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CHENNAI
Film
Festival of Films on Water
26-30 April
Alliance Française de Madras is organizing a film festival on water—the subjects range from floods in Rajasthan to polar bears in Alaska.
26 April
Flood of Memory (Baad ki Raat)
Anitha Balachandran uses live footage with charcoal and sand animation to evoke the deserts of Rajasthan, hit by floods in 2006.
Deeply Superficial
27 April
Salt of the Earth
The food supply of millions in Thailand’s Isaan region is endangered by the salinity of the earth. In this Bernard Sugue film, the farmers, with their intimate knowledge of the land, work with scientists to find a solution.
28 April
Sharing Paradise
Amelia Hapsari follows a traditional fishing community on the Indonesian island of Balobaloang. Fishermen from the neighbouring islands have depleted their own reserves, and are now engaging in illegal methods such as dynamite bombing and cyanide fishing, threatening marine life in these waters.
29 April
Ice Bears of the Beaufort
Arthur Smith plays witness to the threats oil and gas developments pose to the polar bears, while the government decides whether or not to declare and protect their areas as critical habitat.
30 April
The Damned of the Sea
Jawad Rhalib etches the lives of thousands of Moroccan fishermen, who have moved south to Dakhla in the Sahara in the hope of catching fish. While they struggle for their lives and livelihood, trawlers from foreign countries are killing an entire ecosystem with their “death nets".
6.30pm. AFM Auditorium, Alliance Française de Madras, New No. 24 (Old No. 40), College Road (28271477, 28279803).
Film
Die Konferenz
27 April
The film is being screened by the Contemporary German Cinema in association with the Madras Film Society. It revolves around an 18-year-old boy accused of raping a 17-year-old girl, and nine schoolteachers who have contradictory views on the case.
6.30pm. The Film Chamber Theatre, 605, Anna Salai, Thousand Lights Mosque (28172437/28279803).
Around town
Boxing Coaching Camp
Till 30 April
Learn Cuban-style boxing, with an emphasis on shadow boxing and less reliance on padded mitts, heavy bag punching and sparring, from internationally acclaimed boxer and World Cup medallist V. Devarajan. For 18 years and above.
5-7pm. Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Sydenhams Road, Periamet, Park Town. For charges, call 25368698.
Art
Various Artists
Till 30 April
Works by participants at the DakshinaChitra and Lalit Kala Akademi artists’ camp held in January are now on display. Artists Ahilesh from Bhopal, Rajeshwara Rao from Hyderabad, Veera Santhanam from Chennai, Kashinath Salve from Mumbai, V. Douglas from Chennai, Vipta Kapadia from Mumbai and Guru Siddappa from Bangalore have been featured, alongside artworks by participants of an earlier camp: M.S. Amarnath, Jehangir Jani, M. Shiva, Shantha Mani and Shubra Nag.
11am-6pm (Tuesday closed). DakshinaChitra, East Coast Road, Muttukadu (9841777779).
Continuing Modernity
Till 30 April
The exhibition will showcase the works of renowned artists from across the country, including Thota Tharani and P. Gopinath. The artists have used different mediums such as watercolours and oil on canvas, with an emphasis on bold colours and strokes.
11am-6pm. Vinnyasa Premier Art Galery, 21/11, 1st Main Road, CIT Colony, Mylapore (24982515).
By Karuna Amarnath
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MUMBAI
Theatre
Celebrating Pearl
23 April
7pm. Experimental Theatre, National Centre for the Performing Arts, near Hilton Towers, Nariman Point (66223737, 66588997). Tickets, Rs200, available at the box office, 9am-7pm.
Good Morning Miss Katya
25 April
Scriptwriter and performer Delna Mody based this play on a talented but vicious professor she encountered while pursuing her BA in musical theatre at Sheridan College, Canada. Directed by Sam Kerawalla, the play is about Katya Kewalramani, a teacher who was abandoned as a child by her father. Katya grows up looking after her fiery Anglo-Indian mother Georgina, a failed artist. The mother resents Katya for sharing her artistic talent, and things come to a head when Katya’s debut art exhibition receives rave reviews.
6.30pm. National Centre for the Performing Arts, near Hilton Towers, Nariman Point (66223737/66588997). Tickets, Rs200, available at the box office, 9am-7pm.
Film
A Jihad for Love
26 April
Words are subtly redefined in Parvez Sharma’s sympathetic yet oddly strangled documentary about homosexuality in the Muslim world. Jihad, as the film’s title suggests, is no longer a holy war to be waged violently, but a struggle with the self, as explained in the film. Globetrotting from Turkey to Egypt, Pakistan to France, A Jihad for Love presents many difficult stories told by many tear-stained faces. Imprisonment, beatings and personal shame haunt the documentary’s brave testifiers, who revel in their sexual identity while still hoping to retain a devout sense of faith.
7pm. Prithvi House, First floor, opposite Prithvi Theatre, Juhu Church Road, Vile Parle, West. For ticket prices and availability, call 26149546.
Art
Was:Is
Till 8 May
Delhi-based painter Aditya Pande first collaborated with Swiss artists Michael Husmann Tschäni and Pascale Mira Tschäni in 2007. In their latest show, the trio tries to juxtapose myth and reality. The Tschänis draw inspiration from their children to create colourful works that look like images from a fairy tale. Pande combines photography, drawing and painting to create eerie yet humorous works.
11am-7pm (Sunday closed). Chatterjee & Lal, 01/18, First floor, Kamal Mansion, Arthur Bunder Road, Colaba (22023787).
Music
Boxy Turvy and The Boxettes
28 April
The Boxettes, a female beatboxing group from London, come to town with their dance-oriented music, following in the a capella tradition. Their genre-hopping repertoire includes hip hop, soul, drum and bass, breakbeat, jazz, trance, House and even Western classical tunes. The Boxettes feature Belle Ehresmann, aka Bellatrix, who recently won the female world beatboxing champion. Mumbai’s own beatbox artists, Boxy Turvy, open for the popular UK band.
9.30 pm. Blue Frog, New Mahalaxmi Silk Mills, Mathuradas Mills Compound, opposite Kamala Mills, Tulsi Pipe Road, Lower Parel (40332300). Tickets, Rs300.
Around town
Swedish Crime Fiction
24 April
Swedish Crime Fiction—The Renewal and Redefining of a Literary Genre is a three-city festival organized by the Swedish embassy, featuring a discussion on modern crime fiction. The festival also includes a theatrical reading of parts of Stieg Larsson’s The Millennium Trilogy by Zafar Karachiwala and Håkan Nesser’s Woman with Birthmark by the author himself. This will be followed by a panel discussion on modern crime fiction featuring Nesser, playwright Ramu Ramanathan and others.
6.30pm. Vie Lounge & Deck, 102, Juhu Tara Road, opposite Little Italy, Juhu (26603003). -
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BANGALORE
Theatre
(In Mysore)
Malegalalli Madumagalu
23 April-11 May
This is no ordinary theatre production. There are 58 scenes, 150 roles, five acts across as many stages (a long, winding, elevated path connects them all like a walkway between islands in a tropical archipelago), and a running time of around 9 hours (with four 20-minute intervals). Director C. Basavalingaiah’s attempt to put Kuvempu’s 750-page behemoth of a novel, ‘Malegalalli Madumagalu’ (‘The Bride of the Mountains’), on stage is in many ways Kannada theatre’s most ambitious endeavour in a long time. Set in the Malnad region along the Western Ghats at the turn of the 19th century, the novel recreates life in those parts at a time when modernity first began to infiltrate the culture of a region that had been isolated and virtually unchanged for centuries.
In retelling Kuvempu’s tale, the director recognizes that he is touching upon issues that continue to rankle today, such as religious conversion and caste/class barriers.
7pm. The play will be screened only on alternate days. Rangayana, Kalamandira Complex, Vinoba Road, Mysore (0821-2512639). Tickets, Rs40.
Art
Innovations in Contemporary ‘Folk’ Arts
Till 25 April
As part of a series of collaborative intervention efforts, curated by Malini Ghanathe, involving the International Institute for Art, Culture and Democracy and Ragini Arts Foundation (RAF), the exhibition will host artists-in-residence Charita, Shivaprasad S., Subramani J. and Suresh Kumar G., who have been working with craftsmen from Channapatna and various crafts communities from south India. The four artists-in-residence, or “heritage fellows" as they prefer to call themselves, have developed art projects and interventions involving these communities based in villages located around Bangalore.
2-8pm (Sundays by appointment). Samuha, 109, Third floor, ADA Rangamandira, JC Road, near Town Hall (41516531). To register for the workshop, email samuhamail@gmail.com or call Suresh Kumar at 9880282402.
GH Krumbiegel: Whatever He Touched He Adorned
Till 30 April
The exhibition and multimedia show curated by Suresh Jayaram, and hosted in collaboration with the Visual Art Collective, coincides with Goethe-Institut’s 50th year in India. The show will include an installation titled Bangalore—It All Happened Too Soon!
9am-6.30pm (Sunday closed). Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, 716, CMH Road, 1st Stage, Indira Nagar (25205308).
Film
Ajantrik
23 April
Film-maker Ritwik Ghatak’s 1958 road movie in Bengali is about Bimal, a crotchety taxi driver in a small provincial town who lives alone and devotes most of his attention to his battered Chevrolet, named Jagaddal. Ghatak takes the industrial wasteland that Bimal ferries his customers across as a backdrop for a tale of attachment focused on the inanimate, rickety jalopy.
6.30pm. Bangalore Film Society, 26, 17th Main, HAL 2nd Stage (25493705). For members only; annual membership, Rs700. For details, call Siddharth at 9886213516.
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DELHI
Theatre
Hair
23-24 April, 26-27 April
This is the first production in India of this famous musical about the 1960s counterculture. The original Broadway production was controversial because of its on-stage profanity, flaunting of drug use, portrayal of sexuality, anti-establishment stance— including opposition to the Vietnam War—and most famously, a brief nude scene.
Amphitheatre, The Garden of Five Senses, Gate No. 3, Said-ul-Ajaib, near Saket (29536401). For tickets and timing, email tnmf@fwacziarg.com. Entry charges, Rs15.
Dance
World Dance Day
Till 30 April
Spic Macay is celebrating World Dance Day (29 April) through the week at schools across the city. The schedule includes Kathak performances by Rani Khanam (27 April), Saswati Sen (28 April) and Birju Maharaj (29 April), Kuchipudi by Vanashree and Jayarama Rao (11am, 28 April), Odissi by Kiran Segal (29 April) and Manipuri by Singhajit Singh and Charu Sija (4pm, 29 April), among others.
10am. For details and the complete schedule, contact Malabika Majumdar (26596203) or log on to to Spic Macay
Theatre
1947
24 April
1947 deals with two perennially sensitive topics: Partition and Pakistan. But it also laces the story with humour and wit, with Saleem Shah essaying the role of a man twice his age, Ghazanfar Hussain.
7.30pm. Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road (24682222). Tickets, Rs50-300, available at the programme desk. For telebooking, call (9810255291; 29944635).
Music
Swarathma
29 April
This Bangalore outfit’s music is a jaunty, infectious mix of Indian folk and Western rock. Though they are a multilingual band, it’s no barrier to enjoyment and it will not be long before you get into the vibe.
10pm. Hard Rock Café, M-110, Multiplex Building, First floor, DLF Place, District Centre, Saket (47158888). Call the venue for entry charges.
Art
Never Mind the Bull Fish, Here’s a Spot of ‘T’
Till 27 April
A solo exhibition by Tarun Jung Rawat, curated by Alka Pande. Many of Rawat’s interactive and mixed-media works are fitted with sensors that set the pieces in motion when viewers approach them. The characters in his works are strangely familiar creatures from the world of birds, animals and humans, and sometimes, a crossover between these worlds.
According to the artist, the Spot of “T" in the title of the exhibition refers to two things: First, a kind of “mad tea party", where the audience is invited to a “spot of tea" in the company of a set of surreal and otherworldly fantastical creatures; and second, a taste of the artist’s work, with the “T" referring to his first name, Tarun.
10am-8pm. Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road (43662009).
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KOLKATA
Film
The Roving Eye
26 April-1 May
The Goethe-Institut in Kolkata celebrates cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, in collaboration with the American Center. This event presents some of Ballhaus’ major works with German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder and American director Martin Scorsese. These include Fassbinder’s ‘Die Ehe der Maria Braun’ (‘The Marriage of Maria Braun’), ‘Chinesisches Roulette’ (‘Chinese Roulette’) and ‘Satansbraten’ (‘Satan’s Brew’), and Scorsese’s ‘The Color of Money’, ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘The Departed’.
A three-day workshop on Ballhaus’ work will be conducted by cinematographer Abhik Mukherjee, author and film-maker Ruchir Joshi, senior lecturer of English and film commentator Subhabrata Bhattacharya, film-maker Ashoke Viswanathan and Biren Das Sharma, lecturer at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute.
Film screenings, 6.30pm. Workshop, 26-28 April, 11am-4.30pm. Max Mueller Bhavan Auditorium, 8, Ballygunge Circular Road (24866398/6498/6424). Prior registration required for the workshop.
Art
Within the Grid
Till 30 April
In Avijit Mukherjee’s fascinating grids, objects are
chosen for their visual qualities as well as their symbolic nature. His grids often feature objects of everyday use—footwear, spectacles, headgear—in arrangements that defy customary groupings. The objects thus call forth a type of free association that leaves room for the subconscious to reveal itself.
11am-7pm (Sunday closed). Ganges Art Gallery, 33A, Jatin Das Road (24653212).
Water Colour
Till 28 April
Deyali Mukherjee, a Kolkata-based architect by profession and artist by hobby, presents watercolour landscapes emphasizing
rain, water and sky. Some of her more experimental works, using
a dry brush with poster colour, are also on display.
3-8pm. Birla Academy of Art and Culture, 108, Southern Avenue (9830599776).
Till 30 April
“An artist uses mediums and colours to express themselves and they hope that someone else is moved by their art. A viewer can see a work of art that touches them, inspires them or attracts them in a way only they can understand," reads a note from the Gallery. It is this equation between the creator and the viewer that artists such as Prokash Karmakar, Ramananda Bandopadhyay, Suhas Roy Bratin Khan, Subrata Das, Shyamal Mukherjee, Sukanta Das, Samir Paul and Atin Basak explore.
10.30am-6.30pm (Sunday by appointment). Idiyas Gallery, 15, Dover Road (9831005003, 65508418).
Around town
Crossroads of China
Till 30 April
This festival of Chinese food at the Oceanic features delicacies such as seafood and bean curd soup, spicy chicken steamed in banana leaf, prawns in five-spice, Schezwan chilli crab, fish in Nanjing and ginger-soy sauces, roast chicken in Peking sauce, chicken fingers in sesame sauce, and Chinese vegetables, sprouts and tofu dishes.
11.30am-3.30pm and 7.30-11.30pm. The Peerless Inn, 12, JL Nehru Road (9903034456). Dish prices, Rs180-1,200 (plus taxes).
Film
Claude Chabrol Festival
23-24 April
Alliance Française du Bengale features Claude Chabrol, a Parisian director from the French New Wave (nouvelle vague) film-makers who came to prominence at the end of the 1950s. La Ceremonie (1995) and La Fleur du Mal (2002) are the films being screened.
6pm. Alliance Française du Bengale, Khaleel Munzil, 217, AJC Bose Road (22815538/5198). Proof of identity required, with institutional IDs for students and academics.
By Indranil Bhoumik
Content provided by TimeOut India
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