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METRO
FEATURE
Signor
Style
 Luciano
Benetton, the much too low-profile owner of the eponymous pret label,
has got this knack of giving memorable photo-ops. At a Benetton store
in Delhi's Greater Kailash I market, the billionnaire Italian sportingly
donned a bandhini turban for the benefit of the non-stop flashbulbs. The
fashion honcho, in India to open a manufacturing unit in Gurgaon, also
went on to espouse his make-it-big philosophy. "I've seen many ups
and downs in life," he says. "The important thing is to keep
going." Of course, you take him seriously. Benetton began his career
knitting sweaters with his three siblings at home; 35 years later he owns
6,000 stores. But he insists that the group's controversial ad splashes
(nuns smooching, multi-coloured condoms) are not about sensationalism,
giving the predictable "there's a social message in our ads"
rhetoric. During his action-packed four day visit, choreographer Marc
Robinson created a catchy buffet of ramp and rave at the Italian Embassy
where models in Benetton's latest styles walked the ramp to Mumbai-based
percussionist Bondo and deejay Akbar's jugalbandi. And in between the
partying and the shop-hopping, Benetton make a quick trip to Jodhpur and
also got to break naan at Maurya Sheraton's Bukhara. On his last day he
sat in a feestoned autorickshaw outside his South Extension store wistfully
saying he wanted to travel more "in this fascinating country".
Score
with Folk
 You
wouldn't normally think these guys had a melodic mission. "I mean does
anyone think about reviving folk music? Tell me one pan-Indian album which
does it," argue musical brothers Sulaiman and Salim Merchant who have
just produced Bhoomi, an eight-song folk celebration with unaltered original
lyrics and a pinch of "New Age texture". (And incidentally a World Music
album.) "Okay it only happens in Bollywood ... but there's absolutely
no parallel music culture," they add. Pretty strong words these, but the
rakish siblings, one with mid-torso dreadlocks and the other with a shoulder
blunt, both in their mid-20s and both over 6 ft, are certain they talk
sense. Look at their credentials: Salim studied classical piano at the
Trinity College in London; Sulaiman learnt drums before being tutored
by Ustad Allah Rakha; both joined hands in 1993 producing Ragga Ragga
(remember The Voodoo Rapper?); and doing the musical direction for the
much-acclaimed Maya Memsahib and Is Raat ki Subah Nahin, not to forget
Hrithik Roshan's foot-tapping Coke ad. And about two years back Bhoomi,
originally patterned on the drum-bass grunge of London's Underground,
transformed into a folk flavour with tunes from seven different languages.
"We went through more than 100 songs in each region to select them." Enough
for another album.
-Anshul Avijit
Twin
City Play Blitz
The name
says it all-Setting the Stage-Prithvi Theatre's conscious effort to explore
drama through collaborations, performances and workshops. And between
a 21-day cultural blitzkrieg (from November 15 and ending on December
5), both Mumbai and Pune saw the likes of gestural drama, pantomime, clowning,
cabaret, Bengali jatra, percussion rhythms and even a sign language play,
incorporated by Britain's Common Ground Sign Dance Theatre. "The
productions weren't just selected on the basis of their end result,"
explains festival organiser Divya Bhatia. "We wanted varied works
and diverse methodologies." Much like the Pondicherry-based Adishakti
Theatre Company that conducted a workshop in Mumbai on breath and rhythm
based on Koodiyattam. Or Nosferatu, the Vampire, a gestural drama adapted
from Munrau's Nosferatu and Bram Stoker's Dracula and performed by Telluride
Theatre Company. Highlights of the Pune play fever was Asolte Avila de
Graal's poignant Distant Sisters (about a fictional meeting between Frieda
Kahlo and Marilyn Monroe) and informal audience-artist "post-mortems"
beside late-into-the-night bonfires. "We wanted to be flexible and
give Pune audiences what ever they wanted," says festival director
Sanjana Kapoor. And that's more difficult than you think.
-Natasha
Israni, Himanshi Dhawan and Kanchan Apte
Hair-raising
stunts: Fashion capital Chennai? Over 300 participants from
India and 10 other countries came up with some over-the-top hair-dos,
colourful nail-art and new make-up ideas at the International Hair Asia
Pacific Contest held in the city. However, organisers bungled-the few
models around refused to let participants use them as guinea pigs. ("I've
even offered the models money," wailed one girl.) While most hairstyles
were straight off the Paris ramps, some original stuff (below) caused
a commotion.
more...
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Enron
symbolises everything that's wrong with the way reforms were handled by
M/s Rao & Manmohan, says INDIA TODAY Associate Editor
