ARTS and CULTURE

In connection with the 150th birth anniversary of India's first Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore (referred to as Robi Thakur by Bengalis), several cultural organisations in Bangalore held celebrations. One of these was Jagriti, the recently-opened theatre space in Whitefield. Jagriti's line up for the week-long celebrations were very impressive. It consisted of the screening of several classic movies based on  Tagore's stories, such as "Kabuliwallah", "Chokher Bali", "Charulata", and a documentary by Satyajit Ray.  Every evening, the play, "Crisis of Civilization: A Journey with Tagore" was staged. The play ran for 90 minutes, approximately. It would not be really accurate,…

Jaaga, based in Bangalore, India, works towards nurturing innovative endeavours by providing space, core infrastructure, and a diverse social environment. We support artists, technologists and NGOs with a desire to create social or environmental change. An on-going urban community art & architecture experiment An environmentally conscious mobile, modular, temporary structure Enables artistic community collaborations and services We also offer mentorship to small tech start-ups. Fellowships and Expert Collaborator opportunities have been enabled to invite creative minds to Jaaga on focused artistic and socially relevant projects. We focus on artforms that use digital technology in new ways. Need of the hour…

Sobha Nambisan is 1976 batch IAS officer (retired) and took over the reins of NGMA Bengaluru in May 2010.  After retiring from the IAS, she has been at the helm of affairs at NGMA.   NGMA, Bangalore was long-awaited and fought for by the artists community in the state before it finally opened in the city in early 2009. It's entry fee is Rs.10 and all events are free to the public. It is the central government's third such gallery and first one in south India. New Delhi and Mumbai have the other national galleries. Sobha Nambisan talks to Subramaniam…

When one looks at the history of cinema, Hollywood has excelled above others in its creation of the period film. So there was much expectation from director Francis Lawrence's Water for Elephants, with a cast that included Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson and Christopher Waltz. Source: Wikipedia Set against the Great Depression, the film is based on a historical novel written by Sarah Gruen. It tells the story of Jacob Jankowski, a young veterinary student at Cornell, whose life changes dramatically in the face of personal tragedy. He joins the travelling circus troupe of the The Benzini Brothers, where his life…

There's something about living in this city for a long time that makes it impossible to not be a loud and brash bigot. There is a wordless demand that you don't simply love this city but be a little proud, a little overbearing, and become an insufferable little mobile advertisement for your part of town. It is with the same sentiment that we took part in Hunt For The Past - INTACHís Heritage Hunt held in the Basavanagudi area last week. The event was an sms-powered treasure hunt that took one to different parts of the old South Bangalore area,…

With I am, film director Onir, still best known for his debut film My Brother Nikhil gives us yet another piece of thought provoking cinema. The film is also a landmark venture for independent film making in India, with the financing for the film being raised from over 400 individuals, many of whom made their donations through social networking sites like Facebook.The film's narrative takes the form of four stories that explore the themes of women's choice in artificial insemination, separatism in Kashmir, child molestation and homosexuality. These are the stories of "Afia", "Megha", "Abhimanyu", and "Omar" - all of…

Music lovers in BTM Layout and surrounding localities were treated to a grand flute concert on Sunday 24th April organised by the BTM Cultural Association at the Ramana Maharshi School for the Blind in 3rd Phase J P Nagar. The looming clouds had kept many from attendance but close to a hundred people turned up to listen to flautist Mysore A Chandan Kumar. Mysore Nagaraj accompanied him on violin, B C Manjunath on mridangam and Giridhar Udupa on ghatam. The oohs and the ahs from the audience, appreciating the flautist's intricate rendering of musical compositions indicated a gathering a connoisseurs. …

Set in the territory of the gang lords of Goa, director Rohan Sippy’s Dum Maaro Dum is a traditional entertainer from Hindi cinema. When the film works, it does so primarily on the might of high production values. This is the first Hindi film to be mixed in Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound, and the hard work shows. One would expect no less from the maker of Bluffmaster and Kuch Naa Kaho. But while Dum Maaro Dum suceeds with its production, it fails on the count of shortcomings both in original screenplay and performances. While the rest of the cast plays…

The recent series of popular films starring heroes who are more than fifty years old, desperately trying to appear half their age and paired with heroines old enough to be their granddaughters, has surprised discerning film buffs for its mass acceptance. Robot (Rajani), Manmadhan Ambu (Kamal), Shankar Dada Zindabad (Chiranjeevi), Aptharakshaka (Vishnuvardhan) are some examples. If young Akshay Kumar's antics in Raveena Tandon starring 'Cheez badi hai' song was bad enough, his 43-year old smitten self, prancing around a younger Katrina Kaif in Sheela ki jawani (made 16 years later) is even worse. Such films with old heroes have been…

Chimeras was an adaptation of three short stories by Shashi Deshpande, "And what has been decided?", "The Last Enemy" and "Hear me, Sanjaya", which reflect the characters of Draupadi, Duryodhana and Kunti respectively. Chimeras, blended together theatre and dance forms like Bharathanatyam, Kalari, Chau and Indian contemporary to bring to stage an interpretation of these characters from the great epic, Mahabharatha. It was staged at Alliance Francaise on 8th and 9th April. A scene from Chimeras. Pic Courtesy: VODO According to the Greek mythology, Chimera is a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head and a goat's body and a…