COURTS

Bail plea in NDPS case dismissed
From Our Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, Nov 29 — The UT Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr R.C. Godara, today dismissed the bail application of Parduman Parsad, in an NDPS case.

The case against the accused was registered on February 15, 1999 in police station, south. It was alleged that the city police had recovered 2 kg of charas from the accused on February 15, 1999.

Plea dismissed:
The UT Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr R.C. Godara, today dismissed a bail application moved by Naseem in an NDPS case. It was alleged that the police had recovered charas from the accused on August 12, 1999.

CULTURE

Supper Theatre, a huge success
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 29 — The new concept of Supper Theatre, which was introduced for the first time in Chandigarh by CITCO, in association with Neelam Mansingh’s theatre group ‘The Company’, has been a great success.

The concept, which is quite popular abroad, had been earlier introduced at the India Habitat Centre, Delhi, but the experiment was conducted in the city for the first time to coincide with the staging of Neelam Mansingh’s latest production, An Unposted Love Letter. Many visitors to the Rock Garden Amphitheatre were seen enjoying a sumptuous meal at the cafetaria after watching the play on all the four days, beginning from November 25 till today.

The cafetaria at Rock Garden, being run by the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation has recently been donning a new look and a variety of dishes are also being added to the menu list, to attract tourists.

Roshomon hit at Aagaz 2000
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 29 — Roshomon staged by ‘Natya’, an amateur theatre group, as part of the welcome functions being organised by the Panjab University Campus Students Council, was a hit with the audience, as was evidenced by the peals of laughter and thundering applause.

The fact that the performance today was a re-re-staging of the play did not matter with the audience. A highly commendable cast gave a performance with a professional finish.

The show did not lack class even if compared with earlier staging of the evergreen classical Japanese hit. Mohan Maharishi, who lent spirit to the performance, needs no introduction.

Search for the truth concerning a murder is the basic story line. A monk with his follower, narrates different stories being narrated regarding the murder. Each seems to be the truth, till the next tale follows.

The monk is seen walking from a town after witnessing a scene at a police station, where Sambhal Das, a fearsome dacoit, says he has murdered a man while his wife watched helplessly.The next story follows with the lady saying something else. The sprit of the dead husband walks in to say that he had committed suicide.

The entire story revolves around the character of a woman, projected from different angles. She is shown to be raped once while from the next accounts the dacoit appears as her timid follower.

Sunil Chitkara as ‘Sambhal Das’, Anup Sharma as ‘woodcutter’,Vishal Saini as a ‘wig-maker’ and Harinder Sandhu as ‘Jamuna’, deserve a special mention for appreciable performances. The amateur theatre group consists largely of passouts of the PU department of Indian theatre.

Black Comedy under rehearsal
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Nov 29 — After Birthday Honours and Mouse Trap, the Chandigarh Amateur Dramatic Society is working on British playwright Peter Shaffer’s Black Comedy, due to be staged at Tagore Theatre on December 3.

The society was revived in 1999 after it went redundant in the 1980s. The director of the play, Gurminder Singh, who is Deputy Advocate-General, Punjab, says, “When we auditioned for the play about four months back, we went for people who, we felt, would be committed to the discipline of theatre.”

The play is laced with situational humour and it works on the concept of reverse lighting. The fuse blows off within the first five minutes of the play. The director says, “The script has been especially chosen for its great humour value. We have experienced that the city audience is more inclined towards comedy. When Feroze Khan came with Mahatma Vs Gandhi, there were not many people to watch it. We want to produce what people like before tuning them to serious theatre.”

The story revolves round a sculptor, Brindsley Miller (played by Kanwaljit Singh, a doctor by profession), who has not been able to make it big in life. One fine day, a millionaire, George Bamberger (played by Imma Kang), tells him that he wants to collect his works. The sculptor takes help of his fiancee Carol Melkett (played by Ankita Singh, a college student) to do up the house which the millionaire is supposed to visit.

He steals furniture from the house of his neighbour Harold (played by Akshay Bhan). The fuse blows off and there is confusion. As the plot matures, this confusion keeps getting wider, with Brindsley’s ex-girlfriend landing up.

The mess is furthered when the gathering mistakes the electrician as the art collector.

The story has been handled well. Another score is the split-level set, which shows a bedroom at the first floor. It lends a touch of reality to the play, unlike in many other productions where the sets are flimsy.

Jagjit sings with passion

Jagjit Singh, the ghazal maestro, displayed his style of classical precision when he sang with sentiment at the Thapar College of Engineering, Patiala, on Sunday.

More than 5,000 boys and girls from Punjab Engineering Institutes attended the feast of melodious songs in the voice of Jagjit Singh who thrilled the audience for about three hours. The listeners were aware that Jagjit is not only a ghazal singer but also a composer of Indian classical music. The passion with which he sings is always fresh and suffused with a romantic tone that stirs the hearts of the listeners.

In his recitals at different places in and outside India, Jagjit has always touched new heights of ghazal exploration. Today, this Punjabi singer has achieved unrivaled fame at the international level. His voice is variegated, melodious and rhythmic, and leaves a sweet impression in the heart of the listeners. Western critics say, “Jagjit’s music is like water. His voice is rippling, bubbling like a stream and shimmer down in a long glissando.” We Punjabis are lucky to have among us, one who is not only a ghazal singer born in Punjab, but is also widely known in the musical circles of East and West.

Jagjit no doubt has a versatile and classical style of ghazal singing. He has been the music director of two Punjabi films, “ Long Da Lishkara” and “Diva Bale Saari Raat”. The spectators responded splendidly to the tunes and melodious songs of Jagjit and Chitra.

Punjabi audiences in India and abroad are responding enthusiastically to his technique of ragas and folk singing. Jagjit often says, “All my life, I wish to learn music.”
— Harpal Tiwana