Mumbai
Photography
Dharavi: Hum Baccho ki Nazar Se/Dharavi: Through Kids’ Eyes
21-24 April
Most Mumbai photographers have shot Dharavi at some point in their careers; now see what the children in the neighbourhood have come up with. On exhibit will be 60 photographs taken by children below the age of 15, documenting the things they enjoy most in their neighbourhood. Since November, Bombay Underground, a group for art, expression and creative social exchange, has been teaching 14 children drawing, painting and photography at the NGO Reality Gives’ community centre in Dharavi. Proceeds from the sale of the photographs and merchandise products will benefit the art class and other projects of Bombay Underground. The funds raised will be used to purchase analogue and digital cameras. You can also donate your old cameras.
11am-11pm. False Ceiling in Pali Hill, 111, Bungalow, Ambedkar Road, next to Pali Village Café, Bandra—West.
Framing the music: Dance Photography
25-28 April
Pictures of past greats, current stars and the promising future of Indian classical dance will be on display in this exhibition curated by Mukesh Parpiani, head of the Piramal Art Gallery, and photography teacher K.M. Pillai. Over 100 photographs of different dance forms and dancers will be exhibited at the gallery as part of the month-long Mudra Dance Festival at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA). The selection will showcase the best moments from performances at the NCPA over the past three years. The line drawings of artist Subodh Poddar, who sketches dancers during performances, will also be on show.
Noon-8pm. Piramal Art Gallery, NCPA, NCPA Marg, Nariman Point (66223737).
Art
Apposite | Opposite
Till 26 May
Pakistani artist Rashid Rana, known for his disorienting photo mosaics that use hundreds of tiny images to make a larger picture, is showing his work in Mumbai. The solo exhibition is spread across two galleries. In Rana’s work the political, religious, economic and social worlds, with their distinct views, come close to forming another parallel entity.
11am-7pm (Mondays closed). Chatterjee & Lal Gallery, 01/18, Kamal Mansion, First floor, Arthur Bunder Road, Colaba (22023787). 11am-7pm (Sundays closed).
Chemould Prescott Road, Queens Mansion, Third floor, G Talwatkar Marg, Fort (22000211/2).
Around town
Sunday Brunch
22 April
Emperor’s Court will have a pan-Asian brunch every Sunday, starting 22 April, for a couple of months. The spread will feature Cantonese, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Burmese fare as well as cocktails from A-Bar. Nibble on Peking duck rolls, dim sum, pot stickers and sushi and inari rolls. Also on offer are Thai curry, khao suey, an elaborate Chinese menu and sizzling specials from the teriyaki station.
12.30-4pm. Renaissance Mumbai Hotel and Convention Centre, near Chinmayanand Ashram, Powai (66927561/66927140/66927558). Price, Rs 1,500, plus taxes, per person for a non-alcoholic brunch and Rs 1,850, plus taxes, per person for brunch with liquor.
Music
70th Dinanath Punyatithi
24 April
Hindustani classical vocalist and Marathi natya sangeet performer Dinanath Mangeshkar died on this day 70 years ago. Hridayesh Arts will pay tribute to him with the musical play Manapman, followed by a performance from Kaushiki Desikan, daughter and disciple of Hindustani classical singer Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty.
6pm. Shanmukhananda Hall, Sri Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeet Sabha, Plot No. 292, Comrade Harbans Lal Marg, behind Gandhi Market, Sion—East (24078888). Tickets, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 300 and Rs 400, available at the venue, Dinanath Mangeshkar Natyagruha (26184027) and Shivaji Mandir (24304566)
Bangalore
Around town
Theatre camp
23-27 April/30 April-4 May
This summer, take your children for theatre workshops and let them hone their acting skills. The workshops are being organized in batches. Two batches will be held from 23-27 April and 30 April-4 May. The five-day workshops will be facilitated by Anupama Anand and Sakina Akbar, who are qualified life-skill trainers and counsellors in the fields of student welfare, student development and life-skill training. Children aged 6-11 can participate in the workshops.
11.30am-1.30pm. Bistro Claytopia, 318, 6th Main, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar (41267163). Registration fee, Rs 1,800. For details, call 9663577042 or 9880242273.
Music
Holiday in Madras: Guitarist Ed DeGenaro and his group will launch their new album
20 April
The quintet featuring Ed DeGenaro on guitar, Ujjayinee Roy on vocals, Shyam Rao on drums, Wayne Fernandez on bass and Anthony Karuna on keys will launch their new album, Holiday in Madras, at this concert.
8.30pm. B-Flat, 776, 100 Feet Road, Indiranagar (25278361). For entry charges, contact the venue.
Film
Elephant Boy
20 April
An amiable but dated version of Rudyard Kipling’s tale of Sabu, a 13-year-old boy who has a way with elephants and helps government hunters transport a herd through the jungle. Fiction and documentary footage rub shoulders uneasily in this 1937 classic. The documentary was shot by Robert J. Flaherty in Mysore in the 1930s. 1 hour, 20 minutes.
6.30pm. National Gallery of Modern Art, Manikyavelu Mansion, 49, Palace Road (22201027).
Art
The Casting
Till 21 April
Born and raised in the US and Canada, Leslie Johnson has lived in Sweden since 1989. Her new show, The Casting, examines “our coexistence with the world of objects and products”. For the show, she was keen on “reimagining the overlooked and ephemeral” and uses fragments of text and plastic packaging to cast small sculptures. The idea was to collect everyday refuse and have it “reworked into significance”, says the artist in a note.
Noon-8pm. 1, Shanthi Road, Shanthi Nagar (9880227706). Visit www.1shanthiroad.blogspot.com
Delhi
Art
Roti Kapda Makaan
Till 13 May
A group show by artists such as Vivek Vilasini, T.V. Santhosh, Sharmila Samant, Manisha Jha, Raja Ravi Varma, Ram Rahman, Rameshwar Broota, Zarina Hashmi and others, curated by Anubhav Nath. Roti Kapda Makaan makes nuanced use of the slogan as a metaphor for desire in today’s social, economic and political context. Nath collected and commissioned over 20 artists who draw attention to these three essentials, or their polar opposite—society’s excesses. Nath included artists from different historical periods who use different mediums. For example, there are six oleographs of gods and goddesses by Varma. These are embellished with real fabric embroidered with gold and silver threads in the zardozi style.
11am-7pm (Mondays closed). Ojas Art, 1AQ, Qutab Minar main roundabout (26644145). For details, visit www.ojasart.com
Around town
Earth Day Mela
21-22 April
This two-day festival is aimed at creating awareness about climate change and the actions necessary to mitigate its effects. The festival will include film screenings, an exhibition of Earth Day posters, workshops on music, art, puppetry, composting, designing of tote bags and nature photography, among other things.
American Center, 24, Kasturba Gandhi Marg. For passes, email amcenternd@state.gov or call 23472290. See the event poster at
www.aiacaonline.org/pdf/earth-day-mela-american-center.pdf
The Earthy Thumris of Gaya—Revival of a Lost Tradition
20 April
A lecture-demonstration by Kumud Jha Diwan, disciple of Pandit Channulal Mishra and Rajan Sijuar, who belongs to the Gaya gharana. A well-known thumri exponent from Delhi, Diwan talks about her project for the preservation and revival of rare thumris and tappas from Gaya and Chhapra in Poorabang Bihar which have a rustic and earthy flavour.
6.30pm. Lecture Room II (Annexe), India International Centre, 40, Max Mueller Marg, Lodhi Estate (24619431).
Music
Peter Cat Recording Co: The group blends waltz, Bollywood and electronica
20 April
Peter Cat Recording Co.’s music is a mishmash of tunes inspired by waltz music, 1960s and 1970s Bollywood, cabaret, gypsy swing and electronica. The band originally started out as a solo project of vocalist, songwriter and guitarist Suryakant Sawhney. The band has turned many heads with its songs about prostitutes and their delusional lovers, alternate universes where Japan won World War II, and music that draws its influence from gypsy music, crooners like Frank Sinatra, Velvet Underground, old Hindi films, and the indie angst-rock band Neutral Milk Hotel.
9pm. The Living Room (TLR) Café, 31, Hauz Khas Village (46080533).
Hyderabad
Around town
Off the Wall
20-21 April
Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad and Art for Change Trust are presenting public wall screenings, in an event called Off the Wall. Short films, animations and documentaries will be projected on buildings in Madhapur. The focus of the screenings will be street life and culture, an attempt at seeing how street noises have an impact on the action of the film plot. The screenings will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the film-makers.
6.30-8pm. Ayyappa Society Road, opposite Indian Oil Petrol Pump, Madhapur. For details, call 23240134/23241791 or email monika.hirmer@goethe-hyderabad.com
Zero Degrees beverage fest
Till 29 April
On offer at the Zero Degrees beverage fest, at Collage restaurant, lounge bar and coffee shop, are a host of granitas, fresh fruit smoothies such as frozen watermelon, alphonso mango and saffron and sultana, and unusual mocktail mixes. The list of concoctions includes chocolate and chilli granitas, Pina Colada lassi, Kiwi Sour Frozen and Jasmine Tea with Honey.
11.30am-11.30pm. Collage, Ista Hotel, Road No. 2, IT Park, Nanakramguda, Gachibowli (44508888). Price,
Rs 255-475, plus taxes, per drink. Drinks are available à la carte.
Film
The Artist
20 April
Alliance Française brings the 2012 Oscar winner, director Michel Hazanavicius’ black-and-white silent film The Artist, a 2011 French romantic comedy drama starring Jean Dujardin. The story takes place in Hollywood, between 1927 and 1932, and focuses on the relationship of an older silent-film star and a rising young actress, as silent cinema goes out of fashion and is replaced by the talkies. The film has won three Golden Globes, seven Baftas, five Academy Awards, and six César Awards.
6.30pm. Alliance Française de Hyderabad auditorium, Banjara Hills (23554485). Seating on first-come, first-served basis.
By Yogendra Kalavalapalli
Kolkata
Theatre
Banga Natya Samhati Theatre Festival
20-26 April
Cultural society Banga Natya Samhati will present a festival of seven productions by different theatre groups. The plays are Hamlet (by Anya Theatre, directed by Bibhas Chakraborty), Srinawntu Comrades (by Nandipat, directed by Bibhas Chakraborty), Helmet (by Shohan, directed by Anish Ghosh), Kanyadan (Swapna Suchana, directed by Bratya Basu), Sri Sambhu Mitra (by Natyaranga, directed by Swapan Sengupta), Pinki Buli (by Sayak, directed by Meghnad Bhattacharya), and Aschourya Funtusee (by the Sundaram group, directed by Manoj Mitra).
6.30pm. Madhusudan Mancha (24237148). Tickets, Rs 40 and Rs 60, available at the venue. For details, call 9830042004.
Around town
Street Food of Chowringhee
Till 30 April
The Street is presenting a festival of street food. Start with refreshing drinks like aam pora shorbot or gondoraj lebu diye misrir jol, move on to starters like mochar chop, keema’r shingara, chana-shuti’r chop, ghea bhaja luchi, cholar dal and lamba bagun bhaja, followed by desserts like bhapa sandesh paturi,
amm doi, patisapta and raj bhog.
Noon-midnight/noon-2am on Saturdays and Sundays. The Street, The Park (22499000). Meal for two, Rs 1,000, plus taxes.
Art
Black & White, Rest Apparent
21–25 April
Manas Shome, a self-taught artist who is known for his oils, will be displaying recent works, as well as some older ones. Through his work, the artist tries to explore the relationship between people and their immediate environment.
2-7pm. Chemould Art Gallery, 12F, Queens Mansion, Park Street (22298641).
By Indranil Bhoumik
Chennai
Down South: Tinning of Cooking Utensils by K. Venkatram
Down South
Till 26 April
This exhibition by a select group of artists highlights the simple joys of life. The artists who are taking part include B. Nadees Prabou, M. Vennimala, K. Venkatram and C. Pandiselvam.
11am-7pm. Sarala’s Art Centre, 1/12, Ganeshpuram, 3rd Street, off Cenotaph Road flyover (24338691).
Theatre
Boy With a Suitcase
22 April
The play unfolds through the narrative of the young protagonist Naz as he makes his way to the proverbial land of “milk and honey” to find his sister and a “better life”. This tale of humour and adventure by British playwright Mike Kenny has been directed by Andrea Gronemeyer, with an Indo-German cast and crew creating a seamless blend of two cultures. 1 hour, 25 minutes.
7pm. Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall, Harrington Road, Chetpet. Tickets, Rs 150 and Rs 200, available on www.indianstage.in
Music
Opera Night
22 April
This is a concert of arias and classical pieces by Shekhinah Shawan. A 25-member choir will give backing in the concert featuring compositions of Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Verdi, Rossini, Bizet and Puccini. Proceeds from the sale of donor passes will go to the non-governmental organization, Help A Child.
7.15pm. Museum Theatre, Pantheon Road, Egmore (9841017667/9884294648). Donor passes, Rs 200, Rs 400 and Rs 1,000, available at Pro Musicals (Egmore) and Musee Musicals (Anna Salai).
By Nandini Reddy
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