The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

CULTURE

ARTSCAPE
Purva Joshi hitches her wagon to a star
Garima Pant

She is young and talented. She has been critically acclaimed for her performance in her latest play ‘Khamosh adalat jaari hai.’ She is just a recent NSD pass-out. Yet, she bids fair to become a star. Meet Purva Joshi who has a cornucopia of talent.

Born and brought up in the beautiful city of Indore, Purva completed her studies there and shifted to Delhi in 1999. A science enthusiast, Purva took up arts under her parent’s guidance. Her father, to whom she is deeply attached, slowly and gradually made her move towards reading and appreciating good literature. To win his appreciation, she also took up various activities both at the school and college level. A dance admirer, she took a liking for this art form. She did her MA (Dance) with merit from Indore University.

She had been associated with the media world from her college days. When she was doing her graduation, she worked with Bhopal Doordarshan and Siti Cable. She acted in the television serials of ISRO for 96 episodes along with acting in ad and telefilms. She anchored weekly programme on DD Bharati. She joined Ujjain theatre group and worked with some good directors over there. She tried her luck with the silver screen too and acted in a feature film along with Ashutosh Rana and Jeetendra, which was directed by Khalid Mohammad. The film did not do well but gave her an invaluable experience.

As she puts in that in Indore, Hindi theatre is not as popular as Marathi’s. She realised that to gain a foothold in Hindi theatre, she’ll have to struggle a lot and for a longer period. Thus, she decided to shift her base to Delhi and joined the National School of Drama. This gave her an opportunity to work with some of the finest directors and co-artists in a short period.

Her latest performance in the play Khamosh Adalat Jaari Hai was critically acclaimed and appreciated by all. She terms it as her best and the most memorable performance till date. “I was deeply touched by the fact that not only the critiques but also the staff and other people who work with the academy came and told me how deeply moved they were with my performance in the play. “It showed that my hard work did pay off and I was moving in the right direction. As a student that was the biggest reward I could ever hope of receiving.” Her journey through the art made her perform the best and enabled her in taking the right path through this performance. She had begun from a scratch, committed a number of mistakes, did a lot of experimentation and ultimately, her hard work paid off. “Theatre had become just a routine for me. I was not able to enjoy my work. But this appreciation has motivated me again and made me swing back into action and start looking forward to my work.”

She terms her dreams no less than a fairytale. She wants to finish off her PhD as soon as possible. She intends to join the media and earn a name for herself. She wants to become a perfect actress.

And last but not least, she wishes to do the theatre with children and wants to popularise it in her hometown Indore.

She is a voracious reader and reads everything, from good literature to magazines. She loves eating and cooking good food. She is full of energy and wants to work for 48 hours in 24 hours, so to say.

But, dance remains her favourite and Kathak comes above all dance forms as she’d learnt it from a very young age. But, she loves to enjoy other forms also.

She loves discussing matters with her husband ranging from trivial to thoughtful issues.

She idolises two legendary directors, Mr B.V. Karanth and Mr Ratan Thiyam, who are also termed as the pillars of Indian theatre. Mr Thiam made Manipuri theatre an international language. He emphasised on highlighting one’s own culture. She was impressed with his style of working and his ability to transform himself into a child while he worked with them. How a 70-year-old man becomes and works like a child himself not only in theatre but in actual life also. As an actress she idolises Naseerudin Shah, as he is one actor who completely starts living into the character he plays. She admires his versatility. Purva has hitched her wagon to a star. The day may not be far when she would make a mark for herself in the world of theatre.

Exhibition and auction

A painting to be auctioned at ‘Indiart’ exhibition, being organised by the International Institute of Fine Arts in London on July 1, 2002.

‘Indiart’, an exhibition and auction of Indian contemporary artists, is to be held in London from July 1, 2002. The International Institute of Fine Arts, India, set up by Satish Kumar Modi is organising this auction and exhibition.

It's an effort to bring together reputable artists including the likes of Manjit Bawa, Akbar Padamsee, Ara, Satish Gujral,

Anjolie Ela Menon, Jaysri Burman, Paresh Maity, Lady Catherine Young, Jitish Kalat, Arpita Singh, Luxma Gaud and Raja.

The main objective of this exhibition is to encourage the contemporary Indian art and young gifted artists beyond boundaries of India. The takings from the sale of the paintings will be utilised for the growth of the institute in Modi Nagar. The event 'Indiart' was successfully organised earlier also, inaugurated by British High Commissioner in India Sir Rob Young. The exhibition has been conceptualized by Ms Meena Hingorani. The paintings exhibited during the Indiart can be viewed on the website www.iifaindia.org

Honest journalism

An exhibition on Mr C.Y. Chintamani based on public records, private papers and contemporary photographs was held at the National Archives of India. An eminent and a shining example of honest journalism, Chirravoori Yajneshwara Chintamani was one of the greatest editors of his time. He was one of those leaders who struggled till their last breath for achieving swaraj.

Born in 1880 at Vijayanagaram in Andhra Pradesh, he was appointed editor of the newspaper ‘'Vizag Spectator’ at the age of 18. From there on began the journey of a selfless patriot, a learned scholar, an active parliamentarian and an upright statesman who rendered an exemplary service to the nation.

In his own words, "We (Liberals) have a straight policy. We are neither apologists nor enemies of the British Government. Our supreme concern is the well-being and advancement of our motherland and we approach every problem from this single point of view…"

His letters and other documents exhibited there, highlight his concern for the masses and the country as a whole. He was deeply motivated to do something substantial for the achievement of independence. In the words of Madan Mohan Malviya, "Chintamani was a genuine patriot, a true nationalist, earnest and sincere and unselfishly devoted to the cause of the motherland. As a publicist, he held a unique position… one of the most prominent and widely esteemed public men.”

The exhibition was a rare insight into the life of a man whose pure contribution to the Indian journalism will serve as a beacon of light for future generations. It was truly a valuable and memorable experience.

Tributes to Guru

The International Melody Foundation and India International Centre organised an evening of Bharatnatyam dance by Ms Rashmi Singh in memory of Padamshree Guru Dandyudapanipillai. The evening had an impressive gathering with Mr Eduardo Faleiro, former External Affairs Minister of India, diplomats from Mauritius, France and Austria leading the guest list.

Mrs Leela Venkatraman, an eminent dance critic began the evening by speaking about the guru and his style of dancing, which has contributed substantially to this art form. She also thanked the International Melody Foundation for organising such events, which made one realise that we Indians are still one people despite the differences.

The evening began with a ‘Thodai Mangalam’, an item in praise of Lord Vishnu. That was followed by ‘Varnam’, which gave the dancer the full scope of showcasing her immense talent as a dancer. All the dance items were choreographed by her Guru Kalyani Shekhar.

Rashmi Singh has from the very beginning followed dancing with a great zeal. She has travelled to places and given scintillating performances both in India and abroad. She has been a part of various dance festivals and received many awards.

The evening had an impressive gathering and there was a long queue of people waiting to get inside long after the programme had begun.

PLAY TIME
Soaps killing our culture

Family dramas can be viewed by the entire family as they cater to all age groups and can be enjoyed together.” These are the views shared by Mr Sneh Sharma and Mr S.P. Verma, two common men of our country. They are not the only ones who share this opinion, there are many more feeling the same way. These dramas are considered to be educative and informative. They educate us about our traditional values and lifestyles. They teach us how to cope with different and difficult situations happening in families and how to live in joint families.

People feel that there has been a dearth of such situations being shown previously, which had made our youngsters unaware of our customs. These dramas are trying to make it up for that lost cause.

Truly said. They are showing us how different ideologies can survive in a family. How sharing and caring people can be, when they live in the joint families. How our traditions and culture are kept alive when people live together and celebrate the different festivals. “We can give our children the right ‘sanskar’ by making them watch these soaps,” says Mr Anil Kumar Raina, a serviceman. “These dramas enable us to learn a kind of understanding that must prevail between the young and the older generation,” says Mrs Renuka Sharma.

But are these shows actually projecting our true heritage and culture? What they are showing to the future generation is deceit, treachery, plots and ploys to malign each other, long and dragging family affairs running into endless episodes and so on. The latest edition to the list is stretching and highlighting in a very ugly way the word, ‘rape’. The whole episode was stretched to such unearthly extent and projected in a way that agitated many people. Mrs Mrinalini Srivastava, a mother of two young children says, “This heinous crime was projected for so long and so much overstretched that every child in every household of any age group is familiar with it. It might not be long when children along with their other games may begin to play rape-rape, as this word has entered into their minds now.”

So much has been written and said of the fact that the cable TV boom has spelt more of disaster rather than good. Every second drama on air has an extra-marital affair, illegitimacy, drugs, alcoholism and what not. Is this our culture? Is this what we are trying to show and teach to our coming generations? There is definitely an acute shortage of good dramas on our networks. The leading producers of our country, who seem to know the pulse of the audience and understand their mindsets more than they do, are cashing on it unendingly.

It is interesting to note that there are very few takers for hardcore suspense and detective serials in our society. Leave aside the foreign networks, which show some good ones, one can hardly find any on the Indian channels. Reality shows like those coming on AXN still catch the attention of a few. “I like these reality shows as they are gripping and make one truly involved in them,” says Mr S.C. Kamboj. But imaginary ones are a rarity. Mr Byomkesh Bakshi can be remembered and so can India’s Most Wanted. But producers still take this territory as dangerous and are not yet ready to explore it. The same goes for the audience too. Maybe, these unending dramas of our supercharged times are here to stay.

Garima Pant