ARTS and CULTURE

This November, it's Hindi cinema's season of film launches. So first, there was an overdose of Shahrukh Khan and Katrina Kaif in promos for "Jab Tak Hai Jaan", and now Aamir Khan takes over with the release date for "Talaash" just around the corner. While it was Aamir who first set the trend of intelligently aggressive film promotion, other Indian filmmakers have been quick to join the bandwagon. "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" promos had Shahrukh on every English language television channel, and even holding forth in a keynote address at the Hindustan Times' "Leadership Summit". The questions he fielded here…

Project Cinema City, a multidisciplinary art exhibition recently concluded at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore (NGMA) on December 2nd 2012. This project began as an effort to chart the relationship between cinema and Bombay/Mumbai and chronicle the imaginary space where the two converge. It is also a chronicle of Bombay's metamorphosis into Mumbai.I was fortunate to be able to attend a walkthrough conducted by Madhushree Dutta on November 24th. Madhushree is the executive director of Majlis, a rights discourse and inter-disciplinary arts initiative based in Mumbai. As the curator and producer of this project, she has been working…

They began as wishful lamentations that soon turned into hushed whispers transforming eventually into convincing rumours. With all those regular claims about being home to culture, heritage and genteel intellectuals, how is it that Bangalore was missing a multiple day, A-Lister- filled literary fest?The optimists amongst us knew it was only a matter of time. When news of it finally came, Bangalore's very own literature festival, unlike those preceding it, emerged to find a ready audience. Where other literary events have had to slowly build audiences, BLF suffers a large crowd bouncing excitedly on its feet, waiting to be let…

Courage without compare. Bravery beyond belief. In 1962, a thin line of India's finest stood their ground in the face of aggression. A grateful nation can never forget their sacrifice or their fortitude. 50 years later, on 17th November, Indigo Live and Flags of Honour Foundation commemorated these martyrs of the Himalayan heights with the Cry Freedom concert at Counter Culture in Bengaluru's Whitefield. Featuring Chennai bands Scrat and Frank's Got the Funk, the concert which kicked off at 6:30 pm was organised by the Flags of Honour Foundation. A non-profit entity based in Bangalore, the Flags of Honour Foundation…

Nadasurabhi, a leading cultural organisation of Bangalore conducted its 19th Annual Carnatic Music Festival from the 20th to 25th November with seven programmes. The venue was the new auditorium attached to the St.John's College of Nursing in Koramangala.The opening day saw the famous Mysore brothers, Nagaraj and Manjunath demonstrate their proficiency in violin by a vibrant performance. Poorvikalyani and Varali were dealt with in detail, and a Ragam Tanam pallavi in Charukesi was presented with aplomb. The second day sobriety, serenity and excellence were on display in the vocal concert of Maharajapuram Ramachandran who comes in the illustrious lineage of…

Coinciding with Rajyotsava day this year, The Handmade Collective –III aims to bring back into focus the local crafts, foods and lesser known side of Karnataka. A side where the traditional and the modern stand side by side, the Cantonment and the City-facing sides co-exist in Bangalore, but more importantly aims in bringing back the sense of community that Bangalore was so famous for. Integrating Hase chitra with tribal arts from Mexico From delicate Kasuti Embroidery of North Karnataka on trendy clutch purses to Bright Channapatna Lacquerware on modern household products like kitchen towel holders and bedside lamps to Khadi…

The Bangalore Mizo Association, an association formed by Mizo's living in Bangalore, celebrated Vangpui Kut. The festival was held to spread the message of peace, unity and friendship among all communities living in Bangalore. Vangpui Kut has been a regular feature in Bangalore and it is only this year that the organisers have made an attempt to open its doors to friends, colleagues and well wishers from other communities in Bangalore, keeping in mind the recent crisis that had caused a massive exodus of North Easterns from Bangalore. Mizo dancers performing Cheraw, a traditional bamboo dance. Pic courtesy: Trigam Mukherjee…

The book "Selected Poems" - poems of Subramania Bharati translated from Tamil into English by Usha Rajagopalan was released in Bangalore on September 14th. Usha Rajagopalan and Geetha Srikrishnan. Pic: Arathi Manay Yajaman Usha's relationship with writing began in her childhood. "I was always into reading and writing, and assumed that it was a part of every child's life. My grandfather would insist I write a review on every book I read, and would later go through the reviews, marking out phrases or words that he thought were well used in the context, as well as those that could be…

I have been following rafiki, a theatre group, from the time when they used to stage the plays of Athol Fugard, South African playwright and novelist.They stage plays with ideological contexts and started working with children in the field of theatre, too. I have seen their struggles and their hard times, and so it was with even more satisfaction than usual that I noted that they collaborating with “Toto Funds the Arts” (TFA) to stage an adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s work at Ranga Shankara, on September 6th and 7th, 2012. A scene from Rafiki's play. Pic: Nitye Sood At first,…

I am an illustrator and a comic book fiend and I am going to wax eloquent over Bangalore’s first ever Comic Con that happened on the 8th and 9th of September at the Koramangala indoor stadium. Why such excitement over an exhibition of books that are ‘meant for children’ you ask? Simple, it’s because people have realised its not only meant for children. Only here could u see the Tintin crew chillin with the Grim reaper and the dark knight! Pic courtesy: Varsha S Chakkera That’s the beauty of an event like the Comic Con, all misconceptions people have about…