JaJaJeEv

A week or so ago, the calm of Sula Wines was taken over by the frantic bustle of Bollywood, as megastar-cum-cricket-moghul Shilpa Shetty and her film crew descended on the vineyard for the making of the forthcoming film “The Desire”.

Sadly, we arrived after her first session and had a dinner appointment that meant we missed her evening appearance – so for the duration of our stay, she was locked safely inside her star-spangled trailer. (But she looks like this – you’ll get the idea)

All our usual haunts (the wine bar, the amphitheater, the restaurant) were fully transformed with lights, cables, makeup tables, a cast of thousands dressed up to the nines, and – strangest of all – what appeared to be a gang of American backpackers drafted in as fully-disguised extras.

Which also got me thinking. I was intrigued to read that the film is a joint Indian-Chinese production. It’s well known that Bollywood is a larger industry than Hollywood, and of course brilliant Chinese film-making and showmanship has already become a powerful export.

So forget the dynamics of their respective economies and three-way nuclear chess. Film-making, and its accompanying phenomenon, cultural imperialism, are two particular barometers of the rise – and decline – of modern empires.

(But perhaps there are ancient prototypes too. Did I mention the restaurant was Italian?)

Anyway. Back to Shilpa.

Joke competition – Can you see the little link below this pic of Evie that says ‘Add comment’ ?  Evie would like as many people as possible to submit a joke and her favourite will win the joke competition.   The prize is a photo dedicated to you on our blog.  Happy commenting!

The kids can’t seem to get enough of this local sustenance.  It makes a good dinner party trick too.

We took ourselves out to Trimbak, which houses one of the most important Hindu temples in India. So important that we weren’t allowed in!

Trimbak was a spectacular place, surrounded by astonishing mountain scenery. It’s a vibrant, colourful town, with endless stalls selling colourful foods, decorations and flowers. Good cell coverage too.

Nevertheless they both ate both – and earned 5 “Spicy Stickers” each for the effort!

Check out that skyline.

We managed to drag the kids up to this impressive hillside temple outside of Nashik. The view was breathtaking.

A lazy saturday afternoon at the winery – wine bar.

These boys were showing off (amongst other things) their great diving skills.  Shame we left our cozzies behind.

The Godavari looked good enough to jump into.