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Lotuses & laments
"The codes of Indian aesthetics are not limited to a particular discipline but profusely strewn all over our cultural heritage dating back to the prehistoric period and the vedic age to the modern era. Its exploration, as such, is not only timeless but endless too," says, the queen of Indian classical dance, Padma Vibhushan Sonal Mansingh.
Known for her proficiency in all genres of Indian classical dance forms, a rare accomplishment, she maintains that Bharatnatyam and Odissi are more close to her heart. Credited with incredible classical dance compositions, Sonal has been performing extensively in India and the West for the past 50 years. Rightfully honoured with many prestigious international awards, she was decorated with the second highest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan in 2003. Her father and mentor Mangal Das Pakwas, a former Governor of Maharashtra, initiated her into dance under the tutelage of guru U.S. Krishna Rao. In the city for directing and presenting a choreography titled Lotus of Creativity on October 19 at the ongoing Poompahar festival, Sonal shares her views on the contemporary classical music and dance scenario, the privileges and prejudices in these two areas of the arts. Though Indian classical dance and music are reigning supreme in the world, with both the art and artists flourishing, all is not well for classical dancers back home, she laments. The music maestros have been better placed than the dancers after Pandit Ravi Shankar, the sitar wizard, won laurels in the West for his performance and fusion concerts. The popularity for him and other musicians touched new heights abroad and in India, with offers for composing film music too pouring in. Music maestros Pandit Ravi Shankar, Hari Parsad Chaurasia, Shiv Kumar Sharma and others have been making music for films too. Besides with the advent audio cassettes and CDs they can reach out to the masses. “But classical dancing being a purely a visual art has its limitations, especially since its practitioners religiously stick to its pristine spirituality, treating dance as a form of worship,” she says. Citing many examples of disparity by Bollywood, she says that only the professional classical dancers are invited to perform in films in foreign countries, while in India the heroines, irrespective of their competence, are preferred for the job. Today, with all its little merits and glaring demerits, the TV channels rule the roost with commercial TRPs as their sole aim. Unfortunately, Generation Next is led to believe that Indian dances are nothing beyond what is projected in Nach Baliye, Mahi Ve, Jhalak Dikhla Ja, et al. The government must, at least, come out with a national cultural policy if proper patronage to the classical arts is not viable, says the maestro. " I had taken up the cause of creating awareness and disseminating our rich cultural heritage among the youngsters much before the SPIC-Macay took to this noble venture," claims the Bharatnatyam icon. " My disciples Swati Gupte Bhise (New York), Scientist Meera Krishna ( Seattle), Pallavi Saran, Santanu Chakraborty and others are committed to propagating our rich craft in the world, " she says with pride. Not averse to fusion with the western dance tradition, which has mechanical virtuosity, she, however, prefers the fusion of Indian dance forms which are endowed with emotional appeal and rasa in abundance. lifestyle@tribunemail.com |
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Green against red
We had written about this young doctor Gaurav Chhabra when his short films Mudcake and Taste of Berry made news. He had sidelined his medical profession to attend to his true calling - environment activism, for which he has coined a new terminology — video activism. And the subject he has picked this time is a heritage pond in Sector 26.
A 50-minute film shot with his handycam, Green Warriors is not just about this 225-year-old pond and its biodiversity, but it raises important questions on green policies, taking the Administration's decision to construct the Civil Servant Officers Institute in the area as a peg. "Only a few people know about this pond. We came to know about its existence only when S.K. Sharma of the Environmental Society of India revived it, which was used as a dumping ground till then," says Gaurav, who is heaving a sigh of relief after seven months of hard work on this film. "Not that my job is over yet. As I told you before, this film is an example of video activism which means generating awareness and then taking the movement further," he says. And his plan includes showing this film in city schools and getting students involved. "The place has been earmarked for Civil Services Officers Institute, due to which this heritage village pond will become a restricted area. My film is the voice of green against red, to preserve this natural heritage and many such places which might fall prey to the rapid urbanisation and developmental politics," says Gaurav. The fact that the 38-year-old nursery, which was once a pride and joy of the city, has already been shut down by the Administration alarms this eco-lover. "I am doing what I think is my social responsibility. Now, it is up to you all to carry forward this movement," says Gaurav. From the way things are moving, looks like this doctor has already made an impact. Students of the Government College of Art are already planning an exhibition of photography on the subject. Well, when art comes with such a strong conscience, who will not be moved? Green Warriors will be shown at Punjab Kala Bhavan -16 on Saturday. parbina@tribunemail.com |
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All set for Mahindra's Great Escape
Want to get dirty in the slush, and enjoy it as well. So, here is your chance to do so. Mahindra & Mahindra organises the 46-leg Mahindra Great Escape in the city on October 19 from Lake Club. The event offers a perfect terrain to challenge Mahindra enthusiasts in the northern region. The Great Escape is a non-competitive adventure rally, which promises an action-packed offbeat rally.
The national Great Escape is traditionally held in Rajasthan, where it has managed to fetch tremendous response. In order to enable off-road enthusiasts across India, Mahindra has been organising the Great Escapes at the regional levels as well. TAKE OFF 7:00 - 8:00 am Breakfast 8:00- 8:15 am Briefing about the rally 8:30 am Flag-off for The Great Escape 1:00 pm Return to the flag-off point 1:30 - 3:00 pm lunch |
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Vanity vistas
Vanity Fair —A Winter's Tale is here to welcome the festive season again at Whispering Willows.
There will be over 100 stalls and 20 in the Willow Bazaar from all over across the country.
The Diwali special stall will have designer candles , wrappings, chocolates, diyas and bric a brac for gifting. There will be an open-air cafe with beer & barbeque, sandwiches, pizzas, biryanis and desserts by the poolside with soulful music.—TNS |
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Goa to Guwahati
Guwahati will host the International Film Festival for documentary, short and animation films for the first time.
It will be organised jointly by the Films Division, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Assam State Film (Finance & Development) Corporation Limited (ASFFDC). Addressing a press conference, Kuldeep Sinha, Chief Producer, Films Division said, India would have its own ‘Museum of Moving Images’ very soon in Mumbai. ‘’It will not only be an archive of films of the bygone era but also of its manuscripts, music, costume, set designs and other parephenlia,’’ he added. Earlier briefing mediapersons Joshy Joseph, Director, Films Division, said, ‘’The package includes 14 selected Award Winning Films of Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF)-2004, 2006 and 2008. ‘’We also have 35 best of Films Division Documentary and Animation films and films from Assam for screening in the festival,’’ he informed. On behalf of the Films Division, Sinha asked the filmi makers of North East to participate in the forthcoming MIFF. The North-East had a large presence in
last MIFF. |
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Mumbai Meri Jaan
Mumbaikars will get to savour the best of Asian cinema, including from Mongolia, with an eight-day-long film festival in Mumbai that kicked off on Thursday evening. Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, inaugurated the seventh edition of the Asian Film Festival. The festival will showcase 80 films from 20 countries of Asia as well as from Palestine
and Egypt.
Speaking on the occasion, Deshmukh highlighted Mumbai as a destination for the Asian filmmakers and urged them to explore the city for their cinematic ventures. “Mumbai has emerged in the forefront in providing the basic infrastructure for filmmakers as the studios, locations and other necessary things for filmmaking have evolved massively over a period of time. Hence, I request all the filmmakers across Asia to explore the city,” said Deshmukh. He said films had evolved greatly over a period of time as the gap between offbeat and commercial films have decreased. Citing examples he said: “Non-commercial movies like Mumbai Meri Jaan, A Wednesday, Welcome To Sajjanpur, Chak De India and many more have been successful in the recent past which shows audiences’ liking for these type of non-commercial movies.” Deshmukh even promised the organisers of the festival - The Asian Film Foundation and The Enlighten Society - of The festival has two competition sections - the best debutant directors and the best fiction films, which will be judged by a panel comprising national and international filmmakers. During the inaugural function, Korean director Park Kwang Su was honoured with the Asian Film Culture Award, while P.K. Nair, former director of National Film Archives, received the Satyajit Ray Memorial Award. Chinese film Tuya’s Marriage directed by Wang Quan’an was screened as the opening film. |
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Adnan in Britain
Musician-singer Adnan Sami returns to Britain after three years and promises to wow Londoners this weekend when he performs with his full live orchestra on October 18 and 19. He will be accompanied by co-artists Monali Thakur, who came ninth in Indian Idol 2 and Indian playback singer Javed Ali, who has shot to fame in 2007 when he sang Ek Din Teri Raahon Mein from the movie Naqaab.
The show will also host eight other professional Bollywood dancers who will be dazzling the audience with their fantastic moves, according to Asian News.
Adnan developed his musical style and technique on the piano and evolved a new sound which he pioneered and ultimately introduced to the world. He is also popularly referred to as the fastest keyboard player in the world. |
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Rahman goes the reality way
The reality show, which is slate to provide ethnic and contemporary musicians a credible platform, will be telecast on Doordarshan, the national television channel, after mid-November. “Like the success of Rabi and other albums there is a huge audience waiting for this kind of music. And we are doing it in bits and pieces. We decided to launch this massive hunt to get the whole of country and South Asia to get to know the potential of this music. It is unique and never done in history”, said K. R. Harish, Managing Director of Phat Phish. “This show will be based on an indigenous format. It will provide a platform for nurturing and building musical talent across languages and the broad genres. We have seen so many shows in every channel and what makes this different is that we come up with the idea of discovering brands in the country. There are other countries involved as well that make it all the more exciting,” said A. R. Rahman. “What makes this different are the bands from all over India and outside India and there is also a possibility of cross cultural exchange. India is the young nation. So this is the right time to see,” added A. R. Rahman, music director. This show will be presented as a travelogue through A R Rahman’s eyes as his journey across 15 cities of India in course of the hunting the talent for The Big Band. This show would be telecast in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia and is open to participation from these countries. To participate in ‘The Big Band’, bands must have between 2 to 10 band members with at least one lead singer. They must submit three tunes. Short listed bands will be invited to the first stage audition where they will be asked to perform any of the three pieces that the judges ask them to play. The winning band in the talent hunt show will get a three-year recording contract with Phat Phish Records which includes end-to-end artist management , upto 3 albums and 6 music videos, tours and concerts on the national and international stage. The top bands will walk away with prizes (including cash) worth rupees 10 million awarded proportionately through a ‘pyramid’ structure. For information on rules and requirements for participation in the contest , the band groups can log on to www.bigbandindia.com. The hunt for the talented band members has already commenced and the last date for screening of entrants’ list is November 15. |
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Cause and applause
Glamour spelled Deepika Padukone who appeared on the ramp in a pure white ensemble from Shantanu-Nikhil’s Spring-Summer 2009 collection, depicting the extremely cold climate of Ladakh. All the whites from the collection had faces of Ladakh’s natives printed on them. Taking inspiration from nature in its purest and harshest form, the colours chosen were ash and cement grey beside pristine blue and the ensembles were all hand-woven. ‘’Nothing is machine-made here,’’ Shantanu told mediapersons. Two ensembles stood out. The one was a shirt for men, which appeared more like a top with embedded layers like those of a shawl worn over a cardigan, which actually gave a combination of both to the dress. The other was titled the womb - a cocoon kind of silhouette made of silk oraganza. Shantanu said. When pointed out that the collection contrarily appeared to be mainly western with its gowns and tunics, Nikhil defended his work by saying, “Indianness doesn’t just mean embroidery. It’s also about fabrics. And we’ve made our own fabrics.’’ Well, inspired by the noble cause of breast cancer awareness, Falguni and Shane Peacock’s Spring-Summer 2009 collection was unarguably the most glamourous and by far, the best show at the India Fashion Week. Sexy Bollywood actress Sameera Reddy appeared in a pink, Victorian gown of silk and Minissha Lamba sizzled in a white ensemble embroidered with semi-precious stones. As if these two bombshells were not enough, the husband-wife designer duo also brought film luminary Sanjay Khan’s daughter and Zayed Khan’s sister Farah Ali Khan for the first time ever on the ramp in a black gown embellished with |
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Kabul express
The baap of all festivals is here and as we gear up for the D-day. Read Diwali, the ongoing CII shopping fest at sector 17 parade grounds gets for you an array of thingamajigs. An annual feature of sorts, it houses the best of brands, so all you have to do is pick and move.
From home décor to festive wardrobe and fashion trends, it is one-stop shop for all your festive shopping. And not to forget is a dash of international touch, brought together with some international things on offing. Love thy neighbour
A treat from Pakistan is on your platter this Diwali. Elegance and style come hand-in-hand with rich Pakistani designer wear. In form of sherwani-cut suits, block printed, hand embriodered formal wear and kurtis there’s lots that you can pick from here. “We have a variety of fabrics like crepe, katandi and crochet suits, embedded with thread and zari stones,” tells Farida Qureshi, designer from Pakistan, who is a regular at Bridal Asia events in Delhi. First time in city with her sister Huma Naveed, who has displayed her label Le Sac, says, “On display from Le Sac are glitzy and trendy ladies shoe wear. And these are something special from Pakistan. The range starts from Rs 2,000 onwards.” Another designer from Pakistan, Rukhsana Abbas, who works under the label Roxanne’s brings a wide range of formal wear. In vibrant hues her designs can sure make you feel greedy for fashion. State of art
The flavour from our own soil also doesn’t fail to impress. Bring home the earthy feel with remarkable terracotta pots and hangings from West Bengal. Now add an extra spark to all this with candles and diyas lighted between the intricately done terracotta lamps and roshandaans. And this ethnic décor will cost you anything between Rs 50 to Rs 300. If this is not your choice than you have sparkling white marble artifacts from Kashmir. From candle stands to wine glasses to small key chains, these come for anything between Rs. 50 to Rs 500. Kabuliwalah
Diwali means lots of crackers, mithai and of course, dry fruits. So gorge in some rich and famous dry fruit delights from Afganistan. These full of flavour anjeers, khurmanis and pistas also make for a perfect Diwali gift and are priced around Rs 700 per kg. And equally tempting are the home décor items from Thailand. Made from shola wood, there are flowers, wall hangings and masks for the festive season. They are priced between Rs 500 to Rs 2,500. lifestyle@tribunemail.com |
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Smiles & tears
The much-hyped 'India Shining' campaign is a thing of the past for many of us, but for Johann Rousselot, a French photojournalist, it stirred up a new project and the end result is here for all of us to see - a series of photographs on display at the gallery of Alliance Francaise de Chandigarh-36 under the banner of India Shining India Crying.
True to the caption, the photographs reflect both aspects of India - prosperous, glittering India where tall buildings, multinational companies dominate showing all the façade of urban life and on the other hand without breaking then line of thoughts, Rousselot captures the other side, where desperation and poverty prevails. His pictures are telling, as it highlights the flip side of industrialisation, depletion of mineral resources and its consequences on the indigenous people. And one cannot help but agree with him, ' the instrument of progress is impatient and greedy. Like a steamroller, this unbridled development ignores the destructive consequences it delivers upon the poor.' — TNS On till October 25 |
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Gypsy beats
Yet another fan of songs from Raj Kapoor’s films, this man firmly believes in communicating in the language of music. This is why though a thorough-bred Frenchman, he can easily comprehend the sentiments behind bhajnas and hymns in praise on Indian deities. Titi Robin, a gypsy guitarist, reaffirms his conviction once again, “I have performed with musicians from all over the world, even from Rajasthan and kawals from Lahore. And though we come from diverse backgrounds, what makes it easy to create harmony is that we understood the language of melody.”
In town on Friday to play guitar at the World Music Concert organised by Alliance Francaise de Chandigarh, Titi talks about music and his albums. Never yielding to the demand of popular music forms like jazz or rock, he feels proud to have stuck to his kind of compositions for the past 25 years. “Initially it was tough to make a living by playing this form of music, but quality speaks for itself and in my case, the volume was loud enough to make people listen.” Robin never had professional training, which worked to his advantage, “When you don’t have a teacher, you learn from every possiblesource and that makes you complete.” His music mirrors the confluence of different cultures. It is basically Mediterranean music, a mix of French gypsy, Arabic oud and from other European counties. Indian Music plays a significant role in his compositions. “Indianmusic is so rich that it would be only natural for any musician to blend it in his creations.” He first came to India to perform in 1984 and since then, have done a lot of concerts. He adds that more than Indian music, it is Indian poetry that has had larger influence on his music. “Indian poetry shakes the emotions in me and channelise them through music. Also, it renders strength to my music.” With no efforts to follow any definite music genre, he feels proud to mention that his unique music has been accepted by people world over. ashima@tribunemail.com |
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French chai
We catch up with the man, before he weaves magic with food and flavours. So, what’s cooking? He answers, “First, I will serve you tea (he says chai), a special pastry, croissants made of crème and sugar and a three course dinner.” And if that’s not enough to whet your appetite, then here’s another interesting bit. The appetisers will be served at Bistrot Montmartre, the dishes at the Alliance Française garden and the desserts in the art gallery. Inevitably, coming back to the food part, how would he compare Indian and French food? Alian sums it up, “Suppose there’s a guest coming. An Indian wife would ask, what vegetables are we cooking? But in France she would ask, what meats are we cooking? Will it be beef, pork, rabbit or lamb?” We got it. What about experimenting? Says Alian, “I do experiment. Worldwide cuisines are evolving.” To spread the fare, he would be taking help from students of Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management. As dishy and interesting as his fare, is the tale of how he became a chef. He’s also a poet, associated to fashion and a lawyer! Shuttling between India and France, Alain helps organising fashion shows for designer Deepika Govind. For her show, he penned down a poem. He says, “When you’re a chef, you’re a specialist of what’s beautiful.” And, a lawyer to chef? He smiles “My father was an engineer and keeping with the rules, I went to the university and studied law.” A case of a profession choosing the right person. The rest, as they say, is history. Alain, besides being the main force in the kitchens of Park Hotel, Oberoi-Delhi or Le Meridian, hosts a show French Connection on NDTV Good times. lifestyle@tribunemail.com |
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Noted music composer A. R. Rahman and Phat Phish, an integrated entertainment and communication company, have joined hands to launch India’s biggest reality show of its kind —The Big Band. The official announcement was made in the national capital.
The second day of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week turned out to a real scorcher with Bollywood beauty Deepika Padukone walking the ramp last night for Shantanu-Nikhil’s dramatic Ladakh-inspired collection and actresses Sameera Reddy and Minissha Lamba presenting Falguni and Shane Peacock’s utterly mesmerising collection promoting the cause of breast cancer awareness.
Expressing happiness over her reappearance on the ramp after a gap of one and a half years, Deepika said, ‘’If they make more collections as good as this one, I’ll come again.’’ 
We mention France. And what comes to mind? Wine, fashion and Le Corbusier, not necessarily in that order though! Well, now it’s time to associate it with food. Alliance Française-36 is celebrating its 25th anniversary and on the occasion, French cook Alain Andre is dishing up some dishes.