PICTURE SPEAK

HIGH-STRUNG: Violinist Subramaniam

Great masters all, many of their stories never come to the fore. With governments and academies doing little for their cause, private music companies are now going all out to give them their due.

Music Today, for instance, has released a rare documentary on violinist Dr L. Subramaniam. Titled Violin from the Heart, this film is directed by Jean Henri Meunier and gives a sneak preview into the making of the legend. Subramaniam talks of his initiation into Indian classical music and his experimentations with musicians from all over the world.

The film begins with an introduction by the artist of his early years and training under his father. As he reminisces, one gets a glimpse into his dedication and love for music from a very young age. He remembers his early years as a performing artist, playing with great Carnatic musicians like Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer and M.S. Subbulakshmi.

There's a section on the legend's collaborations with musicians from various parts of the world, the first being guitarist Larry Coryell. Then there is flautist Jean Pierre Rampal. In a spell-bounding duet, the two musicians scale new heights in fusion.

The highlight of the film is the "Shraddhanjali" section, which features Subramaniam's duet with another world renowned musician, violinist Lord Yehudi Menuhin, in raga Mohanam. This is followed by Subramaniam's interview with Menuhin.

The film ends with a bonus track Gypsy Trail, featuring a fusion rendition by Subramaniam and his wife Kavita Krishnamurti at the Lakshminarayana Music Festival in Bangalore last year. Must buy for hardcore music lovers. DVD available for Rs 395.

-By S. Sahaya Ranjit

PICTURE SPEAK

A work by Tara Sabharwal

-By S. Kalidas

PICTURE SPEAK

A work from the exhibition

-By S. Sahaya Ranjit

PICTURE SPEAK

RETRO REGRET: Oberoi, Deol and Reddy in the film

Indiana Jones reinvented in India. An action adventure with high-octane stunts, a smattering of Mahabharat mythology, a sexy item girl and Mr Brawn himself, Sunny Deol. It must have sounded good on paper. But translated on film, Naksha is unmitigated tedium.

Debutant director Sachin Bajaj tries to spiffy up the film with some finely executed stunts (Allan Amin), special effects, split screens and animation. Despite all these, Naksha feels oddly outdated. With its village of tribal dwarves, long-suffering widowed mother and a tired villain (Shroff with long coat, boots and glowering eyes), the film feels like a leftover from the 1980s. Die-hard optimists in the audience hoped that Naksha would at least work as an unintentional comedy like Mani Shankar's Rudrakash did. Alas, nothing in Naksha even remotely matches the inspired lunacy of Rudrakash's delirious dialogue: "It is a multi-dimensional hologram in the form of a seed."

-By Anupama Chopra

PICTURE SPEAK

Operation Three Star

Director Arvind Gaur is starting the season with Dario Fo's Accidental Death of An Anarchist with a new name, Operation Three Star. Piyush Mishra has written the songs. From September 16-17, at the Alliance Francaise auditorium.

-By Sheokesh Mishra

PICTURE SPEAK

Shubha Mudgal

Everyday Art

KOLKATA There is art everywhere in our lives, but sometimes we don't notice it. What often escapes our eye is now being showcased by CIMA Gallery in its annual exhibition titled "Art In Life". The show includes every form of everyday art, from T-shirt prints, wall-hangings, textiles, linens, jewellery, carpets and mats, to ready-to-wear garments, bags and even tribal decorative pieces in our homes. The exhibition draws from the folk art of Punjab, Bastar figurines and tribal masks from Dinajpur in West Bengal, to list a few. Most exhibits are up for sale as well. At the CIMA Gallery, September 15-28.

-By Swagata Sen

Index