Trombone Charlie (sorry, no idea what his real name is!)
Trombone Charlie (sorry, no idea what his real name is)

I went to a fairly cool furniture store party last night for the Red, Blue and Yellow 2009 collection launch thrown by Asim Merchant, Karishma Bajaj and Paul Rodrigues. Actually the store was extremely cool (and has apparently been around for a while) the party on the other hand was new and didn’t last that long. I felt kinda bad for them though cos they had ALL the trappings of an epic night. Great DJ (and I mean outstanding, every track was pumping) a live trumpet and trombone mash up and Redbull at the open bar but man those waiters were really pushing the food, to the point that my friend Mike asked, “Are these guys getting paid per toothpick or something?!” Cracked me up. Sadly the elite guest-list they were expecting didn’t quite turn up in all its glory. Plus I was wondering how on earth they were going to salvage all that expensive furniture from cigarette burns and spilt drinks? (Besides, is it really even worth it, unless it gets trashed by some serious celebrity and then maybe it gets enough footage to pay for itself?)

Rock DJ
Rock DJ (Sudhir I think?)
DSC09616
Excellent trombone skills, now that’s something you don’t see everyday!

Love how the PR note says, “The evening started out on a mild note with a preview of the new collection but slowly escalated into an extremely lively and hopping party. Amongst the first to arrive was Soni Razdan who checked out the collection and complimented the deigners on the new line… Amongst the guests in attendance were Deven Khote, Bharat Dhabolkar, Mahesh Mathai, Moshe Seikh, Nimrat Kaur, Aki Narula, Archana Pilla, Krsna Mehta and Abhay Maskara to name a few…” yes, old-school glitterati* wise, there were very “few.” Rookie new model-types I saw plenty. (Ah boys when will you learn, how soon you forget rule # 1: don’t ever wear a T-shirt with words on it unless you can actually read.) Also I’m afraid to break this to you but apparently weird long curly locks for men are back (or at least these guys seem to think so.)

Soni Razdan
Soni Razdan
Asim Merchant , Karishma Bajaj and Paul Rodriques
Asim Merchant , Karishma Bajaj and Paul Rodriques
Aki Narula
Aki Narula
Geetu Hinduja
Geetu Hinduja
Deven Khote
Deven Khote
Moshe Seikh
Moshe Seikh
Bharat Dabolkar
Bharat Dabolkar
Nimrat Kaur
Nimrat Kaur
Krsha Mehta
Krsha Mehta
Paparazi vantage point
Paparazzi vantage point
The Rookies
The Rookies

But barring that, the most awesome thing about the place called “Red, Blue and Yellow” (which is a left turn after the petrol pump next to famous studio and down the dead end) which I kept calling Red, White and Blue for some Obama-obsessed reason) is by far the trendy loft layout. I mean within five minutes of entering you totally want to live there. So I’m guessing they were going for the house party feel (with house music of course) and get you drunk & comfy enough in a recliner that you grow so attached to, that you then feel obliged to take home.

Loft
I <3 rooms with stairs in them.
Mike on my favorite Sofa
Mike Melli on my favorite Sofa
Shane
Shane

Props to Shane (one of the store directors buddies) who made a valiant attempt all night to keep the energy up and get people dancing. If he’d asked me to salsa I don’t think I could have said no just from his sheer exuberance of spirit! Unfortunately the salsa lasted all but one song and my hangover from the night before turned me uncharacteristically into Cinderella. Oh well. Perhaps I’ll go back and admire the wooden sofa I could never afford again in a few days and hopefully they’ll still be serving Redbull.

*FYI, Celebrity 101: Who is…?

Soni Razdan – British-born Indian actress and film director. She is also Mrs. Mahesh Bhatt
Deven Khote – UTV co-founder, co-producer for Swades, Fashion, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! Kaminey etc.
Bharat Dhabolkar – Maverick adman and undisputed king of satire dabbled in advertising, television and theatre, directed “God Only Knows”
Mahesh Mathai – Filmmaker, one of the five co-founders of Blue Frog
Moshe Seikh – chef/owner of the fabulous Middle Eastern cafes called Moshe’s
Nimrat Kaur – model
Aki Narula -fashion  designer
Archana Pilla – executive publisher, Elle International
Krsna Mehta – design director at Zeba