Bhavan Vidyalaya kids enthral audience
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, August 10
Tiny tots of Bhavan Vidyalaya celebrated a “Songs & Rhymes Day” here today.

Students of nursery and K.G. classes presented a scintillating show at the school auditorium. Beginning with the lighting of the lamp, the programme took off with dancing dolls welcoming the guests with flowers.

The rhyme “instant coffee, instant tea” brought to light the innocence of kids. While the importance of dignity of labour was depicted in ‘Time to be happy’, the sense of true patriotism was displayed in song and action sequence ‘Suno gaur se duniya walo, Hum hai Hindustani’.

The programme concluded with a foot-tapping number that won the hearts of the audience.

In pursuit of perfection
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 10
She can talk of the deepest emotions with adorable ease. Perhaps this is just one of the many elements Meghna Gulzar inherits from her father, who writes of life as if he had engendered it. Having grown under the shadow of living legends in Gulzar and Rakhee, Meghna is now learning to grow out of their moulds. With her first film “Filhaal”, she has already made a highly individualistic statement.

And although you cannot dismiss Gulzar’s presence in “Filhaal”, there is something surely distinctive about the film, which talks of issues non-conformist enough to raise eyebrows. But for Meghna, the film was a celebration, not just of her creative potential but of life itself. As she said today, after inaugurating Glich, a leather store in Sector 9, “Instincts are very important to me. I write my own scripts and it takes ages before I can actually reach the standards I set for myself. It has been eight months since “Filhaal” released. I have dismissed four stories ever since. I have this urge to meet perfection.”

Born of Gulzar as she is, perfectionism is only natural. But strangely, Meghna even dared to dismiss some of Gulzar’s lyrics. Finally, however, she loved the title song of “Filhaal”, which, she thinks, contains the crux of life. “I, however, never advocate the “live in the moment” fashion of life. I believe in living every moment to the fullest as if it were the last. That is what I have portrayed in Filhaal.”

And never mind the fancies of a conformist world which expects cinema to entertain more than do anything else, Meghna is in love with her creation. “The most fascinating moment was the one in which I saw on the screen a live portrayal of a scene I wrote. A lot of heart had gone into writing. When my characters did justice to my feelings, I was overwhelmed,” said Meghna, who, as a filmmaker, attaches more priority to her creativity than to viewers’ demand. “I don’t ignore the audience but I also don’t let it dictate my originality. I try to state a truth, which is the real purpose of cinema. I just cannot be lying to my sensibilities.”

Known to be a hard task master, Meghna, alias Boski, (that is also what her mother calls her), Meghna hates to fool around on her sets. “It is not that we are into some kind of rigid discipline, but we are honest to the cause we are living. That is what happened while shooting “Filhaal”. We had a world of fun and a world of satisfaction simultaneously. I allowed my actors ample scope for improvising within the frame of the film,” said the budding filmmaker, who has a degree in film making from a New York University.

For Meghna, films are a medium for grasping the bitter-sweet facts of life. “There is so much you learn while you are at a film. It is an amazing medium which can absorb all your musings and help you relate with life, understand it better. I am an instinctive filmmaker. I don’t proceed with pre-conceived notions, nor do I think there is a set formula for the success of any film.”

Meghna is ready to enter the commercial world, provided it welcomes her with open arms. “The first script I wrote is a comedy, which is waiting to be made. Anything I do must inspire me enough. Tomorrow I may make a film on animals if the theme drives me hard enough. Hence the need to present complex emotions in an effortless frame,” says the vibrant filmmaker.

Dance contest
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, August 10
As many as 50 participants took part in a dance contest organised by the Chandigarh Institute of Performing Arts at the Lake Club here today. The contest was open to all categories — folk to classical to modern film-based to western dance numbers.

The event was conducted under four different groups, group A for children of 5 to 10 years, group B for participants of 11 to 15 years, group C for 16 years and above, while group D was open for dance groups.

The Chandigarh Institute of Performing Arts also honoured four persons for their contribution in different fields of performing art and social work.

FILM REVIEW
One more love triangle
Sanjeev Singh Bariana

‘Mujhse dosti karoge’ (Piccadily and KC, Panchkula) is a new attempt at an old story with hardly any enduring elements or class in a presentation. Yash Chopra is an established name in a whole genre of love stories which have become synonymous with his name. The attempt, however, is too feeble and the initial draw of crowds it is attracting based on the promise of guaranteed quality is likely to peter out.

The saving grace of the plot is the simplicity in screen rendering matched ably by a good performance by Rani Mukherjee. Kareena Kapoor in an impish character performs well. Hrithik Roshan seems to loose out to a miniscule appearance by Udai Chopra. Hrithik’s character needed more polish. The locales of London are suitably contrasted with a hamlet in Himachal Pradesh. The story centres round a love triangle involving Hrithik, Kareena and Rani.

Hrithik migrates to London with his parents. He adores Kareena and would like to keep in touch with her through Internet. Kareena, however, is not fond of Internet. Nor does she make any attempt to reach out to Hrithik. Rani corresponds with Hrithik for 15 years using Kareena’s name. Hrithik announces his plan to come to India for a fortnight. He lands and pronounces his love for Kareena.

She, too, falls for him. Later, however, Hrithik realises that the mail that he read and remembered for 15 years was Rani’s and it was she who was fond of her all these years. He too announces her love for Rani and both decide to get married. When they land in India they discover that Kareena’s father has expired and she is left with no one except Hrithik to depend on and the family announces their wedding,

Rahul Sharma, son of santoor maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, has announced his arrival in Bollywood. He has lent music to the lyrics of the late Anand Bakshi. Ahmed Khan has done choreography for the film directed by Kunal Kohli.

‘Chhal’(Batra) is a fast-paced action thriller that has attempted innovations in the screen portrayal of characters as well as situations. The film, however, is not for the masses, It is unlikely to elicit any major response from the critics as well. The ‘ difference’ is a challenge the movie faces.

The novelty of the script lies in careful handling of the underworld settings and dialogues. Kay Kay and Prasanth have performed creditably and are ably supported by Jaya Seal.

The film is the story of an underworld police agent who mixes with the underworld mafia to expose the links and works. He wins the trust of the local mafia leader and falls in love with his sister. Intrigue and mercilessness of the underworld are the main planks of the presentation.

Hansal Mehta in the directorial seat has done a good job for the producers, including Uday Shah, Nitin Patil and Umesh Bagul. Amitabh Verma has penned the lyrics for Viju Shah. Neelabh Kaul has done cinematography for the story by Suparn Kaushal.