Fireworks!
A heady cocktail of not-so-exorbitant prices and good stuff is encouraging the residents to say it with wine. No wonder, the god’s nectar, wrapped in the moods of celebration, is fast exploding into the party scene as the hot favourite gift in the festive season of 2006, says Saurabh Malik

Cheers! Wine is raising the spirits of the revelers like never before after bursting into the party scene in the festive season of 2006. The fact may hit you with a bang. Like a strong drink that explodes in the head if tossed down hurriedly. But more and more connoisseurs across the city are blasting off into delight after saying bottoms up to wine in the days just before Divali.

Right fellows! You have guessed it right. The god’s nectar is fast finding its way into the hearts, and the houses, of the revelers. Nay, not just for religiously celebrating dine, drink and card parties oh-so-hot these days. But also as a gift wrapped nicely and properly in the moods of celebration! In fact, wine is attaining the status of most-sought-after gift in the city brimming with the devotees of Bacchus.

Soaring spirits

No wonder, the sale of first-class wine is soaring, along with the spirits, like never before. Quoting not just the grapevine, Rajiv Suri — the owner of liquor superstore ‘Spirit’ in Sector 9 — says: The sale has shot up by 200 per cent during the past week or so due to wine’s escalating popularity as a convenient, delightful and explosive gift.

Just in case you are staggering with doubts about the spirited sale of wine in the city, just hop into the bandwagon of merriment and drive down the road meandering its way through revelry for reaching liquor malls and superstores across the city.

You will find eager hands of so many residents automatically picking up, from the glass shelves, dark green bottles of sparkling wine that promise to brighten up not just the air, but also the festive evenings.

Among them is city-based businesswoman Rachna Mehra. Running her own academy ‘The Study’ for training students seeking admissions to schools, Mehra is engrossed in some ‘real’ wine-shopping for friends and family. For, she believes Divali is an occasion to celebrate with more than just crackers.

Flashing an intoxicating smile, she asserts: “And what can be a better way of rejoicing than holding in your merry hands a cup that cheers. Otherwise also, except for good smooth wine there are no new gifts in the market. You still have same old run-off-the-mill cookies, cakes and chocolate boxes, besides paintings, decoration pieces, cut glasses, dry fruits and flower vases.”

One for the family

Fellows, you too can take home some vintage, dry or sweet wine in gift-wrappers especially designed for the occasion. Or else, in alluring bottle holders carved out of stainless steel brought specially for you all the way from Delhi and other places. The market is flooded with it.

This is not the end of the invigorating wine shopping spree. Dealers across the city are offering, on silver platters, special sets of wine packed with almonds and pistachios. You can even buy wines packed with imported chocolates. The stuff can be yours by simply pulling out something like Rs 1100 from your wallet. Certainly not expensive compared to some other routine gifts!

Raising a toast to the stimulating trend, connoisseur of good times ex-Captain Rajneesh Talwar — running a card and gift shop on the Panjab University campus — says: “The spirits may be soaring, but the prices of wine have cheerfully gone down over the past six or seven months with the introduction of the license system in the city. It may take you by surprise, but you can actually purchase a bottle of wine that is red for as less as Rs 150”.

And then most residents are convinced of the uncontaminated fact that there is no adulteration in wine. No wonder, they are no more apprehensive in buying quality stuff. “To top it all, you have a heady cocktail of unadulterated environment and refined salespersons in the well-lit stores. All this actually encourages you to buy the stuff in style, smiles Capt Talwar.”

Sounds neat guys! So what are you waiting for! Just get ready for the hangover of festivity and pick up some real good wine, not just for celebrating the festival with a stimulating bang, but also rejoicing the party of life.

Light up your home

It’s that time of the year again when many use it as an excuse to indulge in the annual spring cleaning exercise. Whilst some believe giving a fresh lick of paint is sufficient, rare souls go a step further and actually undertake the process of de-cluttering their house too. Yes, there is indeed no parallel to Dipawali; a festival lights combined with abundance of colour, when every single iota of being around you wears a bright look, all gold silver and brass wares are repolished, when all plugs are pulled to make everything around you look more cheerful.

Put a stone or terracotta lettice work diya holder/shade with a diya lit in the middle. Now draw a rangoli design around it with bright colours and border it off with flowers or petals. Could anything beat the captivating flame spread across the colourful rangoli to welcome your guests?

Suspend flowers garlands or innovatively designed swags wherever you have hooks for chics or hanging baskets. You may use hanging ‘chamukha’ diya holders to light up the darker corners around your house. Use bird baths around your garden to float candles since most of the birds would have scurried away due to the din caused by the crackers anyway!

Create pure fragrant and tranquil magic with plain clear glass bowls half filled with lavender/vanilla/rose essence mixed water with floating candles for company. This simple and virginal design can be used as a massive centre piece, on patio or in doorways to welcome the guests, in its smaller version on dinner tables and on the consoles.

Let’s create a cozy seating cluster in your garden where you can sit and enjoy the evening with your friends and family with a talking point. Stretch plain plum/black satin fabric across your rickety old frame, stick zardosi flowers or paisleys on the corners and now put your mirror back in the frame for a designer look. Now put this at low height and dot it with earthern diyas and strew fresh flower petals across it.

Let’s play with the magic of pure warmth of naked flames amalgamated with intoxicating fragrance of the flowers inside too. Dot your house with elegant candelabras. Put fresh/dry flower arrangements in your fireplaces, spread bright table runners across your coffee table and put similar trinkets in odd numbers. Five paper mache trinkets in a corner of coffee table gel with three artefacts in brown natural stone on the side tables.

If possible, reposition furniture around the house to bring a breath of fresh air. If not, then atleast replace the tired cushion covers with fresh ones in festive colours. Alternatively, tie your existing cushions in large sized satin/silk/gotta ribbons. Wrap bright ribbons around the dull photo/mirror frames. Keep a basket of candy to be relished by the young brigade and a huge platter of eatables for all your guests.

You may open these only after all family members have offered their prayers together. Put figurines and deities surrounded by green plants and shrubs at appropriate places such as entrance hall, foyers, underneath the stairs with diyas lit around them. Why not wrap all your gifts and put them in the Pooja Room or underneath terracotta Pooja Hut or even around the figurines of the deities? Light tea candles in glass votives or ‘shama-daan’ to spread colour around.

Courtsey: A.P. Singh Besten & Co

Spirit of North-East

They are constantly evolving and sharing the boundless traditions of theatre with their passion, infusing vitality and transforming the dynamics of performance on stage, all the while keeping the story of the times they live in, alive. In fact, theatre director Kanhailal and his wife, the renowned Manipuri stage actor Sabitri, are what legends are made of.

In the city to conduct a four-day workshop for the students at the Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University, both brought to life the theatrical institutions from the North-East focussing attention, once again, on the country’s rich repertoire in the field of drama by infusing their own special spirit into their work.

While the workshop deals primarily with rebuilding automated actions of the body by bringing it into the stream of consciousness, it aims at “transforming vitality into subtlety to justify the efficacy of the act,” explained Kanhailal. In simple terms, he called it the deconstruction and reconstruction of any action—be it dance, martial arts, yoga—to suit one’s needs, in a style that is free and flowing and unbound by form.

In fact, that is exactly what their form of theatre is. “It is a response, not only to the text but also to the environment in which we live.”

‘Living’ is in Manipur, a state that has been torn asunder by strife and it is in this troubled milieu that they have worked to give an ‘appearance’ to their indigenous culture by reacting to the times. “With a pervading air of terror, of no security of life, there is a need to bring in a sense of alertness to create a sense of perception amongst people,” says Kanhailal.

Here, he speaks at length about the spirit of conviction that he wishes to see in strife-ridden people all around, a spirit that he sees in his wife, Sabitri, who to him epitomises the strong feminine fibre, ‘who has the capability to run with wolves’.

Sabitri joined theatre at the age of six as part of a family tradition that travelled all over performing on stage enacting stories from the epics and folk culture of the region. While this feisty lady speaks only Manipuri, the fire for her craft makes her communicate far more eloquently. “If I know myself completely only then will I be able to convey what I wish to. And language is no the barrier, not being able to use one’s emotions is. Theatre is the teacher, not the language,” she says.

That, really, is the essence of these two theatre greats, ‘A celebration of emotions and not acting, not words’.

After all as they put it theatre has to be dealt with perceptions, mind, body and heart, and that is what needs to be touched upon to make a lasting impression, “because only then is Kalidas or Shakespeare alive,” laughs Kanhailal. For theatre must have a transcending quality, ‘going beyond our own territories and languages to become a unique sensory experience for all’. — G.R.

Akhir kab tak?
Anuradha Shukla

The question needs to be asked and Rajeev Ved Prakash is ready to do just that. A famous voice for commercials documentaries, trained actor, theatre director who also acted in a movie he is a man of versatile roles. City beckons him time and again not only to see his family but also to give back to the city and Rajeev took the call to do a field show with 250 students of Sacred Heart School and talked about the most pressing of all problems the state is facing- female foeticide and dowry. Children being the most natural actors emoted, acted, and modulated their voices under his direction to voice the agony of a society being eaten up from inside and he is no longer ready to do that and he wants the young minds to question, respond and take action.

Joining hands with Zulfikar and Kapil Kalyan, Rajeev decided in doing it on larger scale and in doing it himself. Theatre he combined with using elements of music, voice modulation, and even voiceovers in a live theatre performance to give it just the perfect touch he wanted from the play, he scripted himself. “My way of expressing is more meditative than anything else and I always feel that it is not me but the force above all else talking through me”.

It was a divine inspiration for the director who gave his own voice to for the message from God Himself. A God who questioned what his own creation the human being was doing to destroy none other than the most pious of all – mother from this earth. The sacred role-played by a woman to nurture God’s own creation. The voice of sanity portrayed as God’s voice is pained at the dead end the mankind is bringing itself to by destroying the mother in the womb.

Rajeev’s expression in the play scripted by him however begins by questioning the all-expansive claws of dowry menace. With weddings reduced to bargaining business the play depicts how the warmth of relationships takes a backseat and mere convenience takes over. The problem snowballs into utter inhuman practice of forcing a mother to kill her daughter. The most touching however was the pledge taken by the 250 young artists in the play not to indulge in the two evils. If the medium is the message, play on director.

Cut for the role

Television actress Sonal Pendse is darling of the television audiences. The pretty actor of the serial Kittu Sab Jaanti Hai is all excited about star studded serial Sati... Satya Ki Shakti. From the shrewd Nandini to the warm hearted Sania, Lifestyle chats with Sonal Pendse, the stunning and talented actress of Sati`85 She talks about this serial that has endowed her with an opportunity to experiment with a character role.

From Nandini in Kittu Sabb Jaanti Hai to Sania in Sati`85Satya Ki Shakti tell us briefly about your journey?

Acting has been my passion since long time. Portraying Nandini’s negative character and now a positive character like Sania in Sati..Satya Ki Shakti has enabled me to prove to the audience my versatility and talent. And also I consider myself lucky that in a short time span I have been blessed with such amazing roles to play.

How was your experience working with Sahara One, that too for the second time?

It was a nice experience working with Sahara One. It always has and it always will be. I enjoy the atmosphere, the friendliness and the surrounding that we are endowed with. I got a call from my agency about acting in this serial with Sahara One and I instantly nodded my head with approval. I knew I would enjoy myself here.

What made you choose character of Sania that you are portraying?

I fell in love with this character after learning about it right away. This was something very different from the usual for me. The complexities of my character were a challenge to me and I was up for it. And I believe I have given my 100 percent.

What sort of homework did you do to depicting this role?

I didn't have to do any special preparation for the role. When I read the script I was so engrossed with the character that I immediately understood Sania's mindset and was eager to play her my way.

What type of expectations do you have from the Indian television audiences? Do you think they will love you in this character as well?

I know that I have worked very hard with complete sincerity in Sati`85. I don't really have any expectation from the audience. I believe that I will get what I deserve and expecting something is not how I am.

Tell us a bit about your upcoming projects. Will we be seeing more of you soon?

I trust in doing good, meaningful roles, thus I am on a look out for them. I have no concrete projects lined up at this moment but I am here to stay.

—D.P

And the winner is...

The St. Johns Old Boys Association (SJOBA) has announced the winners of the SJOBA SMS Treasure Hunt Contest that had the whole town abuzz over the past 15 days. Vivek Sood bagged the first prize of Rs 2,000 with Amit Kapoor settling for the second prize of Rs1,500 and Rajnish Sapra claiming the third prize of Rs 1,000. The Treasure Hunt had an innovative format in which participants were sent a series of clues through SMS and they had to work out the correct answers and SMS them back to SJOBA.

It was a scintillating 15-day journey for the over 200 ‘treasure hunters’ with frantic messages criss-crossing the city asking for help in solving the clues. Wives, friends and relatives were kept on high alert by all participants, as they passed on the clues for external help. There was tremendous camaraderie visible too, as contestants helped each other in getting to the right answer.

The clues had been been formulated with tremendous care by Vivek Bansal and Chitranjan Agarwal and had the grey cells ticking for many a participant. There were gems like Gentlemen, her death was as mysterious as her life - sure shot. All the president’s men said, she was HOT HOT HOT. The hints in this were Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Some like it Hot. These movies of Marylin Monroe were her career best.

According to Vivek Atray, President, SJOBA, “The SMS Treasure Hunt Contest was devised so that we could use the latest technologies to bring in fun and excitement in the busy lives of our members as well as create an opportunity for all of us to interact with each other. We were successful in achieving both objectives and have plans for more such innovative events in the near future.” —TNS 

Famed in

Pumping iron at a gymnasium, he didn’t realise fate had fame in store for him. No, not even when Mohit Bhardwaj’s eyes fell on a poster glued on the gym wall announcing the holding of a contest for selecting the best. For a laugh, he filled up the form. And when he was eventually crowned Mr Chandigarh 2006 in a keen contest held at the Tagore Theatre last week, he just could not believe his luck.

Reposing on a comfortable sofa in his Sector 23 house, Mohit — pursuing a degree in Humanities from Sector 10 DAV College — feels the title has made a mini-celebrity out of him on the college and varsity campuses across the city. “Until the contest, I was just another student. But now, I have so many youngsters seeking tips from me”.

Along with him, Shikha Chaudhary of MCM DAV College was crowned Ms Chandigarh 2006. She too feels the title has given her more than just “good exposure”. It has brought her “name, fame and also a new identity. “After winning the title of Miss PEC Fest 2006, this is the best thing that has happened to me,” she asserts.

But for both, emerging glamorous was not all that easy. To begin with, Mohit had to compete with 17 other contestants, while Shikha had beat as many as 13. The contest started with the traditional-wear round and was followed by the casual-stuff round. In the end, they had to display flair before the footlights in formal wear and had to answer some grueling questions before making it to the top.

Ask them and the two say they have no plans of sashaying down the ramp in the near future. For, both want to concentrate on their studies after leaving ‘things’ to time. “I will surely model if I get some good offers, not otherwise,” says Mohit.

Agreeing with him, Shikha says she too has no immediate plans. “But I am keeping my options open and am waiting for things to happen,” she asserts with a smile. Sounds sensible! That’s, perhaps, the right thing to do.

— Saurabh Malik

Fond memories mark Balraj Pandit’s exit

Balraj Pandit— the name conjured up many fond memories in the minds of his friends and wellwishers, all gathered together to pay tributes and remember a friend who was now on the other side of life. He was Panditji for everyone and so was the memory they had of his bohemian spirit that he lived and his rare versatile talent. He revelled in his mad passion that writing, theatre, music and art was to him. Balraj Pandit who died on the October 13th rekindled the spirit of the times he was a product of the idealistic Sixties. A Flower Child if there ever be one.

The who’s who of the Chandigarh’s theatre world got together to remember thespian Balraj Pandit at the memorial meeting organised by the Chandigarh Sahit Academy. Some did not know him well while others forgot to put flowers in front of his photo but Panditji just seemed to smile away, just the way he did in his breathing life.

M. K. Raina, Panditji’s junior in the NSD days in Delhi, recalled how Panditji took him “under his wings and introduced him to the world of literature, poetry, understanding Delhi and the mischief”, he laughed. Raina remembered how Panditji would mock at the ways of the world with his unmasked vulnerability of an artist.

Kumar Varma, noted theatre director, said, “Panditji was a product of the mid-Sixties, a time of revolutionary zeal a particular cultural climate. The anarchy of those times became inherent in his being and he was untouched, unpolluted in expressing himself the artist who knew anarchy as well. He lived with no mask on and perhaps not understood completely ever perhaps like a Chekhovian character. “

Kalamal Tewari sung the piece Pandit Ji and he had created together Sone de rang di kudi, chandi de rang di kudi, and recounted the freedom he used to give to create in his sensitive manner. “Panditji was ahead of his times and we all knew it he was an immensely talented creator who would say the most sensitive of all truth in his light manner. A rare artist who would thrive in his hardcore honesty,” said Kamal as friends went on pouring their heart out for Panditji. — A.S.

NEW RELEASES
Don descends on Divali

The countdown has begun for exhibitors and viewers who are getting set to usher in the two big Diwali releases Don and Jaan-E-Mann. With the kind of pre-release curiosity both films have generated, it can well create sensation at the box office.

Farhan Akhtar’s Don is definitely the most anticipated film of 2006. It has generated an unprecedented response in the trade circle. The trade has been over the past few days, impatiently monitoring the countdown to release date. Don will be released today at Nirman, Chandigarh and Fun Republic, Manimajra and Suraj, Panchkula.

Curiosity ran high the minute Farhan Akhtar’s Don was announced. Produced by Ritesh Sidhwani, the film has an ensemble cast — Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Arjun Rampal, Isha Kopikar, Kareena Kapoor and Boman Irani.

It is a remake of classic Amitabh Bachchan starrer Don (1978) but Farhan Akhtar’s Don colourful new look and commercial value will make it a prime Diwali attraction in a majority of centres where it will be released.

The promos are very stylish. Some unforgettable music and dialogues from the original are given a new treatment. Music composer trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy has composed highly publicised song Moriya Re…. The Farhan Akhtar’s ‘Don’ has retained three of the original soundtracks from the original work.

New love triangle

Nadiadwalas has been one of the pioneers in entertainers and for its blockbusters on the completion of 50 years in Bollywood, Sajid Nadiadwala after the super duper hit Mujhse Shaadi Karoge is ready to take centrestage with Rs 35 crore romantic comedy Jaan-E-Mann set in USA. The illustrious banner Nadiadwala grandsons makes promising return this Friday with their new offering. Prolific and talented Electronics Engineer turned writer, editor Shirish Kunder directs this love story which stars macho man Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Preeti Zinta alongwith Anupam Kher. Salman Khan, knows for his macho image plays rockstar in Jaan-E-Mann and a woman too. This one is Salman’s fifth movie and Akshay’s third with Sajid Nadiadwala. The movie opens today at Batra Chandigarh, Fun Republic, Manimajra and K.C. Panchkula. Gulzar has penned the lyrics for Anu Malik.

— D.P.

Artistic debut

They look barely out of school, but their art speaks a language, which is mature beyond years. But then when did art have anything to do with age? The feeling reinforces itself as you take a look around the IndusInd Bank Art Gallery, escorted by two young artists, Akanksha Ghai and Shivika Bansal, both third-year painting students of the Government College of Art, Chandigarh.

Akanksha, picking up inspiration from nature, relates nature with life. Her Fragrance, Silent Whisper, Blooming Flowers, Visual Treat are indeed a treat to the eye. She is all for figurative work, but gives a depth to her paintings by using different shades of the same colour.

Shivika, on the other hand, uses a little abstraction to give shape to her thought, which is again based on nature. The Morning Glory I and II, Dusk, The Third Eye, Inner Wounds and Between Thoughts and Forms are aesthetically pleasing and gives food for thought. A touch of surrealism comes in her paintings come from the flame technique, which is done by spreading colours by holding it above a burning candle.

First-ever exhibition for both of them and guess what, they completed their 22 works just in two months. So shall we say that age does have an advantage after all! For the freshness and enthusiasm remains unparallel when you are young.

—Parbina Rashid

Miniature magic

Sitting in yogic poses with handmade paper along with vegetable and mineral colours, seven master craftsmen, and some of their students, have been creating exquisite paintings for a week preceding the festival of Divali, at Kalagram in an effort by the North Zone Cultural Centre (NZCC) to renew a glorious tradition.

Jaswinder Jassi of NZCC says: “This camp will be an annual event and we are also offering studio space and stipends to students working in this technique.” Good beginning, indeed. This technique of detailed work in small format flourished in medieval India under royal patronage and Indian miniatures find a place of pride in museums all over the world. The technique was initially used for illustrating manuscripts and later it learnt to stand alone on its own merit. The miniature tradition goes back at least to the 11th Century. Later the Mughal influence though their style was of Mughal court style, yet the painters by the 17th century settled for traditional idioms and regional elements. Different regions in the country developed their own distinctive style and these paintings preserve the cultural traditions of the era. The most well known schools were Pahari, Moghul, Deccan and Rajasthan.

Sun and sand

From the temple within
Gayatri Rajwade

With self-realisation as a goal, art is the medium of discovery but in a manner that is abundant and unconstrained and it is this ‘intoxication within art’ that city-based artist Desh Ranjan Sharma explores unfettered in his exhibition ‘Apotheosis of Artistic Freedom’ at the Museum of Fine Arts, Panjab University.

As many as 33 paintings and several sculptures and installations are his sub-conscious play with a plethora of mediums and forms leads to evocative works of art compelling the observer into letting the imagination soar, thinking, believing and sensing.

For, is not art, a sense of the boundless energy around us, asks Sharma. “When people tell me they visit temples to find God, I tell them I see that higher energy within everything around us. The temple is everywhere we turn to look especially within us,” he says earnestly.

Indeed, his inspiration comes from the seeds in the ground to the open skies above with birds as the recurring metaphor symbolising free spirit, through a largely muted yet dignified palette.

However, the one exception is the energetic work in papier-mâché, where ‘Involution’ charms for evoking the cycle of life, while Life Unfolding stands out for its detailed relief work.

This ‘collection’ built over three years is actually a wonderful insight into the growth of the artist himself through the abundance of mediums he explores.

While papier-mâché combines with sawdust and oils, Sharma’s oils on paper stand out for the remarkable textures he achieves. So Different with its geometric patterns point towards a harmony even in chaos and A moment: tantric view’ looks at the process of reaching that perfect point of energy through colours.

But it is his Freedom Song series that really stand out. In gentle, earthy tone with feminine forms that are skilfully rendered, the ‘female protagonists’ are all depicted with birds, reaching out to the observer in their yearning for liberation, not of body so much as the imagination.

The water-colours on the other hand depict an artistic process, something Sharma talks about at length. Untrained formally as he is, “these paintings are not my work alone because nature plays a vital role in the way the water meanders over the paper. I am simply touching it a little, the rest it does on its own,” he smiles.

In fact this lyrical aspect is evident even in the installation and sculptures, from Seeds of Life in cement and stone enfolding within it the magic and mystery of life to the Baggage of a Poetess detailing the ‘baggage’ all of us carry around in our minds to the Descent to the Origin to Super Editing “nature’s edit of life,” to his unusual paintings using clay, Sharma’s ideas and forms come alive compelling the observers to contemplate and imagine, something he insists, all of us have forgotten to do.

Do check this ‘thinking’ exhibition” out at the Museum of Fine Arts, Panjab University from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Brand time in city

Surindra Radios in Sector 22 emerges in a brand new avatar this festive season. The showroom which opened way back in 1979 by Sardar Surinder Singh has seen a plethora of brands come under its wings in its 27 year journey.

Today it is the new-fangled Samsung Digital Plaza with all the latest Samsung gizmos on display.