| INDIA TODAY | CURRENT ISSUE MAY 29, 2006 | | | | YOUR WEEK: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT |  | | | | ART EXHIBITION | | Solitary Steps | | | | KOLKATA "But when I come close to love, I am suddenly afraid of loneliness," says Ganesh Haloi in his poem Left Alone. It is perhaps the same mood that is reflected in his latest solo exhibition in Kolkata, seven years after his last one in the city. Titled Steps That Seek, the show is a series of gouaches and watercolours on the famed steps of Benaras, an enduring love with artists from all disciplines. The famed steps are almost a microcosm of the world; various kinds of people, from aged widows to champiwalas, consider them the centre of their existence. Haloi's exhibition celebrating the steps is as unique as the artist's seeking love and self-identification from the gradual ascension and descent of emotions and thoughts. Says Haloi of his works, "I merge so much with the landscape that I lose my identity; there is no sense of alienation, it is being one with the landscape." It is also a quest to find an answer to his loneliness, as, paradoxically, no figures find place in his canvases. Haloi, now 70, migrated to Kolkata in the 1950s after the Partition and, as with many artists of his generation, this alienation left an indelible mark on his psyche. In the 1960s, right after his graduation from the Government College of Art and Crafts, he joined the ASI and was sent to make replicas of the murals found in the Ajanta caves. Though he concentrated on abstract renderings of landscapes later in life, his experience imparted a feeling of nostalgia, for a world lost through time, to his works. Most of the paintings in his Benaras series reflect that. Haloi had painted the series in 1999, and some of them had been sold through exhibitions. The organisers of the exhibition collected as many of the works as they could, and also made limited edition prints of six works, which will be autographed and sold. To celebrate the spirit of Benaras, the show starts with a thumri recital by Indrani Mukherjee. At the Akar Prakar Gallery, May 22-June 6. -By Swagata Sen |
| | DANCE | | The Right Moves | | | | BANGALORE Dance trends or happenings in India are rarely recorded except for a brief mention in the newspapers. So the eighth edition of Attendance, the dance annual of India brought out by dance historian Ashish Mohan Khokar, is significant. The focus in this issue is on the three Bs-Bombay, Bangalore and Bhubaneswar, which have made significant contributions to the understanding of dance. A valuable record. |
| | FESTIVAL | | Into the Heart of India | | |  | | PICTURE SPEAK | |  | | The Gundecha brothers in full flow | | DELHI It is not the kind of festival state governments usually organise-ribbon cuttings, staid seminars, artists unheard of. Instead, it's a vibrant mix of the modern and the traditional, reflecting the new Madhya Pradesh. Get a taste of it at "From the Very Heart of India: The Madhya Pradesh Festival", between May 24 and 27, where there's dance, music, films, art and discussions. It kicks off with a performance by the oldest band-Maihar Band-followed by a film based on the life of Kumar Gandharva directed by Jabbar Patel. On May 25, there is a seminar on Madhya Pradesh art and architecture, followed by two films, Muhafiz and Devi Ahilya Devi. Meeta Pandit delineates the ragas of the Gwalior gharana, followed by singer Prahalad Singh Tipanya's Kabir gyan. On May 26, watch Massey Sahib and Maqbool. An exponent of the Raigarh gharana of Kathak, Suchitra Harmalkar, presents a dance performance with her troupe, which will be followed by a vocal recital by Kalapini Komkali. On May 27, get a peek into the literary panorama of Madhya Pradesh and listen to Dhrupad, an ancient form of music, coming alive with the Gundecha brothers' recital. Venue: IIC. -By S. Sahaya Ranjit |
| | FILM REVIEW | | Mental Challenge | | | TOM, DICK, AND HARRY
Director: Deepak Tijori
Starring: Dino Morea, Jimmy Shergil, Anuj Sawhney, Gulshan Grover The year isn't half over yet, but it can safely be declared that Tom, Dick and Harry is the worst film of 2006. It is juvenile, vulgar and relentlessly unfunny. It's so limp that it makes recent duds like 36 China Town and Darna Zaroori Hai look like carefully crafted masterpieces. But, and this is the unkindest cut, Tom, Dick and Harry isn't even cheesy enough to qualify for the so-bad-they-are-good films like Rudraksh and Clerk. Physically challenged people continue to be Bollywood's flavour of the week. So here we have three house-mates-one cannot see, another cannot hear and the third cannot talk. Keeping them company is their over-sexed Sardar landlord, a cleavage-baring fisherwoman and a villain named Soprano who lectures his henchmen on how villainy must go global. The humour redefines the low in low-brow. Sample this: Shakti Kapoor plays a police inspector who specialises in investigating sex crimes and declares that he will orchestrate a grand sting operation to uncover Soprano's latest scheme. Ha, ha, not. -By Anupama Chopra |
| | FILM REVIEW | | Simply Silly | | | PICTURE SPEAK | |  | | Dutt in a still from Tathastu | | TATHASTU
Director: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Amisha Patel Ever since he discovered the jadoo ki jhappi in the warm and wonderful Munnabhai MBBS, Dutt has decided there is great value in playing up his simple, pure soul image. The more everyone tortures him, the more sympathy he gets. Sadly, Sinha gives him too much do-gooding and not enough desperation, though he is playing the role of a father who has to arrange Rs 15 lakh for his son's operation, but cannot, and hence holds a hospital to ransom. As for back-to-blonde Patel, ugh. -By Kaveree Bamzai |
| | WORKSHOPS | | Movie Mania | | It's film-study time in India. The Centre for Film and Drama, Bangalore, has just announced an eight-week film-making course for beginners, starting May 27. Discovery Channel and Nokia have launched the 2006 mobile filmmakers' awards-the winner gets a stint with Discovery Asia. Documentary filmmaker Kavita Joshi is doing her 11th workshop while the L.V. Prasad Film and TV Academy, Chennai, has just announced its direction, cinematography, sound and editing courses. And, if this doesn't satisfy the film enthusiast, the Kerala Football Association is going to screen classics such as Escape to Victory and Remember the Titans at theatres in Bangalore and Mumbai. -By Nirmala Ravindran |
| | FILM FESTIVAL | | Hotter than Hindi | | | PICTURE SPEAK | |  | | Konkona Sen sharma in Dosar | | DELHI It was a festival with a difference, looking beyond Hindi cinema to some fantastic talent in other languages. These contemporary Indian films are what multiplexes should be screening, instead of showcasing B-grade movies which pass in the name of independent cinema. The pick of the Habitat Film Club festival (May 10-14) which should immediately get commercial screenings: Rituparno Ghosh's Dosar-The Companion (Bengali), a black-and-white meditation on adultery, with a powerful performance by Prasenjit, who is making a habit of playing weak men with wondrous ease (remember Chokher Bali?); Nishikant Kamat's Dombivli-Fast (Marathi) and Anjan Dutt's Bow Barracks Forever (English). Dombivli deals with the redundant life of the protagonist Madhav Apte (Sandeep Kulkarni), who lives in Dombivli, a Mumbai locality. The movie has been shot in a typical middle-class environment and it is clear the young director is familiar with the city. Bow Barracks revolves around an Anglo-Indian family which is holding on to a crumbling house in Kolkata. It stars Lillette and Neha Dubey. All the characters are based on real life people, and the mood is stylish yet melancholy. -By Mallika Raghunathan | | |
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