Singer Savaniee Ravindrra looked very attractive in her new photoshoot

GOA PORTUGUESA TURNS 31

Mumbai's renowned & globally acclaimed 'Goa Portuguesa Restobar' at Shivaji Park turned a successful 31 years this month. To celebrate the milestone, the owners hosted a celebratory bash which saw the presence of many popular celeb personalities like Shiamak Davar, Ramesh Sippy & Kiran Juneja, Varsha Usgaonkar, Milind Gunaji, Bharat Dabholkar, Roopkumar & Sonali Rathod, Joe Rajan, Kunal Vijayakar, Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Dr. Jamuna Pai, Ashok Salian, Sabbas Joseph and many more. Everyone present was all praises for the delectable consistency in taste and continued warmth in hospitality over the years. This do was filled with lots of food, choicest wines, live music, love & memorable experiences.

"Our restobar is a food lover's paradise and as part of anniversary celebrations this month, our guests will be treated to Goan and Portuguese gourmet veg & non-veg delicacies with an extended menu comprising specials like roast turkey, chicken roulade, coconut crunchy prawns, grilled stuffed cottage cheese and complimentary house wine" says Dr. Suhas Awchat, the owner of the establishment.

The evening also marked another well-deserved success celebration of Masterchef Deepa Suhas Awchat authored 'Goa Portuguesa Cookbook' that won at the 24th edition of Global Gourmand World's Best Cookbook Awards held in Macao recently. The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards founded by Edouard Cointreau is the world's largest cookbook awards and honors like Olympic.

PayNearby wins ‘Best Fintech Innovation in Financial Inclusion’ Award

The company has enabled financial inclusion worth INR 760 bn across the country

Mumbai, 4th December 2019:  PayNearby, India’s largest hyperlocal FinTech network has won the ‘Best Fintech Innovation in Financial Inclusion’ award for offering last-mile access to consumers in the underbanked sectors across the country.  PayNearby was selected based on the organization’s operational performance over the last year, innovative technology & commitment to the development of the underserved of the country. The India Finance Inclusive Awards was presented by Mr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian Chief Economic Advisor - Government of India at Access Assist event in New Delhi, to recognize the company’s dedicated work in driving innovation at the last mile and creating a financially inclusive economy.

Incepted in April 2016 by Anand Kumar Bajaj, Subhash Kumar, Yashwant Lodha, and Rajesh Jha, Nearby Technologies offers financial or non-financial services to the underbanked and unbanked segments. The company’s flagship brand, PayNearby empowers retailers at the first mile to offer digital services to local communities, thereby boosting financial inclusion in India.

PayNearby has successfully enabled the availability of essential services including financial inclusion products PAN India with the help of it's Digital Pradhans’ spread across the country.’ The Digital Pradhans are equipped with the tools and technology that allow them to expand their business and transient from just a retail store too much more. The company aims to create a pervasive network that will granulate, sachetize and universalize financial services and make it available to every Indian. Through their assisted tech-led modules, the company offers a bouquet of services including Aadhaar banking, bank savings, domestic remittances, bill payments, card payments, granular investment and insurance among others.

The company has close to 8 lakh retail touch points across 16,772 pin codes in 28 states & 9 union territories, servicing 98 million customers with a monthly transactional value of INR 40 billion and upwards.

The award was conferred by India Finance Inclusive Awards on behalf of ACCESS, a national livelihood support organization that focuses on incubating innovations for sustainable livelihoods of the poor. PayNearby has been selected on the basis of their operational performance and unwavering commitment towards financial inclusion. 

Commenting on the win, Mr. Anand Kumar Bajaj, MD & CEO of PayNearby said, “This award is a huge recognition for us and is a true testimony to PayNearby’s unwavering dedication towards bridging the digital divide among the masses and creating an egalitarian society. With the highest levels of innovation backed by cutting edge technology and design, we have been touching the lives of millions of Indians who have otherwise been left out of the Digital India race. It is our privilege to receive this prestigious award and we thank everyone who has contributed to our journey.”

About Nearby Technologies Pvt. Ltd

Incepted in April 2016, Nearby Technologies is a fin-tech company offering financial/non-financial services to the underbanked and unbanked segment. Nearby Technologies works on a B2B2C model through its various brands – PayNearby, InsureNearby, BuyNearby and few more. PayNearby empowers retailers at the first mile to offer digital services to local communities, thereby boosting financial inclusion in India. Retailer services are focussed on Aadhaar based banking services, Domestic Remittances, Bill Payments, Card Payments, and insurance services among others.

It was founded by Anand Kumar Bajaj, Subhash Kumar, Yashwant Lodha & Rajesh Jha who bring with them rich experience in banking, payments and financial sector. A DIPP-certified FinTech startup has partnered with various financial institutions including YES Bank, RBL Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank, CC Avenue, Bill Desk, NPCI, FASTag, NBFC and FMCG companies. It is the sole technology provider using Aadhaar Enabled Payment Services (AEPS) and IMPS to YES Bank, making them one of the only two fintech companies hosted by the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI).

Post Event Release

Director Samir Tewari's hosts a Star-Studded Special Screening for his film "LEVEL 13” starring Anup Sonii, Sandhya Mridul, Rajeev Paul, Swati Semwal

CAST & CREW- Producer- Muktal Tewari; Director - Samir Tewari; Actors- Annup Sonii, Sandhya Mridul, Rajeev Paul, Swati Semwal

The screening saw the presence of Arshad Warsi and Maria Goretti, Manjari Phadnis, Karan Mehra, and Nisha Rawal, Iqbal Khan, Shakti Anand, Donal Birth, Aditi Gupta, Aakansha Singh, Flora Saini, Rajesh Balwani and many more

About the Director Samir Tewari - Samir Tewari Born in Asansol, West Bengal, Samir did his schooling from St. Patricks Asansol before completing his education from Fergusson College Pune, Maharashtra. He started his career as a copywriter in advertising agencies such as Lowe Lintas and Partners and FCB Ulka where he honed his screenplay writing skills writing television commercials. He then co-wrote and co-directed ‘Shanti,’ India’s first daily soap in 1993 which ran till ’97. He followed up his stint on television by returning to an advertising agency where he began directing ad films and next set up a production house making ad films in 1998. Ever since then, Advertising films have been his main line of work and he has been producing and directing advertising commercials for brands across different categories. In 2014, he directed a film called Mr. Joe B. Carvalho, a spoof on eighties style Bollywood movies that was panned for its illogical plot line but loved by families and more specifically children. It’s available today on Netflix, Hotstar, and Spuul.

Samir Tewari said "Why do people outgrow each other? Why do some marriages fall apart, While others continue to stay rock solid?  Is it because somewhere some couples get disillusioned with each other? Whereas some couples work hard to keep the interest level alive?  Level 13 takes a detached yet wry look at two marriages.  One, that’s held together by love and respect. And one, that’s held together by the comfort of familiarity that exists between two individuals who know each other inside out but tolerate each other only because they are too tired to separate.  As the film progresses, we realize that this loveless marriage of convenience is probably stronger than the one based on love as there are no expectations here. The marriage based on love is frail and fragile and destroying it takes just one brief moment of indiscretion. As a subtext, Level 13 also deals with mobile addiction. And how the mobile that has become an emotional crutch for some people, while also ending up as the bane of modern relationships"

About Producer Muktal Tewari - Having grown up in Advertising as an art director, Muktal has a keen sense of design and art, and has brought this discipline into her company Working I Films that she runs along with her husband Samir Tewari. Thanks to her fastidious nature, Working I has an excellent reputation in the Advertising Industry and has been associated with the best of brands in India and abroad. Mukta enjoys working on new projects and picking up challenges that she juggles despite being a wife, a busy producer and a mother of a 25-year-old daughter, who is also a chef. She wears many hats and is also the financial brain behind the company that has a wonderful reputation for being a solid company that delivers, and a stickler for time-bound job commitments.

Anup Sonii said "What attracted me towards Level 13 was its story - it was simple and every day, yet intense and funny in an uncanny way.  It had an interesting take on marriage, relationships, human behavior, and boredom.  Also, my character was very different from what I have ever done. My director Samir Tewari had also co-written the script so he exactly knew how he wanted to project each character"

Sandhya Mridul said "I found the scenario very real & possible and actually I’ve seen this happen once long ago .. I have always wondered what it would be like & was intrigued to put myself in that situation and see it what I feel like the character. Actors are lucky we can be anyone.  Also, I'm not a phone addict or ever plan to become one!! My phone is off 90% of the time. And silent. It was fun however to play someone whose only escape in life was the phone. I see people like that all the time. It sad, but it's the sign of our times that nobody looks up anymore. So I’m happy to make the darn statement.  Get off the phone. Live.

Rajeev Paul said "When I was offered Level 13 what I liked about the story was how a seemingly casual evening between colleagues and friends takes a turn and changes the lives of people involved forever. My character Aakash had layers that you’d want to see in every man and when an unforeseen situation arises we see how he reacts to it. In short, even though the film is less than 15 minutes, it's stayed with you long after it gets over making you think about its characters.  It has got its moments..and you hope something like this party never happens in your life.. whichever of these 4 you maybe.. You'd never want this evening in your life"

Swati Semwal said "I have worked with Samir before in advertising and always wanted to work with him again as he has a very unique perspective...when I read the script I knew I had to grab this opportunity as it was a very upbeat take on the different shades of women. His characters are not suffocated in a box …they break all stereotypes and it reflects pretty well on screen"



Making Level 13- Sometime early last year, this plot struck me. Of a married cad who runs into his ex, now happily married to his new boss.  The premise seemed interesting and I discussed it with my writer friend Manish Tiwari. Manish loved it too and wrote a draft. Over the next couple of days, we fleshed it out further and rewrote it a couple of times. Over the next few months, we developed a few more short stories and before we knew it we had a series of shorts, an anthology of moody dark tales set in a city exploring different facets of urban life. We started meeting people with these stories but made no headway.  Ann and I had last worked on daily soap called Shanti many moons ago and we used to meet on and off and he would rib me on how we have never worked again. We also go to the same gym and one day I pitched one of the tales from this anthology to him and he was a little taken aback by its content. I then pitched Level 13 to him and he loved it from the word go. Anup was also excited at the thought of playing Rohit, a smooth-talking glib cad, which is quite opposite to his serious nice guy image.  Sandhya came in next. Again, a dear friend, she read it and discussed her character Priya, at length before giving it a nod.  I started scouting for a producer as Level 13 was an expensive short to self-fund and I knew nothing on how to monetize it frankly. I spoke to many producers, did the rounds, but nothing came out of it. A couple showed interest but it fizzled out.  I got busy with advertising again and the project went onto the back burner. Then I met Anup once again sometime this year and he chided me for not trying hard enough to make it. He said, just make it, we’ll all pitch in and help and make it happen.  So that was that. It was decided. I spoke to Swati and Rajiv, both friends, who read the script and came on board as Sonal and Akash, knowing the terms. All my leads did it for a token fee. I pulled favors left, right and center and we shot it over two days at a really nice location that worked well for the script.   The night we were to shoot the outdoor sequence, it started raining cats and dogs and the weather report showed that it was going to rain non-stop for the next few days.  So the next morning we shot the car sequence indoor on a green screen.  Making Level 13 was great fun and it is gratifying that even as we go to press, we have to date, 12 Official Selection Nominations and 8 Winner Awards.  I now feel I should have made it last year and not waited a year to go through this amazing experience of making your own film.  In fact, I already know what I want to do next, my next set of stories from the Anthology.

Haresh Vyas’s dream project “Rizwan” took its first step towards release.Trailer & Music Launch concluded successfully amongst stars, glitz, and glamour

Mumbai: The much-awaited movie “Rizwan”, produced and directed by Haresh Vyas and inspired by a true story took its first step towards release. Trailer and music launch concluded successfully amongst the cast and crew of the film with some other eminent guests.

                The movie which is already generating interest amongst its viewers because of its storyline which is inspired by a true story is expected to be a milestone in the genre of meaningful cinema. The movie is Directed by Haresh Vyas and written by Dr. Sharad Thakar. Features Vikram Mehta, Keyuri Shah, Bhargav Thaker, Jalpa Bhatt, Gaurav Chansori,  Digisha Gajjar, Sonu Mishra, Sagar Masrani, Hitesh Raval, Chirag Katrecha.

                The event also marked the music launch of the movie and the audience can now experience the magical and musical experience. The movie has songs like “Sukar hai Vyadhi Nathi” which has music by Sohail Sen Lyrics by Anil Chavda, Bhavesh Bhatt, and Altamash Faridi has rendered his soulful voice to the song.

                Another musical treat in “Rizwan” is the song “Aao sabko Shikhlaye” which has music: by  Sohail Sen, Lyrics are by Anil Chavda and Bhavesh Bhatt. Not to forget the song is sung by Mr. Udit Narayan Ji & is very special to all.

Not only Hindi but Rizwan also boasts of a Portugese song “Kanimmambo”, where Mr. Haresh Vyas himself took the job of writing lyrics in his own hand along with Ms. Nilza. , the music is by Francisco Fortuna and the Singer for the same is Marione.

Mr. Haresh Vyas who is donning many feathers in his hat in the movie when asked about his experience said “It always gives immense pride and happiness when you can see your hard work on the silver screen ‘Rizwan’ was a dream project and the only thing I had in mind was to justify it to the fullest. Whenever a movie’s subject line is based on a real story, the task gets tougher and it’s a challenge to recreate someone’s journey in a manner that keeps even the facts intact and at the same time entertains the audience. The cast and crew totally supported the view & the subject and together we all have created something that we wish will be liked by the audience as much as it is liked and loved by us.”

                Mr. Rizwan Adatia a successful entrepreneur and a diligent philanthropist has made India and Indians proud is the real-life inspiration behind the movie, he was also present at the event and said, “It gives me immense pride that my journey could inspire someone and the audience can see the same on the silver screen. I am a small-town boy with big dreams. But the journey to achieve those dreams was not easy the path was full of various obstacles. But I knew one fact for sure that giving up was never an option and thus my journey continued despite all obstacles and today I’m happy to see my journey in the form of cinema.”

Vikram Mehta who is portraying the character of Mr. Adatia in the movie, exclaimed happily, “It gives me immense pride that I was chosen to play a living legend like Mr. Rizwan Adatia on screen. Mr. Haresh Vyas had the parameters required to play the character in his mind and clearing the audition was not an easy task. The role needed lots of research and I even met Mr. Adatia to understand more about him. Now it's in the audience’s hand to judge how much my hard work succeeded”

The next song of alankrita Sahai is out and it is called Allah ve. 

This is a beautiful song which is sung by Jassie gill who features alongside Alankrita Sahai in the song. It's a beautiful song of emotional highs and we had almost tears rolling down the cheeks after we saw the song.

We spoke to alankrita and this is what she has to say, " the story of Allah ve is very different than the other songs that I had done. I went de-glam for it completely and the experience was fantastic. Its always a pleasure to work with such a great team and we had an amazing camaraderie in the sets. And I guess that also has translated into the song. I have been getting some great reviews about the song and it's my honor to be in this song."

Alankrita will next be seen in the movie tipsy alongside Esha Gupta and will be directed by Deepak Tijori. She is on a professional high as she is prepping up for her character in tipsy and we are all rooting for her. Tipsy will be an off the edge thriller and comedy and it will release soon in 2020