Variety is the spice of acting
By Nonika Singh
IN consonance with his mercurial sign Gemini, Pankaj Berry flits from one role to another with consummate ease. Unfurling a myriad kaleidoscope of characters, he moulds himself like plasticine.

Two women artists’ impressions
By Jyoti Mahajan
TWO budding Delhi-based women artists, Geeta Kumar and Neesha Sood, held a four-day exhibition of their mythological-based paintings at Torcher Chamber of Shimla’s Gaiety Theatre recently.

Artistes from Rajasthan
By Ruchika Mohindra
THE Ludhiana chapter of SPIC MACAY is continuing its crusade of infusing the rich and vibrant Indian culture amongst the youth. And quite successfully too.

Variety is the spice of acting
By Nonika Singh

IN consonance with his mercurial sign Gemini, Pankaj Berry flits from one role to another with consummate ease. Unfurling a myriad kaleidoscope of characters, he moulds himself like plasticine. Be it the hapless handicapped father in the teleserial “Junoon”, the rapist in the film “College Girl”, tough as nails Lenin in the longest soap “Swabhimaan” or the self-effacing ever-sacrificing fiance in Mahesh Bhatt’s “Chahat”, acquiring the nuances and persona of characters as markedly different as chalk from cheese comes as naturally to him as donning a new attire.

But then variety is the essence of life for this gifted actor who even in the initial flush of youth was never fascinated by the “song and dance” grind of Indian film heroes. He muses, “Character roles are far more meatier and challenging”.

A product of the Department if Indian theatre, Chandigarh, while mouthing the oft-repeated platitude “Actors are born... and an institute can only embellish the God-gifted ability,” he is only too grateful to his alma mater and members of the faculty in particular.

Besides, unlike his peers many of whom strangely felt the need to repeat the dramatics course inside the hallowed portals of the NSD, he considers himself fortunate that he was prevented from treading on the same footsteps. He reflects, “without meaning to sound judgemental or pompous, I must say that NSD actors fall into a stereotype of their own making”.

Acting for Pankaj is spontaneous “straight from the gut”, emoting rather than methodic, deliberate “follow the pattern route.”

Though as an actor he first emerged on the national scene as a troubled youth in “Gul, Gulshan, Gulfam” way back in 1990, prior to this serial on Kashmir turmoil he had essayed a wide gamut of roles as Harsh Vardhan, Abul Fazl and Mangal Pandey in Shyam Benegal’s “Discovery of India”. Plus his foray in the make-believe world had begun in the best possible acting ground — theatre. “Hamlet”, “Ashaad ka ek din”, “Ghasi Ram Kotwal”... he has played them all. Incidentally, it was his portrayal of Ghasi Ram that impressed Sagar Sarhadi and Pankaj was signed for the film “Wagde Pani” which, alas, to date gathers dust, languishing in the cans.

Though Pankaj has acted in 20 odd films, his big moment is cinema is yet to be. He avers, “In Bollywood, you do need the blessings of a godfather. Moreover, the goings on in the editing room can make or mar you”. He can say this, as he has watched his powerful role in “Tiranga” cut to smithereens.

Still nursing ambitions to make a mark on the silver screen, at the moment he is only too happy with offerings on the smaller one. Only last year 12 of his serials were on the air, many of which earned him a bounty of awards — Kalashree and CSR (three in a row). He argues, “Today, television is overpowering cinema. Though as of now, TV seems to be hot property, a quickfix formulae to become rich and famous for every Tom, Dick and Harry, soon a massive churning process will sieve out real talent. Then only the best, be it actors, directors or producers, will survive”.

In this competitive race, though the actor has graduated to a point where viewers can recognise him by the sheer resonance of his voice he himself says, “I am just beginning”. Miles to go.... A journey which comprises many dreams. Some solid concrete projects like forthcoming serials, Indo-Pak Bangladeshi venture, “Parvaaz”, Ravinder Peepat’s Na Jaeeyo Pardes”, others like “Had” and “Saath Saath” are in the pipeline. Then there are tentative, nebulous ideas. One of them being an inherent urge to turnover a new leaf, i.e., wield the directorial baton. Already he has penned several scripts encompassing the socio-cultural milieu around him.

But, more significantly, there is a burning desire, an all-encompassing passion to emulate his idol, Sanjeev Kumar. He remarks, “If I can recreate a fraction of what the great thespian did, my life will have served a purpose”.

Well, if responses of TV buffs — how they hated him in “Umeed” and empathise completely with his paternal instincts in “Junoon” — are any indicator, Pankaj seems well on his way to realise his most cherished dream.

Two women artists’ impressions
By Jyoti Mahajan

TWO budding Delhi-based women artists, Geeta Kumar and Neesha Sood, held a four-day exhibition of their mythological-based paintings at Torcher Chamber of Shimla’s Gaiety Theatre recently. Organised by the HP Art Language and Culture Department, it was the first exhibition of its kind in Himachal Pradesh which depicted an innovative technique of paintings called “cartouche” paintings.

The word “cartouche” means “impressions”. Both artists have perfected the technique by constant experimentation. It is a laborious process demanding a lot of creativity and hard work. Firstly, the paintings are made on a water-proof board and then the texture is created with the help of a variety of media like plaster of paris, cement and clay. After the drying of the texture within a few days, terracotta likes are arranged aesthetically or figures are moulded with the hand. Thereafter, the figures are painted either with water colours or automotive paints.

The duration taken for a painting varies from a week to a fortnight, depending on the size of the painting.

The bulk of the paintings of Geeta and Neesha depicted figures based on mythology revolving around Lord Ganesha, Krishna, Shiva, Lakshmi, Durga and Sarswati and gave an impression of being embossed. The texture and colours of the 85 exhibits had a soothing effect. Without using bright colours, the embossing technique created a three-dimensional effect which infused life into the pictures and arrested the attention of the viewers. The paintings in silver, golden, bronze, orange, dull shades and blues were eye catching and meant for decorating drawing rooms and pooja rooms of art lovers. The bubbly and vivacious Geeta said, “Since Lord Ganesha is the ‘karta dharta’, the canvases are our offering to him.”

In the painting “Vakratundmahakaya” the artists depicted Lord Ganesha in 25 different styles. The dull colours were a visual delight. The canvas, “Tatrak of Om”, was complemented by a jute base which added life to the picture.

Eye catching was the 2 ft. by 3.5 ft. painting entitled “Lakshmi namah, Ganeshay namah”. The terra cotta Lakshmi created a three-dimensional effect.

In the sole orange-coloured stained glass painting, “Ganesha Gajan”, the artists tried to combine the cartouche technique with stained glass. The vibrant orange-coloured Lord Ganesha, ensconsed by the dull green background with white streaks, was a visual treat.

The paintings which generated an overwhelming response were those with new themes entitled “Motherhood”, “Tranquility”, “Hope Sustains Life”, and “Timeless Melody”.

It was two-and-a-half years ago the Neesha and Geeta decided to begin with their artistic pursuits and saw their hobby developing into a profession. They revealed that they were inspired by a friend who was doing stained glass paintings and calligraphy. Although they began with stained glass paintings, they finally experimented with a new technique called “cartouche” painting and they happen to be the only artists of their kind in the entire country.

While Neesha has spent her early childhood days in Shimla, Geeta, a former science student, hails from Delhi. In early 1997 both started making paintings commercially under the banner of “Kriti paintings”. They said it was due to the encouragement of their businessmen husbands that they ventured into art.

The soft-spoken artists said the exhibition evoked a keen interest both by the locals and tourists who came with numerous suggestions. “Since we use innovations in our creations, we shall definitely use their ideas”, said Neesha. The duo has been supplying their works in South Extension and Hauz Khas village in Delhi.

They also had the privilege in the Craft Bazar organised by “Udyaan Pratishthaan” in Delhi’s Japanese Embassy in February 1998. They intend organising an exhibition of their creations in Bangalore next summer.

Artistes from Rajasthan
By Ruchika Mohindra

THE Ludhiana chapter of SPIC MACAY is continuing its crusade of infusing the rich and vibrant Indian culture amongst the youth. And quite successfully too. The multitude of students who thronged the Government College for Women auditorium and the Open-air Theatre at Punjab Agricultural University, where the famous folk artistes of Rajasthan, the Mangiars and the Langas, had performed recently, proved the love for the roots in the younger generation.

This group of 10 folk artistes — Pampa Khan Mangiar, Barkat Khan Mangiar, Ghewar Khan Mangiar, Kheta Khan Mangiar, Dara Khan Mangiar, Nek Mohammad Langa, Habib Khan Langa, Shammandar Khan Langa, Sans Nath Kalbelia and Khatu Devi Kalbelia — enthralled the audience with their folk songs.

Hailing from Jaisalmer, Barmer and Jodhpur, their songs cover almost all aspects of life in the desert — from birth to the loneliness in old age and from the songs for marriage to the songs with emphasis on the “shringar rasa”.

For the Mangiars and the Langas, singing is a vital component of their daily life. “We are taught to sing right from the time we learn to speak”, informs Pampa Khan Mangiar. The richness in their voice with slight tremolo and the uniformity in their singing makes it evident that “riyas” over the years has made them perfect.

Khatu Devi Kalbelia, too, gave a soul-stirring performance, with a harmonious blend of grace and expression.

The Langas and the Mangiars have given performances in various countries like the USA, Russia, France, Australia, Mauritius, Japan and the United Kingdom. “However”, laments Habib Khan Langa, “while our performance is widely appreciated abroad, there are few takers for Rajasthani folk in our country. People generally like music as a background, while they discuss the other things in life”.

He says they are forced to perform some folk-based film songs so that the audience can identify with them. “Folk music is no longer an expression of the heart, but is under the tremendous influence of the film music and has taken a backseat”, he says.

“However”, says Pampa Khan, “we now see the awakening of a new dawn in the form of SPIC MACAY, which has brought many artistes to the fore and has also been able to enthuse a love for our own music and dance in the younger generations”.

A strange mix

BOMBAY BOYS (BMG Crescendo; Rs 75): When Kaizad Gustad makes a film on India, its music is bound to be unusual. The effort to be different starts from the album cover itself. The capital letters are used in small case while the small-case ones have been all capitalised. Thus, Mumbai is written as mUMBHAI. Another departure is that the word “and” has been replaced with the Hindi “aur”.

As far as music is concerned, here we have an album not like many others. There is a rap song by Jaaved Jafferi which extols the “virtues” of Bombay and its everyday life, which is dominated by the “dadas”. There is a theme song in which Naseeruddin Shah garbles some incoherent nothings. And then there is Bombay Blues by Bashir Sheikh in which some four-letter words are freely used.

There is not complete break from tradition though. The album includes the popular Sunoh number by Lucky Ali and Oye shaava by Raageshwari. There is also Yeah yeah... from Indus Creed.

Music of all other songs has been arranged and produced by Ashutosh Pathak (who has been spelled as Phatak on the cassette) and Dhruv Ghanekar.

One song which is worse than the typical Bombay film songs is Tabla dholak... by Vinay Mandke. Manohar Iyer’s lyrics are equally pedestrian. May be, just may be, it fits in with the story of the film. Final judgement reserved till the film hits the screen.

Other singers include Anaida, Foxter, Mantra, Mehnaz and Robert Miles.

YAAD PIYA KI AANE LAGI (Poly Gram; Rs 65): It is that one-song cassette which has catapulted Phalguni Pathak to the upper half of the popularity charts. Yes, the song is Choodi jo khanki hathon mein, yaad piya ki aane lagi, o bheegi bheegi raaton mein.... It has a strangely lilting beat, mixing the O.P. Nayyar type use of the harmonium with some Rajasthani folk tunes. The dancing of Riya Sen has made the song sound better than perhaps it is. There are two versions. These are supposed to be different, but at least I could not make out the difference. Music and lyrics are by Lalit. The lyrics of rest of the songs are either traditional or by Sameer.

It is a pity that the excellence of the title song is not matched by any other song, although music is good. Lyrics tend to be rather loose. Indhana winva... is an out and out folk song. Main kudi Punjab di hungama mera naam hai... is not.