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EDITOR’S NOTE Dear Readers, Welcome to yet another edition of The Brew.

Its been a great one year for us as we complete 12 issues with this edition.

The Brand, as i have mentioned in my earlier notes,has expanded in to a brand that promotes film, art and Music. The Brew is producing two music albums and a lot more happening in the film and art front. watch out for a lot more action as we keep brewing interesting things from here.

With this issue, am happy to announce that we have tied up with The Prakriti Foundation for all the events from now on starting with the 5th edition of the only contemperory international art festival in India : The Park’s New Festival.

And yes, on cover this time is Ranvir Shah of Prakriti Foundation and Priya Paul of The Park hotels who have been driving this wonderful concept untiringly for the last 5 years. Don’t miss the cover story on the New festival and the interview with Ranvir Shah.

And like every issue, there’s a lot more in this issue.

Enjoy The Brew.

Until next time Sameer Bharat Ram Editor

4 | SEPTEMBER 2011 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

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CINEMA, MUSIC & ART WITH THE

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Editor: Sameer Bharat Ram

Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | SEPTEMBER 2011 | 5

CONTRIBUTORS AND ADVISORY BOARD

Lord Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Archer established himself as a literary force with the publication of his first novel, Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less, in 1975. His third novel, Kane and Abel became a number one best-seller in hardcover and paperback all over the world and has sold over 3.5 million in the UK paperback edition alone. Now, 36 years later, Jeffrey continues to defy his critics and delight his fans. Published in 97 countries and more than 37 languages, Jeffrey Archer is firmly established, with international sales passing 250 million copies.

Gautami Tadimalla An apt example of a renaissance woman, Gautami has acted across Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada film industries. With over 20 years of experience in the film industry, she recently won the ‘Best Costume Designer’ for her work in the movie Dasavathaaram. A multifaceted entrepreneur, Gautami also supports various social causes.

Ashok Verghese Is one of the youngest education entrepreneurs who is making a great difference in this field in the country.

He is the Director of the Hindustan group of Institutions, again one of the pioneering educational groups in the country. He supports the cause of promoting young talent in art and music.

Veejay Sai An award-winning writer, editor and a culture critic. He has written and published extensively on Indian classical music, fashion, theatre, food and art, and loves traveling, researching literary and cultural history. He is an editorial consultant with over 40 brands and designers in and outside India and is on the jury for several prestigious awards in the arts across the country.

6 | SEPTEMBER 2011 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

Mallika Sarabhai, Educated as an economist and a business manager, Mallika Sarabhai is one of India’s best known Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancers. She has taken her work and her company Darpana to not only over 90 countries around the world, but also to the farthest parts of India.

Neeru Nanda A graduate from Delhi University.

Passionate about writing, she freelanced as a feature writer for ten years before switching to publishing.

Author of a collection of short stories titled “IF” (Rupa & Co), Neeru is now working on two novels and a series of books for children.

Dr. M. Lalitha and M. Nandini Internationally acclaimed, award winning Violin Maestros Dr. M. Lalitha and M. Nandini have been widely applauded as the ‘Queens Of Violin’ and have enthralled audiences across the globe. They have been selected as Cultural Ambassadors and dignitaries to the US and UK respectively. They have published books and written numerous articles relating to Music and religion.

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CONTENTS

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26

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14

10

VOL 01 ISSUE 12

FEATURES

10

Paperback Hero to Big Screen Star

TIN-TIN

12

“Art Is What You Can Get Away With”

Andy Warhol - INDRAJALA MOTURI

14

ORCHESTRATION OF A GENRE

ONGAKU – Japanese Traditional Music - Dr. M. Lalitha & M. Nandini

12

18

THE “YAHOO” MAN

Shammi Kapoor

20

32

THE REAL SOUND

OF MUSIC - Manvi Vaidyanath

36

center stage with

Crossfire

COVER STORY

26

Ranvir Shah & Priya paul:

The Park’s New Festival turns 5

INTERVIEW

40

‘MayaVi’ on stage!

Maya Krishna Rao

To the Grand Route to Fame

NIRVANA

Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | SEPTEMBER 2011 | 9

CINEMA

Paperback Hero to Big Screen Star I t is not out of the ordinary for a successful comic book to be made into a film so it comes as no surprise that Georges Rémi’s (Hergé) Tintin books are the inspiration behind an upcoming feature length, English film.

Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures have come out with a 3D Motion Capture Film, “The Adventures of Tintin” directed by none other than Steven Spielberg and produced by Peter Jackson.

80 languages and more than 350 million copies of the books sold to date. Other than this, Tintin was also a part of other mediums like television, documentaries and theatre.

The Adventures of Tintin has a script that is based on three Tintin

Jamie Bell of Billy Elliot fame lends his voice to the main character Tintin, the spirited young reporter always in search of a big scoop. The film also stars the vocal talents of Andy Serkis as the grumpy Captain Haddock and Daniel Craig as the nefarious Red Rackham along with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook.

Trying to make a movie out of a classic sure is a daunting task especially with a character as popular as the spunky journalist, Tintin who is constantly finding himself in one adventure or another. Though the original comics might not be as popular considering they were in Belgian, translations have been published in more than

adventures, The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure. The trailer that has been released sets expectations high and gives us a taste

10 | SEPTEMBER 2011 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

of what to look forward to. If the trailer is something to go by, an astounding action adventure film can be expected to come out of this venture. The movie could possibly carve a niche for itself in the wall of excellent animated movies that have come out over the years.

Spielberg’s association with Tintin started when a movie review compared ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ to Tintin. He immediately fell in love with ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ artwork.

At the same time, Hergé thought that Spielberg was the only one who could do his comics justice as he was not impressed with earlier adaptations.

Spielberg was scheduled to meet with Hergé in 1983. Hergé died that week but his widow decided to give Spielberg the rights. Ever since then Spielberg has been making developments on the film with Peter Jackson. Jackson suggested that motion capture was the best way to capture the magic of Tintin. His Company, Weta Digital took on the job of creating a photorealistic depiction of the characters including a CGI Snowy.

The official filming began on January 26, 2009 and the release date was moved to 2011 from the original

2010. Thirty two days after shooting, Spielberg wrapped up the film. After this there was six weeks of additional motion capture filming in July.

Post production involved hands- on approach to Weta Digital directing by Jackson. After Universal opted out of producing the film with Paramount, who provided $30 million on preproduction, Sony chose to co-produce the films.

Though this genre is such that it would be expected to be made into a live action adaptation, The Adventures of Tintin is not a mere cartoon. Spielberg and Jackson have captured the stylized look of the hand drawn comics and made it more realistic. It uses mo-cap animation which honors the television series. Hergé’s comics make use of

exaggerated human characters with more organic backgrounds and the film has done a good imitation of that style.

Hergé’s Tintin comics usually dapple in various genres like fantasy, mystery, political thrillers, and science fiction.

They indulge in slapstick humor along with satire, political and cultural commentary. The film suggests that it will combine light hearted humor and thrill so as to come up with a perfect balance that many fail to achieve. The writers, Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish have had the task of transforming Hergé’s material to a script that will keep in tune with the much loved comics.

The only way to measure the success of The Adventures of Tintin’s will be by its ability to capture the attention of the masses, rather than just the fans of the comic books. Depending on the film’s success, two more Tintin films could be produced. The first of these will be based on The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun directed by Jackson, while the second will be co-directed by Jackson and Spielberg.

The new generation who have not yet been exposed to the magic and thrill of The Adventures of Tintin will get a taste of this hero of yesteryear through this movie. The world is waiting with baited breath and anxious eyes to witness Tintin and Snowy embark on their silver screen adventure.

Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | SEPTEMBER 2011 | 11

ART

This quote has truly come alive with the works of the Late Andy Warhol. No other artist is as much identified with Pop Art as Andy Warhol. The media called him the Prince of Pop and he definitely proved worthy of that title.

Born as Andrew Warhola, Jr. (August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987), he was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual arts movement known as Pop art. Andy Warhol grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his family who had emigrated from Czechoslovakia. Having gotten his creative talent from his mother, at a young age he would always be seen drawing or painting. During high school, Warhol took art classes both at school and at the Carnegie Museum. Warhol graduated from high school and then went to Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he graduated in 1949 with a major in pictorial design.

Warhol’s first exhibition in an art gallery came in 1962 at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles. He displayed his canvases of Campbell’s soup, one canvas for each of the 32 types of Campbell’s soup. He sold all the paintings as a set for a $1000.

Unfortunately, Warhol found that

o Y t a h W s I t Ar

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he couldn’t make his paintings fast enough on canvas. Luckily in July 1962, he discovered the process of silk screening. This technique uses a specially prepared section of silk as a stencil, allowing one silk-screen to create similar patterns multiple times. He immediately began making paintings of celebrities, most notably a large collection of paintings of Marilyn Monroe. Warhol used this style for the rest of his life.

Warhol was extremely interested in color, and his personal library contained many books on the great modern colorists, including Henri Matisse, Pierre Bonnard, and Joseph Albers. Warhol worked with assistants and printers to create the print portfolios Sunset, Grapes, Space Fruit: Still Lifes, Ten Portraits of Jews of the Twentieth Century, Myths, Endangered Species, and others. The color choices in these series were very important to the artist. For the Sunset series, Warhol originally created 632 prints of the sun, each with a different combination of colors. In the Myths and Grapes series, Warhol used a

12 | SEPTEMBER JUNE 2011 | Cinema, 2011 | Cinema, Music Music & Art with & Artthe with Brew the Brew

INDRAJALA MOTURI

glittery substance called diamond dust to draw attention to the surface and to create changes in the colors of the prints. In the Endangered Species series, he used bright and complementary combinations of colors to draw attention to the animals.

Around 1960, Warhol had decided to make a name for him in the creative world. Pop art was a new style of art that began in England in the mid-1950s and consisted of realistic renditions of popular, everyday items.

The word Pop Art is an abbreviation for Popular Art. The name says it all .It was the visual art movement that characterized a sense of optimism during the post war consumer boom of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It coincided with the globalization of pop music and youth culture, personified by Elvis and the Beatles. Pop Art was brash, young, fun and hostile to the artistic establishment. It included different styles of painting and sculpture from various countries, but what they all had in common was an interest in mass-media, mass-production

n a C u o

way A t e G

and mass-culture. The Pop Art movement wanted to bring art back into the daily life of people. It was a reaction against abstract painting, which pop artists considered as too sophisticated and elite.

If there was one artist who

in December 1962 during which artists like Warhol were attacked for “capitulating” to consumerism.

Critics were scandalized by Warhol’s open embrace of market culture.

This symposium set the tone for Warhol’s reception. Throughout the decade it became more and more clear that there had been a profound change in the culture of the art world, and that Warhol was at the center of that shift.

h t i W

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Warhol is “the lie that tells the truth.”

His style of art has the paradoxical quality of being both sexy and icily mechanical, and this ambivalence is at the core of his work.

Warhol truly was one of the most instrumental artists in the world of design, and he serves as an inspiration to us all. Art and creativity knows no barriers, and it is artists like Warhol who showed us that creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and most important of all, having fun.

Pop Art Today

personified Pop Art it was Andy Warhol. He originally worked as a ‘commercial artist’ and his subject matter was derived from the imagery of advertising, comics, newspapers, TV and the movies. Typical for the attitude of the Pop Art movement was Andy Warhol’s use of serigraphy, a photo-realistic, mass-production technique of printmaking. Pop Art intruded into the media and advertising. The differences between the fine arts and commercial arts were voluntarily torn down. An excellent example is the designs of music album covers in the sixties.

New York’s Museum of Modern Art hosted a Symposium on pop art

In 1961 Andy Warhol’s Pop art paintings “Advertisement,” “Little King,” “Superman,” “Saturday’s Popeye,” were used in the window displays of the Bonwit Teller department Store in New York.

Images from modern art appeared on dresses. They were symbols of mass-produced, commercial images.

You can have him with or without irony, and it all still works. And because he was a master of the double-take, everything about him remains ambivalent. Once you choose one aspect of Warhol over another, you miss the point. Like Jean Cocteau’s definition of himself,

The subculture of Pop art, almost half a century later is still alive, and going strong. The loud and attractive appeal of Pop art has made its way into the Fashion industry. Fashion Designers picked up these art trends and modified them for use in their clothing designs. Yves Saint Laurent certainly went down the pop art road with his Mondrian dress and the black and white block sheaths he introduced in the early 1960s.

Brightly coloured large-scale geometric repeats were favourites for both dress and furnishing fabrics. Today Pop art still influences designers and runway couture.

Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | SEPTEMBER 2011 | 13

MUSIC

14 | SEPTEMBER 2011 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

ORCHESTRATION

OF A GENRE

ONGAKU – Japanese Traditional Music Traditional Japanese music Gagaku means graceful and is a type of Japanese classical music that has been performed at the Imperial Court in Kyoto since the Heian period for several centuries. Gagaku is divided into instrumental music called Kangen and dance accompanied by Gagaku called Bugaku.

Gagaku music comprises of songs, dances and a concoction of music from different parts of Asia and consists of three primary repertoires, 1. Kuniburi no utamai which is indigenous Shinto religious music and folk songs and dance.

2. Komagaku has influences from Manchurian, Korean, and many of the Japanese pieces. This had its beginnings in Korea and is often played as a dance accompaniment.

Komagaku uses only winds and percussion and do not employ any plucked stringed instrument.

Joruri is narrative music using the traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument shamisen.

Four main joruri styles are seen, Gidayubushi is used in bunraku or puppet.

Tokiwazubushi is used in kabuki dances known as Shosagoto.

Kiyomotobushi also used in Kabuku but the style is light.

Shinnaibushi is energetic and bubbly.

3. Togaku means the Tang Dynasty music. This was introduced into Japanese culture from China no earlier than the 8th century. During the Nara period (553-794), music and dance continued to come into the Japan from many parts of Asia and hence Togaku, consists of melodies of Chinese and Indian origin.

Gagaku employs the Yo scale, which is a pentatonic scale that corresponds to Raga Suddha Saveri of Carnatic music and Durga of Hindustani Music.

by Violin Duo Dr. M. Lalitha (Fulbright Fellow, USA) and M. Nandini – (CWIT Fellow) UK and Director MS Academy of Global Music

monks is a Japanese Buddhist chant using the Yo scale. This is used chiefly in the sects of Shingon and Tendai. It is said that Shomyo had its roots from India and began in Japan in the Nara period AD 710 to 794

Honkyoku means original pieces which originated during the 13th century and are pieces for Solo Shakuhachi, a wind instrument played by the priests called as Komuso belonging to the Zen Buddhism mainly for alms and enlightenment.

Shomyo sung by one or more Buddhist

Minyo is a genre of traditional Japanese music and refers to the traditional folk music of Japan. Each area in Japan has a distinct Minyo and is classified as work songs, religious songs, songs used in weddings and festivals apart from songs for children.

In Minyo the singers are accompanied by shamisen, taiko and shakuhachi.

Other instruments that are used are shinobue or the transverse flute, kane or bell, tsuzumi or hand drum and koto. Most Minyo work songs were originally sung unaccompanied either as solo or as groups. Some songs display the call and response form.

In Okinawan folk music the main instrument is the sanshin. Other Okinawan instruments include the sanba, taiko and yubi-bue or finger whistling.

The scales are different in both Minyo and Okinawan Folk Music.

Music in traditional Japanese Theatre Kabuki which is the classical Japanese dance-drama is a type of Japanese

Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | SEPTEMBER 2011 | 15

and becomes faster after which it comes back to its original slow again.

Traditional Japanese music has no definite beat in it.

Japanese Scales Traditional Japanese music uses several pentatonic scales and is given male and female characteristics. . In Japanese traditional culture the five notes symbolize the five vital elements of earth, water, fire, wood and metal.

The basis for many of these scales comes from the traditional music of Asia from countries like as Japan, India, China, Korea and Indonesia The In Sen scale a pentatonic one is the tuning in wind chimes.

theatre.

The basis for many Japanese traditional melodies is built on the Hirajoshi scale. The very popular folk melody Sakura is based in this scale.

The music of kabuki is divided into three parts, Gidayubushi is a type of sung narrative with shamisen accompaniment. This is similar to joruri in Bunraku which is a traditional Japanese puppet theatre.

The Yo scale which is an anhemitonic pentatonic scale is used in Japanese shomyo Buddhist chants and gagaku imperial court music.

Shimoza ongaku, where the music is rendered in kuromisu which is the lower seats beneath the stage.

Minyo scale used in folk music whiles the Yona Nuki Major and Yona Nuki Minor is other popular scales of Japanese Music.

Debayashi also referred as degatari is incidental music played on Kabuki stage.

Nagauta which accompanies the kabuki theatre means “long song” and is performed with the Shamisen.

This is another traditional Music of Japan that developed around 1740.

Nagauta performers normally play the shamisen and sing simultaneously.

Three styles of nagauta are seen one for kabuki dance, one for kabuki dialogue and one where the music is unrelated with kabuki.

Noh also known as Nogaku originated from the Japanese word for talent or expertise and is a main form of classical Japanese musical drama. It came from different popular traditions and by the 14th century had developed into a highly sophisticated art. Noh theatre is accompanied by a chorus and a hayashi ensemble consisting of four musicians known as hayashi – kata. These performers sit on the back of the stage, facing the audience and are fully visible. These four musicians play the shime-daiko, ōtsuzumi

Traditional Japanese Instruments In traditional Japanese music, there are three general types of instruments - stringed instruments, wind instruments and percussion instruments. which is the hip drum, kotsuzumi, the shoulder drum and shinobue which is a Japanese transverse flute. The variety of instruments featured and the order in which they sit on stage follow tradition. The singing has a limited tonal range with long repetitive phrases.

The Bunraku which is also known as Ningyo joruri is another form of Japanese theatre. This is normally accompanied by different styles of joruri and by shamisen. Sometimes Taiko drums are used too.

Rhythm in Japanese Traditional Music The main feature of traditional Japanese music is its sparse rhythm.

The tempo normally begins very slowly

16 | SEPTEMBER 2011 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

Plucked Instruments Biwa which is used in narrative storytelling is a pear shaped fretted lute.

Koto the National instrument of Japan is a long zither and has 13 movable bridges.

Shamisen which is used with singing such as nagauta, or as an accompaniment in Kabuki and Bunraku is a three stringed lute. The shamisen is played solo or with other shamisen, in ensembles and with other Japanese instruments.

Bowed Instruments Kokyu is a traditional Japanese Bowed string instrument and the only one to be played with a bow. In central Japan,

the kokyu was used previously as a vital part of the sankyoku ensemble, along with koto and shamisen.

Wind Instruments The shakuhachi is a Japanese endblown flute and is used mainly in Zen meditative music apart from ensemble music with koto, biwa, and shamisen.

The ryuteki which is used in gagaku is a Japanese transverse flute made of bamboo.

The hichiriki again is one of the main melodic instruments in Japanese gagaku music is a double reed Japanese flute.

The sho consists of 17 slender bamboo pipes and is a Japanese free reed musical instrument that was brought during the Nara period (AD 710 to 794) from China. The sho is one of the three chief woodwind instruments used in gagaku.

Horagai or jinkai are large conch shells used by Buddhist monks for religious ceremonies.

Percussion Instruments Taiko is the other name for drum in Japanese and comes under the category of percussion instruments.

Japanese taiko drums are used in both Japanese folk and classical musical traditions. With the exemption of the kotsuzumi and otsuzumi, all taiko drums are struck with sticks called bachi. Taiko is used in Japan’s traditional Noh, gagaku, and kabuki ensembles.

Hyoshigi are wooden or bamboo clappers and are used in traditional theatres in Japan to proclaim the commencement of a performance.

Mokugyo or the wooden fish is a wooden percussion instrument used by monks in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition during rituals normally relating to the recitation of sutras, mantras, or other Buddhist texts. The wooden fish serves to keep the rhythm during sutra chanting in most Zen Buddhist traditions.

Mukkuri is a traditional Japanese percussion instrument made from bamboo and similar to a jaw harp. It is indigenous to the Ainu sect of people.

Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | SEPTEMBER 2011 | 17

THE “YAHOO” MAN

CINEMA

Picture Coutresy: http://satishupadhyay. blogspot.com/

hh Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor) was the son of the iconic Prithviraj Kapoor, and the brother of Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor. hh Extremely versatile as an actor and a hyper energetic person he was one of the leading stars of Hindi cinema during the late 1950s, the 1960s and early ‘70s. hh Shammi dropped out of Ruia College in 1948 to join his father’s ‘Prithvi Theatre’.Shammi Kapoor’s first job was that of a junior artiste in 1948. He earned Rs. 150 a month. He worked with his dad Prithvi Raj Kapoor’s theatrical company for four years. hh Shammi Kapoor made his entry into cinema in 1953 with ‘Jeevan Jyoti’ directed by Mahesh Kaul. Chand Usmani was the actress paired opposite him. hh Staying loyal to his career, he had a very filmy personal life as well. Shammi Kapoor fell in love with the vivacious and beautiful actress, Geeta Bali. She was also a year older to him, making the affair a strict no-no for their respective families. But like true love birds, the duo got married at a temple and informed their parents only after the wedding. hh Shammi Kapoor was the founder and

chairman of Internet Users Community of India (IUCI). He had also played a major role in setting up internet organizations like the Ethical Hackers Association. Kapoor also maintained a website dedicated to the Kapoor family. Extremely net savvy, he was also active on social networks. hh This hot stepper was also a wonderful singer and never failed to mesmerize family and friends at parties with his crooning. hh His songs are always known to serve with a healthy dose of mischief. The song “YAHOO” from his movie Junglee (1961) went on to top the charts for more than a year. hh Shammi Kapoor was crazy about cars and loved long drives. So much so that he didn’t give up driving even with age catching up with him. However, his wish to own and drive a Rolls Royce was left unfulfilled. hh The Ranbir Kapoor starrer “Rock star” will be Shammi’s last on screen appearance which also happens to be the appropriate word to describe Shammi’s personality! hh He died of renal failure on 14 August 2011 aged 79 at Mumbai’s Breach Candy hospital, where he was undergoing treatment for chest infection.

The one line that sums up his life would be

“A STAR ON EARTH, DEFINITELY ONE IN HEAVEN TOO”

18 | SEPTEMBER 2011 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | SEPTEMBER 2011 | 19

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MUSIC

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20 | SEPTEMBER 2011 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

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22 | SEPTEMBER 2011 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

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Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew | SEPTEMBER 2011 | 23

edition v 2011 in DELHI | KOLKATA | MUMBAI | HYDERABAD | BANGALORE | CHENNAI a six-city tour of cutting edge contemporary performing arts September (1st – 25th) 2011

ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINE

PERFORMANCES Parijat Desai Dance Company performs a blend of Indian classical and Western contemporary dance.

Choreographer Parijat Desai integrates the sculptural lines, intricate rhythms and theatricality of Indian dance with the fullbodied movement and conceptual experimentation of modern. Through this hybrid language, she expresses a voice at once South Asian and American. Using emotion and humor, as well as the visceral power of dance itself, Desai communicates across the boundaries of culture, nation and religion.

Make Space Set to electronic music by South Asian American artists, Make Space rewires the sculptural positions of Indian dance using dynamic modern dance, and remixes classical footwork rhythms. Dancers undulate and slide

their bodies, creating openings within rigid classical forms, traveling out into space and into the air.

Songs To Live For In Songs To Live For Choreographer Parijat Desai explores the sublime Hindustani love songs, but she bring a completely new dance styles that blends the full-bodied movement and partnering from Western contemporary dance with subtle Indian classical gesture.

Maya Krishna Rao lends a new dimension to contemporary Indian theatre – both on and off stage. She acts, sings, raps, dances, writes her own scripts, directs herself, and is one of the very few woman stand-up comedians in India. Maya is also visiting faculty at the National School of Drama, New Delhi, where she teaches acting. Her shows

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have traveled the world, filled with wicked humour handling a range of themes that go from a random item in the morning newspapers to the Natyashastra; she covers the entire gamut from the political, to the social and the philosophical…

Quality Street This is a solo performance based on a delightful short story by the Nigerian award-winning author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The story has universal appeal; it is funny; and it perfectly pitches present-day concerns about culture. With minor modifications, the story fits into any setting. It’s a non-stop ‘boxing match’ between a mother and her daughter, which is exciting and moving. What is special is the way the actor switches between characters. With music to accompany her, she talks, she sings, she raps.

Mrs. Njoku’s daughter, Sochienne,

has just got home, having completed her studies in the U.S. She is changed.

Living abroad has given her seemingly new values but has strangely also brought her close to her roots. But the mother is western in a colonial way- and the stage is set for a clash!

There is a delightful twist at the end, needless to say.

hh Roll Rida a.k.a Rahul from Hyderabad

The Non Stop Car-Food-ClothesFeel-Good-Show

hh Vamsi from Mumbai

This is an extravagantly funny show.

An unstoppable woman seeks the best clothes, food, car, lifestyle…to make her life more meaningful, and yours vicariously. She is an expert on everything- from food to inner peace, you name it. It’s another thing that some themes get a little jumbled in her head sometimes. But the final score is always philosophical.

The show has episodes – short, sharp, affectionate, sometimes moving glimpses of the urban citizen’s idiosyncrasies and obsessions. The artist, through characters that change with lightning speed- much like in a Hindi film- takes the audience on a roller coaster ride that goes from the spiritual journey of an NRI jogger to the car-obsessed travails of a television cookery expert to an incomparable audio visual ‘autobiographical tale’…and more.

(A Vismayah presentation) DNOAX – Universal Hip Hop Reborn: Hip Hop is no longer the identity of one race, country or continent. Under their own record label Desi Media Networks, 15 rappers get together as DNOAX (Desi Number One Artistes X) making Hip Hop a universal phenomenon. Snypah Killah a.k.a Varun started this with four rappers in Chennai and over seven years many have joined together to form DNOAX. Their diverse music challenges the common misconception of Hip Hop as music of drugs, cash, cars, clothes, semi-clad women, bling, etc.

The Rappers/Artists who form a part of Dnoax are as follows: hh Megh uh Watt a.ka. Megh from Hyderabad

festival of ten-minute theatre in the world, starting in Australia in 2002 and held annually in 30 cities in 7 different countries, including in India (Delhi) from last year.

hh Monica from Hyderabad hh Invincible P a.k.a Pratik from Mumbai

Short+Sweet aims to provide a platform for actors, writers and directors to create high quality new work in professional theatre and a collaborative environment where established practitioners may pass on knowledge to others in the theatre arts. The Short+Sweet South India was presented by Prakriti Foundation along with The Blu Lotus Company in Chennai for the first time in July 2011.

Six plays that reached the finals this year are being staged again at The Park’s New Festival.

hh Ace from Mumbai hh AP a.k.a Amey from Mumbai hh They came. They saw. They conquered and They (made you) see (the) Revolution Tagore on Vinyl – Traveling with Thakur directed by Peter Arun Pfaff Choreography: Sandra Chatterjee | Dramaturgy: Anirban Ghosh Credits: Sarmila Bose, Oliver Rajamani (voice, music), Friedel Lelonek (remix), Catherine Janke (voice over), Pravu Mazumdar (voiceover, translation), Alokeranjan Dasgupta (voice over, translation), Constanze Knapp (costume), Aditee Biswas (stage), Martin Herale (light design)

Because The World Needs Unicorns directed by Freddy Koikaran, written

by Cerise de Gelder: A desperate refugee begs for safe haven and is met with rigid rules and red tape. But he hasn’t arrived on a boat…he needs to get on one. (Cast: Vivek Hariharan, Naren Weiss, Venkatesh Harinathan)

Searching through her father’s collection of music records, Sandra finds traces that lead her to the work of Rabindranath Thakur.

Alongside the memories of the Bengali songs of her childhood, she is fascinated by the philosophical and political ideas of the world-traveler Tagore, who saw the encounters between “East and West” as the important fact of the current age.

In particular his thoughts on the role of Europe in the world – between postcolonial modernity and nationalism – remain an important starting point for a choreographic memory – approximately a hundred years later, and in the Diaspora.

Between these overlapping layers of exploration and memory, a very personal dialogue with Rabindranath Thakur’s work emerges, in part in the form of dance, in part as text and in part as video.

Best of Short+Sweet Chennai: Short+Sweet Theatre is the biggest

The Fruits of War directed by Samyuktha PC, written by Earl T.Roske: The benefits of war…with fruit. (Cast: Karan Nair, Naren Weiss) The Artiste directed by Mike Muthu, written by Pathy Aiyar: Where does art end and nature begin? (Cast: Vinod Anand, Mohammad Yusuf, Pavitra) Breath of Life directed by Koumarane Valavane, written by Cordis Paladano, Koumarane Valavane: The birth of emotion, the discovery of pleasure, andthe emergence of attachment in a young angel that has come to fetch the soul of a woman of pleasure. (Cast: Aditi Bheda, Vasanth Selvam, Cordis Paladano, Vinoth Charles) He and She directed by V.Balakrishnan, written by Arthi Menon: A love story of changing identities that change the relationship.

(Cast: Aarti Aney, Prateeksha Chandrasekar) The Lost Audition directed and written

by Rajiv Rajaram: An audition that was never meant to be. (Cast: Mathivanan Rajendran, Venkatesh Harinathan)

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ART

Ranvir Shah & Priya paul: The Park’s New Festival turns 5.

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child it will grow bigger and stronger.

3. The Festival travels to several destinations across the country, each having a distinctly different culture. Which of these cities has been most fulfilling?

That’s strange because one would think that different cities react differently to different performances but we have had a great response. I think we are lucky but the intensity of the responses have been varied, so we have standing ovations from everyone 1. What inspired or moved you to create The Other Festival (now known as The Park’s New Festival)?

The parks new festival resonates with the new India which we are all part of, this India with its young demographic is poised to take its place in the world order in the fields of economic dominance and also as a great market, and then what of its culture and the way it expresses itself in these new times through the performing arts that the urban Indian wants to stay in touch with, discover and celebrate.

This is the answer I seek in some ways when I curate the festival and find how different artistes creatively look and engage at this new India, and that’s why I started and called the New Festival.

2. The Park’s New Festival has come a long way since its inception and is currently at a fantastic place. What are your thoughts on the journey thus far?

so far for Maya Rao and Dastangoi, Vidurkapur who we thought may not go well in conservative Chennai was absolutely wonderful and we had a full house cheering him on, so its unpredictable but all positive. I would say that I am very pleased with audiences in Kolkata and Hyderabad to things like contemporary dance, they just loved it.

4. In addition to The Park’s New Festival, you are the mastermind behind The Prakriti Foundation.

Could you tell us more about the Foundation?

The foundation does seven other festivals annually, such as the poetry with Prakriti poetry festival, hamara shakespeare on Indian shakespeare, the tree of life festival on nature and all things to with the world around us, the one billion eyes Indian documentary film festival, the festival of sacred music at Tirvaiyaru on the Cauvery, the short and sweet theatre festival of ten minute plays and also the Gharanaindian music festival. We also publish and have regular book launches and we do indology lectures with passing academics, so there is a lot on the calendar.

5. You always have your hands full, playing starkly different rolesbusinessman, philanthropist and cultural activist- and playing them well. How do you do it?

I am thrilled with the momentum it has gathered. We started five years ago with Chennai being its home, we did trial runs in Delhi for three years and from last year we decided to take it national and took it to four cities.

This year we are in six cities, so it’s a very satisfying growth for a festival of performing arts that is the only private national festival of its kind. It’s not to say we have not had tough times, with the recession it was rare that we were able to make it through and now the challenge is to sustain it and its quality so the expectations which have been raised are maintained. Personally I am very confident that like a well nurtured

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Playing different roles of a businessman, cultural catalyst and someone involved with the world of social activism, are all parts of me. So there is no dichotomy to me internally and so it does not express itself externally either. All these parts of my life are equally important to me and I am equally passionate about them all so I live them 24/7. Though the major fall back of this is very little time with my family, so I involve them in as many of these three world in whichever way I can, I have to say this is the life I dreamt of when I was a younger and so I am living my dream and feel extremely privileged to do so.

6. With so much on your plate at all times, when do you unwind?

I don’t feel the need to unwind. I love what I do, I love to read and write in my free time and I try to exercise regularly so I have the energy to do whatever I do, and I also lead a normal life, going to the beach, playing with my dogs, chatting with my friends, shopping and going for coffee at Amethyst. What I need to do is regular meditation and yoga and that’s the plan for the future.

7. You are widely hailed as a cultural catalyst. What is your take on the cultural scenario in Chennai today?

I don’t think I am widely hailed as anything, not sure that many people

know me or what I do, but I do know several people who are pretty jealous of what i do and are constantly pulling me and my activities down. While that’s their prerogative I do what I adore and it gives me a great deal of joy and satisfaction. As far as the cultural scene goes in Chennai, it is a very vibrant city and full of wonderful energy. There are so many theatre groups doing some really interesting work, poets and writers and academics also doing pioneering work and there is the eternal world of Carnatic music and dance. Chennai is a great cultural capital of not just the south but of the country and I am very

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optimistic of greater times to come.

8. As a resident of Chennai city, what is it that you love about the city?

I adore everything about Chennai. The clean streets and the fact that as a metropolis we are greener than many of the others, the friendly chennaivasi, the culture ,the food, kalakshetra, Elliot’s beach, thairsadam, mallipoo, the temple at mylapore and the streets around it , our coffee, the list is endless. I moved here from Bombay as an 18 year old deeply missing the city of my youth but i can say i truly grew up to be the man I am in Chennai

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because she nurtured me so fully.

9. Where do you hope to see the Festival in the near future?

The future of the festival is to make it better in terms of the performances being bigger and better but also to have discussions and panels and outreach, all of which I feel is necessary when you are in the space of a being a catalyst. This year parijatdesai and her company did workshops in all the six cities and I would like to expand that further as culture is not just the shows, but also discussions and engaging with people in ways of learning and being inspired.

10. You are an inspiration to many lovers of the Arts.

What is your message to them?

My message to those in the arts is do what you love and are passionate about, even if it means having to work for it and getting through all kinds of stress, because in the end we all have only one life and that is a blessing.

We have to be true to our hearts calling, whatever that may be only then life becomes a never ending golden adventure.

Priya Paul Chairperson, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Ltd. We are delighted to bring you the 5th edition of The Park’s New Festival. A cutting edge contemporary performing arts festival, curated by the Prakriti Foundation. For the last four years, our festival has been encouraging interaction and exchange of ideas between artists from different cultures and facilitating international co-productions and collaborative projects.

Over the past few years we have featured acclaimed artists such as Dr. Mallika Sarabhai, Vayu Naidu company (U.K), Preethi Athreya, Dr. Rekha Tandon (Bhubaneshwar), Ramu Ramanathan, Probal Gupta, H.R. Britton (USA) and Ben. Riepe (Germany), Padmini Chettur, Zuilekha Allana, Jaimini Pathak, Anusha Lall, Vidhur Kapoor and Park Hong Ki (Korea) and will continue to feature the best of national and international artists for this year and the coming years.

The Park’s New Festival is innovative and synergizes contemporary design and aesthetics with the traditional, in new ways that are relevant to us today, similar to the design, service and hospitality we ensure at The Park Hotels.

The festival is being taken to all the six metros – New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai this year and I am confident that it will continue to be much awaited annually on the performing arts calendar.

I hope you all enjoy this festival as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you.

Warm regards Priya Paul

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MUSIC

THE REAL SOUND OF MUSIC

by Manvi Vaidyanath

“The plain man is familiar with blindness and deafness, and knows from his everyday experience that the look of things is influenced by his senses; but it never occurs to him to regard the whole world as the creation of his senses.”

- Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist.

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Surely, the ‘plain man’ as Mach put it, would never think along such lines. The plain man would take his sensory modalities for granted and would never, not even for a moment, imagine what life might be like if one or more of his senses were to fail him. And, God forbid, if that were to happen, he would imagine it to be the end of life itself. That’s why I’d like to introduce you to not-so-plain-people; extraordinary individuals- differently abled men and women who chose career paths that seem completely anomalous, paradoxical. They defied their own ‘limitations’ and used their bodies and other senses in ways you and I would never dream of. They chose to be deaf musicians.

While most of us know of the genius that was Ludwig Van Beethoven and the fact that he was a completely deaf piano virtuoso, what we don’t know is that there are numerous other such genii, who instead of perceiving their different abilities as obstacles, saw them as springboards for their passion. Their success stories should serve as inspiration to each of us who is afraid to chase our dreams.

B

Brian Douglas Wilson

rian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. When he was about three years old, Brian was discovered to have extremely diminished hearing in his right ear. The exact cause of this hearing loss is unclear, though theories range from Brian’s simply having being born partially deaf, to a blow to the head. This never deterred the man from making his music- in fact, most of Brian’s energy as a child was directed toward music; singing and playing the piano obsessively.

Brian received a Wollensak tape recorder on his sixteenth birthday, allowing him to experiment with recording songs and early group vocals.

Wilson donned multiple roles within The Beach Boys, playing bass and keyboards, providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing

vocals. Wilson also served as the band’s main producer and arranger.

As producer, Wilson made some of the most legendary rock albums of all time, including Pet Sounds and is the creative mastermind behind smash-hits like “Good Vibrations” and “Caroline, No.” After recurrent issues due to his continued drug abuse and mental illness, Wilson and The Beach Boys eventually parted ways. He went on to begin a solo career in 1988. Wilson and the Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in January 1988, alongside The Beatles and Bob Dylan.

Wilson won his only Grammy Award in 2005 for the track “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow (Fire)” as Best Rock Instrumental.

He has often been recognised for his “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers” and has been touted a genius by many.

D

ame Evelyn Glennie is an award-winning Scottish percussionist - the first person in musical history to successfully create and sustain a fulltime career as a solo percussionist, in fact –and has been profoundly deaf since age 12. She published Hearing Essay on her website in response to criticism from the media, wherein she says that she can hear through parts of her body, by focusing on the vibrations of sound. She claims to be able to hear through parts of her neck and chest. She regularly plays barefoot during both live performances and studio recordings in order to “feel” the music better.

Her impairment does not inhibit her in the least-Glennie performs with a wide variety of orchestras and contemporary musicians, giving over 100 concerts a year as well as master classes and “music in schools” performances. She featured on Icelandic singer Björk’s album Telegram, performing the duet “My Spine”. She has collaborated with

many other musicians, including former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, Bela Fleck, Bobby McFerrin, Elton John, Shakti and The King’s Singers. She also plays the Great Highland Bagpipes.

Dame Evelyn Glennie

As a keen collector of percussion instruments Evelyn’s own private collection is now estimated at over 1800 instruments. She continues to expand and explore natural materials such as stones & rocks to create new developments in the world of sound.

Glennie was knighted in 2007.

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S Shawn Dale Barnett

hawn Dale Barnett is the only profoundly deaf man to have had a top ten hit (Leave the light on) on the Billboard charts in 1987. He is also accredited with creating ‘Deaf Music’. Barnett was born totally deaf in 1963 and when he was barely six months old, several tumours were removed from his left arm, leaving his arm permanently damaged. This did not hinder his ability to grasp a drumstick and when he was five, he started to play a drum, keeping time almost flawlessly. From that moment on, there was no looking back.

and with the conviction that he could become a professional drummer.

While he was attending Kansas School for the Deaf at Olathe, Barnett was discouraged from pursuing his dreams in music by his classmates. Things changed when in 1981, at a local bar called “Clown,” Barnett bet some K.S.D. students $20 that he could play the drums with the house band.

When he did, he “rocked the house!” and coolly walked away, $20 richer

Across the span of his career, Barnett concentrated largely on reconnecting with the deaf community.

As encouragement to young deaf performers, he said: “We can’t hear what the critics are saying, anyway!”

Beverley O’Sullivan

B

everley O’Sullivan (16 January 1981 – 2 November 2009) was an Irish singer and actress from Dublin, Ireland.

She was a member of the Irish pop group, Fifth Avenue.

As a child with glue ear, her hearing deteriorated as she grew older and by age twenty, O’Sullivan had unilateral conductive hearing loss: sounds were not conducted properly to her middle ear. To O’Sullivan, who had been singing since she was a child, this could not keep her off stage.

On regular medication and with a tiny inner-ear hearing aid in place, Beverley went on, undaunted. When the band was on tour, Beverley would have to fly. This caused her problems

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Barnett entered the hearing world never mentioning his deafness unless asked directly. He was once quoted to have said, “Being a deaf man in the rock music industry isn’t easy.”

However, he proceeded to “shatter myths about deaf musicians.”

Barnett played various kinds of music: rock, country, pop, blues, classical, rap and alternative. He developed sounds that have been labelled “deaf music”, an arrangement of drums accompanied by visual effects.

Barnett passed away in February 2003, of multiple cancers, leaving behind a legacy and hope for differently abled performers across the world.

to worsen and she lost approximately 10 per cent of her hearing with every flight she took.

A sensation in Ireland and popular in other parts of Europe in the mid2000s, Beverley continued performing for fans at weddings and in other areas throughout her career even after Fifth Avenue split. She was featured on the tracks “Through the Light” and “Don’t Look Back” on John O’Callaghan’s 2009 album Never Fade Away.

O’Sullivan played a cabaret singer in Happy Ever Afters, a film which was released in late 2009 to mixed reviews.

Her voice appears on six songs on the film’s soundtrack. O’Sullivan was killed in a traffic collision in India in 2009.

Mandy Harvey

M

andy Harvey (born January 2, 1988) is an American jazz singer and songwriter.

She was selected as the top female vocalist of her high school and entered the Music Education program at Colorado State University.

During her freshman year, Mandy found that she had to move closer and closer to hear recordings, until one day, she could hear nothing at all.

She was found to be profoundly deaf.

Devastated, Mandy left the university.

She would occasionally play the guitar with her father, but had stopped singing altogether. One day in 2008, she managed to master the lyrics to a song effortlessly. This inspired hope and Mandy realised that she did not have to give up singing. Impressed by the quality of Mandy’s vocal talent after deafness, her former high school teacher, Cynthia Vaughn offered her vocal training. Vaughn later introduced Mandy to renowned Jazz Pianist Mark Sloniker, who invited her to play at Jay’s Bistro in Fort Collins, where she is now a fixture.

In October 2009, Mandy released an album titled ‘Smile’ which received much acclaim from Jazz critics and gathered much attention across internet communities. While her dream of becoming a music teacher has died, the music is still alive and well within her and she plans to release two more albums soon.

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MUSIC

center stage with

Crossfire 36 | SEPTEMBER 2011 | Cinema, Music & Art with the Brew

C

rossfire as the name suggests is the convergence of different views and opinions. The band stays true to their name as it the coming together of friends for the singular pursuit of covering musical styles and genres that appealed to each of them individually also collectively to form a band that reflects each member’s passion for the kind of music they play. Their performances cover pop/ rock/funk/alternative, this band refuses to be labeled and showcases their versatility with their wide array

of genres. It all started when friend now band manager, Vinay Vincent introduced these 5 guys to each other who had individually carved a niche for themselves in the field of music and was now on a lookout to form a set up with likeminded folks who wanted to create some good quality music.Vinay assisted them through a few preliminary meetings and in barely no time an excellent chemistry was established between them, thus “Crossfire” was conceived. Crossfire’s first official gig was when they played for a popular nightclub anniversary in Chennai after which they have been

grabbing quite a few eyeballs and have been performing in the city ever since.

They have also extended their music in the corporate sector by playing for esteemed private gatherings.

Crossfire’s dynamic on stage presence can set the crowd roaring and the energy soaring! What highlights their collaboration is their specialization in various styles and to be able to blend all of them without disastrous results but with a universal appeal that isn’t subjective when it comes to their audience.

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The band comprises of Sujan Daniels – Lead vocals This vocalist has set a phenomenal benchmark in the music scene in Chennai. Sujan has been actively performing over the last decade.

During this time he has sung in numerous bands and continues to lead his own immensely popular, commercial band ‘The Live Martini’ where he was compared to the likes of Presley and also is the lead vocalist

for the legendary ‘Frank Dubier Jazz Quintet’. A true rock aficionado, this preference clearly becomes evident from the band’s set list.

Aalaap Raju- Bass Guitar A gifted musician, Aalaap, has quickly gained ground to become a much sought after bass player on both the Regional & Western music circuits with incredible work as reference.

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His vocal prowess is also gathering increasing momentum on the regional language front after having scored two back to back hits for the renowned Music Director Harris Jayaraj.

Joshua Raj- Guitar Soft spoken, axe-wielding Joshua is another musician that needs little introduction. Joshua is an in-demand guitar player, whose fret board

programmer and composer as well, his keyboard playing skills further complement the sound of this versatile act. His music can be heard on numerous television & radio commercials and is slowly making his foray into the movie world as well.

Jeoraj George- Drums

virtuosity and optimum level of skill has ensured him a definite place on most big gigs that roll through town.

He also handles the guitar duties for another popular city band ‘Roxygen’ where his work has been distinct.

Prithvi Chandrasekhar- Key board An alumnus of the Berkley College of Music, Prithvi is a keyboardist extraordinaire. An in-demand

A drummer people have familiarized themselves with, Jeoraj is a top notch sessions drummer whose on call for most of the big artists in the subcontinent. He also tours actively with A.R. Rahman as part of his touring live band and also maintains an active private teaching practice, grooming the next generation of drummers. He’s lends drum support on a regular basis to a number of jazz artists like Madhav Chari, Amit Heri & Martin Visser.When on stage, his drumsticks are no less than a magic wand that spins music of yet another level of excellence!

Vinay Vincent-Band Manager

a professional base in sound engineering. Having functioned in multiple roles within the Music industry with skill sets ranging from Music Production to Live Concert Production & Band Management, his expertise has led to his involvement in a wide gamut of activities within the Music arena. Operating with a panAsian presence and a clear mandate to widen the market horizons, Vinay’s focus is on providing turnkey solutions to every project. Vinay has previously been a part of many famous bands and is now managing “Crossfire” which is sure to receive laurels When musical geniuses of such caliber come together, expect no less than a sensational outburst of music! So much and still more for a band that has only set out recently, Crossfire is sure to pave their way to the top spot in no time.

Vinay Vincent kick started with

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ART

‘MayaVi’ on stage!

Up close and personal with the multi faceted Maya Krishna Rao Maya Krishna Rao, renowned actor, dancer, singer, writer and so much more. One of the few woman stand-up comedians in India and visiting faculty at various schools, Maya Rao has also travelled the world performing at numerous shoes. We caught up with the theatrical genius while on tour for Park’s New Festival to answer a few questions for us.

How did you get into stand-up comedy?

These things just happen by accident.

I would make fun of people in an informal way at home. They would say, “Come on Maya, take off” and I would!

One year I decided, I will look at the newspapers on January 1 morning and pick up something from there and by 4 pm I should be on stage and that I should not give myself more time than that. Usually on January 1 there is something happening that is a little unusual, I would pick up something

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from there and quickly rustle up a costume and some properties and just go on stage. It then became more popular with friends telling me I need to do more of this and it started. I still do not do as much of it as I should but I’m thinking of how to make it more a part of my work.

Have you always done comedy or was it more serious acting when you started out?

spin out something. What I like about comedy is that you can just start with a piece of property, like an object or anything and then there is mostly a lot of improvisation. In that sense it’s far more challenging than doing serious stuff. The starting point can be anywhere; all you need is another way of looking at things. Just looking at things from another point of view is what I really enjoy.

My shows might not necessarily be stand- up comedy but I try and look for a single theme that has different layers to it. You may do something from another perspective or with a sense of humor. When life is taken over by very serious, terrible issues I see it as a challenge. After the riots in Gujarat in 2002, for me that was a challenge. How can I make comedy out of this? But then the tragedy of it comes out even more starkly. At that point somebody wanted a kind of show and into I wove this whole thing about Gujarat.

You teach as well at the National School of Drama?

The audience response has always helped me a lot. They come back to you when you do comedy. For a long time I was not quite dealing with politics in an upfront manner. But in comedy it is a way where you can deal with it head on. When you make comedy everybody’s working hard at it, you’re working hard at it, the audience is also working at it. You must see if they are also laughing and that there is also a bit of seriousness in it with some issue lying at the bottom of it all.

I suppose it has to be Delhi because that’s where my work has got settled in. Now my track has changed a little, I want to get more into theatre and education. I want to train school teachers on how to use drama for teaching in the classroom. In fact now I’m doing another degree online, in drama and education which I have been practicing for many years on my own but I just wanted to be able to sit down and study as well.

Some of us work with the NCERT commission to write a syllabus. We made a syllabus from class 1 to 12.

I was a part of that committee. As of now since that syllabus is in place we need to be able to prepare teachers to teach that syllabus. I want to conduct more courses for teachers either independently, or through the NCERT or whoever is interested. So for that it is very important that I stay in an urban city because I want to be in touch with schools.

Do you always base it on some sort of issue?

Yes, something or the other, I do not overtly thing about it like that but it always ends up that way.

What happens in comedy is that a lot of it comes from improvisation.

All my first comedies, I would just sit and improvise in my room and whatever came out of it, I would just reproduce on stage. Then there came a time when I would just open my laptop, stare at a blank page and pick up something either from the newspaper or something that is in everybody’s imagination and I would just spin it out. The whole idea is to

I’m a visiting faculty. I used to be a part of the regular faculty but I gave that up and now I teach a segment called ‘How to make a solo’ for third year actors. I started teaching in 1985 on a regular basis but I gave up by job in the National School of Drama because I wanted to be a full fledged performer.

Having done that, I went back as visiting faculty.

You’ve travelled a lot in your career. What is the one place you would love to settle in?

The story of my life is a bit strange in the way that I teach a lot in Hindi and so on but I do not have a proper base as I myself am from a south Indian background but I grew up in

the city. In that sense I feel quite open at this point, I could move. Except I want to live in India, there’s no doubt about that. But within India I would like to be travelling doing this kind of educational work.

Which has been your favorite performance till date?

There is one performance of mine called ‘Heads are meant for walking into’, the process drew a lot out of me and my colleague. I worked with a film maker, we started by telling ourselves that we will have no theme and no first idea at all, we will just experiment with a live camera and myself as the actor. If we came to a good solution we would take a still photograph of it. We collected 50 to 60 stills, we put them all on our computer screen, looked at them and said what was coming of it, from that we made a show that for me was very much about contemporary India. Somehow I have an attachment to that show.

I also have an attachment to my very first show, which I made which was more dance theatre called ‘Khol Do’ which has to do with the partition. I like shows that are based on history whether contemporary or past. For many years some of us were very taken up with partition stories and how to deal with them because they are so full of pain and suffering. For me the challenge is not to play the pain and suffering you have to play everything around it, you have to play the circumstances of it rather than showing the pain so that is always a challenge. For me though each show has been very different because I do not make a show because I have to.

Acting, singing, dancing, directing- how do you manage to do all of this?

These things do not happen separately.

Usually in conventional theatre these are things that happen very separately.

But if you are an actor who stands in your rehearsal room and believes in improvising and who has some kind of dance training and music training, all these things somehow find a way into your work. And since I have no director, when I improvise I turn on a

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camera, it records everything for me and then I have to sit down and think about how to shape up the show after several improvisations.

How do you feel about being a part of Park’s New Festival?

In the old days we politically thought that we were never going to be caught in all this hotel circuit because it was always a certain kind of theatre, a certain kind of plays and a certain kind of light hearted comedy that did not appeal to me. I thought that if this was what hotels want then I was not available. Now we live in a far more porous world. Hotels may be sponsoring a certain festival but it does not mean that they are asking for a certain kind of theatre. For this particular festival, I was just asked to make my own comedy and nobody laid any conditions on me. I think this is a great opportunity to go to six different cities; I have been looked after very well. You have to be with people who understand that it’s not all about the performance, it is also the process. This is the kind of festival that understands artists and if we are in trouble about something they are more than ready to solve our problems. There have been all kinds of people in the audience, actors, and students and so on. I was glad to see that it was not just the hotel crowd.

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