While we would’ve loved a clear winner in the Barbie versus Oppenheimer battle, it turned out to be an ‘even-Steven’ type of situation. I ended up doing the opposite of what I had planned and found myself at the Barbie movie first. I will say that it was the cutest sight to see everyone trooping in, in pink and all the ladies in the audience having a blast from start to finish. Cuter still, were the handful of rather brave boys in the crowd, also wearing pink. And while Barbie didn’t get the ‘pink carpet’ premiere that all its Chennai fans wanted, Oppenheimer’s premiere was quite the buzzing affair. Loads of media peeps were in attendance at iMax PVR, Nexus Mall, all the hard-core movie buffs who were super excited. Conversations ranged from expectations, to the immersive iMax experience. I only recently found out what the difference is, after being given a stern lecture by a filmmaker friend. Noted.
One gang thronged to the theatres over the weekend, while others headed to the coast for Circle of Love, a music festival at Green Meadows ECR. Everyone loved the vibe, reminiscent of international music fests across the globe. We loved that there were multiple stages in a ‘something for everyone’ kind of way. Most of the crowd picked their favourites and stayed in their lane while a few meandered back and forth between stages and bands. We also spotted some great fashion ‘lewks’ and many new faces. Someone was even heard commenting “Wow, look at this crowd! Who are all these people and where did the come from... is this even Chennai?’ And when the rains arrived, it didn’t seem to matter, with everyone fully engrossed and enjoying the music.
After what seemed like quite a break we got a dose of fashion at the eighth edition of Madras Couture Fashion Week at Hilton. With large scale events being replaced by more intimate fashion showcases, the event was almost like a reunion type of get together. Chennai’s popular faces and the fashion fraternity got to catch up and exchange notes over shimmer and sequins. Choreographed by Faheem and styled by Jackie, the show featured nine designers with a finale by the multi hyphenated Suresh Menon. His collected was the highlight for many, cocktail- chic, high on glam. Making it extra special, was the appearance of show stopper Aishwarya Rajesh.
This week also included an ‘evil eye’ party hosted by Punam Jain and Reena Kumar, a mid year bash to bring in ‘great vibes only’. Secret Story was done up in shades of blue with the super popular evil eye motif being given pride of place. The theme extended to the dress code as well, with many interpretations. We loved that everyone got to take home themed trinkets to keep negativity at bay. As our hosts said — where love and light radiate, there’s no room for negativity. Cheers to that!