|
METRO
FEATURE
Laugh
For the City
 |
| MURDER
IS AMUSING: Bangaloreans laugh over Catch Me If You Can |
It's
been a while since theatre enthusiasts in Bangalore laughed their guts
out at a well-executed comic thriller. But with a side-splitting mystery
like Catch Me if You Can presented by Theatre Lab and directed by Srinivas
Gowda, the rush to Chowdiah Memorial Hall last week was understandable.
The play, an adaptation of Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert's work, opens
with an ad man (producer Bimal Desai played Daniel Corban superbly) taking
his bride to his boss' chalet only to find that she has disappeared. The
policemen arrive (Ashok Mandana is Inspector Levine) but so a does a women
who says she's Corban's wife.
These twists
and turns also had a altruistic motive: to raise funds for old theatre
hand and heart patient Mushtaq. Ceratinly laughter for a good cause.
-Stephen
David
All
For a Flick
 Shyam
Benegal's much touted period-piece Zubeida, based on the true life story
of an aspiring actress (Karisma Kapoor) who has a distressing marriage
with a Jodhpur royal (Manoj Bajpai) premiered at Delhi's PVR Priya last
week to the guarded applause of a select audience. Although the stars
themselves couldn't make it at this charity show organised by Manya Patil,
Delhi did get to chat with some behind-the-scenes luminaries, notably
the film's costume designer and Shyam Benegal's daughter Pia (above right)
and the film's script consultant Shama Zaidi (above left). But mostly
the city didn't react well to the film-reactions ranged from "average"
to "overhyped". The other sidelights included the potent stilletos
of the dressy women and the running dry of Diet Coke in the counter hall,
the essential thirst-slayer when the popcorn gets too salty.
-Anshul
Avijit
Puppet
Talk
 |
| GETTING
THE ACT TOGETHER: Pippeteer Narain with its raconteurs |
It
happens like this: a young lady is strolling in Dilli Haat, Delhi's crafts
bazaar. Suddenly a life-sized puppet pops up from behind and asks: "What
do you think about homosexuality?" Shrieks the startled lady: "It's
abnormal, yaar." But the enlightened puppet gets her thinking otherwise
by saying, "Then your nylon sari is also abnormal. Why not live in
the woods wearing leaves for clothes?"
That's how
gay activist and professional puppeteer Varun Narain, 31, uses "interactive
puppetry" to evoke responses in a "very non-threatening way".
"It's the only medium blending art, music and drama," says Narain
who now teaches the craft at his alma mater Jamia Millia. "But sadly
it remains an isolated art form." Narain does admits puppetry got
a new impetus in the 1990s when it was used to spread awareness about
HIV. That's when he thought of working with sex-related issues and child
abuse.
But earning
money from it is tough. Which is why he's all praise for the corporate
sponsors behind the International Puppetry Festival he attended recently
in Lahore, Pakistan. The future? Planning a 50-puppet megashow next month
that blends contemporary themes with Khajuraho eroticism.
-Teresa
Rehman
Sufi
Trance
 |
| CAN'T
HAVE ENOUGH: Sufi specialist Abida Parveen |
Aisi bhi
kuch firaq ki ratein guzar gayein/Jise unhi ko pesh e nazar dekhte rahe
-(In separation ... I could feel his presence/I have often passed such
nights). Wah is what one would spontaneously say after this couplet by
Jigar Moradabadi ...but when it's sung by Sufi singer Begum Abida Parveen
(set to music by painter and filmmaker Muzaffar Ali) one can't help but
be extra effusive. She performed at The Imperial Hotel, New Delhi, last
Wednesday at the launch of Music Today's album, Raqs-e-Bismil. The album
is a collection of ghazals of the mystical Urdu and Persian poets of the
subcontinent, with Hazrat Shah Niaz forming a major part of this collection
with Hasrat Zaheen Shah Taaji, Maulana Hasrat Mohani, Jigar Moradabadi
and Persian cult figures Rumi and Hafiz.
At the performance
the crowds went ecstatic and kept asking for more. With Begum Abida it's
par for the course.
-S.Sahaya
Ranjit
more...
Top
|
METRO TODAY
If
planned well, the quake could be the Keynesian opportunity for Yashwant
Sinha to trigger growth, 