Unattended Things

My heart missed its usual steps this morning
Dew drops were vanishing before
I could approach them with my unsure feet
And the rose petals fallen on the ground, perhaps late at night,
Looked so much like
What had been lying within me, unattended for some time,

My mind paced strangely this morning
The red and blue and even my favorite green of the rainy sky
changed colours I had not seen before
Earlier where there were words, there was only a patch
Of a confounding muttering silence
And all that was a void of some sort I knew almost well
Was now a ditch full of pinkish mud,
In place of clarity there was an uneasy compassion,
The neighbor’s cat that vexed me often
Was sitting in his balcony postured so meekly
That for once I thought it was such a sad way to be
Especially if it was drizzling and it was a Sunday morning

Sometimes this is how things are, even the mornings,
Or may be they look so
As this morning looked today
Or may be this is how I saw it showing itself to me
As some day those unattended things,
Lying within like the sad meek cats
Would show themselves
As they should be looked at.

Unbound

The wind was honing an idea
In a bird’s head
One that had just finished making its nest,
It had come to tell me too
That only time had produced me,
I was no one to think of my transcendence
Sadness that continuously drop within me from a tap,
Rusted and unstoppable
Is also an opening
To a creative melancholy.

By the end of the evening
The bird was well perched on its nest
Leaving me to wander
In the wide-open world
Unanchored
Unbound.

To Be With

I knew all the trees in the neighborhood
Those marked by the lovers,
Their names inscribed secretly on the trunks
And their leaves that shed tears for others

I knew innumerable squirrels jumping all over the place,
Birds that shared the lives of its silent inhabitants,
For there are legion: forlorn, courageous, handsome beings
Living without hope of ever witnessing a change

Curiously, I also knew when the rains would come,
When secret multicolored birds would flutter their wings
To alert the tactless and naive of rain water
Flooding their nests

Lately I have also come to know
That the prayers of the needy get entangled
With forces unknown in the lower zone of the stratosphere
Never reaching the highest ever,
And all good wishes for these people crumble
Before they surge from the hearts of well-wishers,
That way birds, squirrels and trees with tear-shedding leaves
Are still the best things for them to know
And to be with

Watching Sparrows Play

It was after a cold day
That the sun was out again
Heating my cheeks gently
As I sat in my study
People were out on the icy streets
Planning and plotting to conquer the day
Looking for the suitable love and hate
To sigh away some maturing pain within

It was after a cold day really
That the Saturday had come
When I spent my whole afternoon
Watching the mating of the birds
In the silence of a shadowy tree
Watching sparrows play and play

It was after a cold day
That the sun was out again.

Desire and Repetition: The miniaturisation of the Hindi film song

Fourth Asian Women’s Film Festival 2008 “Insights and Aspirations”

By Shikha Jhingan

Scene from Shikha Jhingan’s  ‘Born to Sing’

Let us examine the contemporary popular Hindi film songs and their circulation through the convergence of new media technologies. How has the emergence of global television and digital music changed the aesthetics, the cultural codes and the formal structure of the Hindi film song by mobilizing new circuits for the consumption of popular music? In fact, the use of repetition and heightened codes of visuality have perhaps given new forms of identity to a large number of young girls on ‘realty shows’ based on popular film music.

In recent times, one big change in the structure of the song has been the use of a ‘hook line’ as a repetitive structure. This clever use of the hook line allows the song as a musical category to evoke a discernible response from the body. Popular songs like Nach Baliye (Bunty Aur Babli), Dhoom Machale Dhoom (Dhoom), Mauja hi Mauja (Jab We Met) rely on the repetition of words or cluster of words and rhythmic patterns that is described as the hook line of the song. This metonymical formulation completely undermines the conventional structure of the film song thus opening up the song for an ‘afterlife’ for its circulation in the global circuits of value and exchange. The repetitive use of the hook line through television promos and trailers, reality shows, award nights, ring tones and advertisements of mobile phones and telecom service providers, leads to obfuscation of the original song and its emotional appeal. In this new formulation the film song not only gets unhinged from the narrative of the film but is primarily meant to evoke a response from a dancing body.

In analysing Reality Television and talent shows based on music, one would like to draw attention to the democratisation where it is possible to have greater access to these technologies not just as consumers but in recreation of the musical mode. What is interesting here is that the accent here is not just on being a good singer but a great performer. The mobilization of a unique voice along with a great performance, an energetic dancing body, go into this new form of dispersal. The creation of a certain persona, with the help of props, dress, hats, belts, gestures and other visual signs create the uniqueness of each singer.  So music is providing a basis for the creation of an identity. The emphasis is on showcasing ‘your own voice’ in sharp contrast to the earlier phase of remixes and cover versions which relied entirely on imitation or the recreation of an ‘affect’. What is even more interesting is that there is a blurring of boundaries between music and dance, between the singer and the listener, between rehearsal and performance between sound and music and between voice and sound.

Shikha Jhingan, an IAWRT member, is a Professor in Media at Lady Sri Ram College , New Delhi

Project Half Widows,

in partnership with IAWRT and APDP

info  by

Iffat Fatima,  Filmmaker

The project ”Half Widows” is a three year media  project. which began in 2006.  The project is a partnership between International Association of Women in Radio and Television(IAWRT), a forum for personal contact and professional development among women broadcasters worldwide  and the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons( APDP) Kashmir. APDP is an association of the relatives of the victims of Enforced Disappearances, campaigning collectively to seek justice and to get information on the whereabouts of the missing members of their families. The project conceived and executed by Iffat Fatima is supported by FOKUS, a Norwegian based organisation which by supporting project based cooperation between Nowegian and their partner organisations in the south, aims to contribute to the improvement of economic, social and political status of women world wide.

The  project is about the struggle of the  family members of the disappeared persons in Kashmir.who have spent vast sums of money, time, resources and energy in a legal system that  has systematically failed to provide justice to the victims. Enforced disappearance is not recognized as a crime under Indian law. Specifically the project is about women whose husbands have disappeared and are missing  in the more than decade old violence in Kashmir. These women known as half widows in Kashmir, are  living in a state of limbo, suspended in a space where they lead a life of uncertainity and anxiety. There is no closure for them to pick up the threads of their lives and move on. Being young and vulnerable they are under the pressure of their family and society to stay within the framework of marriage and conform to a marital status, while as the reality is that they are without husbands. Their lives are torn apart and their status undefined, subject to Islamic legal procedures which are ambiguous and determined by local interpretations.

 APDP was founded in 1994 by Parveena Ahangar whose 17-year-old son was abducted and never heard of again In 1994. Parveena filed a habeas corpus petition in the Srinagar High Court. With the help of human rights activists and lawyers more and more petitions continued to be filed. More and more family members got together, went to court together, held demonstrations together. Thus began a movement, a collective struggle formalized as APDP. The testimonies of the members of APDP and the documentation of cases of disappeared persons in Kashmir indicate that the practice of enforced disappearance is widespread and systematic. Almost 8000 people are thought to have disappeared, some as young as 13 or 14 years old. A large number of disappearance cases remain undocumented for various reasons, including fear of reprisal allegedly by the security forces.

Media Documentation

The media project seeks to document the personal experiences of these women and the stories which emerge from these experiences through the production of a documentary film. The documentary film will explore issues of memory , violence and healing and be a space for women whose voice is buried in the larger political and militaristic discourse to narrate  their experiences with violence from their own perspectives. Besides a video documentary the project also includes 3 to 4 short video magazines which highlight immediate concerns and problems confronted by women as theystruggle to get legal assistance and information about their family members who are missing.

 However the larger objective of the project is to assist and support the APDP effort to launch a long term self sustaining information and advocacy campaign against “Disappearances”  and to build awareness about  its impact on women  Community level participation and networking is an important component of the  campaign. The process of documentation,  dissemination and distribution is being undertaken through a consultative process with APDP members, a network of organisations, activists, academics and practitioners. Through workshops, and conferences APDP members are trained to acquire long term organisational and media skills to be able to carry on the advocacy campaign independently.   The project raises  important issues of human rights, peace and justice  confronting other countries as well. It will generate material that has international resonance as well as relevance and  will urge policy makers and those who wield power to address the concerns of human rights , democracy and justice.

 Source: IAWRT, Iffat Fatima

‘Interpreting  Myth  and  Recreating  New Myths’

 4^th IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival 2008

a Documentary film Review by

Divya Raina

The Perfect Match’ by Dhwani Desai

The wonderful world of tales from the Panchatantra is open to numerous tellings and retellings. The extraordinary elasticity of these tales mean that one can enjoy seeing in them current, contemporary concerns embedded in their structure.

The animation documentary ‘Man Pasand – The Perfect Match’ by Dhwani Desai about the “journey of a father in search of a suitable groom for his daughter, which was screened at the 4^th IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival at the India International Centre, provoked some heated discussion.

 Some of the questions raised were whether the selection of the Panchatantra tale itself as a subject of the film was a bit regressive. Did it imply that the ‘she-mouse’ could never have ‘lofty ambitions’ and ideals; unable to aspire to marrying a ‘god’ instead of the implications of marrying only a ‘mouse’ – as this would restrict her to her lowly status.

 Some in the audience wondered if the film maker had thought this through and whether its repercussions had occurred to her. Moreover the answers provided by the defensive film-maker present on the occasion were not considered very satisfactory either. Later, in an informal session, outside the screening venue, someone in the audience asserted that the woman/mouse had been allowed to freely choose her future husband by the father, and wasn’t this a progressive step?

Some others wondered why the Children’s Film Society had decided to use this particular fable and sponsor it. Was there any ominous conncection, or ulterior motive in doing so?

 However, a closer reading of the film would suggest that the agency the ‘she-mouse’ enjoys in willfully rejecting suitor after suitor and finally settling to her own choice – the ‘he-mouse’ is in fact, radically subversive and extremely liberating in a different level.

This reading is in fact consistent with the moral allegory of the film’s structure – the false bravado of the fiery sun, the coldness of the ‘puffed up’ god of ‘wind’, the blackness of the god of thunder, the hard rigidity of the so-called ‘solid’ mountain god – all in contrast to the deceptively insignificant mouse that can actually terrify the mountain god by merely boring a hole in its side.

 The entire parable actually serves to function as a tremendously subversive way of looking power, and what we perceive as strength and where true strength actually lies.

The entire parable makes us re-examine our own notions of strength as well as gender roles (such as the typically ‘masculine’ desirable qualities in a suitor of ‘strength’, solid’ character, etc).

Why is it that we aren’t able to effectively read and analyse allegory and animation, and are unable to see parables from a multiplicity of viewpoints and instead get weighed down by our attitudes and readings?

 The exposure to many diverse films and the analysis that follows the screenings is vital if we are to progress not only in our cine-literacy but also in the new reworking of myth and fable in our lives.

ROMANTIC FILMS CAN ALSO CARRY SOCIAL MESSAGES: YASH CHOPRA
by
B B Nagpal
Senior Film Critic

NEW DELHI, APRIL: Filmmaker Yash Chopra has strongly defended his brand of cinema saying that he does not show mere commercial romanticism but infuses a lot of meaningful content into it.

Speaking on the sidelines of a festival of films by his elder brother B R Chopra, he said that it was erroneous to say that his films did not have the kind of social commitment that one saw in the films of his brother.

While noting that he had got his first break as a director in his brother’s ‘Dhool ka Phool’, he said he was entitled to make his own kind of cinema.

Paying a tribute to his brother, he said Baldev Raj Chopra was probably the only filmmaker in India who had never made any compromises and gone ahead and made the kinds of films he wanted irrespective of their commercial outcome.

The cinematic tribute from 18 to 20 April with nine masterpieces from the BR stable were part of ‘Guild Greats’, an initiative of the Film and Television Producers Guild of India . Co-organised by ASSOCHAM, was sponsored by Time Broadband Services Group’s ‘My Time’ to kick-start the announcement of qualitative IPTV service launch in India through empowering technology and compelling content.

Yash Chopra recalled how his brother had proved wrong filmmakers at the time who felt films on themes like widow re-marriage, rehabilitation of prostitutes, or a court room drama sans songs would never be able to woo audiences.

Speaking at the inauguration and a discussion on the second day, BR’s son Ravi said his father has always been a man of principles who has continued to make films that he felt committed about, irrespective of the financial returns. BR is a ‘karmayogi’ who firmly believes in the motto of BR Films from the Mahabharata which says one must do one’s duty without worrying about the consequences. Ravi said he would not dare re-make any of his father’s films because he could never bring out the finesse they contained, and stressed that the message in his father’s films came out in a subtle manner without the film turning into a documentary.

The filmmaker’s son-in-law and Guild Vice President Raj Tilak, who is an eminent filmmaker in his own right, said showing films of BR Chopra meant celebrating excellence.

Amit Dev who is Chairman of the ASSOCHAM Committee on Convergence said though India had the largest entertainment industry in the world, it global share was not very high. He said the Guild and ASSOCHAM had come together on a single platform and the offshoot was creation of a Content Licensing Centre. He announced another festival of Dr Chopra’s films would be held later in the year.

Ms Sujata Dev, Managing Director of Time Broadband, said the launch of IPTV (Internet Protocal Television) on TV sets, computers and mobiles would make TV more interactive, and help to fight piracy and empower content protection. TIME is preparing to shortly launch IPTV over both Mobile and Broadband in India , through collaboration with recently licensed progressive telecom operators; under the brand of “MY TIME” content package.

Music maestro Ravi recalled several incidents to show how Dr Chopra had given him complete freedom in the way he composed his music. He also spoke of the rapport he had always shared with Dr Chopra and recalled an incident where several people in the fraternity had asked the filmmaker to get the music of ‘Nikaah’ done by some other music director saying Ravi would not be able to do justice, but Dr Chopra had not paid heed.

Basu Chatterjee echoed this when he said Dr Chopra had never interfered with the way he made his films for the BR banner. He said he had not many producers who gave so much freedom to their directors.

Senior Film Critic Pradeep Sardana said the issues raised by the BR banner were today being debated and were as fresh as ever. For example, the film ‘Nikaah’ had raised issues that were being discussed in courts of law today.

Eminent film scribe B B Nagpal recalled social themes dealt with by Dr Chopra in several films made almost fifty years earlier. He said issues like widow re-marriage (dealt both in ‘Ek hi Raasta’ and the more recent ‘Babul’, rehabilitation of a prostitute (‘Sadhna’) and questioning the laws of rape and divorce (‘Insaaf ka Taraazu’ and ‘Nikaah’ respectively) were still relevant and some filmmakers were now attempting to make films on these themes, though not with as much success.

Filmmaker Ms Savita Oberoi said she had learnt a lot from interacting with Dr Chopra. She referred to the freedom he and his son Ravi had given to her when she made her hour-long film on B R Chopra as part of her six-film series on Dadasaheb Phalke Awardees. Excerpts from the film were screened after the discussion on the second day, while an in-house film on Dr Chopra was shown at the inauguration.

Members of the Chopra family included Ravi Chopra’s wife, Ravi ’s two sisters and their husbands, Ravi ’s son Abhay, and his daughter and son-in-law.

The festival opened with ‘Insaaf Ka Tarazu’ (1980), and other films screened were: Hamraaz (1967), Waqt (1965), Ittefaq (1969), Baghban (2003), Gumraah (1963), Nikaah (1982), Naya Daur (1957), and Chhoti Si Baat (1976).

Over The Line?

Hecklers Cross The Line

Interrupt performance of Israel Horovitz’s play ‘Line‘ at India Habitat Center Manish Vidhani reports on the unsavoury event

Crossing the Line?

Forgotten lines, falling pants, flying props, ringing mobile phones… I am sure at least one of these has at one point of time, or the other, been the reason behind an interrupted act. But, saturday night at the India Habitat Centre, the performance of Israel Horovitz’s Line was interrupted by a protest.

A little insight, I believe, is necessary for some perspective.

Line is now in its 33^rd year of continuous performance at 13th Street Repertory Theatre in New York and is the longest running ‘off-off Broadway’ production (Off-Off-Broadway refers to Non-Broadway theatrical productions of New York City in small theatres having fewer than 100 seats.

Its adaptation, directed by Mallika Taneja and Neel Chaudhuri, being performed by The First City Theatre Foundation at the India Habitat Centre was interrupted by some of the audience who walked out of the hall and forced the production team to stop the performance, following which the play was abruptly stopped. The “due tounavoidable circumstances…” routine was duly performed. The crew and the staff were as clueless as the audiences were, to the extent that nobody knew who necessitated the action and for what reason.

Apparently, it was “too much” and unacceptable to some. Sure, the dialogues were explicit and there was foul language in the play. No denying the fact. But, what exactly is expected from a play, the entry ticket for which clearly says that the entry is for adults only? A loud beep every time a four letter word is used? The naivety of treating Adults only, as blithely as Shake well before use is inexplicable.

I hope that our select group of audience who prodded me into writing this article read this and reflect on the following. The team did their job by specifying that the play was for adults. Neither did they intrude your comfort zone by beaming vulgar images on your television at primetime nor did they put obscene posters around the city. It was you who forced your opinion on them and a hundred other audiences by interrupting the performance.

Although, I am grateful for the fact, that there was no display of hooliganism. No slogans, no angry words were exchanged. Yet, it struck the same chord inside me. Is it true that we have become a nation of self-righteous people who have more opinions than information? Whatever little awareness we have, seems to be directed only at reinforcing our insecurities and not otherwise.

Well, all said and done, after fifteen minutes of chaos, confusion and refunding of tickets, the performance was continued due to the decisiveness of the rest of the audience and their support.

 As far as the play is concerned, Line is a mirror to our flaws and provides food for thought. It is the story of five people waiting in a line. What is the line for and what are these people waiting for? These questions seem irrelevant when compared to what each of them does, to be the first in the line. In stark contrast to the unhurried initial minutes, the one act show leaves the audience and more so, the actors, breathless. The beauty of it lies in the fact that one detests these characters by the end. A fast and high energy show with absorbing sound effects and intelligent stage utilization is a memorable one breaking News.

BRT JAM

. Manish Vidhani

Stagebuzz Correspondent

“The retrospective of my films has come 20 years too soon”

 But who’s complaining –  Sudhir Mishra talks to Shumita Didi

Shumita: How does it feel to have the first ever Retrospective of your films at the relatively young age of 51, and that too at Delhi ?

 Sudhir: “This has come to me twenty years too soon I feel, but I am grateful to be showing the body of my work. I think I hardly the know the boy who made “Yeh Who Manzil Toh Nahin”… An important time in my life from the age of 21 when you form relationships, first meet very good people like Badal Sircar, Safdar Hashmi…was spent at Delhi. By virtue of being here I could soak in the vibrant atmosphere at JNU and Delhi University, get exposed not only to the best of world cinema but also the finest of theatre productions like the NSD Repertory’s work, the Sriram Festival; It was wonderful to be able to savour the rich amalgam of NSD, Triveni, Rabindra Bhavan, LTG, Sriram Centre- at Mandi House. There was an explosion of talent in all fields roughly in the period ’78-’81 when I was here. Even when I left for Bombay, my Father had been posted to Delhi so it was home. Many connections and references stem from here. We belong to Lucknow though.”

Shumita: The opening film was, “Hazaro’n Khwahisein Aisi” . It has risen to almost cult status. How do you feel about this film? What is the essence of this film?

 Sudhir: “It has acquired a life of its own. People enter a film through many doors. They have come up to me and explained in it things, way beyond what I had intended. All the actors were new or relatively unknown so it was a challenge in many ways. Sometimes I feel a much appreciated film becomes a mill around your neck! As far as audiences of that film go, you just cant match it! So I often say, I have disowned that film! But it has a very wide range of viewers. I have seen it with students at IIT’s, IAS Wives Associations, Policemen, Politicians….I think this film is a soft film even though it talks of many harsh realities. It talks of and touches the vestiges of purity left in each one of us even when we have lost our idealistic youth. I was very moved when after watching the scene on police brutality, a young policeman came up to me with tears in his eyes and said, this is exactly how they make us do it.”

Shumita: Did’nt you face censor trouble with this film? There are many scenes where I wondered eg Police violence, party politics etc?

 Sudhir: “I would love to say I did! I became a film-maker at a time when if your films weren’t agitated against, or heavily censored they perhaps lacked something! But actually I was lucky. I only had to make one small cut in a scene where there was a close up of a banner saying All India Youth Congress, so I replaced it with a wider shot of the same banner, and no one noticed! The irony was that this was during the BJP regime. They were being sensitive to the Congress sentiments! It was released during the Congress regime though. In India I think politics and violence do not evoke as much of sentiment than lets say if it was a film on religion.”

Shumita: All your films have had varied themes, “Main Zinda Hoon” “Dharavi”, “Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin”, “Chameli”, “Calcutta Mail”…some very down to earth, a thriller, some fantasy woven in..Which would you say is your favourite film from all of them?

 Sudhir: “ It’s not a wrestling match! I think for a Director for the most part it is like being a parent, you like them all and particularly the one you are immediately involved with. But I would say Khoya Khoya Chaand for now. I liked Chameli, it was a fairy tale. Calcutta Mail I disown! Except for a few sequences I don’t like that film it has too much happening in it. But interestingly when I was visiting a beaurocrats  party at Washington, no one seemed not to know who I was, what films I had made etc till someone said, he has made Calcutta Mail. And then I was suddenly mobbed!”

Shumita: Any particular reason why you’ve cast Soha Ali Khan in three projects running, Khoya Khoya Chaand, Tera Kya Hoga Johnny” and “Mumbai Cutting”….? You’ve worked with Shabana, Deepti, Smriti, Chitranghada,… Do you ever get involved with the beautiful women you work with?

 Sudhir: “She is a good actress. I feel her potential and different facets of performance are being explored in all three films. I have no qualms about repeating actors according to role requirements..I have also first cast and repeated Shiney Ahuja, and Saurabh Shukla for example is in most of my films. As a director and storywriter I feel very grateful to the actors who bring alive a character I have written, envisaged. To that extent one gets involved with them as bringing to life your characters. If you are talking of romantic involvement with any of my actresses, no, that would be too dangerous!”

Shumita: Well, in “Yeh Who Manzil Toh Nahin”, you had cast Sushmita Mukherjee, and she was your wife then! What is the main theme of “Tera Kya Hoga Johnny” and why did you feel the need to write and make this film. Is it a short film/ feature length?

 Sudhir :“In a Bombay trying to be Shanghai, who gives a damn for a young man/boy who sells coffee? But there are some who do. Three characters, played by Neil Nitin Mukesh, K.K. Menon & Soha Ali Khan care about this boy in different ways and their life stories unfold through his eyes. Both wonder what will happen to each other. It is a feature length film.”

Shumita: What of the film, “Mumbai Cutting” you are doing as part of an 11 director package? What is the relevance of such a concept? I believe the other directors apart from you are..Kundan Shah, Jahnu Barua, Anurag Kashyp, Ruchi Malhotra…

 Sudhir: “Yes, and Rituparno Ghosh, Rahul Dholakia, Munish Jha, Revathi, Ayush Raina, Shashank Ghosh…..Each film is roughly 10 mins duration. It is a great concept and more such experiments should be happening. It has been produced by a husband wife team Samrat & Niyati, with Sahara funding and will get a theatre release, plus a TV package. My story is set in almost real time where under the crowded J.J flyover, one of the busiest parts of Bombay, a murder takes place. Soha is in this film too alongwith Chitranghada Singh.

Shumita: She disappeared from the scene for a while, how is it working with her again?

 Sudhir: “She saw the three films I had made and mockingly complained, how could you without me! I  teased her back and said you are the one that vanished! Seriously though, I may not have gone looking for another actress if she had been there..

Shumita: So in a way that was good, because we got to see very different work from Soha.. I felt she was perfectly cast in Khoya Khoya Chaand. The olde worlde look was carried very well by her. Sushmita was in this film too, did you enjoy working with her after so long?

Sudhir: “She always had a great sense of humour and after my film, she is working with Karan Johar these days. I did get annoyed when I heard that she had taken her son to swallow raw fish to heal his asthma which subsequently got worse, I mean he is not my son, he is hers and Raja Bundela’s son, but I told her to leave the room. Told her after all her high education if she had gone and tried that, I want nothing to do with her!”

Shumita: She is a lovely person, good actress and a madcap! It is interesting how I was great friends with your second wife Renu Saluja, and I am great friends with your first wife Sushmita! They both gave me things that said “best friends forever” – uncanny. But it is really your brother Sudhanshu I got to know when working at CENDIT making documentaries..he went too soon as did Renu..

Sudhir: “Life is like that. There was a time when we were younger when everyone was somehow involved in a triangle! I was involved with someone who was involved with someone and so on…! Sudhanshu was a charmer, many women have come up to me after he died and told me how they felt about him with a glazed look in their eyes! He made some good films. Renu always used to scold me for being absent minded like I would get up from the table if I was done..she’d say I’m going to call up your Mother and ask her why didn’t you teach him table manners! The thing is, you live in two worlds simultaneously if you are a writer/director..I would be thinking of some character and wander off. That’s why I don’t drive!”

Shumita: Even though they are’nt on the floor yet, could you talk about the other two projects? “Aur Devdas” to begin with. I believe Anurag Kashyp is coming up with one too. Yet another Devdas film Sudhir! Although I believe you mentioned once it has some political content…?

Sudhir: “The initial bit is from there…characters e.g and then takes off in a completely different direction. The idea is that if say Devdas who had originally come from England, instead is heir to a political lineage…his mother is a Chief Minister, and Paro lets say is..the daughter of a Police Commissioner..and gets married into another poitical dynasty and becomes the “bahuji” there…then who would be Chandramukhi…..? Maybe she is the one that handles the money of the politicians..that which no one should know of. The story thus takes another trajectory.

Shumita: What of the film in which you plan to use music by Baba Ghulam Muhammad Chaand from Pakistan, the “Nawab and Nauthchgirl…” film? I hope that is still on?

 Sudhir: Yes, I would like to use his compositions. He is a very interesting performer. That was a lovely evening you had arranged for us to hear him. This film is a sort of black comedy on 1857.

Shumita: What are your immediate plans? Heading towards Cannes this year? Do you find it relevant going there?

Sudhir: “I have to be back in Bombay for mixing tomorrow morning. If I get done, I may go for a week to Cannes before setting off to speak at a festival in Calcutta. Cannes is always an interesting place for cinema lovers to go to, discuss co-productions, get to meet colleagues from all over, and gauge your place in world cinema

Mirza Ghalib in a Time Warp
A Review of the Comedy by Manish Vidhani

(Left) A Painting Depicting Mirza Assadullah Khan Ghalib   (Right) A Scene from the Play

As a part of the recently concluded The Best of Pierrot’s theatre festival, Dr. M. Sayeed Alam and his troupe performed “Ghalib in New Delhi” on 26^th April, 2008 at Sri Ram Centre here in New Delhi.

The play showcases Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, the erstwhile former Urdu poet’s adventures in the modern day, in his second birth. Ghalib, once he is informed about his posthumous fame, decides to take a rebirth to experience it first hand (the fame that eluded him during his lifetime) and appears at the ISBT. The plot revolves around Ghalib facing an incessant identity crisis and his desperate attempts to fight it. He is famous, but only through the voice of Jagjit Singh and the screen portrayal of Naseeruddin Shah.

His luck brings him to stay with Jay Hind, a Bihari boy, in the servant quarters of Mrs. Chaddha, a typical Punjabi auntyjee. Ghalib’s character evolves in a subtle way as the play progresses. From his absolute intolerance towards incorrect grammar to his understanding of the ‘star couples’ in Bollywood, Ghalib endures it all.

Despite it being a riotous comedy, I couldn’t help but notice the following. The voice of  Niti Sayeed, lacked the boom that a theatre artist is known for, to the extent of being inaudible at times. It stood out in stark contrast with the other cast members. Also, a few scenes such as the one with the hawaldaar could have been done away with. But all said and done, the performance received a well deserved standing ovation from the audience.

Born on January 6,1928, Vijay Tendulkar began his playwriting career in the 1940’s, initially for college societies and later for the Bombay group Rangayan.  An important contemporary Playwright, he has to his credit a large body of work including some forty plays.  Among his plays are Shantala ! Court Chalu Ahe, which received the Kamladevi Chattopadhyay Award in 1970, Ghasiram Kotwal, Gidhade, and Manus Navache Bet.  Vijay Tendulkar received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for playwriting in 1970 and the Padma Bhushan in 1984.

 Tendulkar was equally at ease in the medium of films.  Among his well known screenplays are Nishant (1975), Manthan (1977), Akrosh (1980), Ardhasatya (1983) and Samna (1985)

 His short stories are collected in five volumes: Kachpatre (1958), Meshpatre, Dwandwa (1961), Gane (1966) and Phulapakharu (1970).  His journalistic writings on people and events are collected in Raatrani (1971) and Phuge Sabanche (1974).

 Amidst his multifarious activities, Tendulkar had found time to enrich Marathi literature by translating into Marathi, works of Mark Van Doren, Tennessee Williams, Henry James, Girish Karnad and Mohan Rakesh.

 Vijay Tendulkar enjoys the unique distinction of receiving the Maharastra Stage Government Award nine times.

 As a tribute to him we reproduce an article by the Editor of Stagebuzz which was published in Midday in 2003 when Tendulkar was felicitated at an award ceremony in New Delhi

Culture Cocktail

Manohar Khushalani

Rewarding Unsung Heroes

It was way back in the forties, when Indian Theatre was in its incipient state, when a modest, unassuming, and diligent backstage worker innovated and developed indigenous stage lights. His name was Chaman Lal. An event which is highly attended by the glitterati of Delhi and is looked forward to every year is the Chaman Lal Memorial Society Awards. This is the only society of its kind in India which recognizes the services of those artists of the country who unappreciated for their contribution to Stage Light Designing, Stage Craft, Make‑up, and Costume Designing. The Society has been honouring these back stage artists for the last 8 yrs and recognizing that these artists are as important as an actors performing on the stage. The Chief Guest this year was Raj Babbar. As Reoti Sharan Sharma, the President of the society put it, that although Raj Babbar is now a Member of Parliament, he was originally a graduate of NSD, and it was in that capacity that he had been invited. Sharma’s request that Babbar should re-enter stage as an actor, since he would be able to command large audiences was perhaps in a humorous vein. But an opportunity was lost in reminding Babbar that he had done absolutely nothing for solving the problems of the struggling Delhi theatre, which was in fact, wholly responsible for bringing him into lime light. The earlier Chief Guests of the award ceremony have been, Shashi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Ustad Amjad All Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Vyjantimala Bali, Anupam Kher, Shabana Azmi and Farooque Sheikh

For the year of 2003, the society honoured the leading playwright, Vijay Tendulkar of Mumbai for his life time achievement in the theatre world, and the awardees in the technical arena were Dolly Ahluwalia Tiwari of Chandigarh for Costume Design,  . Vinay Capila of New Delhi for Stage Craft. This year an International organisation, ROSCO (U.K.), offered to sponsor one annual award this “Special Award” went  to N.K. Chaurasia of New Delhi for Stage Lighting. The awards carrie a cash presentation of Rs. 25,000, a Shawl and a Momento. These were presented at a glittering function at Kamani Auditorium.  Now that the society has started awarding playwrights as well, perhaps the name of Badal Sircar cannot be ignored for his path breaking plays like Evam Indrajeet. Sircar is perhaps the only Indian playwright of international eminence, who also directs his own plays. He is getting very old and should be preferably be rewarded during his life time itself.

One of  the major attraction at this award ceremony is that it is always  followed by a special multimedia, light and sound presentation which show cases the latest equipment available with R.K. Dhingra’s Modern Stage Service. Earlier Dhingra has been presenting annually revised versions of Manav. This year a new show, an anti war dance drama, Kyun, was launched. It was choreographed by Santosh Nair while Concept, Light Design and Direction were by Dhingra. As in previous years the audio visual and lighting effects were stunning. There were laser beams, reflected by finely oriented mirrors to create a symphony between music and synchronized lights. There were computerised profilers which bombarded the audience with lighting patterns. There were cutout of bombers projected on screen. A diaphanous curtain was used to project organic light patterns with actors performing behind and blending with the visual. Video film projections of the Normandy beach landing and world war two bombers were combined with remotely controlled spot lights giving the illusion of live search lights. There was a new flame machine which created the illusion of a live orange-yellow flame. While one lost count of the effects for which; Naresh Kapuria was responsible for the Environment, Navneet Wadhwa for Sound, Swarupp Ghosh for Laser Graphic Design and above all Dhingra and staff of Modern Stage Service who need to be complimented. However one felt that the overall effect of the presentation was scattered as compared to the earlier production of Manav which was more consolidated and integrated. However the human element introduced by the highly professional performance by all the dancers was remarkable. Amongst  them, Priyaanka Bose stood out for her amazing sense of rhythm and fluid body movements. (Author’s email: stagebuzz@gmail.com)

Baghdad Burning – “We are accused of terrorism:”
A review by Jai Chandiram

Thundering sound of warplanes, bombs , distant cries  Ebrahim identifies the plane, whose plane, the type of bomb, and the  and the area of the fall . Ebrahim  tries to get Rahila into his game . from his  dimly lit stark underground shelter . Suddenly the tank sound outside the door puts an end to the guessing and makes the group scurry with their water bottles to the shelter and the anxious wait for the knock on the door, the usual harassment by the soldiers which must be received with humbleness of a conquered nation ..Riverbend records the  spirit and destruction of the war on  Rahila , Mama , Baba , Aban and many others .  Multiple roles by a cast of twelve and excellent characterisation makes this piece of theater a moving experience. The blog of Riverbend (a woman)  vignettes the changes in the lives of women  who were free to study and work and the growth of fundamentalism  and its restrictions on their lives . The war leaves them without electricity and water … but the community continues to support each other through shortage of water and the daily routines for survival . They constantly  thank Mr. Bush for liberating them ! The minimalist staging of benches and white sheets which from the bedroom become  shrouds are visuals which will be seared in memory!

 The dark humor of Mama as she takes the journalist through the shelter hit by a bomb   and now  a museum has the burnt out figure of a mother trying to save the child with her body , another woman her body leapt in the air as the bomb hits her and freezes her as a figure flying with the impact . Shocking images graphically describe the effect of the bomb on  400 people  chill the audience in a harsh reality of the war even though the telling is with embarrassed laughs .

A great play , well enacted and brilliantly staged with a  soundtrack that drumbeats into the soul with piercing screech of the bombs and the silence that follows . Grim with dark humor it describes the history of our times

 The blog displays :

• These weapons of Mass Destruction cannot be displayed .
• Some countries require 128 thousand troops to liberate them
• Click the   regime change or try again later Button
• Click the Bomb Button if you are Donald Rumsfeld

Some War Statistics

Iraqis displaced inside Iraq 2,255,000
Iraqi unemployment rate 27%-60% where curfew is not in effect
Iraqi’s without access to adequate water supplies 70%
Prewar daily supply of electricity  16-24  hours , Average today 1-2 hours .

… It feels like we’ve gone back 50 years ever since the beginning of the occupation. A woman, or girl,  out alone risks anything from insults to abduction .

We are seeing the increase of fundamentalism in Iraq which is terrifying .

“ Governing Council  is something of an interesting hobby – a nice diversion in a monthly routine : golf on Saturdays.. a movie with the  family in London on Fridays….. and yes nation building for 5 minutes with Bremer on the 10th of  each month .

And so Bush liberates and moves Iraq into democracy!
Based on the internet blog by Riverbend
Script by Supriya Shukla ( Hindi)
Design and Direction by Kirti Jain
Aaranjan in collaboration with  Zubaan , and Abhimanch , National School of Drama