| |
Single
Women
 If
you're a literary organisation launching a clutch of college clubs, you
could do it with a book-reading session. Or you could be different. Katha
did the honours with, among other things, the play Luna based on Punjabi
writer Shiv Kumar Batalvi's poem at India Habitat Centre last week. Directed
and scripted by Tripurari Sharma, an associate professor at the National
School of Drama (NSD), and performed in a solo show by Sapna Sand, Luna
is based on the legend of a young, low-caste girl from Himachal Pradesh
who is forced to marry an ageing king. Luna's spirit is not broken and
when she falls in love with the king's son, she doesn't do the usual woman
thing: she doesn't keep quiet, expressing her feelings for him instead.
"In folklore, Luna is depicted as a villainous character," explains
Sand, a former NSD Repertory member who happens to be from Himachal, "but
Batalvi has made her a heroine. He poses the question, if a woman displays
her feelings and offers her love to a man her age, then has she done something
wrong?" Think about it.
-Anna
M.M. Vetticad
Screen
Play
It was a
play, but it wasn't on stage. At a programme to honour playwright Timeri
N. Murari in Chennai last week, the audience got to watch Amol Palekar's
1996 film Daayraa, a story of dual sexuality scripted by Murari, and a
videotape of its stage version that was put up in London last November.
The play includes an explicit rape scene that's not in the film. Why not
stage it in India? "I can't afford to have the original cast (of
British Asian actors)," says Murari. "Much would also depend
on whether Indian actors would consent to doing the rape scene and dialogues."
Not even for a spot of realism?
-Methil
Renuka
THE
MOVIE REVIEW
The
Patriot
Director: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Mel Gibson
There's
one important reason why you must watch The Patriot: Mel Gibson. The actor
who put up a stunning performance as Scottish freedom fighter William
Wallace in Braveheart, stirs up memories of that Oscar-winning role in
this film. It's the story of pacifist Benjamin Martin (Gibson) who joins
the American war of Independence when his son gets killed. Director Roland
Emmerich, creator of the America-saves-the-world sci-fi travesty Independence
Day, has a vast canvas at his disposal here, but reduces the entire revolution
to nothing more than a battle fought and won by Martin against those nasty
Brits. There are many redeeming factors though, in this incomplete slice
of life: the supporting cast (particularly Heath Ledger as Martin's eldest
son) is delightful. And the interaction between Martin and his family
is both touching and well executed. But in the ultimate analysis, The
Patriot ends up being yet another war film that could have been so much
more.
-Anna
M.M. Vetticad
Fooled
for Fun
Bakra"
is a word that can sound quite unfavourable when you're stamped with it
-- unlike other benign slurs such as idiot or dummy. And the name-inspired
tv spin, MTV Bakra which has just completed a year, has evolved into a
hugely popular gag-a-minute show with veejay Cyrus Broacha donning various
disguises to fool (or make a bakra of) unsuspecting Mumbaikars. Says Broacha
about the show's success: "I'm an ugly veejay and people identify
themselves with me and the situation." And for the part Broacha has
became everything from a flirtatous taxi driver to a demented shop customer.
Says Natasha Malhotra of MTV: "This is the relief element in another
boring day." But it's not always been a relief to the veejay who
has been beaten, harassed and abused. "I've become a real bakra because
I can judge who is volatile," he laughs, "and when they're dangerous
I bleat and avoid them." Sensible.
-Robin Abreu
Art
Alliance
It
was a coming together of theatre and art, where the frames came first,
the paintings later. At Collaboration, an art show by Chennai's A Portfolio
gallery, the players -- artists Asma Menon, Ranjan De, set designers Mithran
Devanesan, M. Natesh -- made good the artistic leeway such a departure
allowed. The theatrical 3D doorway and arch frames that Devanesan sculpted
out of wood meant exploring "every nook and corner of a new space"
for Menon and likewise, when De insisted he be given surfaces he could
"interact with", Natesh's wood frames gave him just the opportunity.
Shrugs Devanesan: "The show is actually a coming together of like-minded
people." The four are already contemplating doing an art and furniture
show next.
-
Methil Renuka
Yo!
Shanti
Remember
the Indian rock group Indus Creed which created a stir with Pretty Child
and Top of the Rock? Well, after the six-member group split last year,
vocalist Uday Benegal and guitarist Jayesh Gandhi moved to New York. They're
now called Alms for Shanti and will soon be releasing an epynomous album
of rock music. "We hope to make an impact in the international music
scene," explains Gandhi. And they've been holding regular gigs at
a popular club in the city, The Elbow Room. Future plans? "We're
here as long as the money lasts," laughs Benegal. Way to go.
-Leher
Kala
Piqued
About a Park
Old
Gulmohar trees, sprawling green lawns and Humayun's Tomb are all part
of the historic landscape of Nizamuddin East, one of Delhi's prettiest
and plushest residential areas. However, things here might be changing.
The MCD has plans to build a community centre for senior citizens in Jhulewala
Park in the centre of Nizamuddin. "How would you feel if a huge concrete
structure came up in front of your house?" questions ace photographer
Dilip Mehta, who has lived there for nine years. Residents whose homes
overlook the park are understandably anxious. But the irony is that a
community centre already exists in the locality -- only that it has become
the living quarters for MCD staff. "We all agree a place for the
elderly is required, but why can't they use the existing building?"
asks resident Surabhi Kapoor who is worried that this might result in
the destruction of other parks. But advocate N.K. Anand, president of
the Nizamuddin Welfare Association, disagrees saying that it's futile
to fight over the old building: "No one has time for the elderly
these days and at least with a centre they won't feel lonely." This
quiet place is going to see some sparks.
-Leher
Kala
Gold
Rush
At the first
Gold Virtusio Awards aimed at promoting indigenous talent in jewellery
design, five Indian designers came out on top at the Taj Mahal hotel in
Mumbai on August 8. While 26-year-old Gitika Singh, one of the winners
"wanted to create a new way of wearing jewellery around the body",
others like Raja Roy had designs which were inspired by the uneven folds
of cloth and 25-year-old Vrinda Chibber took quotes from blossoming buds.
However, attention was later diverted from the superlative designs to
model Mehar Bhasin who made gaffe after gaffe getting the names of winners
and guests all mixed up ... and in the process taking away a bit of sheen
from an otherwise glittering evening.
-Robin
Abreu
|
|
Don't
ask for more funds, demand the right to collect, INDIA TODAY Associate
Editor V. Shankar Aiyar writes to Chandrababu Naidu in 
Read
the 
