ARTS and CULTURE

The starry showers that light up the night sky during Deepavali or other celebrations are a sight that has brought us joy since time immemorial. Whether in their use as firecrackers, or as missiles during wars, rockets have a history that dates back to the earliest days of human civilization. And even though we have references to similar missiles in India as far back as the age of the epics, scientists and historians trace the origin of rockets to another ancient civilisation, in China. Mysore Rockets used in a battle at Guntur in 1780. Pic: http://grin.hq.nasa.gov In a talk titled…

It's the most awaited year of the day for art enthusiasts in Bangalore, a day our friends and we look forward to every year and plan ahead for. And just as we have done for four of the last five years, this year, too, we were at the Chitra Santhe exhibition organized by and held at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath on Sunday, January 27th. Chitra Santhe 2013, Pic: Rudreshwar Sen Most of our friends go for this event with their spouses; art being something that's going to stare back at you every day of your life, it's important to have…

"If someone's looking for Salman Rushdie's Sea of Stories, sail to White Field," I heard a fellow bookworm tell me. So I wiggled out of a dying week and curiously headed out for a truly enlivening time. Over the past weekend, Bangalore was treated to a journey into the literary mind. Novelists, playwrights, short-story authors, poets, lyricists, journalists and droves of word-junkies converged at White Field's Jagriti theatre for the Lit-Fest Lekhana.  After readings of their Indian-language poetry, Indian Ensemble Theatre's Abhishek Majumdar and Sandeep Shikar, chat with their listeners. Pic: Jatin Prabhu From January 18th through 20th, this popular…

After the disappointing 7 Khoon Maaf, Vishal Bharadwaj makes amends with Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola. With this film, Vishal Bharadwaj lives up to his previous cinematic work that includes Ishqiya, Kaminey, Omkara, Blue Umbrella, Maqbool and Makdee. But the subtle humour that we saw in earlier work like Ishqiya and Kaminey now moves into a fullblown political sattire. It's a new genre for Bharadwaj, and he makes the transition gracefully. When Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola works, it does so because it is a film that runs at many levels. At a most basic analysis, Matru Ki Bijlee Ka…

Mother and father are discussing family matters. They deplore the mischief of their two boys, and also express wry amusement at the younger one's original thinking, that lies behind the mischief. However, the father predicts that this boy will leave footprints on the sands of time, and go on to become famous. Almost a scene played out in every home, one may feel...but it was, actually, a scene from a play on Tipu Sultan, by the late Dina Mehta, who was an award-winning playwright and Fiction Editor at the Illustrated Weekly of India. The father in question in this play…

Noel and Lindsey are good hospitable souls. When a troupe of 10 of us landed up at their house this Sunday, December 22nd, they welcomed us warmly into their beautifully decorated Christmas home. We gorged on Marzipan, rose cookies and kul kuls, sipped mint flavoured lemonade and admired their Christmas tree decorations. A quiet house tucked into a corner of the heart of the city, it is graced by one of the tallest Christmas trees I had ever seen. The lovely Christmas decoration at the Noels' house. Pic: Rajeev R We were a bunch of people part of a Christmas…

At the Bangalore Literature Festival last week, I adopted a cautious, rodent-like approach to finding the best seat in the capacious front lawn. I took, at first, a modest seat by the aisle, encountered a wall of tall people obstructing my view of literary greats; shifted to another seat, this time on the other side, a little further up. I spent five minutes paying full attention to Ashish Sen speaking about Mahesh Dattani's works as the playwright himself sat beside and sagaciously offered agreement until the aged gentleman in the row before mine began to rise every five minutes; perhaps…

Come this weekend and there are a bunch of interesting events waiting for you! Bangalore film festival, Bangalore book fest and Abhinaya 2013 - Kannada theatre festival are a few of the events to look out for!The 5th edition of Bangalore Film Festival is one such event that nobody wishes to miss. The festival is being organised by the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy for Government of Karnataka supported by Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce. The festival started on Dec 20th and will go on till Dec 27th. You can register for the event here. Venue: Theatres across Bangalore. From movies to…

You live in the third largest city in India by population. The city's GDP exceeds 10 billion dollars (Rs 54,000 crores). The largest chunk of Karnataka's GDP and tax collections come from Bengaluru alone. The city has the third largest number of crorepathis in India and by some accounts, the highest median income level in the country. It isn't just that. An emerging civic and green movement led by old and young alike is fighting back to take back lost public spaces - lakes and trees for instance - with a resolute willingness to checkmate corrupt administrators in the High…

The year ends with a big bang for Hindi cinema. Just about two weeks after Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Son of Sardar played to 'Housefull' cinema halls, Talaash released to audiences. A week later Khiladi 787 wooed the crowds, and by December 21st it will be time for Dabangg 2. So while it has been a spectacular closing at the box office, what does it mean for Hindi cinema? Clearly, it's the first week's performance that determines the commercial success of a film. But while Talaash may finally emerge as the least successful of the year's final releases, it…