BANGALORE It is not any other stage, it is a multi-crore rupee tribute to Shankar Nag, the actor-director who straddled the Kannada film world and charmed fledgling TV viewers with his Malgudi Days. Ranga Shankara, which will be inaugurated this month, is the labour of love of Nag's wife Arundhati and other theatre personalities like Girish Karnad.

Segal (right) with sister Uzra Butt in Ek Thee Nani

It is opening with a bang. In the wings is a month-long theatre festival showcasing the best of plays from Karnataka as well as from the rest of the country. A section of the Prithvi Theatre Festival, Mumbai, will be travelling to Bangalore. The dramatis personae include all the big names-Naseeruddin Shah, Habib Tanvir, Ratan Thiyam, Zohra Segal, Veenapani Chawla, B. Jayashree and Rudraprasad Sen Gupta.

The extravaganza will see plays ranging from Kalidasa's Ritusamharam to the modern Agra Bazaar (which has been specially revived for the Prithvi Theatre Festival this year) and Karimayi. Outside the stage, there will be discussions on theatre. Nobody can hold forth on theatre during conflict like Manipur's Thiyam does-his plays had reverberated even on Moscow's Red Square. Shah and Barry John will conduct a workshop on acting, and Tapas Sen will discuss lighting techniques.

In the age of multimedia, does theatre have a relevance? Yes, say the organisers. And they will celebrate it by showcasing the influence of theatre on cinema. Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood, the Japanese interpretation of Macbeth, will follow Maqbool, Vishal Bharadwaj's recreation of the tragedy on Mumbai streets. Watch till the curtain drops. The festival is on from October 28 to December 1.

-By Nirmala Ravindran

FRENCH TOAST: Chauveau

DELHI If haute cuisine is your thing there is nothing hotter this October than the Imperial's French restaurant, 1911 Brasserie. Along with imported ingredients comes an imported chef: Monsieur Francis Chauveau, armed with a Michelin-star rating. A protege of the legendary French chef Roger Verge, Chauveau has twice been awarded the Gault & Millau Guide's Les Clefs d'Or, voted by French food writers. He is here for a week starting October 25. Try the signature dish pan-fried duck liver with fennel. But for starters, it has to be lobster salad with artichoke, cucumber and mozzarella.

Playback singer Anuradha Paudwal, who turns 50 this year, is preparing for a comeback to the film world. She talks to S. Sahaya Ranjit about her plans.

Q. You have been in the music industry for 30 years. What was the journey like?
A. It has been quite a difficult one.

Q. Do you have any regrets?
A. Yes, that I gave up film music for nine years. But then I sang devotional music which helped me reach out to thousands.

Q. You have worked with Laxmikant-Pyarelal and other music directors of the golden age. How do you compare them with the present lot?
A. Those days a music director was bound by music and he gave the songs to whoever he thought was best. Today he is under pressure from the producer, director, distributor. He is like an athlete whose feet are tied and then asked to run.

Q. It is rumoured that there is enmity between you and the Mangeshkar sisters. Is it true?
A. There is no enmity between us. Lataji and Ashaji's contribution is phenomenal. They are an inspiration.

Q. What keeps you going?
A. My devotion to God and music. It is the most sublime of arts.

Image of Bharat Mata

DELHI If there was any doubt about Jyotindra Jain being one of India's finest art historians, it will vanish the minute one steps into the National Gallery of Modern Art. His exhibition, "Indian Popular Culture: The Conquest of the World as Picture", first shown at Berlin's House of World Cultures last year, is not drawing the kind of crowds it should. The only visitors are either vagrants or foreigners on a guided tour but it is a must for anyone with a healthy interest in the visual arts. With oleographs, drawings and paintings from his own collection as well as those of Abhishek Poddar, Priya Paul and Siddharth Tagore, Jain has reconstructed a virtual encyclopaedia of modern Indian imagery. Here is Jawaharlal Nehru appearing as an INA soldier, there is Lord Vishnu advertising Sunlight soap, there again is Krishna romancing Radha at Lake Geneva (predating Yash Chopra by 70 years). The connections Jain draws-from a beguilingly semi-nude nymph Tilottama (our first sex bomb, so to speak), to Lord Ram watching Krishna's erotic play with a disapproving look-are fascinating. Enjoy. On at the NGMA from October 14 to 31.

-By Kaveree Bamzai

Singer Ashwini Deshpande

MUMBAI Musicians come together to pay tribute to Thumri queen Shobha Gurtu. Singers Rajshri Pathak, Satyasheel Deshpande, Neela Bhagwat, Jagdish Prasad, Ashwini Bhide Deshpande and Prabhakar Karekar will perform for 30 minutes each. At Ravindra Natya Mandir on October 30.

LIQUOR Imperial, the first luxury vodka to be launched in India, by Moet-Hennessey. To be retailed in Mumbai and Bangalore and made available at pubs and five-star hotels. Steep at Rs 2,600, owing to excise duty, but well worth a buy.

MUMBAI Two places with two different auras, united in the search for the sacred. Harsh Goenka's annual art show has two themes-"Reverence" and "In The Name Of God"-running simultaneously at the Exhibition Hall and the Auditorium Gallery at Jehangir Art Gallery. Here 34 of the best names in the Indian art world delve into their hallowed selves. The artists' perceptions vary from the pristine to the festive, from the mystical to the popular. The centrepiece is an installation by Anjolie Ela Menon and Balkrishna Vaidya. The show is on till October 26.

-By Kimi Dangor

Lakhia's Kathak troupe

DELHI The dance scene in India wants impresarios who can conceive and organise world-class fests. Sanjeev Bhargava, who has been coordinating the festival "Ananya: The Unparalleled", for the past two years, is one such culture czar. The festival kicks off with performances by Raja and Radha Reddy. They will be followed by Neena Prasad's Mohiniattam and the innovative group of Odissi dancer Sharmila Biswas. The other highlights are Bharatnatyam by Dhananjayan's troupe from Chennai and Kathak by Kumidini Lakhia. From October 26 to 30 at the Purana Qila.

-By S. Sahaya Ranjit

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