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| ARTS TRIBUNE | Friday, December 8, 2000, Chandigarh, India |
Primila’s rich repertoire Research centre at Kuchipudi
Art and Culture |
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Sketches on diverse themes DEDICATION and determination can fight all barriers. Kulwant Singh Bains, who hails from Ram Nagar , a remote village of Punjab, is truly an example of this . This gutsy Jat Sikh, who is today a renowned name in sketch art, has astonished all with his sketches based on diverse themes. He, who belongs to a low middleclass family and despite financial difficulties, has managed to carve a niche for himself in his field. Kulwant’s journey into the art world began from the village to urban Chandigarh in 1995 when he got a job with the UT Administration as an artist on the basis of his ITI qualification in paintings. Kulwant stays at Panchkula and says after coming to the city, his awareness level grew which helped him in developing a special love for paintings. Speaking in chaste Punjabi, he utters, "sade pind, te Jalandhar wich wi, lokan nu paintings wich ghatt shonk hai, Chandigarh nalon". (In our village and even in Jalandhar, people have less interest in paintings than in Chandigarh). Kulwant has done paintings on touching themes with a brush/knife but otherwise he loves to paint with a pencil sketches which reveal the real life story of a person. Many of his works have brought him laurels such as "Battlefield 1871" and also some romantic duos, "Sassi Punnu", "Shiri Farhad", and "Omar Khayyam". He has gifted away works like "Magic on the Canvas", and given the object he is able to perform and complete the painting in a shorter period. Kulwant in his many works has tried to define the significance of the inner beauty of a woman, her desires and ambitions. In another painting, which won him wide acclaims, he has depicted the happiness on the face of a child. Kulwant says though till date he has not been able to organise any solo exhibition due to lack of funds, various private banks and other institutions have liked his works and approached him for displaying the same. He has displayed some of his paintings in group exhibitions. Kulwant believes that by doing commercial work one can only prove that "haste brings waste". So less time spent on any work could spoil the imaginary spirit because then the mind always tries to dwell only on one aspect, that is, how to earn money instead of concentrating on the work. He says it is very difficult nowadays to make paintings on the canvas. "You need to have proper sponsorships to meet its escalating costs", he asserts. Kulwant says till date he has made
over 100 paintings, but was still an infant in this mega world of art
where learning was a step-by-step and ongoing process. Since he is not
able to communicate well in the English language, he has a slight
inferiority complex. Thus, he has not been able to compete in the
global art market. But he is confident that his works, mainly
sketches, will speak for themselves. He is quite happy with the
growing interest in the general public who have developed a taste in
understanding art, particularly in the city and nearby. |
Primila’s rich repertoire ANOTHER season for Triveni, a small group formed by volunteers to provide good music in a homely ambience, opened last week when Primila Puri paid homage to Ustad Munavvar Ali Khan, the well-known torch-bearer of Patiala Gharana and son of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. As part of its fourth baithak, Primila, a disciple of the late Ustad Munavvar Ali Khan, presented a beautiful blend of classical and semi-classical music from her rich repertoire. Her powerful voice, trained in the true tradition of Patiala gayaki, has a strong audio appeal. Combined with her charismatic presence, the evening presented a feast for both the audio and the visual senses. Commencing her rendering with raga Rageshwari, she chose to sing all bandishes of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan depicting the yearning of the heart for his beloved God. The rendering of the tarana was a feat — the swiftly moving ascent and descent of the notes require perfect control over rhythm and a strong lung power. Primila displayed perfect control of sargams and taans even at a very fast pace. Then were rendered short glimpses of ragas as diverse as Kedar, Kamod, Chhaya and Des. The second phase of her performance began with a Khamaj thumri sung in the true style of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. Then she sang a few ghazals of Faiz Ahmad Faiz from her cassette ‘Faiz hi Faiz’ released by HMV a few years ago. Few will know the rare honour Primila enjoys of being authorised by the great poet from across the border to sing his ghazals. After listening to her ghazals, noted music director Naushad noted, “If ghazal has to be sung, this is true style of ghazal singing.” Naushad’s comments were justified by the enthusiastic response of the audience that hummed, tapped and clapped with the singer. The right ambience and the right choice of ghazals, in tune with the mood of the audience, brought out the best from the artiste. Exercising full potential of her melodious powerful voice, she sang traditional folk songs from Punjab in Sufiana style. Mahi kadon avega... and Rabba sajna da mel kara de... were instant hits. The singer sang untiringly and the audience wanted more and more. A housewife, having successfully raised four children, Primila’s dedication to music, despite her never-ending domestic responsibilities, remains unshaken. A regular performer at AIR, her rigorous riyaz is reflected in the firm tonal quality of her voice. She was supported on the tabla by Mahinder Prasad Sharma and on the harmonium by Neeraj Gandhi, both upcoming artistes of the town. As usual the musical evening was given a culinary finish at Triveni, completing the homely setting for music. Primila has released cassettes of bhajans, the whole of Gita, translated in Hindi and composed and sung by herself. She trains a few disciples in
classical music that includes her own daughter as well. Noted Kathak dancer and TV actress Nandita Puri is her daughter. Art runs through their family. |
Research centre at Kuchipudi A Rs 6-crore pilot project will be taken up to develop Kuchipudi as an international dance research centre with financial assistance from the Union Human Resource Development Ministry, according to Dr Ramanadham Chinta, Principal, Kuchipudi Siddhendra Kalakeshtram, coming under Sri Potti, Sreeramalu Telugu University, Kuchipudi, about 25 km from Machilipatnam. Dr Ramanadham who was in town in connection with the International Tourism Day observed recently, said under the first phase of the project a sum of Rs 2 crore would be spent to construct a modern auditorium with the latest audio and video equipment at Kuchipudi. A library on Kuchipudi art and all classical dances in the country to help research students working on Kuchipudi and other classical dance forms would also come up. He also said a new course called Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA). which would be clubbed with computer studies, would be started from the next academic year. A large dance training hall, which is under construction at a cost of Rs 50 lakh, would be completed by the next academic year for the BFA course. Dr Ramanadham said in the second phase a modern guest house for the stay of foreign and other dignitaries would also be built. The research centre would be completed by the year 2004, he added. At present, the Kalakshetram had 60 students, of which 13 were taking the certificate course, five students were in the diploma course and 13 in the Yakshaganam course. A four-year certificate course in Kuchipudi dance and a two-year diploma course had been introduced in the institute. The institute also conducted a one-year post-graduate diploma course in Yakshagana for those who completed the other two courses, he said. —
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Sight & Sound If drowning film stars have clutched at the straw of anchoring on TV, it has also had its pitfalls. The Big B, whose fortunes were fluctuating in the cinema, has not only become a crorepati several times over thanks to KBC, but is said to be contemplating a return to politics (Big B, you have been warned) but hopefully not to beauty contests. Ditto, ditto Shekhar Suman, but not on the same scale, since Sony panicked and changed his timings but SAB took over and has given him, of all places, a slot in the afternoon and a chance to ring doorbells like postmen, and give housewives the thrill of their drab
lives. Then there is Govinda, again with flagging fortunes and we have to see if TV anchoring will be his redemption too, whether he will dance over the place, as usual, or try to be like the Big B and fall flat on his face. But the worst hit has been Anupam Kher, the victim of Zee’s folly. With no original ideas of their own, they shamelessly copied the format and style of Kaun Banega Crorepati, saying they were going to be original and Indian (they were neither) and carried their folly further by asking a serious actor in his own right, Anupam Kher, to act like Amitabh Bachchan. The ultimate folly was committed when they chose a co-anchor in the form of Manisha Koirala, whose style of anchoring resembles nothing so much as a Governor’s wife shaking hands at a garden party, a socialite rather than a quiz-master. And at the time of going to press, it seems they have given Kher marching orders and blamed him for the failure of their ill-conceived show, when he had managed quite well, being himself, until la Koirala arrived on the scene. And the latest report is that our very own Kabir Bedi, the hero of Sandokan and the idol of Italian and other females, whose film career has also been flagging and who at least has TV experience (remember Mirror of the World, to which he lent such class, unlike DD’s present incumbent). Well, I suppose the more the merrier. But I think who has been really smart is AXN, who are launching that super hit show from abroad, Survivor in the very near future for Indian viewers. A real voyeur’s peek into the private lives of the willing victims, extending, one hears, even to the toilet. Perhaps we can now look forward to a plethora of Indian imitations, copyright or no copyright, as in the case of KBC. But it will only really be the day when Indian survivors appear in the buff, or whatever and some more Miss Worlds let us into their post-mortems on Mother Teresa and Princess Di. That anchors can lead as much as five lives has been proved by Karan Thapar who has the same number of chat shows on different TV channels. He wears different clothes for each, from suit to Larry King Live braces, ties, plain shirts and what not. While Ms Ruby Bhatia, who bubbles in Good Morning India-lucky she actually allowed a look-in to Renuka Chowdhury, who was soft-spoken, misty-eyed about her children and revealed she goes for a morning walk at 5a.m. even in Delhi’s freezing winter. None of that feisty stuff she normally displays on TV where she demolishes fellow MPs from other parties with obvious glee in The Big Fight and other battle grounds. And then here was Ruby Bhatia in her Punjabi avatar on Tara Punjabi. It was all Haanji and Tussi. Unlike the fashion plate with credits to the designers in Good Morning India, Ruby is as demurely dressed as she is soft-spoken, discussing the problems of problem people and giving them serious sisterly advice. Very good acting, that much better than her best for-gotten detective serial. And while on the subject of Karan Thapar, I think his Face to Face with Aamir Khan was one of his best, not least of all due to Aamir’s naturalness and modesty. I am afraid Simi Garewal’s Rendezvous with Hrithik Roshen will have to wait till next week as we go to press the day before. Sorry! |
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Art and Culture IF a performance is on and suddenly the lights go out, what happens next? A panic on the stage and loud murmurs amongst the audience. Not exactly. You then convert the plot into a “Black Comedy”! The Chandigarh Amateur Dramatic Society gave the city another evening of classic entertainment with its latest play, Peter Shaffer’s “Black Comedy” on the evening of December 3 at Tagore Theatre. The event was sponsored by the Bank of Punjab and Rajdoot. The play introduced to the city’s theatre circles the concept of “reverse lighting”. The stage is drowned in pitch darkness representing normal lighting and
conversely, a fully lit one signifies absolute darkness. A somewhat queer scenario for the dramatic arena where proper lighting forms an integral part of the production and plays an important role in its success or failure. But then experimentation and constant innovation is the name of the game. Therefore, “Black Comedy” opens with the stage being in darkness while the actors are engrossed in delivering their lines as if it is all normal. Just then the fuse blows, leaving the stage brightly lit. However, the actors perform as though they cannot see a thing. It was amusing and very interesting to experience such a curious improvisation of ideas. The hour-and-a-half long comedy revolves around a rather simple plot. An ordinary situation is presented where false impressions, mild flirtation and plenty of hilarious confusion dominate the script. The scene of the happenings is Brindsley Miller’s apartment, which forms the ground floor of a spacious house sectioned into flat, one of which is occupied by an effeminate Mr Harlod who has a soft corner for Miller and another by a natty little Miss Furnival. Brindsley is an aspiring artist, a sculptor to be precise, whose financial status is quite pathetic. Hence, he is desperately trying to lure billionaire art collector George Bamberger to buy one of his aesthetic works. In an attempt to put his best foot forward, Miller goofs up tremendously on all accounts. The dramatic society managed to provide a light-hearted comedy with professionalism and a touch of class.
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