Formerly with MW magazine and Sunday mid-day. I write on culture, art, food, design, films and the kooks of Mumbai. ektamohta@gmail.com
Kirori Mal College's theatre society, The Players, has not only trained writer-directors such as Habib Faisal, Kabir Khan, Vijay Krishna Acharya, and Ali Abbas Zafar, but also actors such as Amitabh Bachchan.
MW / May 2017 / [Pdf , 918 KB]
When the best of Bollywood directors (Anurag Kashyap, Imtiaz Ali, Vishal Bhardwaj) want to cast for their new films, their roads lead to one man — Mukesh Chhabra.
MW / December 2015 / [Pdf , 166 KB]
There isn't a party, religious procession or blockbuster in this country that moves without Honey Singh's music.
MW / December 2014 / [Pdf , 173 KB]
With over 50 songs in 2014, Arijit Singh has been relentlessly ruling the airwaves since Aashiqui 2 released
MW July 2015 / July 2015 / [Pdf , 149 KB]
What Akbar did 600 years ago, banker and collector Paul Abraham is doing today: footing the bill for an ambitious Indo-Persian miniature painting project
Sunday mid-day / September 2018 / [Pdf , 141 KB]
Rocky Patel, a US-based cigar maker, tells you why you should ditch your Cubans.
MW / February 2014 / [Pdf , 3.14 MB]
Cover Star Randeep Hooda is back from the wilderness
MW / October 2014 / [Pdf , 599 KB]
In the 1970s, architect Charles Correa designed a 90-acre colony in Borivli, commissioned by LIC and paid for by LIC policyholders. Today, a documentary by an architect-resident celebrates the housing experiment
Sunday mid-day / January 2019 / [Pdf , 274 KB]
A sea-loving Parsi family moved to Port Blair 35 years ago, to a house that had no electricity, no toilets and no roof. Today, they run a thriving homestay, a spice farm and a kayaking tour company
Sunday mid-day / June 2019 / [Pdf , 476 KB]
In the arteries of Chor Bazaar, Prashant Raghunath first discovered his love for analogue film, then he discovered the 4,000 negatives of an unknown, brilliant Parsi photographer. In a small way, he’s trying to popularise both
Sunday mid-day / May 2019 / [Pdf , 244 KB]
From Auckland to Mumbai to Tehran, textile artist Areez Katki is retracing his family’s great odyssey, for inspiration for his next collection
Sunday mid-day / October 2018 / [Pdf , 156 KB]
The coolest cats of indie rock, Uday Benegal and Siddharth Basrur make their acting debut with #SingIndiaSing.
Sunday mid-day / September 2018 / [Pdf , 153 KB]
Over 40 years, Anoop Thakoor has restored about 150 classic Beetles. In fact, he’s so busy with orders, he hasn’t found the time to restore his own Beetle — the only one he’s ever owned — a 1975 kiwi-green stunner
Sunday mid-day / February 2019 / [Pdf , 356 KB]
At a 1.5-acre nature and adventure centre in Bhavan’s College, you can say hi to peacocks, peahens, emus, pythons, parakeets, and pet dogs the size of dire wolves
Sunday mid-day / January 2019 / [Pdf , 206 KB]
Fitness trainer Kunal Rajput has designed The Movement with the aim of turning your body into a temple
Sunday mid-day / April 2019 / [Pdf , 153 KB]
The Jaipur-based Trunks Company makes designer coffers for your most darling possessions
MW / October 2014 / [Pdf , 505 KB]
With Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, cover star Farhan Akhtar proved he can do more or less anything
MW / December 2013 / [Pdf , 313 KB]
Once sold as scrap, furniture designed for Le Corbusier's Chandigarh is being auctioned for thousands of dollars
MW / November 2013 / [Pdf , 1.61 MB]
More than two decades after he started thespianing, the character actor is finally getting his due.
MW Magazine / December 2017 / [Pdf , 326 KB]
Rajat Kapoor has been exhorting his followers on Twitter to crowdfund his next project: RK/R Kay, for which he needs 50,000 people to give Rs 500 each. Which begs the question: why is one of India's finest film-makers perennially short of cash?
MW Magazine / April 2018 / [Pdf , 375 KB]
Cover Star Sushant Singh Rajput on playing MS Dhoni
MW / November 2015 / [Pdf , 319 KB]
Drinking at the world’s highest open-air bar
MW / January 2014 / [Pdf , 1.8 MB]
Cover Star Anil Kapoor on bringing 24 to India
MW / September 2013 / [Pdf , 1.04 MB]
Kapil Sharma is the one-man army of one-liners on Indian television
MW / December 2013 / [Pdf , 120 KB]
In their customised gold shirts, Datta Phuge and Pankaj Parakh are India’s kings of bling
MW / September 2014 / [Pdf , 0 Bytes]
The India Pride Project is bringing back our stolen heritage, one temple idol at a time.
MW / May 2016 / [Pdf , 133 KB]
Film-maker Aanand L Rai has come the closest in succeeding film-maker Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
MW Magazine / February 2018 / [Pdf , 658 KB]
Untouched by clichés, unaffected by convention, undeterred by censors, Sudip Sharma, the writer of NH10 and Udta Punjab, is laying a fearless path for screenwriting in Hindi cinema.
MW / September 2016 / [Pdf , 0 Bytes]
Ritesh Batra’s latest project, Poetic License, brings film professionals and Irani cafes together
MW / June 2015 / [Pdf , 1.51 MB]
When you stumble on 110 peacocks in Juhu
TimeOut Mumbai / July 2013 / [Docx , 20.4 KB]
The lead actor and co-writer of Mukkabaaz, Anurag Kashyap's next instalment of pulp fiction, on scripting (and essaying) the role of a lifetime.
MW Magazine / December 2017 / [Pdf , 114 KB]
Who knew Bollywood's funniest tweeter would be this guy?
MW / April 2016 / [Pdf , 219 KB]
The Mumbai University library has Shakespeare and Homer carved into its walls
TimeOut Mumbai / September 2013 / [Doc , 30 KB]
Why we’re looking forward to the upcoming Dharavi Biennale
MW / May 2014 / [Pdf , 1.81 MB]
Sunny Leone, who hasn’t redacted anything in her life story, turns her back on a new documentary that’s out to celebrate her.
MW / November 2016 / [Pdf , 228 KB]
A guided walk to meet the literary heroes of Paris
JetWings / February 2013 / [Pdf , 358 KB]
The largest cluster of guitar makers in Spain lives in Granada. What is it about the city that inspires music and its makers?
Mumbai Mirror / April 2013 / [Doc , 35 KB]
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