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METROSCAPE
MEDIA MOGUL: Mumbai-based Jitish Kallat,
27, has a decided preference for mixed media, but his foundation still
remains the faithful canvas smeared with fussy compartments of shellac,
house paint glitter... almost everything except conventional material.
In "General Essential" at Bangalore's Sakshi Gallery (on till
June 28), the painter uses stencils and templates and the effect of an
erring colour facsimile to chronicle the wretchedness of Mumbai's residents,
the figurescapes often dotted with trendy embellishments like markings,
comments, speech bubbles and superimages (below). Summer shows are usually
notorious for their store room regurgitations, so it's somewhat of a surprise
that Kallat's paintings are all new.
Metro Minutes
 Don't
trust TV ads that show people jubilating in the rain. Or if you do, don't
fool yourself into believing the shots were canned in Mumbai. This monsoon
season the only dancing happening in the city is one of violent rage.
After repeatedly insisting that 80 per cent of the city's drain desilting
had been completed, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner
K.C. Srivastava finally coughed up the truth: 80 per cent wasn't good
enough. What's more, the toughest pair of galoshes won't protect citizens
from widespread water logging, potholes, traffic and rail jams and even
drowning. But higher powers have taken note of the problem. Low lying
Breach Candy hospital, where A.B. Vajpayee was convalescing, is water
logged and as a result, the amiable Prime Minister was being swamped with
complaints. Now if only he'd use this free time to make sure the BMC sticks
to its one-week deadline.
 It's
really more about mathematics than art. From May 5 till November 11, 2001,
art historians and filmmakers Benoy K. Behl and Sangitika Nigam and a
crew of three will attempt the rather herculean task of documenting The
Paintings of India, commissioned by Prasar Bharati. The 26 documentaries
on the evolution of the art from pre-history to the present will necessitate
58,000 miles of travel across 100 destinations.
 When
Punjabi bhangra star Sukhbir Singh kept his date with a 30,000-strong
crowd in Islamabad last weekend, he had little idea of the debate his
tunes would ignite. According to Pakistan's The Dawn newspaper, Sukhbir
assumed "the role of a gospel preacher for the youth". The singer
is no stranger to the country. Having apparently made 31 prior visits,
he describes himself as "60 per cent Pakistani". Now if he'd
only drop by Agra.
 True
resilience manifests itself in many ways and in the case of actor Chunky
Pandey, it's led him to Dollywood, the Bangladesh film industry. Pandey,
who insists that he's the first Indian actor to have found his way over
the border, is a favourite with local hot-shot producers like Kamal Zamaan
and Sadiq. His films include Shaami Keno Aashaami, Meero Maanush and Kasam
and involve the talents of actresses Rituparno Dasgupta and Neelam among
others. Pandey's other Dollywood pastimes include performing on stage.
What's next? Lollywood?
Cast System
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Sinha
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What would a film with Shabana Azmi, Jaya Bachchan,
Deepa Sahi, Nandita Das and Sulabha Deshpande in the lead be like? To
get an idea, one only has to watch Bengali filmmaker Tapan Sinha's new
feature, Daughters of This Century. At a special screening in Kolkat last
week, Sinha unveiled this curious five-in-one film: five short, disconnected
stories that make up a full-length feature. Something like watching five
episodes of a serial at one go. The stories are strung together on the
theme of exploitation of women taken from five literary works because,
as Sinha says, "It was difficult to find any one novel that could
show the changes and attitudes of a 100 years." The representative
pieces-Rabindranath Tagore's Jibito O Mrito, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's
Abhagir Swarga, Gour Kishore Ghosh's Aei Daha, Prafulla Roy's Satgharia
and Dibyendu Palit's Kaanch-would have been just as evocative without
their star leads. But Sinha thought of these five actresses simply because
they are "very, very competent". Not to mention their box office
draw.
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| WOMEN IN TROUBLE: Bachchan and Sahi
in Daughters of This Century |
But the box office will have to wait awhile
for Daughters... Sinha, who made the film in Hindi for "a worldwide
audience", might have it doing a round of the festivals first.
-Labonita
Ghosh
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