HAMLET meets THE VAGINA in DELHI

HAMLET meets THE VAGINA in DELHI

1.       HAMLET-THE CLOWN PRINCE -5^th , 6^th and 7^th SEP at KAMANI AUDITORIUM, DELHI

Atul Kumar, the man behind Company theatre (also an alumnus of St. Xavier's Delhi, he passed out of 12^th standard the year I walked in prep, guess the school couldn’t handle both of us at the same time) who enthralled DELHI with his directorial effort in the smash hit play NOISES OFF is back but this time as an actor, in a play which is directed by RAJAT KAPOOR (the man who was bugged by VINEY PATHAK in BHEJA FRY), the play also stars KALKI KOECHLIN (DEV D, ZINDAGI NAA MILEGI DOBAARA -please don’t make me say she is ANURAAG KASHYAP’s better half), NEIL BHOOPALAM (SHAITAAN and NOISES OFF) and NAMIT DAS (WAKE UP SID and GHANCHAKKAR). The story revolves around a bunch of clowns who are trying to enact, hold your breath, HAMLET. 

2.       THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES- 5^th and 6^th OCT at EPICENTRE, GURGAON

It is a cardinal sin to miss out on this play and I admit I am a serial offender, however I have made amends and logged on to book my show and booked my tickets. Starring SONALI SACHDEV, AVANTIKA AKREKAR, MAHABANOO-MODY-KOTWAL (love her name and her smile), DOLLY THAKORE (Imposing presence and Bindi) and JAYATI BHATIA (a regular on Television). Written by EVE ENSLER, this is a global phenomenon and is a must for all lovers of arts and expression. Let’s talk about the big O, oops I mean lets hear about the big O.

9 Parts of Desire

9 Parts of Desire

I am a big fan of comedy plays but today I moved out of my comfort zone to watch a play about 9 Iraqi women who have gone through a lot in their lives between the two gulf wars. The play was an effort by a group called SANJHA SAPNA which has been working on various social, cultural and educational themes and the effort is to tell these stories in order to bring a positive change.

The story tonight was about 9 Iraqi women and they had chosen 9 different actors to perform these roles.

Mullaya- Played by Shibani Bedi was the first protagonist, with a very strong and booming voice, she enthralled all but I felt her role was a bit small and would love to see a full blown performance in some other play.

Layal- Played by Kriti Vij (Jaw dropping pretty)-This was the only part when I was not able to focus on the story as Kriti was a visual delight on the stage. Hope the casting agents are on the lookout.

Amal- Played by Dimple Kaur- The star of the show, got the maximum applause from the audience and was absolutely smooth like a fine piece of satin. Five stars indeed.

Huda- Played by Kavita Seth – Very confident performance by the lady.

Iraqi Girl- Played by Shirin Sewani- Youth emerged on the stage as balls were thrown around and a front row uncle was splashed with water.

The doctor- Played by Nupur Khosla- Second best voice modulation after Shibani Bedi, the coughing was fantastic.

The American- Played by Aarti Nayar – Very confident, the narrator, the way she shouted the names of her children/relatives was very moving indeed.

Uma Gadha- Played by Sonamm Sharma – She had the accent, had the lines and the acting all in the back of her palm, got very strong applause.

Nanna- Played by Vanya Joshi- You could instantly make out that Vanya Joshi was a professional artist and there was no comparison with the younger members of the team, she just took it to a different level.

A special mention for the director Kanchan Ujjal Singh who gave us such a remarkable story of suffering and as the team pointed out on stage that these stories NEED TO BE TOLD.

This post is for the 66% of the audience of my blog who live in India and a majority out of those 66% who live in Delhi, we need to support these initiatives by taking out our time, money and effort (driving in the rains).

Well done team SAANJHA SAPNAA, take a bow.

MADRAS CAFÉ –SHOOJIT SIRCAR

MADRAS CAFÉ –SHOOJIT SIRCAR

People like SHOOJIT SIRCAR are the reason why I spend my hard earned money (despite the rising inflation, depreciating rupee and sagging economy) on movie tickets every weekend and not wait for a movie to release on DTH TV.

Another reason why I went to see MADRAS CAFÉ was the brilliant effort called VICKY DONOR by the team of M/S SIRCAR, ABRAHAM and CHATURVEDI (Juhi, the dialogue writer for the uninitiated), but  both the movies are different like a ROSGOLLA and DARK CHOCOLATE and madras café is indeed a dark and a very bitter chocolate.

The ensemble cast has always been SHOOJIT SIRCAR’s trump card and he lives up to his reputation by giving roles to SIDDHARTH BASU (brilliant), AVIJIT DUTT (very good), PRAKASH BELAWADI(refreshing), DIBANG (all right) and NARGIS FAKHRI (very impressive). A small role has been given to our living legend PIYUSH PANDEY who looks afraid of the camera while delivering dialogues.

The movie is shot in a very firangi Hollywood style as it captures a global situation of the civil war in Sri Lanka, cinematography is Avant grade and is a joy to the eyes. This could be labelled as JOHN ABRAHAM’s finest work assignment till date. Go watch it or should I say don't miss it.

Noises Off – Hats Off

Noises Off – Hats Off

This was the first time I had paid money to watch an English play. Most of the English plays that I have seen were in school and college and the entry used to be free. Since I became a working professional most of my money (almost all) has gone to the Hindi productions of National School of Drama (both summer and winter festivals) and the plays by Sayeed Alam’s Peirrot’s Troupe (my current favourite).

However on the recommendation of my friend Varoon.P.Anand (who also happened to be the organiser of the play), I went to see ATUL KUMAR’s-(A fellow Xavarian)  NOISES OFF a comedy play written by English playwright MICHAEL FRAYN.

The play was divided into three parts and when the first part started, it was your regular funny stuff and the two bong girls sitting behind me made sure that they giggled on each and every goofy moment and also translated the moment in Bengali.

However it was just like your regular SITCOM material, people falling, people fumbling, people asking stupid questions and of course some getting irritated and the audience (including the bong girls behind me) going crazy with laughter. Just when I had rated the play (basis the first part) to the equivalent of a 100 CC Japanese bike, the second part started and it turned out that NOISES OFF was a 500 cc bullet thunderbird, which roared and thundered as suddenly the backstage became front stage and the front stage became backstage and the play just went into a turbo mode. The laughter increased as all of us (audience, bong girls and me) were stunned by the front and back performance of these individuals on stage who suddenly became THEATRE PROFFESIONALS.

A special mention for YUKI ELLIAS the shining light of the play who just enthralled the auditorium, even though the character of Brooke was written to be the highlight of the show, YUKI performed it to perfection; her voice and the movements on stage will be remembered by the Delhi theatre audience for a long time to come.

Thank you ATUL KUMAR and THE COMPANY THEATRE, Delhi needs more of this.

P.S – For people who have not seen this play I would have loved to write that tonight is the final performance at KAMANI, but unfortunately the play is sold out, so better luck next time.

B.A.PASS (The Movie)

“THE GRADUATE” has arrived in India, however since the setting is a third world country, Mrs. Robinson doesn’t only milk the guy but leases him out to Mrs. Parkinson, Mrs. Hutchison and so on and so forth.

The setting is DEV-D, so are some of the actors (DIBYENDU BHATTACHARYA is a riot), which further adds to the fact that there is an Anuraag Kashyap school of filming out there. The lanes of Paharganj, the palatial house at Barakhamba Road (Special 26 and Dev-D) and the by lanes of old Delhi provide a very authentic/clichéd setting which has become hep these days. A shot of Jama Masjid has become an omnipresent frame in any art-house /mainstream movie shot in Delhi these days.

Cinematography and editing is brilliant, great work by AJAY BAHL. The story has a melancholic flavour to it as if the graph of the character is already etched in the mind of the audience and it will be one way traffic from there.

However SHILPA SHUKLA has a wooden face even in the lovemaking scenes and that is a clear flaw, it looks like a half-hearted half-baked attempt at something that you agreed to do initially and then were not able to deliver in entirety, a woman shedding clothes and emoting like one are two different parts and both need to be executed together.

Overall different cinema, a great first half, a fantastic attempt by first timer AJAY BAHL. 

YES, IT HAS FINALLY HAPPENED

Yes, it has finally happened, the only white thing around my SONY VAIO used to be the body of the laptop but today I have a white word sheet in front of me.

That too when I have to

1. Submit a draft for a Hinglish stand-up comedy by next week

2. Submit my entry play script to the Short and Sweet theatre festival in the next 20 days

3. Write dialogues for my short movie (The story is ready, thank god)

4. Last but not the least an entry for my own BLOG, which I have not done for some time.

The white word sheet looks very sexy in the beginning; it makes you feel like a creative with a writer’s block and trying to create your piece de resistance (pronounced as P.S DEY RESISTONCE as a lady recently told me in a theatre workshop).

However after some time you start feeling frustrated with the whiteness around you (contrary to the white waterfall that falls on you and you experience peace during a meditation session).

You feel as if you are a caged mute parrot, you know you can make a hell of a noise, but you are not able to right now, just like POPEYE longs for spinach you long for that green chilly to give you your voice back. So you can fly out of the cage and create commotion all around. Hell yeah.

P.S – Desperately seeking a green chilly.