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PremiumIn tune: Bassist Jonas Hellborg.
DELHI
Music
Noor Zehra Kazim
23 August
Noor Zehra Kazim from Lahore will take part in a sagar veena recital. She is a disciple of Shareef Khan Poonchwale. The concert is part of a convention on “Hindustani and Partition". For detailed information, including other concerts that are part of the event, visit ‘www.ektara.org’.
6pm. Ansari auditorium, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Nagar (26981717).
Jonas Hellborg and V. Selvaganesh
24 August
9pm. Tabula Rasa, Square 1 Mall, Saket district centre, (2956-2666). Entry, Rs300, club rules apply.
Kumaresh and Ganesh
25 August
Brothers Kumaresh and Ganesh will present a Carnatic violin duet as part of Ganjam’s Flights of Fancy festival. The annual festival, which is taking place in Delhi this year, has been graced by the likes of Balamurali Krishna, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Begum Parveen Sultana and Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma over the years.
7.30pm. Habitat World, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road (43663333).
Dance
Uma Sharma (kathak)
23 August
Uma Sharma will present her annual performance around the festival of Janamashtami. Sharma’s Krishna Chandra is based on the book ‘Krishna—The Playful Divine’ by Pavan K. Varma. The programme will include kathak interpretations of the works of several poet-saints such as Haridas, Surdas, Mirabai, Raskhan and Vidyapati.
6.30pm. Auditorium, India International Centre, 40, Lodhi Estate, Max Mueller Marg (24619431).
Theatre
Antigone
23-24 August
Ratna Pathak Shah plays Jean Anouilh’s eponymous protagonist and Naseeruddin Shah, Creon, in Satyadev Dubey’s latest. The director pares the action down to a minimum, focusing on the debate between Antigone and Creon about justice and authority.
4.30pm and 7.30pm. Epicentre, Apparel House, sector 44, Gurgaon (95124-2715000). Tickets, Rs200-500.
Film
Secrets and Lies
26 August
Her adoptive parents now dead, Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a young middle class optometrist, decides to find her natural mother. What she doesn’t anticipate is that her search will lead to Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn), a sad, boozy woman saddled with an argumentative, determinedly morose road-sweeper daughter, Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook), and lent spasmodic moral and financial support by her brother Maurice (Timothy Spall), a successful wedding and portrait photographer whose prissy suburban house is the obsessive delight of his wife Monica (Phyllis Logan). When Hortense first phones Cynthia, she knows nothing of the family or the tensions that divide it—and is she really her daughter anyway? After all, she’s black and Cynthia’s white.
Even as director Mike Leigh derives gentle comedy from the plight, aspirations and often pathetic attempts at communication of Cynthia and her tribe, an immense, unforced sympathy is extended to all involved, a generosity of spirit thoroughly in keeping with the performances. Everyone’s superb, Blethyn and Spall in particular. Yes, it’s long, visually a little static and rather narrowly concerned with the everyday experiences of one family but that depth, focus and intensity of concentration result in a film of extraordinary emotional riches.
7.30pm. Epicentre, Apparel House, sector 44, Gurgaon (95124-2715000).
MUMBAI
Music
Cirkle + Sector 8 + Zero
22 August
Say goodbye to one of the country’s best loved bands at one of their two farewell gigs this fortnight. Zero’s semi-swan song will be preceded by performances by Cirkle, the acoustic rock act formed by Teemeer Chimulkar, the vocalist of thrash metal band Sceptre and new Hindi rock group Sector 8, who will make their debut at the event.
7.30pm. D’ Ultimate, Oberoi Chamber 1, off New Link Road, opposite Fame Adlabs, Andheri (W) (26744696).
Dance
Raslila
24 August
Celebrate Janamashtami, Krishna’s birthday, at the Kanha Megh Utsav. Watch Braj Raslila Sansthan, a dance troupe from Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, perform the 400-year-old folk dance-drama of ‘raslila’. A combination of dance, music and dialogue, ‘raslila’ depicts episodes from Krishna’s life, from his escapades to stealing ‘makhan’ (butter) to his relationship with Radha.
7.30pm. Bhagvat Dham, Parsiik Hill, off Uran Road, CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai.
Film
Flow: For Love of Water
25 August
Irena Salina’s ‘Flow: For the Love of Water’ is a beautiful documentary to watch but a hard film to believe in. Using case studies from Africa, Asia and the Americas, the documentary makes an emotional case for water shortages as the pre-eminent crisis of our age. Salina’s culprits are the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and multinational water corporations which have driven the privatization of water supplies across the developing world. We learn of families in southern Africa who are unable to afford the coupons needed to access clean water from a privatized standpipe and are drinking from a polluted stream instead. Closer home, activists in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh explain how many lives are lost each year to waterborne disease: “Almost everyone in India has some experience of biologically contaminated drinking water."
7pm. Prithvi House, near Prithvi Theatre, First Floor, Janki Kutir, Juhu Church Road, Juhu, Vile Parle (W) (26149546).
Around town
European Art Viewing
26 August
The Museum Society organizes a tour of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya’s new European Gallery, which contains many paintings from the Sir Dorab Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust. Museum curator Dilip Ranade will lead the tour.
5pm. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, second floor, Mahatma Gandhi Road (22844484).
BANGALORE
Art
Raghavendra Rao
25 August-10 September
In the concept note for his show, Raghavendra Rao K.V. speaks of a “sense of loss" in memories of “the good times" and the gumption that dominates any notion of nostalgia. He says: “My work has a predominant image of ancient sculpture surrounded by reflections supposedly from tinted glass that is a major part of a developing city’s architecture. These reflections represent contemporary, changing life as seen with respect to a central, unchanging idea… (As) one is always tempted to go back in time and change the course of things that happened to one’s environment."
“I personally feel a sense of hypocrisy," says Rao, who is a faculty member of fine art at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore, over the phone. “If you remember the time Mysore Road was broadened or when Bellary Road was being laid, I felt like crying just looking at all the trees that were chopped. But now, once it’s done, you accept it saying, ‘I can reach Devanahalli airport in 10 minutes’. It’s a case of our memory conveniently erased." Rao adds a clarification: “My work doesn’t say the ‘past is good and the present is bad’ but is a presentation of a situation without being judgemental. It is an attempt at making the viewer rethink what he/she would already know or open a new reality for those who are caught up in one reality."
10.30am-6pm. Gallery Sumukha, 24/10, BTS Depot Road, Wilson Garden (22292230).
Theatre
Common Man
22 August
Director, Ranji David/Nandini Rao; writer, Nandini Rao; cast, Amrutha Varshini, Gaurav Gupta, Sumi Acharya, Karan Shah, Nandini Rao, Pramod Nair, Radhika Mehra, Ranji David. Duration, 1 hour.
Written in the ‘complete-the-story’ format, Common Man attempts to walk alongside the average man in his journey through a society that is often impervious to his emotions, aspirations and struggles. This multilingual piece of social satire gains some of its credibility from the fact that audiences are invited to participate, articulate and shape the sojourn of such a person. The piece will also feature a cartoon exhibition by Rasheed Kappan and be supplemented by a special Common Man menu at the Ranga Shankara café.
7.30pm. Ranga Shankara, 36/2, 8th Cross, 2nd Phase, JP Nagar (2659-2777). Tickets, Rs100.
The First Leaf
26-28 August
Director, Padmavati Rao; writer, Srirang Godbole (translated by Padmavati Rao). Duration, 1 hour, 30 minutes.
‘The First Leaf’ is a humorous story of Putti and her two brothers Dodu and Chinna, all siblings between the ages of six and eight, who live with their family in Gurukrupa Society. Despite the challenges of life in this neck of the woodless town, the residents of the society chug on with the stodgy, if short-sighted optimism that characterizes middle-class aspirations. But life for the kids takes a whole new exciting turn when a new tenant, Uncle Sab Kuchjaane, moves into the society. Amiable and seemingly omniscient, with the child-charming mystique of a Mary Poppins, he leads them into a world of fantasy, discovery and change through a delightful assortment of games and pranks. As the kids grow in their care for the environment and responsibility to the community, they invariably initiate larger changes that seemed previously impossible to achieve, not in the least by children.
7.30pm. Ranga Shankara, 36/2, 8th Cross, 2nd Phase, JP Nagar (2659-2777). Tickets, Rs70.
Dance
Attakkalari
23 August
After a year of theory and practice, students will present sequences in Bharatanatyam, Kalaripayattu and contemporary dance. There will be three sequences in Bharatanatyam drawn from the traditional performance format, which includes the alarippu (literally translated, a flower bud, the first full piece a bharatanatyam dancer learns), the jatiswaram (purely dedicated to dance with no narrative elements) and the thillana (fast paced sequence featuring intricate footwork). Then there is a Kalaripayattu sequence and finally three sequences in contemporary dance that deal only with movement vocabulary.
6pm. JSS Auditorium, 1st Main, 8th Block, Jaya Nagar (26644540).
Around town
Discussion on Editing and Translation
23 August
Join writers Sashi Deshpande, Shinie Antony and Vikram Sampath to discuss editing and translation issues in Indian writing in English. Advance registrations compulsory.
3-5pm. Easy Library, 972 H, 1st A Main, ST Bed Layout, 4th Block, Koramangala (41102231).
Bengaluru Bleeding Protest
24 August
What began in early August as an impromptu music jam to protest against the state government’s clampdown on bars, nightclubs and pubs has turned into a regular protest at the Mahatma Gandhi statue on MG Road. It will continue every Sunday till the ban is lifted.
For details, call Kabir Ahmed on 9986660243.
Birdwatching
24 August
“Birds know no political boundaries," says ornithologist M.B. Krishna. More than 340 species of birds have been spotted in the city, many of them migratory. “Even if you try, you can only spot three-fourths of them. The others were stray birds—ones that had lost their way." Learn to tell the out-of-towners from the locals at this informal birdwatching group that has been active since 1972.
7.30am. Call M.B. Krishna on 9844168058 for details. Meet at the park next to Hebbal Lake.
Wine Appreciation Course
24 August
So you’ve learned to say sauvignon and are confident enough to order a bottle. Now, learn how to savour it, but only after you learn the proper way to see, swirl, smell and sip it. All about taste, this advanced wine appreciation course takes participants through an interactive audio-visual presentation by wine enthusiast Himanshu Asher. Thereafter, you are taken through six flights of wine—three red and three white. Rate them and make wine notes before moving on to dinner.
7-10pm. Ista, 1/1 Swami Vivekananda Road, Ulsoor. To register, call Rakhi Desai on 41200607. Fee, Rs1,850.
Theatre Workshop
From 25 August
Break a leg at this introductory workshop on theatre titled “Selves, Masks, Performance". Over 15 sessions, Arka Mukhopadhyay uses contemporary experimental and alternative theatre techniques to teach the basics of performing on stage and building the essential resources you need as an actor: breathing techniques, voice, improvisation and communication skills. The workshop ends mid-September with a stage rehearsal of a work-in-progress developed during the workshop. Participants should be at least 16 years old.
7-9pm. Maya Art Gallery, 59, Nandidurga Road. To register call Arka Mukhopadhyay on 9880966313. Fee, Rs3,000; students, Rs2,500.
RECOMMENDED
DELHI
Art
Beautiful Inside My Head Forever
28 August
If Delhi didn’t already have a place on the global art map, this fortnight’s Sotheby’s auction preview should push a pin firmly in place with the inclusion of perhaps the most recognizable name in contemporary art on the programme. The auction, which includes more than 220 lots, collectively titled ‘Beautiful Inside My Head Forever’, is Damien Hirst’s latest body of work from last year—and it’s generating buzz in New York and London as well. The reason for this isn’t a grizzly new formaldehyde sculpture (for which Hirst is most famous) but the fact that the artist took his works directly to the market, bypassing his galleries. The public preview here includes 14 lots—butterflies, spin and spot paintings and some sculpture.
10am-midnight. Ballroom, Oberoi Hotel, Dr Zakir Hussain Marg.
MUMBAI
Film
Mumbai Meri Jaan
From 22 August
Nishikant Kamat’s concern about Mumbai’s present and future was stamped all over his Marathi debut film ‘Dombivali Fast’ in which a bank employee goes off the rails and destroys everything that angers him about the city. In ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’, it’s the metropolis itself that has been thrown off track. Kamat uses the 11 July 2006 train blasts to question where Mumbai is headed. He airs his thoughts through five stories involving six residents. The movie ends a week after the blasts. If Mani Ratnam’s ‘Bombay’ ended with the formation of a human chain to reaffirm Mumbai’s interfaith tolerance, ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’ ends with a 2-minute silence in memory of the victims.
Two characters are directly singed by the blasts—Nikhil (Madhavan), a conscientious white-collar professional who narrowly escapes being killed, and Rupali (Soha Ali Khan), a television journalist who becomes the story when her fiancé dies in the blasts. More interesting than their stories are those of the fringe characters who have an indirect connection to the explosions. While patrolling the streets for potential terror suspects, senior constable Tukaram Patil (Paresh Rawal) teaches his junior colleague Sunil Kadam (Vijay Maurya) that key to being a Mumbai cop is learning to adjust. Thomas (Irrfan), a poor tea seller, gets thrown out of a mall and avenges himself by making hoax bomb threats. The pleasure of watching malls packed with shiny-eyed globalization junkies empty out is undeniable. In the best track, Hindu bigot Suresh (Kay Kay Menon) gets a few lessons in Mumbai style interfaith tolerance.
Across cinemas.
BANGALORE
Photography
Walled Expressions–Untold Tales
23 August-22 September
The Olive Art Initiative presents ‘Walled Expressions-Untold Tales’, an exhibition of paintings by Mukesh Sharma. In his works, Sharma—who was born in Jaipur in 1974 and is based in the city—constantly attempts to interpret Indian imagery, particularly in Rajasthan. As elements in his paintings, the state’s regional forms of art, miniatures, murals, frescos and fragments of daily life are placed through his canvases in layers capturing the sense of progress and development and their overlapping relationship with degradation and decay. A note about the artist introducing the show says: “As an ordinary man who lives through the daily chores of life, Mukesh is astonished by the surreal amalgamation of people, architecture and Indian paraphernalia all coming together to weave voluminous stories." Sharma, a student of Vdodara’s MS University (1998), recipient of a fellowship from The National Academy of Art, New Delhi (2000) and a trained printmaker, creates skins of aqueous pigments using acrylics, oils, vegetable dyes and several chemicals in his paintings. The Olive Art Initiative is coordinated by Shailin Smith.
Daily, noon to 11.30pm. Olive Beach, 16, Wood Street, Ashok Nagar (4112-8400).
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