With debutant director Mrinal Kulkarni at Tosa

Click on the pic to view slideshow This is a nail-biting week for my dear friend Mrinal Kulkarni but I am confident she has nothing to worry about. Yes, she is debuting as a director of a Marathi film titled Prem Munjhe Prem Munjhe Prem Asthath (PMPMPA). I still remember meeting her for the first time at a party when she was doing the then popular show Hasratein where she played a beauty queen unsettled in marriage with a cheating husband. And now, after so many years, the pretty actor still looks the same and is again dealing with the same subject - the vagaries of marriage, this time as a director. In a black churidhar-kurta, slim and attractive Mrinal, in real life, is blissfully settled in matrimony with a lawyer husband, a son who is into mass media and few know that the lady herself has been a media person, besides being an actor, for many years as a columnist of a Marathi publication. Ask her about her directorial venture and she enthuses, "With an ensemble star cast of top actors from Marathi film industry like Sachin Khedekar, Pallavi Joshi, Mahesh Manjrekar and Smita Talwalkar, the movie delves into three generations’ take on marriage and how to nibhao it." Mrinal explores the mindset of different gens and intends to take the audience on an emotional ride of varied situations in marriage and how people deal with it. We meet at veg restaurant Tosa in Vile Parle where Mrinal resides because she has to rush to present the print of her film to the censor board for certificate. Tosa means ‘santhushti’ or satisfaction/contentment in Sanskrit. It sports ethnic interiors with jharokas, a glass frontage and comfortable seating. Run by Mithun, it is a favorite of vegetarians in the vicinity. Her oft-visited restaurant Tosa is a pure veg multi cuisine place which serves Gujarati, Rajasthani, Punjabi and a mish mash of fast food and international dishes. “We had our housewarming party at the banquets of Tosa,” informs Mrinal who is welcomed by Masoom, the Manager of the eatery. She is instantly recognised as Son Pari and some guests of the restaurant confirm this with me. No starters or mocktails for her and straightaway we go for the main course. The unassuming actor orders her special mini meal of Bajra Khichadi which is piping hot millet kedgeree, served with Marwari kadhi. I notice the prices are reasonable here. Thandai (fresh chilled milk blended with cooling spices), chaas, lassi ( chilled beaten curd served sweet or salty) make for instant summer coolers. I call for Undhiyo (though it is Gujarat’s winter fare cooked mildly sweet, with assortment of veggies in a variety of spices) and phulkas or puris. On the global cuisine front they offer nachos, bruschetta, pasta, pizza and veg escalope. Chowpaty Mela carries street food like batata vada, misal, usal, chaat, paav bhaji and samosa. After Sumona Chakravorty, Mrinal is the second non-lover of sweets. But on my insistence the sweet friend tasted Baked Rossogolla with rabdi-a trupti specialty…. it tasted yummy with the soft, spongy rossogollas baked on the outside lending a slight scrumptiousness to the palate. In direction, Mrinal has found her calling but she is open to acting on TV also. On that note I wish her a successful debut direction and many more to come!