“Drama is one of the most powerful mediums of expression – a comprehensive art that represents humanity in moments of tension, conflict, crisis and joys, which is depicted by various actors on stage. The language, form and style become secondary, as the emotions come into play to convey what otherwise is beyond comprehension,” says Saulius Antanas Varnas, internationally acclaimed thespian from Lithuania.

In the city on the invitation of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Chandigarh administration, for staging a play When We Dead Awaken in the first-ever Chandigarh Ibsen Theatre Festival, Varnas shared his passion for theatre.

He hails Ibsen as the master of realism in theatre, as a man who inspired noted playwrights such as Arthur Miller. “Even though he died in 1905, Ibsen is still regarded as the last representative of the old school and pioneer of the new forms of drama. Ibsen is revolutionary in his spirit and his characters are meticulously crafted,” says Varnas.

He adds, “The characters in Ibsen’s plays are devised to touch all themes concerning life. I experiment with the chiaroscuro lighting effects; colours, costumes and musical strains to ensure how best various shades of emotions can be revealed with perfection. The story, theme and its treatment must create a harmony on stage and compliment each other,” says Varnas.

While praising his team, he informs that next they will perform in Russia, USA and UK. An academician, architect, musician, actor, director and production controller, Varnas feels that to direct any of Ibsen’s classic or for that matter any play is a challenge. “You need to have the expertise to bring out the poignancy of the situations and dialectic analysis of the problems posed by the playwright in his creation, which should also find acceptance with the audience,” says Varnas. “I was encouraged by the response of the crowd in New Delhi. The audience here is warm and inquisitive, I have been told,” he signs off.

Producer Tutu Sharma's Tera Kya Hoga Johnny has been ready since 2008, but he says this is the right time to release the film as the popularity of its lead actor, Neil Nitin Mukesh, has grown by several notches.

"When we had cast Neil, it was not because of his popularity or fame. It was because of his acting talent. He is tremendously talented and very good at his work, and so are all the actors who are a part of Tera Kya Hoga Johnny," Sharma said.

"But, yes, Neil has made a mark for himself over the years and has become very popular in the film industry. In a way it is very good that we are releasing the film now," he added.

Tera Kya Hoga Johnny, directed by Sudhir Mishra, also features Soha Ali Khan, Kay Kay Menon, Karan Nath, Shahana Goswami and debutant Sikander Agarwal. Releasing Dec 17, the medium budget movie revolves around a 16-year-old street boy.

The producer plans to release the film in Britain and Dubai to cash in on Neil's "massive fan following" in the markets.

"In fact, we are trying to have a premiere at the Dubai International Film Festival (which is starting December 12, but let's wait and watch. Talks are still on," he said.

What took the film so long to release?

"We had an international version of the film, which has been screened at various film festivals like in London and New York. But we wanted to commercialise the film for the Indian audience. We added two-three songs and re-shot some of the scenes. So, all of it took time, and we felt December 17 is the right time and right period to release the film," he said.

Prior to its release, the street-story hogged the limelight for the wrong reasons - first it was reported that Neil refused to dub the movie when he found out his co-star Karan had an equally important role and then an uncut version of Tera Kya Hoga Johnny surfaced on youtube.

But putting the troubles behind, Sharma is looking forward to its release. He is hoping to hit bull's eye as there are no biggies scheduled for that particular weekend and the film will hit the screens just a week before the X-Mas holiday.

"It is releasing around the holiday period. We hope to reap the benefits," he said.

Sharma, who had earlier produced masala movies like Rajkumar, Gharwali Baharwali and Khullam Khulla Pyaar Karen, is happy with the fact that Indian filmmakers are now realising the importance of international markets.

"Travelling in international circuits really helps. Initially, no one took the international markets seriously...but now big names like Aamir Khan and big films like My Name Is Khan have started going abroad. Aamir also took Peepli Live to the Berlin Film Festival to promote it...so it's a healthy trend for Hindi cinema," he said.

He added that filmmakers must understand the need for tweaking their projects to international taste.

"There is a slight divide in the way films are made in India and internationally. The use of background music is subtle abroad, the use of music is much lesser...technically they are much advanced. So filmmakers in India should consider these small changes before taking films to international markets," said Sharma, who is married to actor Padmini Kolhapure. — IANS

Bollywood action hero Akshay Kumar's son Aarav seems to be walking in his father's footsteps already! The eight-year-old bagged three medals at a Karate tournament Monday.

"I'm the proudest dad in India today! My son just won three medals in his annual Karate tournament," Akshay, a black-belt in martial arts, posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Aarav won a gold medal for his kicks, and a silver medal each for his squats and combat fighting. Though Akshay's genes could well be the reason behind Aarav's accomplishment, the actor credits his wife Twinkle Khanna for their son's success.

"I must say that Aarav's gold medal is all thanks to my wife. She gave him extra training everyday at home for the last one month and he thanked her with an outstanding gold medal in return. He may have my genes but he definitely has his mother's fighting spirit," wrote Akshay.

Akshay and Twinkle tied the knot in 2001, and Akshay is still quite vocal about his love for her.

"Tina (Twinkle's real name) I love you and I'm so proud of our son," he tweeted.

One wonders if later Aarav will take the Bollywood route to fulfil his love for action, just as his father did with films like "Khiladi" and "Mohra". — IANS

Hollywood actor Keira Knightley almost gave up acting three years ago because she "wasn't enjoying" her Hollywood career.

The 25-year-old actor, who shot to fame as a teenager in the 2002 soccer movie Bend It Like Beckham and later in the Pirates of the Caribbean, admits she decided to turn her back on acting altogether at the age of 22.

"I think I intended not to work again. I wasn't enjoying what I was doing and I felt terribly guilty about that. I remember hating the idea that I was in a privileged position and couldn't see the point of any of it," she said. "I had worked solidly since I was 16, till 22, and I had not been on holiday in all of that time,” she said. — IANS

Russell Brand loves helping wife Katy Perry choose what to wear and is particularly interested in selecting her raunchy stage costumes.

The comic actor who married the "Firework" hitmaker in India in October this year encourages his wife to show off her curvy figure.

From her first ever saree to the 70's style outfits that she sported while promoting Om Shanti Om, Deepika Padukone is auctioning off "prized possessions" from her personal closet so that India can win gold at the Olympics.

The Bollywood beauty has teamed up with the online shopping club, FashionAndYou.com for the auction and all proceeds will go to the Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ).

'OGQ', the brainchild of Indian sporting legends Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone, works to identify and fund the best and most deserving medal prospects for the Olympic Games and the cause is close to the 24-year-old actor, a National-level badminton player herself.

"I am delighted to share my wardrobe with my fans through e-retailers Fashion And You. Each and every ensemble and handbag are my prized possession and I have very fond memories of them. The funds from the auction would support 'Olympic Gold Quest' a foundation for promoting sports talent, which is very close to me," said Deepika in a press statement. "We are proud to showcase and auction the personal collection of the gorgeous Deepika Padukone!" added Pearl Uppal, CEO of the portal. — PTI

Aspiration a city-based women's organisation has joined hands with Hyderabad-based Khwaish to organise an exhibition "Trendy Khwaish" at Mazlish Hall of Hotel Shivalikview on. This is to be inaugurated by governor of Haryana Jagannath Pahadia. Representatives of 'Khwaish' Ritu Dalmia, Archana Dalmia, Namita Kanodia, Savita Bansal and Vanita Kanodia will introduce the creations of the artisans to the city people.

Speaking on this occasion Monica Singhal, founder of Aspiration Ladies Club, Chandigarh, said, "Khwaish comes forward for a dual noble cause of promoting Indian handicrafts and providing free education to the under-privileged. There will be more than 35 stalls which will display the specialised designer products like jewellery, garments, footwear, paintings, household articles and handicraft from participants across India where many of the designers are coming to the city beautiful for the first time."

The noble part is played by a collaborate 'Janahitha' (a unit of Ekal Vidyalaya). Under the guidance of Janahitha, a tribal village of Andhra Pradesh is being adopted and looked after by providing education, food, shelter and hygienic environment. Education is the best gift which lasts a lifetime and through our endeavours we try to put this message across. The exhibition also promotes eco friendliness by refusing the use of plastic and encouraging the use of bags made of natural fibres. — TNS

If you are one of those who thought reading culture is on the decline, Rupa book exhibition at Lajpat Rai Bhavan-15 that concluded recently might have forced a change of view. People from all age groups - from a three-year-old trying to choose between a 'fish' and a 'vegetable' book to retired professionals sifting through different categories - the place was full of amateur and licensed bibliophiles.

Eminent author Ruskin Bond, in the city, shared, "The increasing number of writers and books proves that there is no dearth of readers," and a quick check with city folks confirms his view.

Prasun Prasad, a Hindi lecturer at MCM DAV College-36, holding half a dozen books (she has just checked two rows yet) says, "Nothing can replace the feel of a new book - crisp pages, fresh paper - in your hand. You can read at your leisure." Being a teacher, she interacts with youth on a daily basis and confirms that they love to read books. "Internet has not undermined book reading. Rather people check out new titles that appeal to them online and then buy," says Prasun, who loves to gift books to those who have a taste of reading.

Kusum, Upasana and Dheeraj are students from Post Graduate Government College-11 and swear by their love for books. "Being a literature student is being synonymous with books. I just love reading," says Upasana while sifting through the fiction shelf.

A confirmed book lover, Ved Prakash Dhiman, a retired LIC officer, wants to leave his legacy in the form of books. On being questioned if books are losing appeal, he says, "I don't think so. I don't think they ever will. I developed a taste for reading when I was in school, and its still going strong." A follower of biographies, Dhiman intentionally picks up books that will interest his children.

Shalaka is a homemaker who has come to shop for books with her three-year-old daughter. "I inherited love for books from my dad. Though I often buy books, sometimes I prefer spending time online," says Shalaka. She is trying to instill reading habit in her daughter as well.

mona@tribunemail.com

A study has suggested that if you want to lose weight you need to hang out with people who are healthy and skinny and not with the ones who are obese. The research conducted on 3,610 women aged between 18 and 46 showed that those who move in healthier circles are more likely to drop bad habits, eat well and even exercise more.

"These findings suggest that healthy behaviour may be contagious," the Daily Express quoted Professor Kylie Ball, from Deakin University in Australia, who led the research team, as saying.

The researchers tested the extent to which a fashion for healthy behaviour among a person's friends and family could influence their own lifestyle.

The women who took part in the study were asked to rate how much they agreed with statements such as "I often see other people walking in my neighbourhood" and "Lots of women I know eat fast food often."

"The importance of social environmental influences on health-promoting behaviours such as physical activity and healthy eating has been increasingly recognised," Ball said.

"Ours is one of the first studies to demonstrate the association of both social support and social norms with physical activity and eating behaviours.

"The potential to modify social norms as an intervention lever for promoting increased engagement in physical activity and healthy eating is worthy of further investigation," she added.

The findings have been published in scientific publisher BioMed Central's open access International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. — ANI

UK scientists have developed a robot that can read and learn in the real world like a human. Marge creators, Ingmar Posner and Paul Newman at the University of Oxford, along with their collaborator Peter Corke at Queensland University of Technology, hope that Marge, and future versions of Marge, could navigate through the real world using the same words and phrases that humans use.

"Text spotting is hard because text is a such a variable thing," Newman said. "It appears in so many guises in so many places, in so many sizes, and of course the real world is full of reflections, occlusions, etc."

By using a few new tricks to separate text from, say, sticks or trash, and correcting the image based on a simple spell-check and the word's meaning in the dictionary, Marge can bridge the gap in intuition. That means she can read newspapers and learn about banks like Barclays and that restaurants like Strada are good places to eat. —ANI

Winter is here and the jackets, pullovers, caps, shawls, stoles are out, and Panjab University is one place where one can see the latest from the fashion world. From branded cardigans to sweat shirts, everything is making a style statement.

Says Riya, from the psychology department, "These days long tops with leggings are in. The best thing about them is that you can team up your black leggings with any top." Adds Jashn, another story, "This winter is all about trendy hand warmers along with jackets."

PU sure is drowned in colours. Akshay, a hosteller, says, "Winter is all about colours. The atmosphere is such." Speaking of creativity, you will find lots of new ideas in the footwear category. Normal sneakers are everybody's favourite, but a new entry is the gumshoes. You can spot girls sporting long gumshoes with their jeans and capris.

And what's the trend for suits? Says Jaskirat, Punjabi department, "This time we are making sure that our suits have lots of embroidery, preferably of flowers." Any particular reason? Says Prabhjot from Mathematics department, "Its winter time and flowers are the best way to mark it."

So are the guys doing anything different? Says Kunal from UIET department, "Guys don't have much options apart from jeans and jackets. But this winter I have decided to give myself a corporate look, so I am buying waist coats and would team them up with shirts." Fashion is topping the charts this season and everyone in PU wants to be seen. Leather, wool, fur and drapes the campus sure is buzzing.