Printmaking comes of age
Tribune news Service

Chandigarh, January 11
The moment you enter the world of prints conceived and created by Nirmal Prakash, you realise that printmaking has come of age. Stretched before the eyes is a whole new experience in artistry. The artist is a professor at the local Government College of Art in Sector 10.

Known for his ability to handle the medium, Nirmal Prakash is currently showing at Art Folio in Sector 9. As always, he has something fresh to offer in comparison with his last show. He has returned after exhibiting the same collection at Bajaj Art Gallery in Mumbai. Now he is exhibiting the same works in the city.

Breaking away from the normal display technique, Nirmal weaves a different tapestry altogether. He offers works all possible mediums, right from etching, woodcut, to litho and serigraph. There are 20 works on display, each making a powerful artistic statement. The exhibition will remain till January 15.

Boys, too, take to knitting needles
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, January 11
At least 200 children, including 100 boys, took part in “Aao Bune” knitting contest organised by Vardhaman Spinning and General Mill at Guru Nanak Public School in Sector 36 here today. The main objective of the contest was to revive and promote hand-knitting among the masses, specially among children.

The contests, which are being organised in five states, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Uttaranchal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, are being divided in three parts — Intra-school, zonal inter-school level and state level. Students from Class VI to Class XI are eligible for the contest.

“Today’s contest was a unique as 50 per cent of the participants were boys,” said Mr Naresh Goswami, Director, Zoom Media Vision, which is managing the event. During the contest, the students were given freedom to knit a pattern of choice on the spot.

Following are the students whose designs were selected today — Jasmeet Kaur, Azdeep Kaur, Avneet Kaur, Eshna, Jasmine, Payal, Karanbir Kaur, Gagandeep Kaur, Sangeet Saini, Neeru, Manjot Kaur and Swati Jaret.

COURTS

N.K. JAIN CASE
Victim’s plea dismissed
Our Correspondent

Claiming that the police had no right to decline the plea moved by N.K. Jain for the identification parade, the defence counsel argued that there was an urgent need for the same as the victim had already stated in a plea filed in a local court that she did not know N.K. Jain. Earlier, the UT police had opposed the request moved by Jain in a reply filed in a local court. The police had stated that the accused had no locus standi in moving the application for the identification parade. The police stated that the accused had no right to direct the course of investigation since the same has been completed. Hence, was no need for an identification parade at this stage.

Notice on contempt proceedings
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, January 11
Acting on a suit for mandatory injunction for initiating contempt proceedings, the court of Mr P.K. Yadav, Civil Judge, Junior Division, Panchkula, today issued a notice to five persons, including the Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner, Agriculture and Cane Commissioner, Haryana.

The notice has been issued to Mr H.C. Disodhia Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner, Department of Agriculture, Haryana, Mr Hardeep Kumar, Cane Commissioner, Haryana, Mr Maheshwar Sharma, SDO(c) Ambala, Mr Baldev Singh Kang, MD of Naraingarh Sugar Mill, Mr Hem Raj, General Manager, Naraingarh Sugar Mill, for March 21.

The plaintiffs Gurnam Singh and Ram Karan — both residents of Ambala — had moved an application before the court for not complying with the directions of the court dated October 4, 2002. This suit was filed before the court for mandatory injunction, directing respondents to comply with the provisions of Punjab Sugar Cane ( Regulation) of Purchase and Supply Rules, 1992, for directing defendents to make payment of sugarcane price of the outgoing crusher season of 2001-2002 along with statutory interest of 15 per cent per annum on the amount paid.

Hearing put off
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 11
Taking up a petition filed by a candidate for Panchkula's Municipal Council elections, a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has fixed January 13 as the next date of hearing in the case. The court, on January 8, had directed the production of the relevant record.

CULTURE

Breaking barriers to unite styles
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 11
Alliance Francaise Art Gallery, Sector 36, yesterday opened to the group show of four artists of repute — Prem Singh, with his ever expanding world of colours and forms, S.K. Sahni with the magical bearing of his straight lines, Jivan Adalja with the sombre effect of sorrowful eyes and K. Damodaran with the delightful expression of amalgamation arrived by mixing colours.

The sixth in the line of group shows being put up by the four artists, who have, over the past decade, developed an affinity of sorts, the exhibition serves a significant purpose. Although styles remain unique, once again confirming that art, like signature, is exclusive to every artist, the participants are able to merge their creative impulses somewhere along the line. So even when the amalgamated works of K Damodaran stand distinctly of the brilliant lines of S.K. Sahni, some elements of art rise beyond the four walls of the canvas and talk in the language of harmony.

In the backdrop of individualistic styles, the art works exhibit a magical coherence, which perhaps emerges from the Indian-ness which the artists share without exsection. Otherwise they come from different regions, which have been governed by different artistic sensibilities and influences.

The works of Prem Singh are as soothing and experimentative as ever. Nature rests in the nucleus of his creations, feeding and blessing his artistic prowess. Jivan Adalja keeps up his romance with dolorous eyes, which stare at you from nowhere...somewhere...anywhere. His works are highly figurative and seem to derive form from the suffering multitudes.

In contrast, K. Damodaran celebrates life with colours. He matches and mixes colours and forms and leaves the final decision to the canvas. His images seem to have been born more out of the anatomy of the canvas and less out of his own consciousness as an artist.

Sahni's works are amazingly cast on to the white canvas. His lines fill the dead layers of white with such loveliness that the visitor cannot help getting drawn into his geometrical world which offers a reason to rejoice, irrespective of the form it takes.

The show can be viewed between 9 am and 7 pm.

Packaging dreams into reality
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, Jan 11
Marriages may have been made in heaven but they are, after all, consummated on earth. Insofar as God leaves the preparation of weddings to humans, they are bound to make its celebration heavenly. In fact, the urge to make the marriage work runs so strong among the families of prospective brides and grooms that they just won’t compromise on any aspect concerning the wedding.

Vivah 2003 offers space to such aspirations of people. Where on the one hand is a full-fledged team of product makers who promise a dream wedding and on the other stand those who translate dreams into reality. Planning a wedding is challenging indeed, but packaging the contents of this plan is even more challenging. In the latter part of the show, the professional trousseau packagers step in to ensure that when the daughter of the house enters another world, the gifts she carries as tokens of love from her parents serve to underline her worth as a woman. Taking the shape of an industry, trousseau packaging is now another area of concern for players in the glamorous world of weddings.

Attending Vivah 2003 at Shivalik View are a whole set of professionals who understand the need behind offering the best giftware to the bride and groom and packing it to enhance their social status. In the category of giftware, the suppliers are many, the most renowned being D’Mart Exclusif, which presents glittering choices of gifts, right from 92.5 sterling sliver statues, time pieces and Ganesha masks to vases, jewellery boxes and photo frames from Marcello Georgia and Ottaviani, Italy.

Diviniti, the respected brand in gold plated giftware is another player offering special gifts for various occasions that mark the wedding. N.K Taneja of Diviniti is showcasing car frames of gods and goddesses, tabletops, key chains all in Swiss made 24 carat gold plated foils. Another interesting counter is held by Ambiente, which allows great choice in crystal and tableware, section. Jayco Diagold focuses on watches of all descriptions and styles, also showcasing smart sets of timepieces.

Where gifts form one part of the show, gift packaging forms another crucial part. Mentions Mr. Rao of D’ Mart Exclusif, “The presentation of gifts can make all the difference. You can make an expensive gift look like a routine offering and make an inexpensive presentation worthy of lakhs. The current age is the age of packaging.” Cashing on consumerism, the trousseau packing industry has grown tremendously over the past three years. Currently it commands a market of not less than a hundred crore. Here attention is paid to the packaging of trousseau comprising clothing and other personal possessions of the bride, as also gifts for her in-laws.

Trends in this industry are vast. In place of paper, the professionals are using expensive fabrics like satin, tissue, jamawar, brocade, silk and zari. Theme packing is another rage. You can get the trousseau packed in a Punjabi, Gujarati or Goan theme. Vivah 2003 offers glimpses from the world of these themes. A Punjabi theme depends on the use of gota and a Goan theme draws charms from colourful ribbons.

Informs Deepika Kalia of RDI Concepts: “We offer packages for everything from clothing, to giftware and even sweets which the bride carries. Extra effort is made to pack the gifts meant for bride’s in-laws’ so that she maintains her mark of respect in the new family.” Deepika works with Renu Panday and Indu Kalia, who specialize in trousseau packing concepts. Ranjana Surekha of Anima’s Creation and Malvika Kapoor of Celebrations also command respect in this industry.

Film Review 
Om Puri stands out
Sanjeev Singh Bariana

“Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahin Dekha Hai” (Jagat and Suraj, Panchkula) is a decent romantic comedy, a genre that is normally not tried in Indian cinema.

Although not a direct copy, but the film has the story idea borrowed from ‘Father of the Bride’, a famous Hollywood film which had an over-protective father trying to woo away his daughter from her genuine lover.

Om Puri in the role of an over-protective father is impressive and is ably supported by Farida Jalal who is Puri’s sister. Farida is a supporter of the daughter and her lover. The Priyanshu Chaterjee Sakshi Shivanand pair is the centre of the progress of action. Chaterjee who has established himself as one of the leading ramp models in the country’s fashion stage needs to add arrows of different human moods to make his screen-personality quiver more strongly. He has to learn that the face needs to be more relaxed and more easily manoeuverable to suit requirements of cinema acting. Sakshi has given an impressive performance.

Puri is most of the time trying to impress his daughter and family relations to shy away from the ‘smart lad’ and not support the bond that she has developed with Chaterjee. He fails in the progress of action and also predictably in the end, she falls for Chaterjee who is actually an undercover cop on his mission in Canada trying to win back his job after he was suspended in India. An underworld operator had escaped from his custody.

The cast also includes Manoj Pahwa, Arundhati, Navneet Nishan, Virender Saxena and Sajeel.

Shashank Dabral is the story writer; Remo is the choreographer; and Ratna Sinha is the executive producer. Anubhav Sinha and Bhushan Kumar are the producers. Anubhav has also donned the director’s role and deserves credit in streamlining the pace of action. He has also written the dialogues.

One aspect in which the film stands out in quality is the photography by Vijay Arora. He has captured the beauty of human drama in complimentary settings.

The lyricists include Sameer, Nitin Raikwar, Rajan Raj and late Anand bakshi. The songs could definitely have been reduced because they are speed breakers in progress of action. The Nikhil-Vinay pair has lent the music.

Painting on rice grain
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, January 11
Figures of dancing girls to landscapes — nothing unusual about the themes but it is the technique that attracts your attention. Painted on rice grains or needle tips, the miniature paintings are almost invisible to the naked eyes. But as you peer through the huge magnifying glasses, the beauty of this world comes alive. Minute they may be, but definitely complete with bold defined lines and splashes of colours.

Created by Jagdish Kumar, the exhibition at IndusInd Art Gallery in Sector 8, has brought forth about 50 such paintings that ranges from a figure of a woman on human hair to the world map on a mustard seed or portrait of Jesus Christ on the needle tip. The artist has also captured giant Titanic sinking in Atlantic and a scene from the Chandigarh Secretariat. Not only that, the artist has also embedded inscriptions from different holy books besides writing the names of Sikh gurus on a single rice grain.

The exhibition has been extended till January 20. It was earlier inaugurated by a renowned artist, Harsh Vardhan Sharma.