HYDERABAD It is an artistic journey on the defining events of the 20th century by M.F. Husain. The paintings capture the major happenings from the fall of colonialism to the emergence of free spirit. An exhibition of the first 25 paintings is on show after Parmeshwar Godrej announced that the Godrej Group has joined hands with Husain to back Cinema Ghar, the artist's museum for art and cinema in the city. Godrej, who has been passionate about art since her school days, says, "My association with Husain goes back 30 years. He wanted me to partner him in this responsibility. The museum is a symbol of our love for art and is in keeping with our overall commitment towards showcasing the exuberance of Indian culture."

Husain's works on display at Cinema Ghar

Beginning with an appeal for peace, the first in the series of paintings is Husain's take on the oppression of colonialism and what could have been if there was more equality. There is also an all-red composition depicting the rise and fall of communism using a wild horse as a metaphor.

World War II is portrayed through several images including a cigar- toting Winston Churchill, a tattered Union Jack and the Potsdam Summit. Among other themes explored are Nazism, Gandhi and the founding of the United Nations. In effect, these paintings are Husain's perceptions of events that not only shaped the century but his own life and thinking.

Besides an exhibition of Husain's work, plans are also afoot to create awareness about HIV and aids through an art workshop with established artists. The Mother Teresa series, which is Godrej's favourite, is likely to travel to the Vatican where the nun was beatified. Says Godrej on her latest venture into art: "I have always been engaged with art in some form. Even while designing corporate homes and offices for Kumar Mangalam Birla, Harsh Goenka and the likes, I used art in various forms which I think has played a significant role in shaping their interests towards promoting art in the country." At Cinema Ghar till April 10.

Mehta will unleash magic with his baton at Mumbai

MUMBAI Last year, the city's music students were left breathless and wide-eyed when Zubin Mehta and members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra put up a show especially for them. This year too promises to be a musical one with more Mehta magic waiting to be unleashed on Mumbai. The master conductor will lead the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra in three concerts at the Jamshed Bhabha Auditorium from April 8 to 10. The Mehli Mehta Music Foundation will also play host to legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who at 80 will perform at the first two concerts, and virtuoso violinist Julian Rachlin who will perform on April 10. The proceeds from the final concert will go to the Prime Minister's Tsunami Relief Fund. The foundation will also organise a special mini performance for music students from Mumbai and Pune on the morning of April 9 at the Taj Ballroom. Singing Tree, the choir of the Mehta Foundation, will perform at the children's event.

-By Kimi Dangor

The redone Rodeo

Shankaragamala is a celebration of sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar's music by his disciples. It is a beautiful collection of ragas created, reconstructed and named by the legend. The 28 ragas, spread over three volumes of this album, have been handed over to the next generation to carry on the parampara. The performers include Anoushka Shankar on the sitar, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt on the mohan veena, Gaurav Mazumdar on the sitar, Partho Sarthy on the sarod and Barry Phillips on the cello. The ragas include Gangeshwari, Bhawani Bhairav, Bairagi Todi, Ahir Lalit and Nat Bhairav. It is definitely a noteworthy offering.
-By S. Sahaya Ranjit

Heroes Project

MY BROTHER NIKHIL Director: Onir Cast: Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Suri, Purab Kohli

My Brother Nikhil is that rare and remarkable thing: an understated, heart-wrenchingly moving Bollywood melodrama. Debutant director Onir creates a lump in your throat with his first few scenes and then, with a finely crafted script and first-rate actors, holds you between teary smiles and all-out bawling. It is both exhilarating and exhausting cinema.

Told mostly through in-camera conversations and flashbacks, My Brother Nikhil goes where few mainstream movies have gone before: aids and homosexuality; a loving relationship between two men; and a bewildered mother and father who flee at first but then eventually accept their dead son's lover as their own child.

Onir treads lightly so that no point is hammered in and no emotion underlined. The actors, without exception, follow his cue so the tragedy never descends into bathos. The pacing occasionally lags but My Brother Nikhil is a triumph for its cast, crew and for us, the audience.

-By Anupama Chopra

TANGO CHARLIE Director: Mani Shankar Cast: Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Bobby Deol

Kelly Dorji, best known as Lara Dutta's boyfriend, plays a chillingly cruel Bodo leader in the first quarter of Tango Charlie. He has a vicious presence that is unfortunately cut short by the good guys. The rest of the villains in Tango Charlie, a tour of terrorism in India, cannot match up to him. Actually, the rest of the film also can't match the vigour and horror of its first story.

Mani Shankar focuses on the little-lauded men of the BSF who battle not on the borders but within the country. The episodic structure-the men move from one afflicted spot to another (Manipur, Gujarat, West Bengal)-doesn't hold together. The romantic interludes are especially limp. And though the actors try hard-Bobby Deol is effectively ingenuous-the movie eventually becomes an indistinguishable haze of bullets, bodies and blood.

-By Anupama Chopra

GURGAON When Harsh Singh Lohit is not managing his it consultancy firm, he can be found viewing the subcontinent through his SLR. "Mehraab", an exhibition of his photographs, is the result of his journey to find a tolerant India that began with the Babri Masjid demolition. At Gallerie Alternatives, Gurgaon, till April 12.

BANGALORE Light & Life Academy, Ooty, presents "Third Eye Blind", an exhibition of photographs by its students. At the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore, from April 17 to 19.

DELHI Enjoy an evening of Bhakti music which will offer diverse genres like chanting, sufi, bhajans and qawwali. Artistes like Iqbal Bahu from Pakistan, Kalapini Komkali, Madhup Mudgal and Pandit Chhanulal Mishra will perform. On April 8-10 at Nehru Park.

Donatella, Uncut

Versace

She took over the creative reigns of the Versace empire after her brother Gianni was murdered in 1997. Donatella Versace was in Mumbai recently to pick the winner of Lakme Fashion House, a reality show on Star One, who gets to intern at Versace in Italy for six months. Excerpts from a conversation with Geetika Sasan Bhandari.

Q. You have been credited with being able to tap into what Gen X wants. So what does it want?
A. The younger generation is less experimental. We mixed and matched a lot.

Q. Are you designing the wedding outfit for Camilla Parker-Bowles who is one of your clients?
A. No, I think it will be by a British designer.

Q. You have said that you will open five outlets in India by end of 2006. Was this trip to gauge the potential here?
A. I had already made up my mind. The brand will work here. People are elegant and they love designer clothes.

Q. Tell us about your celebrity clients like Madonna.
A. When I meet celebrities I have to know what they are like and only then can I design. The clothes have to fit their personality.

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