PICTURE SPEAK

The festival focuses on Indian playwrights

BANGALORE Not even the rains were able to keep the crowds from thronging the venue of the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival. Organised in association with Hutch, the festival centres on the theme of national theatre with special focus on Indian playwrights. After Moteram ka Satyagrah, performed by the Indian People's Theatre Association of India, the Ninasam repertory put up Pattaragithi Pakka in Kannada, which was directed by K.V. Akshara.

What is interesting is that after every performance, the audience as well as the participants are invited for an interaction with the director to discuss, criticise and analyse the play. The festival also features a critique workshop conducted by Sadanand Menon and Keval Arora. Besides, there is a tribute to five stalwarts of Indian theatre-Badal Sircar, Vijay Tendulkar, K.V. Subbanna, M.S. Sathyu and Ebrahim Alkazi-in the form of seminars. The participants in the seminar include Prakash Belawadi, Anuradha Kapoor, Amol Palekar, Alyque Padamsee, Ashok Mandanna and Girish Karnad. Besides road-shows and theatre workshops for the youth, the festival also showcases an exhibition of rare theatre photographs taken from the National School of Drama and private collections. The exhibition has been specially designed by Himanshu Dimri of the Hidden Harmony. The plays that are yet to be performed at the festival include Deep Fried Jam by Maya Rao, Tukke pe Tukke, directed by Bansi Kaul, Mahadev Bhai, written and directed by Ramu Ramanathan, A Terrible Beauty is Born, performed and directed by Arjun Raina, and Naga Mandala in Punjabi, which closes the festival and is directed by Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry. All the plays have special matinee shows at discounted rates for senior citizens and students. Festival highlights include impromptu performances as well as detailed academic seminars. The festival is on till November 13.

-By Nirmala Ravindran

PICTURE SPEAK

Kaushiki (left) and Ajoy

PANAJI Goa is fast emerging as a favourite spot for music festivals. This one is dedicated to Kesarbai Kerkar, doyen of the Jaipur gharana. On November 11, the father-daughter duo of Ajoy Chakravarty and Kaushiki of the Patiala gharana will present khayal and thumris, while Pandit Ram Narayan will keep alive the magic of the sarangi, the instrument closest to the human voice. On November 13, there is a flute recital by Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia and vocal recital by Kishori Amonkar. A musical feast to look forward to.

-By S. Sahaya Ranjit

PICTURE SPEAK

The Ganpati, an oil by Gupta

DELHI Satish Gupta is an artist who believes that the clash of civilisations is a superfluous notion. Moved by the misuse of religion over the centuries for partisan purposes, Gupta seeks to find the essence behind the rituals through his painting and sculpture exhibition, "The Cosmic Matrix", to be held at the India Habitat Centre from November 19 to 26. The works are inspired by the artist's experiences at various places of worship around the world. The richness of the Ganpati's orange-rust hues in Rajasthan, the dark and mystical power of the goddess at Kalighat, the prayer flags that flutter under the serene eyes of the Buddha in Ladakh are some of the impressions that have been translated into paintings. Painter, sculptor and poet, Gupta makes us ask questions about the true nature of faith through his collection.

-By Divya Bhushan

PICTURE SPEAK

Soha gets a raw deal

ANTARMAHAL
Director: Rituparno Ghosh
Starring: Jackie Shroff, Soha Ali Khan, Abhishek Bachchan

The good thing about Rituparno Ghosh is that he makes films for grown-up audiences. The bad thing about this Bengali film is that it is a little too perverted even by contemporary standards. There is Jackie Shroff, playing a dissolute zamindar, who spends the entire film lying on top of the unfortunate Soha Ali Khan, his second wife. And there is Abhishek Bachchan, who wanders around in a tiny dhoti sculpting the form of a goddess (only it appears that he is fondling the statue). There is also Rupa Ganguly, the zamindar's first wife, who stares longingly at his hairy chest. There are few filmmakers in India who can equal Ghosh's mastery over the workings of the woman's mind. And there are few cinematographers better than Abhik Mukhopadhyay, Ghosh's favourite. Now, if only he could find actors good enough to deliver his vision-weird though it may be. Just looking the part is not enough.

PICTURE SPEAK

Salman and Kareena

KYON KI
Director: Priyadarshan
Starring: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor

Salman Khan has been sleepwalking through most of his movies in the past two years. Why act when playing himself is so profitable? In this film, you have to give him credit for trying, though he may have been helped by the fact that he is playing the part of a delinquent. But if he wants to sustain his remarkable career, Salman has to become a little more stringent in his script approval. The director takes a perfectly sound premise and reduces it to an absurdity with a long-drawn-out flashback cloned from The Sound of Music. Khan, as a rich brat who loses the love of his life and also his sanity, gives a whippersnapper performance; Kareena wears no make-up (a sure sign that she thinks it is a career-defining role), and even Jackie Shroff looks alive. But it does not help the film much. Priyadarshan just cannot get the tone of the film right-is it a black comedy, a tragedy, or a Munnabhai-style jadoo ki jhappi?

PICTURE SPEAK

Kumar (front) and Abraham

GARAM MASALA
Director: Priyadarshan
Starring: Akshay Kumar, John Abraham

There are four women in the film, but the heroine is clearly John Abraham. As the wicked Sam to Akshay Kumar's wickeder Mack, he even plays along with a suggested sub-plot of homo-eroticism. Both men pull out all the stops to make the film work. They strip down to their trunks, bare their chests and flash their assets. Now, now, don't get any ideas. Abraham's strong points are his dimples and cleavage. Kumar's are his tan and smile. The lines are suited to the revolving-door kind of sex comedy. So there are many jibes about thighs, eyes and undies, which are ridiculous enough to elicit laughter from the devotees of films like No Entry. As for finesse, well, what's that?

-By Kaveree Bamzai

PICTURE SPEAK

Saaz, Music Today CD: Rs 395 each, Cassette: Rs 99 each

In Indian classical music, the measure of an instrument's acceptability has traditionally been the extent to which it can imitate vocal music in all its intricacies and nuances. This is why all instrumentalists play the gayaki ang. This series showcases eight Hindustani classical instruments.

The Sitar album presents Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan and Shujaat Hussain Khan. Tabla features the "Einstein of rhythm", Ustad Allah Rakha; the doyen, Pandit Kishan Maharaj; tabla nawaz Ustad Zakir Hussain and Sarwar Sabri.

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, who brought the santoor into the classical arena, plays along with his son Rahul Sharma and disciple Satish Vyas. The bamboo comes alive in Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia's hands, the master of the north Indian flute.

The album Sarod features Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and his sons Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash. The three masters of the sarangi-Ustad Sabri Khan, Pandit Ram Narayan and Ustad Sultan Khan-come together for the album. L. Subramaniam, India's violin icon, and N. Rajam also feature in the album.

-By S. Sahaya Ranjit

Index