KOLKATA "It's funny how the older generation forgets its mistakes so easily, and repeats them again and again," says Enki Bilal, artist, graphic novelist and filmmaker. The 54-year-old should know-he left his native Belgrade with his family at the age of nine, and arrived in Paris as a refugee. "I come from a country that no longer exists," he says jokingly.

PICTURE SPEAK

Bilal's graphics reveal dark undertones of strife

Considered the hallmark in original graphic art around the world, Bilal is in India for his exhibition titled "Enki Bilal in India" at the Alliance Francaise, Delhi. His comics and graphic novels, often with dark undertones, belie the effect a childhood of political and social tension. Many of his works, like his book, The Hunting Party, make anti-communist statements. Bilal says he draws inspiration from the world around him. "Time is made up of the past, present and the future," he says. "My attempt as an artist is to see and show the three in harmony."

The exhibition in Delhi gives a glimpse of the vast fantasy world Bilal has created in ink and paper. Excerpts from his graphic novels, paintings, comic fragments and cinema illustrations, sculptures-it's all there to see but tantalisingly too little to really know his mind. Also on display are his early works, including La Croisiere des oublie (the Cruise of Lost Souls) and La Ville qui n'existait pas (The Town That Didn't exist). What makes this exhibition so special, considering it's all his earlier work? "True, the stuff is parts from before," he concedes, adding, "but I have made the selection of the pieces for this show keeping in mind the impressions I have of India-of its energy and vibrancy, and its taste for colour."

Adapted from his Nikopol Trilogy series of graphic novels, his latest film, titled Immortel (Ad Vitam), is part-animated. This 102-minute fantasy film tries a daring combination of digital and live characters to portray a dark world set in 2095.

The exhibition will continue till December 11 in Delhi and will proceed to Kolkata (December 18 to January 5).

-By Gaurav Rajkhowa

PICTURE SPEAK

The Rasmus: Playing hard

MUMBAI/BANGALORE Finnish gothic-grunge band The Rasmus play on December 2 and 4 at Mumbai and Bangalore respectively at the regional finals of the Hero Honda Campus Rock Idols 2005. (The finals will be held in Goa on December 16.) The winner of last year's competition, Delhi-based Prestorika, will open for the six-album old, The Rasmus. Interestingly, Rasmus, means "music pit" in Finnish. To jump into this "music pit" and mosh away, buy a ticket (Rs 500) from November 26 at all Planet M and Café Coffee Day outlets in both cities.

-By Vanita Singh

PICTURE SPEAK

Arakkal's paintings delve into man's deepest spaces

DELHI Dark hours of solitude are peopled only by ghosts and relics of the past. But looking at these spectres instead of turning away begins a journey of mature introspection and fresh rediscovery. In an attempt to give artistic expression to the same feeling, Bangalore-based painter Yusuf Arakkal travelled extensively in India and abroad, photographing people in varying moods of reflection and creating powerful works that delve into man's deepest spaces. Arakkal says he is more interested in the essence, rather than the form, which explains his taste for earthy colours with the rare dash of red, dim lighting and blurred features.

The marked faces of his human characters speak of the eternal march of time. A compilation of his recent works, titled "In Solitude", will be on display at Art Alive Gallery, November 25 to December 20.

-By Gaurav Rajkhowa

PICTURE SPEAK

Sherawat and her saviour

THE MYTH
Director: Stanley Tong
Starring: Jackie Chan, Mallika Sherawat

In The Myth, Jackie Chan and Mallika Sherawat battle their opponents. To save her, Chan tears her long flowing skirt but she falls. Then in a masterstroke, he pulls her back up, sans top and manoeuvres his own shirt on her. They run away with Sherawat in a torn miniskirt and T-shirt. It's a superbly inventive and comic sequence. But the rest of the film can't match its zany fun. The film tries to match the vigour of an Indiana Jones but just can't. Sherawat, in her signature cleavage popping blouses, has fun doing kick-ass action and a cobra dance. She is engaging and attractive. The rest is sound and fury signifying little. Chan fans, await Rush Hour 3.

-By Anupama Chopra

PICTURE SPEAK

No twist in this tale

EK KHILADI EK HASINA
Director: Suparn Verma
Starring: Feroz Khan, Fardeen Khan, Koena Mitra

Indo-noir is a Bollywood genre, which consists largely of dvd-inspired films in which men smoke, striking gritty postures and women smoulder in barely there clothes. Script is sacrificed to atmosphere, which is relentlessly dark, foreboding and cool. Nothing is ever what it seems. The promos of the film are usually better than the film itself. Everyone in the film looks superbly suave, especially daddy cool Feroz Khan. There are dimly light bars, con games, murders, money and steamy love scenes. But there isn't a coherent character or plot point anywhere in the mix. It matters little who lives and who dies. The climactic twist in the tale is so feeble that finally the only person genuinely conned in this enterprise is the viewer.

-By Anupama Chopra

PICTURE SPEAK

A failed love story

TAJ MAHAL
Director: Akbar Khan
Starring: Sonya Jehan, Zulfi Syed, Kabir Bedi

A Kabir Bedi who thinks he is Prithviraj Kapoor and shakes his head every time he speaks. A Pooja Batra who plays Noorjehan as if she is a princess having a hissy fit. And a Kim Sharma pouting in an awful approximation of Madhubala. The idea is great, Mr Khan, but the timing could not have been worse, with the recoloured version of Mughal-e-Azam so fresh in viewers' minds.

-By Kaveree Bamzai

Index