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A dance, a prayer
When it comes to Bharatanatyam, Prathibha Prahlad is a name to reckon with. The classical dancer, choreographer, researcher and director of India’s biggest art festival — Delhi International Arts Festival — Prathibha celebrated the 25th anniversary of her Prasiddha Foundation, a premier cultural organisation of the country, only recently. In city, on Friday, for Chandigarh Guru Shishya Dance Festival, the danseuse, who has given many memorable performances in the city, made the first appearance with her disciples — Prasiddha Dance Repertory. “I only make it a point to prove myself to my own myself,” says Prathibha who has been on stage for four decades; her first appearance being at the age of six. Having survived the cultural battlefield, Prathibha has seen many ups and downs in the classical arts scene. “When I started, it was the renaissance of Indian art and Bharatanatyam was a flagship form. There were just the noted prima donnas and we aspired to be one.” While the scene thrived, it was introduction of television in 70s and 80s that pulled the audience away from theatres. “By the 90s, people realised that TV is a boring medium and again started the revival of classical arts.” Today there are hundreds of dancers, but this veteran danseuse isn’t that impressed. “It is the time of choreographies, fusion and all that razzmatazz. Solo dance has taken a back seat. A solo is like a bud blossoming into a full blown flower; beginning from shunya to anand but no-one has time for this now.” Prathibha, who has been part of many tele-serials and a published author, has been a performer first. “I always wanted to be one,” says the dancer who faced testing times pursuing the journey. Talk of learning a classical form to dealing with favouritism to exploitation; she has been through all, but they have paved the way to her remarkable career. “The challenges only made me strong. Whenever someone has been nasty to me, I braced myself up with ways to cope with it.” The experiences have only helped her grow as a human being as well as an artiste. She teaches without any fees and her foundation helps artistes gain a foothold in this not-so-well-structured field. “With everyone aiming at overnight success, it is dancers like me who showcase the soul of dance in front of the world.” She lists three must-haves for anyone venturing into the classical art forms — be ready to sweat it out, be prepared for a long haul and retain the passion for art.
mona@tribunemail.com
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Social cause
A film is definitely meant to entertain and during this process, it could also shake up your conscious a bit or even more. The Production House Sahaj Productions is doing something similar with their upcoming film, Saavi — a bonded bride.
As the poster of the film was revealed recently, the cast and crew open up about the film that might rustle your heart and mind. Saavi, is based on batta-satta – the barter system for women that exists in Muslim Gujjar community of Chamba area in Himachal Pradesh. The movie has been shot extensively in parts of Chamba, Jot, Baddi (HP), Shahpur and Pinjore (Haryana). Producer Bhanu Sharma feels that there are some issues that the society has ignored. “It is unimaginable that our women are made to suffer through this barter system called batta-satta; women are being exploited through this tradition, which has no justification.” The story of Saavi has been written by Jagdish Sachdeva, a play writer and director from Amritsar. The movie is a celluloid adaptation of his play Saavi. Saavi was included in six best Punjabi plays of the last 65 years, and has been translated into English by Punjabi Academy New Delhi. Some of the fine actors, including Jaspinder Cheema, Ashish Duggal, Manni Boparai, Jeet Soni, Nirmal Rishi, Daljinder Basran, Ambrish Saxena, Damanpreet Kaur, Rajinder Dhaliwal, Tejinder Pal Dhir, Kalra and Mahabir Bhullar have played their part in the film. The screenplay of Saavi has been penned by Rajeev
Kumar. jasmine@tribunemail.com
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Of symbols & hope
Each object symbolises a higher purpose and each canvas stands for hope because sometimes hope plays a bigger role than what’s happening around. Artist Alka Saxena throws in the concept of Feng Shui onto her canvas and makes each one stand for much more than meets the eye. A lotus blossom is not just an ornamental red bloom, rather a symbol of purity. “It represents purity. It grows in swampy muddy environment, and yet manages to emerge and stay so pure,” shares the Chandigarh-based artist. Artfile presents her first solo show titled Feng Shui Art. Of the 17 pieces put together, there is probably every human situation covered. “I did my Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from Delhi and have been into Feng Shui art for three years now. I’ve always been interested in Feng Shui and it all started when I painted a wealth tree for one of the friends.” Improvement in her financial condition brought along steady orders; sometimes for a pair of love birds, sometimes for a phoenix. “A pair of love birds is to make your love life better or to make your marriage work.” Moving on, a picture of bamboo (stout and rooted to the earth) symbolises good health. She adds, “But all these pictures need to be placed facing the walls, so that the effects and positivity is brought home.” Then there’s the Gautam Buddha, universally associated with peace and enlightenment. “Some people do not like a lot of colours on their walls. For them, I have a picture of white rose. Then there’s also a phoenix bird, which stands for opportunities.” A fish could be your ticket to abundance while a picture of purple flowers, could ring in progress. She adds, “I have also painted a lot of wealth trees. The gold colour in them will never go dark. The idea of this art is not only to make the walls look beautiful, but also to give meaning to each canvas.” (On till November 30 at Bistro Flamme Bois, Sector 7, Chandigarh) manpriya@tribunemail.com
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Make the most of it!
Don’t just throw away expired make-up products. Prolong their life using a dash of creativity Manpriya Singh
Be creative
It is a simple rule; the expired products meant to be used on lips can continue to be used on the face. And the ones meant for face can continue to be used on arms and legs, and other lesser sensitive parts of the body. Expired lip paint is definitely not safe for application on the lips, but can be doubled up as a blush for the cheeks. Strong foundation
Surfeit of facial make-up products means never ever having to buy body products. Unwanted or expired foundations are a great source of quality body make-up. “These days we have so many body bronzers available in the market. There is actually never a need for them. Gold blush can be mixed with baby oil and applied on the body as a bronzer. Alternatively, one can mix face powder with baby oil and apply just like cream body foundation,” shares Nikita Manchanda, working with a Chandigarh-based Lakme franchise. Talking eyes
Nobody would want to risk using products meant for eyes past their due date. While putting on the dried mascara is not a good idea, retaining the cleaned up mascara brush is a great one. Old mascara brush can be used for combing the eyebrows and eyelashes. Similarly, golden, silvery eye shadows can be used mixed with body oil and used as a body bronzer. Costume drama
We might be past Halloween, but not other costume drama parties or theme parties. Bought yourself a wrong colour of the red lipstick? Just hold onto it till the next Halloween or theme party. Get creative with the usage of red and experience the joy of never having to worry about more valued cosmetics. Also, get innovative with usage. Face moisturisers can be added to hand wash dispensers and that’s a ready moisturising hand-wash. Lip balm is as good as vaseline. It is only a matter of putting it on cracked heels rather than chapped lips. Recycle theory
If getting creative gets too much, just recycle. Most make-up labels have recycle policies. Return a certain number of empty cartons of their products and walk home with a brand new lipstick or such similar product. Anything can be reused. Well almost! All it takes is a little thought and lots of imagination. manpriya@tribunemail.com
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Struck by luck
Film: Happy Go Lucky Director: Amarpreet G S Chabbra Cast: Amrinder Gill, Harish Verma, Sumeet Sandhu, Gurpreet Ghuggi, Kuldeep Sharma, Isha Rikhi, Shruti Sodhi, Dakshita Rating: *** Luck…generally they say either you are born with it or not. Now, here is a new way of looking at it. The ‘best of luck’ of all is the luck you make for yourself! In Amarpreet G S Chabbra directed Punjabi film, Happy Go Lucky; everyone has tried to whip some luck for themselves. The film, starring Amrinder Gill, Harish Verma, Sumeet Sandhu, Gurpreet Ghuggi, Kuldeep Sharma, Isha Rikhi and Shruti Sodhi, has struck luck somewhere midway, not getting ‘really’ lucky. The director, Amarpreet GS Chabbra, has tried to put everything together, for which, of course, we can pat his back. The plot of the film is not something you have never heard or seen before, in fact boy chasing girls is the most ‘abused’ plot. If there is something that deserves a full round of applause, it is the dialogues, written by Amberdeep Singh and Rajan Aggarwal. The dialogues are really funny, even though they won’t make your eyes moist; it is a good laugh that you can expect from the film. Now, for the people who have been twice lucky in the film or maybe for the film- Actor singer Amrinder Gill, Harish Verma and Gurpeet Ghuggi have stolen the show right away. Amrinder was much appreciated in his previous film, Goreyan Nu Daffa Karo, and in Happy Go Lucky he proves it again. If there is one thing Amrinder Gill has really worked on, it is his onscreen presentation and his comic timing. The singer-actor is definitely getting better with each film. Amrinder seems to have struck the right chord with luck! Next up is the handsome-looking actor Harish Verma, as he plays the character of a singer who falters with his pronunciation (something like Shahid Kapoor did in Kaminey ), and Harish has done a great job. This actor has a subtle sense of timing, which is neither in your face nor flat. When it is Harish, you can always expect something good. Lucky actor! Gurpreet Ghuggi would be another man of the moment who is at his best - a fine actor with absolute comic timing. This one has been luck’s favourite child! Sumeet Sandhu, who makes his debut with the film, has a long way to go. As for the actresses, if only someone would have told them other than looking pretty, other than making your blow-dried hair fly; blinking those long eyelashes, one has to also match some pace with the plot! Having said this, they just need to be slightly more in the character. The movie loses its pace in the second half with some over-stretched scenes. In fact, the track of the villain is so misplaced. The film has some good tracks. Singer Amber Vashisht, who has already floored everyone with Ankhian, from Jatt & Juliet, gives a hummable number Cappuccino. Amrinder Gill also gives a happy number Nidaran. The film Happy Go Lucky might just be lucky, if only they can make luck happy!
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Cross-over tunes
Apart from the story of the film, Cross Connection (of lives) the music also offers a generous mix of genres. This Nishant Bhardwaj directed film releases its music in Chandigarh on a different note. With kohl running through her deep-set eyes, one of the youngest music directors of the film, Rimi Dhar takes the onus of giving hatke music for the film.
She is a non-Punjabi, talking about the beats of tumbi: “This is music, you don’t need to be born in a region to understand the music; it is the flavour and the whiff that you smell from far and beyond,” adds the finalist of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa. Rimi has tried to bring in various flavours of sounds for the movie. The songs have been sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Arif Lohar, Kamal Khan, Navraj Hans, Monika, Tochi Raina, Deepali Sathe and Rimi Dhar. She smiles ear to ear as she adds, “Yes, I have also sung, a small thing.” Currently, she has a couple of Bollywood projects in her kitty. “I was 21 when I turned music director for an animation film, Sons of Ram. I had to, however, face criticism, with people telling me to work on my music and then return with better skills. I took it in my stride and kept moving on,” she says. For this film, Rimi Dhar has received a lot of support from the director and producer. “I got my space and I could show my creativity. You will see Arif Lohar in a totally different style here,” she adds.
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Romancing life
Directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, and produced by Illuminati Films, Happy Ending, is a romcom that stars Saif Ali Khan and Ileana D’Cruz. In the film, Yudi (Saif Ali Khan) is a writer, who has not written anything for a few years. He is caught between finding inspiration and finding love. Armaan (Govinda) is a fading movie star, who goes to Hollywood to get a Bollywood script written in Hollywood style in his desperation to save his stardom. He approaches Yudi to write a film for him. Boring plot
Even though the film is not very good, I like the way Ileana D’Cruz looks. The plot is utterly boring and fails to entertain you. I did not like the film very much. Jaspreet
Kaur, student Good locations
I like the film, especially the story, which is a mix of a lot of romantic films. However, I think Saif has overacted and the songs are a little weird too. I like the locations also. Bikramjit Singh, student Okay affair
It’s not the kind of film that one would put in a ‘must watch’ category, but it’s watchable enough! It’s a very repetitive concept and there’s nothing special about it at all. Harkirat Singh, student (As told to Amarjot Kaur)
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From Heropanti to superhero
After making a successful debut with Sajid Nadiadwala’s Heropanti, Tiger Shroff has become a blue eyed boy of most directors. However, he has been in no hurry to sign a film. We now hear that Tiger Shroff will be next seen as a superhero in a film he has signed with Remo D’Souza, which is being produced by Ekta Kapoor. Remo was highly impressed with Tiger Shroff when he saw his debut film Heropanti and he has already lined up this project for 2015. Tiger is thrilled to be playing a superhero and very excited to be working with Remo. Tiger has also always been personally inclined to play a superhero. The young actor has all the qualities required for a superhero role as he has a tough body, warm personality and he can perform brilliant action stunts. When contacted, Tiger confirmed the news, saying, “I’m very excited to be playing a superhero so early in my career.”
No takers for this one
Three actresses, namely Aditi Rao Hydari, Shruti Haasan and Yami Gautam have turned down Divya Khosla Kumar’s next film, which stars Pulkit Samrat. This is her second film after
Yaariyan.
Blessed to be busy
Shruti Haasan is shuttling among four cities: Pune, Dubai, Hyderabad and Bhopal. That is because she is shooting for three different films and recently had to go to Dubai for an award ceremony. In the show business, it is considered quite lucky to be busy. She’s truly a girl on the go.
Joining along B-town’s choir
Actresses turning into singers is nothing new in Bollywood and if rumours are to be believed then Ileana D’Cruz will soon display her singing talent before all. A source close to Ileana said, “She has got an amazing voice even though she’s not had any formal vocal training. It seems that her near and dear ones have been coaxing her to take it up professionally and sing for her films in the future. And after much persuasion, Ileana is finally contemplating the idea.” If this happens then Ileana will join the band wagon of actresses like Alia Bhatt, Tabu, Shraddha Kapoor among others, who have crooned a bit in their films.
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A lipstick might not get past five applications, but it will certainly get past the expiry date. While vanity is a favourite sin with most, it is also the one that costs. If not by way of karma, then definitely in terms of expense and expiry! Expiry dates hurt and so does having to throw away the pricey cosmetics. Here’s a little help in making sure that make-up products continue to be in use beyond their need and time.