Tag: bandra

Categories
Film

The actor and the Godfather

Our system is lenient towards film stars, not others. What else explains how a star got off easy despite DUI?
by M | M@themetrognome.in

Guess who decided to visit a Bollywood superstar on a recent morning? The law. This superstar was summoned by the court in a hit-and-run case dating back to 2002, in which one man was killed and four other injured when the star’s car ran over the employees of a Bandra-based bakery. The star was arrested, but in the mind of the layman, despite the severity of his crime, the star was not compelled to serve jail time or appear in the court unless absolutely necessary. The star goes to court on December 27 next.

The star was arrested in 2002 and denied bail four times until his release later that year. His family went door-to-door in this period of catastrophe, because (as per their bail petition) the ‘sole bread earner’ of the family was behind bars. They even conducted a religious ceremony at their residence where young kids living in and around Bandra were invited to participate in a mass prayer service for their son/brother’s release. Such prayer ceremonies are seldom conducted for those running over people asleep on footpaths at midnight and killing them – Alistair Pereira’s family didn’t have one, for instance. Finally, the actor was released on bail.

But what had changed in his fifth bail plea? Why was he released this time and not before?

Enter the Godfather.

The Godfather is a very powerful leader of Maharashtra State politics. 10 years ago, he was next-in-command in the ruling party, with a very firm grip over the administrative affairs of the state. In the case of our star, at first, the Godfather was hell-bent on punishing the guilty for the crime; but this changed rather quickly after the star’s family started visiting him at his office and residence.

The family is said to have played every trick in the book to emotionally hook the Godfather, including the one that probably tipped the scales: the star’s mother belongs to a Maratha Hindu family that has always supported the Godfather and his politics. The actor even agreed to pay a heavy compensation to the victims’ families and personally apologised to the deceased’s mother. However, latest news reports reveal that only four families received the compensation amount, whereas the family of the man who died in the accident was denied compensation because they could not provide proof of identity.

With a little arm-twisting, our star was out sooner than he should have been. Ever since, he has travelled across the world without any restrictions, hosted TV shows and acted in several Hindi blockbusters. The police force has been accused of showing leniency towards him, falsifying evidence and delaying the investigation. In return, the star has showed his gratitude by attending police functions with regularity.

Prayers or politics? Maybe both worked in his favour, while others arrested for DUI have not been so fortunate. Nooriya Haveliwala was recently sentenced to five years in prison for killing two people with her SUV. We all know what happened with Alistair Perreira. We will probably have to wait for the courts to decide on what we like to believe is the ‘parity of justice’. Till then, we will see a man responsible for killing another human being under the influence of alcohol, week on week on national television, hosting a show and becoming a bigger star than he already is.

Sharp as a tack and sitting on more hot scoops than she knows what to do with, M is a media professional with an eye on entertainment.

Categories
Do

How Crude!

These women debunk the idea of art being elitist, unreachable and beyond the realm of ordinary understanding through Crude Area.

It’s a small firm as of now – having started operations a month ago in Bandra – but Crude Area has already signed up 20 artists, some of them international names. So probably there is some truth in what they say: all it takes for a great idea to take off is some talent and a whole lot of sincerity.

Bindu Nair Maitra (in the featured image on the left), of the duo that started Crude Area – the other is Shweta Bhandari – as a platform for graphic art, artists and buyers from all over the world, spoke to The Metrognome about the whys and hows of starting the business. “The bingo moment for me (about starting Crude Area) came after I had placed a big order of lovely T-shirts on a famous American website, and over a month later, the order just never reached me. There was a problem at Customs, and though the site refunded my money, I was frustrated to know that merely being willing to pay for things was not enough – those things had to reach consumers, too.”

Bindu has worked in advertising,  and has always loved graphic art – this helps her curate work for the site, while Shweta handles business development. “We target urban professionals in the 25 to 40 age bracket, who are people wanting to do up their homes in ways that express who they were. It was such a simple idea – to bring contemporary graphic art to people at a reasonable price, to customise it as per their needs – and it slowly took shape. We started with art prints, but our future plans include designing iPhone cases, decals, and helping people ‘do up’ walls in their homes,” she says.

However, the focus is on showcasing contemporary Indian graphic art that has moved beyond the “Horn Ok Please category,” as Bindu puts it, and on work that is not kitschy or ‘exotic Indian art’. “Our work is representative of India today, and we provide art that people want for their homes. In a city like Mumbai, where so many people live in rented apartments and are not allowed to drill holes into their walls, we have art that can be stuck on walls.” The pricing is more than competitive, too – the smallest works cost Rs 1,750 and the largest prints are priced at Rs 9,000.

“We’re not offering fine art at all, just lovely contemporary graphic art that nobody else is offering in the country at the moment,” Bindu says. “Also, we’re looking for artists wanting to display their work. The artist has to sign up with us, send us high resolution images of their work, and we do the printing and shipping as per customers’ demand.” The company promises that the product will be delivered to your doorstep within seven days of placing the order; its operations currently include Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

A major learning thus far for the duo has been that more Indian men than women are interested in purchasing quality art for their homes. “Also, we’re constantly reinventing – art is a very subjective thing for everybody, so we’re catering to different tastes all the time. There is so much talent waiting to be showcased, and so many people looking to purchase quality art at a great price. We fulfil the need for both,” Bindu says.

Browse, shop or simply check out graphic art at www.crudearea.com.

Categories
Big story

You’re so polluted, Bandra!

…but Sion and Worli, not much. MPCB readings for one month show rising trend of air pollution and particulate matter.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

If you’re in Bandra, you should probably not breathe till you get the hell out of there. You’re not much better off elsewhere in the city, but Bandra is the worst.

For the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board’s (MBCB) findings for air quality in Bandra for the period September 21, 2012 to October 19, 2012 are not just startling, they will literally take your breath away. As per the MPCB’s daily findings for its station at Government Polytechnic (Kherwadi), Bandra, the suburb has been breathing very polluted air for 18 days out of the 28 days of recent monitoring.

You don’t have to take the MPCB’s word on air pollution in the city alone – an environmental status report for Mumbai was recently released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC); the report’s findings were similar to those of the MPCB.

What constitutes air pollution? As per the MPCB, there are three parameters for measuring air pollution – sulphur dioxide (SO2), oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and RSPMs, or Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter. This last, if it exceeds the permissible level of 100 µg/m3, gives rise to such respiratory disorders as asthma or bronchitis.

The RSPM levels for Bandra in the period monitored have been above 100 µg/m3 for the most part. The average reading for Bandra is 111.61 µg/m3; the highest has been 176 µg/m3 on September 30, while the lowest has been 60 µg/m3 on October 10.

The corresponding sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide levels, however, have been within the permissible range of 80 µg/m3 for Bandra throughout the monitoring period.

Meanwhile, though Sion has recorded below permissible levels of RSPMs, exceeding it only thrice in the monitoring period, the levels of nitrous oxide have been higher than the permissible levels, throughout. Experts cite city-wide construction activities and rising vehicular traffic for the rise in air pollution levels. All recorded levels of pollutants at Worli are below the permissible levels.

The areas that the MPCB monitoring stations are present in the city and the state are chosen for high traffic density, industrial growth, human population and its distribution, emission source, public  complaints if any and the land use pattern.

(Picture courtesy: www.mpg.de. All figures sourced from MPCB)

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