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Any designer will tell you that the job comes with occupational hazards, but none in recent history has reported oxygen deprivation as being one of them. For singer Dhvani Bhanushali's new home however, AD100 interior designer Darshini Shah may or may not have run out of breath, as much from exceeding her clients’ expectations as from being on the 76th-floor of a Mumbai skyrise. “It took us a while to figure out why everyone got a headache on site only to realise that the low oxygen levels at that height were the reason,” she recalls with a laugh. For pop singer Dhvani Bhanushali, however, her supernatural pipes—responsible for such megahit songs as Dilbar (2018), Vaaste (2019), and most recently, Thank You God (2024)—had evidently kept her immune to all manner of altitude sickness.
Head In The Clouds
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The Bhanushalis—including dad, Vinod; mom, Rinku; and sister Diya; besides Dhvani herself—had purchased four separate one-bedroom apartments with the intention of merging them all together. But combining said entities was an exercise easier said than done—or as Shah puts it, “a complete logistical nightmare.” One, because breaking down walls meant acquiring unnecessary passages, and two, because determining what to do with those passages was altogether another kettle of fish. “Not to mention the humidity,” Shah jests. “Controlling it at that height during peak monsoon was tough; the saturation level was well over 98%, and if you opened the windows, you’d see clouds floating in.” It was challenging, yes, but not so challenging that she couldn’t figure out a fix.
An Oasis Of Calm
“She spent a lot of time getting to know us,” Dhvani reflects when asked how it all came together. “The brief was to make it a family home, [but also] a reflection of my journey. Being an artist, I often find myself under the arc lights so I wanted a safe haven where I could truly relax and be my creative best.” That she wanted it to be fuss-free and calm yet spaced-out and luxurious meant that Shah had her work cut out for her. (Not that she minded.) “My seed point for any home is the people and their lifestyle. In spite of being such a sensation, Dhvani is all heart and very easy going so we went for an understated luxury that really reflects that spirit.”
Views For Days
Ask Shah what the drawcard was and she explains that it was, above all, the views. “The fact that you can see right from Nhava Sheva Port to the western suburbs makes it an experience in itself,” she notes. The next step—or more precisely her next step—then, was to highlight this experience rather than diminish it. “We wondered how to blend the outside and inside to make it one continual habitat.” The answer, it turned out, was minimalism. Reasoning that muting the interior would amplify the exterior, she hushed the floor in white marble and brought in clear glass doors—even in the bathrooms—to erase thresholds entirely. Where she did introduce colour, she did so sparingly—in the guise of a turquoise Art Deco wallpaper in the dining room or a scarlet chandelier in the bathroom—so as to evoke moments of wonder around every corner.
Mission Accomplished
As to whether she figured out what to do with all those surplus corridors, Shah quietly nods in the affirmative. “It took some thinking but we got there,” she smiles. One example of converting a problem into an opportunity? Dhvani’s riyaaz (practice) corner, a sea-facing oasis that the designer carved out of an unused circulation area. As for other favourite spaces, Dhvani cites the kitchen amongst hers. “On Sundays, you'll usually find us there. My sister Dia indulges us in the dreamiest breakfasts,” she shares. Kitchen aside, has the home measured up to her vision? “It has far exceeded it,” reveals the songstress. “I was a bit overwhelmed at the start but it has shaped up into something truly special.”
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