Heights of Divinity

A newly inaugurated 20-ft-tall crucifix, built in the memory of local benefactor Catherine Baptista Quinny, stands tall in Worli Village. 

Bend it like Maddy

R Madhavan plays the sitar in the movie. PIC COURTESY/NETFLIX INDIA

Bollywood has come a long way from Salman Khan strumming an unplugged electric guitar in O Oh Jaane Jaana (1999) to R Madhavan taking sitar classes before acing his part in Aap Jaisa Koi (2025). When this diarist reached out to Mumbai-based sitarist Megha Rawoot (inset), who trained the actor at an Andheri studio, she revealed, “Madhavan was nervous because he had never learnt an instrument before. The piece we worked on was challenging even for seasoned musicians.” The sitarist, who recently trained pop star Ed Sheeran, admitted the British sensation was a better student. To Madhavan’s credit, he was only expected to get the hand movements right so it looked natural on screen. “But by the end of our sessions, he was able to play some part of the composition,” she revealed. As for her fangirl moment, Rawoot shared, “I waited until our lessons were done to tell him how amazing he is as an actor. ‘And you’re a wonderful teacher,’ he replied in classic Maddy style. I was gushing.”