भारत रंग महोत्सव’ 1 से 21 फरवरी तक आयोजित

लेख : अनिल गोयल

राष्ट्रीय नाट्य विद्यालय (नेशनल स्कूल ऑफ ड्रामा) दिल्ली अपना पच्चीसवाँ अन्तर्राष्ट्रीय नाट्य समारोह ‘भारत रंग महोत्सव’ 1 से 21 फरवरी तक आयोजित कर रहा है. समारोह का उद्घाटन इस बार 1 फरवरी को मुम्बई में होगा. समारोह की समाप्ति दिल्ली में 21 फरवरी को होगी. भारत के 15 नगरों में 150 से अधिक भारतीय व विदेशी नाटकों का मंचन होगा. इनमें पुणे, भुज, विजयवाड़ा, जोधपुर, भुबनेश्वर, डिब्रूगढ़, पटना, रामनगर, श्रीनगर, वाराणसी, बंगलुरु, गंगटोक और अगरतला सम्मिलित हैं.
समारोह की प्रैस कांफ्रेंस को रानावि के अध्यक्ष परेश रावल ने ऑनलाइन संबोधित किया. इसमें रानावि के कुलसचिव, और रानावि समिति की सदस्य वाणी त्रिपाठी टिक्कू भी उपस्थित थीं. इस बार राष्ट्रीय नाट्य विद्यालय (रानावि) ने अभिनेता पंकज त्रिपाठी को अपना रंगदूत बनाया है. समारोह में लिविंग लीजेंड और मास्टर क्लास जैसे कुछ नये कार्यक्रम प्रारम्भ किये जा रहे हैं. इनके साथ-साथ निर्देशक से मुलाकर और राष्ट्रीय और अन्तर्राष्ट्रीय सेमिनार इत्यादि भी किये जा रहे हैं. रानावि के नये निदेशक चित्तरंजन त्रिपाठी ने बताया कि इस बार की चयन प्रक्रिया को ऑनलाइन करके पूर्ण पारदर्शिता लाने का प्रयास किया गया है, जहाँ चयनकर्ता भी एक-दूसरे के बारे में नहीं जानते थे.




Play ‘Couples Shuffle’ Conveys Message to Audience with Laughter

The husband-wife relationship is considered to be the most sacred in the world. Love and trust bind both, but many times husband and wife quarrel by finding shortcomings in each other and a third takes advantage of it. Something similar was seen in Anuragna Theatre Group’s presentation “Couples Shuffle“, written and directed by Ashraf Ali. The play was performed on December 24 at Black Canvas, L.T.G. Auditorium, Mandi House, New Delhi-01.

Sharma ji (Chirag) house where he lives with his wife (Shruti Aastha) Chawla. There is always a tussle between the two over small things. Meanwhile, their neighbor Dubey (Bilal Khan) enters, who tries to take advantage of the conflict between those husband and wife and put a string on Shruti. Meanwhile, Maya (Manisha Sharma) enters. Sharma ji is very impressed by seeing Maya and tries to increase friendship. This dilemma goes on for a long time and finally it is revealed that Dubey and Maya are husband and wife, and they came to Sharma ji’s house to investigate them in search of the Best Couple Award in which both of them failed.

Amidst laughter, this play also gives a message to the audience that ‘husband and wife should never leave each other in any situation and should maintain trust in each other’. Chirag played his character well in the role of Sharma, as well as his wife Shruti’s character had many shades, which she succeeded in keeping in front of the audience. In the role of Dubey, Bilal Khan kept the entire drama tied with his acting and put many laughs in it, as well as the performance of Manisha Sharma in the role of Maya was also praise worthy.

Behind the stage were Goldie in the music, lighting was done by Manik Sharma, Kamal Negi was in the costumes and Ankit was in the stage material as well as Shamsher Khan and Avinash Tiwari in the set.




The 5th Tafarih Festival Marks the Beginning of a Unique Journey of Literature and Art

The unique event of “Fifth Tafarih” festival organized by Sili Sales Foundation provides us with a beautiful opportunity to connect with literature, art and cultural literacy. Under this festival, eminent persons from various fields have given us an opportunity to have an in-depth discussion on literary and artistic topics by sharing their experiences and perspectives.

The fifth edition began with the lighting a lamp by Senior Theatre Personalies K.K.Kohli, Diwan Singh Bajeli, Shyam Kumar, Pratap Sharma Somvanshi and Sili Sales Foundation’s director Priyanka Sharma. It began with a discussion on ‘Growing distance between novels and stage’, in which senior theatre persons, journalists, and writers shared their vision. It is a platform where an atmosphere of deep discussion on literary and artistic topics has been created. The guests were Diwan Singh Bajeli, Pratap Sharma Somvanshi, Aditi Maheshwari and Rama Yadav. In the discussion, Rama Yadav said, “Today the novel is getting distant from the stage, for which we have to take important steps. We have to inspire the youth to read books and novels. Maybe this will make today’s youth aware.”

Television actress Reena Agarwal and cinematographer Naresh Sharma shared their views on the impact and challenges of social media. The stage was moderated by Priyanka Sharma, Director, Silly Sales Foundation. Natsamrat director Shyam Kumar and senior theatre personality Himanshu B Joshi also shared their experiences.

The play “Stree Subohdhini” brought the festival to life in an entertaining and cultural form. The solo presentation ‘Stree Subodhini’ written by Mannu Bhandari and was directed by late Tripurari Sharma.  Munmun Singh was the winner of sangeet natak akademi award captivated the hearts of all the audience with his acting.   .

The last highlight of the first day of the festival was ‘Mehfile Sukhand’, which tied a different parallel and was directed by Shamir Khan. The fifth Tafarih Festival is being held from 2:00 pm to 9:30 pm on November 18th at 29/1 Civil Lines, Delhi, where there will be a confluence of art and culture. 

In the same way, an atmosphere of partnership has been created in the world of experience, art, and literature associated with various aspects of the festival. This is a time when together we can fill our cultural heritage with richness by connecting with literature and art.




Casting Call for Female Lead

Production of an international play ‘Melbourne Talam’




T20 TEAM INDIA MIGHT GET A SEPARATE DIRECTOR – Any Guesses?

By Sunil Sarpal

According to a report in The Telegraph, BCCI feels that the load to manage multiple formats is too overwhelming for a single Coach like Rahul Dravid. There is a speculation that BCCI might split the coaching roles three ways and the issue could come up for discussion during the apex council meeting later this month.  Biggest curiosity is ofcourse about the T20 FORMAT coach

Rumours are strong about one possibility. Guess who? Perhaps every child in India knows his name – MS Dhoni. Such is his charisma in Indian Cricket. He is tagged as the coolest captain to ever grace Team India.

Captain Cool

For this prestigious assignment to captain Team India, the script was written by none other than Sachin Tendulkar when he recommended Dhoni’s name to the then BCCI President Sharad Pawar for captain material.

His attributes include his unique ability to read the game-situation, pitch-behaviour and team combinations which always bring laurels to the nation.

His timely guidance behind the stumps to bowlers was a treat to watch, so was his uncanny ability to go for DRS. These are some of the talents developed by him to turn him into an iconic figure. His timely bowling changes and field placements made him a street-smart thinker of the game. Dhoni was such a talent that he could enter Team India single-handedly on the basis of being a wicket keeper, or a batsman or just as a captain.

Dhoni was so agile and fitness personified that he used to run between the wickets as fast as anybody. Dhoni’s body was so strong that he could hit a six at will. He was recognised for his ‘helicopter shot’. Dhoni often lifted the morale of the team when the game-situation was slipping away from its grasp. Dhoni was so cool and calculating, that he could change the nature of the game with his determination and could ‘weather the storm’. He was truly a game-changer, and takes the game away from the jaws of defeat.

After suddenly retiring from the game and handing over the reign to Kohli, he was just cooling his heels and playing only IPL, representing CSK.

In the just concluded ICC T-20 World Cup at Australia where India’s ignominious defeat in semis, BCCI new President Roger Binny is reported to have decided that Dhoni should be made Team India Director. Along with the Coach Rahul Dravid, India needs to re-build the team with young legs.

Dhoni’s possible appointment as Director, Team India T20, could lift the morale of the team. Dhoni will build a team on the lines – horses for courses. His uncanny ability to yield the best from a player will take Team India shining once again on the world stage.




Design Thinking – and the Idea of India

An exploration of the meanings of identity and design in the Indian context – now and in earlier times.

Looking at the Idea of India, and ideas from India through the concept of lakshana – distinguishing characteristics.

Can these be used to illustrate principles of progressive thinking? This is the first part of a talk on Design Identity prepared as an online set of public lectures for the students of the School of Architecture, World University of Design in February 2021.

Anisha Shekhar Mukherji

To listen the second part of the talk and a further exploration of the relationship between design and identity, through a comparative analysis of the meanings of ‘modern’ and ‘Indian’, please see Identity and Design & Identity in Design: https://stagebuzz.in/2022/03/04/identity-and-design-identity-in-design/




OTT Series: Aranyak
on Netflix / Sanjiva Sahay

Aranyak
The brand new Hindi webseries on Netflix

▫️ Welcome to the world of murder mystery that has the deceptive appearance of a folklore. This character- नर तेंदुआ- imaginary or real, would hammer your brain across 8 episodes. Since a fresh killing and rape of a girl , the sleepy town of Himachal Pradesh is jolted again. The police station, uncountable natives …complete with an influential politician and a high status business family. The probe begins, so does your journey into a narrative which is thrilling in the beginning and a big disappointment after 3 episodes. Lengthy, tedious and long drawn.

▫️ Casting is almost perfect. Parambrata excels as Angad Mallik, the investigating police officer. Surprisingly, Raveena as the SHO on leave, Kasturi Dogra, manages to get into the character effortlessly. Then we have actors like Ashutosh Rana, Zakir Husain, Meghna Malik among others who try earnestly to lift a dull screenplay. All remain stereotypes with some clichéd, overdramatic dialogues. The hangover of the forgotton era of the ’80s.

▫️ A mixed bag indeed. Average direction and writing, above average performances (better than Candy at least), effective background score. O yes, watch the series on faster speed for the breathtaking and picturesque locations. The climax has been shot in thick snowfall all over and looks phenomenal.

▫️ Nothing less, nothing more.




The General having crossed a Torii boundary – Drawing with a Torii and a figure

The trajectory of my art practice takes on a zigzag path sometimes; and at other times a circuitous one or a U-turn that I didn’t expect to take.
The work “The General” is one such. I started off with figure sculptures and then went on to study life drawing at Boston University.




AstroVish with Manohar Khushalani : Consequences of the Conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter

Astrology with AstroVish

StageBuzz is a Lifestyle Magazine. Any thing creative, cultural, insightful that adds to your quality of life, finds its way here. So why not Astrology for those who believe in it With this webinar we begin a column on Astrology

Watch the webinar below. Vishwanath Hiremath alias AstroVish, the Astrologer, in Conversation with Manohar Khushalani on the much hyped conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter which happened on 21st Dec. 2020. This was webcast on TheStageBuzz youtube channel on 28th December 2020. Publishing it for those who havent yet watched it.

AstroVish has an infinite fascination for Lord SaturnShani Dev. He would drive from Goa to Pune then Shanishinganapur carrying Honey, Oil, Bananas, Dry fruits, Mithai for his worship and has been praying every Saturday for 5 years. It all started with a book gifted to him: The Greatness of Saturn by Robert Svoboda. Deep studies of 11 years. A gifted Vedic Astrologer combines Indian Mythology, Planets and Blessing of Lord Saturn.
Radheka Shrinagesh

Watch AstroBuzz created by The Cosmic Dance of Heavenly Bodies See All Episodes




30 Best Spanish Movies on Netflix (2021) | Second-Half Travels

Watching Spanish-language movies on Netflix is a great way to practice vocabulary and listening skills. Spanish films also allow you to learn about other cultures and gain exposure to different accents and slang.

If you are an intermediate or advanced learner, I recommend watching with Spanish subtitles as studies show it enhances language learning. I also jot down any interesting new vocabulary and add it to my Anki flashcards later.

Here are some of the top Spanish movieson Netflix streaming in the US as of January 22, 2021. If you’re not in the US, just click the title to check if the show is available in your country. Watch these films while you can, because content disappears as licensing agreements expire. See the current list on the link below. If you are not in USA share in the message box below which of these films were available in your country.

https://www.secondhalftravels.com/spanish-movies-netflix/