Talk of the Town

Wall Street to Amaravati

He walked away from Wall Street and returned home with a much bigger bet. Vamsi Atluru is making headlines with Aasthi, a platform that aims to help NRIs invest in real estate, startups and funds back in India. The buzz got louder after Jonty Rhodes joined as Director and Global Ambassador, turning what looked like a startup launch into a serious conversation about capital flowing home. With projects lined up in Visakhapatnam and Amaravati, the question doing the rounds is simple: is this Andhra’s next big investment success story?

The Rs 62-crore address

One apartment deal has become the city’s favourite conversation starter. A 30,000 sq. ft. penthouse at Trump Towers Hyderabad, developed by Kalpesh Mehta’s Tribeca Developers in collaboration with Ira Realty, has reportedly been sold for Rs 62 crore, making it the most expensive apartment deal in the city so far. Luxury circles are buzzing, brokers are whispering, and everyone is trying to identify the mystery buyer behind the record purchase. Right now, the ultimate flex is not a car or a watch — it is a sky-high address with a Trump Towers pin code.

Just wondering though, in a place like Hyderabad where land is still available, why not build a 100 cr house instead of buying a flat for Rs 62 cr! Also, one hears in these fancy towers that have many many apartments, at rush hours, the lifts are a nightmare as they are so crowded. Hope home buyers are looking into all these aspects.

Chay’s mystery move

The city’s foodies and film buffs have found a new obsession. Chay Akkineni’s Scuzi has teased a mystery collaboration and the buzz is only getting louder across the city. New menu? New concept? New venture? New investor? Nobody knows yet, and that uncertainty is exactly what is fueling the conversation. Every teaser is being decoded, every clue is being chased, and right now the hottest reservation in town is one that hasn’t even been announced.

When luxury became the bait

The hottest conversation in elite circles right now is not about a film launch or a political dinner. It is about the alleged “rich kids” gang that reportedly used Instagram reels, luxury lifestyles and carefully curated online identities to befriend women and allegedly extort lakhs. What has rattled affluent families is not just the allegation itself, but how familiar the setting feels — social media, private parties, expensive cars and exclusive circles. Parents are quietly checking friend lists, questioning late-night outings and wondering how easily a glamorous online connection can turn into a nightmare. The gossip doing the rounds is simple: if a curated Instagram life can become the bait, how many people are suddenly looking at their digital world very differently?

The Rs 2,000-crore money trail

This is the story everyone is whispering about. The Enforcement Directorate has frozen 182 bank accounts and seized Rs 1 crore in cash while probing an alleged Rs 2,000-crore chit fund scam linked to businessman Malla Vijaya Prasad’s Wellfare Buildings and Estates Pvt Ltd (WBEPL). Across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, investors are scrambling for documents, old receipts and WhatsApp messages. The whispers are getting louder with every passing day. The only question doing the rounds now is simple: who gets questioned next, and how much of the vanished money can actually be recovered?

Doctors ditch the white coats

The loudest buzz this weekend was not inside a hospital. It was on the Solar Roof Cycling Track, where more than 200 cyclists, including doctors from AIG Hospitals’ Orthopaedic team, joined a cyclothon led by Ravi Revolution. For one morning, helmets replaced stethoscopes, surgeons became cyclists, and the city got a refreshing reminder that the people who fix broken bones also know how to break a sweat. The image has everyone talking.

Who, What, When, Where, Why

Who is building a beautiful new house and will soon move there? Kavita and Satish Reddy. Another couple who have made a fabulous new house is Uma and Sridhar Reddy. Both houses are in Jubliee Hills.

What made Anand Kabra, the OG Hyderabad designer go off the radar for a good 13 years and now come back with a collection called Taramati? Anyways, Hyderabad is delighted he’s back in the fashion design space.

When is Elahe opening its swanky new store? This was the first multi-designer store in our city. Smitha Shroff came up with a brilliant idea then which was a money spinner. Then several similar models showed up. Now we hear her daughter Akriti is very involved in the new store.

Where were Sheetal Bangur, Indu and Purnima Datla, Richa Jalan, Usha Mane spotted recently? At Ladakh, they had gone for the art biennale.

Why is Dr Anuradha Reddy receiving many congratulatory messages? Well, she has been Appointed as Ambassador for Inclusive Leadership, women Rights and Gender Equality for United Nations Women Empowerment Principle’s Hall of Fame and Life Time Achievement awardee on United Nations public service day.

Wicked Whisper

 The big Hollywood studios are reportedly not showing great interest in investing in Rajamouli’s Varanasi! The director is going all out to make it a brilliant spectacle — also spending a bomb, not just on the film but on the pre-release publicity too, in the West — and yet, till date, no confirmation on the international partner.