It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you (IPL)

Carl Wolf

So last night ended up being quite a surreal experience. After my radio show I bolted across to the Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai to check out Karl Wolf (aka Carl Abou Samah) do his thing. (He’s this Canadian-Lebanese R&B crooner who was performing as part of the Vh1 Global Music Express and has a really awesome cover of “Africa” originally by Toto. Check it out.)

Culture

He and his rapper buddy Culture (who I initially mistook to be his body guard, but really can you blame me?)  made a valiant effort to rev up the crowd who were decidedly torn between bopping to his tunes (a surprising number of which seemed to be covers which is a shame because he has a super singing voice of his own) and watching the epic IPL battle between the Mumbai Indians and the Rajasthan Royals on TV. No prizes for guessing who won. To be fair the cricket action was decidedly engrossing (and you know how much I love cricket) and even the staff (who love a good jig, judging by the enthusiasm with which they always do the Y.M.C.A.) were whistling for the Mumbai Indians and not so much for the stage act.

Speaking of which don’t you just love that as soon as the Y.M.C.A. dance-a-long started everyone stood up and rushed to a vantage point to watch? God I love my India.

I figured that out when this adorable fellow burst into applause mid-song (presumably for a boundry scored by the Mumbai Indian’s) and grinned at me. He let me take this picure after cautiously inquiring, “You’re supporting the Mumbai India’s or…”

Shilpa Shetty

Neeta Ambani

Much to Neeta Ambani’s dismay the Mumbai Indian’s lost falling shy by just three runs. Shilpa Shetty appeared to be praying like she’d never prayed before and couldn’t believe her luck when the Rajasthan Royals took that final wicket. But all in all it was fun! A heady mix of music and match fever. Undoubtedly this one’s going down as a nail-biting finish if ever there was one.

Karl Wolf meanwhile (blissfully unaware of what had just transpired in the hearts of Mumbai Indians fan’s across the globe) wrapped things up with an “I love you Mumbai, you rock!” I can’t help but think that if the Mumbai Indian’s had won he would have gotten possibly the biggest cheer of his career right then and there!

P.S. The words to the song “Africa” go something like this:

It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa…

Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?

High Tea, Honey?

Honey lulla with Urvashi Dholakia

Honey Lulla with Suchitra Pillai with mother Nicky Pillai

Jewelry Designer Honey Lulla hosted Champagne High-Tea, for friends and mum’s at Dusk, Hotel Pali Hill, Mumbai on Sunday and took the opportunity to showcase her latest collection as well.

“A Child Gives Birth to a Mother” was the theme for the evening. (Yup not cheesy at all!) Honey had designed a special piece from her latest collection for every mother from their child. Spotted: Suchitra Pillai with mother Nicky Pillai, Sangeet & Siddharth Haldipur with mother Padma Haldipur, Tushar Jalota with mother Neelam Jalota, and TV Actress Urvashi Dholakia.

FYI Honey specializes in chandelier and “shoulder duster” earrings, but also enjoys creating buttons, brooches, necklaces, shoe straps, bracelets, and anklets. She primarily uses Australian crystals and Chinese and Malaysian pearls with her intricate filigree made of a combination of diverse metals. Her PR mentioned that “Honey Lulla’s designs are limited only by her imagination.”

Honey Lulla’s clientele includes Rakshanda Khan, Mona Singh, Celina Jaitely, Rakhi Sawant, Shilpa Shetty, Farah Khan, Mandira Bedi, Mini Mathur and Shweta Salve and her products have been seen on television shows such as Nach Baliya, Jhalak Dhilaja, Deal No Deal and Indian Idol, and on the big screen in, Jahnasheen, Khel, Jawani Deewani, and Kalyug.  Honey Lulla is also a senior hair artist at the leading hair salon in Bandra, Make Over.

Shilpa Shetty meets Matt Damon at the IPL Gala

Raj Kunder, Shilpa Shetty, Matt Damon and Luciana Bozán Barroso

Bollywood actress and now co-owner of the Rajasthan Royals Shilpa Shetty and boyfriend Raj Kundra, recently met the Hollywood star Matt Damon and his wife (dang he’s married?) Luciana Bozán Barroso at the IPL Gala Dinner in South Africa. Shilpa (in a metallic grey dress) acted casual as she met Matt for the second time in Capetown. (I officially hate her now.) Apparently Matt is quite the philanthrope (of course he had to be that perfect) and is actively involved in charitable work, including the ONE Campaign and H2O Africa Foundation with his wife. Last year, he and Shilpa had their first public rendezvous at the third annual ONE x ONE Benefit Gala when Shilpa joined the ranks of other international celebrities and Hollywood A-listers including Richard Gere. (I bet she was hoping Matt might have decided upon a more friendly greeting the second time around, perhaps the ‘ol dip-and-kiss Mr. Gere has down so well.)

Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty

Gaurav Kapoor (super sweetie with a serious gift of gab) also happens to be in Cape Town hosting the extra shots for Set Max and bumped into Shah Rukh Khan and Matt Damon as well. (Jeez it’s like everybody but me will ever get to meet him, I’ll just have to make do with imagining he’s around!) Anyway, Gaurav was pretty excited and said that Matt even gave him an acting tip which he got from Robert DeNiro! (Gaurav swears he will take that secret to the grave.)

Matt Damon

Didjya Know?
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are BFFs? The pair even won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for Good Will Hunting which they wrote together.

Matt dropped out of Harvard 12 credits short of graduating to pursue his acting career.

Matt quit smoking after visiting a hypnotist in L.A.

Matt has starred in 8 movies where the title contains some part of his character’s name in that movie: Good Will Hunting (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Gerry (2002), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002), The Bourne Identity (2002), and The Bourne Supremacy (2004), The Brothers Grimm (2005), and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).

Matt visited Haiti with Wyclef Jean to deliver food to hurricane victims.

Matt Damon was Winona Ryder’s boyfriend from New Year’s Eve 1997 until they broke up in May 2000. Matt is now happily married to Argentine-born Luciana Barroso, whom he met in Miami, where she was working as a bartender.

Matt was also voted year 2007’s “Sexiest Man Alive” by People magazine. (I suddenly feel like watching Good Will Hunting again. Loved him in Dogma, Oceans 11,/12/13 and The Departed too!)

The IPL Bollywood Parade

They really know how to pack in just about everything the average desi loves into this season of the Indian Premiere League. Thursday’s opening parade featured all the razzle-dazzle of a star-studded parade through Cape Town. Nine floats, one for each of the eight teams plus one for the IPL, made their way along one of the main streets, accompanied by energetic Indian dancers and brass bands from the local community. More than 150 cricketers were in attendance, as were the Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty, part-owners of the (Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals.) Hundreds of people lined the streets to watch the parade, which launched festivities that will run until the grand final in Johannesburg on May 24.

Shilpa Shetty

Glenn McGrath

Shah Rukh Khan and the Kolkata Knight Riders

Preity Zinta and Shah Rukh Khan

Mumbai Indians

Never one to shy from pushing the proverbial envelope the IPL commissioner Lalit Modi thrown a “Miss Bollywood South Africa” competition into the mix for fans attending matches. He says,”We’re looking for someone who has the star quality to stand out in a crowd, probably without even trying that hard. It’s that special, almost indefinable, quality that makes someone a star more than a beauty queen that we are looking for. IPL matches with their mix of fun and excitement are an excellent environment to identify the kind of person who is a natural stand-out in a big crowd.”

(Let’s face it, she’s going to have to be a hottie.)

One Miss Bollywood of the Day will be found at each of the 56 round-robin matches and stands a chance of winning a trip to India, a role in a Bollywood film and $5,590 (279,426rs.)

“Star searches like this are a really great way to find people who may never even have thought that they have what it takes to really make it big,” said Shah Rukh Khan. “The heart of our idea is to search the crowd at IPL matches for someone who has the attitude and appearance that automatically draws the eye. It will be the kind of person who is not necessarily showing off for the camera, but who can mesmerise even total strangers. The announcement of the winner will be shown during a ‘strategy break’ and will be declared Miss Bollywood of the Day.”

Deepika’s walking in Shilpa’s Shoes

Rina Dhaka

Deepika Padukone

Tarun Tahiliani and Deepika Padukone

Maybe Deepika Padukone should have been in the movie Fashion. After strutting down the ramp as Tarun Tahiliani’s showstopper at Delhi Fashion Week she’s back for Wills India Fashion Week modeling a Rina Dhaka design.

And here’s the gossipl Tarun Tahiliani ditched his long time favorite Shilpa Shetty and went with Deepika Padukone. (Maybe Shilpa was too busy bonding with Goody, who knows.)