Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Diagnosing the behaviour of doctors
Sridevi's death has turned TV channel reporters into forensic experts, private detectives and morality watchdogs, all rolled into one. In fact, such is the coverage that it borders between being comically grotesque and downright macabre. Social media - that cesspool of unsavoury comments on tragic situations - is also predictably agog with theories and judgments about what occurred in that fateful bathtub in Dubai.

Sridevi

People are rushing in with their two bits about how Sridevi and her family could have ensured that she lived longer. But, it's not just the anchors who have made a mockery out of someone's death. We have been getting unsolicited emails from the PRs of doctors about the nitty-gritty of accidental drowning cases, complete with statistics and reasons why they happen. Their objective, we understand, is for us to quote the medical practitioners in our news stories about the star's death. But here's the thing, shouldn't they understand that someone dying isn't a reason to gain mileage for their practice?

Roshan's sojourn in Agrabah
After Beauty and the Beast, Disney is back in India with another Broadway-style musical, and this time, it's exploring the magical world of Agrabah. Aladdin, which has already been performed in the US, UK, Australia and Japan, will premiere in Mumbai this April.

Roshan Abbas

And what got us interested is that the musical, with a completely Indian cast, features spoken word community Kommune's founder and former television host, Roshan Abbas. Back on the stage after 22 years, Abbas will play the role of the scheming Jafar, the Sultan's right-hand man. The show, we hear, will also travel to Delhi and Hyderabad.

Food for thought
With bestselling crime writer Surender Mohan Pathak's first of a three-part autobiography hitting the shelves recently, fans are devouring copies of the tome as quickly as the writer churns out his thrillers. A name to add to the list of Pathak's fans is actor Annup Sonii.

Annup Sonii

Host of a popular television crime show, Sonii was spotted reading Na Bairi Na Koi Begana. Signs of an upcoming collaboration or literary inspiration for the job?

Surender Mohan Pathak

Split wide open
They say, never judge a book by its cover but this particular jacket piqued this diarist's interest. The title in question is the English retelling of Taslima Nasreen's memoir that was released in 2003. Known as a voice for women's rights and a strong critic of fundamentalism, her defiance led to a ban on the original by the West Bengal government as well as Bangladesh.

Taslima Nasreen

Though the Calcutta High Court struck down the ban in 2005, Tasreen was driven out of Kolkata and forced to knock off excerpts. Now her publishers are ready with a translated version by Maharghya Chakraborty. Going by the peeled-off painted façade cover, it could be indicative of the potboiler that is simmering inside its pages.

A slice of India in Egypt
Nothing breeds friendship like the exchange of cultures at a soiree, and India By The Nile 2018 aims to do just that. The Embassy of India in Egypt, in collaboration with a production company, has lined up the finest representatives of art, music, dance, theatre and more from India for the sixth edition of this festival, which aims to bring to the Egyptian audience a language that "amalgamates diverse cultural and artistic strands".

Tarun Tahiliani

Of them are sarod virtuoso Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani, Bharatanatyam expert Malavika Sarukkai and fusion rock band Kabir Café. Even Baahubali will be screened as part of a film festival. Starting next month, this 12-day celebration of Indian culture in the land of pharaohs will be something to look out for.

A star for all ages

The opening of veteran artist Lalitha Lajmi's 30th solo show at a gallery in Kala Ghoda on Tuesday saw art lovers across ages frame the precious moment; the biggest fan being this elderly gentleman. Pic/Ashish Raje

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