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MUSICGrisham Ritu Sangeet
(Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore; April 12 & Tilak Samarak
Mandir, Pune; April 13)
Music of the seasons, a strong concept in Hindustani classical music, is a
result of the musicians' association with nature and the environment. To herald the hot
season, this festival has Satish Vyas portraying a languorous summer afternoon on his
santoor, Pandit Jasraj enthralling with his khayals and Anindo Chatterjee on the tabla.
Unique.
Azadi--Junoon
(Milestone Entertainment; Rs 95)
Their song Sayonee is already a chartbuster on the music channels. A
group whose music is a marked departure from the regular "fusion" of the
subcontinent. Junoon has chosen to blend Sindhi, Punjabi folk and qawwali with a generous
sprinkling of Urdu lyrics, skilfully and effectively taking traditional forms of music and
giving them a distinctly western touch. Good tunes.
Shankarlal Music Festival
(Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, Delhi; April 9-12)
One of the capital's oldest festivals lines up an impressive array of vocalists and
instrumentalists, both senior and not -- Bala Saheb Poochwale, Kishori Amonkar, Shanti
Sharma, Madhup Mudgal, Pandit Jasraj (all vocal), Vishwa Mohan Bhatt (Mohan veena), Satish
Vyas (santoor), Amjad Ali Khan and Amaan Ali Bangash (sarod).
VIDEO
India Quest
(Two-cassette set; Ford Foundation for Universal, Responsibility, A
Project funded by the Ford Foundation)
Seven incisive documentaries made by the best in the business like Pankaj
Butalia, Rajiv Mehrotra and Sanjay Kak -- witty, clever, anecdotal, covering issues like
gender, governance and education. A worthwhile buy.
ART
Exhibition of Paintings--Paresh Maity
(Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; April 8-14)
Paresh Maity is an ever-metamorphosing painter. Here he continues his quest for
self-renewal, changing his medium, his subjects, his distinctive style, and even his
colours: from his trademark watercolours to conte and back to oils and watercolours. And,
increasingly, to human forms with an interesting interplay between colour and light. |
