A filmi book launch in at Olive at the Qutub

One went to Olive at the Qutub, Mehrauli, expecting yet another book launch – the unveiling, reading, and mingling over wine and canapes evening.
But Sathya Saran obviously had other plans about how her book on the legendary filmmaker, Guru Dutt, based on conversations with Abrar Alvi, his close friend, scriptwriter and director of the classic, “Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam”, should be presented to the public.She just created a scene, and literally so!
BACK TO THE FIFTIES: And that is how the venue reverberated with “Jaane Kya Tuney Kahi” and “Chaudhvin Ka Chand”, and managed to take back an eclectic crowd to a time gone past. The moonlight dappling among the branches, the music, the candles, and the transition between paras from the book, read out in first person by Saattvic (just back from Oxford, not London, thank you), who became Abrar for the night, to the scenes being enacted on the stage, to the shift to the actual scenes from Guru Dutt’s movies on a makeshift AV screen – the mode of storytelling had the guests sighing with nostalgia and singing along whenever a song was played.As someone remarked, Guru Dutt would’ve loved the setting of this scene! For a scene from “Kagaz Ke Phool”, Vidushi Mehra became Waheeda Rehman. Also spotted was Salama Yamini, head, Indian Music Conference.