sometimes he felt he controls actors too their groove, Bhatt mentions Shaandaar
When Shahid Kapoor suggested that Udta physical structure holding this big fat camera much. “And I found that so interesting (2015). “The audience was absolutely right to
Punjab director Abhishek Chaubey cast Alia is even more striking.” Bhatt spent time with because he said, ‘See, I have these many beats pan it,” she says. “I genuinely believe a good
Bhatt as a migrant labourer from Bihar, the DoP Laxman Utekar to understand the cam- to show and this much time, so I need to con- film will always do well. You can’t hold it
director baulked. “I mean Tropic Thunder era and acquaint herself with its operations, vey it. I can’t wait for you to reach that back.” As a critic who has observed a more
mein Robert Downey Jr ho jaayega, yaar!” “to not simply look authentic but for it to moment. The audience will check out.’” tenuous correlation between quality and box-
Chaubey had told me back in 2016, evoking become a part of her”. Several heroines become producers out of office numbers, I am less convinced, but
that sublime Hollywood parody where I quiz Bhatt on her process and how she compulsion, trying to put together better Bhatt persists. “A good film will always get its
Downey Jr plays a white actor who self-seri- gets into character, whether she’s someone projects for themselves. Bhatt, who can cur- due,” she corrects. “Through love, through
ously dons blackface for a part and remains in who builds a mood all day or switches on the rently choose—and command—most pro- money, whatever.”
character even when cameras are off. This minute the cameras start rolling. “I am not jects, may have a different motive. “It’s about I feel Bhatt enjoys things that scare her.
role would require Bhatt, stripped of glam- very chatty,” she says, slowly, as if examining adding that extra layer and that dimension to “Comfort zones are comfort zones for a rea-
our, to have her skin darkened. Chaubey’s her own methods for the first time, “but I my life which is beyond just me, actor, singu- son,” she agrees. “After some time, you’re just
fears intensified when he first met Bhatt. “She can’t be in the zone constantly either.” Some- lar. Now I suddenly pull back,” she says, leaving your brain at home and you don’t
was shooting a song for Shaandaar and she times, she uses music “just to cut out the noise motioning with her hands like a camera even realise it. Ten years working in the
was dressed in this ghaghra-choli, very bright because on set there can be a lot of noise”. She opening wide. “As a creative producer hold- industry and I’m in a very, very comfortable
and (with) full make-up”. chews on the question. “I don’t have a fixed ing a director’s hand, the vision of the film is place, and so I did my first film in Hollywood.”
He was, however, instantly impressed with process,” she concludes. “My only prep is that totally different. I’m in a much wider shot.” Bhatt will star in Netflix spy film Heart Of
Bhatt’s takeaways from his screenplay. “Her I should know my lines.” Stone, alongside Gal Gadot and Jamie Dor-
reasons for wanting to do the film were very Her mother would approve. When she nan. “Now that’s like a new thing. I need to see
woman who is not only studying medicine correct. She made the right noises and that speaks about Soni Razdan—whose 1983 film ***** if I work there. Can I act in English? Am I con-
but is self-assured enough to tell her rapping started a process in my head.” The prepara- Mandi Bhansali instructed Bhatt to revisit vincing there?”
boyfriend to dream his unlikely dream tion included long training sessions with before filming Gangubai—she is visibly awe- Of course Bhatt is nervous about Brahmas- Over the lockdown, Bhatt has been audi-
because she can take care of them both. Saf- actor Pankaj Tripathi, involving accent and struck. “Even when I was young, I remember tra. Directed by Ayan Mukerji, the fantasy tioning for numerous English-language pro-
eena is also a hothead, nicknamed “Danger body language. “This girl was just going for how hard she used to work. Rehearsals, epic has been in production for years, jects. She has also been bingeing on shows,
Aapa” by her man. The character contains it,” said Chaubey, coming back to how Bhatt’s rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals,” Bhatt says. plagued by reshoots, budget issues and VFX with Fleabag helping her in Darlings—“a big
multitudes and is gloriously impossible to youth belies her talent. “She’s a 22-23-year- “When I hear her life story of how she put troubles. It will finally hit the big screen in reference point because of the balance
label. old girl playing an 18-year-old and I would herself through theatre school when she September. In turbulent times, the stakes are between humour and the seriousness of the
In her debut production, the Netflix film keep briefing her that ‘the character is a was young, living in London, whilst high for Bhatt’s first film with husband character, and what the character’s feeling”—
Darlings, she plays Badrunissa Qureshi, a young girl, she’s a girl’,” laughed Chaubey. working as a waitress and whilst work- Kapoor. “I am very, very nervous about and Mare Of Easttown propelling a certain
troubled young wife battered by domestic “And then I would have to tell myself I am ing as a nurse and whilst working Brahmastra because I am so close to character to the top of her wish-list. “I want to
violence, and in the film’s most memorable talking to a girl.” as an usher, I have so much it in so many ways. It’s really a do a really tough, almost butch, investigating
scenes—set in a police station where Bhatt “More than being surprised at myself,” admiration and respect for home film,” Bhatt says. “The journalist or officer.”
vacillates between filing a complaint against Bhatt says of that bravura Udta Punjab per- that, because it’s a totally two of us together, Ranbir Alia Bhatt is restless, Alia Bhatt is on the
her abusive husband and giving him yet formance, which includes a devastatingly different life from what I and me, and Ayan, who’s move, Alia Bhatt is briefly interrupting our
another chance—Darlings demonstrates how good monologue, “I was surprised it landed. have had to live.” like our closest friend.” conversation because the baby is kicking.
despite the gulf between “aap logon mein” I knew I would be able to do it but I didn’t Currently, the actor Kapoor’s last film, She’s also pointing to herself while speaking
and “hum logon mein”, some horrors remain know that people would think I am able to do seems fascinated by Shamshera, performed about the Hollywood film she isn’t allowed to
the same. it and accept me like that.” different storytelling dismally but that is par speak about. “I just went, me!” she points. “By
Does this mean, I wonder, that she will not In Gauri Shinde’s Dear Zindagi (2016), approaches. “You for the course this myself, to a completely new crew, and a com-
do a film espousing a world view she doesn’t Bhatt plays Kaira, a cinematographer with can have the best year. Only Bhatt has pletely new set. That makes you realise how
agree with? She starts with a “possibly not” anger issues—an irritable, unlikable protago- actors but if the had back-to-back small you are in the whole scheme of things.
and amends this, swiftly and firmly, to an nist. “In Alia I saw the restlessness, the raw director is a bit successes, with You are one character, one actor who has
“obviously not”. True to her decision to avoid hunger, the impatience, the charm and the confused, then Gangubai Kathia- come to do your part, and then you go home
saying something stormy, she sidesteps any potential to portray Kaira,” Shinde says. you will be rub- wadi, the first and that’s it,” she smiles. “Sometimes we give
talk of propaganda and messaging in main- “When she heard the script, the character bish and the film Hindi film to ourselves too much importance.”
stream cinema. “I wouldn’t naturally take to truly resonated with her, and I could believe will be confused. bring audiences
that subject,” she responds, adding that she that. Frankly, it’s also a lot of how I have been, With a solid back to theatres Raja Sen is a Lounge columnist.
10 SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi TRAVEL

The Gir Lion Lodges.

An Asiatic Lion at the ZSL London Zoo.

A NIGHT AT
THE ZOO
In a bid to increase meaningful
participation, the ZSL London Zoo offers
accommodation at its in-house lodges as
well as access to curated private tours
Noor Anand Chawla
TIPS FOR PACKED DAYS began their tour from the lions’ enclo-
A VISIT The ZSL London Zoo had been high on sure. They told us about the state-of-the-

I
t is a balmy summer evening. our list of things to do during our recent art equipment and the enrichment pro-
Tired after a long day spent walk- vacation. So when we discovered the over- grammes in place to ensure the welfare
ing, my husband and I are sipping STAY OPTIONS night stay experience on their website, we of their two Asiatic lions, Bhanu and his
a cup of masala tea on the cheery ZSL London Zoo Lodges are jumped at the chance. Though everything mate Arya. From there, we moved to see
yellow porch while our six-year- open all year round. However, was initially sold out, a slot opened up stately Bactrian camels, curious alpacas
old son mills about, playing an imaginary the number of nights offering eventually owing to a cancellation. and pygmy hippos.
game. Jaunty prayer flags adorn the eaves the experience per week To make the most of our time, we The first tour over, we made our way to
of the roof and sturdy oak trees line the changes with the season. arrived right after the zoo opened. This the dining hall, where we were served a
gardens that connect the lodges. (around five nights a week in allowed us to pay leisurely visits to my pre-selected, two-course meal. Then it
Our moment of calm is interrupted by summer and two nights a week son’s favourite animals, many of whom we was time for our second tour, Peek Behind
a macaw’s loud screech. It sets off a flurry in winter). had read about but never seen, such as The Scenes. We were led to the industrial-
of sounds—the trill of a magpie, the dis- zebras, giraffes, meerkats, lemurs, gorillas, sized kitchen where food is prepared for
tant hooting of a monkey, and then the HOW TO BOOK as well as a variety of reptiles, insects and the animals. Every family was assigned a
low, unmistakable rumble of a lion’s roar, Bookings can be made on their nocturnal creatures. The spacious envi- task—to prepare meals for animals and
quite close to us. We return to our website: https://www.zsl.org/zsl- rons and strategically-placed food and feed them. We offered a carefully-
refreshments, unfazed. After all, this is london-zoo/london-zoo-lodge activity counters ensured there was plenty wrapped bag of nuts to porcupines, which
not a nature reserve, where a lion’s prox- to keep us occupied through the day. love the challenge of foraging for their
imity signals danger. It is the ZSL London By the time we checked into one of the meal, and, the next morning, used balls
Zoo Lodges, located in the very heart of A welcome drink and meals are included nine lodges on site, we were tired but filled with dry chickpea to lure the exotic
the city in Regent’s Park, and though we in the price of the ticket: £345-435 excited about what lay ahead. The lodges wallabies from their caves.
are sharing their ample enclosure, the (around₹33,120-41,760) for families, were a bit cramped, but comfortable and The morning tour, our last, included a
Asiatic lions are safely ensconced in depending on the number of people. clean. We were tickled by the décor, visit to the Penguin Pool, where we fed
another part of it. Guests also get two full days’ access to inspired by traditional Gujarati homes, the adorable penguins. We met the
When the Gujarat-themed Land Of The the zoo, with the added option of free marketplaces and temples, with each incredible apex predator called the
Lions exhibit was inaugurated here in Society of London’s (ZSL’s) Lodge is the At the ‘Land Of The Lions’, entry to the ZSL Whipsnade Zoo—a two- lodge themed to match different ani- Komodo dragon, whose enclosure uses
2016, the ZSL London Zoo Lodges were three tours, 45-60 minutes each, offered at the ZSL London Zoo. hour train ride from London—which has mals—Parakeet Lodge, Leopard Lodge— technology to adjust to the real-time tem-
opened alongside it. The exhibit itself as part of the package. These take place PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY ZSL LONDON ZOO more animals. from the Gir forest. Since ours was a can- peratures of Komodo Island in Indonesia,
happened by chance. The London Zoo when the zoo is closed to the public—two Since its opening in 1826, the ZSL has cellation booking, we made do with a twin and interacted with the fascinating Gala-
already had four female Asiatic lions and at night and one in the morning, before it attempted to study and help preserve bed with a pull-out sofa option, though pagos tortoises.
sourced a male lion from a zoo in Canada opens. They allow guests to enjoy a near- wildlife. Through scientific research, other lodges offer double beds. Each one These private tours, away from the hus-
about two years ago. The ladies didn’t take private viewing of select animals, guided on-field conservation efforts around the comes with a bathroom. tle-bustle, offer an unparalleled viewing of
to him and were shipped off to other zoos; by enthusiastic zookeepers, aka hosts, world and the attempt to engage through Soon, our party of about 25 adults and the zoo and its animals. The price is steep
another female was brought in last year. who readily share information. You even its two zoos in the UK, it hopes to address children was ready for the first tour. As but the cause seems worth the while. We
The lodges now offer accommodation get to feed some of the animals. the challenges facing wildlife, such as the adults enjoyed their welcome glasses certainly hope to return some day—but we
for an overnight stay to guests “within Since the tours account for a change in habitat loss, illegal wildlife trade and pol- of champagne and the children their will be sure to book our slot well in
roaring distance of the zoo’s Asiatic lions”, seasons—some animals could be hiber- lution. The ZSL London Zoo Lodge expe- orange juice, we were introduced to our advance.
as the zoo literature puts it. Today the nating or mating, for instance—no one rience is one such activity, geared to rais- bubbly young hosts—one from the US
main charm of a stay at the Zoological knows which animals they will get to see. ing both awareness and funds. and the other from Australia—who Noor Anand Chawla writes on lifestyle.

Yayoi Kusama’s ‘Infinity Rooms’ and the age of Instagram

The 93-year-old Japanese lier Of Grief, an ornate chandelier rotates
from the ceiling, creating a limitless field
artist’s work, on show at of light from the infinite mirrors sur-
London’s Tate Modern, is rounding it, telling you that you can expe-
rience beauty and sadness at the same
free from the afflictions time. Kusama’s mind may be a troubled
place but what she has created is truly
of elite art beautiful and bedazzling.
As you wait for your turn to lose yourself
Shunali Khullar Shroff in the Infinity Rooms, you get an insight
into the artist’s extraordinary journey

L
ondon is filled with tourists in August through a documentary film and photo-
and September. Museums, galleries graphs. Born in 1929 in Matsumoto,
and cafés are filled with their chatter. Japan, to a wealthy family of merchants,
Outside the Tate Modern, on the banks of she gained prominence in the 1960s in
the Thames, locals and tourists are lining New York, US. But she grew up in a deeply
up to see Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s unhappy family. Her father was an incura-
exhibition. ble womaniser and her mother would
The response to her Infinity Mirrored often make young Kusama spy on him. As
Rooms has been so overwhelming that the a child, she was exposed not only to inap- had exposed her to, and inspired a hatred Tiny dots of light are repeated endlessly in
museum recently extended the exhibi- propriate behaviour but also became the of, the male anatomy. When she first mirrors and water, suddenly making you
tion, which opened in June 2021, by a target of her mother’s rage. To escape the exhibited this work in New York in the a dot among bright dots, a star among a
year. It will now run until June 2023. trauma, she took refuge in art. That fur- 1960s, critics were shocked by the sexual- million others in the Milky Way. “Our
Kusama’s work is easy to enjoy because ther infuriated her mother, who ised transformation of ordinary domestic earth is only one polka dot among a mil-
it is accessible and free from the afflictions destroyed her drawings and art material. objects by a female artist. lion stars in the cosmos…. When we oblit-
of elite art. Even if you aren’t a fan of con- Sitting in a field of violets and drawing Being a woman and an Asian meant erate nature and our bodies with polka
temporary art, you are likely to be familiar as a child, she saw the heads of flowers Kusama was quickly written off. Her ideas dots, we become part of the unity of our
with the diminutive Japanese artist’s sig- turn into dots that stretched as far as she were appropriated by male artists like environment,” she has said of her work.
nature polka dots and pumpkins, the leit- could see. They began crowding in on her, Andy Warhol, who copied her repetitive Over the last decade, the Instagramma-
motif of most of her paintings, sculptures, suffocating her, speaking to her, states the style for his wallpaper prints, and Claes ble nature of Kusama’s work has given it
performances and installations. The dots curatorial note. Little Kusama felt she was Oldenburg, who used her concept of soft the reach it deserves. Her work shares ele-
have followed Kusama from the time she disappearing, or “self-obliterating” as she Nets series she had started the year she (above) ‘Chandelier Of Grief’; sculptures, gaining far more acclaim than ments of eccentric abstraction, surrealism,
was a little girl and began experiencing describes it, into this limitless field of dots. arrived in the US got her the break she and ‘Infinity Mirrored Room— her. This betrayal led Kusama to a nervous minimalism and pop art, defying classifi-
hallucinations. Today, at 93, the artist This was the beginning of her obsession needed. It consisted of 30ft-wide canvases Filled With The Brilliance Of breakdown and a suicide attempt. She cation. “If it were not for art, I would have
lives in a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo, her with dots, an attempt to make sense of her with pastel paints that revealed a net of Life, 2011’. eventually moved back to Japan, where killed myself a long time ago,” Kusama has
home for 45 years, and says the treatment hallucinatory experiences through art. polka dots, painted painstakingly over PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY TATE MODERN her hallucinations and panic attacks said. What a loss that would have been.
and care at the facility have helped her to When she wrote to Georgia O’Keeffe, months. returned in full force. In March 1977, she
focus exclusively on her art. the American artist invited her to the US, There were also her unusual sculp- entered a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo, Shunali Khullar Shroff is the author of
Inside the first Infinity Room at the Tate, warning her that artists had a hard time tures—boats, chairs, stairs and other continuing to work from there. Love In The Time Of Affluenza and Battle
a hallucination is recreated through a sin- making a living. Kusama reached the US in objects made of stuffed, disturbingly life- At the Tate Modern, as you move into Hymn Of A Bewildered Mother. She writes
gle chandelier and endless mirrors to pro- 1958, with a few kimonos and a small sum like phalluses she patiently sewed with the second Infinity Room, you cross a on popular culture, art, family life and
duce a sensorial wonderland. In Chande- of money. A few years later, the Infinity fabric. Having to spy on her father’s affairs reflective walkway over a shallow pool. travel.
 CULTURE SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi 11

FIRST
B E AT
SANJOY
N A R AYA N

Mickey Hart’s
experiments
with percussion

THE REFLECTED
GLORY OF RAAJA
Every year, a Tamil hit composed by Ilaiyaraaja during his glory days in films gains
American percussionist Mickey Hart.

currency by way of a sample or a remix. His new music is yet to wield such power
I
n 1967, when Mickey Hart joined the Grateful Dead, it wasn’t common for a
rock band to have two drummers. The Dead, formed in 1965, may have
been one of the first, in fact. Hart joined them at a time when they had Jerry
Lalitha Suhasini Garcia on lead guitar and vocals; Bob Weir on rhythm guitar and vocals; Ron
“Pigpen” McKernan on organ, harmonica and vocals; Phil Lesh on bass; and

A
rousing seven-second vio- Bill Kreutzmann on drums. Hart became the second drummer.
lin part stands out as the For staunch fans like me, Kreutzmann and Hart were a sort of yin and yang
bridge to a crescendo on combo. Kreutzmann’s style of play was steeped in classic rock ‘n’ roll but he
strings in a recent instru- gave it the psychedelic twist that was the Dead’s hallmark. Hart was more of
mental piece composed by the constantly crazy experimenter with a penchant for exploring drumming
the Chennai-based music director Ilaiyar- and percussion styles from around the world. Incredibly, the two comple-
aaja. It could have fit into any of the mem- mented each other perfectly in the highly improvisational band.
orable background scores the 79-year-old As the years passed though—and this includes his short hiatus from the
maestro created for films such as Nayagan band in the early 1970s—Hart had other projects, including collaborations
and Agni Natchathiram in the late 1980s. with the Indian tabla maestro Zakir Hussain. Earlier this month, the duo
Except that this piece came out in May, launched another project, In the Groove—after a 15-year break.
composed for a promotional video created Hart’s first notable project outside the Dead stable was Diga, an album
by Netflix to announce the release of the released in 1976 by the Diga Rhythm Band, a percussion-based outfit created
Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions of sea- by Hart and Hussain. They assembled an array of skilled percussionists apart
son 1 of the hit American sci-fi series from themselves, including Aushim Chaudhuri (tabla); Vince Delgado
Stranger Things. (dumbek, talking drums); Arshad Syed (duggi tarang, nal); and Jordan Ama-
Titled Ilaiyaraaja x Stranger Things, rantha (congas, bongos). Diga was a pioneering effort in exploring percussion
the video has gained close to 300,000 styles across the world, melding the sounds of the East with those of the West.
views (292,464 at the time of filing) It also marked the beginning of Hart’s journey into ethnomusicology and
despite the English version of season 1 (from top) Ilaiyaraaja; stills from ‘Super Deluxe’; and ‘Psycho’. world music.
having been released seven years ago. So, The latest offering, In The Groove, has been launched by Planet Drum, a
while Kate Bush may have notched a No.1 standable. In 2018, for instance, for the Deluxe for the same reason that Govind decided to go with the original,” Yuvan percussion-based world music band consisting of Hart, Hussain, the Nigerian
hit with Running Up That Hill 37 years score of the Tamil film 96 that included Vasantha likely felt moved to use Ilaiyar- said. Elated to be part of his son’s sound- percussionist Sikiru Adepoju and the Latin jazz percussionist Giovanni
after its release because it was featured in Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha in lead roles, aaja’s music for 96—to situate viewers in track, Ilaiyaraaja even recalled an anec- Hidalgo. In The Groove is Planet Drum’s third album, after 1991’s Planet Drum
the latest season of the nostalgia-packed music director Govind Vasantha used Ilai- another time and place. And perhaps dote of how the original came to be. This and 2007’s Global Drum Project. On Planet Drum, the ensemble included per-
series, for south Indian viewers the hype yaraaja hits to evoke a sense of nostalgia, blood does run thicker than water— month, Yuvan reinterpreted the boister- cussionists such as the legendary Indian ghatam player T.H. “Vikku” Vinayak-
is all about Ilaiyaraaja—Stranger Things notably during a reunion scene. Film Yuvan has referenced an Ilaiyaraaja song ous Rum Bum Bum from the same film for ram. Global Drum Project, which
merely feeds off his fandom. enthusiasts cheered raucously when they every other year since. the soundtrack of Coffee With Kadhal, also won a Grammy in 2009 for
On Instagram, however, most post-mil-
lenials have no idea that they are creating
heard the unforgettable opening notes of
the soaring hit Thendral Vanthu Theen-
In 2021, Yuvan revisited his father’s
track, Per Vachaalum Vaikkaama, for the
another comedy that is being rolled out as
a Yuvan Shankar Raja musical.
the best contemporary world
music album, has sitarist Niladri
THE LOUNGE
Reels to Ilaiyaraaja’s music. Recently, The
Elephunk Theme by Black Eyed Peas from
dum Pothu, originally sung by Ilaiyaraaja
himself for the 1995 film Avatharam, and
comedy Dikkiloona. Sung by S. Janaki and
Malaysia Vasudevan for the 1990 laugh
Film-maker and self-confessed super-
fan R. Balki has often said he regards Ilai-
Kumar, sarangi player Dilshad
Khan and singer and percussionist
LIST
2003, which includes an irrepressible the slow-burning ballad Yamune Aatrile, riot Michael Madana Kama Rajan, star- yaraaja as the greatest composer in India. Taufiq Qureshi. Five Planet Drum tracks
dance hook from Ilaiyaraaja’s Tamil track rendered by Hindustani classical vocalist ring Kamal Haasan in multiple roles, the For his film debut, Cheeni Kum, in 2007, The range of musicians on each
Unakkum Enakkum Anandam, became all Mitali Banerjee Bhawmick from the 1991 song is driven by a romping horn section he too had his heart set on Mandram Van- Planet Drum project can give you to bookend your week
the rage. Ilaiyaraaja composed the track film Thalapathi. Despite the makers of 96 and full-bellied folk beats. In a Twitter tha, a standout composition from the 1986 an idea of how Hart (who is now
for the 1985 Rajinikanth-starrer Sri duly crediting Ilaiyaraaja for using his spaces interview from 2021, Yuvan said it film Mouna Ragam. Sung by the late S.P. 78, while Hussain is 71) is able to 1. ‘King Clave’ from ‘In The Groove’
Raghavendrar. The audio has been used in music to craft a mood, however, the senior was Dikkiloona director Karthik Yogi’s Balasubramaniam, it was reimagined, meld geographically diverse styles
over 50,000 Reels to date, featuring composer eviscerated Govind Vasantha idea to include the song. “I had composed much to the disappointment of those who into sounds that not only work 2. ‘Storm Drum’ from ‘In The
everything from evening snack ideas to for not making original music to set the another tune based on this song since it loved the original, for the title track of well but also captivate. These are Groove’
knee-strengthening exercises. tone of the film. was the reference for it but we finally Balki’s film starring Amitabh Bachchan top-notch musicians, each a leg-
“I just loved the track. I had come across In 2019, Yuvan Shankar Raja chose and Tabu. end in their style. Yet when they 3. ‘Phil Da Glass’ from ‘In The
it long back during the first lockdown and originals composed by his father from the In an age where fans of K-pop and koo- play together on In The Groove, Groove’
just danced to it. Never knew that it was 1970s-90s for the background score of the thu songs cross over comfortably, it is cin- they produce coherently meshed,
going to be trending now. I didn’t have too film Super Deluxe. Yuvan licensed the ema’s loss that Ilaiyaraaja’s contemporary unified sound refreshingly bereft 4. ‘Baba’ from ‘Global Drum
much idea about the Tamil track that was uptempo disco track Yennadi Meenakshi, scores do not live up to his greatest hits. It of oneupmanship. Project’
sampled,” says Naveen K. Razak, 25, an picturised on Kamal Haasan in the 1978 Between 2000-10, only one is almost as if the composer’s music is Besides the percussionists, the
MBBS student from Thrissur, who created film Ilamai Oonjal Aadukirathu; Vanitha- stuck in a time warp, unable to make the album has other musicians.There 5. ‘Udu Chant’ from ‘Planet Drum’
a dance video based on The Elephunk mani, from yet another Haasan starrer— song of his, ‘Elangaathu leap. He need not look far, though, to find is Jatinder Singh, the Rajasthani
Theme in November 2020. the 1986 espionage thriller Vikram; and Veesudhey’ from the film the musical pulse of today’s audiences. folk singer, and an entire “India
Yet while Ilaiyaraaja’s older music, from Andhiyile Vaanam from the 1992 social ‘Pithamagan’, made an Yuvan delivered one of the biggest dance session” comprising traditional percussion instruments.
the 1980s and 1990s, has been inspiring drama, Chinnavar, which was directed by hooks for Tamil cinema with Rowdy Baby In The Groove, not unlike the previous Planet Drum project, may not appeal
fans of cinema all over again, the absurdly Ilaiyaraaja’s younger brother, Gangai
impact. Over the past in the Dhanush-Sai Pallavi entertainer, instantly to all listeners. If you are a bit drum crazy, though, it is easy to fall for
gifted composer’s contemporary scores Amaran. He picked these tracks for Super decade, there has been none which released as part of the soundtrack of it. It can work as both serious audiophile listening (on good headphones or on
have not lived up to his greatest hits. Isa- Maari 2. a high-end stereo) and a background ambient soundscape.
ignani, the honorific of musical genius Lately, Ilaiyaraaja has composed some Hart, Hussain and their bandmates vary the fare. Sometimes, it is a complex
bestowed on him by former Tamil Nadu inspired tracks. Like Neenga Mudiyuma composite of different kinds of percussion slamming your ears. At other
chief minister M. Karunanidhi, has often and Unna Nenachu, both sung by the hit times, it is a near-minimalistic arrangement that soothes and transports you
dismissed the genius of other composers machine Sid Sriram, for the film Psycho, to a trance-like state.
who have been able to break the mould which released in 2020. Both called for As diehard Deadheads know, many of Grateful Dead’s live recordings have
and find a following with younger audien- dramatic orchestration, a nod to Ilaiyar- long stretches of drum solos—excursions by Hart and Kreutzmann that some
ces. Maybe therein lies his inability to res- aaja’s 1980s’ oeuvre. Just before the pan- fans love to trip to but which leave others cold. The Planet Drum projects can
onate with the now. demic hit in 2020, the title track of Mar- seem a bit like that: If you can get into the percussive tapestry,you can lose
Whatever the reason, between udhanayagam, Kamal Haasan’s long- yourself; if you can’t, it can leave you cold.
2000-10, only one song of his, Elan- awaited magnum opus, in the making But Hart’s dedication to experimenting with percussive music has been a
gaathu Veesudhey from the film Pithama- since 1997, was launched. The track, sung constant through his career. In 2017, he released an album titled RAMU, an
gan, made an impact. Over the past dec- by the composer himself, encompasses all acronym for Random Access Musical Universe, in which he combined a huge
ade, there has been none. His older the elements of a classic Ilaiyaraaja hit— collection of percussive samples and “found sounds” from across the globe
music continues to hold its own, though: Tamil folk music influences that are all with a drum machine to create musical meanderings that can sound strange
His younger son, Yuvan Shankar Raja, soul, his inimitable voice, filled with and surprisingly enjoyable.
has been remixing it, others have been pathos, and a rhythm that rages like a In the Groove too comes as a pleasant surprise for drummers and “drum
referencing it. It is appealing both to wildfire. heads” who love the sound of percussion. One hopes there will be more to
those who grew up listening to tapes and But will the music endure? I am not come from one of the living legends of the drumming world.
those buying NFTs from musicians sure.
online today. First Beat is a column on what’s new and groovy in the world of music.
In some instances, the songs are used to Lalitha Suhasini teaches journalism at
recreate that period, so their use is under- FLAME University, Pune. @sanjoynarayan
12 SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi BUSINESS LOUNGE

Masaba Gupta
A PASSION PROJECT The designer on starting a beauty brand in a crowded market, how privilege
can only take you so far, and her great fear of being mediocre
Illustration by Priya Kuriyan

Pooja Singh
[email protected]

hy Love Child?” I

W ask Masaba Gupta

the reason for the
name of her latest
offering, a beauty
brand. “It’s just beautiful,” she replies. “In
school, there were kids who used to call
me bastard child. There are articles on the
You have to keep
proving people
internet where I am introduced as the love
child of (West Indies cricketer) Viv Rich-
ards and (actor) Neena Gupta. Me…being
a designer, an entrepreneur, an actor, all
of that comes later. There’s always a tag
wrong, especially
that’s waiting for you in the curtains; it’s
up to you what you do with it.”
Gupta, 33, has done many things. At 19,
after a diploma in apparel design and
when you have
manufacturing from Mumbai’s SNDT
University, she started a womenswear
label, House of Masaba, now famous for its
privilege, you
quirky prints on kaftans, dresses, shirts
and saris. In 2009, she debuted with her
collection, Katran, at the Lakmé Fashion
Week. Two years later, she launched her
have to keep
first store, in Juhu in Mumbai. In 2020,
she became the first Indian designer to
have a Netflix Original based on her life;
season 2 launched in July. Earlier this
doing it.
year, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd
acquired a 51% shareholding in her
bridge-to-luxury brand for a cash consid-
eration of ₹90 crore.
This helped Gupta branch into the
world of beauty and expand her retail
footprint. She has opened eight stores in
cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata,
offering jewellery and other accessories
too, and is also available at multi-brand
outlets in the UK, US, Maldives, Dubai and
Thailand. She has also collaborated with
labels like Amrapali, Louis Vuitton and
Bvlgari. This month, she launched Love
Child, a “hybrid between beauty, skincare
and wellness”, distinct from her limited-
edition make-up collection in collabora-
tion with Nykaa.

Her Love Child brand is

entering a crowded
Indian beauty market,
worth $25 billion, with
50 products in the
₹100-900 price bracket

It’s a big gamble. For, after five years of

ideation and tests, Love Child is entering
a crowded Indian beauty market worth
$25 billion (around ₹1.98 trillion), accord-
ing to the ResearchAndMarkets platform.
Almost every month, there’s news of a
launch, a home-grown name or the entry
of an international brand.
Love Child is making an entry with over
50 products, in the ₹100-900 price range,
in five categories: lipstick, nail enamel,
face mists, anti-anxiety oil and intimate
wipes. While a celebrity face like Masaba
is a big crowd-puller for any brand, suc-
cess doesn’t come easy. Perhaps the big-
gest hit story at the moment is actor Kat-
rina Kaif’s 2019-born Kay Beauty, a cos-
metics line that has managed to catch those in the “low mass segment” to widen Her journey of self-discovery, as she otism. For five-six years, Gupta presented ise how important it is to course-correct
attention with quality products and the customer base and offer the experi- likes to call it, got a lot of attention on How do you unwind? two collections on the ramp annually. She yourself. Humility is the highest form of
affordable prices. In May, Kay Beauty ence of the Masaba Gupta bridge-to-lux- social media, more so when she started Workouts, sitting in silence with pulled in all the favours she could till her intelligence. That’s what I have learnt.”
announced it would be opening 100-plus ury world. One day, she hopes, they will opening up about it on her Instagram friends, and travelling. clothes really started talking. Actors began The designer-actor has learnt to not
offline stores in the country. So what can grow into customers of her fashion label account. Did it come easy? “Hell, no. I wearing her on screen. Fake Masaba take advice from people “who do not have
Masaba Gupta offer? At the end of the day, though, product is wasted a lot of time in self-doubt. By the A designer whose prints found space in places like Delhi’s the same appetite for survival. Don’t ever
It’s a question she asked herself before king. “No amount of Insta content, celeb- time I truly understood how empowering wardrobe you would Chandni Chowk—a compliment more take advice from a person who has not
taking the plunge into something she rity endorsements can save a bad prod- it can be to be pitied as an underdog, I was than a concern. “I think people realised worked a day in their life and has been
believed was a “natural extension for the uct,” agrees Gupta. “My strategy is distinc- bang in the middle of my design career.
like to raid she’s not just here to have fun with her handed everything on a platter. I can’t tell
Victoria Beckham.
brand”. One observation that helped her tive packaging (think Masaba prints in And that’s when I decided, it’s best if I just celebrity status....You have to keep prov- you how many times I have been told to do
decide was the openness of millennials bright colours), competitive pricing own it. Life happens, you know, circum- ing people wrong, especially when you bridal for couture.” The second big learn-
and post-millennials to India-born (“after all, I am competing with Lakmé, stances change, relationships break, they
A designer you look have privilege, you have to keep doing it.” ing has been to be “agile. You have to be
brands. “It’s no longer a gimmick,” Gupta Maybelline, Sugar, Colorbar”; other come together again, all of that happens.” up to At a time when fast fashion brands as very quick to take feedback, adapt it and
insists. “The young generation wants a brands also sell in the ₹100-800 bracket) It’s this self-assurance that she brings to Karl Lagerfeld, Raf Simons, well as designer brands are trying, or at move with it.” That’s not all. She has learnt
brand that has come from the brainchild and what’s on the back of the cover (“con- her entrepreneurial journey, one she Sabyasachi, Kallol Datta, Demna least pretending, to move away from poly- a dishonest brand cannot survive—and
of somebody who has lived and is breath- sumers are very invested in ingredients”; embarked on after ending her two-year Gvasalia, Anuradha Ramam. ester use, Gupta admits to using the much that she should be prepared for the bad
ing everything India. We have long been her products claim to be vegan, free of stint as creative head of Satya Paul in 2014. dissed fabric. “There was a time when days. “…by which I mean both from a
intimidated by global brands. I remember cruelty, paraben and sulfate).” During those days in Delhi, while running there were only pure silks. Most of our monetary point of view as well as from a
when Zara, Burberry, etc., came to Mum- What’s striking about Gupta, who’s sit- House of Masaba as a small shop on the stuff is pure silk and cotton but we do have creative point of view.”
bai. I was like, ‘What will happen to my ting for the online interview with no side while working for Satya Paul, Gupta polyester for the client who wants it,” she For the next five years, Gupta, who
brand?’ Now, we appreciate global brands make-up, in a black and grey top, is her saw how powerful a brand can become if explains. “What’s wrong with that?” looks up to Priyanka Chopra Jonas (“she’s
but we don’t necessarily feel intimidated honesty and clarity. She confesses that the the right people come together. “I could Gupta is not afraid to speak her mind. just unstoppable, I don’t think she rests”),
by them. We are on a par with them.” striking black nail polish she is wearing is very well have been somebody who is a Becoming an actor was not just a way to has her to-do list ready: opening four-five
The second observation was the diver- not from her collection. She’s as real when boutique brand. But I thought I would be keep pushing herself out of her comfort retail stores in India, offering more ethnic
sity in tastes. “If you are truthful about she talks about the breakdown of her mar- robbing the brand of its potential just zone, it also helped her control the narra- wear (“while designers are fighting over
your product, there’s space for everyone,” riage. “I was 26 when I got married. I because I didn’t want to change my mind- tive of her life. “That moment or opportu- who’s going to wear the bridal lehnga, we
she says. “I am passionate about make-up. remember thinking that nearly every set,” she recalls. The shift took time. Gupta nity was not going to come back,” she says. are looking at the bride’s and groom’s
I have had an extensive skincare journey other friend is married or with somebody, had to let go of her creative ego, collabo- “People again thought I got it because I families”), jewellery, athleisure, lounge-
(she has always been open about problems and I am going to be left behind. So I did it. rate with people who “did not necessarily was someone’s daughter but privilege wear, and expanding Love Child offerings
like acne). You don’t have to always You know how every woman goes understand creative or design deeply. You always comes at a very high cost.” to include fragrances, foundations, eye
believe in clean beauty, a term that has through that moment in her life. The have to crack yourself open.” One reason for Gupta’s self-awareness make-up and skincare.
been abused to a great extent globally.” lucky ones just get a nose piercing and get She had her share of challenges. For is her biggest cheerleader and critic, her “I know that’s a lot and I am dying,” she
Gupta, in effect, hopes to reach women away with it. But some just can’t live with starters, the people who advised her not to mother. “I get more worried about what laughs. “But I am somebody who thrives
“who are not in a position to afford or that. I was making money but I looked at go big. “I got something like, ‘There’s no she will say about my acting or my design when I am busy.... I want to create this leg-
reach the House of Masaba, the mother marriage like a constant roof over my opportunity for that in the market,’ or idea than anybody else,” Gupta laughs. acy brand that survives even after the
brand”. By offering a creamy matte bullet- head. Then one day it all just fell apart. I something as bizarre as just saying, ‘No, Another reason is the world she grew up founder is gone. I am scared to be medio-
sized lipstick for ₹600 or a long-lasting had to get up, be fitter, mentally stronger, just keep saying no,’” she laughs. in. “When you see a lot of lives crumble in cre. I want to do more, because I can do
nail polish for ₹200, she wants to attract and become my own power couple.” Then there were conversations on nep- the pressure of fame or success, you real- more.”
LIVEMINT.COM NEWS SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi 13

m MINT SHORTS
Pyongyang rejects Seoul’s offer for
Cotton procurement may
aid in return for denuclearization
Seoul: Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader
Kim Jong-un, on Friday rejected Seoul’s offer of economic assist-
ance in return for denuclearization steps, calling it the “height of
remain slow, hitting textiles
absurdity”. The statement follows South Korean President Yoon FIIs turned net buyers of
Suk-yeol this week putting forward an “audacious” aid plan that Indian stocks last month. MINT
would include food, energy and infrastructure help in return for
the North abandoning its nuclear weapons programme. AFP Syrma sets the Production estimates of cotton in India have been cut to 31.5 million bales for FY23
SBI sells KSK Mahanadi Power stage for IPO Ravi Dutta Misra ton had jumped sharply this year but
[email protected] the production fell over 20%, which led
loan account to Aditya Birla ARC market revival New Delhi to a surge in cotton prices.
Textiles form a significant part of the

G
FROM PAGE 16 overnment procurement free trade agreements (FTA) that India
of cotton could remain is negotiating with countries such as
With the momentum building, slow even after the new the UK and EU. A duty cut for Indian
you may see a few deal launches crop season begins in textile products could make Indian
happening for companies that October, as prices of the exports more competitive and at par
have strong fundamentals, commodity are expected to remain with countries such as Bangladesh and
good outlook and reasonable high, a government official said, out- Vietnam.
pricing of IPOs,” Rao said. lining a development that could benefit Industry representatives also expect
However, Rao cautioned that farmers but hit textile manufacturers. textile demand from India to rise on
the initial set of IPOs coming to The spot price of cotton has nearly account of the FTA signed with the
the market would need to deliver surged back to record levels of ₹1 lakh a UAE and the one being negotiated with
healthy returns to ensure a candy amid a drop in production in Australia.
New Delhi: The State Bank of India (SBI) has sold the non- broader recovery of primary mar- major cotton producing countries, A query sent to the textile ministry
performing loan account of KSK Mahanadi Power Com- kets. “Investors have been wary of including India. remained unanswered at press time.
pany to Aditya Birla ARC for ₹1,622 crore, accepting a hair- new issuances due to volatility and Production estimates of cotton in The spot price of cotton is nearly back to record levels of ₹1 lakh a candy amid a Textile secretary UP Singh had ear-
cut of almost 58% against the total outstanding. KSK Maha- certain past issuances facing pric- India have already been cut to 31.5 mil- drop in production in major cotton producing countries. AFP lier said India used to have 5 to 6 mil-
nadi Power Company had total loan outstanding of ing performance. So, the issues lion bales for FY23 as production in lion bales in surplus but that this sur-
₹3,815.04 crore towards SBI as of April 2022. PTI that get launched now need to major cotton producing states such as “During covid-19 demand was low bales this year. plus has been falling every year.
provide healthy returns,” he said. Maharashtra and Karnataka is set to and that is why 20 million bales were “The carry-over stock to the next Besides, the Indian industry had a 10%
In an 18 August interview, drop due to pests and heavy rains. procured at MSP in those two years. cotton season could be the lowest in price advantage as far as cotton was
Adani Group gets nod for $3.8 bn Debasish Purohit, co-head of India Cotton prices globally have been on Earlier also cotton procurement has many years. But currently the problem concerned. “But this is no longer there
investment banking at Bank of the surge after the US, one of the largest been small,” the official added. is cotton productivity. It has stagnated because our consumption would out-
open offer for Ambuja, ACC America, said the bank is seeing cotton producing coun- due to lack of new seeds strip production in the very near
New Delhi: The Adani Group has received regulatory approval momentum return to the equity tries, cut its production WHY COTTON PRICES ARE SURGING and frequent pest attacks future,” he added.
for a ₹301 billion ($3.8 billion) open offer to buy the remaining capital markets, adding that quick- forecast by 3 million bales and diseases,” the official Textile minister Piyush Goyal in a
shares of two Indian cement makers, according to people familiar to-market products such as block to 12.6 million bales for THE US cut its COTTON demand PRODUCTIvITY said. meeting held earlier this month said
with the matter, following Holcim Ltd’s decision to sell its major- trades or QIPs (qualified institu- FY23. production forecast has jumped sharply has been hit due to Cotton productivity that all stakeholders must share best
by 3 million bales to but the production lack of new seeds
ity stake in May to the conglomerate. The group, led by Asia’s tional placement) will see a revival “The prices will cer- 12.6 million bales for fell over 20%, leading and frequent pest has remained little practices to boost cotton productivity
richest person Gautam Adani, is set to make an offer to buy 26% first before IPOs. “There are signs tainly drop from the new FY23 to a surge in prices attacks and diseases changed over the years in India to increase farmer incomes.
of Ambuja Cements Ltd for ₹385 per share and the same stake for of life back after an almost three- season that starts from and averages in the range The private sector must also contrib-
₹2,300 per share of ACC Ltd after getting a nod from the Securi- month hiatus. Having printed four October. But in the entire of 450 kg per hectare to ute to boost research in productivity,
ties and Exchange Board of India, said people familiar with the trades (deals) in a week, we feel next season, I don’t expect any MSP However, the government has said 500 kg per hectare compared with 400 farmers‘ education as well as branding
development, who did not want to be identified. BLOOMBERG very encouraged by the reversal in operation (because prices will be ele- that India has sufficient cotton stocks as kg per hectare in 2006-07. Meanwhile, to which the government would pro-
fund flows, return of FPIs into vated). Cotton prices are expected to be the total availability of cotton without the global average of cotton productiv- vide matching support, Goyal had said,
equity transactions and a bout of well above the MSP,” the government considering imports is 38 million bales ity stands at 877 kg per hectare. according to a statement issued by the
NCLAT upholds NCLT ruling market stability,” Purohit said. official said. while consumption stands at 32 million Experts said that the demand for cot- textile ministry.
on resolution applicants

MPC for front-loading CEO: Paytm to turn Stocks dive on fears

interest rate increases profitable next year of interest rate hikes
FROM PAGE 16 would require monetary policy FROM PAGE 16 FROM PAGE 16 during the day. These factors
to persevere with its exit from regarding the potential for rates
breached for a prolonged period accommodation to ensure that concerns over his remunera- FPIs turning net sellers has to move up may put some pres-
if monetary policy overlooks the front-loaded policy rate hikes tion by reiterating that his surprised bulls, said Vinod Nair, sure on the markets.”
second-round effects of supply dampen inflation expectations, stock options that were head of research at Geojit Finan- Experts already have been
Mumbai: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal shocks through the exchange anchor second-round effects granted in FY22 will not vest cial Services. The broad-based cautious after a significant rise in
(NCLAT) has upheld the NCLT’s observation that a resolu- rate, expectations, etc. He, and firmly establish our com- till the company hits the IPO selling witnessed among index the indices. With a strong rally,
tion applicant’s casual conduct in filing a resolution plan is therefore, argued that front- mitment to price stability,” Ran- market cap. Sharma’s remu- heavyweights dragged the index the market valuations were get-
sufficient ground for rejecting it even if it was approved by loading rate actions would dem- jan added. neration of ₹796 crore, includ- down, Nair said, adding that ting stretched, and some profit-
a committee of creditors. A bench led by Justice Ashok onstrate RBI’s commitment to Economist Ashima Goyal, ing stock options granted in “concerns about interest rate booking was expected.
Bhushan made the observation in a case that involved Shiv- the inflation target of 4%. who is also on the rate-setting FY22, was one of the resolu- hikes hung over the markets”. Analysts at Jefferies India Pvt.
kala Private Developers, wherein Cimco Projects, the reso- “Front-loading of monetary panel, said a flexible inflation- tions put up for vote ahead of Other Asian indices such as Ltd, in a 9 August note, said they
lution applicant, submitted its expression of interest but policy actions can keep inflation targeting framework is the AGM. Proxy advisory firms Paytm’s loss widened to ₹644 cr Nikkei Jakarta Composite, are not convinced about the sus-
failed to deposit the performance guarantee for the resolu- expectations firmly anchored, needed to respond to inflation have questioned the grant of in Q1 from ₹380.2 cr in the Shanghai Composite and tainability of the recent rally,
tion plan. PRIYANKA GAWANDE re-align inflation and growth. Esops to Sharma since he is corresponding quarter last year. Kospi, all cor- though they noted
with the target MPC member “The repo rate practically a permanent rected 0.04-0.6%. With a strong rally, the improved US
and reduce the Michael Patra said does not respond director on the board and in the financial statements of Only Hang Seng the valuations were outlook on lower
Centre updates ALMM list for solar medium-term front-loading rate to the exchange light of Paytm stock’s abysmal FY22, the reappointment of and Taiwan getting stretched, inflation expecta-
growth sacrifice as actions would show rate. This is mar- performance. Sharma as managing director TAIEX managed tions and lower
modules with more Indian players it is timed into the
and some profit
RBI’s commitment ket-determined, Sharma is not classified as a and CEO; and the reappoint- to close slightly
booking was recession risks.
New Delhi: The ministry of new and renewable energy has recovery under- with India’s capital promoter, but he is the founder ment of Deora as group CFO, higher. The recent 15%
updated the approved list of models and manufacturers (ALMM) way. Small steps to the inflation flow and reserve of Paytm, owning close to 14% president and executive Some modera- expected, said rally in the Nifty
for solar modules, adding more Indian players to it. The list now over a prolonged target of 4% management stock in the company, includ- director; reappointment of tion in inflation analysts has taken the bond
has 66 manufacturers who can supply equipment for solar pro- period could allow effectively reduc- ing through his family trust. Ravi Adusumilli to the board; seen in the US and yield gap to an
jects in India, showed a notification from the ministry. The list inflation to get ing exchange rate Group chief financial officer contributions to charitable India raised expec- uncomfortable
had 58 manufacturers after its previous update in April. This is entrenched and inflation volatility, which can be too high (CFO) Madhur Deora said there entities; and two special resolu- tations of a likely moderation in level, they said.
the seventh update to the list. RITURAJ BARUAH expectations unhinged,” Patra in emerging markets under were no plans to make any tions on the remunerations of rate hikes. Joseph Thomas, head With the rising dollar Index,
said. “By front-loading mone- global shocks. Research shows acquisitions in the short and Sharma and Deora. The com- of research at Emkay Wealth, said the rupee is already under pres-
tary policy actions, credibility is that inflation targeting works medium term. “We are more pany did not disclose voting new data points and the still high sure. USD-INR spot closed 10
Phone display assembly fitted with demonstrated by showing com- better in developing economies builders than buyers,” Deora results till press time. level of inflation indicate rate paise higher at 79.77. Strength in
mitment to the inflation target.” if additional instruments are said, noting that it was easier for Three proxy advisory firms hikes would be required more the dollar index and weakness in
items to attract 15% import duty Rajiv Ranjan, an MPC mem- available to address excess the company to build on a huge had advised investors to vote often to bring inflation down. The Chinese yuan are driving the
New Delhi: Import of mobile phone display assembly, which are ber and executive director at exchange rate and capital flow scale than to acquire. against the reappointment of dollar index is probably set to rupee lower, said Anindya Ban-
fitted with items like speakers, SIM tray and power key, will attract RBI, said front-loading rate volatility. India has many such Ahead of the AGM, share- Sharma and Adusumilli while move higher still. The market lev- erjee, vice-president of currency
a 15% basic customs duty (BCD), the Central Board of Indirect hikes would strengthen mone- instruments that can be acti- holders voted on five ordinary raising concerns over manage- els and the action reflected a derivatives and interest rate
Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has said. PTI tary policy credibility. “This vated if necessary,” Goyal added resolutions on the adoption of ment compensation. response to these developments derivatives, Kotak Securities Ltd.

Partial Wagner mercenaries in spotlight as Russian troops struggle in Ukraine

return of rail
preparation,” said Ukrainian Russian military and fined 5 mil- allowed the Ukrainian artillery atitis, according to the notice. answers to questions, said that
concessions for FROM PAGE 16
Capt. Oleksandr Buntov, who lion rubles in 2013 after he took to easily identify the building, The requirement for healthy he hadn’t just visited prison facil-
and role, with additional bonuses commanded a reconnaissance an Su-27 jet fighter on an unau- according to Ukrainian officials. teeth has been waived and a ities but himself spent 10 years
elderly likely for killing Ukrainian soldiers. unit engaged in close combat thorized joy ride and crashed it. The administrator of Wagner’s criminal conviction no longer is behind bars.
Wagner’s own advertisements with Wagner in Popasna and In the Ukrainian battlefield, Telegram social-media channel a problem, as long as it wasn’t for In Russia’s detention facilities,
FROM PAGE 16 on social media mention a start- later near Lysychansk. “It’s not Wagner soldiers today operate was among those killed in that sex crimes, the note said. inmates are told by Wagner that
ing pay of 250,000 rubles. the usual Russian infantry. They under the overall command of strike, according to posts by In fact, according to Russian their convictions would be
in FY17, ₹1,810 crore in FY18 In May, the main Russian know reconnaissance, and you the Russian military unit other Wagner fighters. prisoner-rights groups, the wiped out after six months of
and ₹1,995 crore in FY19, form- offensive in Donbas stalled near can see it from how they walk responsible for the area, and are Wagner’s heavy losses since country’s detention facilities service in Ukraine, even though
ing a substantial burden on rail- Izyum and Russian attempts at a and how they move. They also integrated into the Russian mili- May and June mean that the have now become a prime no such procedure is available
way finances. The panel also pontoon crossing of the Siver- know how to call in artillery and tary’s logistics chain, according group now has to scrape the bar- recruitment ground for Wagner under Russian law, said Olga
recommended that the minis- skyi Donets River ended in a air support.” to GUR. “It’s a mistake to call rel for new recruits, lowering its units in Ukraine. Mr. Prigozhin, Romanova, head of the Russia
try take proactive steps to rout. Then, Wagner’s men While Wagner fought against Wagner soldiers operate them a private military com- once relatively stringent stan- who himself served time in Behind Bars prisoner-rights
review the criterion for grant- finally managed to break Ukrainian forces in Donbas as under the command of the pany—Wagner is just another dards. While requirements prison in Soviet times, has been organization.
ing concessions to reduce the Ukrainian fortifications near the early as in 2014, the company’s Russian military unit way of serving in Russia’s armed haven’t changed for mercenaries personally touring detention “This situation is completely
impact on finances. town of Popasna. That allowed main focus over the past eight responsible for the area. AP forces,” said Mr. Yahun. seeking work in Africa or the facilities, with his Hero of Russia outside any legal field,” she said.
Answering a question in Lok Russian forces to fan out in what years has been in Syria, Libya, Part of Wagner’s recent com- Middle East, those willing to star on his lapel, promising Few of these prisoner recruits
Sabha recently, railway minister they called “flower of Popasna” Mali and the Central African also operate in Ukraine, such as ing out has been dictated by its fight in Ukraine no longer have inmates freedom and money in have any military experience
Ashwini Vaishnaw said restora- offensive in the following weeks, Republic, where it often offered Redut and Patriot, Wagner has recruitment needs after heavy to be healthy, experienced or exchange for going to war, Rus- because, as a rule, they have
tion of concessions to senior cit- taking the cities of Severodo- its services to Russian-backed its own tanks, heavy artillery, air losses in Donbas. Some of these particularly fit. “They won’t look sian prisoner-rights groups say. been in and out of detention
izens and sports persons is not netsk and Lysychansk. Wagner leaders in exchange for a share of defenses and multiple-launch casualties have been caused by too much at the norms, just don’t Andrey Bogatov, a senior facilities since teenage years, Ms.
desirable as fares in most classes captured the Vuhlehirsk power natural-resource revenues, rocket systems. It also operates the company’s new hunger for be a complete sack,” explained a member of Wagner and another Romanova added. Some 200
were already low, and the rail- station in July and, according to according to U.S. officials. “They combat aircraft. At least two jets publicity: A deadly Ukrainian Wagner recruitment note on a holder of the Hero of Russia such inmates have already died
ways has suffered recurring Russian and Ukrainian officials, are professional killers who work piloted by Wagner staff—a strike on the company’s base in Russian social-media network. award, this month confirmed the in Ukraine since Wagner began
losses due to low fares and con- now is spearheading the fighting in coordinated groups, and it’s retired Russian major general Popasna on Saturday was made The requirement for men prisoner recruitment, saying deploying them to the front lines
cessions. However, the thinking to break Ukraine’s next line of not the first war for them,” said and a retired Belarusian colo- possible by Mr. Prigozhin’s pos- over 35 years of age is only that that Wagner cares for the lives of last month, she said. “They are
now seems to be to include the defenses in the city of Bakhmut. Ukraine’s national security nel—have been shot down by ing for photos with a Russian they are able to run 1 kilometer in its troops “regardless of whether just cannon fodder.”
neediest category in the limited “They bleed just like everyone adviser, Oleksiy Danilov. Ukrainian forces near Popasna. military correspondent outside 4 minutes and 20 seconds, and they are former soldiers or Evan Gershkovich & Brett For-
list of segments that continue to else, they fall like everyone else, Unlike other, smaller private The major general, Kanamat the facility. These photos, posted the only medical conditions pre- former convicts.” rest contributed to this article.
get rail concessions. but you do feel their level of Russian military companies that Botashev, was fired from the by the correspondent online, cluding service are HIV and hep- Mr. Prigozhin, in written ©2022 DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC
14 SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi NEWS LIVEMINT.COM

CCI to keep anti-trust

case settlement
Higher rates, credit demand Account
aggregator
amounts reasonable lift banks’ Q1 interest income ecosystem to
be tightened
Gireesh Chandra Prasad
[email protected] Priyanka Gawande
NEW DELHI [email protected]
Banks raised interest rates during the June quarter as the benchmark repo rate rose by 90 bps
T T
he Competition Com- he Securities and
mission of India (CCI) is Exchange Board of
set to keep the amount to Shayan Ghosh India (Sebi) has asked
be paid by businesses for set- [email protected]
Robust growth depositories and asset man-
Banks have reported a robust 14.6%
tling anti-trust cases under a MUMBAI
growth in net interest income in agement companies
proposed scheme at a much Q1FY23, almost twice what they (through their registrar and

R
lower level than the actual pen- ising interest rates in the recorded last year. transfer agents) to participate
alty that they will have to pay June quarter following rate as financial information pro-
Q1FY22 Q1FY23 % change (y-o-y)
otherwise. hikes by the Reserve Bank of viders (FIPs) in the existing
(in ₹ crore)
The idea is to incentivise India (RBI), coupled with a Public account aggregator frame-
businesses to settle cases of rise in demand for credit, sector
70,145 work.
anti-competitive behaviour helped banks report a robust 14.6% banks 78,491 11.9 The capital market regula-
and correct them without delay growth in net interest income, almost tor has made it mandatory for
Private 57,633
rather than letting cases lan- CCI has in the last five years twice what they recorded last year. banks FIPs to “seek approval” of
guish in courts while market imposed penalty of over A report by economist Dipanwita 67,531 17.2 investors before sharing
distortion continues. ₹4,300 cr on 24 companies. MINT Mazumdar of Bank of Baroda analysed 1,693 their information with the
The settlement amounts are the financial performance of 35 banks, Others Reserve Bank of India
2,333 37.8
likely to be much lower than solution, said the person on comprising 12 public sector, 19 private (RBI)-approved account
the penalty levied currently, condition of anonymity. sector and four small finance banks. It aggregators.
Total
which is at 10% of the average CCI has in the last five years looked at key indicators of profitability, industry 129,470 148,355 14.6 “The FIPs shall share the
turnover of a business for three imposed penalty of over margins and efficiency ratios for the financial information per-
Source: Ace Equity, Bank of Baroda Research
preceding financial years. ₹4,300 crore on 24 companies consolidated groups. For public sector taining to securities markets,
PHOTOGRAPH BY BLOOMBERG; GRAPHIC BY PARAS JAIN/MINT
A person familiar with dis- for various violations of the and private banks, net interest income through the account aggre-
cussions in the government competition law. Of these, only -- the difference between interest told analysts on 6 August. cating higher utilization of working raised their growth guidance for FY23, gator only on receipt of a
said that if the settlement ₹198 crore has been paid by the earned and expended -- rose sharply by Despite the gradual resurgence of capital limits by borrowers in the past factoring strong June quarter and valid consent artefact from
amount is at 9-10% of revenue, companies with tribunals or 11.9% and 17.2%, respectively, in Q1 corporate credit where a large portion few quarters. improving growth impulses in retail, the customer,” Sebi said.
then businesses may prefer to courts applying stay on recov- FY23 from 5.4% and 10.5% in Q1FY22. of sanctioned loans are yet to be util- The report said that large private small businesses, and corporate portfo- FIPs in the securities mar-
move court and fight the case. ery or setting aside the orders. The weighted average lending rate ized, it is the retail segment that drove sector banks have outperformed lios. “Within retail, mortgage growth kets should also verify the
“The settlement amount has to Emails sent to the corporate on fresh bank loans increased 31 basis credit growth in the June quarter. Ana- smaller and mid-tier banks, which have remains healthy, while signs of pick-up validity of investor’s consent,
be substantially affairs ministry points (bps) between March and June lysts at Kotak Institutional Equities struggled due to exposure toward cov- are visible in otherwise lacklustre vehi- specified dates, and usage, as
lower. We have to The settlement and to CCI on to 7.94%, RBI data showed. On existing pointed out in a report on 16 August id-impacted sectors such as commer- cle finance as well. Unsecured loan well as the credentials of
sufficiently incen- amounts to be T h u r s d a y loans, it rose a tad slower, by 19 bps, to that corporate loans have not picked up cial vehicles, microfinance, small busi- growth remains strong, led by cards account aggregators.
tivize parties to paid by remained unan- 8.93%. The monetary policy committee meaningfully yet, growing just 3% in nesses, and self-employed retail. How- and personal loans, given underlying The FIPs should digitally
opt for settle- businesses are swered till press (MPC) of RBI has raised the repo strong demand and banks turning sign the financial informa-
ments so that
likely to be much
time. rate by 140 bps in three tranches gROwTH DRIVERS pro-risk,” it said in a note on 11 tion and securely transmit it
market correction The scheme of between May and August. In the August. to the account aggregator
is achieved as lower than the ‘settlements and three months through June, the THE weighted DESPITE resurgence LARgE private MOST banks have That said, funding as well as after verification of the con-
early as possible,” penalty levied commitments’ effective rate hike was 90 bps. But average lending rate of corporate credit, sector banks have raised their growth operational cost pressures are ris- sent artefact. All responses of
on fresh loans rose it is the retail outperformed guidance for FY23,
said the person. meant for quick bankers do not anticipate a dip in by 31 bps between segment that drove smaller and mid-tier factoring strong Q1 ing and, thus, banks with the ability the FIPs in the securities
The urgency resolution of cases credit demand in spite of higher March-June to 7.94% credit growth in Q1 banks due to covid and growth impulses to pass on rate hikes floating rate markets should be in real
for the government to offer a will be implemented after the interest rates. book and drive-up fees should be time. “There also needs to be
framework for quick resolution Competition (Amendment) Bill “Irrespective of the interest rate able to protect their core profitabil- adequate safeguards built
of cases comes in the backdrop tabled in Parliament earlier this hike, which has been talked about, now June 2022. “Some lenders are indicat- ever, mid-tier banks are also now ity, it said. Emkay sees ICICI Bank and into IT systems of FIPs in the
of several past cases ending up month becomes law. The Bill is the retail engine continues to adhere to ing caution due to worries relating to indicating a strong outlook for credit SBI as far better placed with a higher securities markets to ensure
in legal battles leading to non- currently under review by the its promise and we hope that we will the global macroeconomic environ- growth as most asset-quality challen- share of the retail book, including that it is protected against
recovery of penalties and parliamentary standing com- have a decent growth in retail going ment. But, incrementally, banks saw ges have been addressed, capital levels mortgages to improve their margins, unauthorized access, altera-
delays in changing corporate mittee on finance and is forward as well. Rather, when it comes better growth opportunities in sectors are healthy and credit underwriting while SBI could additionally benefit tion, destruction, disclosure,
conduct. A smaller settlement expected to be taken up for pas- to corporate growth, we are quite like non-bank lenders and infrastruc- has been tested, it said. from retirement liability due to the or dissemination of records
amount subject to conditions to sage in the upcoming winter hopeful this year we will have better ture (roads and telecom),” the report Analysts at Emkay Global Financial absence of family pension provisions and data,” the market regula-
be specified by the CCI is the session. traction,” Dinesh Khara, chairman, SBI, said, adding that banks have been indi- Services Ltd said that most banks have unlike last year. tor said.

What the Dolo 650 case before the SC is all about NHPC to invest over
Priyanka Gawande
[email protected]
What is Dolo?
Dolo 650, made by Benga-
regulated by the government
but that of a drug above 500
to drug companies; so doctors’
licences are cancelled for mis-
₹18,000 cr in Nepal
MUMBAI luru-based Micro Labs Ltd, mg can be fixed by the drug conduct which is actuated,
became a household name maker. encouraged, aided and abetted Rituraj Baruah He also said that NHPC will

T
he Federation of Medi- during the covid-19 pandemic What is the CBDT’s role by pharma companies. [email protected] expedite the preparation of DPR
cal and Sales Represent- in 2020. Doctors had started here? In a similar case, a bench of NEW DELHI of the twin projects and estab-
atives Association of prescribing Dolo as an over- It was the Central Board of Justices U U Lalit and S Ravin- lish the techno-commercial via-

N
India (FMRAI) has filed a pub- the-counter anti-fever drug. Direct Taxes that accused the dra Bhat held that gifting free- HPC Ltd will invest bility of these projects within
lic interest litigation (PIL) in Easy availability and doctors’ makers of Dolo tablets of dis- bies to health professionals is more than ₹18,000 the set timeframe. Noting that
Sumer Juneja, managing the Supreme Court seeking to prescriptions fuelled sales. tributing freebies worth clearly “prohibited by law”, crore in Nepal to NHPC has a long history of asso-
partner, SoftBank Investment fix accountability for freebies What is FMRAI alleging? ₹1,000 crore. Earlier this and not allowed to be claimed develop two hydropower pro- ciation with Nepal, he said the
Advisers. allegedly distributed to doc- FMRAI is a national trade month, the National Medical as a deduction. jects, said Abhay Kumar Singh, first overseas project which the
tors in order to get them to union with units in 300 cities Commission (NMC) asked the What do pharma compa- chairman and managing company implemented was in
SoftBank picks prescribe
Dolo 650,
and towns.
The body is A PIL claims the makers of Dolo
Income Tax Department for
details of doctors who alleg-
nies say?
Mint reached out to Micro
director. Nepal— the 14.1 MW Devighat
The state-run company on Project in Nuwakot—in 1983.
which was the m
EXPLAINER s e e k i n g edly received freebies from six Labs and the Indian Pharma- Thursday signed a memoran- In a recent interview, Singh
Juneja to look most con- enforcement
offered freebies to doctors to
promote the anti-fever drug. pharma companies, including ceutical Alliance (IPA) but dum of understanding (MoU) had said that the company has
sumed anti-fever drug during of the right to life under Article Micro Labs against which raids there was no response till press with the Investment Board identified three sites at Karnali
after European the covid-19 pandemic. 21 of the Constitution, alleging have also prayed that a statu- were conducted last month. time. Nepal (IBN) for on West Seti.
What is the case? mounting instances of unethi- tory code of ethical marketing, What are the relevant laws And the global scenario? preparation of a NHPC is also “Nepal has huge
investments The Supreme Court on cal marketing practices by
Thursday asked the Centre to pharma companies in their
with penal consequences, be
established for the pharma
and regulations?
Indian Medical Council’s
Many countries including
the US, France, Germany,
detailed project
report (DPR) and
diversifying and potential. It has a
potential of
Bloomberg expects to
respond to a PIL filed by dealings with healthcare pro- industry to curb such prac- regulations prescribe a code of Hungary, Italy, UK, Venezuela, development of commission a 83,000 MW of
[email protected] FMRAI which claims the mak- fessionals. This, it says, results tices. Because the existing conduct for doctors in their Argentina, Russia, China, West Seti (750 hydropower, out
ers of Dolo offered freebies in irrational and excessive pre- code is voluntary, unethical relationship with pharma and Hong Kong, Singapore, Aus- MW) and Seti
1-gigawatt solar
of which only
project by

S
oftBank Investment worth ₹1,000 crore to doctors scriptions and a push for over- practices continue to prolifer- allied health sector, and bar tralia, South Korea, Philippi- River 6 project 1500 MW has
Advisers, which runs to promote the anti-fever priced brands -- practices that ate, something that surfaced them from accepting gifts and nes, Malaysia and Taiwan have (450 MW) projects November 2023 been developed.
SoftBank Group Corp.’s drug. The court called it a directly affect citizens’ health. during the pandemic. entertainment, travel facili- stringent laws to check cor- in Nepal. The So, there is a lot of
Vision Funds, has given over- “serious issue” and will take up What else does it say? FMRAI counsel said the ties, hospitality, cash etc. But ruption in the pharmaceutical MoU was signed scope for develop-
sight of its European invest- the matter on 29 September. In the PIL, the petitioners price of a tablet up to 500 mg is the regulation does not apply sector. by Singh and Sushil Bhatta, ment,” he had said.
ment team to managing part- CEO, IBN. “We assure you that NHPC is also diversifying and
ner Sumer Juneja. to complete these projects on expects to commission a 1-giga-
Juneja, who is also responsi- time and in a cost-effective watt solar project by November
ble for SBIA’s Indian invest-
ments, will relocate to London,
according to a memo sent to
South pips Bollywood in overseas box office sales manner, we shall use every bit of 2023, Singh had said. With an
expertise gained while con- installed capacity of 6,971 MW
structing and operating 22 in India, it has a 15% share of
staff by Rajeev Misra reviewed hydropower projects in close to India’s total hydro-electric
by Bloomberg. Lata Jha film. Akshya Kumar’s Raksha- days since its release, to gross bally, while Dulquer Salmaan- overseas sales. five decades of our existence. capacity of 46.85 GW.
Juneja’s enhanced role [email protected] bandhan, too,was a big disap- $3.9 million in global collec- starrer Sita Ramam that Indian audiences, overseas, We will also be investing over In the June quarter, the com-
comes amid the impending NEW DELHI pointment with collections of tions in the opening weekend. released in Telugu, Malaya- typically enjoyed mass-market ₹18,000 crore to develop these pany reported a consolidated
departures of managing part- just $70,000 at last count, with Earlier, Khan’s films used to lam, Tamil and Hindi clocked commercial Hindi films, but projects,” said Singh said during net profit of ₹1,053.76 crore, a

I
ners Yanni Pipilis and Munish ndian movies are seeing Zee Studios driving its over- set the cash registers ringing in ₹50 crore. recent Bollywood films such as the MoU signing ceremony. 7.2% rise from a year earlier.
Varma, who are joining a new early signs of a recovery in seas marketing initiatives. the Middle East. On the other hand, Bolly- Anek, Jersey and Runway 34,
investment firm led by Misra. overseas markets with Tel- “South Indian films are a big South Indian wood is increas- too, failed to make a mark.
“Both have made a huge contri- ugu hits such as Vikram, Sita success overseas, even in mar- movies have been Mimicking ingly seeing its Even Yash Raj Films’ Sham- CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
bution to the firm’s investment Ramam, Bimbisara and RRR kets like the UAE where there well received, domestic trends, fortunes sink. shera and Samrat Prithviraj,
activities over the past few grabbing eyeballs in markets is a sizeable Malayalam-speak- despite t h e Hindi films didn’t The US, that was starring Ranbir Kapoor and A page
Mint welcomes
7 story
comments,
in the edition
suggestions
dated 19 or
August
complaints
shouldabout
have said
errors.
that
years, building our core capa- that were once a Bollywood ing population, but was domi- absence of a big cut ice with the one of the strong- Akshay Kumar, respectively, Flipkart Ventures’ $100 million fund is investing a total of $500,000 in six
bilities in Europe and India,” stronghold. nated by Hindi films for years,” star cast and show est markets saw finished their overseas run at Readers
startups. Thecan alert
error is the newsroom to any errors in the paper by
regretted.
Misra wrote in the staff memo. Mimicking domestic trends, said independent trade analyst that there is a
Indian diaspora Aamir Khan‘s $1.63 million and $1.20 million. emailing us, with your full name and address to
A SoftBank spokesman Hindi films did not cut ice with Sreedhar Pillai. market for mid- during the I-Day film make around “Like in the domestic mar-
Mint welcomes comments, suggestions or complaints about errors.
[email protected].

declined to comment. the Indian diaspora during the Actor Tovino Thomas’ Mal- sized films among weekend $1 million in four ket, over seas crowds have also It is our policy
Readers to promptly
can alert respond
the newsroom to allerrors
to any complaints. Readers
in the paper by
UK and European compa- Independence Day weekend. ayali action comedy, Thallum- Tamil, Malayalam days, while in the become very selective after the dissatisfied
emailing us, with
with the
yourresponse
full nameorand
concerned
address about
to Mint’s journalistic
nies backed by SoftBank Vision Aamir Khan-starrer Laal Singh aala, which hit the screens last and Telugu audi- Middle East col- pandemic. Plus, they are also integrity may write directly to the editor by sending an email to
[email protected].
Fund 2 include buy-now-pay- Chadha made just $4.02 mil- weekend, was a huge hit the ences, said trade experts. lections were just at more exposed to Hollywood [email protected]
It is our policy to promptly respond to all complaints. Readers
later specialist Klarna, meal-kit lion, despite Hollywood studio UAE box office, selling 70,333 Period drama Bimbisara $900,000. content on other platforms,”
dissatisfied with the response
Mint’s journalistic or concerned
Code of Conduct about Mint’s
that governs journalistic
our newsroom is
maker Gousto and fantasy soc- Paramount Pictures putting in tickets compared to Laal Singh made collections of ₹29 crore In 2018, his Thugs of Hindos- film producer, trade and exhi- integrity
availablemay write directly to the editor: [email protected]
at www.livemint.com
cer platform Sorare. its best efforts to promote the Chaddha’s 49,180 in the three in the opening weekend glo- tan earned over ₹128 crore in bition expert Girish Johar said.

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First published in February 2007 to serve as an unbiased and clear-minded chronicler of the Indian Dream.
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LIVEMINT.COM NEWS SAturDAy, 20 AuguSt 2022
New Delhi 15

Hospitality cos make a Fundamentum’s $227-mn second fund

will back early growth-stage startups
beeline for small cities Anuj Suvarna
[email protected]
with an experienced team of
former entrepreneurs. We can
leverage our own experience

F
undamentum Partner- to contribute to early-growth
ship, founded by Infosys stage companies. Second, this
co-founder Nandan stage is still very under-served
Rise in domestic tourist destinations, air connectivity triggering demand Nilekani and Helion Ventures in India and needs on-ground,
co-founder Sanjeev Aggarwal, homegrown investors for hav-
has raised $227 million for its ing fleet-footed approach and
Varuni Khosla second fund, which will back robust operational diligence.
[email protected] early-growth-stage Indian We are having a healthy pipe-
startups, it said on Friday. The line and seeing over 200 deals

R
adisson, Marriott Hotels and fund will either lead or co-lead a year with the aim to invest in
Resorts, Lemon Tree and Saro- rounds of $25-40 million, and 4-5 startups every year.”
var Hotels are among a growing invest in 4-5 startups every The fund will also focus on
number of hospitality firms for- year. Fundamentum Partnership, co-founded by Nandan Nilekani, cleantech firms, Prateek Jain,
aying into India’s tier-2, 3 and 4 “The second fund is over- will invest in 4-5 companies every year. a principle at Fundamentum,
cities to exploit the surge in travel demand subscribed. We will continue said. “India has many clean-
and also diversify their operations from the the same strategy as Fund I— the ecosystem contributed a in follow-on rounds, it said. tech companies, but not many
major cities. Some of these companies have investing in tech-driven enter- majority to the fundraise, 25% Ashish Kumar, a partner at are in Series B-C stage. In the
signed up properties in locations such as prises from India. Entrepre- of the capital was raised inter- Fundamentum, said the fund next 12 to 18 months a good set
Kumbhalgarh, Kasauli, Banswara, Kharag- neur quality is single biggest nally, Aggarwal said without is being launched at the right of companies will come. We
pur, Ranakpur and Neelkanth. determinant in the success of a divulging further details. time as the ecosystem needs are in the early days of meeting
Delhi-based Naaz Hotel Consultants, a company,” Aggarwal, general Fundamentum’s $100-mil- one that will back Series B-C the companies, mapping them
bespoke hospitality consultant, said it has partner, Fundamntum Part- lion first fund was deployed stages. Due to excessive fund- out and seeing what areas to
been approached by several hospitality nership, said. strategically in early-growth- ing last year SaaS startups were look at,” Jain added.
firms to do feasibility studies and connect “A strengthened team and stage startups, including uni- overvalued with revenue mul- Founded in 2020, Fundam-
them with property owners in the smaller Marriott Hotels and Resorts plans to launch new mid-sized properties across Ranchi, the focus on emerging sectors corns such as Pharmeasy and tiples of up to 30 times, which entum also counts the likes of
cities. “As the cost of land in tier-1 cities is Asansol, Maithon and Deoghar. HT such as Bharat apps, SaaS, and Spinny. are now valued at 10-12 times online travel portal Travel Tri-
high and there is a limitation in terms of clean-tech, among others, will After the fund’s initial revenue multiples, he added. angle, global SaaS platform
where companies can expand, it has been announced plans to run 100 hotels over the 2-3 cities,” said Saxena at Radisson Hotels. enable us to propel the growth investment, Fundamentum’s “There are two key advanta- provider FarEye and online
a good proposition for companies to grow next year, up from the current 87, will also Online travel operators Cleartrip.com of our investee firms,” he said. portfolio companies have col- ges that Fundamentum brings. trading platform Probo as its
in tier-2,3 and 4 cities. This doesn’t mean look to grow in tier-3 and 4 locations such said there is sufficient demand for hotels in While entrepreneurs within lectively raised over $1 billion It is an ‘entrepreneur venture’, portfolio companies.
the metro cities are not expanding, but in as Nellore, Gulbarga, and Digha, said chair- smaller towns as the number of average
the last two years, we have signed 12 hotels man and MD Chander Baljee. domestic holidays have risen sharply since
and are working on approximately 10-12 Lemon Tree Hotels is opening proper- the pandemic.
hotels in locations like Kasauli, Agra, Rant- ties in Bokaro, Chirang, Kharar, Shimla and Ajay Bakaya, managing director, Sarovar
hambore, Kumbhalgarh, Dalsana, Pahal- Sonamarg beyond its tier-1 cities over the Hotels, considers it a pioneer in venturing
gam and Ranchi,” said Ishaan Koul, the next year. Marriott Hotels and Resorts into locations beyond metros. “We saw the
ReNew Energy reports loss in June quarter
firm’s director. plans to enter new locations such as Ran- opportunity 15 years ago. There was huge
With most global hotel chains having a chi, Asansol, Maithon and Deoghar with its latent demand and a lot of business activity Rituraj Baruah “Net loss for Q1 FY23 was Sumant Sinha had said that the As of June-end, ReNew’s
range of brands to cater to varied customer The Le Méridien, Courtyard by Marriott happening in these towns. Land in some of [email protected] ₹10.4 crore ($1 million) com- company continues to have a portfolio comprised 12.9 GW,
segments, expansions help the locations is also less expen- new delHI pared to a net profit of ₹42.5 “robust growth”. up 30% from a year ago, of
them set up their midscale and SMALL TOWNS, BIG STEPS sive, so it makes it a very viable crore ($5 million) for Q1 FY22,” “We have given the guidance which 7.6 GW has been com-

R
upscale brands with 90-130 proposition for hotel owners eNew Energy Global Plc it said. also for next year missioned and 5.3 GW is com-
room properties in the smaller RADISSON Hotels LEMON Tree Hotels INDIA’S tourism and for us to come in and man- reported a loss of ₹10.4 ReNew Energy ReNew Energy and we are talking mitted. At the end of the quar-
cities. Increased air connectiv- has over half of its
Indian portfolio
will open properties
in Bokaro, Chirang,
industry is estimated
to reach $125 bn
age,” he added crore in the June quarter operates in India Global’s green about 20% growth ter, it signed an additional 0.3
ity is also driving their plans. across smaller cities Kharar, Shimla over by FY27 from $75 bn Since January, Sarovar has from a net profit of ₹42.5 crore through its unit, power assets is up rate, in the cur- GW of power purchase agree-
Radisson Hotels already has and towns the next year in 2019-20 started operating hotels in a year earlier. ReNew Power. 30% to 12.9 GW, rent year as well, ments, expanding its total port-
over half of its Indian portfolio Vaishno Devi, Katra; Rajah- The Nasdaq-listed renewa- The company’s off the back of a folio to 13.2 GW.
out of which
in smaller locations across mundry, Andhra Pradesh; and ble energy company attributed total revenue in year in which we ReNew said on Wednesday
India. Zubin Saxena, managing director and Fairfield by Marriott brands. Jalandhar. It plans to open hotels in Manali, the weak quarterly perform- the quarter rose 7.6 GW has been increased our that it has tied up a $1 billion
and vice president of operations, south Asia “As a company, we were always on the Orai, Sonepat, Ayodhya, Panchgani and ance to a one-time payment for nearly 49% from a commissioned capacity by 40%. project finance loan from a
at Radisson Hotel Group said following the lookout for signing properties that offer a Sriperumbudur over the next three years. debt premium and the impact year ago to ₹2,507 We are still talk- dozen international lenders led
pandemic, India has become a very large great location and bring a sense of financial The Federation of Indian Chambers of of a reclassification of a hedging crore. Adjusted ing of an addi- by Rabobank. The company
domestic travel destination. This has been viability. When we look at such destina- Commerce and Industry, in a recent report, loss of ₹253.1 crore ($32 million) Ebitda jumped nearly 50% to tional 20% growth on top of will utilize the external com-
largely driven by leisure hotels in and tions, we also focus on one or two resort said India’s travel market is estimated to to refinance dollar-denomi- ₹2,015.7 crore in Q1 FY23. that. So, there is fairly robust mercial borrowings for its
around tier 2 and 3 locations. locations, considering the high average reach $125 billion by FY27 from an esti- nated bonds with lower cost In an interview in June, growth that will happen in this hybrid round-the-clock bat-
Royal Orchid Hotels, which recently room rate that is driving feasibility in tier- mated $75 billion in FY20. rupee debt. chairman and chief executive year as well,” he had said. tery-enabled project.
 NEw DElHI, MUMBAI, BENGALURU, kOLkATA, CHENNAI, AHMEDABAD, HYDERABAD, CHANDIGARH*, PUNE* VOL. 16 NO. 199 Rs10.00 in Delhi-NCR; Rs11.00 outside Delhi-NCR. Mint is also available for Rs15.50 with Hindustan Times in Delhi-NCR only 16 PAGES

Saturday, August 20, 2022

Higher rates, credit demand lift Hotel cos make a beeline for
livemint.com banks’ interest income uP1 smaller cities uP15

SENSEX 59,646.15 651.85 NIFTY 17,758.45 198.05 DOLLAR ₹79.78 ₹0.10 EURO ₹80.36 ₹0.67 OIL $94.71 $1.67 GOLD ₹51,845 ₹0

Syrma sets stage for Adani Power to

acquire DB Power
Stocks slide
amid weak
DON’T MISS

rupee, rate
IPO market revival for ₹7,017 crore hike worries
Ujjval Jauhari
Strong response to share sale raises hopes of more firms tapping market Rituraj Baruah [email protected]
[email protected] NEw DELHI
NEw DELHI Nilekani-founded Fundamentum
Swaraj Singh Dhanjal

I
ndian stocks fell on Friday, raises $227 mn for its second fund
PrImary ParaDE
A
[email protected] dani Power Ltd has snapping a five-day winning Fundamentum Partnership, founded by
MUMBAI agreed to acquire DB streak, as foreign investors Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani and
The Syrma IPO, which closed on Thursday, was subscribed 32 times, with the
Power in a cash trans- sold shares amid the weakening Helion Ventures co-founder Sanjeev

S
portion reserved for institutional investors receiving 87.56 times subscription.
everal companies waiting action at an enterprise value of of the rupee against the dollar, Aggarwal, has raised $227 million for its
out the market volatility to IPO landscape Syrma SGS share subscription ₹7,017 crore as India’s largest on concerns that the US Federal second fund, which will back early-growth-
No. of firms that raised funds via IPO stage Indian startups, it said on Friday. >P15
go public have found hope 87.6 No. of times private thermal power pro- Reserve may lift interest rates
in the robust investor ducer seeks to expand its aggressively to cool inflation.
response to the ₹840 crore capacity. Benchmark indices Nifty
initial public offering of Syrma SGS DB Power owns and oper- The deal will help Adani expand and the Sensex fell 1.10% and Govt procurement of cotton may
32 remain slow in new crop season
Technology Ltd, the first such sale to 63 ates a 2x600 megawatt (MW) its thermal power generation 1.08%, respectively.
hit the markets since May. (2021) thermal power plant at the capacity in Chhattisgarh. MINT Sentiments got dampened Government procurement of cotton is
The Syrma SGS share sale, which 17.5 Janjgir Champa district in on concerns that the Fed may likely to remain slow even after the new
closed on Thursday, was subscribed 17* Chhattisgarh, Adani Power share capital of Diligent lift rates aggressively, said Sid- crop season begins in October as cotton
32 times, with the portion of the share (2022) said in a regulatory filing. Power. dhartha Khemka, head of retail prices are expected to remain high
5.5 throughout the next season, a central
sale reserved for institutional inves- Amount raised (in ₹ tn) DB Power has long and The acquisition will help the research, Motilal Oswal Finan-
tors receiving 87.56 times subscrip- medium-term power pur- Adani Group expand its ther- cial Services Ltd. Nifty on Fri- government official said. >P13
1.18 Institutional Non-institutional Retail Overall
tion, while the portion reserved for 0.41** investors investors investors chase agreements for mal power generation capacity day witnessed profit-booking
non-institutional investors was sub- * Till date, ** LIC alone raised ₹0.21 tn Source: Mint research, Prime Database 923.5MW of its capacity, in Chhattisgarh. on account of concerns over
scribed 17.5 times and retail investors backed by fuel supply agree- The initial term of the mem- interest rate hikes and weaken- SoftBank taps Sumer Juneja for
portion was subscribed 5.53 times. WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY ments with Coal India Ltd, orandum of understanding to ing of the Indian rupee, he oversight of European team
The strong response has raised rally in stocks and DrEamFOlkS, an INvEStOrS have been and has been operating its complete the acquisition of DB added. SoftBank Investment Advisers, which runs
hopes that more companies will be return of FIIs have raised airport service firm, plans wary of IPOs amid volatility facilities profitably, Adani Power will be valid till 31 Octo- The rising dollar index has SoftBank Group Corp.’s vision funds, has given
able to tap the market in the coming hopes of more IPOs to launch IPO on 24 August and pricing issues Power said. ber and may be extended by been adding to the uneasiness, oversight of its European investment team to
days. Already, Dreamfolks, an airport Revenue of DB Power, a unit mutual agreement. putting pressure on the rupee managing partner Sumer Juneja, who will
SARVESH KUMAR SHARMA/MINT
service aggregator, has announced its of Diligent Power Pvt. Ltd, The proposed transaction and prompting foreign portfolio relocate to London, according to a memo sent
plans to launch its IPO on 24 August. pipeline of companies that will hit tracker Prime Database shows. rose 19% to ₹3,488 crore in the is subject to the receipt of investors (FPIs) to sell shares. to staff and reviewed by Bloomberg. >P14
“The investor response to Syrma the markets when the window of The rally in Indian indices since year ended 31 March 2022 approval from the Competi- After being net sellers of
IPO is an encouraging sign. There is opportunity does open up for them.” hitting their June lows and the from ₹2,930 crore in the previ- tion Commission of India and more than ₹2.18 trillion worth
one more IPO that has already After a record-breaking 2021, return of foreign institutional inves- ous year. any other regulators as may of equities in the first six Centre allows more companies
announced its launch date. So yes, which saw 63 firms raise ₹1.18 trillion tors (FIIs) have created a window of Adani Power, which has an be identified following the months of 2022, FPIs turned to make solar equipment
we may see a few more deal launches via IPOs, the primary markets in opportunity for more deal launches. installed capacity of due diligence, Adani Power net buyers in July and August.
The ministry of new and renewable energy
in the coming quarter,” said Pra- 2022 have so far seen only 17 firms “Indices over the last month or so 12,450MW across Gujarat, said. However, they were net sellers has updated the approved list of models
shant Rao, director and head equity raising over ₹41,000 crore, largely have performed well. Additionally, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Kar- Shares of Adani Power rose of ₹1,706 crore worth of equi- and manufacturers for solar modules adding
capital markets, Anand Rathi Invest- on the back of Life Insurance Corp. FIIs turned net buyers last month nataka and Chhattisgarh, will 3.2% to ₹412.20 on BSE. ties on Thursday after about 13 more Indian companies to the list. The list
ment Banking. “There are many of India’s IPO, which raised ₹21,000 after nearly nine months of outflows. acquire the total issued, sub- The announcement of the sessions of being net buyers. now has 66 manufacturers who can supply
large IPOs that have been post- crore in the country’s largest such scribed and paid-up equity transaction was made after the equipment to solar projects. >P14
poned. Hence, there is a healthy sale, data from primary markets TURN TO PAGE 13 share capital and preference close of trading in Mumbai. TURN TO PAGE 13

MPC backs front-loading rate Paytm on track to become

hikes to bring down inflation profitable next year: CEO
Gopika Gopakumar meeting takes the policy rate Ranjani Raghavan on monetization through its
[email protected] above the pre-pandemic level, [email protected] payments and lending divi-
MUMBAI “withdrawal of accommoda- MUMBAI sions,” Sharma said. He attrib-
tion” cannot refer to withdrawal uted the depressed share price to

T F
he majority of the Reserve of the pandemic-era accommo- inancial services platform poor investor sentiment and
Bank of India’s monetary dation. It can only mean with- Paytm has no plans to macroeconomic factors, adding
policy committee mem- drawal of the pre-pandemic expand internationally or the firm did not have any influ-
bers were in favour of front- accommodation that began make any acquisitions, the ence in managing the stock
The restoration of concession, if approved by the railways, will come loading rate increases to bring with the rate cut from 6.50% to company’s management told beyond its focus on profits.
against the backdrop of a raging political debate over freebies. PTI inflation within the 2-6% target 6.25% in February 2019. A plain shareholders on Friday, even as “From the shareholders’ let-
range and reduce the need for reading of this resolution would it reiterated its plan to turn ter, we see that the definition of

Partial return of aggressive rate hikes in future,

minutes of its August policy
meeting released on Friday Reserve Bank governor
then be that MPC is focused on
taking the repo rate back to
6.50%. In my view, such an indi-
operationally profitable by
September-end 2023.
Speaking at the company’s Paytm CEO and MD
profitability has been modified.
We do not support companies
redefining how profitability is

rail concessions
showed. Shaktikanta Das. PTI cation of a terminal repo rate of first annual general meeting, Vijay Shekhar Sharma. MINT determined to suit individual
Governor Shaktikanta Das 6.50% is totally unwarranted in Paytm managing director and needs,” said Hetal Dalal, presi-
said, “actions are tailored According to MPC member the situation that we are in,” chief executive officer Vijay She- tions on the profitability time- dent and chief operating officer
towards first bringing inflation Jayant Varma, the resolution Varma said. “The resolution khar Sharma answered questions line. Paytm’s losses widened to of Institutional Investor Advi-

for elderly likely within the target band and

then taking it close to the tar-
get of 4% over the medium
of the monetary policy com-
mittee should be interpreted
as a high likelihood of further
should, in my view, be inter-
preted only as stating that there
is a high likelihood of further
on the company’s depressed
stock price, when the company’s
shares will reach the issue price
₹644 crore in the first quarter of
FY23 from ₹380.2 crore in the
corresponding quarter last year,
sory Services (IiAS).
In a shareholder letter earlier
this year, Sharma had said the
Subhash Narayan which was available in pre- term while supporting growth. front-loaded tightening. front-loaded tightening with- of ₹2,150, and when it will although its revenue rose over company would aim to achieve
[email protected] covid times may be reviewed Actions will be calibrated, Varma, the lone member in out restricting the freedom of achieve profitability. 86% for the same period. Paytm operational profitability, which
NEw DELHI and considered at least in measured and nimble, the panel to have voted against MPC to respond to the changing “There is a difference between shares closed at ₹771.85 on Fri- he defined as Ebitda before Esop
sleeper class and III AC depending on the need.” retaining the stance, argued environment in a data-driven a small company becoming prof- day, recovering 4.66% over the costs. Ebitda is short for earnings

I
ndian Railways is willing to urgently so that the vulnerable On 5 August, RBI increased that ‘withdrawal of accommo- manner,” he added. itable and a big company becom- last month. before interest, tax and amorti-
restore fare concessions for and the genuinely needy senior the repo rate by 50 basis points dation’ should “simply” be MPC member and RBI deputy ing profitable. Our ambition is to Sharma said the company was zation, and Esop stands for
senior citizens in select classes citizens could avail the facility to 5.4%, with the monetary pol- dropped as it means that the governor Michael Patra said the be a large-scale company and on track to becoming profitable employee stock options.
after a parliamentary panel rec- in these classes,” its report said. icy stance remaining focused committee is focused on tak- inflation target might be become profitable,” Sharma said, by September 2023. “Till 2019, Sharma obliquely addressed
ommended restoring benefits The restoration of conces- on withdrawal of accommoda- ing the repo rate back to 6.5%. speaking largely in Hindi, in his the company was focused on
for the neediest, two persons sion, if approved by the rail- tion. “Because the rate hike in this TURN TO PAGE 13 response to shareholder ques- expansion, after which it focused TURN TO PAGE 13
aware of the development said. ways, would come against the
In a recent report tabled in backdrop of a raging political
Parliament, the standing com- debate over freebies, which the
mittee recommended restoring
concessions for sleeper and AC
three-tier classes in some trains
government views as vehicles
to please vote banks at huge
economic costs. As part of its
Wagner mercenaries in focus as Russia struggles in Ukraine
to provide relief for senior citi- social service obligations, the
zens among economically railways extends concession in Yaroslav Trofimov itself the “orchestra” and its sol- fighters. Mr. Prigozhin, who has been “The Russian Federation has a
weaker sections, the people passenger fares to more than [email protected] diers “musicians.” In all, the company, which repeatedly photographed at huge problem with motivated
cited above said on condition of 50 categories of passengers. Wagner’s owner, Yevgeny also operates under the name Wagner’s bases in Donbas, said units. The only motivation that

I
anonymity. The element of concession n May, Italian television jour- Prigozhin, known as President Liga in Russian-occupied areas in written answers to questions remains is money,” he said. “They
The return of concession varies from 10% to 100% nalists asked Russian Foreign Vladimir Putin’s chef because of of Ukraine, has opened recruit- that he “doesn’t know anything” have nobody left for storming
may be accompanied by the (40-50% for senior citizens) Minister Sergei Lavrov about his catering contracts with the ment centers in 26 Russian cit- about Wagner and that Mr. Gir- and breakthroughs, and Wagner
Give It Up scheme, where indi- and are permitted for certain the role Wagner Group, a private Kremlin and wanted by the Fed- ies, according to Ukrainian mili- kin’s statements “require exam- is their only combat unit that
viduals have the option to forgo categories, including the physi- military company, was playing as eral Bureau of Investigation for tary intelligence, and now is ining his head to see if it’s dead.” does it without asking any ques-
the concession if desired. cally challenged, 11 types of Moscow began its offensive in alleged interference in U.S. elec- expanding its drive to prisons all The Kremlin and Russia’s tions—even if it takes losses of
Queries sent to the ministry patients, senior citizens, free- Ukraine’s eastern Donbas area. tions, has recently been awarded over Russia as it seeks to replen- Ministry of Defense didn’t reply 10% to 15% after every mission.”
of railways remained unan- dom fighters, press corre- He dismissed the question. Russia’s ish its losses. to requests for comment. Wagner fighters are paid
swered till press time. spondents, war widows and Wagner, he said, wasn’t highest “They Russia’s new reliance on Wag- vastly better than the regular
In March 2020, as the cov- sportspeople. deployed in Ukraine and had no merit, the achieve suc- Russia’s reliance on Wagner ner stems in part from the fact Russian troops. According to a
id-19 pandemic broke out, the The railways also provides connection to the Russian state. Hero of cesses on the stems in part from the fact that elite Russian units that research note by Ukraine’s GUR
government withdrew a slew of concessions to rail staff by way But, according to Ukrainian Russia. front where others shy away,” that elite Russian units have would otherwise carry out such military intelligence service seen
rail concessions. However, the of privilege passes, privilege commanders, Wagner’s fighters Wagner’s recruitment bill- said Igor Girkin, a former Rus- been battered near Kyiv. AP missions have been battered by The Wall Street Journal, Wag-
parliamentary panel said as the ticket orders and complimen- have proven indispensable in boards have appeared on the sian intelligence colonel whose near Kyiv because of Moscow’s ner troops receive 350,000
railways is nearing normalcy, it tary passes. The quantum of Russia’s few successes in Don- streets of several Russian cities. takeover of the city of Slovyansk Nazi SS Totenkopf, or Dead miscalculations in the early rubles, equivalent to $5,790, a
should consider the conces- revenue forgone in the passen- bas. Once ordered to minimize “The W Orchestra awaits you,” sparked violence in Donbas in Head, division, which didn’t weeks of the war, said retired month, plus premiums of
sions granted to different cate- ger earnings segment as a result Wagner’s role, Russia’s official proclaimed one erected in July 2014, “because they execute spare its troops in battle—quip- Ukrainian Maj. Gen. Victor 150,000 to 700,000 rubles
gories of passengers judiciously. of concessions was ₹1,670 crore media is awash with reportage in Yekaterinburg, with Wagner’s their mission regardless of the ping that some Wagner com- Yahun, a former deputy chief of depending on mission success
“The committee desires that about the heroic exploits of the trademark skull logo on a har- casualties that they take.” Mr. manders might consider it a Ukraine’s SBU intelligence ser-
concession to senior citizens TURN TO PAGE 13 company, which likes to call monica in the hands of one of the Girkin compared Wagner to the compliment. vice. TURN TO PAGE 13