Drinks on us - Gold Spot, Duke’s and more | #156

Also, celebrating 2 cinema icons 🎬👉🏽

Hello friends

Before the consolidation of the fizzy drinks market by the 2 giants - Coke and Pepsi, India had its fair share of drinks that quenched the need for some soda. Some were good, some just ran out of fizz but we’re here to uncork memories of from the years gone by.

This week’s newsletter is a toast to some drinks from yesteryear that may or may not evoke some nostalgia. Cheers!

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Things we learnt this week 🤓

• What connects a Parsi cricketer and a refreshing summer drink? Answer - Duke’s. The iconic Mumbai based drinks brand Duke’s was started by Dinshawji Cooverji in 1889. He had been on a cricket tour in England in 1888 along with other Parsees and had a lot of success with the Duke’s cricket ball. He returned to India, inherited some money and decided to get into the drinks business. Given his luck with the Duke’s cricket ball, he decided to name his drink Duke. Some cricketers have a weakness against the Duke’s - not sure if it is the ball or the drink! 

Duke it’s refreshing Duke

• Talking of Duke’s and Mumbai - it was really a part of a plot of Akshay Kumar starrer - Dil Ki Baazi. Navin Nischol plays the owner of Duke and Sons, and Akshay Kumar plays a worker in the factory. A crossover that nobody expected.

Duke’s in a film

• After the exit of Coca Cola in 1977, a market opened for fizzy drinks. One of the entrants, who survived for a long time was Gold Spot, made by Parle. In an interesting twist, when Coca Cola reentered India, Parle sold Gold Spot along with some of their assets such as Thums Up, Citra, Maaza to Coca Cola. Despite its popularity, Coca Cola discontinued Gold Spot in order to make space for Fanta. If you are a fan of the music of ‘This is Us’ or ‘Only Murders in the Building’, you will have to thank Gold Spot for it. Siddharth Khosla named his band GoldSpot after the drink and is today composing music for some of the top TV shows. Coca Cola might have tried to make people forget Gold Spot, but the taste hits the G-spot.

Javed Jaffrey with his Gold-Spot

• One of India’s oldest drinks was a response to the Swadeshi Movement. Mohsin Hajoori was distributing a British drink called Vimto back in the 1920s. As the Swadeshi movement picked up, he decided to launch a desi drink and named it ‘Socio’. It was derived from the Latin word Socios - as it was supposed to be a social drink. He later observed that Gujaratis had a peculiar way of pronouncing the word and decided to change the name of the drink to Sosyo. Recently Reliance took a majority stake in Sosyo and it is likely that this predominantly Western Indian drink will be seen all over India. If you don’t like the drink, you can say the taste was Soyso. 

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From IWTK, with love 💌

• Honey Irani’s story is a true testament to the determination of mothers everywhere. Watch here.

  India Wants To Know

  

  India Wants To Know on Instagram: ”👩‍👧‍👦 We are celebrating this #MothersDay by sharing the inspiring story of Honey Irani, a single mother who became a scriptwriter to raise her children - Farhan Akhtar and Zoya Akhtar, and wrote some of the most iconic movies in Indian cinema. This is her story 👇 🎥 Honey Irani’s career in films began as a child actress in Bollywood but by accident. Director Dulal Guha had come home to meet Honey Irani’s sister Daisy who was already a star, but he was captivated by the boldness and outspokenness of the 2 & half yr old Honey Irani who called him a “takla” 🤣her acting career took off from here on. 💑 Her life took a turn when she met Javed Akhtar on the sets of the film Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), where she played Sridevi’s cousin Sheela and Javed Akhtar was the screenwriter of the movie along with Salim Khan. They fell in love and got married the same year. Their daughter Zoya Akhtar was born in 1972 and their son Farhan Akhtar in the 1974, both of whom are now two of the finest filmmakers in Bollywood. 😥 Sadly, Honey’s marriage ended in divorce after Javed Akhtar fell in love with actress Shabana Azmi in the mid-1970s. Despite the heartbreak, Honey remained strong and devoted herself to the care of her two young children, who were just six and four years old at the time. She even started doing embroidery on sarees as a way of earning money to support her family. 🧵 But Honey didn’t stop there. With hard work and determination, she managed to make a name for herself as a writer of film scripts, penning some of Bollywood’s most iconic films: - Lamhe (1991)
  - Darr (1993)
  - Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai (2000)
  - Kya Kehna (2000)
  - Koi Mil Gaya (2003)
  - Krrish (2006)
  - Krrish 3 (2013) 🏆 For her screenwriting, she has won 5 awards till date, 3 Filmfare awards and 2 IIFA awards 🏆🏆 Today, Honey’s story is a true testament to the power of perseverance and the determination of mothers everywhere who are fighting to provide for their families. Let’s take a moment to honor all the amazing moms out there, who are making it happen every day. 💪 👉 Share this post to spread the love and celebrate all the amazing moms like Honey Irani. Happy Mother’s Day! ❤️ #mothersday”

  May 14, 2023

• Dilip Kumar was not just a thespian but also a social reformer. Watch here. 

  Civic Studios

  

  Civic Studios on Instagram: “What is your favourite Dilip Kumar movie? Dilip Kumar was not just a brilliant actor, but also an intellectual and a reformer who used his stardom to highlight important social issues. Today, we look at his contribution in the Pasmanda movement -- an important chapter in the lives of backward, Dalit, and tribal Muslims to push back against caste-based discrimination against them within the community. In December, the legend would have turned 100. What other interesting trivia would you like us to cover? Let us know in the comments.
  ____________________________________________ #1MinuteKeKisse are all about small things in cinema which make a big difference. Let us know what we should cover next! Civic Studios is a community of pop-culture enthusiasts who believe in the power of media in bringing change. We talk about, highlight, analyze, and recommend everything pop-culture that has a social/civic angle. Write to us!”

  February 28, 2023

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Only In India 🇮🇳

We are not voyeurs but would love to be a fly on the wall when this confrontation took place.

Be cool,
❤️ IWTK