Love & Latte launch: A feast for the eyes, both on and off the screen

They call it the Red Bulb. It is a preview theatre, located on the third floor of a high-profile building, off Link Road, Andheri West. The invitation said 6.30 pm. Traffic jams made sure I reached at 7.15 pm. Too early. Things started moving at 9 pm, and went on until almost 11 pm. A little too long for the launch of a music video, which was projected thrice. Shot in Azerbaijaan, with a Sydney Opera House look-alike in the back-ground, there was lots of Love, and several cups of Latte, and attractive, picture-post-card locales. Latte was served by Sharad Malhotra, with a complimentary rose, and Love blossomed in the heart of Arlin Maitra.

Arlin is the proprietor of Omcar Records, which is the label on which the single has been released. She is the producer (or ghost producer) of the song, Love and Latte. She is an actress and model. She is pretty. She is vivacious, she is dynamic and at 26, she is creating ripples. Crack this puzzle: what is it that rhymes with ripples? Arlin cracked it, and her daring costume did not let the audience’s gaze waver even for a second. They often say that an actress looks hot in certain costumes, and they say this about actresses who draw the ‘line’ at certain spots, some a centimetre less, some a centimetre more. And there is Arlin, who re-defined what the meaning of ‘hot’ really is.

On screen, though, she was more conservatively dressed, with a wardrobe that matches the exotic interiors. It all begins when Arlin orders a latte at the café at which Sharad works, and latte follows latte, leading to lovtte, lots of love. The Punjabi-based song waxes eloquent, courtesy some emotive singing from Altamash Faridi, about their love and each other’s imagination, as they keep appearing and disappearing on screen. What really kindles their love is not clear (surely the hot coffee was not the aphrodisiac! Maybe it was the rose that came with it), but Arlin is so smitten that she calls her mother and breaks her engagement, in order to marry the coffee-man.

Arlin is Bengali, and effectively tri-lingual, speaking Hindi and English too, with ease. She had golden (auburn?) dyed hair and has an indulgent smile. Arts, including acting and music, have always been Arlin's passions. "After dabbling in modelling and acting. I turned to my other passion, music. "Music is something that we all love. When I knew music is that something I live for, I needed to be a part of this industry. Being an actress, it was easy for me to give the vocals a visual representation."

Added co-star Sharad Malhotra, "Love & Latte was one amazing experience. Lush locales, amazing team, great producer and costar and a winning song; what more can one ask for!"

From the team, Saahil Goradia of Sumeet-Saahil, Palash Dutta, Hrishikesh Pandey, Neel Motwani, Aditya Bhansali and Sushweta Tewary were also present.

As I left the venue, the Red Bulb was blushing shocking pink. And I was wondering how I missed this beautiful location on my 2022 visit to Azerbaijaan.