Bollywood Dandiya Raas 2016- Gurgaon

Gurgaon, 10th October 2016: The time of the year has arrived when everyone is ready to tap their

feet on the beats of famous Bollywood item numbers wearing the traditional clothes bought from

the expensive designer boutiques. It’s Navratri.

Kingdom of Dreams, which carries a great reputation of hosting some of the most talked about musical nights of Delhi – NCR, hosted a 3 days Dandiya Event - Bollywood Dandiya Raas 2016 organised by Pearl Wedding and Entertainment. Pearl group have been organising the biggest Dandiya event in Delhi – NCR from last 4 years and this year it was bigger and better than ever, they came up with loads of WOW element like live music, live dance  performances, different competitions, decorative stalls for shopping and yes lots of different gifts for the participants.

The first day of the event was a mega hit as the Punjabi and Bollywood singer, IndeepBakshi, fame from “Saturday Saturday and kala chasma from the movie “Baarbaardekho” made the crowd go mad with his high voltage performance.

The infectious chart busters from his newly released album “Bad wali Feeling” was too much for the crowd to handle. Even with a traffic struck Friday night, people came from all parts to rejoice the beats of Dandiya with the troupe from Gujarat teaching them the GarbaRaas.

The night started with a singing duo from Gujrat who sung some traditional Garba and people became a part of the dance formation.

It was a spectacular to watch people swirl in a massive circular formation. As the night progressed, the pop-star ‘IndeepBakshi’ combined the power packed Bhangra and the rhythmic beats of Danidya and the people were floored by his energy.

The second and third day witnessed some enthralling and intoxicating performances by Pinki

Maidasani and Farhad Bhiwandiwaland with people turning up in large number to cash the

weekend.

Gujarati dance troupe along with electrifying Barqat band brought the flavour of Gujarat

to our city. Crowd also got a chance to satiate their taste buds with different cuisines from various parts of India at the very famous Cultural Gully.

  

PINKI MAIDASANI:

PinkyMaidasani is an Indian Idol 3 finalist &bollywood playback singer. She has sung for various Bollywood movies song like Kiklikaler di from Luv ShuvTey Chicken Khurana , dekh le kismat yaar from Shrafat Gayi Tel Lene. She is doing many live shows within and outside India.

FARHAD BHIWANDIWALA:

Farhad comes from a Parsi family and is a known playback singer who has sung many songs for

Bollywood. He has sung for famous Bollywood actors like Sanjay Dutt, Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan.

Barqat Band

Barqat Band is one of the most famous & known bands of India. India’s got talent 2016 Finalist Afzal Ahmad and his band is among the group. This Band has done lots of live shows with many celebrities artists like Neha Thakur , Sunidhi Chauhan , Rakesh Maini , etc.

Restaurant review - INDIA ON MY PLATE

Fortune Hotel, part of the prestigious ITC group is well known for its excellence in service. The beautiful property located on Sohna Road, Gurgaon has opened a new restaurant INDIA ON MY PLATE and extended a warm invitation to me for its media preview on 16th July.

The restaurant theme revolves around different Indian cuisines under one roof. They serve variety of specialities from each Indian state, blending in authenticity and great taste. The USP of the place is LIVE ghazals by renowned Gharana sensation who also sing songs requested by guests. I thoroughly enjoyed the ghazals of maestro Late Jagjit Singh sung by the artist. What a perfect way of spending a weekend!

PR Shuddhita and Shrea gave us a tour and history of the restaurant, sharing their speciality with us. India on my plate has a spacious indoor seating on second floor of the hotel, overlooking a pool outside. The aesthetics on walls showcase the royal maharajas and maharanis from ancient times, adding more cultural value to the place.

Neer More

Ram Laddu

The courteous waiters started with traditional welcome drink named ‘Neer More’ which tastes like rasam. Partly tangy partly salty, the spices burst into your mouth as you sip this cool appetiser. 'Últe tawe ka khakhra’ coupled with an array of chutneys accompany it.  

Tilwali subz seekh - My favorite

Starters flowed in and each item on the plate spoke of a true Indian experience with the finest blend of spices. My order of veg starters comprised Ram Laddu, Rajma Galaouti, Tiwali subz seekh, dahi kebab, bhutta mutter shammi and pudina paneer tikka. I skipped the Nilgiri Cheese Dosai as I made space for main course. Nawab’s style Rajma Galaouti was simple crispy bite and little spicy just like the Nawab’s form. Awadhi style Tilwali subz seekh and dahi kebab stood out in the entire platter. Tilwale seekh gets a full 5 on 5 from me.

Rajma Galaouti

Cranberry mocktail

Hyderabadi combination of corn and peas made on tawa- Bhutta mutter shammi was the second best. I found Ram Laddu- stuffed moong daal deep fried served with radish and green chutney- okayish since I am not much fond of this. Maida roti layered with ghee accompanied the starters.

I sipped cranberry mocktail along the starters. Unfortunately this mocktail turned out to be quite sweet and not so refreshing.

Being the first day of the restaurant, the staff was quite busy with their hands full of orders from every table. Main course arrived after some delay while I enjoyed the live music and virgin mojito. Oops virgin mojito was not upto the mark. It was overloaded with sweet.

Beautiful bar in the middle 

Rasmalai

 I liked the copper utensils for serving dishes which completes the Indian concept palate. Be it chutneys in copper bowls or main course in the copper carriers, the presentation looked great! I opted for veg dum biryani that came on a plate covered by an edible veil for “dum”. Choley Darbari biryani was nicely prepared with all spices measured flawlessly. I loved the daal tadka which is also said to be the speciality of Fortune. Imagine a simple yellow daal turning out to be the best item of lunch!

Marwad famed Dahi aalu achaari is another unique item in vegetarian menu which is made by potatoes simmered in pickling curd. A nice tangy punch feels heavenly.  

The last item in main course was Amritsar’s Paneer Kasturi. The color looked tempting however the dish wasn’t much exciting. Husband enjoyed his non veg meal of mutton curry, chicken chettinad and gosht biryani.  

Amritsari Badam Phiri

After a hearty meal, I was full to the core but an Indian can never turn down desserts. Hehe

Husband had Rasmali and I chose Amritsari badam phiri. Former tasted way better than Phiri.

Shuddhita in her conversation told us about Indian Cuisines that would be presented rotational basis. The thaali would be unlimited, priced at 500INR only. This gives me more reasons to visit INDIA ON MY PLATE again in future. What’s better than pocket friendly authentic Indian food at a great place like Fortune Excalibur?

Ambience- Very comfortable, warm and cheerful- 5/5

Food presentation- 5/5

Experiment with cuisines- Good attempt- 4/5

Staff- Very courteous, polite- 5/5

Anything missing – I missed salad. May be it can be included. I also found the ‘health consciousness’ factor missing. However, health has not been the focus of Indian cuisine, so Fortune kept it at bay. May be they can introduce a section for health conscious ones like me.

First Eat- Healthy breakfast app

                                             

When I first got an email from FirstEat team, I wasn't sure how was the portal different from other app based food store.  Without knowing much about the portal, I agreed to attend the bloggers breakfast meet at Kitchens of the World in Gurgaon on 27th February, Saturday.

Launched in Nov 2015, FirstEat started with a philosophy of #PehleKhao, since this is what our moms remain concerned about. (First Eat is Pehle Khao in Hindi) Co founders Shitiz Dogra,  Mannat Wadhera, Saikat Bagchi and Rishabh Tickoo started with a concept of healthy food, primarily breakfast since it is the most neglected and abused meal of the day, especially for the corporate professionals who are pressed for time always. Find out about them here. 

First Eat app is available on Google Play and Apple Store android.

FirstEat is present in Gurgaon currently, wherein they target to deliver healthy breakfast or evening snacks to workplaces. The menu has listed healthy balanced items prepared in minimum or no oil and no fatty additions. It includes poha (Rs 65), vermicelli, upma (Rs 65) ,aloo parantha box (Rs 85), veggie salad (Rs 125), sauteed idli salad (Rs 85) , omlette with sautéed vegetables (Rs 100), veg and non veg sandwich. They also have two fresh cold pressed drinks- Detox Juice of beetroot, carrot, ginger and Rejuvenating  Juice of Spinach, lemon, ginger each at
Rs 85.

Detox juice

Now that's not a bad deal. For people who end up paying Rs. 200-250 on high calorie unhygenic meals, FirstEat comes as a boon with healthy and economical meals. Not to forget the big portion size. I can vouch for it since this is how we were served. The meals are packed in hygienic, leak proof, microwavable bowls. The team does not compromise with quality.

Warm water with lemon honey

For the meet, dedicated areas with name tags were assigned to bloggers. That made us feel special. Not many bloggers were invited, which gave enough room for discussion and feedback. Hubby and I spoke at great length with Shitiz and Mannat about First Eat's business model, operations, plans of expansion and target group. The team also recently got covered by Outlook Business. Read here- http://www.outlookbusiness.com/enterprise/big-idea/now-a-food-app-for-the-calorie-conscious-2608

Healthy poha

We got to taste poha, omlette & salad with both the juices. As a health concious person, I give it 5 on 5 for freshness and no/less fat and oil in the preparations. Before the breakfast was served, we were treated with lemon honey warm water, as a reminder to cleanse your body and start healthy! Warm water also calms down the stressed nerves. Now that's a useful knowledge sharing, I must say.

We downloaded the First Eat app to know more about it. (Thanks to the free Wi-Fi. Okay no body can ever say

Garden Salad

no to free WiFi, so stop smiling, okay?) The drop down in the app shows delivery places in Gurgaon at major points like  Guru Dronacharya and MG Road Metro station, Cyber City, Udyog Vihar & DLF Phase 1,2, 3 etc. (Oops my workplace is not listed. Somebody please do something for the underdeveloped Gwal Pahari which is called BPL- Below Poverty Line area) In the next 6 months they pan to expand to whole of Delhi NCR. Desktop version and phone ordering would be available soon.

Users can place the order from from the app starting 8 am till 6 pm. There is no minimum order :-) Yay!

First Eat also has collaborated with Ola Shuttle. The passenger can place an order before boarding the shuttle and collect the order at the mentioned dropping points. What an idea sirji!

Fellow bloggers

Healthy discussion flowed in over healthy breakfast and the session ended with pictures & goody bags personalized with our name tags. Warm gesture that was!

Good quality + assured health= Happy professional , since a healthy mind resides in a healthy body. At least my life is sorted with First Eat!

NH10- Movie review

Director- Navdeep Singh, Producer- Anushka Sharma

Cast- Anushka Sharma, Neel Bhopalam, Darshan Kumar, Deepti Naval (in cameo)

Plot- A well off, working professional couple, Meera(Anushka) and Arjun (Neel Bhoopalam), stay in Gurgaon. Often known as the concrete jungle, it offers dream jobs with high pay packages, lavish lifestyle with dark naked truth underlying in its wraps. A good lifestyle may not mean secure roads. That’s what happens one night, when Meera is attacked in her car by unknown goons as she drives to office from a friend's party. She manages to flee from the spot in nick of time, but the incident leaves her shattered. Scared and scarred, Arjun applies for licensed gun for her safety. Soon, he plans a short vacation in a forest resort, close to Gurgaon for Meera's birthday. The road trip goes awry as they witness a couple being beaten at a road side dhaba. When nobody approaches for help, Arjun intervenes, only to be slapped by the gang leader Satbir (Darshan Kumar). 

An insulted and upset Arjun, spots the SUV of the goons on the way and detours to follow them with the gun. Meera’s plea to stop him, fall on his deaf ears. He watches horrifying “honor killing” of the same couple. The girl was the goon’s sister. As Arjun prepares to run away from the crime scene, he bumps into a mentally challenged lad, a bother of one of the gang members. The gang catches hold of the Arjun & Meera, hit Arjun and plan to kill both of them. In an attempt to escape, Arjun accidentally shoots the mentally challenged lad.

A still from NH10

The couple are chased throughout the night by bloodthirsty gang members, for whom law & order don’t exist. Arjun is brutally hit again. Meera, the protagonist puts up a tough fight to save injured Arjun. She secures Arjun under a railway line bridge, promising to return with help. She runs from pillar to post in the murky no man’s land asking for help. Scared but determined, Meera does not give up in spite of being hurt, exhausted and alone. She gets hunted several times, is pelted with stones, takes shelter in a labor’s hut, kills a corrupt cop, meets with an accident and lands into the village sarpanch's home. This is where the climax again takes a spine chilling turn.

Characters- After playing a kind, good, supportive husband in Mary Kom, Darshan Kumar plays the rustic, dominating Harayani man, who has no qualms in killing his sister for his family honor. Tough, untamed and raw, he carries off the uncanny role really well. Kudos to the director and the scriptwriter who created the thrilling frames.

Anushka does a brilliant job with her memorable performance. Her acting skills would be etched in the audience's mind for a long time. Watch out for her body language and eye expression as she lights up a smoke and patiently waits for Satbir to rise up with his fractured leg. Deepti Naval as the village sarpanch impresses in a cameo. All characters essay strong roles which give that edge to the film.

Background score adds excellence to the film. The entire movie keeps you glued to your seat without letting you blink an eye.Cinematography deserves big applause. Filmed with realistic angles and backdrop, NH10 has the power to scare you in spite of not being in the horror genre. Navdeep has an eye for detail which is very apparent from the reality touch he has given. The audience get to view Gurgaon's shimmery lights and tall buildings through a car window, where the couple is heard chatting. It is the usual private conversation between a husband and wife which instantly hooks audience. The forest areas, half constructed buildings, sandy hills, scattered houses in village, barely maintained police chowki, all add real touch. Even the villagers, who reluctantly and sarcastically tell direction to Arjun for forest resort, would make you nod heads in agreement and anger.

NH10 does not suggest measures to the social evils portrayed.  What it does is reveal the horrid truth that sobs silently beneath the glittering city lights. It lashes out to the patriarchal society for its gender bias and an apocalypse world who confines women in houses and stab them if they get married in the same gotra. When Meera lodges a police complaint against the attack on her, the cop asks her not to venture out alone at night. He also warns sarcastically that law & order remains confined to the visibility of malls. The former vanishes when malls disappear. Sad but true. 

Several things leave the audience seething as the film shows the harsh reality, which are- When Meera asks for helps from the cop at police station, he instructs her to complaint at the thana where the incident took place. Jurisdiction depends on location; else FIR would not be registered. Happens often, yeah? No education can change the mind sets of people who kill in the name of family honor. In this case, it’s a woman who initiates and supports the evil. Cops join hands with criminals by covering the social evil. What could be more disgusting that this? A woman trapped in such a family tries her best to save Meera by lying, but gets slapped.  How many times have we noticed or heard such incidents in these shady villages? Shamefully, countless times. That is why Meera picked up the iron rod to teach the bad guys a lesson, jabbed a ball point pen into the evil cop's eye, crushed her attackers under the wheels and shouts at the sleeping society. She ends with 'Jo karna tha so karna tha' leaving a message for the disgraced world who refer to women with derogatory words on toilet doors or walls of public property.

I admit I was disturbed and scared after watching the movie. I was not able to sleep well at night, as the movie thronged my thoughts. A must watch of this season is NH10. Go for it!