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Afternoon ragaz
Whoever said that even if a star sneezes, it makes for news was darned right. So, when a Bollywood veteran into a neighbourhood crafts festival breezes, it's news, stirred and shaken. Checking out the Rajasthan Arts and Craft festival in the tricity on this lazy Tuesday afternoon morphed from a virtual sideshow into the event of the day when the Grand Dame of Hindi cinema Shabana Azmi sauntered into the venue unannounced. She's in town for the shooting of an English film A Decent Arrangement.
At first, she went around the exhibition much like any casual visitor, pausing to look at a block-printed kurti here and a lac ki choodi there. Some of the Rajasthani vendors remained unmindful of the star quotient of this customer in a cream and turquoise salwar-suit, while others were smart enough to cash in on the celebrity visit the moment recognition dawned on them. "At first, I didn't realise Shabanaji was in our midst, but when I came to know, I invited her to our stall," said Anuradha of the Radheka Jewellers. "And she picked up some of my silver oxidized earrings," she gushed, puffing with pride at having added a celebrity name to her list of clients.The sales boy at the Ganesh Gems stall, showcasing Jaipur's semi-precious stones, wasn't as quick-witted to market his wares and was just content that Shabanaji ne moti bade shauk se dekhe! Once the tongues got clucking, scores of cellphones got clicking. The organisers and visitors alike erupted into action to freeze the moment on their mobile cameras. The real lensmen could barely reach and cash in on the excellent photo op, and she'd zipped off in a silver car. Of course, without delivering sound bytes to any braveheart who inched closer to the star with forbidding 'do-not-disturb' signals emanating from every pore. Kucch kucch teekhi, kucch kucch Namkeen. A bit like those Jaipuri mirchi vadas at the festival! chetnabanerjee@tribunemail.com |
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Classical glory
The Indian classical musical arts are reigning supreme in their invincible glory because of those great artists whose dedication has sustained this rich heritage, " maintains Kathak Guru Shobha Koser. "It is as such imperative to appreciate their credible contribution by encouraging them with befitting honours and the Pracheen Kala Kendra feels privileged to announce the fifth Koser awards to be presented on February 20 at the Punjab Kala Bhavan auditorium," she disclosed at Kendra complex on Tuesday. "The Kolkatta based celebrated Tabla wizard Pandit Shanker Lal Ghosh and Kathak queen of yesteryears, Guru Sanayana Hazrilal of Benaras will be conferred with Guru Madan Lal Koser and Guru Shobha Koser award of Rs 51, 000 each, citation and a shawl by Padmashri Nek Chand," adds Kendra secretary Sajal Koser. Peerless percussionist
Born in 1935, the inimitable Pandit Shankar Ghosh has been for decades a symbol of the sheer power and radiance of Indian classical music. He is acknowledged as one of the great contemporary masters of percussion music. Today, his style has collected a following and hundreds of young tabla players study his teachings throughout the world. Pandit Shankar Ghosh is not only a musical educator, but is also a concert artist whose international recognition was affirmed as early as in 1962, during concerts in the company of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Pandit Onkarnath Thakur, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Vilayat Khan and others. Gifted with a supremely innovative mind, he has, over the years, revolutionised all aspects of tabla playing, from accompaniment to composition, notably of solo tabla pieces. Respected by his contemporaries and appreciated by his seniors, Pandit Ghosh has secured for himself an enviable position in the annals of Indian Classical Music. Mimetic dance
Dedicated to creativity in art and gifted with multi-faceted genius, Guru Sunayana Hazarilal is today the only surviving and dominating performer of the Banaras school of Kathak dance founded by Pandit Janaki Prasad. A graduate (Honours) from Pune University, Sunayana groomed herself under Guru Hazarilal. In her dance, she lays stress on the comprehensive and the beautifying nature of Kathak dance. Her dance presents an effective demonstration of the authenticity of style and technique, purity of tradition, besides imaginative wealth of her individual talent. By the intensity of her abhinaya and technical virtuosity of her art, she has created a niche for herself in the field of Kathak as an exceptionally gifted dancer. The award ceremony will be followed by a concert of classical music and dance by the beneficiary awardees at Punjab Kala Bhavan on February 20 at 6.30 pm. |
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Bhag dhanno bhag
Decades after she won rave reviews playing Basanti, the chatterbox village belle with unparalleled skill in driving her horse cart, Bollywood icon Hema Malini has received an unexpected tribute. It comes in the form of a similar cart that has just started service in Sunsari district in the Terai plains along the India-Nepal border that has been named after her film persona. “Basanti, the tongawali of Sholay, is still on much as people’s lips today as she was in the past,” Nepal’s leading daily published in a report. After its tuktuks and micro-buses, Nepal now has Basantis too, a new maverick three-wheeler meant for public transport that has begun its run in the southern district ravaged by the Kosi river last monsoon. Barring the blue colour, Sunsari’s Basanti resembles the tonga driven by Hema Malini in the 70s classic film Sholay. Sixteen Basantis have started plying on the broken road connecting the district headquarters Inaruwa town with Bhandabari village with the permission of the village authorities. The drivers have been trained to ride these feisty three-
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Unlucky 13!
Actor R. Madhavan says he had some strange experiences while shooting forthcoming horror flick 13B but insists he isn’t superstitious about the number 13 being inauspicious.“I’m not particularly superstitious. But I have to tell you it has been really strange. Every 13th day of the film’s shoot there would be some disaster and we’d have to cancel shooting. And on the 13th of every month, the weather would create havoc with our plans. There would be torrential rains or we would not be able to record. Things became eerie. But I don’t believe in the myths associated with number 13,” Madhavan, who plays the lead, said. Director Vikram K. Kumar used number 13 in the movie’s title to make it sound more spooky, but he too doesn’t believe that the number has a negative connotation attached to it. “That the number 13 has an evil connotation is a cliché ... so I used this cliché to create an element of spook and fear in my film that falls under the horror genre,” Kumar said. Kumar zeroed in on the film’s title only after he started writing the script and he says he too has had several face-offs with the number. “The title of my film 13B struck me after I started writing the script for it. 13B is the flat number of an apartment in my film. The number 13 kept coming in front of me on many instances - as my row number on a flight, the time on my watch, the over of a cricket match I watched - so on and so forth. And I have always taken it in a positive way,” he said. Even Neetu Chandra, who stars opposite Madhavan in the film that releases March 6, was a little wary of the ‘unlucky’ number but no longer subscribes to superstitions surrounding 13. “As a kid I was very superstitious about these things. If I was number 13 in a queue, I used to either move back or step forward. But now I’ve become a positive person. Why should I make a number a block in my mind?” said Neetu. Not only is 13 considered unlucky by most numerologists, Friday the 13th too has evil connotations in the Western world. That superstition has come from the Bible, where Judas was the 13th member at the table on the last supper, and betrayed Jesus on Friday the 13th. —IANS
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Show time
After peaking curiosity of audiences at the Dubai International Film festival in December last year with its promos and trailers, the much awaited Abhishek Bachchan - Sonam Kapoor-starrer Dilli-6 is all set to win hearts of cinegoers in West Asia where it premieres tomorrow, a day ahead of its release in the region. Produced by the UTV Motion Pictures in collaboration with BAFTA-nominated director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Dilli-6 will have a star-studded premiere at Dubai, attended by the film’s cast, including Abhishek, Sonam and director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, sources in UTV said.
The West Asia premiere, organised by the UTV Motion Pictures in association with the Dubai International Film Festival(DIFF), comes two months after the first glimpses of the film were shown in December at DIFF’s fifth edition to international press and visitors. ‘’Dilli-6, with its themes of community, belonging and love, falls perfectly in line with DIFF’s credo, Building Bridges, Meeting Minds. We are honoured to provide a platform to the UTV and Rakeysh Mehra to share their newest great collaboration with Dubai audiences.’’ CEO of UTV Motion Pictures Siddharth Roy Kapur said. The backdrop of the story is the ancient walled city of Delhi, which represents the chaos, religion, beliefs and ethos of the Indian people. They are Roshan’s people and will teach him things about himself he never could have imagined. The pin code of the city is 110006, and with pride of love they call her Dill-6.
— UNI |
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Turn over to internships
Ignore the chronology but festivals, semesters, elections, geris, lectures, admission, placement, bunks, convocation; anything left? Something that helps make the transition between classroom to boardroom suave, smooth and let's be honest, less bumpy. It's not for nothing, internships are an indispensable part of curriculum in many a departments. While much ado is done about placements, their poor cousin hardly ever gets the due. So amid the din of never ending campus festivals we catch some breath and do parallel exploring. The revelation scroll's just been unrolled. "It gives you an idea of what your life's going to be like. A feel of where you're heading and whether you wish to continue with it," says Rohan Bhandari of University Institute Of Legal Studies, after his brief brush with Delhi law firm Lexis and Nexis and Airtel Bharti. His counterpart from the Department of Laws, Abhinav Sood agrees on the experience part. "You get a tinge of what the firm culture holds for you." The guys been into voluntary internship for an year now, with, apart from legal firms, a stint under ex-chief Justice of India to boast of in his curriculum vitae! It's six months of training amounting to sixteen credits and equivalent to four semesters for students of Panjab Engineering College-12. Says Sanjay Sodhi, final year student of his training with Tata Communications, New Delhi, "I learnt a lot about organizational behaviour, besides there's a lot of difference between theory and practical. Majority of the students choose practical experience over the other option." It doesn't really seem recession's result trickled down to training stages. Says Sujanjyot Singh Malhotra, "Placement this year has definitely been or will be effected, but as far as internships go, not a trace yet." The final year student from U.I.L.S has interned with Delhi High Court and ICICI. Laughs Rohan, "Law is recession proof. You don't stop battling cases, rather during troubled times it's the opposite." There seems to be an exception somehow. Shivani Singh Raghuvanshi, from School of Communication studies, currently with a Public Relations firm in Chandigarh, says, "It has affected. I personally sent my resume to some of the well-known advertising agencies in Delhi, but was rejected due to compnay’s freeze policy in even admitting interns. However that doesn't make the girl stop at gushing about her experiences, including the first year at Sahara news. "It was good. There's so much to learn at every step, it can't even be put in words." Nor are we trying! manpriya@tribunemail.com
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All set for Euphoria
Want some mantras on good health, ask the doctor. Need a second opinion on your anatomy, consult the doctor. Want to have a good time, fun being the word, well, join the doctors. Yeah, it is fest again, but the festivities have shifted to GMCH-32. Organising their eleventh annual extravaganza, Euphoria the students of medicine are ready with their prescription of masti. It will be a four-day affair, with a gathering of over 7000 students from all the medical colleges across India, it is nothing short of medical mela. "The first day will see the inaugration of the All India Medi cricket and football tournament. We had integrated activities in the month of January, a health education programme on AIDS awareness and a medical exhibition with displayed anatomical models," said Varun Kumar Singh, the organising secretary of the fest. Apart from the usual activities like dance competitions, debates and creative writing competitions, the evenings would be a mix of live entertainment. The first nite will see a laughter riot with the funny man Sudesh Lahiri performing and day two will see the ramp scorchers from Delhi walk the line in style for the fashion show. What else? Groove it out the Punjabi style with Harbhajan Mann on day three. Within the wraps of all the activities, is the message attached. "The on-stage activities have to be hip and happening but off-stage arena has a lot going on with health and social awareness. Like, Make-a-movie contest in collaboration with the state AIDS control society, on HIV awareness and the debate on Live-in relationships," said Varun. With a whopping budget of Rs 15 lakh and Airtel as the principal sponsor, the fest is sure to rock. Well, then who says doctors don't have fun? lifestyle@tribunemail.com
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Social-networking giant Facebook revised its user Terms of Service (TOS) without much noise on February 4, according to the Consumerist blog. It was revealed that the free-access website could now use its members' photos, scribbling and status updates if it wanted to promote itself or create or sell advertisements - even after their accounts had been deleted. The site declared that though the ownership remained with the users, yet it contained an everlasting license to use anything posted on its pages, which is stored in its archives, and at any time. Fox News reported, "Theoretically, it can even 'license' a picture of your kids for use in a third party's ad campaign." "I'm done with Facebook," declared blogger Ed Champion after learning about the TOS changes. A spokesperson for the network told the Chicago Tribune that a response to Consumerist's posting could be expected soon. —ANI
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Brit passengers have been asked to follow the 'No Kissing' sign recently uncovered at a railway station to lighten traffic and lessen delays. Virgin Rail chiefs at Warrington Bank Quay station in Warrington, Cheshire, decided to put up the sign just at the passenger drop-off point, and suggested travellers to use the short-stay car park if they wished to be with their loved ones for some more time. "We have not banned kissing in the station," a newspaper quoted a Virgin spokesman as saying. "But we have put the sign up at the drop off point because it is not a very big area and it often gets busy with lots of traffic. "The sign is a light-hearted way of getting people to move on quickly. "If people wish to spend a little more time with their loved ones before they leave, then they should park in the short-stay car park nearby," the rep added. -ANI
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Watch out ...
Hold your breath, for we'll spell seven names one after the other, sure to unsettle art aficionados. Jagmohan Chopra, Kuldip Kumar Dhiman, Rajesh Bahl, Rajinder Bhandari, Rekha Bahl, Sarvjit Singh, Surinder Moham Dhami! Starting today, The Department of Fine Arts, Panjab University, Chandigarh will present a five day exhibition 'A photographic stroll around life & space'. Time: 10 am to 5 pm On till February 22
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So PU held its first ever rose fest recently. As with all things first, there's a lot to learn. We ask the students what did they feel. Among the surfeit of events already dotting the PU calendar, should it be continued with and what can we do to give a unique identity from the Rose Garden's Rose fest? What’s unique?
Akanksha
Bansal, Wanted USP
Anisha
Sikri, Not bad
Jasvir
Malik, |
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City through
its people
We have already written about how this Corbusier's baby has inspired numerous artists and photographers alike, not just homegrown ones but those from foreign shores too. There have been exchange programmes from time to time, organised by institutions like Alliance Francaise de Chandigarh, to encourage artists to capture the essence of the city. And there are those who have been doing it in an individual capacity. After Firminy in France, Corbusier poured his heart and soul into this city. But having seen so many works on the same topic, our excitement had already reached its saturation point, till we heard about S. Rajkumar and found it a story worth telling.
He is not a person one gets to see at those arty gatherings, nor gets to see his works at city-based galleries. A recluse is what describes him the best. But if one manages to break the ice and get invited to his den at Sector 15, he is generous enough to unpack those huge frames he had done on the city and images of a few more stored in his computer. His frames are quite different from what we have seen so far. There are no sights of blocks and squares one usually associates with the city. They are more about people. The epicenter is Sector 17 and one gets to see here a fishseller with small aquariums, a balloon seller's dream, the hustle bustle on a Thursday night at Neelam theatre, workers preparing for a Friday release. Executed with layered and textured effect in oil, each frame evokes nostalgia. "My workplace is Sector 17, so it was difficult to remain unaffected by the activities going around," is the simple explanation one gets from the artist. And as for the technique he has adopted for his entire series, it was literally accidental. "I had met with an accident and was bed-ridden. Out of frustration, I tried to put paints in a furious manner and this eventually became my style," he says. Another artist to have portrayed the city in the recent times is Madan Lal. More than the architectural marvel, it is human psychology and the man-woman relationship that dominate his frames. Where is the city angle? In the backdrop, as architectural space, within which the relationships flourish. So, Corbusier's geometrical patterns are there, but one has look through Madan's eyes to identify them. "When you live in a place for this long, it is bound to have an impact on one's psyche. But this time I am making a conscious effort to incorporate it as one of the elements," he says. Knowing Madan, one can expect an interesting amalgamation of geometry and well-rounded human forms. But for that we have to wait for a couple of months for Madan to complete his works and put them up for an exhibition. parbina@tribunemail.com |
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Clear vision
Sony has introduced the high performance BRAVIA Z450A, the world’s first LCD TV with Motionflow™ 200Hz technology in India. A technology that has gained enthusiastic support from owners worldwide for its ultra-smooth picture enhancement capability, the BRAVIA Z450A brings home entertainment to the next level. This new technology are positively noticeable in action scenes or sports broadcasts as it reduces jerkiness and by increasing the number of images, the BRAVIA Z450A can display even the fastest sports scene smoothly without a blur. Additionally, the BRAVIA Z450A is equipped with a full suite of exclusive BRAVIA technologies, from the BRAVIA Engine2 to 24P True Cinema technology, ensuring the best Full HD cinematic entertainment experience for everyone. The new BRAVIA Z450A will be available at the Sony owned store, select Sony authorized dealers, as well as national retail partners across the country for Rs. 359,900, Rs. 243,900 and Rs 183,900 respectively. —TNS
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Samaagam—music concert by Amjad Ali Khan 7.30 pm Taj-17 Launch of Northern Cine Dancer’s association 11am, Press Club, Sector 27Chandigarh
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See, as the very name suggests; Rose festival, so I think it's going to have all the usual events and competitions associated. The concept of competitions needs to be made more interesting. For example, if any outsider comes and he wishes to participate, then there should be something instant and on the spot to hold on to him.
It sounds low. I don't know whether we should continue with it or not. But I feel though the quantity of competitions is quite enough, there should be more quality. I mean there's no point in the usual, clichéd competitions if we want to project it differently. Also, it being a Panjab University event, there should be more of student crowd and participation.
On the whole I'm satisfied and feel we should have it next year as well. But yes, there's a lot to be left desired. The crowd should have something to look forward including interesting games. Student participation is less, which should be definitely more. Yes, there should lot of events involving flowers in new and innovative ways.