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Setting it right
Jasmine Singh

A red-coloured couch in the middle of a swanky room, classic chandeliers swaying with the wind, glass vases in the bedroom, dusty furniture in the police station, a village tea shop of an old chacha, a huge bungalow with walls of coloured glass how many times while watching a movie do your eye balls go beyond, rather, go behind the macho hero, his polished family, and exceedingly homely wife, to catch things in the backdrop?

The palatial palace where Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh and Hrithik live (Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham); the village where Aamir plays cricket with his friends (Lagaan); the fort where Hrithik holds his darbaar (Jodhaa Akbar); the room where Prachi Desai and Farhaan Akhtar share secrets about the past (Rock On); and the open verandah where Meena Kumari danced waiting for her love (Paakezah). How many times have you noticed these finer details?

Of course, it is impossible to miss the grand palaces like the ones in Karan Johar flicks and the realistic hostels and schools of Aamir Khan movies, but not many know that there is a genre of minds behind all this — the art directors!

Till a few years back names didn’t matter, but they were the people doing a commendable job without appreciation. But now, everybody, including the producers, directors and actors, realise the importance of sets and art directors.

One hundred and fifty carpenters, decorators and painters worked for more than 10 months to construct the set of the Mughal darbar in the movie Mughal-E-azam! How can the presence of set directors in movies be ignored then? All the same, the audiences wouldn’t know much about these people for it is knowledge about the director, the actors and the choreographer, to some extent, that makes all the difference.

Wasiq Khan, a set director from Mumbai, who has designed sets for Anurag Kashyap’s films, done art designing for Wanted and is now working on recreating a rural feel for Salman Khan’s under production Dabang, defines the role of an art director. "In Hollywood terminology, they are called production designers. These people are in charge of the set designing and the costumes. In Bollywood, the same people are called art directors," says Wasiq.

"Back in the seventies, there was nothing like set directors. The carpenters would create something like a set, which were more or less the same. A haveli always had a huge entrance, red coloured sofa sets, a fountain in the room, a painting," he says. , things have changed. The industry has realised the role of an art director, who creates the right ambience and presents the backdrop as per the demand of the script and the director, using imagination, colours and technology. The job has to be so neat that the design doesn’t distract the attention of the audiences," he adds.

"From open fields, village set ups, mahals to police stations, the art directors have moved on to more realistic designing. The idea is to create a mirage of the real. So a scene shot in a room with vases and couches is supposed to be shot in the US. The word is realism," shares Raashid Rangerez, art director, who won the national award for the best art director and authentic architecture for Waaris Shah.

"Real sets have a greater potential of clicking with the audiences. This requires detailing, knowing your subject, understanding the script, the actors, the scene and the costumes to be worn on that particular day. Art directors go too the shooting locales with the director, they sit during script readings and have elaborate discussions for a design," he shares.

At the same time, Raashid also sees space and time constraint as the reason behind art directors moving towards realistic designing. "Earlier movies would have scenes being shot in open fields, vast villages, but now, we don’t have that kind of space. So, art designers have to make-do with whatever is available. There are other limitations like height of the area, space and proper set ups that match the script. These days narration for a scene is done on the day of the shoot. Creating a set in that limited time is a challenge," he says.

And it goes without saying that creating a set like Jodhaa Akbar or Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s haveli in Devdas is indeed a Herculean task!

The Waaris Shah set

Renowned set designer Nitin Desai designed a small 19th century Indian village in Bhuj for the movie Lagaan and a magnificent Bengali mansion for the movie Devdas. Tirath Gill, yet another art director who started his work from the movie Ek Chadar Maili Si, as assistant set designer feels that the new crop of art designers are far-sighted.

"They have clarity of thoughts and a vision because they come with a degree from an art or design school. They have international exposure as well. Not to forget, advancements in technology help them with their work. Having said this, I must add, what matters in art designing is creativity and the trick of taking liberty with imagination," he says.

Tirath holds the view that creating historical and epic sets is far more difficult than ordinary ones. "Extensive study of finer details of a particular period is important. This includes, knowing the period, the language, the costumes, the lifestyle, the thought process of people at that time, to name a few."

Camera work depends on art direction. So much so that 70 per cent of a frame of a film is art direction. It suddenly looks as if the whole movie depends on the art director’s mercy! Adds Wasiq Khan, "A good art director should be able to create sets that do not look like sets on screen. They should know how to gel realism and fantasy."

jasmine@tribunemail.com

Dance like us
Manpriya Khurana

Let’s begin with the introductions; she’s a physiotherapist while he an IT graduate. One of the stereotypical college encounters, a couple of trophies and this is it. Dr. Priti Gupta, her partner, Shannon Benjamin haven’t stopped swinging since!

In the city for a week on the invitation of Chandigarh Dancesport Association, they talk of three things they love - dance, dance and, well, dance.

“I’m an IT graduate. But in the first-year of college, I suddenly took to dancing and soon decided that this was what I wanted to do,” shares Shannon. The rest, as they say, is history, as also self-explanatory. The passion explains the switch in profession, as also the bouquet of rewards in their kitty.

“We reached the quarter-finals in Asian Games, won Sri Lanka Open and reached semi-finals in the UK Open,” he lists a few of the significant ones.

His partner Priti is in the Limca Book of Records for 55 hours and 15 minutes of non-stop dancing! “It was an amazing experience. We were at the Radisson in Goa; I was 21 at the time and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do it again.”

Err…but aren’t we talking of 55 hours on the dance floor? She laughs, “It was all planned. There were 31 people from all over India and we would just keep eating, drinking on the floor itself; then close our eyes and just keep swinging because we had to make the record.”

Right now, there’re plans in place to make the city dance to their beats. “We’ll be training for the state championship on February 21 after which we will compete for nationals, post which it’ll be international competitions,” says Shannon.

For the trainers themselves, it’s getting trained in, “Hungary, United Kingdom and Hong Kong” in dance sport. Shares Shannon, “We’ve been trying to promote this form of dancing for a while now. It’s more than social dancing, where it’s all about co-ordination, hands, figures, partner.” Explains Priti, “It’s like gymnastics, figure- staking, somewhere in that league. But it’s not what you see in dance competitions where one couple comes and does all the fancy stuff. It’s more about technical skills.”

And their forte? “Salsa, Latin, Ballroom.” In Latin there’s Rumba, Samba, Chacha, Jive, Pasopoble. Take your pick!

Personal touch!

Students of the Government College of Art recreate the moments of their college trip

Photo by Parvesh Chauhan

Criss-crossing rail tracks and litter all around, the first photograph pasted on the wall of the exhibition hall of the Government College of Arts, we thought, was a prelude to the whole exhibition. Clicked by Aruna Gupta, the picture caught attention for it showed the real Indian railway tracks, full of dirt and garbage!

However, the prelude wasn’t reflective of the entire exhibition. Put up by the final-year students, the photographs were mainly of students striking different poses, clicked during the trip to various places in India. Pictures of them smiling, enjoying in the train and on beaches, sporting glasses or wearing fancy slippers, out-did a few meaningful ones in the exhibition.

Instead, the collage of small-sized photographs put on the desk was interesting. Pictures of people in different moods from aspiration, devotion, love, care, anger to silence were put together. Also the collage had people from all strata of society, mirroring the economic disparity in India.

Besides photographs, a few paintings have also attempted to capture the essence of India. A painting showing urban India has a group of girls drawn alongside a young boy who has a cola bottle in hand. This was juxtaposed with a painting of rural India that shows temple-like structures.

Pictures of Khajuraho temples, a few palaces and other important structures and, of course, students have also been pasted. Sea beaches seemed to be another favourite subject with students.

Sapna Sharma’s painting of a bull being pulled by a man on a congested road, which shows another side of developing India, was quite intriguing.

But we wished the exhibition were a little more than the personal album of students. And there was no collage of girls’ feet with painted nails and anklets! — TNS

Renee Writes
Forgive and forget

at lifestyletribune@gmail.com or Life Style, The Tribune, Sector 29-C, Chd

I am 18, studying in Chandigarh and living in a hostel. I have been reading your column and feel a sense of relief with most of your answers. I have an emotional problem. My parents separated when I was born. I have been living with my mother who is working. My father comes to visit me and I am very fond of him. All these years my father has been giving me a strange picture of my mother’s character. I have recently discovered that it wasn’t true. I love my mother very much but I am totally confused. I thought I loved her despite her faults though I definitely felt antagonistic towards her. I cannot decide how to deal with these new feelings. Please help.

Rubina Mehta, Chandigarh

I do empathise with your pain and the conflict that is going on within you. I don’t think any child deserves to be deprived of a normal childhood with both parents in sync with each other and the kids. But then life has its own way of happening and we have just got to learn to deal with it to the best of our ability. I’m sure your mother is a wonderful woman who has brought you up and not said any negative things about your father to you. Do try and forget the past mean things said about her and you can always make up with her with more love and respect. Firstly, you need to give yourself love and understanding just repeat to yourself that you are ready to heal and forgive both your parents for having hurt you even if it was unintentional. Once you love yourself enough, the healing will happen naturally.

Help yourself

I am 23, just passed my engineering and have gone to live in the village for a while with my parents. I picked up drinking in the company of my uncle, here and now I am afraid that I am turning into an alcoholic. I do not really feel like going back to city before sorting out myself out a bit but do not know how to do it. All my frustrations and anxieties seem to fade away once I have had a few drinks. I think my mother has a vague idea about this habit of mine. I want to get rid of my habit but seem to have become a slave. Can you please help to find a solution to my problem?

Avtar Sodhi, Jalandhar

Young man your answer lies within your own self. I must admire you for such a clear and wonderful understanding of your own problem. Once we can analyse our own faults, the path is quite easy. Why don’t you make a timetable for yourself? Get up at a certain hour exercise, this will get your brain cells working better with the blood circulation in your body. Then set aside a little time for introspection and meditation. Try and find a good sport or hobby like tennis of football in the evening.

Don’t be a punching bag

I am a 32-year-old woman working in a private firm. My problem is my boss. He is a having and routing slave driver. I feel very scared of him as each time I make a mistake he becomes abusive. I have thought of quitting the job many times but somehow the salary is so good. Also, I feel that after shouting at me be calms down and becomes apologetic. It seems that we go through this routine at least once in a month. Do you think I should continue with this work situation? How should I deal with this?

Renuka Mathur, Shimla

Why must we learn to tolerate abuse? I have never understood why people cannot muster up the courage to build their own self-esteem and level of self worth. Trust me it will be worth the effort. There are any excuses for abusive behavior. May be as a child your boss had an abusive parent, so he is playing that role with you, or may be he is treated badly by his family and he is venting his frustrations here. Any which way you need’nt suffer the abuse. On the other hand may be your own comfort zone in also in tolerating this kind of behavior as you might have had a similar parent or sibling at home whom you tolerated. Well, just get out of this one. You definitely deserve better.

The perfect bahu
Ash visits Abhishek’s granny despite illness

She has always been the dutiful ‘bahu’ of the Bachchan family and even physical illness could not hold back Aishwarya from visiting her husband Abhishek’s grandmother on her birthday.

Abhishekh and Aishwarya Bachchan, who were recently voted India’s favourite celeb couple celebrated the 80th birthday of Jaya Bachchan’s mother, Indira Bhaduri.

The 36-year-old-actor accompanied her husband and in-laws, despite suffering from high fever and sore throat. “Made a surprise trip to Bhopal last night.

Was my nani’s 80th birthday! Aishwarya is much much better, but still not 100 per cent. But she’s my nani’s favourite so she made the trip too. Should be back to fighting fit...” Abhishek wrote on his Twitter page.

The couple also made it a point to visit Abhishek’s aunt Rita Bhaduri and her family. Abhishek’s father, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, has not been able to accompany them and has expressed his good wishes for his mother-in-law in his blog. “It is the 80th birthday of my mother-in-law.

She is in Bhopal and the entire family is with her to wish her health and prosperity and happiness for this auspicious day,” wrote the 67-year-old actor who was in Delhi recently to attend an awards event. — PTI

Biker boy
Neha Walia

Manjinder Singh Banga Dhaliwal. Photo by Vicky Gharu

Some are born with the nose for it, but others have to develop a taste for risk. Manjinder Singh Banga Dhaliwal belongs to both the categories.

This self-trained professional stunt-biker and a Punjab police personnel has been riding on the risk, entertaining people and winning awards in the meantime. "I started performing stunts when I was 12 or 13-years-old and then graduated to performing at various national and international events," says the 24-year-old, who gave his passion for riding bikes a professional edge.

Till date, Manjinder has won over 25 state and national award. His bets trick yet? "I can perform bhangra while riding on a bike along with dhol and bagpipers. I have performed stunts climbed up on a 25 ft ladder as well," he shares.

Manjinder has done solo and group performances in Singapore, Malaysia and Germany. "I also train my group which has 12 members, all amateur stunt-bikers," he says. He himself trains for five hours a day. Currently pursuing an MBA, Manjinder was also an NCC cadet during college.

He has a bhangra group that performs at the international level and has featured in the Punjabi movie, Waaris Shah. With so many talents, he is his own brand, without any support to promote stunt- biking as a sport.

"Mostly, I get a personal invite to perform at an event. Even our training is self-sponsored. Its only the passion that drives us." Manjinder is looking forward to performing in Canada in April.

Slice of the sand dunes
Rajasthani Art and Craft Festival opens at Kalagram

The success of last year's Rajasthani Art and Craft Festival has resulted in the change of venue. Instead of Rajasthan Bhawan-34, this year, the festival will be held at Kalagram in Manimajra.

"Last year's response has been overwhelming. The number of stalls will increase from 60 stalls to 140 this time," informs Rajnish Jain, chairman, Rajastani Art and Craft Festival.

On display will be traditional silver and artificial jewellery, gem stones, Pichhavi and miniature paintings, marble and brass items, traditional Rajasthani handloom and embroidery and paintings. Various cultural events will be organised by North-Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala at the festival.

"Rajasthani folk dancers and Sufi singers will entertain the crowd every evening for the nine-day festival," says Yashwinder Sharma of NZCC. He adds that everyday around 100 performers will perform. "Afternoons will have ghumar dance performance." Babu Khan, who has worked on various projects with Shankar Mahadevan is also scheduled to perform."

The festival aims to promote the handicraft of the state. "A section of Rajasthan's population is dependent on handicraft, which needs to be promoted further.

Beginning Thursday onwards, the festival will conclude on February 26. — TNS

Bond wagon
Dil Mil Gaye

Relationship: Mother-in-law — Daughter-in-law.

Time together: Seven years

Same-to-same: Enthusiastic, vibrant, talkative, fun-loving; heart rules the head, great motivators and team players

Yet different: Manveen Dabbles in colours and paint and loves cooking

Khushboo is more of a screen person and loves eating

Unforgettable moments: Party times together. Recently on a visit to Mumbai, we partied whole night and came back home at six in the morning. What fun we had — Manveen

Times spent when I was dating Bipin. Would frequently miss classes and come home with friends to Mamma who would treat us with yummy food. — Khushboo

Funny takes: Once when Khushboo was learning to drive, she took a wrong turn and sped off even when a policeman tried to stop her. But she was caught at the next traffic light. And it was my driving license that was punched. She was so apologetic but I was like ‘It’s ok beta’ — Manveen

Mamma is so chilled out and fun to be with. We laugh till we cry — Khushboo

Special something: Now that Khushboo has moved to Mumbai, we talk only once a week but do that for up to an hour or more and share all the week’s stuff — Manveen

Mamma loves to pamper. Once I just said I felt like having chips and next day she had sent a whole carton to me at work. — Khushboo

Wishful thinking

I pray that her dreams come true. Khushboo has lots of them — Manveen

She is an awesome artist. I would like the world to recognise it. — Khushboo

(Manveen loves to paint, Khushboo is a VJ and an actor)

If you want to feature here, please email at lifestyletribune@gmail.com or mail at Bond Wagon, Lifestyle, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh, along with a photograph and contact number.

Lifestyle invites responses from readers on the following issue:
How do women clubs help?
Please email the responses in around 200 words to lifestyletribune@gmail.com or post along with your photo and contact number to ‘Relatively Speaking’, Lifestyle, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh. The best few responses will be published.

Take a chill pill
Mona

In these stressful times, people are taking to religious and spiritual practices to find peace. Read on…

Meditation, chanting, discourses — people are fast turning to religious and spiritual practices to deal with stresses and strains of modern living. Career demands, financial worries, health concerns or relationship challenges, life today is replete with problems. During such times, people are following old and new practices alike to deal with the situation.

“Meditation helps you clear the stress on a daily basis,” says Nisha Sood, 29, a housewife from Sector 45. “It gives you tremendous energy. It teaches you how to live in the present moment,” she adds. “Meeting like-minded people at discourses channelizes your energies,” she says.

“A smile never leaves my face ever since I joined the foundation,” says Robin Chuchru, 24, a law graduate who has been associated with the Art of Living Foundation for more than five years now. “The course here changed my life for good. A 20-minute meditation session in the morning and one remains positive for the whole day,” he shares.

Ashwani Singla, an interior designer from Panchkula vouches for Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), “A few sessions of EFT helped in a big way. I did not expect such relief in such a short span of time,” he shares.

Disha Dhaka, 26, relationship manger with Axis Bank, got associated with Reiki last year and can’t stop praising it, “Reiki heals you from the inside. Why keep accumulating stress inside when one has ways to release it?” she adds.

Anand Singh Deo, 27, who hails from Orissa and is working for DELL, Mohali, is associated with International Society for Krishna Consciousness. “It feels great to be part of the mission. Simple practices like chanting have the power to remove stress from your life,” he says.

“People today are turning to spiritual and religious practices at an increasingly young age. It’s a healthy trend,” says Poonam Sharma, the new-age spiritual healer from Manimajra. “Devoting as little as 15-20 minutes a day practicing any method you feel comfortable with can bring about tremendous change in your life,” she says.

mona@tribunemail.com

	Train to Chandigarh Geeta Basra of The Train fame is becoming a Punjaban for her next flick How often do you come across actors who are not always politically correct? Probably, only a few. Geeta Basra of The Train is one from this league. The dusky beauty likes to call spade a spade. In the city to attend the wedding of her cousin, Geeta has no qualms on commenting the hullabaloo on My Name is Khan, and what damage do such controversies do to the film? “I didn’t like it even one bit. These things don’t happen in the West. Every director and actor has the right to approach any subject, the way they want to,” says Geeta. “It is sad to see that we are still stuck on the regional and caste divide. India is one country, and we should live like one big family.” But can we ignore the fact that controversy creates curiosity amongst the audiences, doing good for the movie. She shrugs. “I don’t think so.” Busy with two under production movies, Geeta plays a Punjaban in one of these flicks. “I am Punjaban and I like coming to Chandigarh often. It is a beautiful place. I don’t give a second thought, if I am asked to come to the city or anywhere in Punjab .” — Jasmine Singh
	Hrithik welcomes wife Sussanne to Twitter Love in twitterland The first Bollywood couple to share their mutual admiration on Twitter, superstar Hrithik Roshan has been joined by wife Sussanne on the micro-blogging site.The couple who guard their privacy closely, however, has been quite expressive with their love on the website. Welcoming Sussanne to the social network, the 36-year-old-actor wrote, “Friends, please welcome my wife, my friend, my lover, the coolest, the purest, the exotic SUSSANNE to twitterland !! Give LOVE tweeple!!!(sic)” After being praised so profusely by her husband, the mother of two wrote back, “so inspired whn I c my Hrithik working.. has the eye of the tiger..no stoppin till he gets it perfect n only becoz he loves u all 2 much!!(sic).” To which Hrithik replied, “stop it sussanne, stop complimenting me in twublic!! (but thanks, felt good) (sic).” The couple, who has two sons Hrehaan and Hridaan, had experienced some turbulent times few months back with rumours linking Hrithik to his Kites co-star Barbara Mori. — PTI
	Crowe the super dad Russell Crowe has taken time off from his Hollywood career and got into the real life role of a superdad and househusband to help his wife make a music comeback. His better half Danielle Spencer revealed it was the Gladiator actor’s turn to look after their sons Charles, six, and Tennyson, three. “(Russell) isn’t working at the moment. So he’s being Superdad, swanning about with the kids in the sun. If he’s busy then I make sure that I’m around but generally we try to stick together,” she said. She added, “The house is generally wrecked. I put a lock on my music room door and say, ‘Right I’ll see you in a few hours’ and just shut myself away and do my writing. “It’s the only way that I can get head space. Otherwise it’s just endless interruption — I get little knocks on the door, ‘Mum, open up!’ I’m the tough one (parent), let’s put it that way.” — ANI
	Winning streak For Hollywood actor Christoph Waltz, who is tipped to win an Oscar this year for his portrayal of a cruel and ruthless Nazi officer in Inglourious Basterds, the award is not all about winning. “It’s not a competition,” the Austrian actor who has been nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category said. The role of Hans Landa has already earned the actor widespread critical acclaim along with the a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award. “It’s not a sports event. There is no pistol going off, and we all run and the guy who does it under 10 seconds comes in first. We do this together. This is a really beautiful camaraderie which I have never experienced,” Waltz said. The 53-year-old actor is pitted against the likes of Matt Damon, Christopher Plummer, Woody Harrelson and Stanley Tucci at the March 7 ceremony. “In a way it’s lovely to see these people who turn into friends. The outcome we’ll see. Nobody will begrudge anything. This is one of the absolute highlights of my artistic career, I wouldn’t have known how it would have continued had I not met Quentin,” Waltz said. — PTI
	Megan’s confession Megan Fox thinks she doesn’t look classy in underwear. In an interview with W magazine, Fox, the new face and body of Armani, was asked about modelling lingerie, and the actor said she feels her photoshoot in lingerie makes her look just a pin-up image and not stylish and sophisticated. She said: “There are some women you could put in underwear and photograph them, and it looks really classy and it doesn’t necessarily provoke a pinup image ... But with me it does, immediately, as soon as I’m in underwear. I’m a Vargas girl.” (Alberto Vargas was a famous Peruvian painter of pin-up girls.) Meanwhile, the Transformers star also admitted that she does not trust women in Hollywood. — ANI
	Secret out! Children who are looked after by their grandparents are likely to be obese, a new study has suggested. The extensive University College London study, which included 12,000 three-year olds, found that the risk was 34 per cent higher if grandparents cared for them full time. However, kids who went to nursery or had a childminder had no increased risk, the International Journal of Obesity reported. Study leader Professor Catherine Law said the study did not look at why grandparent care was associated with being overweight but that indulgence of children and lack of physical exercise were two possible explanations, reports The BBC. — ANI
	Ban on Lohan Actor Lindsay Lohan was reportedly banned from Jill Stuart’s Fashion Week show because the designer’s team considers her a ‘brand damager.’ “A lot of designers, and especially Jill’s camp, don’t think she’s worth all the press she’d get their show,” an industry insider said. However, Stuart has denied that she banned the Mean Girls star. The source also mentioned Lohan’s ex-girlfriend Samantha Ronson and her sister, fashion designer Charlotte, as potential reasons for Lohan’s absence. “Fashion Week kind of belongs to the Ronsons and Charlotte had Lindsay banned from both her show and after-party — just like she did this past fall,” the source added. — ANI